Chapter 143: The Chase

“You despicable cowards!” the Death Knight suddenly spoke, roaring loudly, its crimson eyes filled with rage.

However, its roars could not slow the Altar’s Health Points from dropping. Alone, it could not stop Xu Feng’s hit-and-run tactics.

Soon, the Death Energy Altar’s Health Points dropped to zero. The moment it hit zero, the entire Altar collapsed with a rumble. The black crystal at the top shattered completely, turning into a cloud of black mist that dissipated. Within the mist, agonized shrieks seemed to echo.

As the Altar crumbled, the Death Knight twisted and contorted, struggling until it transformed into a gray shadow that plunged into the collapsed Altar.

“We did it!” Xu Feng shouted, his face showing the relief of having narrowly escaped death. If the Death Knight hadn’t needed to protect the Altar, they would have died many times over.

Suddenly, the entire wilderness began to shake violently, as if in an earthquake, appearing unstable. Space-time rifts appeared all around, and the whole wilderness shattered like a broken glass ball, exploding with a loud crash.

Xu Feng felt his vision blur. When he regained consciousness, he and Ding Xiang were standing at the foot of the mountain, at the beginning of the Paved with Bones Path.

“Did we… did we leave the Ancient Castle?” Ding Xiang stared ahead at the half-collapsed Death Fortress on the mountainside, her voice full of surprise.

“Yes, we destroyed the core of the Death Fortress. Haha, this undead land will no longer spread or expand.” Xu Feng laughed heartily.

“You two wretched insects, you will both die!” An angry roar erupted from the Ancient Castle.

Boom~

The entire Ancient Castle collapsed into ruins. On top of the rubble, Baron Sara, flapping a pair of bone wings, floated in mid-air. He howled at the sky, his eyes burning with fury as he glared at Xu Feng and Ding Xiang, his entire body radiating a terrifying aura.

“Run!” Xu Feng and Ding Xiang exchanged a glance and shouted simultaneously.

They instantly summoned their mounts. Mounted, they spurred their rides and fled into the distance.

A cruel smile spread across Baron Sara’s face. He muttered to himself, “Run, run. Let’s see how far you can escape. The failure of this invasion must be compensated with your flesh and blood.”

Whoosh~

Baron Sara flapped his bone wings twice and glided after them.

“Where are we running to?” Ding Xiang asked, panicked, her voice loud.

“Black Water Lake,” Xu Feng yelled back.

They were close to Blackwater Swamp, and the Village of Sacrifice within the swamp was Xu Feng’s Camp. The village’s Guardian Beast was a Three-Star Lord Rank Flood Dragon. As long as they could reach it, they would be safe.

The Skeletal Warhorse had a speed of 280, which was quite fast among mounts. Very few people had mounts yet; even getting a Black Iron mount with a speed of 100 was cause for celebration.

Fortunately, both of them had mounts. Otherwise, they likely wouldn’t have been able to escape Baron Sara’s pursuit.

Along the way, they raced like the wind, charging ahead without dodging any monsters they encountered, brushing past them as they headed for Black Water Lake. In no time, they had drawn a “train” of monsters roaring and chasing behind them.

Although Baron Sara had bone wings, he couldn’t fly for long periods. Even floating in the air required energy, so he could only glide briefly. Though his speed was high, it was slightly slower than a Gold Quality mount.

Xu Feng’s path not only stirred up many monsters but also startled people farming and gathering in Blackwater Swamp. Watching the two ride past at high speed, many were envious. But then the train-like horde of monsters sent them scattering and cursing in fear.

After chasing for a while, some monsters gave up pursuit due to the long distance and gradually returned to their own territories. But other monsters, stirred by the commotion, joined the chase.

Xu Feng glanced back and thought to himself, “Even without Baron Sara, just these monsters alone would be more than we could handle.”

Soon, Black Water Lake came into view. Behind them, Baron Sara was closing in rapidly. While running on the ground, his speed was no less than that of a warhorse. Waving his bone wings, he leaped high repeatedly, gliding forward before continuing to run. When monsters blocked his path, a sweep of his bone wings, sharp as blades, instantly killed Three-Star monsters. The scattered entrails and corpses sparked fights among other monsters…

“You cannot escape.”

Baron Sara had entered a fight-to-the-death mode. No matter where they fled, he would pursue them until he killed Xu Feng and Ding Xiang—or until he was killed.

Dismounting, Xu Feng grabbed Ding Xiang’s hand, and they jumped into Black Water Lake.

“Stay close to me!”

Splash, splash~

They swam toward the entrance to the Village of Sacrifice.

System: Village Chief Xu Feng of the Village of Sacrifice invites you to join the Village of Sacrifice. Do you accept?

Ding Xiang heard the System’s voice in her ear and, without hesitation, chose to agree. She followed Xu Feng closely into a Light Gate at the bottom of Black Water Lake.

By now, the water in the passage had been drained, revealing damp, rocky walls.

The monsters chasing Xu Feng reached the edge of Black Water Lake but didn’t jump in. They stood on the shore, roaring for a while before slowly dispersing.

Finally, only Baron Sara remained, standing on the shore with a cold smirk.

“Undead fear underwater environments the least.” Baron Sara thought Xu Feng had fled into Black Water Lake to evade him, attempting to use the lake to hinder his pursuit.

“I have locked onto your scents. Even if you flee this planet, I will track you down.” Baron Sara wore a mocking smile as he stepped into Black Water Lake.

Xu Feng and Ding Xiang followed the passage until they reached Sweetwater Lake. As they prepared to return to the village, Xu Feng had an idea. He took out a Scroll and chose to use it.

Soon, an illusory fence appeared at the passage entrance under Sweetwater Lake.

White light flickered, and the fence structure grew more solid, transforming from illusion into reality, becoming a defensive structure guarding the passage.

The fence was made entirely of alloy steel bars as thick as a person’s arm, with chains on both sides that could be raised or lowered freely.

“Defensive power three hundred, Health Points twenty thousand. Even a Three-Star Lord should be held back for a while,” Xu Feng thought.

Clatter~

The fence slowly descended, sealing off the passage. Xu Feng and Ding Xiang swam together toward the shore of Sweetwater Lake.

As they emerged from Sweetwater Lake, a dragon’s roar sounded overhead.

Looking up, they saw the Flood Dragon leaning forward, its lantern-like eyes fixed on Sweetwater Lake.

Recognizing Xu Feng, the Flood Dragon snorted, shook its head and tail, and retreated back into its nest.

“Big brother, what is that?!” Ding Xiang asked in amazement.

Xu Feng rubbed his nose and said, “The territory’s Guardian Beast. Whether we can finish off that monster on our tail depends entirely on it.”

Although the Flood Dragon was the Guardian Beast of the Village of Sacrifice, it showed little warmth toward Xu Feng, the Village Chief, which made Xu Feng somewhat awkward.