At this moment, students from the Great Wu Empire and others still remained on the arena stage.
In a flash, Lu Chao secretly glanced at Wu Zhiqiu’s subordinates, giving them a slight nod and a meaningful look...
Seeing the signal, Wu Zhiqiu’s subordinates took a deep breath. Along with the two-thirds of the students who sided with Lu Chao, they instantly flashed over to Lu Chao’s side.
They all landed beside Wu Zhiqiu.
Lu Dingtian’s brow twitched violently at the sight, but he ultimately refrained from acting.
After all, he didn’t dare act rashly under Yan Mu’s very nose, terrified he would be killed for the slightest misstep. At the same time, he was still plagued by doubt. ’Why didn’t Lord Cyan Sword Shadow give me or Nan Zhuiming any notice?’
Then, Lu Chao’s gaze shifted to Lu Mei on the stage, giving him a meaningful look as well...
Lu Mei stared back at Lu Chao, his eyes filled with bitter resignation.
He then let out a silent sigh. He took Lu Hanyan’s body from Lu Dingkong, flashed before Lu Dingtian, and said, "Marshal, I was incompetent and failed to save the young lady’s life. Please, grant me death."
Lu Dingtian took Lu Hanyan’s body...
He spoke softly to his daughter’s body. "Hanyan, Father will reclaim the Water Chant Saint Bone. I will have it buried with you."
The moment he finished speaking, he thrust his sword into Lu Mei’s heart. Lu Mei’s eyes flew wide open as he slowly sank to his knees.
Seeing this, the Death Warriors from the Death Warrior Camp cried out, "Commander...!"
However, a fierce glare from Lu Dingkong stopped them. At the same time, Lu Mei clutched his chest and yelled, "All of you... stay back!"
All the Death Warriors froze.
With bloodshot eyes, they stared at Lu Mei, but ultimately suppressed their emotions. They stood silently behind Lu Dingtian, heads bowed, daring neither to watch nor to utter a single word of protest against him.
SHLICK...
Lu Dingtian pulled his sword free. Wiping Lu Mei’s blood from the blade, he spoke coldly to the Death Warriors.
"I know you harbor certain... inappropriate sentiments for Lu Chao."
"Retract them now. Otherwise, you will share Lu Mei’s fate."
With that, Lu Dingtian kicked the collapsing Lu Mei toward Lu Chao.
"You defiant whelp."
"Here is your Uncle Mie. A gift. Soon enough, you’ll be joining him."
Finished, Lu Dingtian let out a sinister chuckle and looked away.
He then straightened up and looked toward Yan Mu on the stage. As a Peak Realm master, killing Lu Chao would surely be child’s play for him.
At the same time, Lu Dingtian was silently thinking, ’After this defiant son of mine is dead, how should I go about asking the young master from Cyan Sword for Lu Chao’s two Saint Bones?’
Lu Chao caught Lu Mei, his eyes already bloodshot.
The moment Lu Dingtian’s sword pierced Lu Mei’s heart, Lu Chao’s killing intent had surged. ’I thought that after dying once, I wouldn’t care about the people and events of my past anymore.’
’But how could I forget?’
The fond memories of his time in the Great Wu Empire were why he couldn’t bring himself to flay Lu Hanyan and strip her bones.
And Lu Mei... he had just shown him mercy, and for that, Lu Dingtian had executed him on the spot.
"Young Master, life and death are ruled by fate."
Lu Mei’s face was pale, and his voice was a hoarse, weak whisper. "You are the strongest to ever come out of the Death Warrior Camp. I’m happy you’re still alive... It was my honor to have been your instructor."
With that, Lu Mei slowly closed his eyes...
Lu Chao, however, frantically poured True Qi into him. His Life-taking Star-devouring Bone flared, unleashing the power of the Star Moon Spring Saint Bone, which coiled around Lu Mei’s heart.
Slowly, to Lu Chao’s pleasant surprise...
Lu Mei’s heart hadn’t stopped completely. Under the influence of the Moon Spring Bone’s power, it would still give an occasional, faint beat.
But then... BOOM!
An explosive punch shot down from the stage, forcing Lu Chao to instinctively drop Lu Mei and flash aside to evade.
He landed and looked up.
Yan Mu stood there, fist raised, and said coldly, "You hick. I gave you time for Cultivation, not to waste on some dead man."
Clearly, Yan Mu was furious that Lu Chao was wasting time trying to save Lu Mei.
Lu Chao glared back at Yan Mu, his eyes bloodshot, then looked away. "Elder Sun, please see to Uncle Mie."
Thanks to the power of Lu Chao’s Moon Spring Bone, Lu Mei still clung to a thread of life. But the Star Moon Spring Bone was primarily for external injuries; this was the most Lu Chao could do.
Whether Lu Mei lived or died now depended on whether Sun Shijin, the Destiny Bone Madman, had a solution.
He had an enemy to face. After speaking, Lu Chao closed his eyes... ’Against a Peak Realm master like Yan Mu... do I even have a chance?’
Lu Chao didn’t know.
But he had to be fully prepared. He had to push himself to his absolute peak.
After closing his eyes, Lu Chao immediately entered his Bone Inner World. In the Transformation Realm, he had only devoured a single Star Violent Divine Bone.
According to the rules of the Bone Inner World, he should have been able to devour three more during the Transformation Realm.
But now, having reached the True Fate Realm Third Layer, he could devour a fourth, and perhaps even a fifth.
This was the Cultivation Lu Chao had mentioned: to completely devour all the Star Heavenly Destiny Bones he currently could.
His gaze fell upon the Star Heavenly Destiny Divine Bones in the distant sky.
Then, without hesitation, he commanded, "Star Fire Roaring Divine Bone! Star Water Chant Divine Bone! Come down!"
The first he devoured during his Transformation Dao was the Violent Divine Bone. Now, for his second and third, he chose the Fire Roaring and Water Chant. They corresponded to his own three Heavenly Destiny Saint Bones, the only difference being that these distant Star Bones were Divine Bones.
Ordinarily, Lu Chao might not have chosen to devour these two Divine Bones; he would have picked different ones.
But now, he had to fight someone in the Peak Realm.
Therefore, it was crucial to devour what was most familiar to him. This would allow him to instantly comprehend the Meridian Maps within the water and fire Divine Bones and rapidly enhance the powers he knew best.
This way, he could coordinate the powers of three Divine Bones: Violent, Fire Roaring, and Water Chant.
He could reclaim the power he held when he was at his strongest...
And just like that... RUMBLE! RUMBLE!
The Fire Roaring and Water Chant Star Divine Bones crashed onto the terrain of his Bone Inner World and were instantly fused and devoured by Lu Chao. Two Meridian Maps appeared in his mind—they were the upgraded versions of his Saint Bones.
Lu Chao’s comprehension was swift; in an instant, he understood them completely...
The next instant... BUZZ! BUZZ!
Within his body, his original Fire Roaring and Water Chant Saint Bones erupted in response, beginning to evolve toward the level of Divine Bones.
In that instant, the two Saint Bones unleashed an even more intense burst of True Qi, pushing Lu Chao into another breakthrough.
At this moment, the entire crowd stared at Lu Chao and exclaimed, "Lu Chao broke through! He’s at the True Fate Fourth Layer!"
Indeed, the frenzied evolution of his two original Saint Bones was what pushed him to a higher realm.
Seeing this, Yan Mu, on the stage, gave a faint, contemptuous smile.
"What a desperate, last-ditch effort. Is there any difference between the True Fate Fourth Layer and the Third?"
In his eyes, of course, there was no difference at all.