Xiao Chen silently congratulated himself on escaping the Undying King's line of sight. Without looking back, he and the three skeletons charged out of the swamp.
From the boundless darkness behind them, terrified screams rang out from time to time—shrill cries filled with such horror that they set one's teeth on edge.
Xiao Chen led the three skeletons around the Death Swamp, racing swiftly in the direction Gulo and the others had broken through.
The Undying King did not pursue them out of the gloomy marsh. It seemed to be strolling at leisure, merely harvesting a few lives along its path.
When Xiao Chen caught up, he saw Gulo and Zhao Lin'er stumbling out of the Death Swamp on unsteady legs, two or three others in tow, joining with those waiting to receive them outside. They fled for their lives into the distance.
Xiao Chen glanced back toward the swamp. A ten-meter-tall deathly figure loomed in the endless netherworld miasma, apparently gripping a corpse and chewing. Two cold, eerie green beams of light shone from where its eyes should have been, making it appear especially terrifying in the dark, shadowy forest.
"ROAR!"
A thunderous bellow shook the ears, setting the mountain forest trembling. An endless tide of deathly energy surged into the sky, blotting out the moon. In the dim haze, a pair of massive rotting wings seemed to unfold.
Without a backward glance, Xiao Chen and the three skeletons turned and chased after Gulo's group.
Along the way, he discovered two bodies. Their deaths were hideous—their flesh had been corroded by deathly energy into gruesome shapes, with bare white bones exposed in many places.
After only three or four li, he caught up with Gulo and Zhao Lin'er's party. Clearly, both Gulo and Zhao Lin'er had been infected by deathly energy, their battle strength far below what it had been; otherwise, they could not have been overtaken so quickly.
When they saw Xiao Chen leading the three skeletons in pursuit, everyone's face turned ugly.
Gulo's brows shot up on the spot. This day had been infuriating for him—a devastating battle with heavy casualties, and now the threat of total annihilation. He was filled with rage and regret. At this moment, his combat power had fallen drastically; the corpse aura had seeped into his flesh, and if not expelled soon, it could cost him his life.
Zhao Lin'er was a beauty who could topple cities. Though bedraggled, she could not hide her ethereal grace. Yet when her limpid eyes turned toward Xiao Chen, they brimmed with hostility. She had never expected that when they held the absolute advantage, they would be defeated so miserably.
"Milord, retreat quickly! We'll hold them off!"
Ten figures blocked Xiao Chen and the three skeletons, while three others shielded Gulo and Zhao Lin'er as they fled like the wind.
There was no room for idle words. Xiao Chen and the three skeletons surged forward. It was a one-sided massacre.
Sword light lashed through the forest in all directions. With a fierce swing of Xiao Chen's longsword, a head flew off at an angle. The headless corpse spurted a jet of blood two meters high before toppling over.
A shrill scream followed. The three snow-white skeletons seized one man by his limbs and tore him apart. Before the scream died, Xiao Chen's sword struck another. Blood sprayed as the bisected corpse fell into a pool of gore.
The disparity in combat power was too great. Xiao Chen's bloody methods and the skeletons' savagery struck terror into the hearts of the few remaining men. At this moment, they forgot loyalty. No one bothered to block the pursuit—all fled in panic, following Gulo's receding form.
It was a death chase under the moon!
Like a blood-drenched Asura, Xiao Chen swung his sword of destruction in an unbroken rhythm. As bodies fell one after another, his own frame became splattered with blood.
Pft—
Blood blossoms burst as a head rolled.
Pft—
A pierced lung cavity, a body crumpling.
Pft—
A diagonal slash severed a shoulder, blood gushing forth.
…
A trail of blood all the way.
When the last defender's skull was split open, Xiao Chen was already drenched in blood, looking like a god of slaughter. Together with the three skeletons, he once more blocked Zhao Lin'er and Gulo's path.
Several black lines had already appeared on Gulo's and Zhao Lin'er's arms—the corpse aura from the Undying King was spreading further.
Now, only one expert remained by Gulo's side. The guardian said nothing, staring coldly at Xiao Chen and the three skeletons. With a hiss, he conjured a flaming blade in his hand, dazzling and brilliant in the night—bearing both the blistering heat of fire and the sharpness of a cold weapon.
Xiao Chen saw no need to hurry. His opponents' combat strength could not match his now; he and the skeletons held the absolute advantage. Regarding the expert with some surprise, he asked, "How did you conjure that flame blade?"
"Hmph!" The man replied with a cold snort, ignoring him.
Receiving no answer did not anger Xiao Chen. He turned to Zhao Lin'er. "I don't intend to mock you from the victor's perch. What do you think I should do with you?"
Feeling his gaze sweep across her body, Zhao Lin'er's gracefully curved form stepped back. She put away her cold, aloof expression and instead smiled faintly, perfectly composed. "I am well aware that victory makes a king, defeat a bandit. But it's still too early to tell who the final victor will be."
A glance could topple a city, a second glance could topple a kingdom. The Royal Celestial Maiden was indeed peerlessly beautiful, her elegant bearing undimmed even in such desperate circumstances.
"Who becomes king and who becomes bandit—we'll soon see." With that, Xiao Chen faced the brown-haired man Gulo and said calmly, "I won't waste words. I cannot allow you to live and leave a future threat. But before the end, I cannot help asking: what exactly is that scroll you unleashed?"
To his surprise, Gulo answered the question. "An ancient fusion of Eastern and Western incantations, applied through combined techniques."
"And the flame blade—is it also an application of that technique?"
"Correct."
Receiving the affirmative answer, Xiao Chen nodded to himself. The World of Immortality was even more mysterious than he had imagined; many things he would only understand through personal experience.
"Gulo, will you do it yourself, or shall I?" Xiao Chen leveled his gleaming longsword at Gulo's chest.
Far from the Death Swamp, the moonlight was exceptionally gentle. But at this moment, the grove was thick with murderous intent. The three skeletons gleamed bone-white under the moonlight, their jaws clattering open and shut with an eerie "clack clack" that sounded especially dreadful on this moonlit night.
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