Chapter 1358 (Raw 1348):
Although the bronze sword box slowed Xiao Chen's speed somewhat, his Fish Dragon Art already allowed him to break the limit imposed by air resistance.
Despite setting off later, Xiao Chen caught up to the two fleeing Corpse Race Martial Emperors in a few breaths, shortening the distance between them to just ten kilometers.
"How is he so fast?!"
The two Corpse Race Martial Emperors were shocked. In their fluster, they steeled themselves and chose to take the risk of tearing space and traveling in the void to move faster.
Traveling in the void without comprehending the state of space was extremely dangerous. That place had space and time flowing continuously. If one was not careful, one might run into these currents and either be sliced into countless pieces or lost in the space-time flow forever.
Hence, even though Martial Emperors could tear space, few would do so when fleeing. They feared that they might get careless in their fluster and get swept up in the space-time flow.
Martial Emperors preferred to travel through the void when they were calm.
Of course, this only applied to the lands of the Kunlun Realm where space was more stable. They would not dare to tear space casually in the boundless Starry Heavens, even if they had enough time and were calm. They feared they would be careless and trigger a starry heaven storm, which would result in them dying without a corpse.
When Xiao Chen saw this, he did not panic. Even if the two entered the void, their speed still could not match his in the short run. As long as he attacked fast enough, he could force the two out.
"Whoosh! Whoosh!"
Xiao Chen's figure flickered in the air twice. Each time he stopped, he sent a palm strike containing Primordial Energy at the void, shaking space and causing it to tremble.
With each palm strike, Xiao Chen knocked a Corpse Race Martial Emperor out of the void.
When the two palm strikes were done, Xiao Chen stood in the way of the two Corpse Race Martial Emperors, preventing their escape.
The two Corpse Race Martial Emperors on the coffins showed extremely sullen expressions. The hemp-robed old man said, "Azure Dragon King, how does this delight you? Why the need to pressure us to this point for the sake of a friend? Even if you kill us, you will end up suffering as well.
"If you let us go, the two of us are willing to give you fifty thousand Essence Stones."
Martial Emperors had limited time to cultivate Primordial Energy. Most of the time, they still cultivated their Heavenly Laws and Law Energy. Essence Stones were the common currency between Martial Emperors. Fifty Thousand Essence Stones were already a very large sum. These two Corpse Race Martial Emperors were rather sincere.
However, Xiao Chen was not willing to go this route. He said indifferently, "I can let you go. However, you have to swear an oath to leave Supreme Sky Province and not return for ten years."
The people who reached Martial Emperor knew that the seemingly ethereal oaths and Luck, as well as the Heavenly Dao, truly existed. An oath could not be made carelessly. Once they went against their oath, they would suffer a backlash from the Heavenly Dao.
The two Corpse Race Martial Emperors did not say anything. Instead, they exchanged voice projections, discussing something.
After a while, the hemp-robed old man snorted coldly. "You are too naive. The two of us came here to accumulate military merits. When we accumulate enough, we can obtain Primordial Pills and other treasures from the Deity Dao Union to raise our cultivation. You can forget about telling us to leave."
"In that case, there is no point negotiating further."
Xiao Chen did not waste any more time speaking. With a flash, he charged towards the hemp-robed old man, intending to kill one first.
A pained look flickered in the hemp-robed old man's eyes. Then, he smacked the coffin lid he was sitting on. A Demonic Corpse emanating overwhelming Death Qi charged out.
With similar reluctance, the other Corpse Race Martial Emperor released the Demonic Corpse in his own coffin.
The two Corpse Race Martial Emperors planned to release the Emperor Grade Demonic Corpses, which they had spent a lot of effort to refine, to delay Xiao Chen, buying themselves a chance to flee and live.
Refining an Emperor Grade Demonic Corpse was not easy. The two steeled themselves to give these up, showing that they were incredibly decisive.
The Demonic Corpses did not fear death as they pounced at Xiao Chen. They give off dense Death Qi, dyeing the clouds in the sky black like ink.
"Break!"
Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes. In the past, he had found such death things, which did not have any spirituality, difficult to deal with. However, now, he already comprehended the Saber Domain, and his saber intent was incredibly strong.
He punched. The hundred Dragon Force in his body surged, and the saber intent in his sea of consciousness churned, gathering on his fist at the same time.
One hundred dragons appeared behind Xiao Chen, roaring together. However, when he punched, the sound of a treasured saber being unsheathed completely overwhelmed the dragon roars.
His punch was like an unparalleledly sharp saber. The one hundred dragon images behind him seemed to turn into sharp sabers, forming sharp saber winds.
Xiao Chen threw two punches at the Demonic Corpses that the two Corpse Race Martial Emperors were extremely proud of. A punch struck one each. A berserk saber intent surged everywhere, ripping the Demonic Corpses into countless shreds. No matter what, they could not gather back together.
The Demonic Corpses failed to delay Xiao Chen at all. Instead, they allowed his momentum and aura to rise to another level.
With the sound of strong wind, Xiao Chen's body moved like a fish in water. Then, he looked like a dragon leaping out of the sea. When switching between stillness and movement, he was incredibly fast, catching up to the two Corpse Race Martial Emperors once again.
When Xiao Chen got close, he immediately brought out the Taiji force field, which prevented the two Corpse Race Martial Emperors from fleeing again.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Up in the air, even though Xiao Chen fought against two by himself, he held an overwhelming advantage, suppressing the two Corpse Race Martial Emperors.
On the island in the middle of the lake, a purple-clad old man was dazzled when he saw the scene in the air.
The cultivators at the side were all somewhat stunned when they saw this as well.
"White hair and white robes. It looks like that is really the Azure Dragon King Xiao Chen. The rumors were completely true."
"He is just like our Thunder and Lightning Palace's An Junxi and the Supreme Sky Sect's First Senior Sister Shui Lingling. However, although they can also defeat Martial Emperors, they are not able to do so as effortlessly as he does. He pressured the two Corpse Race Martial Emperors to a point where they cannot run at all. This is incredible."
"How powerful! I wonder why the Azure Dragon King is passing by our Maple Leaf Lake."
As the cultivators spoke, two pretty girls flew over to the island. One wore a veil, which concealed her countenance. However, just based on her exquisite figure and her eyes, which sparkled with spirituality, they could determine that this was a great beauty.
After the cultivators saw the appearance of the other girl, everyone on the island was thunderstruck.
The purple-clad old man defending this place felt it was strange as he said, "Isn't this the Lunar Palace's Holy Daughter, Yue Bingyun?"
While it was strange, the two girls had the scarlet armbands personally refined by the Supreme Sky Prime on their arms, so their allegiance was unmistakable.
The purple-clad old man led the way with escorts following behind on both sides. Then, he rushed out of the island and welcomed the two girls.
"I am the Thunder and Lightning Palace's Elder Ma, assigned here to defend this island. Might I know what the Holy Daughter's business is here?"
Yue Bingyun smiled faintly and said, "Now, I am no longer the Lunar Palace's Holy Daughter. Elder Ma, there is no need to be polite. This is a sister of mine, Mo Chen, the Vice Sect Master of the Dragon's Gate. The two of us are only here to wait for someone."
"Wait for someone?" The purple-clad old man looked at the battle in the sky and understood. "Are you waiting for the Azure Dragon King Xiao Chen?"
"Right. Under orders from the Supreme Sky Prime, the Azure Dragon King is here to assume control of Maple Leaf Lake. The two of us can be considered his escorts," Yue Bingyun explained gently.
The moment Yue Bingyun said this, a trace of joy immediately appeared on the faces of the purple-clad old man's group. He asked quickly, "Really?"
"Of course, it is true. Later, when the Azure Dragon King comes down, the few of you can check for the Supreme Sky Prime's command token." Mo Chen smiled as she spoke, her voice sounding like a bubbling mountain spring, very pleasant to the ears.
"That's great! That's great! With the Azure Dragon King defending this place, this node of ours is secured."
"That's right. Previously, Maple Leaf Lake was bullied because there was only one Martial Emperor defending us. Now, let's see who dares to sneak-attack us."
The purple-clad old man's group shouted in irrepressible joy. With Xiao Chen here, these cultivators were not only more likely to survive but might even gain plenty of military merits.
As both sides chatted, two intense explosions came from the sky.
"Rumble…!"
The sky and the ground shook. Pillars of water soared up from the lake. Black spatial storms appeared in the air. This was the result of the two Corpse Race Martial Emperors choosing to detonate their Hearts of an Emperor in despair.
However, these two were only First Heaven Martial Emperors. Xiao Chen had noticed much earlier and fled far away, only getting struck by a few aftershocks.
Swinging his arm, Xiao Chen sent out a strong wind to scatter the dense black fog of Death Qi. Then, his figure flashed, and he landed on the island in the middle of the lake.
"Greetings, Azure Dragon King!"
Such power thoroughly convinced the many disciples on the island. When they saw Xiao Chen descending, they all bowed in greeting.
Xiao Chen was already used to all this and did not really care for these rules. Naturally, he would not pay attention to such empty glory.
He stepped forward and handed the Supreme Sky Prime's command token to Elder Ma.
After the purple-clad old man checked it, he returned the command token to Xiao Chen. Then, he said with a smile, "The Azure Dragon King truly lives up to his reputation. The moment you made a move, you killed two Martial Emperors. That is equal to one hundred thousand military merits and can be exchanged for ten Primordial Pills."
This news surprised Xiao Chen. Unexpectedly, by killing two Martial Emperors, he could obtain ten Primordial Pills.