The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron
chapter-81

As Long Xiaoyue focused her gaze, her expression instantly changed.

According to their information, the Slayer King had sustained severe injuries which were hard to recover from. So how had these injuries nearly fully recovered?

"Hehe... Interesting. This is the first time any Sanctuary disciple has brazenly stood before me!" With a grin, his voice pierced the air.

Swish—

The Slayer King slowly rose.

His body exuded a terrifying Level Nine aura; it was as if a mighty river had surged forth and had shaken everyone to the core.

This was enough to confirm that he had indeed recovered.

The difference in ability between an injured Slayer King and a healthy one was insane! They had never expected that they would have to face him on equal ground.

Long Xiaoyue breathed heavily, her palms filled with sweat!

The Slayer King slowly walked down from the throne, revealing his figure as he left the shadows. Slowly, a beardless, middle-aged man with a white face emerged. As he stood still with a cold gaze, the group shuddered with fear!

As he coldly glanced past several people, he noticed the three dead imperial guards outside the palace.

The Slayer King's eyes flickered with hostility and murderous intentions!

"For killing my subordinates, I will grant you death!" The Slayer King's figure was as quick as lightning! Su Yu could not hope to match his speed, even if he utilized space-time manipulation!

Everyone could only decipher a series of blurred outlines—they were hardly able to catch a glimpse of The Slayer King.

They were in deep, deep danger.

As dread filled their hearts, Su Yu sternly instructed his puppets, "Hold him back!"

Swish—

Swaying, the two puppets—unafraid of death—attacked the Slayer King from both sides!

"Hmph! Soul Control Technique! I'll kill you first!"

The two puppets merely made the Slayer King pause for a split second. A pair of fists emerged from the blurred scene, striking the two puppets.

Boom—

The two Level Eight Lower Tier puppets were immediately obliterated!

Simultaneously, a horrifying wave of residual vital energy surged toward Su Yu!

The sheer speed and power of the vital energy was suffocating!

"Careful!" Long XiaoYue shouted as she flashed toward Su Yu, blocking the strike for him!

Ah—

Letting out a horrible shriek, Long Xiaoyue's arms were fractured. She was sent flying backward, blood in her mouth. Even the wave of excess vital energy had been enough to gravely injure Long Xiaoyue!

Level Nine was terrifying!

The Slayer King looked on in cold disdain, "Know your place!"

Swish—

Right as Long Xiaoyue spit out a mouth of blood, a red spherical object came flying out from her mouth. Red-colored like fresh blood, the object shot towards the Slayer King.

The Slayer King assumed it was a chunk of entrails from the injured student and merely smirked. Not bothering to dodge, he grinned coldly and slightly turned his head to avoid the chunk of flesh. "Utterly weak!"

Just as the entrails reached him, however, a ray of holy power shot out from the red ball. The Slayer King's eyes widened. It was not a chunk of entrails at all!

"Explode!"

Not giving him any time to react, Long Xiaoyue softly commanded the ball!

Boom—

A deafening roar reverberated off the walls, it was strong enough to make the floor shake!

Boundless holy power exploded outward with immensely strong destructive power!

A wind whipped into a frenzy as the floor and walls shook violently!

Xia Jingyu let out a slight groan as the wind sent her flying.

Su Yu's expression was shocked—he too was sent flying by the strong wind.

As a last resort, he twisted and seized Xia Jingyu by her waist. With his other hand, he shot out the entwined dragon silk. He wound it around a stone pillar, anchoring them against the strong wind!

As the gusts calmed, clouds of dust filled the room.

Su Yu looked around amidst the dust particles. To his pleasant surprise, Su Yu saw that the Slayer King had died on the spot.

The head had been blown apart—flesh and blood were indistinguishable from one another. He was, without a doubt, very dead.

Swoosh—

Turning into a purple shadow, Su Yu dashed forward, just as Long Xiaoyue did the same!

Both of them descended beside the Slayer King's corpse, in search of his elixirs!

Thud—

Su Yu kicked over the corpse of the Slayer King. Upon revealing the back, Su Yu extended his hand and reached for the jade bottle.

But, Su Yu's hand paused in mid-air. He paled.

Swoosh—

Without any hesitation, Su Yue flew towards Xia Jingxue's side. Grabbing her, they desperately fled outside of the palace.

With a moment's hesitation, Long Xiaoyue glanced towards the jade bottle. Her facial expression instantly changed.

Swish—

Long Xiaoyue's heart thumped crazily as she followed Su Yu outside.

"Qin Mingyue, Yan Chu, hurry up and escape!" Long Xiaoyue's voice had lost the calm and confidence it once had. Now, her voice shook with shock.

The two of them turned to the Slayer King. It was only a corpse, a puddle of blood and flesh where its head once was and a jade bottle on its back. It was obvious that he could not be any more dead. So why had the others fled?

With a chill in her heart, Xia Jingyu, held tightly in the arms of Su Yu, couldn't contain her confusion, "Brother Yu, what happened? Is even his body dangerous?

Su Yu's face was extremely pale and his heart thumped madly. "It's not that the corpse is dangerous, but... that was not the Slayer King!"

"The real Slayer King is not dead!"

Xia Jingyu's body quivered, her face instantly paled!

They had already used the Fire Soul Pearl—if the real Slayer King was alive, how would they defeat him?!

Yan Chu and Qin Mingyue paled as they listened.

"Senior Long, was that not the Slayer King?" Yan Chu and Qin Mingyue's lips quivered.

Horrified, Long Xiaoyue coldly replied, "Correct, that was not him! The Slayer King's back should have two divine grade spirit elixirs. However, there was only one spirit elixir on the back of this Level Nine Slayer. Moreover, it was a normal saint grade spirit elixir!

"Should my guess be correct, that should be the Level Eight Peak imperial bodyguard. But, unbeknownst to us, he must have achieved a breakthrough into Level Nine! Hence, we mistook him for the Slayer King!"

But… how did he achieve the breakthrough?

When they had entered the core area, they discovered a lot fewer slayers than they expected to find—no one had been sure as to where all the other slayers had gone.

Now, the answer was clear! They had all been killed by the Slayer King and his four imperial bodyguards, and their spirit elixirs had been used to raise the lead bodyguard's cultivation base!

The real Slayer King must be nearby!

Yan Chu and Qin Mingyue paled; the real Slayer King was still alive!

A profound shock was felt throughout the group! Without any prodding, everyone bolted—fueled by terror and adrenaline.

Swish—

Rays of light and shadows blurred together as they rushed through the gloomy forest. They ran nonstop for three days and three nights like their heels were on fire. They only stopped once, briefly, when their stamina was fully burned out. The escape tested their will to survive and forced them to give every ounce of energy they could into their speed—only Xia Jingyu, carried by Su Yu, made it to the other side safe and sound. The rest of the group emerged looking like beggars, their clothing in tatters and dark circles under their eyes.

Even Long Xiaoyue's leather clothing was torn in many areas, revealing her dazzling snow-white skin.

The only good thing was that, although tiring, the three days of continuous escape proved to be worth it.

Panting, Yan Chu and Qing Mingyue stopped to catch their breaths.

"Senior Long, we are a long ways away from the inner core area and will soon reach the outer periphery. It's really unlikely the Slayer King has followed us this far."

Long Xiaoyue thought for a moment before lightly nodding her head. She looked at Su Yu and Xia Jingyu, " What do you two think, should we rest here for a short while to recover a bit?" Three days of continuous escape had taken a lot out of her.

Su Yu shook his head lightly. He had no intention of slowing down. "The day you let your guard down is the day you die. As long as I'm in the Evil Forest, I will not stop!"

Swish—

Su Yu disappeared from their line of sight, his voice echoing in their minds.

Long Xiaoyue could not help but agree with Su Yu. As long as they remained in the Evil Forest, they were in no position to relax.

Yan Chu coldly scoffed, "Senior Long, why bother with people like him? To put it nicely, he is being cautious. To be blunt, he is merely as timid as a mouse!"

Qin Mingyue also did not like Su Yu, as he had taken many elixirs. "We are too far away from the Slayer King. Even with his Level Nine Lower Tier ability, it will be difficult for him to catch up to us. Obviously, Su Yu lacks the ability to correctly assess situations. Leave him be, let us proceed with our rest," Qin Mingyue agreed.

Seeing their calm and relaxed posture, Long Xiaoyue could tell they were adamant about resting, and she could do nothing about it. Although she clearly understood Su Yu was the wisest person, she could not bear to leave the two of them behind. As such, she was left with no choice but to rest.

The three of them rested peacefully on top of a huge, ancient tree.

All of a sudden, Long Xiaoyue noticed a collection of shifting shadows among the trees. Reflexively, she raised her head and looked toward them.

What she saw sent terror down her spine!

Atop the tree branches stood a middle-aged man.

Wearing a gray colored robe, the man had handsome facial features and a pair of bright eyes; he was surrounded by a kingly aura.

With his hands clasped behind his back, the man stood in a relaxed manner. As if a cat preying on a mouse, he watched the three of them from above.

The man was so silent, it was as if he was one with nature. If Long Xiaoyue had not reflexively glanced up, they may have never noticed him!

Instantly, as though Long Xiaoyue's throat was blocked by something, she squeezed out a few words with great difficulty, "It's the Slayer King! Level Nine Upper Tier!"

It was indeed highly improbable for a Level Nine Lower Tier Slayer King to catch up with them. However, for a Level Nine Upper Tier, he could catch up to them easily.

Yan Chu and Qin Mingyue raised their heads and were instantly terrified.

Not only had the Slayer King chased after them, but he had been standing above their heads for the whole time!

The Slayer King had been keeping up with them the whole time—hidden in the shadows!

Yan Chu's whole body stiffened—he was too terrified to move!

Swish—

Relying solely on his instincts, Qin Mingyue forcefully suppressed his fear and swiftly fled for his life!

"No!" Long Xiaoyue screamed in shock, but it was already too late to stop him.

"Game over for the escaping mouse!" the Slayer King joked.

Extending a finger, the Slayer King pointed at Qin Mingyue.

A few hundred feet away, Qin Mingyue's body exploded, turning into a rain of blood!

Long Xiaoyue shuddered deeply, immensely regretful!

Had she known earlier, she should have followed Su Yu and escaped. She might have had a chance of surviving if she had escaped when she'd had the chance.

Retracting his finger, the Slayer King's eye looked at them mockingly, "Among the five of you, only the kid in purple intrigued me—and, even then, just barely. Follow me!"

Swish—

The Slayer King flew in the direction Su Yu had gone.

Long Xiaoyue lightly bit her lips but dared not defy his order. She followed behind the Slayer King.

The Slayer King had still paid slight attention to her—if she had tried to escape, he would have killed her in an instant!