Song Bowen did not dare believe that Liang Chen and Yan Ling would play a joke on him right now, so his face instantly grew solemn. He stood up so fast that his chair was pushed backward, orders rapidly flying from his mouth."Hanying, take care of sector 1 and 3. Hanxue, sector 2 and 8. Hekang, sector 5 and 6. I"ll take care of sector 7 and 9. Fengwu and Dansu, the two of you grab half the heirlooms and flee using the secret tunnels. The rest of you, make sure that there are no stragglers who might wander into the area."
Song Bowen"s siblings also understood the severity of the situation, standing up and nodding their heads without saying a word, each of them leaving to carry out the orders. Looking at how smoothly they moved and acted, it was clear that they had long prepared for a situation like this.
Looking at them, Liang Chen couldn"t help but admire them quite a bit. Despite their somewhat tasteless efforts to befriend him and Yan Ling, they were still true royalty, their actions showing some of their majesty. Especially the two who were told to flee, Song Fengwu and Song Dansu.
Song Dansu was the blue-haired and black-eyed youngest sister, who looked no older than seven years old, and Song Fengwu was the youngest of the four males, a youth who looked to be in his early twenties and had black hair and blue eyes. The reason these two were told to flee was very simple, they were the ones who had the greatest talent, so on the off-chance that the Song family was destroyed here, the two would have the chance to rebuild it in the future.
Compared to the two of them, everyone else was expendable, even Song Bowen, the crown prince and future ruler of the nation. They were the youngest, but they were still able to accept and carry this responsibility with determined faces. While the Song siblings were moving to carry out their own duties, Liang Chen and Yan Ling also stood up, Yan Ling turning towards Liang Chen.
"Are you able to get a clear picture of their numbers? I wanna see if what I spotted was correct."
Yang Ling"s face was serious, her voice solemn, showing that even this mischievous fox knew when to be serious. Liang Chen nodded his head, glancing at the four directions that their enemies were coming from.
"Should be eight of them. Six of them have reached either the early or the middle stage of the Heaven"s Gate realm, while two of them have reached the late stage. It seems like they view this a.s.sa.s.sination rather seriously."
There was a rather large jump of strength between each cultivation stage and realm, so while Liang Chen felt confident that he could deal with people at the middle stage of the Heaven"s Gate realm, he wasn"t as confident when it came to someone at the late stage.
That wasn"t to say that he was unable to kill them, he had managed to kill Liu Daning after all. But Liu Daning had been caught unaware by a sneak attack, and to kill him, Liang Chen had nearly killed himself in the process. To repeat that same feat against someone who was prepared, and in frontal combat of all things, it was hard to know what the results would be.
Yan Ling had similar thoughts to Liang Chen, her expression somewhat unpleasant. People of this level of strength weren"t supposed to show up on this mission, it was supposed to be peaceful and easy, that was the entire reason she had dragged along Liang Chen. But what"s done is done, there was no way they could change it now, they could only face it head-on. With that thought in mind, Yan Ling narrowed her eyes somewhat.
"Are you able to hold back the two strongest people?"
After hearing her words, and what they implied, Liang Chen couldn"t help but raise an eyebrow in surprise. Yan Ling was still only at the late stage of the Xiantian Tower realm, yet she was saying that she could deal with the six remaining people on her own? But looking at her somewhat grim expression, it was clear that it wouldn"t be easy for her. With Yan Ling like this, how could Liang Chen disappoint her?
"Aye, shouldn"t be a problem. You just focus on dealing with the other six, call for me if you need any help."
Liang Chen shrugged his shoulders in a calm and casual manner as he spoke, as if he wasn"t about to head into a life or death battle. Saying that it wouldn"t be a problem was a bit of a boast, but if it was just holding them back for a while, it was far easier than beating them. Of course, as Liang Chen didn"t know the abilities of the enemies, his words could be considered a bit too boastful. With Liang Chen acting this calm, Yan Ling"s lips couldn"t help but curve into a slight smile. She gave Liang Chen"s shoulder a light punch, giggling faintly.
"Nihihi, you said it, so I"ll hold you to it. Let"s beat up these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, live to tell the tale, and then eat some good food as we brag to others about our deeds."
Yan Ling stretched out her fist, holding it in front of Liang Chen after she finished giggling. Liang Chen nodded his head, giving Yan Ling a fist-b.u.mp, the two splitting up and moving to face their own enemies. Liang Chen used the eastern exit of the building to head to the north-eastern part of the castle area, while Yan Ling took the main entrance and headed to the south-western part of the castle area.
Liang Chen calmly walked, his steps slow and sure. He swept the surrounding area with his gaze as he walked, observing the people that were hurriedly rushing away, gathering at the center of the castle area. The previously pristine and powdery snow on the ground was completely stomped and ruined, the doors and windows of the various buildings left wide open. Liang Chen stopped looking at the surroundings, his eyes turning towards the front, a soft sigh escaping his lips as he shook his head.
"Ha~ah, seems like even I still have some desire to show off buried within me."
Taking on two people at the late stage of the Heaven"s Gate realm, even if it was just to hold them back, was still a very difficult task. Had it not been for Yan Ling acting as she did, it was more likely that Liang Chen would suggest that they help the Song siblings with the evacuation, focusing on evading the enemies. But since it had come to this and he had said what he did, he would not turn back. He had made a promise, and this one he would keep.
While he was walking, he suddenly heard a loud sound come from behind him. He turned his head slightly and saw that one of the buildings close to the entrance of the castle area had been shattered, fragments tossed through the air, it seemed like Yan Ling had already started fighting her enemies.
While Liang Chen was looking at the scene, the wind around him started to move, gathering towards the area where Yan Ling was battling. But a strange scene occurred in front of his eyes, the wind was starting to slowly turn crimson as it got closer to Yan Ling"s area, the smell of blood tickling Liang Chen"s nostrils. He guessed that this was likely because of some secret technique by Yan Ling, probably something to do with her bloodline.
Liang Chen didn"t spend too long looking at the scene, turning his head away, his enemies had arrived. Two men were slowly walking towards him, their steps slow and wary. One of the men was clad in a silver robe that carried the emblem of the Moon Dragon sect, had long blonde hair, rounded features, and green eyes. The other man was clad in gray robes that bore the emblem of the Ghost Soul sect, had short brown hair, gray eyes, and more rugged features, a large scar going over his left eye. The two stopped a short distance away from Liang Chen, their eyes roaming over his body.
"The information actually wasn"t wrong, the both of you really are here. Seems like it really was worth it for us to come here. Liang Chen, you can return to the earth knowing that it was Geng Zhen and Xiao Daibao who sent you and Yan Ling on your way."
The one who spoke was the man with the silver robe, Geng Zhen, so Xiao Daibao was most likely the man in the gray robe. Liang Chen"s eyes narrowed dangerously after hearing their words, his thoughts starting to race. It seemed like they hadn"t come here for the Song siblings, but rather for him and Yan Ling. And it seemed like someone had given them this information, but just who had it been, and when had they done it? Was there a spy in the Storm Wolf sect that had found out that Yan Ling and Liang Chen went on this mission?
While Liang Chen"s thoughts were racing, his instincts suddenly warned him of danger, and shortly after, the earth all around him suddenly burst open. Sharp spikes of stone covered by a thin layer of a strange transparent energy shot at him, aiming to pierce every part of his body. Neither Geng Zhen or Xiao Daibao had shown any sign that they were going to attack, nor had Liang Chen sensed their Qi moving. Had it not been for his instincts, he wouldn"t have known about the attack before it had arrived in front of him.
But Xiao Daibao and Geng Zhen didn"t relax after their attack arrived directly in front of Liang Chen, because they could see that his golden eyes were still dreadfully calm. And in front of their wary eyes, a scene that shocked them took place.
Liang Chen"s emerald hair and his golden eyes suddenly started to change, turning a dull gray in color. Liang Chen stretched out his arm, his fingertips growing sharper as shimmering gray scales started to grow on his arms, spreading up to his neck. A strange energy was unleashed by his arm, the spikes of stone starting to age and wither, turning to dust that blew away in the wind. Liang Chen"s now gray eyes landed on the two men, a low voice sounding out.
"Sorry, but I have no intention of returning to the earth. I still have someone I need to kill, and I made a promise that I would hold the two of you back. I managed to kill Liu Daning with a sneak attack, so come, let me see how much stronger I have gotten since then."
Liang Chen"s voice had turned deeper, even giving off a slightly savage feeling. Since he was facing two people at the late stage of the Heaven"s Gate realm, he couldn"t afford to hold back. So for the first time since he awakened his Heaven Devouring Dragon bloodline, he activated it and was going to use it in combat.