There were six Saint Bone Families in the Azure Flame Domain.
The Dragon Flame Kingdom had the Saint Bone Su Family and the Zheng Family. The Nanye Dynasty had the Saint Bone Nan Family. The Great Wu Empire had the Great Wu Royal Family’s Saint Bone Wu Family and the Saint Bone Ming Family. The last one was... the Saint Bone Shen Family!
Their family was situated near Cyan Sword Mountain, outside the territory of any major power.
They never involved themselves in worldly affairs. Aside from some activities and minor exchanges with the other Saint Bone Families, the conflicts of the Azure Flame Domain had nothing to do with them, so long as no one provoked them.
But now they had suddenly appeared, barging into the old grounds of the Azure Flame Sect and ruthlessly slaughtering a team from the Dragon Flame Kingdom. It was almost impossible that this had nothing to do with the lifting of the Cyan Sword Great Empire’s restrictions.
Upon hearing this, Cheng Yunsu asked softly, "Does that mean the Saint Bone Shen Family was also chosen by Mo Jing, just like Nan Zhuiming?"
The words had barely left her lips... THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP!
The sound of footsteps suddenly echoed slowly from a small path somewhere within the Beast Flame Academy.
At the same time, a faint, mocking laugh rang out, incomparably flippant. "Mo Jing? What kind of bullshit is that? He’s nothing but a steward from Cyan Sword’s Yan Soul City. As if he’s worthy of choosing someone from my Red Sword City."
Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu both tensed, quickly turning toward the sound.
They then saw a small team of several dozen people slowly emerging from the path on the Beast Flame Institute grounds.
Their gazes swept across the group. In the lead was a young man in scarlet robes, flanked by a few elderly men, more than a dozen middle-aged men, and over thirty young people.
Suddenly, another low, frantic voice cried out from the path.
"I’ll kill you! Give me back my wife and son! Give me back my wife and son..."
As the voice cried out, Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu saw a man covered in blood crawling out of the path.
He continued to crawl after the group, leaving a gruesome trail of blood in his wake.
When he got a clear look at the man, Lu Chao’s eyes widened in shock. "Chang Yuan! Brother Chang!"
Lu Chao recognized him in an instant.
It was none other than Chang Yuan, the former number one genius of the Tiger Flame Kingdom.
He was the same opponent Lu Chao had faced during the battle for the Beast Flame placement, an opponent propped up by Dean Zeng Quan and the others through shameless cheating.
It had taken Lu Chao a long and difficult fight to defeat him back then.
Lu Chao had only managed to win that fight by activating his Star Slaying Sword Bone. Chang Yuan had also been Master Fan Jinhu’s junior apprentice-brother at Tiger Flame Academy. Later, because he could not for the life of him break through to the Transformation Realm, he became known as... the strongest under the Transformation Dao.
Hearing his name, Chang Yuan reacted, struggling to lift his head.
He stared intently at Lu Chao and shouted, "Run! Get out of here!"
Stunned, Lu Chao of course didn’t run.
He slowly drew his gaze away from Chang Yuan and turned to the youth in the scarlet robes and everyone with him.
Lu Chao asked coldly, "What did you do to Brother Chang?"
Lu Chao was on high alert.
’The words of the youth in red replayed in his mind: "Yan Soul City" and "Red Sword City," as well as his disdain for Mo Jing. It was clear that another group from the Cyan Sword Great Empire had entered the Azure Flame Domain.’
’But they weren’t on the same side as Yan Mu and Mo Jing.’
Just then, Chang Yuan continued to crawl forward. "Run! They’re going to humiliate my wife! They took my son! They’re ruthless and stop at nothing! They... AGH!"
He only got that far...
Suddenly, one of the old men beside the red-robed youth appeared in a flash, slamming his foot down hard on Chang Yuan’s back.
The old man asked the youth in red quietly, "Lord Chi Ting, perhaps we should just kill him."
Hearing this, the youth in red gave a sinister smile. "No, no, no..."
"Killing him now would be so boring. I much prefer the sound of his heart-wrenching screams. Oh, and... tell him his wife is to receive our Young Master’s favor, not be humiliated."
At that, the old man barked at Chang Yuan, "Did you hear that? It’s a favor!"
Then, the youth in red laughed again. "His son’s Heavenly Destiny Bone is quite good. We’re taking him back to Red Sword City to be trained as an assassin. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for him. Make him laugh for me..."
The old man stomped on Chang Yuan again and roared, "Did you hear me? Laugh!"
Of course, Chang Yuan didn’t laugh. He bit his lips until they bled, screaming frantically, "Give me back my wife and son! Give me back my wife and son...!"
Such a scene, such contemptuous words, made Lu Chao and Cheng Yunsu clench their fists tightly.
The youth in red, Chi Ting, ignored Chang Yuan now, his sinister smile turning toward Cheng Yunsu.
"Not bad, not bad at all. To think another prime specimen would show up."
"Haha! Our Young Master has found a second beauty to enjoy here in the Azure Flame Sect."
At this point...
Chi Ting’s gaze shifted to Lu Chao. He sneered, "Let me explain what happened. This fellow, Chang Yuan, brought his wife and son to the ruins of the Azure Flame Sect. As it happens, I took a fancy to both his wife and his son."
"So I decided to take them and present them to our Young Master."
"This Chang Yuan ended up in this state because he was just too disobedient. It’s an immense blessing for his wife to be favored by our Young Master, yet here he is, resisting."
"He truly has no idea what’s good for him. So ungrateful."
Hearing this, Cheng Yunsu’s body went rigid, and she slowly edged behind Lu Chao.
Lu Chao’s eyes had grown cold as ice. In a terrifyingly calm voice, he said, "You forcibly seize Brother Chang’s wife and son, and you call it a blessing?"
Beneath his calm demeanor was a terrifying killing intent...
"Of course it is. You have to consider our Young Master’s status."
"Our Young Master is the Young City Lord of Red Sword City. Any woman he favors is blessed with immense fortune."
The youth named Chi Ting spoke as if this were the most natural thing in the world.
"I didn’t expect that just after finding one prize, an even better one would show up..."
"What luck."
"I’m explaining all this to you as a ’kind’ warning. If you don’t want to end up like Chang Yuan, you’ll obediently hand over the woman beside you."
His meaning was clear: Lu Chao was to hand over Cheng Yunsu immediately. If he dared to resist, he would share Chang Yuan’s fate.
Lu Chao was so angry he laughed.
He ignored Chi Ting and looked directly at the dozens of people with him. "You’re from the Saint Bone Shen Family?"
An old man stepped forward proudly.
"That’s right. You must be Lu Chao, then?"
"Never mind. You don’t need to answer. It doesn’t matter if you’re Lu Chao or anyone else. Just do as Lord Chi Ting says, or you’ll die without a grave."
The old man didn’t care in the slightest whether the man before him was Lu Chao. In his eyes, everyone from the Azure Flame Domain was the same.