Upon hearing the scout report that among Zhao Chong's troops there was a man with incredibly strong Yang Energy, Dark Law King immediately thought of Chen Hao.

"Could it be Chen Hao?" the Dark Law King murmured to himself,

As the Dark Law King said this, a sharp light shot from King Wanfa's eyes, and he asked, "Are you saying this person with the extremely strong Yang Energy is the Chen Hao who killed King Ning, King Xin, and King Mieji?"

"Very likely!" the Dark Law King said with conviction, "I've had my suspicions before that Zhao Chong might just be the one pulling the strings behind Chen Hao."

Suddenly, a cold smile appeared on King Wanfa's face, showing a deep interest in Chen Hao.

"I've heard the Dark Law King had once crossed hands with that youngster Chen Hao. How capable is the boy?"

"Not much." the Dark Law King said disdainfully, "He's no match for you."

The underlying meaning of Dark Law King's words: Chen Hao is no match for you, and he is even less in front of me, the Dark Law King. On the surface, he is belittling Chen Hao, but in reality, he is belittling King Wanfa.

King Wanfa squinted his eyes, catching the hidden meaning in the Dark Law King's words.

Thus, he fell silent.

To someone of his level of power, verbal sparring was pointless. Silence was the best and most direct response, and it also conveyed his disdain for the Dark Law King.

Because often, it is the stronger ones who do not care about what the weak have to say.

After a prolonged silence, the Dark Law King finally spoke to break the awkwardness around them, "Now that Zhao Chong and Zhou Ke are leading their men towards us, I wonder what suggestions you have, King Wanfa."

"Since there's a possibility that Chen Hao is among their troops, naturally we should meet him."

"As I said before, he's far from being your match, not worth mentioning at all." the Dark Law King stressed again with a stern face.

"Then let's avoid them! Retreat to Sunset Pass or go to the Dayang Mountains to join the forty thousand troops that have already gone ahead."

The Dark Law King looked very surprised, hardly believing his own ears, and said with incredulity, "King Wanfa, what are you saying! Are you suggesting that the nearly ten thousand elite troops led by you and me should retreat just because these slightly more than a thousand men from the Zhao and Wu families are coming to kill us!"

"Don't forget, the troops secretly recruited by the Zhao and Zhou families have yet to appear!" King Wanfa explained.

"I had originally thought that the troops from the Zhao and Zhou families had already joined with the alliance of the Wu, Zheng, and Wang families in the Dayang Mountains, which is why after they fled the Netherworld City, they kept heading northeast. However, now they have changed course and are coming towards us, which means that the troops of both families are very likely in the northwest."

Hearing King Wanfa's analysis, the Dark Law King, though unconvinced, had to admit there was some logic to it. After pondering for a while, he said thoughtfully, "It seems then, that those two families headed northeast after leaving the Netherworld City to avoid the Crow Tribe warriors stationed at Sunset Pass."

King Wanfa nodded, then continued his analysis: "Zhao Chong and Zhou Ke probably didn't expect that you and I would appear here to intercept them so soon. Now that they dare to rush towards us, they must be quite confident they can defeat us."

The Dark Law King grimaced and snorted lightly, clearly not in complete agreement with King Wanfa's words.

"Even if that kid Chen Hao is really in their ranks, among them only Zhao Chong could possibly contend with one of us. I have no idea where their confidence comes from." The Dark Law King's eyes narrowed to slits, "Perhaps Chen Hao held back in our previous encounter, leading me to underestimate him."

The Dark Law King changed his tune quickly, temporarily setting aside his irritation and preconceptions about King Wanfa. Caution had always been his habit, perhaps one of his extraordinary qualities.

"So what does the Dark Law King plan for our next move?" This time it was King Wanfa's turn to ask the Dark Law King.

"King Wanfa, your analysis just now was very correct—we should immediately retreat to Sunset Pass," said the Dark Law King, "however, you and I can go ahead and meet Zhao Chong and Chen Hao, that young man."

King Wanfa nodded.

Afterward, the Dark Law King ordered all ten thousand royal soldiers to retreat southward until they could meet up with the Crow Tribe warriors setting out from Sunset Pass at daybreak.

At the same time, he also used the Wuji birds to send two urgent letters to King Wumeng, who was currently at Sunset Pass, and to Yu Wuqiong, who was leading forty thousand royal soldiers into the Dayang Mountains. He told King Wumeng and Yu Wuqiong to hold their positions for now and to prioritize defense in case of any emergency.

Watching the more than ten thousand royal soldiers march off, swiftly disappearing into the dawn where darkness merged with light, the Dark Law King said to King Wanfa, "Let's go meet them."

Half an hour later.

The morning sun had risen, showing half of its face in the east. Thousands of red rays pierced through the belly of the night, gradually illuminating the entire Netherworld.

Chen Hao, riding a warhorse that traveled through the air, glanced sideways towards the direction from which the red rays were coming. He found that the sun of the Netherworld had no difference from that in the mortal world. The distinct features were the pitifully scant oxygen in the surrounding air and the primeval forest-like landscape below that resembled a scene out of a fairyland painting.

Shortly after, Chen Hao's gaze shifted to the face of Ye Yuqiao in front of him. A swath of red light was shining directly onto her face, resembling the flush of bashful shyness.

Ye Yuqiao was slightly squinting, her eyelashes fluttering irregularly, which made it seem as if she were asleep. Beneath the bright red glow, her face, though weary, remained beautiful.

"Chen Hao, is the sunrise in the Netherworld beautiful?" Ye Yuqiao suddenly asked softly.

"Not as beautiful as the little girl in my arms."

"You're so naughty!"

Chen Hao smiled, then whispered in Ye Yuqiao's ear, "Yuqiao, this is your world. It feels magical to be in your world."

"Do you like it here?"

After thinking for a long while, Chen Hao nodded and said, "I like any place that has you in it."

Ye Yuqiao smiled shyly, her smile a bit timid.

Just then, Zhao Chong, who was walking ahead, suddenly raised his hand, signaling for everyone to stop. He sensed that two dreadfully powerful forces were approaching from ahead.

He also guessed that the newcomers were the Dark Law King and King Wanfa.

"Everyone get down to the ground!" Zhao Chong then ordered.

Subsequently, everyone rode their horses down to the grassy ground below. Since it was early morning, the grass was full of dew. The horses' hooves splashed mud and water onto the grass, making Chen Hao feel like everything was muddy and damp.

On both sides of the grassland were gloomy dark forests that emitted a chilling atmosphere. Chen Hao activated his left eye's Nether Vision Technique. In the darkness of the forest, he saw clusters of purple evil aura and pairs of crimson eyes flickering, indicating the presence of malevolent spirits with intense Yin Qi and other never-before-seen creatures of the Netherworld.

When he shifted his gaze back to the front from the dark forest, he saw two black dots appear between two distant mountains.

Suddenly, those two black dots approached and expanded into two figures.

Chen Hao recognized one of them to be the Dark Law King.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.