Chapter 30: The Ambush
Within the borders of the Blue Mist Prefecture, under a vast sky, a winding dragon-shaped metal life soared through the high air. Moments later, another metal life—shaped like a black panther—flew past behind it.
Inside the dragon-shaped metal life, there were twelve people in total.
To be precise, it was eleven people led by Emmanuel and one Death God Puppet. Emmanuel glanced at the Death God Puppet and couldn't help but feel uneasy. This puppet belonged to Lin Lei. With the puppet stationed here, Lin Lei could pinpoint the position of the metal life ahead.
"Elder Lin Lei, don't let your metal life get too far from mine. If a fight breaks out and you can't arrive in time, that would be terrible," Emmanuel said in a low voice, a flicker of yellow light flashing through his eyes.
The Death God Puppet opened its gaze and looked toward Emmanuel.
"Elder Emmanuel, rest assured. Although the metal life I'm riding keeps changing its flight path, my distance from yours won't be too great. The moment a battle begins, I'll rush over immediately," the Death God Puppet said in Lin Lei's voice.
"I hope so," Emmanuel replied.
With the Death God Puppet aboard Emmanuel's metal life, Lin Lei could easily determine its position, so he could freely control his own metal life. Sometimes he'd trail about ten li behind Emmanuel, sometimes ten li to the right, and other times fly straight ahead of him.
In short…
He needed to avoid arousing suspicion as much as possible.
"Whoosh!"
The dragon-shaped metal life streaked across a wide river in an instant, its waters surging violently. Suddenly, a head emerged from the surface. The person looked up, watching the metal life fly away. "Hmph, the Azure Dragon Clan people really have some nerve, still daring to travel so brazenly along a fixed route… Every last one of them is courting death!"
When members of the Four Great Divine Beast Clans deliberately wanted to lure enemies into battle, their metal lives would take the form of the four divine beasts. An intelligence agent need only take one glance—combined with a sweep of divine sense—and the identification was made.
"I need to report this information back immediately." The man hadn't noticed the second metal life at all.
Because the metal life Lin Lei was riding was seven or eight li away from the river, completely off the fixed route. After all, even a god's vision and divine sense had their limits. Seven or eight li away, with mountains and forests blocking the view, who would notice?
The intelligence network of the Eight Great Families operated with extreme efficiency. The information was transmitted back the same day. Although the Eight Great Families were split across two territories, communication between them was swift, and a decision was made immediately.
The mission to intercept and kill the Azure Dragon Clan squad would be entrusted to the Ashcroft Family and the Barbary Family. Because the last time, both families had each lost a Seven-Star Demon to the Azure Dragon Clan, and this time would be their chance for revenge.
"Whoosh!" "Whoosh!"
More than twenty people flew low over the terrain.
"Last time we lost two Seven-Star Demons while the other side didn't lose a single one. This time, we absolutely must kill that Seven-Star Demon from the Azure Dragon Clan," said the tall, green-browed man at the front, his voice low and solemn.
"Big brother, Elder Bro will be coming with us this time. There definitely won't be any problems," said a thinner green-browed man beside him, smiling.
Both brothers stood three meters tall—typical members of the Barbary Family. The only unusual feature was that both had green eyebrows. The "Green-Browed Brothers" were two of the most famous Seven-Star Demons in the Barbary Family, with extraordinary strength.
As for Bro…
His reputation resounded throughout the Netherworld as well. He was a supreme expert of the Ashcroft Family. Sending these three to lead the team carried the intent of wiping away past humiliation.
The death of their own people was tolerable.
But losing two Seven-Star Demons while the enemy didn't lose a single one—this was something the Eight Great Families could not endure!
The tall green-browed man turned his head to glance at a figure beside him, and couldn't help but shudder inwardly. The person was only about 1.7 meters tall—in the eyes of the Barbary Family members, he was practically a runt.
However, no one dared look down on this man.
He was shroud in a gray robe, bald, with withered, curled hair plastered against his scalp. His hair was a lifeless yellow, as if it contained no vitality at all. His face was deeply wrinkled, making him appear extremely aged, and two green serpents hung from his ears.
"Hsss, hsss~~~" The two green serpents flicked their tongues.
"I hope that what the Azure Dragon Clan has sent this time is the one called Lin Lei!" Bro opened his eyes—cloudy and dim, with occasional flickers of yellow light—and rasped, "Last time, he was the one who killed my grandson."
"If Lin Lei goes, we'll make sure you personally deal with him, Elder Bro," the thinner green-browed man said quickly. Mosley was Bro's grandson.
"Mm." Bro nodded.
The Green-Browed Brothers, while formidable in the Barbary Family, held only moderate status within the family council of elders. But Elder Bro was different. He held extremely high status in the Ashcroft Family.
His strength ranked in the top three of the entire family. The fact that the Ashcroft Family had dispatched him showed that this time, they were determined to kill the Azure Dragon Clan members.
"I wonder how this Lin Lei compares to that genius elder of the Azure Dragon Clan, 'Blue,'" Elder Bro sneered.
"He can't possibly compare," said the tall green-browed man. "That Lin Lei's body is tough, but his soul defense apparently isn't much to speak of… Far inferior to that genius elder. Elder Bro, your killing him would be his honor."
Bro, as a member of the Ashcroft Family, had always excelled in soul attacks. At the same time… his body was incredibly powerful as well.
To rank in the top three of the family—his strength was truly terrifying.
Years ago, Bro had fought a battle against the genius elder 'Blue,' and neither had managed to kill the other.
If Lin Lei and Emmanuel knew that this time their opponents had dispatched so many powerful experts—especially one like Bro—they would likely have retreated long ago. But Lin Lei and Emmanuel knew nothing of this… and so they pressed on.
Inside the black panther-shaped metal life, Lin Lei was drinking wine with a Highgod.
"It's been half a year already. The efficiency of these Eight Great Families is really terrible," Lin Lei remarked.
"Captain, the Eight Great Families are all stationed at the borders of the Blue Mist Prefecture, a distance of several hundred million li from us. Even at high efficiency and fast speed, it would still take the better part of half a year for them to arrive. If they're slow, it could take one or even two years," the squad member explained.
Lin Lei glanced at this squad member.
His name was 'Isado.' After the previous ambush mission, Lin Lei's Thirteenth Squad had lost several members. Although Sarta and the others still had divine clones, their clones weren't strong enough, so they had withdrawn from Blood Battle Valley.
Isado was one of the newly replenished members.
"Isado, be careful in battle," Lin Lei said with a smile. When he had gone to the Thirteenth Squad and said he only needed to bring one person along this time, Isado had been the most eager. He had convinced the others, and then followed Lin Lei here.
"I know, Captain," Isado said, his eyes blazing with fervor. "But Captain, even though we need to protect ourselves, we have to kill the enemy too. For over ten thousand years, I've been waiting for this day… These Eight Great Families—they hunted us relentlessly back then. When the Four Great Divine Beast Clans were powerful, they submitted to us. But once the founding ancestors died, they turned into mad dogs… Men, women, old, young—as long as they were of the Four Great Divine Beast Clans, they slaughtered every last one!"
Rage and hatred filled Isado's heart.
Lin Lei couldn't help but marvel inwardly: "The hatred really does run deep!" The relentless pursuit by the various great families all the way to the Blue Mist Prefecture had been an earth-shattering event. When Lin Lei had first arrived in the Blue Mist Prefecture and purchased books, even the staff members knew about the sensational slaughter of the Four Great Divine Beast Clans.
Inside the dragon-shaped metal life.