Lu Chao’s face was grim. He gripped his spear, took another step forward, and shouted, "Everyone, gather your power!"
He didn’t wait for a response, but instead continued to use the Dragon General Bone to mobilize everyone’s True Qi.
His calm eyes were fixed on the Middle-aged Man in Black Armor.
No matter what, Lu Chao would not let his own people be beaten for no reason. He could not just stand by and watch Dongfang Ren get sent flying.
Initially, Lu Chao hadn’t known the strength of the Middle-aged Man in Black Armor, but he had a good measure of it now. A fight wasn’t completely out of the question.
Of course, Lu Chao was also extremely surprised by the sudden arrival of people from the Cyan Sword Great Empire.
But he quickly calmed down. Considering what the Dragon Flame King had said, the previous mention of the Cyan Sword Great Empire entering the Azure Flame Domain to train their troops and hunt, plus Nan Zhuiming’s utterly suspicious behavior...
...the sudden arrival of the Cyan Sword Great Empire couldn’t be considered all that surprising.
He just hadn’t expected them to show up right at the site of the Three Academies’ Hegemony Tournament.
While Lu Dingtian and the others had been busy speaking with that Young Master Yan Mu, Lu Chao had already begun observing everything.
Clearly, Nan Zhuiming and this Yan Mu did not know each other.
It was possible that the person from Cyan Sword who had contacted Nan Zhuiming was not from the same faction as this Yan Mu.
It was also possible they were from the same faction, but Yan Mu simply wasn’t aware of Nan Zhuiming’s existence.
In any case, none of that mattered. The most important thing was that Yan Mu’s arrival had defused the tense situation. This meant the troops from the Hundred Countries would be able to arrive before a major battle broke out, which was excellent news for Lu Chao.
A cold battle intent surfaced in Lu Chao’s eyes. ’Clearly, they aren’t strong enough to completely ignore the might of our combined forces.’
A battle with the Cyan Sword Great Empire was inevitable. Getting a read on them in advance was a good thing.
As Lu Chao raised his longspear, the battle intent of everyone from Dragon Flame and the Hundred Countries was ignited, and their combined aura began to rise.
Wu Zhiqiu seemed out of place in this contingent.
But he marveled inwardly, ’As expected of General Lu Chao. Such a powerful presence.’
The Middle-aged Man in Black Armor stared coldly at Lu Chao, his own aura rising as well. The explosive True Qi erupting from his body caused the ground to crack.
Lu Dingtian and the other Peak Realm masters who had been blasted to the ground struggled back to their feet one by one.
Nan Zhuiming couldn’t help but say hatefully, "That little bastard Lu Chao is just courting death! How dare he actually resist someone from Cyan Sword."
The True Qi in their bodies, violently agitated by the attack from the Middle-aged Man in Black Armor, was still causing them immense discomfort.
Clearly, the Middle-aged Man in Black Armor was at least in the Creation Realm.
Just as the situation grew increasingly tense, an arrogant voice rang out again: "Niu Dong, return."
Upon hearing this, the Middle-aged Man in Black Armor shot Lu Chao a vicious glare before flashing back to Yan Mu’s side. This brought expressions of immense disappointment to the faces of Lu Dingtian and the others. Why had they suddenly stopped fighting?
At that moment, Yan Mu said-leisurely, "I came to fight the so-called geniuses of the Azure Flame Domain. For now, I’m not here to start a war."
"However..."
After a short pause, Yan Mu’s eyes suddenly turned cold as he glared at Lu Chao. "But if you, you country bumpkin, are looking to die, this young master can grant your wish. My Sword-Winged Ice Wolf could easily kill all of you."
As he spoke, Yan Mu pointed to the terrifying Demon Wolf floating in the sky.
So, its name was Sword-Winged Ice Wolf!
"Judging by your aura and age, you must be one of the geniuses from the Azure Flame Domain’s Three Academies’ Hegemony Tournament, right?"
"I’ll give you a chance to live. Get on the tournament stage and defeat me."
"If you defeat me, I’ll forgive your disrespect. But if I win..."
"...then you will die on that stage. And if you dare to run, everyone behind you will die here."
Yan Mu pointed at Lu Chao again, his posture dripping with condescension.
The corner of his mouth was still pulled into a smile, showing he didn’t take Lu Chao seriously in the slightest. His look practically screamed, ’Hurry up and come to your death.’
Meanwhile, Lu Chao slowly retracted his longspear...
He looked at Yan Mu on the stage, finally nodded, and replied, "Alright. But if you lose, don’t throw a fit."
The moment he said that... HAHAHA!
Yan Mu’s expression contorted before he let out a heaven-shaking, wild laugh. Still laughing, he pointed at Lu Chao and said, "On your own? If I’m not mistaken, you’re only at the True Fate Third Layer. Why don’t you take a look at what realm this young master is at..."
BOOM...
True Qi suddenly exploded from Yan Mu’s body. It was impossible to tell the grade of his Heavenly Destiny Bone, but his cultivation had reached the Peak Realm.
His aura was incredibly dense, and the presence of his Heavenly Destiny Bone made all the Saint Bone holders present tremble uncontrollably.
Zeng Quan couldn’t help but take a step back, saying in terror, "So young, and already at the Peak Realm... and his Heavenly Destiny Bone is definitely Divine Bone Level. Is this the Cyan Sword Great Empire? This is just too terrifying, isn’t it?"
The masters in the crowd all swallowed hard. It was, indeed, terrifying.
"The Lu Chao of the past was already considered a genius, but compared to this young master, he’s not even in the same league."
"Lu Chao’s three Heavenly Destiny Saint Bones are naturally no match for a Divine Bone Level existence."
"A Divine Bone... I’ve never even seen one before."
Murmurs rose continuously from below the stage. Whether they were important figures or common cultivators, everyone was stunned.
Yan Mu was very satisfied with the crowd’s reaction; he loved watching these country bumpkins marvel at him. He slowly withdrew his True Qi and looked at Lu Chao again. "Well? Do you still dare to come up on the stage?"
To this, Lu Chao’s expression remained unchanged as he said, "Just make sure you don’t throw a fit when you lose."
He was just repeating himself...
Everyone glared at Lu Chao. How could he still be so audacious?!
Yan Mu’s expression gradually turned cold, and his guards, including the Middle-aged Man in Black Armor, also revealed killing intent. But Yan Mu immediately laughed. "A country bumpkin is a country bumpkin. After running wild in this trashy Azure Flame Domain, you really don’t know your place."
’In his eyes, Lu Chao was simply being blindly confident.’
’This bumpkin’s confidence is born from his dominance in the Azure Flame Domain. He has no idea how terrifying people from outside of it truly are.’
Having come to this realization, Yan Mu wasn’t the least bit angry. He even said to the guards behind him, "All of you, withdraw your killing intent. There’s no need to get angry at the king of an anthill."
Including the Middle-aged Man in Black Armor, all the guards agreed with Yan Mu’s assessment and immediately withdrew their killing intent.
Yan Mu looked at Lu Chao again and laughed. "Don’t you worry. If I really lose, I absolutely won’t get angry... HAHAHA!"
As if it were the funniest thing in the world, he couldn’t help but burst into laughter again.
In response, Lu Chao spoke indifferently, "Fine. You clear the stage first. I’m going to cultivate for a bit."
The crowd was stunned once more...
Yan Mu, for his part, was once again annoyed by Lu Chao’s attitude. But he quickly decided it wasn’t worth bickering with an ant king and immediately nodded. "Need to cram at the last minute? No problem. I’ll indulge you."
The Middle-aged Man in Black Armor, Niu Dong, stepped forward heavily. "Everyone on the stage, get the hell off now."