Dragon's Origin

Chapter 769: Escaping the Thousand Severed Lands (Part 1)

These people's identities were extremely secretive. Just looking at their attire, one could tell they didn't want to be recognized. However, the cultivation levels of these attacking experts were terrifyingly high. Even legendary masters would be instantly killed by them.

The Eight Great Families were instantly reduced to less than half their original number, with only fourteen possessing full combat strength.

"Who is it?" The leader of the Eight Great Families barely managed to shout before the attacking enemies forced the words back down his throat.

The attackers didn't bother talking to the people from the Eight Great Families, only focusing on ruthless attacks. Communication? Non-existent. There was only the clash of weapons, the collision of fists and palms, and bodies.

Bang, bang, bang, three more people flew high into the air, spraying blood as they went. Judging by the extent of the chest cavities, it was clear they were goners.

The people from the Eight Great Families were shocked and furious. Where did these experts come from, so ruthless? What hatred or grievance did they have with the Eight Great Families to be so vicious? They completely forgot that when the Eight Great Families were dealing with those small families and sects, their methods were even more excessive.

In less than two minutes, the battle was decided. The attackers had four wounded but none dead, while all thirty-seven experts from the Eight Great Families were killed, leaving not a single survivor.

Three minutes later, all thirty-seven corpses were thoroughly looted, and then the attackers jumped onto the backs of ten already-landed flying mounts. The twenty-odd people who had attacked didn't say a word, tacitly split into several directions, and flew away.

Every few minutes, they would drop a corpse to the ground. Those corpses would soon be devoured by the Thousand Severed Land's demonic beasts and insects, leaving hardly any identifiable clues. The vast Thousand Severed Land became the best place to dispose of bodies and erase traces.

The corpses of the thirty-plus people were scattered across a hundred-mile radius. Even if the Eight Great Families had immense abilities, they probably wouldn't be able to accurately pinpoint the location of the battle. With the speed of plant growth and the frequency of demonic beast activity in the Thousand Severed Land, in just a few days, that area would transform into a completely different scene. Even if someone stood there, they would never imagine that a fierce battle had once taken place there.

The reason Wang Ke was able to discover the corpses but not the traces of battle was this. The real battlefield wasn't here at all; the corpses were just randomly dropped from the sky.

Throughout the Thousand Severed Land's skies, there were currently dozens of flying mounts patrolling at low altitude. As soon as they spotted any traces of humans below, they would immediately summon their companions or launch an attack on their own.

The family heads and elders of the Eight Great Families were still waiting for the royals and other forces to arrive at the Glacier Lake. However, the careful Elder Tang had already noticed that, apart from them and the Song family, the elders of the other six families were visibly anxious.

They seemed to be waiting for something, and they would subconsciously look towards any messenger beasts that landed. From this, it seemed they were waiting for news.

After noticing this strange situation, the elder mentioned his findings to the Grand Elder and the family head. The Tang family's old family head glanced over there, remaining calm, but secretly gave the Song family's Grand Elder a hint.

The Eight Great Families weren't a united front. On the surface, they were harmonious and united against outsiders, but internally, there were constant disputes. The Song family's Grand Elder was also an old fox; he nodded with a smile, acknowledging the Tang family's old family head's message, indicating he was already aware of the matter.

When another messenger beast landed again, the Shi family's elder couldn't help but walk over and start asking questions. Upon hearing that it was just a messenger beast from the capital, his face showed disappointment.

"So anxious, what news are you waiting for?" Song Yan had been reminded by the Grand Elder. Since she was only temporarily acting as the family head and was the youngest among them, even younger than Dai Xiao, it was most appropriate for Song Yan to ask this question. It seemed like a casual inquiry, but it caused the expressions of the other six families' elders to change drastically.

Now, even the family heads of several families realized something was wrong. If there was something going on, how could they not know? They had been with the family heads and Grand Elders all along, and hadn't privately instructed anything. Their own people were doing things without informing them?

"What's going on?" The Gan family's Grand Elder immediately asked his own elder, his tone leaving no room for refusal. At the same time, his gaze swept towards Dai Xiao. Could it be that the Dai family was causing trouble again?

Dai Xiao hurriedly stood up, waving his hands and explaining, "It has nothing to do with me. I've been here the whole time and don't know anything."

The faces of several family heads were already dark, and their gazes towards those elders were like nails.

"Speak!" The Gan family's family head also spoke, directly ordering the elder who was waiting for news.

The family head's authority made the elder, who had been harboring hopes, unable to continue keeping silent. He could only lower his head and report, "Our families sent over thirty experts to search for the whereabouts of the previous group of experts. They found the place where the fighting took place and also found Changsheng Gong's traces of departure, so we took it upon ourselves to have them follow."

"What?" The Gan family's family head, who had been sitting and listening, stood up upon hearing this news.

The Feng family's family head also stood up with the Gan family's family head. Although the other four sitting family heads didn't lose their composure, their faces were also very ugly.

Of the previous group of four hundred-plus legendary masters, only forty-odd returned alive. This later group only had thirty-plus people in total. Who gave them the courage to chase after Wang Ke and Lin Ling?

The gazes of the family heads and Grand Elders of the Eight Great Families focused on the Gan family's small elder. His illustrious background was nothing in front of these people. With so many gazes focused on him, even though he usually held a high position of power, the Gan family's elder was covered in cold sweat the moment those gazes landed on him.

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"It was Shi-xiong's idea." Under pressure, the Gan family's small elder unhesitatingly revealed the mastermind. He wasn't the leader, so why should he take the blame for others? Moreover, he was telling the truth to his own family head, without any guilt of betraying his teammate: "Shi-xiong said that the Lin family's expert was already weak and would definitely be even more不堪 after that battle. Our experts also discovered while examining the traces on the road that Changsheng Gong and that woman weren't moving fast. Some footprints clearly indicated that the two were severely injured and needed to support each other, without even having time to clean up the traces. So..."

With this explanation, everyone immediately understood their intentions. But more people glared fiercely at the Shi family's elder who had come up with the idea.

"And the result?" Song Yan's voice didn't contain the slightest pressure. Since no Song family's experts were involved, she almost asked with a smile.