Chapter 338: Great Yu’s Eight Desolates

Meanwhile, Emperor Xia said to the lavishly-robed young man, “My lord, the Great Mansion Lord your Heihuang assigned to my Great Xia has been killed by that Yi Xiaoyao. I implore you to kill him at once and eliminate this threat for good!”

“Oh? He killed one of my Heihuang’s people?”

The young man’s gaze swept toward Yi Xiaoyao as he spoke with indifference. “Years ago, my grandfather was sent by our family to kill Cang Tianxing on Great Xia’s behalf. Now that my family has sent me, I certainly won’t let this man live.”

At these words, Yi Xiaoyao’s eyes narrowed. ‘So, the Cang Tianxing from all those years ago was killed by this young man’s family.’

‘Is it possible that I’m now fated to walk the same path as Cang Tianxing?’

The next moment, Yi Xiaoyao watched the young man stride toward him through the air, covering a hundred zhang with each step. He emanated an air of pure arrogance, utterly disregarding Yi Xiaoyao.

An immense wave of soul pressure instantly enveloped Yi Xiaoyao.

Yi Xiaoyao felt trapped, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. ‘The gap in our strength,’ he thought, ‘is just too vast.’

The experts of the Carefree Alliance fell silent, their gazes fixed nervously on Yi Xiaoyao. None of them could utter a single word. Although the soul pressure was aimed at Yi Xiaoyao, it was also suppressing them, making it difficult to breathe.

Down below in the Imperial Capital, the hearts of the crowd were in their throats.

“Master, when you said things weren’t set in stone, was it because you’d already guessed he would appear?”

The young man from before spoke nervously to the middle-aged man beside him. “Master, please, you have to help Yi Xiaoyao!”

This young man was none other than Xuan Mo.

And the middle-aged man beside him was, of course, his master, Chong Li.

Chong Li wasn’t surprised by Xuan Mo’s request in the slightest. He simply shook his head with a helpless smile.

“Dealing with this Ink Owl that Yi Xiaoyao is facing is one thing, but this is ultimately Heihuang’s business. It’s not my place to interfere.”

Xuan Mo’s face lit up. ‘That means Master *can* resolve this!’

Before Xuan Mo could plead further, the surrounding crowd let out a collective gasp.

High above the Emperor’s Palace, the lavishly-robed young man indifferently raised a hand toward Yi Xiaoyao. A giant, black, icy hand materialized from thin air and slammed down toward him.

His expression turning grim, Yi Xiaoyao unleashed his full power, sending a sword slash at the giant icy hand.

However, his normally unstoppable sword light merely left a faint Sword Mark on the giant hand before dissipating completely.

Yi Xiaoyao, however, violently coughed up a mouthful of blood, wounded by the backlash from the Soul Attack imbued in the giant icy hand.

“Who are you!”

Yi Xiaoyao demanded in a low voice.

Seeing this and hearing Yi Xiaoyao’s question, the lavishly-robed young man just gave a contemptuous smirk. ℴ

“Killing you is like crushing an ant. An ant doesn’t deserve to know my name.”

His indifferent voice hung in the air as the giant icy hand rumbled, descending to crush Yi Xiaoyao.

“Grand Alliance Leader!”

The members of the Carefree Alliance cried out in alarm, their faces paling.

But just then, the immensely powerful icy hand abruptly halted in mid-air and then completely disintegrated.

As the shards of ice rained down, a giant insect the size of two men was revealed, standing protectively in front of Yi Xiaoyao.

Yi Xiaoyao had seen it most clearly. The giant insect had shot out from his waist, instantly expanding in size and using its mouthparts to shatter the terrifyingly powerful icy hand!

But now, the insect’s sharp mouthparts were completely shattered, and they fell away uselessly.

“Disciple, you actually gave the life-saving Spirit Insect I gave you to that boy!”

Seeing this, Chong Li’s expression changed as he snapped at Xuan Mo.

Xuan Mo just chuckled. “So now you can step in, right, Master?”

Chong Li pointed at Xuan Mo in exasperation. That Spirit Insect was exceedingly precious. Since Xuan Mo had no Cultivation, Chong Li had given it to him for protection. He never expected it to be destroyed here today.

Meanwhile, when the lavishly-robed young man saw the Spirit Insect that had shattered his icy hand, he seemed to recognize it, and his expression shifted as well.

“Do the people of Lihuang also intend to interfere in the affairs of my Heihuang?”

His voice boomed across the sky. Everyone exchanged confused glances, wondering who he was addressing.

The next moment, a cold snort echoed from below in response to the young man’s question.

“Hmph! Ink Owl, you junior. Only your father would be qualified to ask me such a question!”

All eyes turned toward the source of the voice. They saw Chong Li take a single step, rising instantly into the air to face the lavishly-robed young man with an indifferent expression.

When Yi Xiaoyao saw Chong Li appear, his heart leaped with joy. He also realized that the Spirit Insect that had just saved him was the very one Xuan Mo had given him when they parted ways.

But when the lavishly-robed young man—Ink Owl—saw Chong Li, his pupils contracted, his face instantly showing deep apprehension.

No one ever wanted to provoke an Insect Cultivator, and Chong Li was far from an ordinary one.

“So it is Senior Chong Li,” the young man said with a frown. “This Great Xia is a tributary territory of my Heihuang. I ask that you give Heihuang some face in this matter, Senior.”

Chong Li’s expression remained dark. “Ink Owl, do you have any idea how precious that Spirit Insect you just destroyed was? The fact that I haven’t killed you is already giving Heihuang more than enough face. Consider Great Xia your compensation to me. Now, before I change my mind and kill you, get lost!”

Ink Owl’s face twitched, but he didn’t doubt for a second that Chong Li would actually kill him, regardless of Heihuang. He immediately raised his hand and burned a Spirit Talisman. A spatial ripple spread out from it, revealing a small Teleportation Array.

Everyone who witnessed this was wide-eyed with astonishment.

‘Just moments ago, Ink Owl had been so unbelievably arrogant. They had all thought Yi Xiaoyao was a dead man. Yet now, after a single scolding from this middle-aged man, Ink Owl was about to slink away without another word?’

The turn of events was simply too dramatic.

“M-My lord! You can’t leave! If you go, what will happen to me? What will happen to Great Xia?”

Emperor Xia, after a moment of stunned silence, quickly cried out in desperation to Ink Owl.

Ink Owl paid no heed to Emperor Xia’s pleas, instead fixing his gaze on Yi Xiaoyao.

In his eyes, Chong Li had appeared solely because of Yi Xiaoyao, even sacrificing a precious Spirit Insect to protect him.

“Your name is Yi Xiaoyao, isn’t it? To be favored by Chong Li… I presume you’ll be accompanying him to the Great Yu’s Eight Desolates. I trust we’ll meet again. When that time comes…”

Before he could finish, the Teleportation Array flared with brilliant light, and Ink Owl vanished from the sky above the Emperor’s Palace.

Watching Ink Owl finally disappear, Yi Xiaoyao felt a wave of relief wash over him. He quickly cupped his fists toward Chong Li in gratitude.

“Thank you again for saving me, Senior Chong Li!”

Chong Li glanced at Yi Xiaoyao with a frown and let out a cold, unappreciative snort.

“Master, don’t blame Yi Xiaoyao. This was all my idea.”

At some point, Xuan Mo had flown over on the back of a giant insect. Seeing Chong Li’s attitude toward Yi Xiaoyao, he chuckled. “After all, Yi Xiaoyao is my brother. How could I just stand by and watch him die?”