I Shall Go Personally

Gazing at the billowing dust, Yao Qianji laughed heartily.

"Hahaha!"

"Such a foolhardy man, one who courts death so openly, is truly rare in all my years!"

The Black Dragon Divine Guards also seemed to relish their apparent triumph, exchanging looks and laughing with gusto.

"Hahaha..."

However.

At the forefront of this smug crowd.

Liu Haotian and a few elderly women merely stared intently at the thick dust cloud. The more they looked, the more familiar it seemed, and the more they felt a sense of foreboding.

After just a few breaths.

Listening to the laughter around him, Liu Haotian couldn't help but glance sideways and speak up.

"You."

"Send a message to the Divine Palace immediately! Have my father dispatch someone to escort this young master back!"

Hearing this, Yao Qianji was taken aback.

Seeing the urgency on Liu Haotian's face, he thought the young master was just impatient to return to the palace, and his chance to curry favor was about to slip away.

How could he allow that?

This young master was a VIP, someone he couldn't even hope to meet on ordinary days. Now that he finally had a chance to build a connection, how could he just let it go?

Yao Qianji quickly tried to dissuade him, flattering with a smile.

"Young Master, please remain calm..."

"This humble one is simply incapable of sending messages directly to the Divine Palace. I truly lack the means and authority. Please set your mind at ease, Young Master. These lowly scum are not worth worrying about. Why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? There's no need for the Divine Palace to send anyone. I will definitely slaughter them all, washing away your disgrace!"

Hearing these arrogant words, Liu Haotian grew more and more frantic!

This damned fool!

Where did he get such confidence?!

Even he, Liu Haotian, couldn't defeat that formidable enemy. How dare this pack of bootlicking sycophants boast so shamelessly?

He was just about to curse in anger.

From within the dissipating dust, Yi Feng indeed walked out slowly.

His eyes held a trace of helplessness as he spoke with annoyance.

"Is that all?"

"With skills like these, you still dare to call people 'lowly scum'? I thought you were something special!"

As he spoke, his gaze drifted calmly towards Liu Haotian.

"Liu, you're always looking down your nose at people, acting so high and mighty, bragging about how amazing your father is... But looking at this, your father isn't much either..."

Liu Haotian's face flushed red with rage!

"How dare you compare that trash to my father! Your repeated insults go too far!"

Yao Qianji and the others, however, wore expressions of utter shock, suddenly sensing the situation had turned dire, their eyes gradually filling with terror!

Before they could even react.

Yi Feng had already drawn his forty-meter-long greatsword.

"Oh, so he's not your dad. And here you were putting on an act all this time. What a waste of time!"

With a step and a leap, he was like a tiger plunging into a flock of sheep!

In just a few breaths.

The sounds of cracking and snapping in the mining area became almost continuous, and the Black Dragon Divine Guards were completely wiped out.

Even though they only provided a meager amount of experience points, since someone had come to rescue Liu Haotian, it meant the real mastermind couldn't be far off. After giving a few instructions, Yi Feng returned to the small town to wait for his prey.

At the foot of the mountain.

Yao Qianji lay dead with eyes wide open, his terrified face devoid of all color.

Liu Haotian watched, gnashing his teeth in fury, almost tempted to go and whip the corpse!

Useless!

A complete and utter waste!

The opportunity he had waited for so long was severed by this trash's arrogance. Now he had to go back to mining again, who knew when he would get his revenge...

For a moment.

Liu Haotian clenched his teeth and looked up at the sky, inexplicably nostalgic for the past.

Watching Yi Feng leave once again, the people in the mining area seemed somewhat accustomed to it by now. The elder from the Shendao Sect also stepped forward with practiced ease, urging them on steadily.

"Get back to mining!"

"Still standing there looking at the sky and putting on airs? Who do you think you're fooling!"

...

Divine Fall Palace.

In a side hall.

A figure sat alone. The hour of Zi was approaching.

The steward elder still hadn't received any message. Clutching the jade slip, his brow furrowed tightly.

The longer he waited, the more anxious he became, and he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"This shouldn't be..."

"That Yao Qianji is a figure of some standing in the outer regions. Judging by his earlier message, he seemed sensible and knew his place. How could he be so delayed? He promised to escort the Young Master back, why is there still no news?"

Thinking he would soon have to face Liu Changfeng, the steward's eyes grew increasingly panicked.

After pacing back and forth for a few moments.

He quickly picked up the jade slip again to send another urgent message.

...

Broken Cliff Ancient City.

Black Dragon Divine Guards' main hall.

In the vast hall, only the Third Elder waited quietly. After who knows how long with still no news, he couldn't help but stand up and stare intently, his eyes filled with urgency.

"Logically, Lord Yao should have returned long ago!"

His mutter had just faded.

A phantom image of a powerhouse from the Divine Land materialized in the hall, angrily demanding!

"Where is Yao Qianji? Why hasn't he replied to my message?!"

The Third Elder hurriedly rose and bowed, his face tense.

"The Sect Master's whereabouts are unknown, this humble one also doesn't know where he went..."

His words were cut short.

A series of explosive cracking sounds suddenly came from outside!

"Crack! Crack!"

Immediately after, a Black Dragon Divine Guard stumbled in, trembling as he bowed and reported!

"Th-third Elder, a disaster has occurred!"

"Lord Yao's and everyone else's soul tablets... they've all suddenly shattered!"

The Third Elder's eyes widened in shock, his body giving an involuntary shudder!

"What?!"

Without waiting to ask another question, he rushed out.

When he reached the door of the side hall storing the soul tablets, the Third Elder suddenly froze as if struck by lightning!

Within his sight...

Soul tablets of all sizes had completely shattered. Even Yao Qianji's soul tablet had turned into fragments scattered on the ground, now just a pile of debris.

How was this possible?!

The entire core combat strength of the Black Dragon Divine Guards had been completely wiped out, their Dao extinguished!

What in the world had happened?!

The mighty Black Dragon Divine Guards, exterminated?!

The Third Elder trembled from head to toe, his legs suddenly giving way as he collapsed to the floor.

Behind him.

The phantom image of the Divine Fall Palace steward hovered in the air, gazing for a few moments before gradually dissipating into nothingness.

...

Divine Fall Palace.

The steward elder slowly opened his eyes, his face showing shock.

He never would have imagined that the entire Black Dragon Divine Guards had been slaughtered. It seemed there was an extraordinary presence in the Northern Desert Wasteland. He had no idea what kind of deadly peril Yao Qianji and the others had encountered.

They had all fallen. What about the Young Master now?

Hiss...

As this worrying thought arose, the steward elder grew more and more flustered the more he pondered. A sense of increasingly dire foreboding took hold, making him restless.

Seeing that the hour of Zi was almost upon him.

He decisively stood up and walked towards the main hall, prostrating himself on the floor to report!

"I report to the Elder!"

"This subordinate deserves death! I previously discovered the Young Master's whereabouts and dispatched Yao Qianji to lead the Black Dragon Divine Guards to respectfully welcome him back. Never did I expect the entire Black Dragon Divine Guard sect to be annihilated!"

"The Young Master... the Young Master's fate remains unknown to this day. I beg the Elder to punish me!"

Hearing this.

Liu Changfeng's figure paused, and he set down the jade slip in his hand.

His usually calm and unfathomable eyes also revealed a trace of astonishment.

"Such a thing has occurred?!"

With just those four words, an imposing aura spread through the hall like a gust of wind!

The steward elder was practically flattened against the floor, answering in a trembling voice.

"It is absolutely true!"

"I do not know what deadly peril they encountered, but the soul tablets of the entire Black Dragon Divine Guard sect have shattered, and no messages have returned. This matter is entirely due to this subordinate's carelessness. I beg the Elder to punish me!"

Liu Changfeng narrowed his eyes, stroking his beard as he glanced at the prostrate elder.

"Yao Qianji..."

"If my memory serves, this man had a solid foundation in the outer regions of the Divine Land. He was, after all, a cultivator at the ninth grade of the Heaven Tier. For his entire sect to be slaughtered is indeed somewhat unexpected."

"This matter... cannot be entirely blamed on you."

"Enough..."

"There is no need to entrust this matter to others anymore. It has been nearly ten thousand years since I last ventured out. I shall personally go to retrieve Tian'er. Along the way, I shall see what anomaly exists in this insignificant Northern Desert Wasteland."

The steward elder was deeply shaken by these words, remaining prostrate in shock for a long time, not daring to rise.

The Elder personally descended to the outer perimeter...

Such a spectacle, unseen for ten thousand years, is bound to cause a great stir!