Battle Through the Heavens Prequel – The Legend of Yao Lao

Chapter 15 Pursued with Killing Intent

The Shennong Mountain Range.

In the forbidden area of the Yao clan, all kinds of demons and Magical Beasts were everywhere. Clansmen were not normally allowed to approach this area except for set times when they took care of the beasts.

As long as a beast was approaching the level of spiritual wisdom, they could either be seized and tamed back in the clan or exchanged with the demon clan. Or course such an exchange had to have an equal pay, and it was actually this trade that was used to obtain most of the rare and strange medicinal ingredients that only the demon clan could harvest.

Currently there was a squadron of around ten people resting deep within the mountains. Normally such a group’s mission would be to handle any demons or Magical Beasts that had gained spiritual wisdom.

However this particular squadron’s mission was clearly different, as just one hundred or so meters away from them was a beast about to obtain spiritual wisdom, but they simply ignored it and continued to eat their rations.

“We’re already near the boundary; that kid really is sly. We actually came across three of his traps, and even old Ren was tricked by him.” One of people present finally opened their mouth.

“Hmph, it’s just that I was a bit careless is all. Originally we thought this kid had never stepped foot outside the Yao clan and was just a helpless chick. I didn’t expect him to actually have such a profound understanding of the deep mountains.” The person who had been called old Ren was a middle-aged man with messy long hair. Beside his foot was a vicious dog half the size of a man.

“That’s enough! If we can’t finish our mission this time then we might as well just not return.” The ten people stopped talking.

Originally this was a simple chase and kill mission. The order had been passed down by Punishment Chief Yao Wangui’s trusted aide, and although it was not specifically said that it was instructed by Yao Wangui, everyone knew that this mission was appointed by him. If it wasn’t completed… no one dared to continue imagining just what would happen to them if they failed.

“We’ve rested enough. This time we can definitely manage to catch up and capture this kid.”

“I’ll definitely peel off all his skin and pull out all his muscles.”

“Let’s go.” The group quickly moved out, following tiny little hints as small as a spider’s thread.

Time slowly passed. Under the trees where the small squadron had rested were particles of food they had left behind. Groups of ants and insects came and piece by piece brought it back to their nests.

Night came extremely early deep in the mountains. Even just as the sun just went past the mountain line, the forest immediately darkened to the point you where you wouldn’t even be able to see your own fingers. The dense and tall forest of trees seemed voraciously beautiful as they sucked in the last rays of the sun.

At this moment, not very far away, a certain tall tree trunk suddenly burst open and a youngster jumped down. Landing on the ground, he gasped for air. His trembling hands grabbed his water canteen and greedily drank a mouthful before forcibly suppressing his body’s desire to continue drinking.

Although his body was dehydrated, what was needed even more than water were medicinal pills.He quickly took out a gray porcelain bottle from his Storage Ring. Opening and tilting it, two greenish-gray pills rolled out into his hand. Without any hesitation he immediately swallowed them down. The medicinal essence started to dissolve in his stomach, bringing with it a rumbling noise from his stomach. Only after he completed this did he dare to continue drinking from his water canteen, taking in one huge gulp after another till he was completely satisfied.

This youngster was precisely the fleeing Yao Chen.

Several dangerous moments had occurred, but what he relied on to escape them wasn’t some understanding of the mountain. He was only fifteen, and other than refining pills, he didn’t have any other strong points.

The thing that let him repeatedly avoid his chasers were five Suspended Animation Pills his father had left behind. The Suspended Animation Pill would shut down all his bodily organs’ functions. After using the pill, by concealing himself in a tall tree and applying a tasteless, odorless juice that would hide his smell, he became just another lifeless object in the forest.

This method had been taught to him by his father. He had once told him a story about how even a Dou Zun Magical Beast was tricked this way.

Gradually Yao Chen calmed down. This was already the twenty-first sunset since he had left the Yao clan. Every day he would only dare to travel during the night. He knew that the people chasing him would only move during the day, so the night could be used as a cover.

Although the night also hid its own terrors, but when compared to the people chasing him, these terrors could no longer make him afraid.

After these few days, Yao Chen had already learned how to hide any traces of his movement, and he also figured out how he could mislead his enemies. People learned the fastest under a threat of death, even when just relying on themselves without a teacher.

He took out some rations from his Storage Ring and carefully sprinkled a bit in his mouth. If he just dumped it into his mouth then he might leave some tiny traces. Also taking a gulp of water, he tidied up and dexterously started moving again, his footsteps bringing him deeper into the mountain forest.

Every step that he took seemed to be exceptionally light and almost floating. These days he had learnt how to use his Dou Qi to let his body become lighter, and as much as possible he made it so that the grass would not leave any imprints.

The faint imprints his footsteps ended up leaving on his path looked the same as those left behind by a mountain rat. Within the forest, these kinds of imprints were everywhere.

But with this kind of travelling, Yao Chen’s speed could not be considered fast.

Everywhere around him was pitch black, but raising his head he could still a faint glimmer above the treetops. Outside the deep forest, the sun had yet to actually set.

Determining the direction he needed to go, Yao Chen continued his journey.

There were still two Suspended Animation Pills left, however in order to recover himself he needed the Rebirth Pill, and he had already consumed them all. Therefore he had to be even more careful from now on.

Yao Chen didn’t understand why his enemies would want to completely exterminate him, but he was very clear that if he did get caught his ending would definitely be even more miserable than just death.

Although Yao Chen wasn’t afraid of death, he still needed to live on. He still had to carve his father’s name onto the Clan Monument….

When that time came, his mother would definitely smile… his mother’s smile would always bring him joy in his heart.

Reaching this point in his thoughts, Yao Chen’s footsteps became even more quick and agile, and his Spiritual Perception would carefully look back at every imprint he left behind in order to make sure that they only looked like a mountain rat’s and not a person’s.

In this manner, carefully… extremely carefully… he didn’t leave behind any tracks for the people chasing him.

The fifteen-year-old Yao Chen had already learnt much that someone of his age shouldn’t know.

Nine days later…

“Kid, stand still and don’t run! We don’t have any bad intentions, we’re here to bring you back to the clan. Luo Shan has already returned, we know you didn’t steal the medicinal ingredients…” Within the deep mountain forests, a loud shout rang. Countless startled birds took off and the sound of their flapping wings broke through the mountain forest’s calm.

Yao Chen tightly ground his teeth, doing his absolute best to continue forward. Following behind were three very fast nine star Da Dou Shi Iron Guards who were pursuing him.

Just how could Yao Chen believe their clumsy lies? These people had been chasing him for a month already. From the very first day he entered the deep mountains, they had pursued him. Only after consuming two Suspended Animation Pills had he learned how to avoid them.

Originally everything had been fine, but five days ago, the ten man squadron suddenly split into three groups, each separating out in order to find his traces.

On this day, this three man group had finally caught on to some traces of him.

With his three star Dou Shi strength, Yao Chen madly charged forward as fast as he could, and for a brief period he actually was not slower than his opponents. However, with his opponent’s nine star Da Dou Shi strength, he knew he had no way of escaping now that he was in their range. When his Dou Qi finally ran out… just what could he do?

Within his muddle-headed mind he suddenly recalled a memory of his father pointing at the shadow of a lamp as he laughed, while his mother borrowed the light as she weaved some winter clothes.

The darkness behind the light.

The more dangerous a place was the more safe it was as well.

According to what his father had said, he shouldn’t have into the deep mountains but instead hidden himself near the Yao clan and then waited for an opportune moment to leave.

However, realizing this now was already too late. But… an incredibly terrifying idea started to emerge in his mind. If danger could also mean safety, then there might actually be a place he could shake off the soldiers chasing him.

Suddenly Yao Chen’s condition took a drastic change for the worse, and a bloody scent came from his heart and lungs, indicating that he had exceeded the amount of Dou Qi he could use. One of his legs tripped and Yao Chen narrowly avoided falling onto the ground.

Although this only delayed him for slight pause, three wind palms whistled with killing intent behind him and Yao Chen could only abruptly roll to the side to avoid it. His unsightly rolling let him avoid the three wind palms. He reoriented himself and started madly running for his life again. His whole body’s Dou Qi was poured into his legs. FASTER, FASTER! Fortunately the three of them had simultaneously released wind palms which had caused them to pause for a brief moment, letting Yao Chen increase the distance between them by a small amount.

“Run as much as you want. Only then will we get the fun of chasing and killing you.” The three Da Dou Shi’s expression became much uglier. All three of them had simultaneously taken action to trap a younger generation Dou Shi but ended up failing. If news of this spread they would likely have no more face.

Of course, if they did catch Yao Chen then what awaited Yao Chen was a life with torture that would be worse than death.

In just a minute, Yao Chen ended up completely exhausted. His body’s limit had long since been exceeded, and not even the slightest trace of Dou Qi could be found in his body now. He fell down with a crashing noise.

In basically no time at all, the three figures shot out like lightning. Splitting up, they surrounded him from all directions.

“Haha, how come you’re not running anymore?”

“Run, run some more.”

“Haha, in a moment we’ll cut off both your legs and see how you run then.”

The three Da Dou Shi were also panting slightly. These three people were inner guards of the punishment hall and had basically been spoiled as they lived like a prince. Although they had to complete some missions, none of them were as strenuous as this one. For over six hours they had chased him. Just running at full speed was enough to tire them out, let alone running after someone in an obstacle-filled jungle.

The three people all had their doubts; even the three of them with their Da Dou Shi strength felt tired, so just how did an insignificant Dou Shi support himself? Even taking into consideration that he was risking his life, there was definitely a limit. Looking at Yao Chen’s state, he had obviously overextended past that limit by quite a bit.

However, the more they thought about that, the more they confirmed that they couldn’t allow Yao Chen to continue living, as this kid’s future would pose an immense threat.

“Hahaha..... hehehe….” Suddenly Yao Chen started laughing wildly.

“Kid, what are you laughing at!?”

“I’m laughing at how the grand and magnificent Yao clan’s main bloodline is! They would actually decide to completely exterminate a branch family disciple like me. Hahaha, Yao Feng… must die!” Yao Chen ground his teeth, and in his heart he was completely unwilling.

“I’m afraid that the one who must die is you!”

“Everyone tells us that even once they become a ghost they won’t let us off. Do you want to say it too? These kinds of words are something we’ve heard way too many times before.” The three men coldly laughed. At this time they no longer wished to stall so they all simultaneously raised their hands, and a Dou Qi with no attribute roared into being as it prepared to strike Yao Chen. Obviously the three of them didn’t want to use their signature techniques; when doing this kind of work involving silently killing someone, it was best not to leave any signs relating to the Yao clan.

Yao Chen clenched his eyes shut as hard as he could, and in his mind appeared his father’s teaching and his mother’s hopes… all of it, would it end here?

“NO!” BOOM! Just as the three men were simultaneously releasing their Dou Qi, a blazing Dou Flame exploded out of Yao Chen’s body. The Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique had entered into a level of mastery at this moment.

The three sets of Dou Qi met the Dou Flame in an explosive collision, and a strange situation occurred. The three Dou Qi with no attribute under the power of the Dou Flame became sluggish, and unexpectedly began to dissolve and disappear.

“WHAT!?”

“What is this?”

“It seems to be similar to a Heavenly Flame. However it’s still much weaker.” The three men all became alarmed, but they once again prepared another blow. This time, they used their entire strength in this blow without the slightest intention of holding back.

The stronger Yao Chen’s performance was, the more they knew that they had to destroy him before he became stronger.

Facing the three of them who were much stronger with their all out blows, he would definitely be destroyed.

Yao Chen bitterly smiled. Although his Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique had reached such a level of mastery, it was already too late. He had already completely exhausted himself and he could only helplessly collapse.

He was unwilling… but so what? Strength- without real strength that could overturn the world, you would just be a powerless little ant. Even if you had some capability, it was only enough strength to beat other ants.

Yao Chen had never before thirsted for strength as much as he did now.

That’s right, if he had had strength… two years ago, no one would have kicked out his mother from their estates while they held precious medicinal ingredients in their hands and his father would not have died… if he had had strength, then how could Yao Feng dare steal his medicinal ingredients… no wait that had been a trap. His medicinal ingredient had already been switched the night before.

The punishment hall… it was the Yao clan’s inner secret spy network. Only these people who lived in the darkness had the ability to perform this kind of secret act in a way that even a ghost wouldn’t know about. Yao Feng’s older brother… was Yao Wangui, the chief of the punishment hall! It was definitely him! He was the one who banished him from the clan with just a single sentence and had prepared some clan school students to make up a fake story to frame him!

At this moment Yao Chen understood everything. A man who was about to die might get an epiphany as he was dying, and now Yao Chen had understood far too much.

“Even if I have to die, I have to bring one down with me.” Yao Chen suddenly charged towards one of the three Da Dou Shi, and his whole body’s remaining Dou Qi transformed into a blazing cone and explosively pierced forward.

The three Da Dou Shi all sneered- this kind of all out last attack from a surrounded beast was something they had seen far too many times already. The three stamped their feet, and their three sets of Dou Qi exploded out. Merging together, their combined attack slammed into Yao Chen.

Yao Chen’s Dou Flame disappeared in the face of their attack and he powerlessly fell down onto the ground with blood continuously spurting out of his mouth.

Would everything end here? Yao Chen’s vision blackened, and he completely lost consciousness.

The three Da Dou Shi were all rather startled; the three of them joined hands to use all their strength in that attack, yet they actually didn’t manage to kill him. They merely seriously injured him.

“This kid’s body… there’s something unusual.”

“Medicinal bath! I remember now, his branch family’s ancestors had a person whose name is on the Clan Monument; it seems like it was due to the medicinal bath tempering his body.”

“Acting the way he did, he was basically asking for death. With this kid’s Violet Flame Pill along with his medicinal bath, his rise to success would have only been a matter of time. But he actually decided to make things difficult for the young master. Snatching things from the young master is just following his own path to destruction.”

“Shut up! You think these are words that can be said here?”

The punishment hall not only handled the strict security and customs within the clan, but secretly behind the eyes’ of the clansmen it was already completely controlled by Yao Wangui. With the Second Elder’s secret support, the punishment hall had basically become a subsidiary of the Second Elder’s estate. Most of them no longer considered themselves as just people from the punishment hall but as members under the Second Elder. However these were all matters that had to occur in secret; they couldn’t come out to the public. Publicly they still had to act within the customs and rules, but matters that occurred in secret were a different matter.

“It was just a slip of the tongue, just a slip of the tongue… haha, the fact that he hasn’t died is perfect. Forcing us to run after him for this long, we have to pay him back a bit or I won’t be able to release my resentment.”

The other two also nodded and they decided not to immediately kill Yao Chen. After all, they had lead by the nose by this little kid all around these deep mountains for a whole month. In addition to that suffering, having taken this long to complete their mission, the Punishment Chief might even start to doubt their skills and reduce the amount of benefits they could obtain.

If they didn’t use Yao Chen to release their resentment, then how would that be fair to them?

The three of them worked together, and in just a short time, the heavily injured unconscious Yao Chen ended up hanging from a tree.

One of them hesitated for a moment before taking out a pill and feeding it to Yao Chen.

“We should let him recover a bit so that it’ll be more fun when we torment him a bit.”

The other two nodded with sinister smiles. It appeared they were all thinking of the best ways to torture him.

“The medicine’s done its job. I’m gonna go wake him up with some needles.”

By sticking needles throughout the pain acupuncture points throughout the body, even an unconscious person would be awoken from the pain.

The three of them walked towards Yao Chen, and one of them took out a couple thick ink-black needles. They shined brightly, and it was obvious these were not used to healing but specialized for torture.

Boom!

Suddenly, a muffled explosion rang out and the three of their expressions changed. “Crap, there’s…”

A shadow flew forward. Crack….

Yao Chen was dreaming a wonderful dream of his parents holding hands across a huge river. The strange thing was that although they were extremely far away from him, he could still see every single feature of them extremely clearly. Even the slight wrinkles when his father laughed were captured in his gaze.

Yao Chen unconsciously walked across the river. It was clearly a huge river, but it wasn’t deep at all and only reached up to his knees. The riverbed was lined with pebbles without the slightest mud. Even the river water was warm.

He walked and swam, almost reaching the center of the river, when suddenly a bright light flashed behind him. Before he could even react, shining chains bound up his body and pulled him back.

He hadn’t even realized what was going on, when suddenly the pebbles beneath his feet turned into a bottomless pit of sludge, and the originally shallow river water surged up and consumed everything…

“NO!!!”

All Yao Chen had wanted was to be by his parents’ side….

Chapter 15 Pursued with Killing Intent

The Shennong Mountain Range.

In the forbidden area of the Yao clan, all kinds of demons and Magical Beasts were everywhere. Clansmen were not normally allowed to approach this area except for set times when they took care of the beasts.

As long as a beast was approaching the level of spiritual wisdom, they could either be seized and tamed back in the clan or exchanged with the demon clan. Or course such an exchange had to have an equal pay, and it was actually this trade that was used to obtain most of the rare and strange medicinal ingredients that only the demon clan could harvest.

Currently there was a squadron of around ten people resting deep within the mountains. Normally such a group’s mission would be to handle any demons or Magical Beasts that had gained spiritual wisdom.

However this particular squadron’s mission was clearly different, as just one hundred or so meters away from them was a beast about to obtain spiritual wisdom, but they simply ignored it and continued to eat their rations.

“We’re already near the boundary; that kid really is sly. We actually came across three of his traps, and even old Ren was tricked by him.” One of people present finally opened their mouth.

“Hmph, it’s just that I was a bit careless is all. Originally we thought this kid had never stepped foot outside the Yao clan and was just a helpless chick. I didn’t expect him to actually have such a profound understanding of the deep mountains.” The person who had been called old Ren was a middle-aged man with messy long hair. Beside his foot was a vicious dog half the size of a man.

“That’s enough! If we can’t finish our mission this time then we might as well just not return.” The ten people stopped talking.

Originally this was a simple chase and kill mission. The order had been passed down by Punishment Chief Yao Wangui’s trusted aide, and although it was not specifically said that it was instructed by Yao Wangui, everyone knew that this mission was appointed by him. If it wasn’t completed… no one dared to continue imagining just what would happen to them if they failed.

“We’ve rested enough. This time we can definitely manage to catch up and capture this kid.”

“I’ll definitely peel off all his skin and pull out all his muscles.”

“Let’s go.” The group quickly moved out, following tiny little hints as small as a spider’s thread.

Time slowly passed. Under the trees where the small squadron had rested were particles of food they had left behind. Groups of ants and insects came and piece by piece brought it back to their nests.

Night came extremely early deep in the mountains. Even just as the sun just went past the mountain line, the forest immediately darkened to the point you where you wouldn’t even be able to see your own fingers. The dense and tall forest of trees seemed voraciously beautiful as they sucked in the last rays of the sun.

At this moment, not very far away, a certain tall tree trunk suddenly burst open and a youngster jumped down. Landing on the ground, he gasped for air. His trembling hands grabbed his water canteen and greedily drank a mouthful before forcibly suppressing his body’s desire to continue drinking.

Although his body was dehydrated, what was needed even more than water were medicinal pills.He quickly took out a gray porcelain bottle from his Storage Ring. Opening and tilting it, two greenish-gray pills rolled out into his hand. Without any hesitation he immediately swallowed them down. The medicinal essence started to dissolve in his stomach, bringing with it a rumbling noise from his stomach. Only after he completed this did he dare to continue drinking from his water canteen, taking in one huge gulp after another till he was completely satisfied.

This youngster was precisely the fleeing Yao Chen.

Several dangerous moments had occurred, but what he relied on to escape them wasn’t some understanding of the mountain. He was only fifteen, and other than refining pills, he didn’t have any other strong points.

The thing that let him repeatedly avoid his chasers were five Suspended Animation Pills his father had left behind. The Suspended Animation Pill would shut down all his bodily organs’ functions. After using the pill, by concealing himself in a tall tree and applying a tasteless, odorless juice that would hide his smell, he became just another lifeless object in the forest.

This method had been taught to him by his father. He had once told him a story about how even a Dou Zun Magical Beast was tricked this way.

Gradually Yao Chen calmed down. This was already the twenty-first sunset since he had left the Yao clan. Every day he would only dare to travel during the night. He knew that the people chasing him would only move during the day, so the night could be used as a cover.

Although the night also hid its own terrors, but when compared to the people chasing him, these terrors could no longer make him afraid.

After these few days, Yao Chen had already learned how to hide any traces of his movement, and he also figured out how he could mislead his enemies. People learned the fastest under a threat of death, even when just relying on themselves without a teacher.

He took out some rations from his Storage Ring and carefully sprinkled a bit in his mouth. If he just dumped it into his mouth then he might leave some tiny traces. Also taking a gulp of water, he tidied up and dexterously started moving again, his footsteps bringing him deeper into the mountain forest.

Every step that he took seemed to be exceptionally light and almost floating. These days he had learnt how to use his Dou Qi to let his body become lighter, and as much as possible he made it so that the grass would not leave any imprints.

The faint imprints his footsteps ended up leaving on his path looked the same as those left behind by a mountain rat. Within the forest, these kinds of imprints were everywhere.

But with this kind of travelling, Yao Chen’s speed could not be considered fast.

Everywhere around him was pitch black, but raising his head he could still a faint glimmer above the treetops. Outside the deep forest, the sun had yet to actually set.

Determining the direction he needed to go, Yao Chen continued his journey.

There were still two Suspended Animation Pills left, however in order to recover himself he needed the Rebirth Pill, and he had already consumed them all. Therefore he had to be even more careful from now on.

Yao Chen didn’t understand why his enemies would want to completely exterminate him, but he was very clear that if he did get caught his ending would definitely be even more miserable than just death.

Although Yao Chen wasn’t afraid of death, he still needed to live on. He still had to carve his father’s name onto the Clan Monument….

When that time came, his mother would definitely smile… his mother’s smile would always bring him joy in his heart.

Reaching this point in his thoughts, Yao Chen’s footsteps became even more quick and agile, and his Spiritual Perception would carefully look back at every imprint he left behind in order to make sure that they only looked like a mountain rat’s and not a person’s.

In this manner, carefully… extremely carefully… he didn’t leave behind any tracks for the people chasing him.

The fifteen-year-old Yao Chen had already learnt much that someone of his age shouldn’t know.

Nine days later…

“Kid, stand still and don’t run! We don’t have any bad intentions, we’re here to bring you back to the clan. Luo Shan has already returned, we know you didn’t steal the medicinal ingredients…” Within the deep mountain forests, a loud shout rang. Countless startled birds took off and the sound of their flapping wings broke through the mountain forest’s calm.

Yao Chen tightly ground his teeth, doing his absolute best to continue forward. Following behind were three very fast nine star Da Dou Shi Iron Guards who were pursuing him.

Just how could Yao Chen believe their clumsy lies? These people had been chasing him for a month already. From the very first day he entered the deep mountains, they had pursued him. Only after consuming two Suspended Animation Pills had he learned how to avoid them.

Originally everything had been fine, but five days ago, the ten man squadron suddenly split into three groups, each separating out in order to find his traces.

On this day, this three man group had finally caught on to some traces of him.

With his three star Dou Shi strength, Yao Chen madly charged forward as fast as he could, and for a brief period he actually was not slower than his opponents. However, with his opponent’s nine star Da Dou Shi strength, he knew he had no way of escaping now that he was in their range. When his Dou Qi finally ran out… just what could he do?

Within his muddle-headed mind he suddenly recalled a memory of his father pointing at the shadow of a lamp as he laughed, while his mother borrowed the light as she weaved some winter clothes.

The darkness behind the light.

The more dangerous a place was the more safe it was as well.

According to what his father had said, he shouldn’t have into the deep mountains but instead hidden himself near the Yao clan and then waited for an opportune moment to leave.

However, realizing this now was already too late. But… an incredibly terrifying idea started to emerge in his mind. If danger could also mean safety, then there might actually be a place he could shake off the soldiers chasing him.

Suddenly Yao Chen’s condition took a drastic change for the worse, and a bloody scent came from his heart and lungs, indicating that he had exceeded the amount of Dou Qi he could use. One of his legs tripped and Yao Chen narrowly avoided falling onto the ground.

Although this only delayed him for slight pause, three wind palms whistled with killing intent behind him and Yao Chen could only abruptly roll to the side to avoid it. His unsightly rolling let him avoid the three wind palms. He reoriented himself and started madly running for his life again. His whole body’s Dou Qi was poured into his legs. FASTER, FASTER! Fortunately the three of them had simultaneously released wind palms which had caused them to pause for a brief moment, letting Yao Chen increase the distance between them by a small amount.

“Run as much as you want. Only then will we get the fun of chasing and killing you.” The three Da Dou Shi’s expression became much uglier. All three of them had simultaneously taken action to trap a younger generation Dou Shi but ended up failing. If news of this spread they would likely have no more face.

Of course, if they did catch Yao Chen then what awaited Yao Chen was a life with torture that would be worse than death.

In just a minute, Yao Chen ended up completely exhausted. His body’s limit had long since been exceeded, and not even the slightest trace of Dou Qi could be found in his body now. He fell down with a crashing noise.

In basically no time at all, the three figures shot out like lightning. Splitting up, they surrounded him from all directions.

“Haha, how come you’re not running anymore?”

“Run, run some more.”

“Haha, in a moment we’ll cut off both your legs and see how you run then.”

The three Da Dou Shi were also panting slightly. These three people were inner guards of the punishment hall and had basically been spoiled as they lived like a prince. Although they had to complete some missions, none of them were as strenuous as this one. For over six hours they had chased him. Just running at full speed was enough to tire them out, let alone running after someone in an obstacle-filled jungle.

The three people all had their doubts; even the three of them with their Da Dou Shi strength felt tired, so just how did an insignificant Dou Shi support himself? Even taking into consideration that he was risking his life, there was definitely a limit. Looking at Yao Chen’s state, he had obviously overextended past that limit by quite a bit.

However, the more they thought about that, the more they confirmed that they couldn’t allow Yao Chen to continue living, as this kid’s future would pose an immense threat.

“Hahaha..... hehehe….” Suddenly Yao Chen started laughing wildly.

“Kid, what are you laughing at!?”

“I’m laughing at how the grand and magnificent Yao clan’s main bloodline is! They would actually decide to completely exterminate a branch family disciple like me. Hahaha, Yao Feng… must die!” Yao Chen ground his teeth, and in his heart he was completely unwilling.

“I’m afraid that the one who must die is you!”

“Everyone tells us that even once they become a ghost they won’t let us off. Do you want to say it too? These kinds of words are something we’ve heard way too many times before.” The three men coldly laughed. At this time they no longer wished to stall so they all simultaneously raised their hands, and a Dou Qi with no attribute roared into being as it prepared to strike Yao Chen. Obviously the three of them didn’t want to use their signature techniques; when doing this kind of work involving silently killing someone, it was best not to leave any signs relating to the Yao clan.

Yao Chen clenched his eyes shut as hard as he could, and in his mind appeared his father’s teaching and his mother’s hopes… all of it, would it end here?

“NO!” BOOM! Just as the three men were simultaneously releasing their Dou Qi, a blazing Dou Flame exploded out of Yao Chen’s body. The Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique had entered into a level of mastery at this moment.

The three sets of Dou Qi met the Dou Flame in an explosive collision, and a strange situation occurred. The three Dou Qi with no attribute under the power of the Dou Flame became sluggish, and unexpectedly began to dissolve and disappear.

“WHAT!?”

“What is this?”

“It seems to be similar to a Heavenly Flame. However it’s still much weaker.” The three men all became alarmed, but they once again prepared another blow. This time, they used their entire strength in this blow without the slightest intention of holding back.

The stronger Yao Chen’s performance was, the more they knew that they had to destroy him before he became stronger.

Facing the three of them who were much stronger with their all out blows, he would definitely be destroyed.

Yao Chen bitterly smiled. Although his Triple Flower Agglomerating Flame Technique had reached such a level of mastery, it was already too late. He had already completely exhausted himself and he could only helplessly collapse.

He was unwilling… but so what? Strength- without real strength that could overturn the world, you would just be a powerless little ant. Even if you had some capability, it was only enough strength to beat other ants.

Yao Chen had never before thirsted for strength as much as he did now.

That’s right, if he had had strength… two years ago, no one would have kicked out his mother from their estates while they held precious medicinal ingredients in their hands and his father would not have died… if he had had strength, then how could Yao Feng dare steal his medicinal ingredients… no wait that had been a trap. His medicinal ingredient had already been switched the night before.

The punishment hall… it was the Yao clan’s inner secret spy network. Only these people who lived in the darkness had the ability to perform this kind of secret act in a way that even a ghost wouldn’t know about. Yao Feng’s older brother… was Yao Wangui, the chief of the punishment hall! It was definitely him! He was the one who banished him from the clan with just a single sentence and had prepared some clan school students to make up a fake story to frame him!

At this moment Yao Chen understood everything. A man who was about to die might get an epiphany as he was dying, and now Yao Chen had understood far too much.

“Even if I have to die, I have to bring one down with me.” Yao Chen suddenly charged towards one of the three Da Dou Shi, and his whole body’s remaining Dou Qi transformed into a blazing cone and explosively pierced forward.

The three Da Dou Shi all sneered- this kind of all out last attack from a surrounded beast was something they had seen far too many times already. The three stamped their feet, and their three sets of Dou Qi exploded out. Merging together, their combined attack slammed into Yao Chen.

Yao Chen’s Dou Flame disappeared in the face of their attack and he powerlessly fell down onto the ground with blood continuously spurting out of his mouth.

Would everything end here? Yao Chen’s vision blackened, and he completely lost consciousness.

The three Da Dou Shi were all rather startled; the three of them joined hands to use all their strength in that attack, yet they actually didn’t manage to kill him. They merely seriously injured him.

“This kid’s body… there’s something unusual.”

“Medicinal bath! I remember now, his branch family’s ancestors had a person whose name is on the Clan Monument; it seems like it was due to the medicinal bath tempering his body.”

“Acting the way he did, he was basically asking for death. With this kid’s Violet Flame Pill along with his medicinal bath, his rise to success would have only been a matter of time. But he actually decided to make things difficult for the young master. Snatching things from the young master is just following his own path to destruction.”

“Shut up! You think these are words that can be said here?”

The punishment hall not only handled the strict security and customs within the clan, but secretly behind the eyes’ of the clansmen it was already completely controlled by Yao Wangui. With the Second Elder’s secret support, the punishment hall had basically become a subsidiary of the Second Elder’s estate. Most of them no longer considered themselves as just people from the punishment hall but as members under the Second Elder. However these were all matters that had to occur in secret; they couldn’t come out to the public. Publicly they still had to act within the customs and rules, but matters that occurred in secret were a different matter.

“It was just a slip of the tongue, just a slip of the tongue… haha, the fact that he hasn’t died is perfect. Forcing us to run after him for this long, we have to pay him back a bit or I won’t be able to release my resentment.”

The other two also nodded and they decided not to immediately kill Yao Chen. After all, they had lead by the nose by this little kid all around these deep mountains for a whole month. In addition to that suffering, having taken this long to complete their mission, the Punishment Chief might even start to doubt their skills and reduce the amount of benefits they could obtain.

If they didn’t use Yao Chen to release their resentment, then how would that be fair to them?

The three of them worked together, and in just a short time, the heavily injured unconscious Yao Chen ended up hanging from a tree.

One of them hesitated for a moment before taking out a pill and feeding it to Yao Chen.

“We should let him recover a bit so that it’ll be more fun when we torment him a bit.”

The other two nodded with sinister smiles. It appeared they were all thinking of the best ways to torture him.

“The medicine’s done its job. I’m gonna go wake him up with some needles.”

By sticking needles throughout the pain acupuncture points throughout the body, even an unconscious person would be awoken from the pain.

The three of them walked towards Yao Chen, and one of them took out a couple thick ink-black needles. They shined brightly, and it was obvious these were not used to healing but specialized for torture.

Boom!

Suddenly, a muffled explosion rang out and the three of their expressions changed. “Crap, there’s…”

A shadow flew forward. Crack….

Yao Chen was dreaming a wonderful dream of his parents holding hands across a huge river. The strange thing was that although they were extremely far away from him, he could still see every single feature of them extremely clearly. Even the slight wrinkles when his father laughed were captured in his gaze.

Yao Chen unconsciously walked across the river. It was clearly a huge river, but it wasn’t deep at all and only reached up to his knees. The riverbed was lined with pebbles without the slightest mud. Even the river water was warm.

He walked and swam, almost reaching the center of the river, when suddenly a bright light flashed behind him. Before he could even react, shining chains bound up his body and pulled him back.

He hadn’t even realized what was going on, when suddenly the pebbles beneath his feet turned into a bottomless pit of sludge, and the originally shallow river water surged up and consumed everything…

“NO!!!”

All Yao Chen had wanted was to be by his parents’ side….