818 Cornered
"They are here... " Hearing Xu Bao suddenly say this after having waited around for close to half an hour, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help turning in the direction that Xu Bao was looking in with a somewhat nervous expression on his face. Even if he trusted that Xu Bao had everything under control and should be more than capable of dealing with whatever the major sects had planned, he could still not stop himself from getting nervous upon seeing close to a dozen Domain Lords suddenly appearing in the distance. Especially when he realized that the weakest among them having reached the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm like him!
"All of them are above the early stages of the Domain Lord Realm... Looks like the major sects really want to deal with us this time around..." Not knowing what else to say when faced with such a powerful lineup, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help turning towards Xu Bao. Curious how the old man planned to deal with the large number of powerful Domain Lords from the major sects.
"Never expected for them to send out so many, there is even three of them in the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm... Elder Scarlet Flame, let's get out of here, there is no way for us to fight with all of them at once!"
"Huh!? Wai-!"
Swish-!
Not even having the time to say anything in response to what Xu Bao said, Elder Scarlet Flame suddenly felt himself getting dragged into the opposite direction of the dozen or so Domain Lord Realm Experts from the major sects. At the same time, Elder Scarlet Flame also realized that the Domain Lords from the major sects used their movement techniques to chase after them without delay.
This... This was not a part of Senior Xu's plan...?
As these thought passed through his head while being dragged along by Xu Bao, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help feeling nervous while looking at the large number of powerful Domain Lords chasing after them.
Although he would be confident in escaping from a Seventh Stage Domain Lord Realm Expert, he would not be able to escape if he ended up getting surrounded by a group of Domain Lords equal to him in strength as some of his methods of escaping only worked against a single person...
"Hm? T-this-!?" Just at this moment, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help opening his mouth in surprise as he suddenly saw a terrifying energy attack approaching them from the front. Even without knowing where the attack had come from, it was obvious that the power behind it had far surpassed the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm and should have already reached the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.
"Hmph! To think one of those people decided to leave the capital city to ambush us... Are they not afraid of the imperial city finding out about this!?" Different from Elder Scarlet Flame who was shocked by the sudden attack, Xu Bao did not seem too surprised as he threw out a small talisman in the direction of the incoming attack.
Whoosh-!
Activating just before the incoming attack reached them, the talisman formed a massive shield-
BOOOOOOOM-!
Completely isolating them from the devastating power of the energy attack that erupted the moment it hit the shield formed by the talisman.
"This- Seventh Stage Domain Lord!?" Realizing the strength behind the attack after seeing it erupt firsthand, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help shivering as he suddenly felt less confident in being able to escape from someone in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm.
"Elder Scarlet Flame, you should escape from here as quick as possible. If I'm not wrong, their target should be me."
"Senor Xu!? I... Even if I'm not as strong as you, I'm still more than capable of holding off against one of their Sixth Stage Domain Lords by myself for some time!" Hearing what Xu Bao said, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help freezing for a short moment before saying this. No matter what, there was no way he would just leave Xu Bao behind to fend for himself against close to a dozen Domain Lords, one Seventh Stage Domain Lord and possibly even more hiding somewhere nearby for an opportunity to attack.
"Stay behind? Hold off one of them? Haha, no need to worry that much about me, to be honest, this is not the first time they tried to kill me off like this, all I have to do, is avoid them until someone from the imperial family shows up to intimidate them." Chuckling a bit upon hearing what Elder Scarlet Flame said, Xu Bao reassured Elder Scarlet Flame before a somewhat odd expression appeared on his face. "Not to mention, who says I'm the one at a disadvantage?"
"This... You already knew about the appearance of the people behind the major sects..." Muttering this to himself in a tone of disbelief, Elder Scarlet Flame could not help feeling a shiver run down his spine. From the looks of it, the major sects and their backers were indeed about to fall into a trap set up by Xu Bao like he had first expected.
If that is the case, I should get out of the way so Senior Xu can fight without having to worry about me...
Swish-!
Understanding that it would be best for him to leave, Elder Scarlet Flame didn't stay for a second longer. Directly using one of his many escape methods to turn into a sphere of light that rapidly flew past the Domain Lords from the major sects before disappearing in the distance. The main reason the escape was so smooth being that none of the Domain Lords attempted to stop him. Making it even more obvious that their sole target was Xu Bao.
...
Elder Scarlet Flame should have managed to get far enough away by now... Hah... These people never do give up on trying to target me. Two... No three of them showed up this time around? How did so many of them manage to sneak out without the imperial family noticing, is the situation with the three religions really getting that bad?
Normally, delaying until the imperial family shows up would be fine... But if the three religions are interfering with the matter to possibly weaken the newly established sect alliance, I fear they won't show up in time.
Watching as Elder Scarlet Flame disappeared in the distance, Xu Bao silently thought about this while observing an old man that had appeared in front of him along with two similarly strong auras that had appeared on either side of him to block his path of escape.
At first he had only thought a single expert in the Seventh Stage of the Domain Lord Realm were following them. Now that he discovered that there was three of them, Xu Bao understood that there would be no way for him to escape with his current strength.
No matter how many trump cards he had up his sleeve, escaping from the encirclement of three Seventh Stage Domain Lords working together with close to a dozen Domain Lords that had at least reached the Fourth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm. The reason he had hinted at having a plan to Elder Scarlet Flame was just so he would be able to get out of this encirclement alive while there was still time...
"Xu Bao, there is no way out for you this time around! Even if we have to bear the wrath of the imperial family for killing a Domain Lord that is part of the Sky Empire in the future, we will make sure that your independent sects won't ever be able to nurture anyone close to the Sixth Stage of the Domain Lord Realm in the future, let alone someone as powerful as you!" Closing in on him as he said this, one of the Seventh Stage Domain Lords smiled with pride upon mentioning how the independent sects would lose their main support for being a relatively powerful force in the core region of the Sky Empire.
"Hmph! Have you forgotten about the ancestor from the Stone Ridge Sect!? Even if you kill me today, the independent sects will still have someone even powerful than me backing them up!"
"Hah? That old ancestor? Don't think I don't know how old he is, he won't be around for more than a hundred years. Maybe he won't even last for fifty!"
"..."
Listening to the old Seventh Stage Domain Lord, Xu Bao could not help silently cursing the fact that Xuan Hao had chosen an identity that would be so close to death according to the natural lifespan of a Domain Lord.
I hope senior managed to get my message in time...
Knowing that there was nothing more for him to do, Xu Bao could only silently pray that Xuan Hao had gotten the message he had sent to him through his communication talisman the moment he found out that the backers of the major sects had come out in person to try and kill him.
