Chapter 603 - 578: Ambush on the Way

The figure in the light, watching the direction Lu Yan was leaving, whispered, "This kid, he seems to be Zhang Wei, a man of immense strength, ranked second in the starry sky. Even if I were to assassinate him, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be his match. It’s better to wait for others to join together and besiege him."

After speaking, the figure waved a hand and carved a ’secret mark’ that belonged to the Origin Continent on the ground. Then the figure became illusory, merging with the light, and continued to pursue Lu Yan.

As Lu Yan traveled, he could see a secret mark at intervals along the way.

So, three days passed.

"Zhang."

Suddenly, a voice rang in Lu Yan’s ears. Next, a young woman emerged from a hidden hollow in the mountains.

The woman appeared to be in her late twenties, with delicate features and a curvaceous figure, strikingly beautiful.

"Zhang Xinru."

Lu Yan’s heart stirred.

Over the years, Lu Yan had become very familiar with the other thirty-five geniuses of the starry sky.

This woman, named Zhang Xinru, was a Taoist Body with great strength. Although she wasn’t as powerful as a Dual Primebody, she was much stronger than the average Initial Body.

There were no weaklings among those who were part of this confrontation.

"Miss Zhang, have you encountered anyone else these past few days?"

Lu Yan asked with a smile.

"No, the True Meteor Realm is unexpectedly vast. In these past few days, Zhang is the first person I’ve run into," Zhang Xinru said.

"Then let’s continue to carve the marks and converge with the others," Lu Yan said.

He didn’t tell Zhang Xinru that they might be secretly followed by talents from the Light Clan, to avoid alerting her and causing her to give away their position.

The two of them joined forces and moved on, carving marks along the way and also searching for marks left by others, but to no avail.

In the blink of an eye, several more days passed. When they were passing through a large canyon, suddenly, a dense black mist started spreading toward them from both ends of the canyon.

The mist spread rapidly, sweeping toward them like a fierce wind.

Swish, swish, swish...

Within the black mist, several tall figures rushed toward them, attacking.

Some wielded swords, others giant axes.

Gang Wind howled, its power astonishing.

"They are battle spirits, be careful," Lu Yan cautioned.

As he spoke, the battle spirits from both sides of the canyon were already closing in.

Zhang Xinru swung her sword to meet the attack while Lu Yan leaped forward, his palm striking out like a blade.

In an instant, Lu Yan encountered seven tall battle spirits, sending all seven flying with a single move each.

But the seven battle spirits got up as if nothing had happened and charged at Lu Yan again.

"Hmm? These battle spirits are stronger than the ones I’ve encountered before," Lu Yan’s expression became slightly grave.

At this moment, Zhang Xinru was also being attacked by seven battle spirits wielding battle axes. Her strength was not weak, but she felt immense pressure and could only defend passively, unable to counterattack.

"We must fight quickly and decisively," Lu Yan began to amplify his strength. Around him, five different laws fused together, in sync with the Saint Soldier’s Formula.

"To the dead, kill," Lu Yan growled, unleashing a deathly slash of his blade, striking out seven times.

This time, the seven battle spirits were cleaved in half, and the dreadful blade intent exploded within their bodies, blasting them to pieces.

"Fight!"

"Fight!"

The seven battle spirits armed with battle axes besieging Zhang Xinru roared in unison, leaving her aside and rushing towards Lu Yan.

This was precisely what Lu Yan had hoped for. He swung his palm, consecutively slaying these seven battle spirits as well.

However, the black mist did not disperse but instead grew denser. The vapor churned, enveloping the entire canyon.

One by one, huge figures emerged from the mist.

All were battle spirits, and by the looks of it, there were dozens of them.

Had they stumbled upon a lair of battle spirits?

"Miss Zhang, just ensure your own safety. I will deal with these battle spirits," Lu Yan communicated to Zhang Xinru.

"Thank you, Zhang," Zhang Xinru conveyed her gratitude with her eyes, then consecutively conjured twelve Great Tao Skills, all defensive in nature. With the support of these twelve defensive Doctrine Soldiers, she defended with all her might.

Lu Yan soared into action, plunging into the crowd of battle spirits, his palm blade continuously striking out.

With each strike, a battle spirit was blown to pieces, reduced to ash.

Lu Yan forged ahead as if unstoppable, slaying the battle spirits with devastating force. In no time at all, another dozen or so were vanquished by his hand.

Boom, boom, boom...

Just then, the canyon began to shake, and within the black mist, an exceptionally towering figure was striding forward.

This figure, standing at over ten meters tall and clad in black armor, resembled a small mountain. Each step caused the ground to roar.

It moved with incredible speed, rapidly closing in on the two. Finally, it leaped like a black bolt of lightning tearing through the sky. A gigantic battle axe, with a force akin to cleaving the heavens, slashed down at Zhang Xinru.

The twelve Great Tao Skills that Zhang Xinru had deployed shattered like paper mache under the axe’s strike.

Almost instantaneously, all twelve of Zhang Xinru’s Great Tao Skills burst apart.

Zhang Xinru’s pupils contracted as she felt the lethal threat.

It should be noted that her twelve Great Tao Skills were all top-grade among Doctrine Soldiers, acquired by her elders at great expense for this confrontation, yet they were effortlessly destroyed by the enemy.

The being attacking her was incredibly powerful.

She cried out, pushing her strength to the limit and resisting with all her might.

Thud!

Zhang Xinru’s body was sent flying, crashing heavily into a cliff wall. Her hands were blown apart, blood flowing freely.

"Kill!"

The massive figure roared and lunged at Zhang Xinru again, intending to completely eliminate her.

But a blade filled with the aura of death tore through the black fog, suddenly appearing in front of the massive figure, slashing across.

The massive figure swung its battle axe down in a chop.

With a thud, the massive figure staggered backwards, retreating several steps.

"Such immense strength."

Lu Yan’s gaze slightly narrowed.

He could see clearly that this massive being was also a spirit warrior, but in terms of awe and the pressure it exerted, this spirit warrior was a lot more terrifying than the others.

"Kill!"

After being repelled, the massive spirit warrior let out an enraged roar, leapt forward, and with its giant battle axe bearing down from on high, it slashed at Lu Yan.

Lu Yan flew into action, raising his palm to meet the attack.

Clang clang clang...

The sound of metal hitting metal rang out continuously, and in the blink of an eye, the two had clashed dozens of times.

"This spirit warrior, its fighting prowess is almost comparable to a Tertiary Initial Body. How can a spirit warrior be so powerful?"

Lu Yan was astonished.

Through his Tao Soul Pupil, he discovered the trickery.

On the brow of the spirit being, there was a strand of a special mark radiating a terrifying aura, giving the spirit warrior formidable power.

"Could this mark be the branding of a supreme being?"

A thought flashed through Lu Yan’s mind.

Here lay the place where two supreme beings perished together, so it made sense for a remnant branding of the supreme beings to remain.

Lu Yan speculated that this spirit warrior was most likely a convergence of a supreme being’s branding with undying battle intent and murderous aura, hence possessing such dreadful power.

Shortly thereafter, Lu Yan noticed a fiery red light behind the mark.

This was soul fire.

"Soul fire, it seems that this spirit warrior is being artificially controlled? Could it be a Tianjiao from a power of the Origin Continent?"

Lu Yan’s thoughts raced.

This spirit warrior, though its combat prowess was nearing that of a Tertiary Initial Body, wouldn’t be difficult for Lu Yan to crush if he got serious.

The reason he had not yet crushed it, preferring to maintain an appearance as if they were evenly matched, was because he had constantly felt the presence of hidden eyes on them since they started fighting the spirit warrior.

This feeling had persisted throughout their journey.

The powerhouse from the Origin Continent had been secretly observing them all along.

He strongly suspected that these spirit warriors attacking them had something to do with the Tianjiao of the Origin Continent.

Seeing the soul fire further validated his suspicion.

He hadn’t rushed to annihilate the spirit warrior because he wanted to provoke the Tianjiao of the Origin Continent into revealing themselves.

If he crushed the spirit warrior with his overwhelming power now, the Tianjiao lurking in the shadows wouldn’t dare to show themselves and would certainly flee.

"Kill!"

The massive spirit warrior charged at him again.

Lu Yan fought back, clashing violently with the adversary.

On the other side, Zhang Xinru had healed her hands and conjured up over a dozen Doctrine Soldiers to protect her body.

Soon, Lu Yan and the massive spirit warrior had exchanged over a hundred moves.

Growing stronger with each bout, he gradually began to suppress the massive spirit warrior, displaying the combat strength of one at the level of a Tertiary Initial Body.

Overplaying weakness certainly wouldn’t do.

After all, he ranked second in the assessment among the stars, second only to Chen Xuanhuang; appearing too weak would not be believed, and instead would elicit suspicion.

Bang!

Lu Yan suddenly rushed forward, landing a palm on the massive spirit warrior’s abdomen, his powerful force shattering a large piece of it.

However, those shattered pieces flew back at an astonishing speed and reassembled.

"Hmm? This battle spirit imprinted with the mark of a supreme being is truly extraordinary."

Lu Yan’s expression changed slightly, with both genuine surprise and a hint of feigned reaction.

He attacked again, and after a few more moves, he chopped off one of the spirit warrior’s legs, yet it quickly reformed again.

It was virtually indestructible.

"I must draw out the individual controlling the spirit warrior. Once they are taken care of, the matter of the spirit warrior can easily be resolved."

"But what’s with the people from the Origin Continent? Why aren’t they taking action? How can they remain so patient?"

Lu Yan muttered to himself internally.

Just then, a figure closed in on Lu Yan at an astonishing speed, thrusting a spear toward his heart from behind.

"Finally, the Primitive Symbiotic Life has made a move."

A thought passed through Lu Yan’s mind as his body lit up; the Zhou Tian Huan Yu Map emerged just beneath his skin but was concealed by the Formation given to him by Lu Ming, so outsiders could not see it.

His back muscles twitched slightly, and instantly, over a dozen defensive Great Tao Skills flew out, creating multiple layers of defense behind him.

Bang bang bang...

The long spear, after piercing the defensive Great Tao Skills, crushed them as easily as rotten wood, shattering the defenses Lu Yan had set up.

"Such formidable attack power, this is Tertiary Initial Body."

Lu Yan thought to himself.

He hadn’t expected to draw out a Tertiary Initial Body.

Excellent!

Lu Yan was overjoyed internally.

A Tertiary Initial Body would most likely possess a Token worth twenty points.

Although the defensive Great Tao Skills had not stopped the opponent’s assault, they had bought Lu Yan enough time.

After fending off the massive spirit warrior, Lu Yan spun around and chopped with his palm, accurately striking the spear.

A loud boom followed, and both figures were sent flying backward.

"Immortal Clan..."

A trace of killing intent flickered in Lu Yan’s eyes.