Chapter 149: The Mysterious Disappearance

"Bang!"

Amid a muffled sound, Xu Zhe climbed up from the ground, breathing heavily. Before him lay a fierce beast he had just slain.

A full six days had passed since the two armies engaged in all-out war.

From the initial stalemate to the current state, the Vermilion Bird Army had completely gained the upper hand, brutally slaughtering over a million members of the demon army.

This was a startling and staggering number.

The effects of the intermediate-level battle formations of both sides had expired at some point last night.

No matter how powerful an intermediate battle formation was, aside from consuming a massive amount of heaven and earth spiritual energy, it primarily relied on the power of the formation runes to sustain itself. Its ultimate limit was basically maintaining function for four or five days.

By the fifth day of the battle, the power of the formations had vanished, yet the Vermilion Bird Army remained high in morale and intense in their killing intent.

The demon army, however, was in a miserable state. The battle formations of the Heavenly Eye had drained a vast amount of their cultivation base.

Now that the formation power had dissipated, a large number of fierce beasts began to experience a decline in their cultivation realms, and their physical bodies fell into a state of profound weakness.

This threw the Vermilion Bird Army into a frenzy of elation.

The previous two defeats had left them feeling suppressed and aggrieved for far too long; they were determined not to stop until they had exacted a full repayment in blood for past losses.

Soon, the demon army was driven into a continuous, crumbling retreat.

Many beast lords had already issued signals to fall back, and the entire demon army was retreating while still fighting.

Following closely within the ranks of the Vermilion Bird Army, Xu Zhe still failed to find an opportunity to infiltrate the very rear of the demon forces.

He had made constant attempts over the past few days, but whenever he pushed slightly ahead, he would be spotted by certain beast lords, who immediately locked their gaze upon him.

Xu Zhe had no choice but to turn back and slay fierce beasts, waiting until he felt he was no longer under special scrutiny before ducking into the blind spots of the beasts' vision, transforming his appearance, and blending back into an ordinary-looking squad of Vermilion Bird Army soldiers.

For several days, Xu Zhe essentially spent his time fishing in troubled waters by killing beasts. In the middle, he had even tried transforming into the likeness of a beast to slip through.

As a result, not only was he nearly beaten to death by members of the Vermilion Bird Army, but the moment he started running toward the rear, he was instantly noticed by several beast lords who roared at him, mistaking him for a deserter, and even attempted to kill him.

That proved to be even worse than continuing to disguise himself as a common Vermilion Bird soldier.

Logically speaking, if he were to forcefully break through and push himself to the limit by unleashing his bronze sword, he could indeed slaughter some of the beast lords at the rear.

After all, he was merely at the的分神期 (Soul Separation stage)—he didn't necessarily have to hide.

The problem, however, was that this matter could not be handled too conspicuously. In the event that he alerted the party responsible for casting the battle formation, and should their strength prove relatively weak, they would undoubtedly flee at the very first moment, while the demon race would spare no expense to protect them.

Should their strength be formidable, perhaps even exceeding the Integration stage, then a reckless charge on his part would not only fail to secure the target, but would also force him to waste additional life-saving means just to escape.

Therefore, this task had to be carried out with a low profile: sneaking over quietly, knocking someone down unawares with a single blow, tying them up, and then conducting a friendly inquiry.

Unfortunately, Heaven does not always grant what mortals desire.

Just as Xu Zhe was struggling to find an opening for infiltration and contemplating a new strategy, a demon king on the demon side suddenly let out a piercing howl.

The howl instantly echoed across the entire battlefield.

Immediately afterward, the numerous fierce beasts abruptly ceased their tactical retreating maneuvers alongside the Vermilion Bird Army and turned around to bolt away in a reckless, desperate sprint.

"They're fleeing?"

Xu Zhe widened his eyes in disbelief. He had been busy for days without even getting the chance to infiltrate, yet this demon army had chosen to simply run for their lives?

A retreat was conducted in an orderly fashion, whereas a flight meant utter chaos.

At that moment, he felt an urge to howl as well.

"What a magnificent opportunity!" Xu Zhe smiled.

Taking advantage of the demon army cascading backward like a receding tide, Xu Zhe made a prompt and decisive choice. Seizing the chaos, he directly transformed into one of the fierce beasts and ran wildly across the ground.

A vast number of beast lords had already departed at the earliest moment, paying no further attention to the battlefield.

Xu Zhe no longer needed excessive disguise; with a clear and definitive objective, he charged straight toward a small stone hut.

He was certain that the individual who had previously cast the intermediate battle formation for the demon army was hiding inside that dilapidated little stone hut.

Although the stone hut was not in the direction of the main force's retreat, the scene was currently one of absolute chaos. As the demon army stampeded collectively in this manner, they were bound to be pursued and relentlessly battered by the Vermilion Bird Army, causing numerous beasts to lose their bearings in panic and scatter in all directions.

The three-legged beast that Xu Zhe had transformed into was simply one of those panic-stricken stragglers.

Moving at an extreme speed, he sprinted frantically toward the small stone hut while noticing that several other fierce beasts were actually tailing him closely from behind, evidently having lost their bearings in the confusion and blindly following his lead.

Xu Zhe paid them no mind. After sprinting across a massive distance, he suddenly leaped forward, soaring over the small stone hut, and "accidentally" used his massive three legs to directly smash the roof of the stone hut into pieces, almost completely tearing it open.

"Boom!"

Countless fragments of stone and great billows of dust completely enveloped the area surrounding the small stone hut.

Yet Xu Zhe widened his eyes in horror, his heart gripped by shock.

The interior of the stone hut was completely empty; there was not a single soul inside.

"Impossible. The other party's aura was clearly right here just a moment ago."

Xu Zhe cleared the small stone hut, maintaining his forward momentum in his running posture to avoid arousing suspicion from anyone paying attention, but his mind was filled with doubt.

It made no sense.

Before he smashed open the roof, the other party's aura had clearly lingered within.

Yet the very instant the roof shattered, that aura vanished without the slightest ripple or trace.

That was utterly absurd.

Even if the adversary were immensely powerful, possessing the ability to shatter the void and rip open space to depart, it would at the very least have triggered a trace of spatial fluctuation. How could it vanish without generating any commotion whatsoever?

Unless...

Unless what? Xu Zhe failed to figure it out.

Continuing to run forward for a certain distance and sensing that no one else was present in the vicinity, he immediately turned around and sprinted back along his original path.

The few fierce beasts that had been tailing him earlier had somehow lost him again.

Caring little for their movements, Xu Zhe headed straight toward the small stone hut.

This time, he discarded all disguises, shedding his beastly transformation to reveal his true form, and stepped openly and squarely into the small stone hut.

The entire stone hut was not particularly large. Dilapidated on the outside, its walls appeared even more fragmented and riddled with cracks now that the roof had been smashed open.

The interior was equally ruinous, containing only a damaged small wooden table and chair.

Walking into the room, Xu Zhe gazed at the dust-covered wooden furniture, stepped forward, and gently flicked a finger across the table, his brows furrowing slightly.

Scanning his surroundings a few more times, every single sign seemed to attest that this room bore no trace of anyone having stayed in it recently.

"All those days wasted for nothing."

Xu Zhe shook his head helplessly, unable to unearth a single clue.

However, based on the intermediate battle formation the adversary had deployed earlier, he could at least determine that this person was ruthless and apparently connected to the Demonic Sect of the Azure Heaven Domain.

Yet with only this meager discovery, it was truly impossible to deduce anything further.

"Little Zhe, are you trying to get yourself killed? Why on earth did you run so far away?"

At that moment, a crisp voice rang out beside his ears.

It was Chu Shaotong transmitting her voice to him from afar via divine sense. Judging by the strength of this divine sense, it should be her true physical body.

"Have you dealt with that old demon king?" Xu Zhe's heart stirred as he transmitted his reply.

From the very beginning of this great battle, Chu Shaotong had gone off to fight a duel with an old demon king of the demon army single-handedly.

That old demon king was by no means weak, possessing a cultivation base at the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence stage.

Chu Shaotong had fought that battle for over six days straight. Now that her physical body had returned and the demon army had collapsed in rout, it was evident that Chu Shaotong had won.

However, the fate of that old demon king remained a mystery.

"Yeah. The spell manual you gave me is truly extraordinary. That old demon king had a tough hide, but I caught him off guard by suddenly changing my moves, executing a set of techniques you provided. I accidentally crippled him with the strike, and then followed up with a finishing blow for an instant kill."

A triumphant joy permeated Chu Shaotong's tone, which then shifted to a hint of mystery as she added, "It seems I've also learned of an incredible matter. Before that old demon king died, he issued a threat against me. Care to guess what he said?"

[...]

[My cervical spine seems to be acting up seriously; my head feels even dizzier today. Another day of failing to stand strong.]