“Lei Ying, which direction did they go?” You Feng Yu, the First Trial Celestial Emperor and the Palace Master of the Heavenly Pool Palace, who was standing at the lead calmly asked. His complexion was like jade, and he was dressed in a long white robe. From his bearing alone, one could see he was someone who was used to being in a high position. Although he sounded calm when he spoke, a hint of viciousness could be seen in his eyes.
“There.” Lei Ying pointed.
You Feng Yu continued to ask. Are you sure all six of them are together?”
“Yes.” Lei Ying nodded.
“Let’s catch up to them first,” You Feng Yu said with a cold expression on his face. A cold wind began to stir around him, and in just a blink of an eye, the wind blew across all nine of the titled Celestial Emperors, boosting their speed a level higher.
You Feng Yu had comprehended the law of wind. Therefore, his speed was superior to many people who comprehended another law to the same level as him.
With You Feng Yu boosting the speed of eight other people, their speed was much faster than the person with the fastest speed previously.
Whoosh!
The titled Celestial Emperors from the Heavenly Pool Palace traveled so fast that it did not take long for them to close the distance between them and Duan Ling Tian’s group.
At this moment, Xu Lang, the Verdant Prairie Celestial Emperor, asked, “Lei Ying, is it just the six of them?”
“No, there’s eight of them…” Lei Ying replied.
“Eight?” Xu Lang was slightly surprised. “Who else is with them?”
You Feng Yu and the others looked at Lei Ying curiously as well.
“I only saw their backs. However, one of them seemed rather familiar. I just can’t put my finger on it…” Lei Ying replied with a slight frown on her face. She only had a clear look of two people: Teng Xiong Ba, the Swirling Cloud Celestial Emperor, and Xue Jin Hua, the Golden Flower Celestial Emperor. She only assumed the others, including Pei Yuan Ji, were the other titled Celestial Emperors based on what little she remembered of them. As for the two other people with the group of titled Celestial Emperors, she was unfamiliar with one of them while the other person who wore a purple robe evoked a sense of familiarity in her. However, she could not figure out where she had seen that purple figure before. In the end, she concluded the purple figure must be one of the prisoners in the Thousand Chains Prison whom she had seen before.
At this moment, the Smoke Wave Celestial Emperor said, “In any case, that person must have a good relationship with one of the titled Celestial Emperors since he’s traveling with them. Otherwise, they would not bring him along since he would only slow them down.”
The others agreed with the Smoke Wave Celestial Emperor’s words.
“It doesn’t matter. We’ll find out who he is once we catch up to them,” You Feng Yu said indifferently. Despite the indifference, his eyes shone with killing intent when he spoke.
Gu Chang Jiang, the Martial Dragon Celestial Emperor, asked curiously, “Palace Master, how many prisoners escaped from the Thousands Chains Prison this time? Is it just the eight of them?”
“Apart from the members of the Heavenly Pool Palace who are imprisoned on the first floor, all the others have escaped,” You Feng Yu replied. This time, a hint of emotions could finally be heard in his voice.
“What?!”
“So many of them?”
Xu Lang, the Verdant Prairie Celestial Emperor; Gu Chang Jiang, the Martial Dragon Emperor; the Cold Gloom Celestial Emperor; the Cloud Zither Celestial Emperor; the Howling Heaven Celestial Emperor, and the others were shocked.
You Feng Yu said in a voice that barely contained his fury and killing intent, “Our objective is to capture all six titled Celestial Emperors. As for the other two, just kill them!”
At this moment, Lei Ying asked, “Palace Master, did they kill all the members on duty in the Thousand Chains Prison? Do you know how my son died?”
“Y-your son died?”
Xu Lang and the others were shocked when they learned that Lei Jun, Lei Ying’s son, was dead.
Lei Ying said darkly, “I rushed to look for my son when I discovered his Soul Pearl had shattered. It was then I learned that he was on duty in the Thousand Chains Prison. In fact, I don’t even know why he suddenly decided to volunteer there.”
You Feng Yu said, “I just spoke to the surviving elders from the Thousand Chains Prison to ask about your son’s death, but none of them knows anything except that he was guarding the prison.” After a brief pause, he continued to say, “Usually, six people would guard the prison. These people would be divided into three groups of two. From what I found out, this time a prodigious disciple and an elder were guarding the first floor, two prodigious disciples were guarding the second floor, and similar to the first floor, a prodigious disciple and an elder were guarding the third floor. The five guards are all accounted for. Only the prodigious disciple guarding the third floor is unaccounted for…”
After a long while, You Feng Yu’s expression suddenly turned frosty as he turned to look at Xu Lang and asked, “Xu Lang, do you know who’s the prodigious disciple who’s unaccounted for?”
“Who is it?!” Xu Lang asked, puzzled. He did not know why You Feng Yu would ask him that.
“It seems like you’re truly unaware,” You Feng Yu said as he nodded. He could tell Xu Lang was not feigning ignorance.
“Palace Master, what do you mean?” Xu Lang frowned slightly. He did not understand You Feng Yu’s words at all.
“The prodigious disciple who’s missing is your seventh prodigious disciple, Duan Ling Tian,” You Feng Yu stared at Xu Lang intently as he said, “Tell me, what do you think I mean?”
As soon as You Feng Yu finished speaking, all the other titled Celestial Emperors turned to look at Xu Lang in shock. Those who had conflicts with Xu Lang and Duan Ling Tian such as the Martial Dragon Celestial Emperor, the Smoke Wave Celestial Emperor, and the Profound Heavenly Celestial Emperor carried a hint of gloating in their expressions.
“Impossible!” Xu Lang exclaimed in disbelief. When he felt the others’ gazes on him, he shook his head and said, “It’s impossible. There must be a mistake!”
Although You Feng Yu did not say it outright, the implied meaning was clear: the prodigious disciple on duty on the third floor who was missing from the prison was the one who released the prisoners.
Xu Lang did not believe Duan Ling Tian would do such a stupid thing. After all, doing something like that would only put Duan Ling Tian on the opposing side with his fellow disciples, teacher, and the Heavenly Pool Palace. That aside, how could Duan Ling Tian be so stupid as to release Pei Yuan Ji, the Nirvanic Celestial Emperor, as well? Doing so was equivalent to offending the Heavenly Emperor of the Boundless Heaven who personally captured Pei Yuan Ji. Duan Ling Tian was smart after all; he did not think Duan Ling Tian would do something as stupid as offending the Heavenly Emperor of the Boundless Heaven.
“There must be a mistake?” You Feng Yu said, “No. Xu Lang, you’re the one who’s mistaken. Your seventh prodigious disciple isn’t simple. The Deadly Square elders saw him leaving with the others. Most importantly, he and Pei Yuan Ji led the group of prisoners out. Even the other five titled Celestial Emperors were following his lead…”
You Feng Yu looked at Xu Lang as he continued to say, “From what I know, he only joined us recently. You don’t know anything about his background. In my opinion, he only joined the Heavenly Pool Palace to rescue Pei Yuan Ji. If he wasn’t for him, how could Pei Yuan Ji and the others break the Formations in the Thousand Chains Prison? If Pei Yuan Ji and the others are capable of breaking the Formations, they would have done so a long time ago. Moreover, they did not break the surveillance Formation. The recording had been brought out by an elder from the Thousand Chains Prison.”
You Feng Yu paused for a moment before his tone turned pointed and cold as he said, “The prisoners escaped five days after your student went to guard the third floor of the prison. The elder who was guarding the first floor of the prison is killed by Xuan Bing, the Profound Ice Celestial Emperor….”
Then, You Feng Yu shifted his gaze to Lei Ying and said, “As for Lei Jun… Duan Ling Tian’s the one who killed him. Duan Ling Tian summoned two Ning Dragons to kill Lei Jun. There was nothing Lei Jun could do; the combined force of the two Ning Dragons was equivalent to that of an ordinary titled Celestial Emperor…”
“Xu Lang, there’s more than meets the eyes with your seventh prodigious disciple…” You Feng Yu said with a sneer.
You Feng Yu was privy to this information because an elder of the Thousand Chains Prison had just sent him a message detailing everything that happened.
Xu Lang’s expression changed slightly when You Feng Yu mentioned the two Ning Dragons. At this moment, he realized You Feng Yu might be right. His seventh prodigious disciple was probably the one who released Pei Yuan Ji and the others from the Thousand Chains Prison.