The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron
chapter-72

At the Evil Forest's entrance, the caretaker went among the people gathered in order to issue jade hammers and scrolls. The specific profile of each slayer was described on each scroll. The purpose of the jade hammer was to retrieve elixirs.

The elixir on each slayer's body was sealed in a hardy jade bottle; only the force of the Holy King could crack it open. Within each jade hammer, there was a trace of the Holy King's power. With their items carefully packed away, Su Yu and Xia Jingyu entered the forest.

Soon after entering the forest, everyone was completely dispersed and separated from the other teams in the vast expanse of forest. There was silence all around, only the cold wind could be heard whirling in the forest.

Xia Jingyu was alert and rapt with attention in order to safeguard against the unexpected. Su Yu smiled, dilated his pupils, and swept his gaze over all directions; every movement within a five-mile range was within his view. He shook his head in disappointment after he had scanned all the area he could see—there was no sign of a slayer.

The Evil Forest was divided into an outer periphery, an inner periphery and a core. A depth of forty miles belonged to the outer periphery. Forty more miles from the edge of the outer periphery led to the middle of the inner periphery. At the heart of the forest was the core, with a radius of twenty miles.

The slayers usually only appeared in the inner periphery in order to prevent being discovered and beheaded by Sanctuary disciples. It was said that there were scary Level Eight of the Martial Path slayers within the depths of the inner periphery.

In the core, legend stated that there was the existence of a Level Nine of the Martial Path slayer; he was known both as the Slayer King and the Evil Forest King—the two pieces of divine grade spirit elixir were on his body!

After a whole day, Su Yu and Xia Jingyu had crossed a span of twenty miles as they walked through the dense forest with great difficulty.

All of a sudden Su Yu, who had been scanning the forest ahead, twitched his eyebrows as his face adopted a grave expression. He quietly halted all movement and whispered to Xia Jingyu, "A slayer has appeared!"

Su Yu looked somber—was it not said that slayers usually only appeared in the forty-mile inner periphery? Why was there a slayer in the outer periphery?

He combed his mind for information on slayers and his face became even graver, "Is this Fenglin Empire's notorious slayer, The Obscurer? He is an expert in the art of concealment, proficient in the mechanisms of traps, and can cut people down like grass. He once massacred an entire town of weak, elderly, women, and children in a valley just so he could test a trap mechanism—hundreds of innocent people were exterminated overnight."

Xia Jingyu's pretty eyes turned cold. She had heard of this tragedy in her childhood—the slayer's savagery and viciousness often elicited hate and anger from others.

Swish—

Su Yu and Xia Jingyu leaned forward as they quietly walked through the thick forest.

"There are blood stains! He's hurt!" Xia Jingyu whispered when she saw blood with her sharp eyes as they arrived near a hidden cave entrance.

Near the cave entrance, several drops of fresh blood remained, emitting a faint smell.

Su Yu's eyes flashed. He slowly nodded, "Let's take advantage of his injury and kill him!"

He had no qualms about killing a slayer who was completely devoid of all humanity. Su Yu's eyes remained calm, however, and not impulsive as he whispered, "There's a trap at the mouth of the cave, it must have been set up before his injury to prevent enemy invasion."

Xia Jingyu examined the area closely and only just discovered the ground before the cave entrance was slightly peculiar; had it not been for Su Yu's warning, she may not have noticed it. The Obscurer had definitely proved to be proficient with traps!

"Hold on to me, I will use my Floating Light Shadow technique to fly past the trap." Su Yu slowly stood up. The trap occupied the entire area in front of the cave entrance.

Only the use of Floating Light Shadow could allow them to fly across, like a dragonfly skimming across the surface of a pond. Xia Jingyu murmured in agreement and held onto Su Yu's arm.

Su Yu's heart skipped a beat. He took a deep breath and used Floating Light Shadow. His figure was like a swallow flying between the river waves, dancing on the crests. With a tap of the tip of his toe, he floated thirty feet away. His body was as light as a swan, and there was a beauty in his embrace—together, they moved forward against the wind.

Swoosh—

Su Yu easily avoided the large trap at the cave entrance and ducked into the cave. Su Yu did not rush to charge in, however, but instead carried Xia Jingyu with a gentle stoop. There was a very fine wire at the cave entrance—if it had not been for Su Yu's keen, magical pupils and their enhanced observational skills, they may have accidentally tripped the wire trap.

The steel wire was the trigger for the trap; there were three sharp axes over the top of their heads, if they had touched the steel wire, the axes would have unexpectedly dropped from above and cut them in half! A chain mechanism!

Xia Jingyu gasped. The Obscurer's plan was flawless. They had escaped a trap only to land in another trap with scarce realization, luckily Su Yu detected the second trap in time! They made their way past the steel wire by bending over, and the area within the cave cleared!

A middle-aged big man with a bleeding leg groaned in agony on the ground; he matched the supposed appearance of The Obscurer! His cultivation base was a scary Level Seven Lower Tier!

"Ah, it's actually two Level Five juniors!" The Obscurer uttered in disbelief and great astonishment.

Whoosh—

Xia Jingyu's face paled as The Obscurer, clearly injured, unexpectedly stood up safe and sound with a cruel look looming in his gaze as he sized up Su Yu and Xia Jingyu.

"Never mind, it's enough that there's a jade hammer on you. I spent a lot of effort tempting you Sanctuary disciples to come here." The corners of the Obscurer's mouth curled with a tyrannical sneer.

Su Yu and Xia Jingyu were both surprised. So, The Obscurer's injury was intended to lure the Sanctuary disciples inside the cave? The fresh blood outside the cave was left intentionally in order to create the illusion that the Obscurer had been seriously injured!

His intention was to take away their jade hammers! What a crafty Obscurer! How terrifying was an uninjured Level Seven Lower Tier?

Su Yu's eyes flashed; his finger lightly flicked without The Obscurer realizing.

"Start!" Su Yu made the first move!

"Purple Star Thunderbolt!"

Aha—

Violet Thunder Arc pulsed with raging flames.

The air of destruction was terrifying and alarming.

Xia Jingyu also boldly made her move, "Reverie of Dewdrops!"

Crash—

The vapor in the air gathered like it had been summoned by the water god, condensed in the heart of her jade-like palm.

Ten dewdrops filled with pure vital energy shot outward!

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—

The speed of the dewdrops was very fast; they pierced the air, making sharp cracking sounds which were abnormally ear-piercing.

The tyrannical face of The Obscurer froze; aghast, he paled, "Deity Level cultivation technique? Who are you guys? The Sanctuary disciples have never comprehended Deity Level cultivation techniques."

But it was too late; he was overwhelmed and stunned, having to withstand attacks from two people at the same time!

"Invisible Kick!" The Obscurer hollered! He stood on his left leg, his right leg continuously kicking— the speed was so fast his leg was practically invisible. Only a succession of residual shapes could be seen—it was impossible to distinguish where exactly his leg truly was. Even without his traps, The Obscurer's ability was still frightening!

Boom—

Purple Star Thunderbolt continued; its thunder flames ignited everything!

Ten dewdrops, capable of piercing all living things, flew onward—powerful and terrifying!

Ah—

Zing, zing, zing—

The Obscurer repeatedly stumbled back with an expression of horror! His abdomen had a thumb-sized hole, as he had been pierced by the dewdrops. Watery blood flowed from the wound. His right leg was scorched by the thunder-flames, and the sole of his foot smelled charred! He was already down after one fight!

If it had been one-on-one combat—even if the opponent had Deity Level cultivation techniques—it would have been difficult to defeat a Level Seven cultivation base slayer. But the combined force of two people was indeed really thorny. The Obscurer was supposed to be the hunter with his traps, but the prey was more powerful than expected—now, he was trapped!

Teeth clenched, The Obscurer bellowed loudly, "Big Brother! Quickly make your move!"

Boom—

A person suddenly emerged from an exceedingly well-concealed hiding place just outside the cave's entrance! His ability and cultivation base was also Level Seven Lower Tier! His appearance and cultivation base were almost identical to The Obscurer's!

Swish—

This new obscurer easily crossed over the trap at the cave entrance and leaned over to bypass the dangerous steel wire as they stood behind both Su Yu and Xia Jingyu with a sneer.

An obscurer in front of them and an obscurer behind them. Su Yu and Xia Jingyu were entrapped between two enemies from both sides—it was a deadly crisis!

The accursed Obscurer had a sneer on his lips and his eyes bubbled with venom, "Didn't expect that? The true obscurer is not one person, but two people! We hunt, never separate, and from the moment you stepped into the cave your fates were sealed!"

"You dare hurt me? I'll show you pain and torture with my traps!" The Obscurer growled, "Big Brother, together!"

Su Yu and Xia Jingyu were no match for two Level Sevens, no matter how much they had cultivated their Deity Level cultivation techniques!

Xia Jingyu's pretty face turned pale, but she remained fearless and resolute.

Swish—

Su Yu suddenly took hold of her jade-like hand.

Xia Jingyu's hand trembled and she subconsciously tried to break free, but she was tightly grasped by Su Yu.

"Listen to me, we'll make our move together in a moment's time." Su Yu's clear eyes glared at the injured obscurer in front but turned a blind eye to the attacker behind.

Xia Jingyu stopped struggling. She felt the desperate nature of the situation and slightly bit her red lips, but held onto Su Yu's hand.

Together, both obscurers charged forward!

Su Yu and Xia Jingyu, hands clasped together, ignored the obscurer behind them as they counterattacked where they stood!

"Reverie of Dewdrops!"

"Icy Heart Core!"

Aha—

A magnificent scene emerged!

Xia Jingyu shot out ten dewdrops and a pervading deep chill was created!

The Obscurer roared and resisted with his Invisible Kick maneuver!

Ah—

The Obscurer only resisted one blow and screamed in distress! His Invisible Kick stopped midair!

He was supposed to resist what ought to be dewdrops—but they had transformed into piercingly-cold ice thorns! A sharp ice thorn plunged deep into the base of his foot, which had already been burned by Purple Star Thunderbolt. The terrible chill quickly permeated his blood vessels and flesh and caused both his legs to become stiff—he couldn't budge!

The Obscurer watched, helplessly terrified, as the remaining nine dewdrops transformed into ice thorns and pierced his body! All of a sudden, more chills surged through him internally and caused his whole body to become stiff!

Pop—

The Obscurer's body lost all flexibility and crashed to the ground. His two eyes looked frightened, but he could not move! They had successfully overpowered a strong Level Seven.

However, a snarl came behind from the other obscurer, "You're looking for death!!"

Boom—

Su Yu and Xia Jingyu turned around, but it was already too late!

The other obscurer had already charged forward with the speed of lightning, and was within ten feet of them!

A claw, the violent strike of a Level Seven which contained the power to shatter everything, came at Xia Jingyu's petite head. This strike would undoubtedly crush Xia Jingyu! Xia Jingyu was too late to react and she only glanced sideways as she gave Su Yu a sad smile.

Perhaps, this would be her last chance to smile in her life.