Mountain and River Festival

Chapter 535 Everywhere is My Home Ground
The Hall of Yama, the King of Hell.

While the Central Ghost Emperor Situ Yue was cultivating, the communication jade talisman suddenly vibrated.

He initially thought it was a subordinate reporting something, but upon taking out the jade talisman, he saw it read: Lu Xingzhou.

Situ Yue was quite taken aback, and subconsciously answered the call: "Looking for me?"

Lu Xingzhou was fleeing, the wind howling around him, and he was still panting: "Is Ji Wenchuan in meditation? I can't get through, so I had to call you."

Situ Yue asked, "What is it? It sounds like you're flying?"

“Yes, I came to investigate Chunshan Pavilion, but I fell into a trap and am being chased. They can’t catch me for a while. I’m leading them towards the Yama’s Palace. You can send someone to help me out. If you can’t get away, you can send some people too. It would be best if you could pull Ji Wenchuan out of his meditation.”

Situ Yue was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Okay."

Situ Yue left her secluded meditation room and called over her subordinates, whispering a few instructions to them.

Then they went to the place where Yuan Muyu was cultivating and knocked on the door. Yuan Muyu was in the critical period of breaking through to the Qian Yuan stage, so there was obviously no reply.

Situ Yue thought for a moment and then instructed the guards on either side: "After Yan Jun comes out of the pass, tell her that the judge was attacked in Chunshan County and I will go to provide support."

The guard bowed and accepted the order.

Situ Yue went to Ji Wenchuan's secluded retreat again and knocked on the door, but Ji Wenchuan did not respond. Situ Yue gave the guards the same instructions and then left the Yama Palace.

Not long after he left, Ji Wenchuan emerged from the shadows, frowned slightly as he looked in the direction Situ Yue had gone, and then quietly followed her.

Old Ji hadn't gone into seclusion at all; Lu Xingzhou had naturally contacted him first.

Dugu Qingli, who had been following Lu Xingzhou closely, never expected that Lu Xingzhou was still planning to test Situ Yue during this tense escape.

The test revealed a minor problem.

On the surface, Situ Yue acted flawlessly, informing Yuan Muyu and Ji Wenchuan, and when neither responded, instructing the guards before going out herself. Nothing seemed amiss.

In reality, simply knocking on the door wouldn't wake a meditating monk; it was more like a formality.

If Yuan Muyu was in a critical period of breaking through to the Qian Yuan realm and shouldn't be disturbed, that would be one thing. But Ji Wenchuan wasn't in any breakthrough period, and could easily be forcibly awakened under the pretext of "urgent matters," so why was Wenrou doing this?
Did they intend to send Yuan Muyu and Ji Wenchuan to meet Lu Xingzhou?

Was she going out to provide backup, or to ambush and kill him?

Of course, this cannot be completely concluded. Perhaps Situ Yue really felt that it was better for her to go and provide backup, and there was no need to wake others up? Ji Wenchuan did not make a conclusion and followed secretly.

As the two fled, Dugu Qingli turned to look at Zang Wanchun, who was closing in, and telepathically asked, "Do you still have time to test Situ Yue?"

“According to Liu Yan’er, Zang Wanchun once had guests from the Underworld. If that’s true, then Situ Yue is very likely involved. We’re not currently fleeing in the direction of the Underworld, and the pursuers don’t know which direction we’ll detour from. Do you think that if we turn towards the Underworld later, there might already be someone waiting to ambush us there?”

"You deliberately told Situ Yue that we were going to the Underworld to verify this?"

"Hmm. Do you really expect them to be able to provide support from this far away?"

Dugu Qingli gritted her teeth: "Although you seem to be very calculating, have you even considered our strength? If we're really cornered, do you think we'll survive? Are we just beggars?"

Lu Xingzhou blinked: "How could we not have considered this? I have my own secret methods for contacting others... I'll go first."

As soon as they finished speaking, the two turned southwest and headed straight for the Yama Palace.

The pursuers behind them were slightly flustered; those with slightly weaker skills overtook them, while the stronger ones kept close behind.

Lu Xingzhou turned his head and glanced at Zang Wanchun, who was already extremely close, his hand already glowing with magical light: "Traitor of the demonic path, stay here!"

"Whoosh!" The surrounding vegetation sprang up like venomous snakes, rushing towards the two from all directions.

Lu Xingzhou spun the fire in all directions, but it couldn't burn the grass and vines.

However, it did provide some resistance. Dugu Qingli's sword flashed, and it took the two of them working together to barely cut the incoming stream of vines in two.

Lu Xingzhou turned his head and chuckled: "Sect Leader Zang, what did you call me?"

Zang Wanchun said righteously, "Blood Refining Sect thugs, don't think that just because you look decent enough, you can wash away the bloodstains on your bodies. Surrender now!"

"Alright, alright." Lu Xingzhou almost wanted to give him a thumbs up: "Then how about you take my Bloodbath?"

Crimson lotus flames surged across the sky, initially resembling a sea of ​​crimson blood. The pursuers trapped within were temporarily hampered, allowing Lu Xingzhou to further distance himself. Only Jiang Chenzhou remained unaffected, catching up from the rear to the front. Zang Wanchun was somewhat astonished: "As expected of someone from an overseas immortal sect, their secret techniques are rare. They can completely ignore the burning and controlling effects of this crimson lotus... this sea of ​​blood."

Jiang Yuan said expressionlessly, "Sect Leader Zang, do you think I'm a fool? This isn't some blood-soaked landscape; the opponent isn't using the Blood Refining Technique at all. Who is it?"

Zang Wanchun turned his head and glanced at it.

Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli were both extremely fast, and after chasing for so long, very few people could keep up with them. Aside from Jiang Chenzhou, a "third-rank" expert, everyone else around him was now at the first or second rank. Half of them were strong individuals from his Spring Mountain Pavilion, and the other half were recruited gradually over the past few days through the allure of courtesans as furnaces.

Like Jiang Chenzhou, these people were also unaware of who Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli were, and Zang Wanchun also did not intend to reveal that the other party was Lu Xingzhou.

Once the truth is revealed, several people will probably be too afraid to act. If you can coax them into taking action and doing something this big together, they'll be stuck on this path forever, including this Jiang Chenzhou who has quite a background.

When Jiang Yuan asked him this, Zang Wanchun simply raised his voice: "Even if they are not demonic disciples of the Blood Refining Sect, they must be demonic people who collude with the Blood Refining Sect. Let's take them down first and then talk about the rest!"

As if to confirm his point, countless figures appeared indistinctly ahead of Lu Xingzhou as he fled: "You evil scoundrel, why don't you die!"

Hong Yin, the governor of Chunshan County, was surrounded by the county's elite forces, including his own confidants and some powerful members of the Demon Suppression Division.

The prefect's endorsement was intended to frame the "imperial envoy" as a heretic and kill him. Zang Wanchun's previous doubts about Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli's identities were now dispelled.

Despite being surrounded, Lu Xingzhou smiled and said, "They really blocked our way to the underworld."

Dugu Qingli: "..."

Lu Xingzhou's expression turned solemn. He took out his imperial envoy token and shouted sternly, "Hong Yin! I am the imperial envoy who inspects all demons and monsters under heaven. How dare you frame and slander me!"

Hong Yin's eyes held a mixture of fear and madness: "Lord Lu is clearly in Tianshuang Kingdom! Are you impersonating imperial envoys and trying to fool Chunshan County into believing we have no one to rely on? Seize him!"

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" Countless powerful energies wove together a net that stretched to the heavens and earth, leaving no way to escape.

Zang Wanchun's superior technique had already descended, and Lu Xingzhou and Dugu Qingli almost simultaneously felt a sense of life force rapidly draining away. That was the life withering ultimate move of the reverse wood element, which had already touched a trace of the wonder of the wood element's origin.

Zang Wanchun's telepathic message also reached Lu Xingzhou's ears at the opportune moment: "Lord Lu actually risked his life for Liu Yan'er. Has he become too careless and underestimated his enemy because he has had too many smooth sailing years? I wonder how long it will take for the Tianyao Holy Land and King Xia to receive this bad news of his silent death here? Haha, hahaha..."

These words were purely intended to attack the opponent. In fact, even Zang Wanchun himself was somewhat surprised and incredulous. How could Lu Xingzhou, known for his cunning, have made such a huge mistake this time? It was practically courting death. Did he really think everyone would confront him officially, exchanging evidence and revealing their cards?

Of course, once their whereabouts are confirmed, we should immediately find out how much strength they have brought. If they are not strong enough, we should kill them directly!

Looking left and right, Lu Xingzhou indeed had no other forces with him, so he could only seek help from the Blood Refining Sect. As for the Yama Palace, even if it was nearby, it was too late. It seemed that Lu Xingzhou was destined to perish here this time.

Dugu Qingli hurled her sword upwards, its light splitting into countless beams to counter the myriad incoming energies. Lu Xingzhou placed one hand on Dugu Qingli's shoulder, simultaneously circulating the Azure Water Cleansing Technique within both of them, the water element barely holding back their withering life force. With his other hand, he delivered a punch directly to Prefect Hong Yin.

He completely ignored Zang Wanchun, who had already closed in on him.

Zang Wanchun never imagined that Lu Xingzhou would have the audacity to ignore a superior-ranking official and instead beat up a prefect... As soon as Lu Xingzhou threw his fist, Zang Wanchun's palms were already striking Lu Xingzhou's back.

But at that moment, an incomparably powerful force of water element descended from the sky, as if the gates of heaven had suddenly opened and the Milky Way was pouring down.

Zang Wanchun felt a chill run down his spine, and instinctively withdrew most of his strength from his attacks, with the dense shadows of the trees blocking the way overhead.

"Boom!" The enormous water dragon burst through the shadows of the trees, its head resembling a real dragon, its eyes both lively and majestic.

No, that's a real dragon!
"Bang!" The water and wood collided, the earth shook, and torrential rain poured down.

The water dragon materialized, and the old dragon king stood protectively behind Lu Xingzhou, saying calmly, "Sect Leader Zang, what do you intend to do to my nephew-in-law?"

"The Dragon King of the Sea!" Those in the audience who knew their stuff, including Zang Wanchun, exclaimed in surprise: "How did the Dragon King of the Sea get here!"

Lu Xingzhou didn't even bother to defend against Zang Wanchun. His fist was already at Hong Yin's face. He spoke casually: "Excuse me, everyone. I never need to bring my forces with me when I go out, because wherever I go, my forces are there... Chunshan County is near the sea. Don't you all know that the strongest force in the sea is not some overseas immortal sect, but the dragon clan in the sea?"

Zang Wanchun was dumbfounded.

He had just broken through to the Super Grade realm and felt that he wasn't much stronger than Lu Xingzhou. At least his own magic would be broken by the two of them working together.

But the Sea Dragon King is different; he's definitely a mid-to-late stage of a super-grade power. Just the Sea Dragon King standing there alone would instantly overturn the entire power balance.

How did the Sea Dragon King come to be... his nephew-in-law?

Lu Xingzhou's identity as the Demon Queen is confirmed, right? But your official identity is Demon Inspector, for crying out loud!
We label you as a demon, so you openly collude with the demon race?
(End of this chapter)