Chapter 3429

The savage bear was extremely startled to see another savage bear exactly like itself. It had noticed Ye Liuyun long ago, but with four golden dragons guarding the cave entrance, it had not dared approach.

Now that a savage bear and the golden dragons were charging toward it, it had nowhere to hide and could only fight. In the end, the golden dragons killed it outright, turning it into food reserves for Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun then stayed in the savage bear’s territory, putting away all the golden dragons and using this method to conceal himself.

He estimated that once those experts arrived, they might go explore Azure Ape Gorge. When that happened, he could follow behind them and take advantage of anything they overlooked.

The expert who arrived was Song Qingyun, sent by Zhao Yuan’an. He himself was a Taixu Sixth-Realm expert and had brought ten guards at the Taixu Fifth Realm. With such strength, they were practically invincible in this area.

As soon as they arrived, they released a powerful pressure, and none of the nearby vicious beasts dared approach.

However, they had already received word that Zhao Yuanpei was dead, so they had come here to see whether Meng Yunshan and the others had escaped.

They extended their divine senses and searched the surrounding area. Naturally, they paid no attention to the savage bear Ye Liuyun had transformed into.

Soon, they detected the fluctuations of a battle within Azure Ape Gorge. They therefore assumed that the people who had entered earlier were Ye Liuyun’s group and rushed into the gorge.

After waiting until they had gone far away and once again sensing the sounds of battle from within the gorge, Ye Liuyun changed his form again, transforming into an azure ape and heading into Azure Ape Gorge.

On the way, he discovered several dead azure apes. Those experts had not even bothered to collect the corpses, considering such meager resources beneath them.

Ye Liuyun, however, did not despise them in the slightest and gathered them all up. He also drew in a great deal of blood qi from a dead azure ape to keep the other azure apes from seeing through his disguise.

He then found an azure ape that was barely alive, hoisted it onto his shoulder, and pretended to rescue it. He continued deeper into the gorge.

He did not dare move too quickly, knowing that those experts could certainly probe farther with their divine senses than he could. Thus, he relied on the fluctuations from their battles to maintain a sufficient distance from them. In his current identity as an azure ape, those experts would never stop specifically for him, much less attack him.

He also took the opportunity to cultivate and expand the range of his divine sense. After walking for nearly half a day, the fluctuations of battle ahead gradually settled in one place and no longer advanced.

After that, battle fluctuations came from time to time. Not knowing what was happening, Ye Liuyun also stopped and waited for a while. Only after discovering that the others’ positions had not changed did he continue forward.

After advancing another dozen or so li, his divine sense finally detected the situation. As it turned out, both groups had already reached the bottom of the gorge and were being besieged by several powerful yin spirits.

Hundreds of azure apes had formed a circle around the outskirts to prevent them from escaping, then simply stood by and watched.

Only then did Ye Liuyun discover that there were actually three azure apes at the Taixu Sixth Realm and fifteen or sixteen at the Taixu Fifth Realm.

He guessed that these azure apes had deliberately set a trap, luring the people inside to fight the yin spirits. They had not stopped them with all their strength before, but once the people entered, they sealed off their retreat, forcing them to fight the yin spirits.

After thinking it over, Ye Liuyun decided to boldly give it a try. Carrying the injured azure ape, he slowly approached while suppressing the aura of the Lord of the Netherworld within him, lest the yin spirits discover him.

Several azure apes soon noticed Ye Liuyun. One azure ape of a higher realm even hurried over, took the injured azure ape away, and went to treat its wounds.

Ye Liuyun smoothly followed it into the group of azure apes, staying silently at the back and not daring to make a sound. As it happened, the Beast King was also watching the situation at the bottom of the gorge, so none of the azure apes dared speak. Otherwise, Ye Liuyun was worried that one of them might try to communicate with him and expose his disguise.

He also began using his Golden Eyes to examine the martial artists inside. Of the group that had entered first, only six remained. The one with the highest cultivation was unexpectedly a woman at the Taixu Fourth Realm. However, it seemed that her divine soul had suffered severe damage. She sat on the ground with blood trickling from the corner of her mouth, recovering from her injuries.

The woman seemed to glance in Ye Liuyun’s direction, intentionally or otherwise. Ye Liuyun paid it no mind, assuming that since he had just arrived, she had merely taken a casual look around.

Of the group Song Qingyun had brought, only eight people remained. A corpse also lay on the ground, presumably killed by the yin spirits. Another person was seriously injured, and judging by the wounds, an azure ape was probably responsible.

Dozens of yin spirits at the Taixu Fifth and Sixth Realms surrounded each of the two groups’ formation disks. Some had once been human, while others had belonged to vicious beasts. They occasionally attacked the formations, while the people inside launched sneak attacks against the yin spirits from time to time.

The people inside the formation disks could not come out, because the moment they did, the yin spirits would swarm them. The yin spirits outside could not break through the formation disks for the time being, so they simply kept watch. The two sides remained locked in a stalemate.

If this continued for long, the humans would probably be the ones to suffer. Moreover, hundreds of azure apes were watching them like tigers eyeing their prey. No matter which direction they went in, they would be walking to their deaths.

“Wuuu...”

At that moment, a long, low growl from a yin spirit came from the depths of the gorge. A yin spirit at the Taixu Seventh Realm flew out of the pitch-black yin qi and looked toward Ye Liuyun. It then bowed and made an inviting gesture.

Everyone and every azure ape present was stunned. They all turned to look in Ye Liuyun’s direction.

Ye Liuyun was speechless as well. He had done his best to suppress the aura of the Lord of the Netherworld within him, yet this powerful yin spirit had still discovered him.

The people and the azure apes did not know whom to look at. Some even turned to look behind them. The woman alone fixed her eyes on Ye Liuyun at once.

“Huh? Could this woman have discovered me?” Ye Liuyun wondered.

But there was nowhere for him to hide now. He immediately stepped forward and walked toward the yin spirit.

“Roar!”

The Azure Ape Beast King was also extremely surprised. It let out a low growl at him, asking what was going on.

Unfortunately, Ye Liuyun could not understand what it meant. Before the azure apes could react, he had already walked out of their ranks and headed toward the yin spirit.

The Beast King roared at him twice more from behind, but it did not dare stop him by force.

After approaching the yin spirit, Ye Liuyun began changing his form, transforming into a human. However, he did not dare reveal his true appearance and instead took on the appearance he had worn when killing Zhao Yuanpei.

Everyone and every azure ape present was left dumbfounded, and even some of the yin spirits were bewildered.

Suddenly, the aura of the netherworld burst forth from his body. Yin qi surged and coiled around him, making all the yin spirits immediately take a step back.

At that moment, every yin spirit sensed the aura emanating from him.

“It’s him—the one who killed the heir apparent! Seize him!” Song Qingyun shouted, ordering his guards to attack.