At the passage entrance,
Lu Hao and his two companions watched the entrance from a distance.
An Earth Cave squad stood guard there. It seemed the Pine King had left some guards behind when he departed.
"Old Lu, can you tell how strong they are?" Wang Jinyang asked quietly, glancing at the Earth Cave squad.
"Two eighth-ranks, three seventh-ranks, and five sixth-ranks. Nothing we can't handle. The reinforcements coming through the passage will definitely include a ninth-rank. With everyone heading back here now, we should be fine."
Lu Hao spoke after sensing their strength.
"We still haven't heard anything from Senior Brother Wu..." Qin Fengqing said.
"Senior Brother Wu will be fine. We can't sense any ninth-rank fighting right now, which means King Liu hasn't found him yet. Once the passage opens, I'll handle the seventh-ranks. You guys stay here and be careful. If anything seems wrong, retreat immediately. Don't worry about me. I can definitely get away," Lu Hao instructed.
"Don't worry. We all value our lives. We're not going to gamble with them."
Soon, under everyone's watchful eyes, a surge of energy burst from the passage entrance, putting the Earth Cave squad on alert. A white-haired man stepped out the next moment. The instant he saw the squad, he attacked. With a single horizontal slash, he sent all ten Earth Cave martial artists flying despite their desperate combined resistance. Several of the sixth-ranks spat blood.
Seeing this, Lu Hao stopped hiding. The white-haired expert who had entered had to be a ninth-rank, or he couldn't have been so powerful. Lu Hao stepped forward, appearing before one of the Earth Cave martial artists who had been knocked back, and unleashed all the power of heaven and earth stored in his body. "Liao God Slash!"
A streak of bloody light