One day, Emperor Wu left the Primal Beastland, though he did so in secret, preventing anyone from knowing of his movements. He made his way to the Hundred Grasses Domain, arriving swiftly, though he departed just as quickly.
In the middle of a universe, a dark expression painted Emperor Wu’s face. He was holding a young girl in a hand; she was none other than Bian Xiaoxiao.
No one would have ever imagined that the mighty Emperor Wu would go to such lengths to hide himself and sneak into the Hundred Grasses Domain to capture a girl who had essentially no cultivation whatsoever.
Even though Emperor Wu was still gravely injured, by concealing himself, he had succeeded in capturing someone at the edge of the Hundred Grasses Domain without being detected by Boundless.
It was impossible for even the Origin Progenitor to constantly observe all the corners of the Hundred Grasses Domain.
Suddenly, Emperor Wu stopped moving, and he stared in front of himself. A silent figure was standing there, staring at Emperor Wu with a complicated expression. "I never expected you to fall to such a level. Do you intend to capture this child just to threaten Seraph Lu? Why? The battle at the source of the Fu River was fair and proper. You should not be doing this, woodpecker."
Emperor Wu stared at the figure before him. "Old man, how did you know where to find me?"
"A dead man does not need to know anything," the old man sighed. "Woodpecker, I will help you keep this matter a secret. The title of Emperor Wu cannot be tarnished by you."
With that, the old man attacked, his cane falling upon Emperor Wu. Old Salamander had found him.
Emperor Wu let go of the girl, tossing Bian Xiaoxiao aside while transforming into his beast form. His aura condensed upon his body, suppressed, rather than unleashed. Old Salamander did the same. Neither wanted anyone else to witness their battle.
There was a deafening crash, and Old Salamander’s cane shattered as he soared upwards and took on the form of the Five-Clawed Sky Salamander. Sharp claws sliced into Emperor Wu’s body, causing him to cough up blood. Emperor Wu retaliated, swinging his serrated blade and severing Old Salamander’s claws. Sequence particles surged around Old Salamander, flowing through his severed claws as he unleashed his Transcended Sequence.
The Eight-Gate Seal Transcended Sequence could seal an opponent’s power, and Old Salamander had sealed the serrated blade, Emperor Wu’s innate gift, and even his sequence particles.
A cube appeared behind Emperor Wu, and Old Salamander struck it with a full-powered attack.
There was a sickening sound, and Emperor Wu spat out blood as cracks slowly spread across his entire body.
"You are far too injured, and you have also lost Heaven's Seal. The only thing that could let you defeat me is the Nine Heavens Transformation, so why aren’t you using it?" Old Salamander’s claws tore through Emperor Wu’s arm, and his claws grabbed hold of his head.
The red line that ran down Emperor Wu’s face was dull and lifeless. He kicked out with a foot, but his efforts were useless. His power had been sealed, and he could not even force Old Salamander’s sequence particles out from his body.
Old Salamander held Emperor Wu. “Woodpecker, you are asking to die.”
Emperor Wu said nothing. Old Salamander gave a heavy sigh. “I shall succeed you. Regardless of your reasons for doing such things, you are still worthy of the title of Emperor Wu.”
“To protect the Primal Beastland,” Emperor Wu spoke, though his voice was so soft that it was nearly inaudible.
Old Salamander’s sharp claws swept out, completely destroying Emperor Wu’s body.
A generation’s Emperor Wu had met his end in the middle of outer space.
Old Salamander incinerated Emperor Wu’s corpse, and then he turned to look into the distance. Bian Xiaoxiao was still being protected by Emperor Wu’s power, which had protected her from the entire battle.
Old Salamander reverted to his human form and carried Bian Xiaoxiao back to the Hundred Grasses Domain.
At the edge of the domain, Bian Ji and Yan Xiang'er woke up. They were initially confused, but then they quickly remembered something. “Xiaoxiao!”
“I’m right here.” Bian Xiaoxiao’s voice came from nearby.
Her parents raced over and embraced Bian Xiaoxiao while carefully examining her.
Bian Xiaoxiao was already an adult, so being cradled by her mother in such a fashion was quite uncomfortable.
“What is this?” Bian Ji looked at a slip of jade that he saw beneath Bian Xiaoxiao. He picked it up, and saw an inscription on it that read, Seraph Lu, respectfully.
A key was tied to the bottom of the jade slip.
None of them dared to delay for even a moment, and then the two parents raced back to Boundless.
They had been attacked and completely unable to mount any sort of resistance. They had absolutely no idea what had happened.
Bian Xiaoxiao was just as ignorant, having been unconscious from start to finish.
As soon as the couple returned to Boundless, they handed the jade slip and the key over to Lu Yin.
Lu Yin stared at the key. This was the second key that he had given to Yong Heng. Why had it returned to Lu Yin?
He quickly examined the jade slip, and the contents caused his expression to grow stern.
The jade slip was from Old Salamander, and it detailed all that had just transpired. Lu Yin found it difficult to believe what had happened.
Had the mighty Emperor Wu actually kidnapped Bian Xiaoxiao? Why would he do such a thing? That did not match with Emperor Wu’s personality at all. On the other hand, Old Salamander had no reason to lie. He had stated that he was on his way to the Primal Beastland to take the role of the ruler of the domain.
With Emperor Wu gone, there was no one in the Primal Beastland who could compare to Old Salamander.
Emperor Wu had also already been slain by Old Salamander.
Additionally, Old Salamander even clarified matters and explained that he was not Stillstorm. The reason for the resemblance was that Old Salamander had once seen Stillstorm.
Stillstorm had once visited the Spirit Nidus. Old Salamander had not intended to pursue a beast-form Spirit Rebirth, but after coincidentally seeing Stillstorm, he had been deeply influenced. That encounter had left such a deep impact on Old Salamander that he had taken on Stillstorm’s appearance during his Spirit Rebirth.
Old Salamander revealed all of this information to Lu Yin, and he also sent the key to the Gate of Laws to him as a demonstration of his submissive attitude. This was the price that he was paying for Lu Yin to not take action against him.
The old man had indeed killed Ba Liu and Yi Yao, but he had also saved Bian Xiaoxiao. He was using Bian Xiaoxiao, the key to the Gate of Laws, and his own history as a payment to ensure that Lu Yin would not act against him.
Behind Old Salamander, Lu Yin could sense Yong Heng’s presence.
With so much offered to him at once, Lu Yin truly had no grounds with which to take action.
There was one last note in the jade slip; as the new ruler of the Primal Beastland, Old Salamander promised that the domain would never be Boundless’s enemy.
The ancient beast had lowered himself as much as possible, while also leveraging the threat of Yong Heng. It was all in a bid to ensure his own safety as Old Salamander claimed the position of ruler of a domain.
Setting aside Old Salamander’s details, Lu Yin was more interested in why Emperor Wu had kidnapped Bian Xiaoxiao. She was an ordinary girl, and there was nothing particularly noteworthy about her, aside from the fact that she belonged to Boundless and had once been rescued from the Bifrost Palace by Lu Yin in a highly public manner. In that case, just how had Emperor Wu intended to use Bian Xiaoxiao to threaten Lu Yin?
However, Lu Yin still could not believe that Emperor Wu had done such a thing.
Emperor Wu had always been outrageously arrogant and domineering. His fierceness and personality did not seem to belong to a man capable of such sneaky actions.