Even Lu Xiaotian, watching from the shadows, couldn't help nodding in approval. Though Luo Qian was retreating, several purple beads had quietly appeared in his palm. With Lu Xiaotian's keen eye—and after using them himself so many times—how could he fail to recognize them as Thunder Source Explosive Beads? The ones Luo Qian, a thunder cultivator, had refined seemed no weaker than Lu Xiaotian's own. It looked like the group had a chance to escape even without his intervention.
"Trying to run?" the mantis demon sneered. He beat his wings and shot forward like a phantom.
But a streak of Sword Qi came hurtling toward him, making the mantis demon abruptly falter. He crossed his arms, and a cross-shaped demon-core slash burst forth, striking the Sword Qi head-on. A fierce gale roared through the air, and the mantis demon was forced back dozens of yards.
"Master!" Yu Ya knew that graceful Sword Qi all too well. After more than a decade apart, she was so overjoyed that she forgot to address him as "sir," as she did in public.
"Haha! Brother Lu, you finally made it. Any later, and we'd have gone looking for you in the ancient tomb!" The Eight-Legged Demon Bull Beast, Qiao Lan, and Luo Qian, who had just been retreating in haste, halted and charged back with renewed fighting spirit.
Qiao Lan and Luo Qian were both overjoyed.
The mantis demon and one-eyed demon wolves, who had been so aggressive moments earlier, looked utterly grim. Without another word, they darted into the dense forest, not even waiting for the two one-eyed demon wolves who had come to reinforce them.
The two one-eyed demon wolves reacted quickly, following right behind and fleeing in opposite directions. "Damn it, that old mantis has always been pretty sharp. How could