Chapter 538 - Seeing Li Lan Again

“Deity Phoenix Great Sage?” Li Jianyi seemed to be absorbed in thought. “Why did this emergent supreme expert of the Demon Clan in Snow Province suddenly order the army to retreat? Furthermore, Green Flood Dragon King, Nine-headed Tiger King, and other masters were actually willing to obey her order? Has the great demon already unified the Demon Race in Snow Province?

“One-legged Ox King and other demons once fought against the geniuses of the major sects by the Mirror Lake. I remember that One-legged Ox King said that Deity Phoenix Great Sage was waiting for Ding Hao to be the Holy Son of the Deity Phoenix Palace since he had saved his life…” Tang Folei said thoughtfully, “Perhaps Deity Phoenix Great Sage demanded the Demon Clan to withdraw today for Ding Hao’s sake!

“These days, we have been besieged on the Swordsmanship-seeking Mountain, so we’re not well informed about the things happening outside. It seems that a great change has taken place in Snow Province, which definitely occurred more than half a month ago,” Luo Lan, the head of the Water Sword Peak, sighed and said, “Has something terrible happened in the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost? Otherwise, these demons would have never dared to launch an attack and bring down the Mirror Lake!”

They failed to get answers to these consecutive questions.

But when it came to the Mirror Lake, everyone frowned again.

The miserable situation of the Swordsmanship-seeking Villa indeed infuriated them.

The news of the deaths of Huang Shixiong and the others was as overwhelming as the weight of a mountain.

“The Demon Race Clan has retreated. As for Fang Xiaoan and his companions, they won’t dare to attack the mountain again in a short time. This is a rare opportunity for us to reorganize. We can talk about other matters later and ask the disciples of the sect to take a rest and prepare to fight again,” Qi Qingshan glanced around and said quietly.

“Has the Demon Clan retreated?” Fang Xiaoan and the others who were watching the battle from afar; all of them felt quite puzzled.

“What a terrifying scarlet feather it is!” Han Yangjian was still in amazement and said as he shook his head, “Is it a great demon from outside the Snow Province? Even our Head Master doesn’t possess such a strong aura. How could there be such a great demon?”

He turned his head to look at Fang Xiaoan and asked with his eyebrows knitted, “Have you ever heard of the Deity Phoenix Great Sage’s origin?”

Fang Xiaoan lowered his head and said, “About a year ago, this great demon suddenly appeared in Snow Province from nowhere. She didn’t attract too much attention at first, but later she established the Deity Phoenix Palace and subdued ten demon kings in a short period, such as the One-legged Ox King, dramatically expanding her sphere of influence. Half a year ago, in the Grading Meeting of the Mirror Lake Sects, she killed Zhuo Feifan, an inspector of the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost, who was thousands of miles away, with just one blow. For some reason, the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost didn’t dispatch an expert to deal with this demon later. The recent half a month has brought more news that the Deity Phoenix Great Sage is aiming to unify the Demon Clan in Snow Province. I had considered this as a mere rumor, but now she is very likely to make it possible.”

“What? Does this mean that Deity Phoenix Great Sage is not from outside Snow Province?!” Han Yangjian exclaimed involuntarily.

The other three sword practitioners of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect were also shocked.

Uniting the Demon Clan in Snow Province was not a big deal for them.

There were many top experts of the Demon Clan in Sword Province and they were extremely formidable, some of whom even had reached the Demon Royal Realm and the Demon Emperor Realm. They could lay waste to the remote state at will. However, it was indeed incredible that the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost actually didn’t hunt down the great demon and even allowed her to live such a long time after she killed one of their inspectors from thousands of miles away!

Couldn’t the Holy Palace of Mysterious Frost do anything to this great demon?

What the hell was going on?

Why had the terrifyingly powerful Qi Qingshan and Deity Phoenix Great Sage, who was even more dreadful, appeared in the barren and poor Snow Province in succession? This was too weird. The four sword practitioners of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect suddenly realized that they were a bit arrogant. They had planned to take over the Swordsmanship-seeking Mountain Range from the Demon Clan before, but after this, they thought it was somewhat ridiculous.

With Deity Phoenix Great Sage, even the Head Master of the Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect might not be able to take over the Swordsmanship-seeking Mountain Range!

“Do you know why Deity Phoenix Great Sage ordered the Demon Clan to withdraw?” Han Yangjian asked while in deep thought.

“Well…” Fang Xiaoan frowned and said as he shook his head, “I’m not sure. Deity Phoenix Great Sage has always remained mysterious, seldom appearing. I can’t tell what her purpose is…”

Speaking of this, he suddenly remembered something and said, “By the way, One-legged Ox King, one of the ten great demon kings subdued by Deity Phoenix Great Sage, once said that this great demon was indebted to Ding Hao, a disciple of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect. I don’t know if it is the real reason.”

“He got her out of trouble once?” Han Yangjian frowned and asked, “Ding Hao? Who’s he?”

Fang Xiaoan responded slowly, “Ding Hao is a disciple of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect, who entered the sect less than three years ago and has recently attained the Primordial Grandmaster Realm. He cultivates at an incredible and strange speed and is one of the most promising talents of the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect. He was sent to the battlefield when the Sage Battlefield opened, so he’s not on the mountain at this time!”

“Talent? It’s just a small Snow Province in the remote wilderness. How is he qualified to be a talent?” a sword practitioner sneered disdainfully and said, “It’s a pity that Ning Huxiao, my martial nephew, has also entered the Sage Battlefield. Otherwise, you would know what a real peerless talent is if you saw him!”

“That’s right. Ding Hao is just an insignificant disciple who doesn’t deserve mentioning; it’s not certain if he can come out of the Sage Battlefield alive,” another sword practitioner changed the subject and said, “Senior Brother Han, what should we do next? Should we retreat or march?”

After pondering for a while, Han Yangjian said, “We may as well rest and reorganize tonight, and we’ll seize the mysterious crystal mine when our martial uncle Wan Jiansha comes over and breaks through the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect.”

“But the Deity Phoenix Great Sage…” Fang Xiaoan was a little worried.

“It doesn’t matter. We’ve continuously attacked the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect and she has never stopped is. Perhaps this Demon Venerable neither wants to help the Swordsmanship-seeking Sect nor pays attention to the mysterious crystal mine. You can rest assured,” Han Yangjian said with great confidence, “What’s more, our Heaven-Splitting Swordsmanship Sect is a super sect in Sword Province with various formidable masters. We would not fear them, even if the Demon Venerable dares to intervene!”

After hearing what they said, Fang Xiaoan had no choice but to obey them.

As for the Saint of Falling Star and the experts of the other sects who were severely injured, they did not have the right to air their opinions.

Although all of them were powerful people whose words carried weight and had a huge impact on the martial arts field in Snow Province, they were even more inferior than attendants in the face of these four foreign sword practitioners. They had a grudge against them, but they could do nothing but sigh, thinking that the era of the nine sects governing Snow Province was over for good!

“Senior Brother Li Lan?”

Ding Hao could not help but burst out laughing when he looked at the thin boy with willow-leaf eyebrows.

His silver ring kept shining, guiding Ding Hao in his search for Li Lan, the owner of another silver ring in the crowd.

With a slight smile, Li Lan looked at Ding Hao quietly. It was obvious that this young man, who had always been confident in everything, was a little excited about this reunion. Since he was used to be restrained and was not good at expressing his thoughts intensely, he reflected all his joy by smiling.

Ding Hao, however, simply opened his arms to embrace Li Lan tightly.

“Ahem, ahem, ahem…” Li Lan could not help coughing.

He wasn’t accustomed to greeting others in such an enthusiastic way, so he pushed Ding Hao away right away. But Ding Hao’s strength was titanic, so it was difficult for him to struggle free. Feeling Ding Hao’s sincere enthusiasm, Li Lan could only shake his head with a helpless smile.

“By the way, Senior Brother Li Lan, how did you get here?” Ding Hao asked in surprise.

By virtue of Li Lan’s strength, he would have been absolutely unable to go through those ancient roads alone. Therefore, Ding Hao was somewhat curious about whether a formidable man was helping him in secret.

“I was lucky enough to have met a few helpful people.” Li Lan chuckled and pointed to a few martial artists who looked depressed and tired.

Ding Hao looked at them and found that they were all at the six-apertured or the seven-apertured Martial King realm. They had to be from the same sect, judging from their clothes and accessories. These people looked fierce, energetic, and had an extraordinary bearing which could not be underestimated, although they were seriously injured.

“Thank you, you guys. You’re my benefactors.” Ding Hao bowed.

“Uh… Your Excellency Ding, we don’t deserve your appreciation. We weren’t aware that Brother Li was your Senior Brother…” These people were at a loss and quickly bowed to return the salute.

Given Ding Hao’s martial prowess, they did not dare to neglect him at all, even if they were obstinate and unruly.

Moreover, they had helped Li Lan all the way there, supporting each other. Although Li Lan’s strength was a little inferior, he was resourceful and quick-witted. They would have died several times if it weren’t for Li Lan. What they never expected was that the seemingly thin and weak Li Lan actually had a powerful backer like Ding Hao.

“Well? Xiao Lan, are you injured?” In the meantime, Ding Hao also keenly noticed that there were some hidden injuries in Li Lan’s body. Though they weren’t severe enough to be fatal, they would probably bring about sequelae and a hidden danger for the future of his martial arts.

Li Lan was speechless.

Someone else would have been torn to shreds if he would have referred to him as Xiao Lan.

But when it came to Ding Hao… He simply couldn’t do anything to him.

“They’re just small injuries. It doesn’t matter.” Li Lan took a small step back.

“You should take them seriously. Once the internal injuries aggravate, your meridians will deteriorate…” Ignoring Li Lan’s opposition, Ding Hao placed his hand on Li Lan’s wrist. After observing for a while, he knew his condition clearly, but then he was a little surprised. “Hey? Xiao Lan, your strength has become stronger, you’ve already reached the one-apertured Great Grandmaster realm. There’s a vigorous vegetation vitality in your body. Did you take a peerless precious medicine?”

Li Lan was still speechless. He replied as he took back his hand, “I did obtain some treasures.”

He scolded in his mind, “Ding Hao, you damn guy, stop calling me Xiao Lan anymore. Keep your hands off me, especially in front of this many people. It’s improper for two men to be touching each other’s hands in public. You bastard, don’t you know that countless people are watching your moves? I don’t want to be regarded as a freak who loves men.”

But Ding didn’t care much about this.

On the contrary, he placed his arm over Li Lan’s shoulders and said with a smile, “Xiao Lan, you’re indeed badly injured. Well, come to my tent later and I will help you treat your wounds; I can also help you to refine the herbal medicine power in your body. Your strength will definitely rise if we do this.”

Li Lan’s mouth twitched; he didn’t want to reply.

“Damn bastard.

“Why is he describing the treatment so ambiguously? He’s doing it on purpose, isn’t he?”

Everyone around then gave strange looks to Li Lan.

Many people were extremely amazed that Li Lan’s strong background, since he looked thin and weak, and his strength was negligible in the Human Clan. He actually had such a close relationship with the Saber and Sword Addict Ding Hao.

Those who used to find fault with Li Lan felt anxious all of a sudden.

After recently hearing various rumors, everyone knew that Ding Hao was a man who really protected his friends. If Li Lan complained to Ding Hao about them, they would be in deep trouble.

Fortunately, Li Lan didn’t say anything.

He didn’t even glance at those who had once made things difficult for him on purpose.

He simply introduced his companions to Ding Hao in a formal manner.

Those people were the young geniuses from the Flowing Fire Sword Sect in Sword Province of the Northern Region, led by a person named Ximen Yunfei. He was 34 years old and the eldest Senior Brother of the Flowing Fire Sword Sect, whose strength was at the seven-apertured Martial King realm. The other two were also experts at the Martial King realm, who were a little younger and about 20 years old. There was a beautiful and heroic girl named Ximen Feifei, who was Ximen Yunfei’s biological sister.

“Thank you so much, you guys,” Ding Hao expressed his appreciation again and promised that he would do his best to offer his assistance if they needed it.

“Haha, Brother Ding, I didn’t expect Brother Li Lan to be your Senior Brother. We’ve been giving him the cold shoulder these days.”

As for the rotund Song Que, he was also a little surprised. He smiled and apologized to Li Lan, “Please forgive me, Brother Li. You should have told us the relationship between you and Brother Ding earlier.”

Li Lan calmly said, “Brother Song, you’re too serious. These days, without your and Brother Bai’s support, our Human Clan would have been annexed by the Demon Clan long ago.”

In fact, Li Lan was well aware that the reason why Song Que was so polite to him was definitely because of Ding Hao.

If he were unfamiliar with Ding Hao, this high-ranking genius of the Blue Cloud Sect would not take him, a weak man at the Great Grandmaster Realm, seriously. However, being the proud and arrogant man he was, how could he take the initiative to use his connections with Ding Hao to better his conditions?

After they bantered for a moment, the Human Clan gradually fell silent.

Song Que ordered his men to prepare a large tent for Ding Hao, in which all the top experts of the Human Clan gathered together.

In the tent, Song Que was somewhat anxious while he cursed, “F*ck, doesn’t anyone know about the whereabouts of the tenth piece of the map…?”

The young talents of the two races had travelled for so long while suffering heavy losses. At least two-thirds of them had died on the ancient westbound road. Since they had paid such a big price, they had to find all the pieces. It would be too tragic if they failed to find the mysterious ruins because of a missing piece of the map.

A piece of the map was still missing during the original sacrificial altar gathering.

Back then, all the top-level experts thought that the piece had probably been kept secret by someone and it would definitely appear before they reached the ancient road. However, after having waited in that world filled with corpses and seas of blood for such a long time, the talents of the two races were unable to hold on, since no one had come forth with the missing piece.

The Sage Battlefield would be closing in less than a month and a half.

If they failed to find the mysterious ruins ahead of the deadline, the losses would outweigh the gains.

Ding Hao smiled and said, “I do know a little about the whereabouts of that piece of the map.”

As soon as Ding Hao finished speaking, Song Que’s eyes lit up, and Bai Quanshui also looked at him.