Chapter 130 - 129: Daylight Ascension

Chapter 130: Chapter 129: Daylight Ascension

HUFF! HUFF!—

A series of heavy, ragged breaths echoed through the mountain forest. It was followed by a large figure running frantically, flashing through the woods and crushing countless dead leaves and weeds.

As the man ran, he muttered to himself nonstop:

"I’m screwed. This has gotten way out of hand!"

"The carrier pigeon was pecked to death by those demonic fiends’ birds. Now I have to rely on myself..."

This fleeting figure was, of course, Stone Ox, who had left the city several days ago to lure out the Blood Evil fiends.

Right now, he was covered in grass and leaves. His hair was matted with caked mud, and his eyes were crimson and bloodshot. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in days.

There was a simple reason for this: the Blood Evil fiends were pursuing him more relentlessly than he had imagined. They came in wave after wave, giving him no chance to catch his breath.

If it weren’t for the Overlord Bloodline in his body, he would have been exhausted to death from running and maneuvering nonstop day and night.

’I need to find a way to circle back for a surprise attack!’

Even though he was in deep trouble, and the carrier pigeon he’d brought had been pecked to death by a Mo Ya released by the Blood Evil fiends, Stone Ox didn’t seem overly frightened. Nor did he waste time blaming others.

After all, this situation was his own doing; he couldn’t blame anyone else.

On the contrary, being trapped like this only made the fighting spirit in his eyes burn brighter.

He was already planning to catch them off guard, charge back one more time, and smash in the chests of two more unsuspecting fiends with the twin iron hammers in his hands.

"Big guy, you can’t escape!"

However, before Stone Ox could find a chance to turn back, several figures appeared on a slope about a hundred feet ahead of him. With a thunderous shout, they blocked his path.

As the voice faded, seven or eight fiends appeared in every direction around Stone Ox, cutting off all his possible escape routes.

"You’re a big, burly guy, but you’re not dumb. You kept changing locations, making it impossible for us to even set a trap."

The fiends surrounding him also looked terribly haggard.

They too were exhausted from chasing the Overlord Body day and night for several days. So, looking at the Overlord Body they had finally cornered, they were all seething with anger.

After all, no matter how they trained or tempered their bodies, they were still mortal. They needed to eat and drink; they couldn’t go on without sleep.

But this Overlord Body seemed tireless. Every time they were about to catch him, he would find a burst of Qi Power from somewhere and instantly pull away, vanishing once more.

In total, the seventy or eighty fiends who had gathered in the deep mountain forest after hearing the news had failed to organize a decent encirclement over the past few days of pursuit—until this very moment.

"Doesn’t that just prove how domineering the Overlord Body is!"

One fiend licked his chapped lips and grinned. "I just wonder what incredible effects the great elixir refined from an Overlord Body will have when consumed!"

"Incredible effects? I could take a piss, and if you drank it, you’d ascend to the heavens in broad daylight."

Perhaps because he was exhausted from being chased for days, Stone Ox retorted rudely, "Want a taste?"

"If that’s not enough, I can take a shit too. You can all share a bite. I guarantee you’ll become immensely powerful, and the aftertaste will be unforgettable."

"Heh heh!"

No one could stand such profanity. The smiling expressions on the fiends’ faces turned cold as they stared at Stone Ox. "Just the squawking of a dying man."

"Let’s hope you can still make a sound after we refine you into a great elixir."

RUSTLE!

While they were talking, the fiends who had fallen behind caught up.

In total, over a hundred figures surrounded Stone Ox from about seventy or eighty feet away, sealing him in completely.

Unless he grew wings, there was absolutely no possibility of escape.

SHING! SHING!—

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the sharp sound of blades being drawn echoed through the forest.

Despite having an absolute advantage in numbers, the fiends still cautiously gripped their weapons and pressed forward step by step.

Everyone knew how formidable the Overlord Body was. Many of them had even suffered at Stone Ox’s hands before, so they were naturally being extremely careful.

They were terrified that a moment’s carelessness would get them turned into meat paste under the Overlord Body’s iron hammers.

"Damn it, what are you dawdling for? Move faster!"

With a look of utter contempt, Stone Ox watched the figures inching forward around him and taunted, "It’s just me. What are you all so afraid of?"

He stood there majestically, a washbasin-sized iron hammer in each hand.

CLANG! CLANG!

He lightly tapped his twin hammers together, producing a resonant sound that tensed everyone’s nerves.

Regardless, the fiends continued to advance, and soon they were no more than forty feet from Stone Ox.

Their formation shifted again, becoming a dense, multi-layered encirclement. Gleaming weapons pointed directly at Stone Ox in the center.

At this distance, for experts of their level, a clash would be over in an instant.

The nerves of both sides were stretched to their absolute limit. The slightest movement would trigger an all-out battle.

"I am a Direct Disciple of a Red-Robed Elder of the Blood Slaughter Sect!"

"I claim this Overlord Body! No one is to touch him!"

But just then, a loud, deafening voice enveloped the entire area, ringing clearly in everyone’s ears. It made them all falter, nearly causing them to charge forward prematurely.

They looked around in shock and suspicion, searching for the source of the voice. Then, a figure suddenly appeared, swiftly stepping on the shoulders of several fiends as he soared toward the Overlord Body in the center of the ring.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

As the newcomer’s feet landed, the five or six fiends he’d stepped on, who hadn’t even had time to react, collapsed limply as if they had no bones.

The man flashed into the center of the circle.

He wore a bamboo hat that concealed his eyes and a mask over his mouth and nose, making his face impossible to see.

He shouted to the surrounding crowd, "The Overlord Body is a gift for my master! All of you, back down at once, or don’t blame me for disregarding our bonds as fellow sect members!"

"You say you’re an Elder’s Direct Disciple, so that makes you a Direc—" Naturally, someone was unhappy. Whether they believed him or not, they questioned his identity first.

Besides, so what if your master wants the Overlord Body? You think others don’t?

But before he could finish his sentence, the fiends saw the newcomer pull out a Blood-colored Jade Pendant and display it to the crowd.

The Jade Pendant, carved from Blood Stone, was clearly authentic.

This left some of the Inner Sect Disciples and elite-level disciples at a loss, unsure whether they should retreat or not.

After all, the man’s status was indeed a level above theirs.

"Jyejyejye!"

But at that moment, a strange cackle came from within the crowd of fiends. As the laughter died down, a voice said:

"Bringing the Overlord Body back to the sect will earn a reward. Killing this Direct Disciple who just served himself up on a platter gives everyone an extra chance to be promoted to a Direct Disciple’s position."

"Today is truly a day of double happiness for us!"

As soon as these words were spoken, the uncertain fiends gradually came to their senses, and a look of delight appeared in their eyes.

That single sentence opened up a whole new line of thinking for them!

’With so many people here, if everyone strikes once, who’s to say who killed this secretive Direct Disciple!’

’Besides, if a Direct Disciple dies, don’t we get a chance to fill the vacancy?’

The crowd no longer hesitated. They looked at the Direct Disciple without a trace of fear, inching forward cautiously, preparing to deliver a fatal blow to both him and his prize.

’So this is the Blood Slaughter Sect’s way of doing things...’

Beneath the bamboo hat, the man’s expression was one of speechlessness.

The newcomer was, of course, Wu Chen, not some Direct Disciple of the Blood Slaughter Sect.

Relying on his formidable physique, he had run for a full day and night. Upon reaching the depths of the mountain forest, he finally saw conspicuous tracks and some moving figures among the trees.

From this, Wu Chen confirmed that Stone Ox was in the forest right ahead.

He had sprinted, following the tracks all the way here, but even so, he arrived to find Stone Ox surrounded by the fiends, unable to escape.

Remembering he had a Blood Slaughter Sect Jade Pendant in his pocket, he thought he’d try to see if he could trick and coax the crowd into letting him leave with Stone Ox first.

He could then return alone to kill these fiends later.

Who would have thought that the title of a Blood Evil Elder’s Direct Disciple would not only fail to intimidate the fiends, but would actually make them eager to kill him and take his place?

Wu Chen was momentarily speechless. He knew this was completely in line with the usual conduct of the Blood Slaughter Sect’s members.

Daring and ruthless.

He had no choice but to put away the Blood-colored Jade Pendant and look at the towering figure a few feet to his side.

"Brother Wu!"

Stone Ox was also sizing up the figure who had appeared beside him. From the ink-black scabbard, he recognized him at a glance: it was Wu Chen, the very person he had been trying to contact.

Not some Direct Disciple of a Blood Slaughter Sect Elder.

As for the Blood-colored Jade Pendant Wu Chen had just shown, it was only normal for someone who had killed so many fiends to have one or two Direct Disciples’ jade pendants.

Wu Chen, however, couldn’t be bothered with pleasantries. He reached out, grabbed Stone Ox by his waistband, and then executed a leg sweep.

THUMP!

The Overlord Body, who had given the fiends so much trouble, fell without any resistance.

Wu Chen easily lifted the three or four hundred pound Overlord Body, holding him as if he were a child.

He scanned the hundred or so fiends and their gleaming blades around him.

WHOOSH!—

Wu Chen pushed his Body Technique to its absolute limit. The force of his movement stirred the dead leaves on the ground into a frenzy, and the surrounding trees shook and swayed violently.

For a moment, the fiends couldn’t help but squint their eyes.

Seizing the opportunity, Wu Chen flashed forward, leaped up, and used the shoulders of several fiends as a path to vault over them.

In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished from the crowd.