Chapter 820: 805: Little Thief, Hurry and Catch Me!

Up ahead, Bai Luobing stood with his hands behind his back. Clad in a white robe, he remained as still as a cast-iron statue amidst the violent Gang Feng.

Positioned safely outside the Fire Realm, he showed no trace of his previous disheveled state. Even his hair was perfectly neat, without a single strand out of place. Not a single tear, crease, or speck of dirt marred his clothing. The fierce battle hadn’t affected his bearing. He maintained a refined posture, his gaze calm and a warm smile gracing his face, as though facing a dear friend rather than a bitter enemy.

“Your Highness’s Cultivation is vast as the heavens, and your Vermilion Bird Divine Fire is far more terrifying than before. Had I not been wearing the Li Huo Divine Armor, it would have been impossible to block,” Luobing said sincerely. “If I hadn’t prepared a backup plan, I’m afraid I would have suffered a crushing defeat today. You have my profound admiration.”

Lan Mengling remained expressionless. “Save your passive-aggressive pleasantries. This was merely a clash of clones. What does it matter if I kill you, or you kill me?

“The reality is that neither of us can kill the other without paying a massive price.

“Unless you want to force me to summon my Vermilion Bird true form and fight to the death, scram immediately. Otherwise, even if it costs me a severe injury, I will ensure both your clones perish right here!”

Luobing had dispatched two of his clones to hunt Mengling down, intending to use his overwhelming numerical advantage to destroy her lone clone. However, he hadn’t anticipated that her Vermilion Bird Divine Fire had ascended to a whole new level, vastly surpassing her strength from the past. Despite his clones possessing formidable Cultivation and flawless teamwork, they still couldn’t overcome her.

Out of options, Luobing had intentionally feigned defeat to lure her into a trap, but it only ended in mutually assured destruction.

Mengling had been severely wounded by Luobing’s Clone Fusion Technique. Forcefully maintaining her Fire Realm was an unsustainable burden. Yet, his Clone Fusion Technique couldn’t last much longer either, especially since one of his clones had already suffered heavy injuries while acting as bait. Continuing the fight would only yield disastrous results for both. If pushed too far, Mengling would unleash her true Vermilion Bird form in a desperate final stand—something Luobing could never withstand with only one functional clone remaining.

Though her words were a threat, they struck at the heart of the matter. She undeniably had the power to back them up.

Glancing warily at the spatial domain encapsulated by the Fire Realm, Luobing gave a slight nod. “Mutual destruction is not my desire. Since I cannot kill you, Your Highness, fighting any further is a waste of time. Let us end this battle here.

“Until we meet again on the Fifth Floor, Princess.”

With those parting words, his figure abruptly split into two. Both silhouettes rapidly blurred before vanishing entirely.

Mengling stood perfectly still, refusing to deactivate the Fire Realm. Though she sheathed the longsword in her left hand, her right hand kept her Giant Sword at the ready.

She actually believed his words, knowing his character well enough. However, on a battlefield, no amount of respect or trust warranted lowering one’s guard against an enemy. In situations like this, she could only trust herself.

Floating cross-legged within the Fire Realm, she swallowed an Elixir Pill and circulated her power to suppress her injuries.

“Hmph. Luobing’s Heart-Shattering Palm might have a terribly tacky name, and its activation is completely silent and unassuming, but the bizarre nature of its Palm Force surpasses even Asura King Zi You’s Undying Seal Technique,” she thought. “I was far too careless this time.”

Her mind raced, searching for a way out of her current predicament. Despite her nonchalant facade, she knew the severity of her wounds. Taking a direct hit from his palm had nearly stripped away her ability to fight.

Forcibly maintaining the Fire Realm wouldn’t last much longer. Unleashing her Vermilion Bird true form would undoubtedly destroy his two clones, but it would also cause her own clone—one she had spent thousands of years cultivating—to completely dissipate. If Luobing was still lurking nearby, or if other experts from the War God Hall were waiting to ambush her, she would be walking right into a death trap.

Right at that moment, a strange sensation tugged at her Fire Realm, emanating from the northwest of the Dragon Scale Divine Hall.

“Vermilion Bird Divine Fire? Did that little rascal make it to the Dragon Scale Divine Hall too?”

Mengling stood up and retracted the Fire Realm. Her body swayed slightly before she shot toward the northwest at blinding speed, disappearing over the horizon in the blink of an eye.

…

Meanwhile, at the canyon entrance in front of the light barrier.

Drenched in sweat, Shen Lang finally drew the most crucial stroke of the array, borrowing the power of Dong Chengyue and Qin Mengxue. His entire body immediately went limp, collapsing to the ground in exhaustion.

“Is it done? Did it actually work?” Mengxue asked, pleasantly surprised.

Chengyue didn’t speak, but her eyes were glued to Shen Lang, trying to read his expression.

Shen Lang waved a dismissive hand. “It took three full days and nights, completely draining my Divine Thought. If it still didn’t work, where would I even hide my face?

“Let’s rest for a bit. In about an hour, the Restriction I set up will fully activate and shatter the barrier blocking this canyon entrance.”

“I knew I wasn’t wrong about you. You really are capable of breaking this Restriction,” Chengyue purred, slithering close like a serpentine temptress, trying to bury herself in his embrace.

“Hey now, if you get any closer, I might just ’accidentally’ ruin this Restriction,” Shen Lang casually remarked.

The threat worked instantly. Startled, Chengyue froze and hastily backed away a fraction of an inch. She shot him a deeply resentful look. “Are my looks really that unappealing to you? Why must you always keep me at arm’s length?”

“Because we’re birds of a feather,” Shen Lang replied lazily.

“Huh?” Both Chengyue and Mengxue looked confused.

Shen Lang yawned. “You don’t like men, and I don’t like men. Doesn’t that make us kindred spirits?”

“PFFT!” Mengxue, who had just sat down and taken a sip of water, spat it out entirely.

Chengyue’s beautiful face immediately changed color. “You little punk! You really were eavesdropping on us earlier… No wonder Jun Tianyu felt like someone was spying on him!”

Shen Lang rolled his eyes and didn’t bother replying, simply shutting his eyes to focus on his recovery.

Stifling a laugh, Mengxue urged, “Alright, you should rest and recover too. Stop messing around. We still don’t know what kind of dangers lie within this canyon. It could easily be tens or hundreds of times more perilous than the Twelve All Heaven Beast Array.”

Chengyue glared fiercely at Shen Lang but finally fell silent.

At that moment, a King Martial Realm expert from the Demon God Hall cautiously approached. Bowing to Chengyue, he whispered, “My Lady, Lord Ren sent me to ask… It’s been three days now. He wonders about the status of the Restriction…”

Already in a foul mood, Chengyue flew into a rage upon hearing this. With a flick of her delicate hand, a highly condensed burst of Palm Force instantly slammed into the man’s face, sending him flying backward through the air.

“Do I need your supervision to do my job? Who the hell do you think you are!” Chengyue roared viciously. “I’m in a terrible mood right now. Ren Xudong, you’d better not provoke me again!”

The entire group in the distance fell dead silent, terrified to utter a single word. Ren Xudong wanted to say something, but considering Chengyue’s vicious temper and ruthless methods, he clamped his mouth shut and went back to wrestling with the Netherworld Qi wreaking havoc inside his body.

Suddenly, Shen Lang snapped his eyes wide open.

“What are you doing? Don’t just jump out of nowhere and scare people!” Chengyue complained, highly displeased. By now, she had already started treating Shen Lang as an equal, so seeing his alarmed expression genuinely startled her.

Shen Lang didn’t answer. He abruptly stood up and spun around, staring off into the distant sky.

Mengxue and Chengyue spread out their majestic Divine Thought and were immediately given a massive fright. “Vermilion Bird Divine Fire! It’s Her Highness… Her aura is extremely unstable. It seems she’s heavily injured!”

As soon as the words left her mouth, a massive fireball materialized in the distant sky, plummeting toward them like a falling meteor.

Shen Lang blanked for a second before his expression drastically contorted. He waved his arms frantically and shouted, “Stop! Stop right there! Don’t come over here!

“Crash anywhere else, just don’t crash here! Please… Ah, son of a bitch!”

But how could the airborne Mengling possibly listen to him? In fact, hearing his shouts only made her descend even faster. No, this wasn’t flying at all… She was outright crashing!

“Mengxue, get out of the way!” Mengling’s delicate voice rang out from the sky. “You little scoundrel, catch me! I can’t control it!”

Chengyue and Mengxue turned pale and instantly darted off to the sides. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to catch Mengling, but the Vermilion Bird Divine Fire was terrifyingly tyrannical. Even as Peak Emperor Martial Realm experts, they would likely be incinerated into nothingness before they even made contact with her.

Shen Lang glanced back at the light barrier behind him, then up at Mengling in the sky. Spreading his arms wide, he unleashed an endless torrent of flames around his own body and let out a long, weary sigh. “Heaven must have sent you just to torture me!”

The very next second, enveloped in monstrous flames, Mengling plummeted with brutal velocity, slamming directly into Shen Lang with a deafening CRASH.

Amidst an earth-shattering rumble, the massive shockwave kicked up a dense cloud of dust that blotted out the sun. Still clutching Mengling, Shen Lang was forced backward in a series of violent, staggering steps until they smashed violently into the light barrier sealing the canyon entrance.

The barrier instantly flared with blinding intensity. Seven-colored divine light flashed erratically accompanied by the endless roar of thunder, and tens of thousands of lightning snakes immediately swallowed the two of them whole.

Had it not been for the sheer dominance of Mengling’s Vermilion Bird Divine Fire neutralizing most of the Power of Thunder and Lightning, even someone like Shen Lang, who cultivated the Thunder Control Divine Technique, would have been electrocuted to death.

Under that devastating impact, the Restriction Shen Lang had spent three arduous days and nights setting up was completely obliterated. The immense rebounding force of the barrier then launched the two of them back out like a runaway missile.

Shen Lang tasted something sweet in his throat. His vision went completely black, and he nearly passed out on the spot.

Even though he had fully activated the power of his Chaos Divine Body, how could it withstand such a tyrannical impact? The concussive force was simply too overwhelming. Feeling as if he had been rammed by a speeding tank, Shen Lang’s skeletal frame threatened to fall apart entirely. Clutching Mengling tightly against his chest, with absolutely no time to react, he was sent hurtling uncontrollably through the air.