Vol. 1 - Ch. 85 - Pursuit!

When Chen Changming felt the armor forming outside his body, his expression suddenly froze.

"Could it be...?"

Without hesitation, he landed directly from the air.

Thud!

The faint sound echoed, small but remarkably clear in everyone's ears. In the next moment, Chen Changming’s face lit up with joy. The black armor formed from the locust leaves allowed them to touch physical entities.

"Doesn’t this mean... we can fight for the clan?"

The realization swept through him. Seeing this, the other souls also understood, and each grabbed a locust leaf. In just a few moments, the bodies of the twenty or so souls in the Ancestral Hall were wrapped in black armor. 

Some even discovered that the locust leaves could not only form armor but also create weapons based on their thoughts.

“Thank you, Lord Divine Tree!”

Chen Changming immediately bowed toward the Divine Tree, then floated back into the air, his voice filled with purpose:

“Follow me, sons of the Chen  clan, and hunt down the enemy together!”

“Kill!”

The many souls, overwhelmed by the change in their bodies, were filled with fierce determination. They had waited so long for this moment—to fight for their clan once more!

Led by Chen Changming, they floated out of the Ancestral Hall, heading straight toward the Liu clan's location.

Outside, Chen Xingzhen, rushing toward the hall, caught a glimpse of the black-armored figures above him. Though he couldn’t see their faces, he felt a powerful sense of familiarity.

"The Divine Tree... this must be its power!"

Chen Xingzhen quickly understood, and a glimmer of hope replaced the worry on his face. If their ancestors could deal with the remnants of the Liu clan, the threat would be completely extinguished.

As the clan leader, he swiftly considered their next move. Without wasting any time, he turned and shouted to the clan members still clearing the battlefield:

"All warriors who have reached the Blood Coagulation Realm, follow me to pursue the enemy!"

"Huh?"

Hearing this command, the clan members were confused. Hadn’t they just been told not to pursue? Why the sudden change of mind?

Unaware of the black-armored figures above, they couldn’t understand what had happened. Chen Xingzhen offered no explanation, but some of the warriors who had reached the Blood Coagulation Realm sensed something unusual. They quickly abandoned their cleanup efforts and joined him, leaving the clan grounds behind.

...

“Clan leader... did our great uncle really die?”

Back at the Liu clan estate, the surviving members had returned, their spirits low, disbelief in their eyes. Many hadn’t even noticed what had happened during the heat of battle.

Faced with the expectant gazes of his clansmen, Liu Zishan could only nod helplessly. He was still in a state of shock himself. How had their great uncle, a powerful warrior of the Innate Realm, died so suddenly and without warning?

What power did the Chen clan possess? Could a clan on the brink of destruction produce an Innate Realm warrior in just two months?

Now was not the time for such questions. Though they had lost this battle, the war was not over.

Liu Zishan looked around at the warriors who had returned. There were eight in total, all in the Blood Coagulation Realm. Four were in the late stage, and the rest were in the middle stage. Though their condition was poor, the core strength of the clan remained intact.

He had also noticed that as they fled the Chen clan grounds, the green light did not pursue them, and the Chen clan seemed to lose interest in chasing after them.

Their defeat had been caused by the combination of the Chen clan's martial arts and the Divine Tree’s power. Yet, Liu Zishan couldn’t believe that the Chen clan had many warriors with the Five Viscera Ascension Technique. Surely that skill came with drawbacks. And the power of their Divine Tree? That couldn't be limitless.

Once they recovered, the Liu clan would rise again. They still had one goal in mind: the Natural Blood Spring.

“Clan leader, what should we do now? Should we leave the clan?” a nervous clansman asked.

Liu Zishan glanced at the group. The battle had severely shaken their confidence. They needed reassurance, and Liu Zishan was about to offer words of encouragement to rally them, when—

“Ahhh!”

A sudden scream from outside startled everyone.

“Clan leader, is it the Chen clan? Have they caught up with us?”

“What should we do?”

Liu Zishan frowned, regaining his composure as his authoritative voice cut through the panic.

“Calm down! Without the Divine Tree’s help, why would the Chen clan dare to pursue us?”

His words brought everyone to their senses. They were, after all, warriors of the Blood Coagulation Realm. If it hadn’t been for the strange green light, they wouldn’t have fled in the first place.

“Let’s go. We’ll see for ourselves!”

“I doubt they really have the nerve to come after us!”

Though their words were brave, the group cautiously moved toward the source of the scream. When they arrived, they found only a few of their dead lying where they had fallen earlier.

Liu Zishan clenched his fists, his eyes scanning the area. Something felt wrong.

“Is it really the Chen clan? If it is, then where are they? How could they disappear so quickly?” Sёarᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

The thought that they might still be in the air flashed through Liu Zishan’s mind, and his expression shifted dramatically.

“Dodge!”

He shouted the warning just as a strong wind whooshed past his ear, followed by an explosion on the ground behind him.

Before he could turn, more screams filled the air, cries of fear mixed with disbelief.

“What... what is this?”

Liu Zishan’s heart raced as he finally spun around. All at once, he felt death closing in from all directions.

In the dim light, he could just make out the shadows—figures clad in black armor.

No... not one, but two... three... four!

“Cowards who hide behind armor will die!”

Terrified yet furious, Liu Zishan struck out with his palm, calling upon his mid-level Innate martial skill, Moon Like Frost.

The blow connected. For a brief moment, Liu Zishan felt a surge of triumph—he had landed the hit! But his smile quickly faded. The figure he had struck was unharmed, its attack relentless.

Liu Zishan’s confusion deepened. His palm strike should have wounded even an Innate warrior. So why had it failed now?

As the shadow advanced, he finally saw the full extent of the situation. The figure bore a deep palm print on its chest—his attack had pierced through its body. He could even see the wall behind it through the shadow's armor.