Nine Astra Skies

"Run!" Zuoqiu Gongye shouted gravely. He absolutely despised Tuoba Yan. Was he a spy sent by the Xiwu Empire? Why was it that misfortune followed him everywhere?

Zuoqiu Gongye and Zuoqiu Mingye had abandoned Tuoba Yan and leaped away, fleeing madly. Behind them followed a swarm of Venomous Hornets. Getting rid of the Venomous Hornets would be a feat for them.

Like this, a group of Earthly Venerable fighters was scattered like birds and beasts under the pursuit of the Venomous Hornets.

Seeing these people fleeing in all directions, Tuoba Yan grew even gloomier. At this rate, they would be defeated. However, now was not the time for such thoughts. Tuoba Yan raised his palm and smashed a few Venomous Hornets, and jumped toward the nearby jungle.

Seeing Tuoba Yan and the others' predicament, Ye Chen and Little Tanuki grinned at one another.

At this time, the Golden Sun Condor had led Great Emperor Mingwu, Nie Qingyun, and the others to surround the fighters from the Nanman Kingdom. The Golden Sun Condor swooped down from the skies and a Nanman Kingdom Earthly Venerable Rank fighter was killed on the spot.

After the Venomous Hornets oppressed by Ye Chen's Astral Body had caused the Earthly and Heavenly Venerable fighters to flee after being stung, the hornets flew back in droves and chased after Tuoba Yan under Ye Chen's guidance. Tuoba Yan, a beginner Mystique Venerable One, was the greatest threat, so these Venomous Hornets could exhaust Tuoba Yan's strength.

Ye Chen followed after Tuoba Yan and chased him deeper into the forest.

With the Golden Sun Condor at the lead, Great Emperor Mingwu, Nie Qingyun, and the others saw a Nanman Kingdom Earthly Venerable Rank fighter rush over. Great Emperor Mingwu cut him down with his sword.

"What happened?" Great Emperor Mingwu looked at the Nanman Kingdom Earthly Venerable Rank fighter's corpse and asked, feeling shocked. He did not even know the direction he fled in and charged at them the moment he saw them.

After seeing the Nanman Kingdom Earthly Venerable Rank fighter's face, the others then understood that it was not that the Nanman Kingdom fighters were too stupid but that he could not see the road clearly. The Nanman Kingdom fighter's face could only be described as horrible. His face was covered with red sacs the size of small steamed buns and they could not even tell where his nose, ears, and mouth were. His eyes were reduced to a thin line.

Horrible. Ah, how horrible!

Even if someone was punched in the face several hundred times, it would not end up this bad.

Great Emperor Mingwu was extremely surprised. What kind of tragedy did this man encounter?

"It must be Big Brother Ye Chen. This is so fun. I want to find Big Brother Ye Chen!" Little Wingsy let out a whoop of joy and disappeared.

Nie Qingyun and the Eclipsing Firebird smiled wryly at each other. His Highness the Daemon King was too playful. It was a tragedy that these people had encountered His Highness the Daemon King and ended up this way. They were even more awed by Ye Chen. Since His Highness the Daemon King wanted to play, they would just accompany him. If His Highness the Daemon King became unhappy and made them as miserable as the person on the ground, that would truly be… A fate worse than death.

Great Emperor Mingwu, Nie Qingyun, and the others began to search everywhere for the Nanman Kingdom fighters. The Nanman Kingdom Earthly Venerable Rank fighters scurried around like flies without heads and were killed one by one. Each of them had looked horrible and deformed.

Even if there was karmic retribution in this world, what evil could they have done to deserve this?

Seven Nanman Kingdom Earthly Venerable Rank fighters were killed in a row and several others also fell dead.

Could Ye Chen be the cause of these people's misery? What exactly did Ye Chen do to reduce them to this state? They seemed to have been stung by something.

Just when Great Emperor Mingwu was thinking about this, two men flew over from the distance. They were extremely swift and should be around Heavenly Venerable Rank. Great Emperor Mingwu's expression hardened as he drew out a Tier Three spirit artifact sword from his Heaven-Earth Pouch.

Nie Qingyun and the Eclipsing Firebird, who was taking the form of an old man, also took out their weapons. Nie Qingyun's Tier Three spirit artifact - the Emerald Cloud Sword - was destroyed but Ye Chen had given him another Tier Three spirit artifact of higher quality.

The crowd, armed with weapons, looked at Zuoqiu Gongye and Zuoqiu Mingye with hostility.

Zuoqiu Gongye and Zuoqiu Mingye only managed to escape the Venomous Hornets after much difficulty. With a sigh of relief, they raised their heads only to see Great Emperor Mingwu and the others eyeing them up.

"Mingwu!"

"Nie Qingyun!"

The Zuoqiu brothers' hearts instantly sank. They were considered respected in the Nanman Kingdom and they had a good understanding of other nations. It was naturally impossible that they did not know who Great Emperor Mingwu and Nie Qingyun were. They did not know who the old man standing beside Great Emperor Mingwu and Nie Qingyun were, but they had a feeling that he must be of Heavenly Venerable Rank. There were also twelve Earthly Venerable Ones!

"Squawk squawk!" a bird cried from the skies. It was a Heavenly Adept Rank Golden Sun Condor!

How were they supposed to fight like this?

The Zuoqiu brothers were both wounded. One had lips swollen into the size of sausages and the other looked like his eyelids were stuffed with eggs. The swelling would not subside for a while and their strength had been cut by an amount.

"Run!"

Zuoqiu Gongye and Zuoqiu Mingye did not dare to stay and started running.

"Stop right there, you scoundrels!" Great Emperor Mingwu, Nie Qingyun, and the others immediately gave chase.

The chase and fight began.

From behind, the Golden Sun Condor in the sky swooped down from time to time, causing headaches for Zuoqiu Gongye and Zuoqiu Mingye. If not for their silent teamwork, they would have died on the spot.

With a "bang", Zuoqiu Mingye received a blow from Great Emperor Mingwu and almost vomited blood. He continued to run while Great Emperor Mingwu chased behind him.

Zuoqiu Gongye was shocked when he saw this. However, he was being chased by Nie Qingyun and could not get away to help his brother. With a "bang", he repelled Nie Qingyun and fled in another direction.

Nie Qingyun and the Eclipsing Firebird in the form of an old man pursued Zuoqiu Gongye while Great Emperor Mingwu and the Golden Sun Condor pursued Zuoqiu Mingye. The two parties grew further apart.

Now that the two brothers were separated, their strength had suddenly decreased tremendously. They were in even greater danger now.

On the other side of the Exclusion Zone, Tuoba Yan had fled to the west of the Forbidden Zone. The Venomous Hornets did not seem to chase after him anymore. He breathed a sigh of relief and was about to sit down and apply medicine to his wounds when the terrifying buzzing sound appeared. Once again, countless Venomous Hornets poured in from all directions.

Tuoba Yan almost jumped in fright. Why were the Venomous Hornets so smart? They surrounded him from all directions instead of chasing him from just one direction.

At this time, it was not possible. Seeing the sky filled with Venomous Hornets, Tuoba Yan's scalp went numb. What was he supposed to do now?

There was no time for Tuoba Yan to think now. As he ran, he waved his hand and killed one Venomous Hornet after another. However, no matter where he ran, the Venomous Hornets chased after him. Time passed slowly as Tuoba Yan fought for his life against the Venomous Hornets but even a Mystique Venerable One like him would eventually get exhausted. Moreover, the Venomous Hornet's sting carried a burning pain!

As for Ye Chen and Little Tanuki, they watched leisurely in the distance, eating fresh fruits picked on the island.

"As expected of a Mystique Venerable One. His endurance is amazing." Ye Chen laughed. He wondered if the Venomous Hornets would die first or Tuoba Yan would exhaust himself first?

After a while, Little Wingsy sprang forward.

"Brother Ye Chen." Little Wingsy appeared beside Ye Chen.

"Little Wingsy, why are you here?" Ye Chen asked. Now that Little Wingsy was here, would the other party need help? He used his Astral Body to check the situation through the Golden Sun Condor. The battle there seemed to have been decided.

"I came over to see if there's anything fun here. Aha, what's that guy doing? Oh, I get it now. Those people were stung by hornets," Little Wingsy cried excitedly, seeing the frantic Tuoba Yan.

Ye Chen smiled. If Tuoba Yan did not have these Venomous Hornets, he would be at a loss on how to deal with these Nanman Kingdom fighters. A weak teammate did more harm than a strong enemy. The Nanman Kingdom fighters were routed because of that dumb*ss Tuoba Yan!

On the other side of the Exclusion Zone, Great Emperor Mingwu and the Golden Sun Condor had been chasing after Zuoqiu Mingye. Zuoqiu Mingye's eyes were blurry and he did not know which path to choose and ended up running to the edge of the cliff near the sea beside the Exclusion Zone.

"Royal Sword Technique!" Great Emperor Mingwu stabbed Zuoqiu Mingye in the back.

Zuoqiu Mingyue was considered a master and he could sense Great Emperor Mingwu's attack as if there were eyes on his back. He turned and waved his sword to block Great Emperor Mingwu's sword.

Unexpectedly, Great Emperor Mingwu's sword only slashed at the air and his left palm shot out another attack.

With a "bang", Great Emperor Mingwu's palm had hit Zuoqiu Mingyue's chest. Zuoqiu Mingyue spurted out a mouthful of blood as his body was sent flying. He fell off the distant cliff like a kite with a broken line.

It was too late for Great Emperor Mingwu to do anything else. He looked down as Zuoqiu Mingyue fell into the ocean with a splash.

Zuoqiu Mingyue had received a full blow from Great Emperor Mingwu and fell to the sea while heavily injured. There was no chance of him living.

In another part of the Exclusion Zone, Zuoqiu Gongye was also running. Chasing after him were Nie Qingyun and the Eclipsing Firebird.

Nie Qingyun's fat body was not slow in action. He stabbed his sword at Zuoqiu Gongye's back.

Zuoqiu Gongye misstepped and stumbled, and dodged Nie Qingyun's attack by the skin of his teeth. The Tier Three Spirit Artifact Rank sword whistled by his ear, making him break out in cold sweat. If it had been any closer, it would have split his head in two.

"Stop running!" Beside him, the Eclipsing Firebird in the form of an old man swept his fiery palm down. With a "bang", it landed on Zuoqiu Gongye's right shoulder.

Zuoqiu Gongye staggered. A trace of blood spilled out of his lips.

"It won't be that easy to kill me!" Zuoqiu Gongye suddenly drew dozens of darts from his sleeve and threw them at his pursuers.

"Dodge!" Nie Qingyun and the old man were startled as they moved to avoid the darts.

Nie Qingyun and the old man were able to avoid the darts but a Xiwu Empire Earthly Venerable One was accidentally hit by one of them. Blood gushed out from him as he instantly died.

When Nie Qingyun and the old man looked back at Zuoqiu Gongye, he had already catapulted up high in the air.

Heavenly Venerable Ones were able to walk on air.

Nie Qingyun and the old man exchanged glances before jumping into the air to pursue Zuoqiu Gongye. If the Daemon King blamed them for incompetence, that would be truly unfortunate.

The three figures swept across the sky quickly. Great Emperor Mingwu and the Golden Sun Condor were already catching up from a distance.

Zuoqiu Gongye was shocked to see Great Emperor Mingwu and the Golden Sun Condor. Had his brother been killed? A hint of sadness pricked his hard heart. It was more important to save himself now. He continued to flee.

Suddenly, Zuoqiu Gongye saw the array in the valley far away and his heart raced. That might be his final chance!