Chapter 424: First Battle, Creation Peak

Clenching his fists, Nan Zhuiming seized the opportunity and leaped high into the air...

He pounced viciously toward a Flying Bird Demon Beast entering from outside the Royal Capital. Soaring past the beast's altitude, he sneered, "Get the hell off! This Demon Beast is mine now."

Without so much as a glance, Nan Zhuiming immediately lashed out with a kick.

The kick was aimed at the Flying Bird Demon Beast's owner. In Nan Zhuiming's mind, he was the second-strongest expert in the Azure Flame Domain, second only to the Dragon Flame King. Kicking a couple of nobodies off a Demon Beast should be effortless.

But just as his kick flew toward the man and woman on the beast's back, he was stunned to see the man throw a punch in return.

"Soldier-Breaking Fist!"

The words reached Nan Zhuiming's ears.

'How ridiculous,' he thought. 'I'm the second-strongest expert in the Azure Flame Domain. Who could possibly stand against me?'

'Unless Lu Dingtian himself is on that beast, not even Zheng Liling or Zeng Quan could manage it.'

Nan Zhuiming sneered inwardly as his sweeping kick collided with the Fist Force from the man on the Flying Bird Demon Beast.

'He's really asking to die.'

'If he hadn't tried to block, he might have survived. But now, he's a dead man.'

So he thought. But in the next moment...

Nan Zhuiming's expression suddenly twisted in horror as he let out a pained cry.

His entire body was sent flying through the air. The force of the blow shattered his kick, sending him spinning like a top right off the city wall.

BOOM! He crashed heavily to the ground inside the city walls.

However, Nan Zhuiming was a Creation Realm expert. His strength was great enough that he managed to stabilize himself, landing hard on both feet.

CRACK! The stone slabs beneath his feet instantly fractured into a spiderweb of cracks.

He couldn't help but look up, exclaiming in shock, "What the hell was that?"

Nan Zhuiming was utterly dumbfounded. It was one thing to run into the Dragon Flame King in the Dragon Flame Palace—a man whose realm was higher than his own—but to be knocked out of the sky just for trying to snatch a random Flying Bird Demon Beast? How was this possible?

'Even though I didn't use my full strength, not just anyone should be able to send me flying.'

'I'm the second-strongest expert in the Azure Flame Domain!' Nan Zhuiming screamed in his mind.

In the next moment, a figure in black slowly floated down from the Flying Bird Demon Beast, landing atop the city wall.

He was a young man dressed in black, holding a flute made of bone.

When he saw the young man's face, Nan Zhuiming froze, unable to stop himself from crying out, "Lu... Lu Chao."

It was Lu Chao. He was the one who had sent him crashing down.

"Nan Zhuiming, we meet again. What brings you to my Dragon Flame Royal Capital?"

Lu Chao spoke lightly, naturally feigning ignorance about Nan Zhuiming's purpose. For now, he had no intention of betraying Zeng Quan.

Before Nan Zhuiming could respond...

He chuckled. "How about I take a guess as to why you're here in the Dragon Flame Royal Capital? If I'm not mistaken, you came to assassinate my Dragon Flame Master Wang, failed, and are now trying to escape?"

Lu Chao stared at Nan Zhuiming, answering his own question.

"Dragon Flame... Master Wang?"

Nan Zhuiming stared intently at Lu Chao. "That's right, you've called him that before. Don't tell me the Dragon Flame King is..."

Once again, Lu Chao cut him off, providing the answer. "Dragon Flame Master Wang is, of course, an old disciple of the Azure Flame Sect."

At these words, Nan Zhuiming's expression contorted.

"Good... very good..."

"What a Dragon Flame King, what a Fan Changcun, what an Azure Flame Sect. What a grand scheme... But Lu Chao, why have you returned to the Dragon Flame Kingdom instead of reclaiming your Heavenly Destiny Violent Bone?"

He meant: 'Shouldn't you be going after Lu Dingtian?'

'Dammit, I tried to assassinate the Dragon Flame King for the sole purpose of luring you back from the Great Wu Empire, and you just show up on your own?'

'What is the meaning of this?'

"Dealing with Lu Dingtian is a slow burn. I want him to despair, to realize that even with the backing of the Cyan Sword Great Empire, his only path is death. Besides," Lu Chao's voice turned cold, "killing you first is more important."

Slowly, a long spear appeared in his hand, drawn from his Storage Ring...

"Of course, I returned to the Dragon Flame Royal Capital to intercept you."

Lu Chao said, slowly raising his spear. "I just didn't expect such a coincidence. That you'd try to steal my mount."

Nan Zhuiming froze again at his words. True Qi began to radiate from his body as he said, "So you saw through Lord Mo Jing's plan. But you think you can stop me? HAHAHA... Lu Chao, aren't you a little too full of yourself?"

As he spoke, Nan Zhuiming's True Qi surged to its absolute pinnacle.

"The Dragon Flame King is at the Creation Third Layer, so I'm no match for him. But you, Lu Chao? What True Fate Layer have you reached?"

He was certain Lu Chao had made progress recently...

But like Zheng Liling and Zeng Quan, he refused to believe Lu Chao could have broken through to the Peak Realm so quickly. He reasoned that getting knocked out of the sky was only due to Lu Chao's formidable battle intent and superior Martial Dao experience.

Lu Chao gripped his spear, his gaze fixed on Nan Zhuiming.

His battle intent began to surge, and in that same instant, his True Qi erupted. He declared in a low voice, "Peak, Second Layer."

That was right. In the past six or seven days, Lu Chao had achieved another breakthrough.

After stabilizing the chaotic True Qi within him, he had continued his comprehension of the Moon Profound Soldier-Breaking Bone and the Meridian Maps of the ten foreign Heavenly Destiny Bones. Combined with the latent power of the Azure Flame Bone-Refining Pill inside him, this had allowed him to break through to the Peak Second Layer.

It was precisely because he had reached this realm that he had dared to tell the Dragon Flame King in his message that he would attempt to intercept Nan Zhuiming.

Lu Chao didn't have a messenger pigeon on hand to contact the Dragon Flame King directly...

Instead, after leaving the Azure Flame Sect, he had found a pre-arranged outpost of the Dragon Flame Kingdom. From there, he sent all of their messenger pigeons off with his letters, secret manuals from the Azure Flame Sect, and more.

By that point, he had already reached the Peak Second Layer.

Nan Zhuiming's eyes were now locked on Lu Chao. "Peak Second Layer... You're progressing this fast? I absolutely cannot let you live."

With that, Nan Zhuiming stomped his foot and charged directly at Lu Chao on the wall.

"So what if you're at the Peak Second Layer? So what if you're a supreme genius? I am a Creation Realm expert now!"

Despite his shock, Nan Zhuiming was still brimming with confidence.

Lu Chao, however, was ice-cold. He met Nan Zhuiming's charge head-on. "You call that the Creation Realm? A realm forcibly bestowed upon you by outsiders and external forces? How much of a true Creation Realm expert's power could you possibly wield?"

This was the source of Lu Chao's confidence. Zheng Liling and Zeng Quan had also been artificially elevated, making their combat prowess the weakest among their peers. The same was true for Nan Zhuiming and Lu Dingtian; their Creation Realm was the weakest of its kind.

If not for the Dragon Flame King's utter lack of combat experience, he could have been instantly killed back in the Dragon Flame Palace.

As the words fell... CLANG!

Lu Chao and Nan Zhuiming collided on the city wall, spear and sword crashing together with brutal force.