Chapter 884: Molo Makes His Move — Danger Strikes!

Far from Beast God Mountain in Liang Kingdom, a golden roc tore through the clouds with wild speed, ripping open the sky and sending shockwaves rolling in its wake.

“Roar!!!”

A thunderous roar exploded behind it, carrying a terrifying blast of sound.

Chasing the roc was a massive golden lion, its frame towering like a mountain.

Its golden mane blazed like a burning sun, looking majestic and fierce under the daylight.

Most striking was the golden, dragon-like horn sprouting from its head, crackling with a metallic lightning.

An obsidian-gold chain, etched with leonine patterns, twisted out from the lion’s horn and shot toward the roc, trying to ensnare and drag it down.

With a sharp flap of its wings, the golden roc hurled razor-sharp golden feathers like swords, slicing at the chain again and again.

Atop the roc stood the Lord of Dameng City, casually cutting down every wave of roaring energy and lightning that came crashing in.

Such an uproar and outpouring of demon power rocked the land, drawing the alarmed eyes of cultivators from all around Liang Kingdom.

“What a terrifying commotion!”

“That’s two fourth-rank demon kings battling! We need to get out of here!”

“Looks like a golden roc and… a golden lion king!”

“That’s the Gold Mane Lion King from Beast God Mountain!”

A core formation cultivator caught a glimpse of the scene above the clouds and immediately cried out upon recognizing the Gold Mane Lion King.

As the strongest beast under Beast God Mountain’s control and the spirit pet of True Lord Nine Spirits—the overlord of Liang Kingdom—the Gold Mane Lion King was a local legend.

“Gold Mane Lion King? That golden roc must be Yangming True Lord’s spirit pet, right?”

“Wait, does that mean True Lord Nine Spirits and Yangming True Lord are trying to kill each other now?”

“I don’t see True Lord Nine Spirits anywhere.”

“The golden roc’s running for its life, so it looks like True Lord Nine Spirits is stronger than Yangming True Lord after all!”

While the name of Yangming True Lord rang out across both Liang and Yue Kingdoms,

the news of his victories—like slaying four nascent souls—was deliberately suppressed by Beast God Mountain and the Barebody Sect here in Liang Kingdom.

So many cultivators here still underestimated Yangming True Lord, convinced the legendary Nine Spirits was stronger.

After all, Beast God Mountain had ruled Liang for generations, and Nine Spirits’ reputation was deeply rooted in people’s minds.

“Boom, boom, boom—”

The Golden-Winged Roc and Gold Mane Lion King both blazed across the sky like burning suns, hurling out shockwaves that shattered every mountain in their path.

“Qian Zhuyan! If we team up, we might be able to take down this damn lion!”

Although Master’s orders were not to start a fight with Beast God Mountain, being chased down like this by the Lion King left the roc seething.

Not seeing True Lord Nine Spirits anywhere, only the lion king close behind, the golden roc got a bold idea.

It thought about teaming up with Qian Zhuyan for a surprise counterattack.

“Wait for our lord to arrive.”

Qian Zhuyan’s voice was cold and raspy, clearly unwilling to attack.

Unlike the golden roc, she didn’t think a slim chance of victory was worth the risk.

Even if they could injure or repel the Gold Mane Lion King, she doubted they could kill him outright.

And in the process, her puppet battle formation would take heavy losses.

When the golden roc heard “our lord,” it remembered the master’s words and had to swallow its frustration, beating its wings and flying even faster.

It could sense that the Lion King’s bloodline was extraordinary—a diluted true spirit’s blood.

If it could devour him, the benefits would be unimaginable!

But just then, a blade of gray light slashed from the void, straight at the golden roc.

“Screee!!” The roc screeched skyward, feathers bristling, conjuring a golden shield to block the blow.

Its wings swept out, summoning wave after wave of golden sword feathers.

But the blade was terrifyingly sharp—each golden feather shattered on contact with a hissing crack.

Its golden light shield clanged and splintered under the weight of the blade, filling the air with harsh metallic screams.

In a flash, Qian Zhuyan moved on the roc’s back, unleashing pillars of puppet power to shield against the sword.

Together, roc and puppet barely managed to fend off the attack.

But the Lion King roared behind them, his horn discharging golden lightning while the obsidian-gold chain tried to wrap around the roc.

The golden roc realized there was another top powerhouse besides the Lion King—they were absolutely outmatched.

Without hesitation it ignited its life force, activating its bloodline’s divine ability—the Heaven Roc Fighting Dragon Chart. Demonic energy surged as golden storms erupted, shattering the chains and lightning as it darted in the direction of Yue Kingdom.

“Ssshh—”

Another deadly blade of gray light swept from the void toward the golden roc.

“Go all out—keep running!”

With ghostly puppet-fire burning in her eyes, Qian Zhuyan’s hollow voice warned, equally aware of the blade-wielder’s terrifying strength. This must be the demonic mastermind the master suspected.

She didn’t dare hold back. Thirteen puppets burst from her pouch, formation lights blazing around her as she linked their power into a formidable puppet array to shield the roc.

“A puppet battle formation—she’s using a fourth-rank puppet king?”

Within the void, Molo finally saw through Qian Zhuyan’s disguise.

His previous intelligence mentioned True Lord Yangming having a fourth-rank puppet king.

But to think they’d try deceiving him with a mere puppet.

“That puppet looks rudimentary—just barely fourth rank. How could it have such independent thought?”

Molo hailed from the top southern sect, the Blood Sea Sect, and knew a thing or two about puppets.

He knew that newborn fourth-rank puppet kings could follow orders and fight or form basic arrays, but had nowhere near human cunning.

But Qian Zhuyan had posed as Yangming True Lord herself, constantly covering for the roc and now, sensing danger, moving decisively to unleash powerful puppet formations.

It simply didn’t match what he’d expect from a low-tier puppet king.

“Interesting. A spirit pet with true spirit blood, and a puppet with an awareness that shouldn’t exist at this level.”

“Yangming True Lord—just how many secrets do you have? What’s your true origin?”

Molo melded with the void, a long, eerie blade streaked with blood-red light appearing in his hand as he launched another attack at the golden roc.

In a heartbeat, the gray blade ripped open the sky, landing by the golden roc’s flank, threatening to tear it apart.

Qian Zhuyan, through her puppet formation, had the power array spin a shield around the roc, forming a barrier of utter defense.

But the gap between her and Molo was far too wide.

Even with Molo only attacking from afar, not giving his all, the power array flickered, puppets groaned under the immense strain.

The golden roc became a golden whirlwind, smashing apart the gray blade as it sped away with everything it had, desperate to shake Molo off.

Speed was its only advantage—it knew it couldn’t win in a real fight.

“Seems Yangming True Lord isn’t here after all.”

Looking at the accelerating roc and its blinding speed, Molo narrowed his eyes.

He stepped out from the void, space rippling around him as he surged forward to give chase.

His palm burst into gray and crimson ghost-flame as he tightened his grip toward the golden roc.

In that instant, the roc stumbled as the space around it compressed and froze.

Qian Zhuyan also felt the intense pressure, her puppets slowed and her array struggled to keep spinning.

“A mid-Stage Nascent Soul cultivator!”

Qian Zhuyan realized this man was far more powerful than any early-stage Nascent Soul she’d expected.

She slapped her storage pouch and corpse pouch.

A fourth-rank puppet and a beautiful goddess-like figure in glimmering moonfish robes appeared—her ice puppet, formed from a Nascent Soul cultivator.

She hadn’t finished remaking or controlling this puppet, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

Her other incarnation, Lingbo True Lord, wore a spirit instrument on her head and gripped an icy talisman, whipping up howling winds and icy walls to freeze everything in their path.

“Huh?” Molo looked at Qian Zhuyan and the new puppet standing on the roc, brow furrowed.

Something was off about this puppet king—it shouldn’t have such awareness and it even had extra puppets and a Nascent Soul body puppet embedded in.

Though he couldn’t see perfectly clearly, he recognized the strength of Lingbo True Lord by the treasure she wielded in life.

“Well, well. This is a surprising windfall.”

Staring at the golden roc and Qian Zhuyan, Molo licked his lips, greed burning bright in his eyes.

His reasons for coming out to a place this remote were two-fold: declining potential and flat-out poverty.

But in front of him—this golden roc, Qian Zhuyan, the fourth-rank puppet, even the Nascent Soul body puppet—was a goldmine.

Watching the roc dash madly away, Molo stopped holding back. His Blood Shadow Blade blazed with dreadful power, shattering layers of ice as he hurtled after them at full speed.

Judging from the struggle, Molo figured Yangming True Lord was off setting up an ambush for Qianren True Lord, nowhere nearby—and had no other hidden hands here.

That meant Molo needed to finish this quick, before Yangming True Lord showed up.

Still, the golden roc burned its own life force for a speed boost, so even for a mid-Stage Nascent Soul like Molo, it was difficult to catch up.

Normally, he could suppress the roc with steady attacks,

but most of his attacks were blocked or deflected by Qian Zhuyan, who stood atop the fleeing roc.

“If all goes well, any price will be worth it!”

Molo’s gaze turned savage as a drop of blood formed on his fingertip—then, burning his own blood, he shot after the roc like a crimson streak.

“Roar!!!”

The Gold Mane Lion King watched as the roc and Molo vanished. Hesitating for a moment, it let out a low growl and turned back to Beast God Mountain.

Speed was never its strength, and with the golden roc burning its life away for a boost, chasing would be useless.

Better to report to True Lord Nine Spirits that Molo had joined the fight with full force.

Lu Changsheng raced toward Beast God Mountain, Misty Dust Banner in hand.

“Master, help!”

“My lord, the demonic mastermind is here!”

At that moment, he received urgent transmissions from both the golden roc and Qian Zhuyan.

Though just a few words, Lu Changsheng immediately sensed how dire things were.

“If the golden roc is crying for help, it can’t last much longer.”

He knew the roc’s pride and that it would never beg for rescue unless absolutely desperate.

There was no time to delay.

Using a mix of heavenly foresight and Qian Zhuyan’s soul imprint, he locked onto the area, driving the Misty Dust Banner with everything he had to break through the air.

“Ah Wu!”

He stuffed ten high-grade spirit stones into his sleeve for Ah Wu to prepare.

If the demonic mastermind showed up, she’d immediately channel their energy to unleash the Sun Profound Light.

He was using up plenty of power just rushing here, so to activate the Sun-Moon Yin-Yang Mirror full force would be too much right now.

And facing a powerhouse like the demonic mastermind, he needed any edge he could get.

“Understood, Master,” came Ah Wu’s voice, cold and steady as ever.

Outside Beast God Mountain, True Lord Xuanjian watched the Lion King’s return from the shadows, a frown on his face.

The Lion King was stronger than most Nascent Soul veterans, but Xuanjian had seen the Golden-Winged Roc’s strength himself.

He knew there was no way the Lion King could deal with the roc so quickly.

“Did he give up? Or did the demonic mastermind intervene?”

Xuanjian guessed.

He’d seen the Lion King charge after the roc, but not Nine Spirits himself.

He’d considered teaming up with the roc and Qian Zhuyan to wound or even kill the Lion King.

But right as he was about to take action, a warning from his sword intuition told him danger was lurking overhead.

He realized that moving prematurely could drag him into unknown peril.

So he chose to stay hidden, watching quietly for now.

Now, seeing the Lion King come back, he saw two possibilities:

First, the lion king couldn’t catch the roc and gave up.

Second, the unknown danger he’d felt before had intervened.

And judging from the circumstances, that danger was almost certainly the demonic mastermind.

“Yangming, looks like the demonic mastermind is here.”

Xuanjian immediately sent a message to Lu Changsheng.

But after he did, he realized his communication talisman was actually with his dummy body just now.

So, he messaged his junior, True Lord Juejian, to warn him that the demonic mastermind had appeared and to be extremely careful.

Southern Liang Kingdom.

True Lord Juejian was leading his forces toward Beast God Mountain, determined to aid his senior as quickly as possible.

Now he received Xuanjian’s warning and tensed up.

Previously, after True Lord Tiancang, True Lord Huangquan, the Holy Maiden of Beast God Mountain, and True Lord Incinerating Wither were all slain by Yangming, Liang Kingdom had stayed quiet.

Some had even thought the demonic mastermind had fled after realizing the tide had turned.

But now Xuanjian was warning him the mastermind was here.

“How did Senior know the demonic mastermind showed up?”

Juejian was uncertain, but he pulled himself to full vigilance, sword sense humming as he scanned the land for miles around.

As the army marched, Juejian suddenly glanced at the distant horizon.

Faint ripples and disturbances drifted toward him from far off.

Though the disturbance was beyond the reach of his divine sense,

the fact that he could sense it at all meant only one thing—a Nascent Soul-level battle was raging there.

A moment later, Juejian picked up on a thread of demonic energy that was all too familiar.

It belonged to Yangming True Lord’s spirit pet.

“Is Yangming fighting someone? Why don’t I sense his magical power though?”

Juejian frowned, sword light flashing in his eyes as he tried to get a clear look at the battles ahead.

“Halt! Everyone assemble and prepare for combat—form up the battle formation!”

Juejian gave the order instantly, then rushed ahead to assess the situation himself.

Whether Yangming himself was fighting or just his spirit pet, he had to check it out—and step in if needed.