Chapter 322 - First Round of Pursuit

The Thunder Birds were lightning-type avian beasts. They were best at speed, and despite their levels not being as high as Xiaolang’s, they flew as quick as lightning in the sky. They were definitely as fast as him.

It only took them a few moments to fly from the horizon to right above Long Chen. If they ran now, they might attract the attention of the people in the sky above, so Long Chen scooped Ling Xi up and quickly rushed into the cave!

When they had just entered the cave, the five birds released a huge lightning web that swooped past Long Chen’s head. The crackle of electricity was loud wherever the web touched!

The birds flew low in the air. When they swooped by, small fires were set off in the forest. If not for the high humidity and damp wood, the whole forest would have been set ablaze.

As they flew past, Long Chen kept looking at Ling Xi in his arms, who was also staring at him. Just as they were having a romantic moment, the enemy had unexpectedly caught up. Ling Xi felt awkward, but mostly worried.

“Brother Chen ...”

The imperial commanders were here. Long Chen did not know how they knew the direction he had been traveling in, but that was no longer important. The most important thing was figuring out a way to escape.

“Xiaolang, what are the cultivation levels of the commanders?” whispered Long Chen when the Thunder Birds had just passed them.

𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

Ling Xi passed the information on to Long Chen. He learned that the royal guards had seven commanders. One was at the Eighth River Stage, the second and third were at the Seventh River Stage, and the other four were at the Sixth River Stage. This included the Seventh Commander, who had brought Long Chen into the Biyang Imperial Capital.

They were not opponents he could defeat at all. He could not even defeat an opponent at the Seventh River Stage, let alone the Eighth.

“Don’t worry. The First Commander is actually an imperial family member, so he holds aristocratic status. He’s responsible for guarding the imperial capital, so he should not be here. The five Thunder Birds must be from the other five commanders,” Ling Xi said, passing Xiaolang’s message to Long Chen.

Long Chen sighed in relief and nodded.

“Brother Chen, do we stay here?” Ling Xi asked anxiously. Since it was midnight and she was not wearing much, she was already shivering from the cold.

“Since they already know that we are nearby, then there is only one thing to do: run. Xiao Xi, put on more layers. I’ll pack up!”

At such a critical moment, Ling Xi did not dare slow down. She quickly wrapped herself up warm. Once Long Chen had packed up, he put her on his back, gave Xiaolang a look, then hurried outside and started to hurry through the vast, hilly terrain.

Long Chen and Xiaolang managed not to make a sound.

They had not run for long when Long Chen heard a thunderous sound, like countless war horses running together. It did not sound like they were low-tier horses either. Based on the dense sound, it meant that there were many chasing after them.

“No! The horses are surrounding us!” The Thunder Birds were currently patrolling the skies. They had excellent eyesight, so if they fought now, the slightest movement would lead to the birds swooping over immediately with their riders.

If that happened, Long Chen would be dead.

Long Chen quickly instructed, “Xiaolang, they haven’t found us yet. If they do, I’ll pass Xiao Xi to you, and I will clear a path! Xiao Xi, you’re unwell, but please hold on! We’ll take care of you when we’ve escaped!”

Since they had not been found, they ran as fast as they could through darker regions, choosing places with the densest tree cover.

The wind blew relentlessly as he dashed through the trees as fast as he could. The Thunder Birds were still flying everywhere, swooping above their heads several times. Long Chen had to stop and hold his breath to avoid being discovered!

Thankfully, with the Soul Swallowing Gaze, he could quickly notice when the enemy was nearby!

While they fled, he realized that the Sight function of this technique was very useful.

This situation continued for about an hour. The Thunder Birds were still in the skies, and the sound of ten thousand horses charging at them was still constant.

By now, Long Chen knew what they were. They were a powerful branch of the imperial capital’s military, known as the Ghost Horse Riders! The Ghost Horse Riders consisted of two thousand Heavenly River Realm cultivators riding Crimson Ghost Horses, which were Category Nine Black-tier demonic beasts. Based on their names, it was obvious that these riders were lavishly equipped. They did not know how many Ghost Horse Riders had been mobilized to catch them!

Man and beast worked as a team here, and with such a large crowd of them, the Ghost Horse Riders were formidable. The commander of the Ghost Horse Riders was the Seventh Commander, while the rest of the commanders were on the Thunder Birds!

There are at least two hundred Ghost Horse Riders and many more royal guards behind them ... This is bad! On top of the riders, there seem to be many guards behind. They seem to know I’m in this forest, that’s why they sent so many people!

Long Chen’s face changed.

The imperial military was surrounding him, so they definitely knew his approximate location. But how did they know? His mind raced, and he finally recalled a person!

Long Chen had bought many goods at Crescent City and even took a map from the shop owner. That middle-aged fat man!

Long Chen did not expect the imperial capital to launch such an impressive operation. Even a random shop owner in a small city could guess his identity when he was cloaked!

It looks like the imperial family is determined to catch and kill me!

Long Chen’s heart was heavy at the vicious determination of his enemies. As he was responsible for protecting someone, he did not show a panicked expression.

We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. It looks like I’ll have to kill my way through this!

At the depths of Long Chen’s personality, the viciousness and violence belonging to the Ancient Bloodsoul Dragon were triggered once more. Very soon, a faint killing intent radiated from his body and his eyes turned a faint blood-red.

“Brother Chen, are you alright?” Ling Xi was worried when she saw him in this state.

“I’m fine. Don’t worry. I’ll get you out of here. All you need to do is listen to me,” he said in a low voice. His voice had turned hoarse, and his thick killing intent showed even when speaking to Ling Xi.

“Why don’t I ... abandon this body now? Then I won’t slow you down. Without me slowing you down, you can run away with Xiaolang ...” Tears welled up in her eyes. She did not want to return to the Ling Xi Sword, but if she didn’t, Long Chen and Xiaolang could possibly die here today.

“Shut your mouth! Don’t ever mention that again, or I won’t forgive you!” Long Chen naturally forbade her. Since it was a critical moment, he had done it with a threat. After the reprimand, Ling Xi bit her lip innocently, tears about to flow from her eyes.

Brother Chen, I’m useless and I’m even slowing you down. I feel miserable.

Long Chen halted. After rushing to this place, he realized there was a valley ahead with two tall mountains by its side. The only way was to go through the valley, but there were already many guards there. There were even many Ghost Horse Riders!

Turning back was impossible. There were more soldiers behind, so if he turned around, he would likely have to fight!

He had only one minute to analyze the pros and cons of each path. Turning around was impossible and hiding meant imminent discovery. The only way was to kill his way out!

“Xiaolang, I’ll pass Xiao Xi to you!” Long Chen did not let Ling Xi argue and placed her on Xiaolang. With Xiaolang’s demonic power, he could fix Ling Xi on his back while fighting. Long Chen and Xiaolang had already cultivated Divine Fire Clone to the highest level, so with such large numbers of clones, they were not worried that someone would attack her amidst the chaos!

After putting her on Xiaolang’s back, Long Chen shot off like an arrow towards the front. Xiaolang followed behind him, knowing that Long Chen was trying to break free at top speed. All he had to do was protect Ling Xi and catch up. He’d leave the attacking to Long Chen!

In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the valley!

Since he was too quick and his arrival was too sudden, most of the guards in the valley could not even react to the large cloud of blood-colored mist that covered their surroundings. The mist expanded throughout their field of vision, and a terrifying increase in gravity acted on their bodies!

“Blood Devouring Domain!”

The Blood Devouring Domain covered the whole army!

“Who are you?!” one of the guards bellowed!