Heading to Sunset Forest

Di Hong wanted to lure away the Spirit Masters lurking in the shadows by himself. Di Ming was about to refuse without a second thought, but before the words left his mouth, he met Di Hong's gaze.

Looking into those resolute yet unquestionable eyes, he knew that whether he objected or not seemed pointless. Even if he did, Di Hong would not listen.

"Let the Spirit Masters among the escort go with you."

Since he could not refuse, at least he could send Spirit Masters along with him. Di Hong was the Di Family's future and could not afford the slightest mishap. If anything happened to him, Di Ming would have no reason to return.

"No need." Di Hong shook his head in refusal.

"I can handle those Spirit Masters. Second Brother, you need protection too. Ordinary soldiers alone can't protect you."

"Just leave the Spirit Masters behind. Don't you trust your Fourth Brother?"

Di Hong sounded extremely confident. After saying that, he had the carriage stop.

"Fourth Brother, be careful. Your Second Brother will wait for you up ahead," Di Ming said worriedly.

"No need. Second Brother, you can head back directly."

Di Hong was not merely after those few Spirit Masters. He also planned to take this opportunity to head to Sunset Forest in search of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. It was not that he meant to hide it from Di Ming, but that place was simply too dangerous. Setting aside the vicious Ten Thousand Year Spirit Beasts, the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well itself was not somewhere ordinary people could enter.

Besides, he could not be sure how long it would take to find the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.

There was no need to have his Second Brother follow him.

"Fine." Di Ming had vaguely guessed it already. His Fourth Brother did not seem to be simply trying to lure away those Spirit Masters tailing them; he likely had other matters to attend to.

But he was puzzled. Aside from this time, Di Hong had never left the Silves Kingdom in six years. What could he possibly have to do here?

Though puzzled, he did not ask, because he knew Di Hong would not tell him.

After leaving the delegation, Di Hong hurried in the direction of Sunset Forest. Sunset Forest was only fifty li from his current location. For a Level 53 Spirit King like him, fifty li was nothing.

He raced toward Sunset Forest at top speed.

But he soon realized something was wrong.

Those three Spirit Masters had no intention of attacking him at all. They were simply following him.

That left him deeply puzzled. By all rights, this was their best opportunity. They should not have let it pass, unless there was only one possibility—their target was not him at all.

With that thought, he suddenly stopped.

Thinking it over carefully, the target really did not seem to be him. By the time he discovered someone watching them, they had already traveled fifty li from Heaven Dou City. In other words, these people had not followed them from Heaven Dou City; they had been here all along.

Nor were they lying in ambush for him.

Rubbing his chin, Di Hong seemed unable to make sense of it.

If the people in the shadows were not targeting him, then who were they targeting?

Was there anyone in this place worth assassinating? If they were merely after Spirit Beasts, they would not need to act like this. Nor did he think their target was the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Although Ning Fengzhi was in Heaven Dou City, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was not located here.

Besides, as the young Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, it was impossible for Ning Fengzhi not to have powerful experts protecting him.

Though the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had yet to receive the protection of the Sword Bone Twin Douluo.

Chen Xin did not seem to have reached the Titled Douluo level yet. After all, his father was still alive.

Though Chen Jianjun himself kept a low profile, his reputation had long spread across the continent. For years, he had constantly sought out powerful experts to challenge. Some curious onlookers had hailed him as the foremost man beneath Tang Chen, Sect Master of the Clear Sky Sect, and Qian Daoliu, the Pope of Spirit Hall, as well as the continent's greatest offensive Titled Douluo.

Without a Titled Douluo, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect seemed undeserving of its reputation in the eyes of other factions.

During his days in Heaven Dou City, he had learned a fair bit about the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.

The old Sect Master was already advanced in years, and with a serious illness weighing him down, he did not have long to live. It could be said that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was now beset by troubles both within and without.

Not him, and certainly not the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Then who could it be?

There were quite a few sects and clans in Heaven Dou City. Aside from the four single-attribute clans affiliated with the Clear Sky Sect, there were many other forces of varying sizes.

But he had not seen anyone come here.

After he stopped, the gazes observing him from the shadows disappeared as well.

After pondering for a long time and still failing to figure out who it was, he simply stopped thinking about it. No one trying to assassinate him was a good thing. It even spared him a fight.

Honestly, he was starting to feel a little paranoid. Ever since his Martial Soul Awakening, he had always felt that someone was out to get him.

After confirming it several times, he was certain that the Spirit Masters in the shadows were not targeting him. So he slowed down and made his way toward Sunset Forest at an unhurried pace.

As he neared Sunset Forest, he caught the scent of blood. It was incredibly thick.

"Why is there a smell of blood here?"

This place was not even inside Sunset Forest yet. The Spirit Beasts within should not have been able to come out.

Following the bloody scent, he found several corpses lying not far away, along with a few dead Spirit Beasts nearby.

The corpses all wore matching uniforms and appeared to belong to the same faction.

Di Hong walked over to one of the corpses and crouched down to inspect it.

"Killed by Spirit Beasts."

After examining the wounds on the body, he could confirm that Spirit Beasts had done it. The Spirit Beast corpses around them were all thousand-year-level Spirit Beasts. Logically, there should not have been thousand-year Spirit Beasts in this area.

He searched the bodies and eventually found something that could prove the identities of the dead.

"Clear Sky Sect?"

Di Hong looked at the token in his hand, somewhat surprised.

"How could there be disciples of the Clear Sky Sect here?"

The Clear Sky Sect was a full three hundred li from Heaven Dou City. Why would members of the Clear Sky Sect be here, and why had they been attacked by soul beasts?

The Clear Sky Sect had not yet gone into seclusion, so it was normal for its members to travel outside. But this was the outskirts of Sunset Forest; they had not even entered the depths of the forest. How could soul beasts be attacking people here?

Curious, he continued deeper into the forest.

Before he had gone far, he found two more corpses. They were also from the Clear Sky Sect, but this time there were no soul beast corpses nearby.

Traces of battle appeared from time to time along the way, and there was even lingering Soul Power. The surrounding trees had been snapped everywhere by the fighting.

"Wheel tracks?"

He spotted several wheel ruts on the ground, though they had already faded considerably. This meant the battle had taken place quite some time ago—at least one shichen earlier.

"Looks like this was specifically aimed at the Clear Sky Sect."

The deeper he went into the forest, the more traces of battle he found, along with more corpses—some Clear Sky Sect disciples, some soul beasts.

Counting from the outskirts of the forest, he had already found more than a dozen dead Clear Sky Sect disciples, both men and women.

"Who was bold enough to do this? Aren't they afraid Tang Chen, that Level 99 Peerless Douluo, will come knocking to reason with them?"

Di Hong suddenly became interested. Someone actually dared to offend the number one sect in the World. The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well could wait; he definitely had to go see what this was about.