The Array Formation had been set by Iris. So right now, with the control jade, only she could see who were shouting outside.

    As for Lucian, he could only hear their voices.

    So he took the control jade from her hand, and poured his Spiritual Energy to refine. It took only a few breaths of time.

    Only now did Lucian see the scene outside clearly through the control jade.

    Outside, there were three cultivators standing impatiently.

    The leader, a tall muscular man with a jagged scar across his face, stood at the front.

    To his left was a short man with a shaved head. He held a curved dagger that seemed to glow with an eerie red light. On the right stood a portly cultivator with a bushy beard, his chubby fingers toying with a string of black beads.

    All of them emitted a strong aura of blood and death.

    "I think we should ignore them and leave this place to avoid the Demon Prince," Iris said, looking at Lucian, "He’s extremely powerful and ruthless. It’s not like I care about you or anything. I just don’t want to reveal my true self to fight him."

    "Why? He wants to touch my woman and you want me to run away?" Lucian replied coldly, his hand moving to grab Iris’s busty asscheeks possessively.

    Iris gasped softly at his touch, her face flushing, "B-but Lucian, you don’t understand..."

    Outside the Array Formation,

    Noticing that no one replied or came out, the scarred leader’s eyes flashed with ruthlessness.

    He turned to his right and ordered the fat cultivator, "Use your bead to destroy this Array Formation!"

    The portly man nodded and plucked out a black bead from his necklace.

    It slowly grew to the size of a fist as he poured his Qi into it!

    The bead emitted an ominous aura, seeming to devour the light around it!

    "Hehe, my Void-Crushing Bead can break through any Array Formation below the Third Grade," the fat cultivator spoke in a ghostly voice as he threw the bead at the invisible array.

    The bead struck the barrier with a thunderous boom. Cracks spread across the formation like spider webs, revealing the outline of Iris’s protective array.

    ...

    Inside the array, Lucian’s eyes narrowed.

    He turned to Iris and spoke in a low voice, "It seems we have no choice but to face them."

    "Let’s just kill them quickly and leave this place," Iris said with a sigh.

    She took out a long sword from her space ring.

    Lucian didn’t reply. Instead, he too took out his Halberd. The heavy weapon appeared in his hands, its blade glinting menacingly.

    He channeled his Crimson Flame Spiritual Energy into the Halberd, causing crimson flames to dance along its edge.

    Just as a head-sized crack appeared in the array, Lucian threw his Halberd.

    Whoosh!!

    It moved with lightning speed, a streak of red light piercing through the air! A faint image of a dragon coiled around the Halberd as it roared silently.

    The weapon burst through the weakened formation, shattering it completely!

    "Tsk tsk... Attempting to flee? Do you truly believe you can?" He snorted coldly.

    Then the Demon Prince took out a white flag. It was nearly 10 meters long. Many black dots covered its surface.

    But when one looked closely, the dots were actually moving! They even had tiny faces!

    A cold, ghostly aura surrounded the flag as he held it in his left hand.

    He waved it slowly through the air. Enjoy new chapters from empire

    Whoosh! Whoosh!

    With each wave, countless black spirits flew out from the flag!

    They had twisted faces that screeched in eternal agony. Their wails echoed through the mountains, chilling the blood of any who heard.

    "Find her," the Demon Prince commanded indifferently, "Find my little dragon and the one who dares to be near what’s mine!"

    The ghostly spirits immediately scattered in all directions, passing through trees and rocks as if they weren’t there!

    ...

    At this moment,

    "Why are we running?" Lucian asked annoyingly as they flew through the mountains.

    "I-it’s not like I’m scared or anything! I just don’t want to deal with that creep right now," she replied, her cheeks flushing slightly, "Besides, you’re the one who grabbed me and started flying away! Don’t get any weird ideas"

    Lucian smirked at her response, "Oh? And here I thought you were concerned for my safety, Princess."

    "As if!" Iris retorted.

    "Well Iris, I think he already knows that you’re here. So–"

    At this exact moment, both of them sensed something and looked behind.

    Their eyes narrowed as they saw a bizzare head pursuing them!

    The giant black head with twisted horns floated through the air, leaving a trail of dark smoke!

    It had no body! Instead, black flames strangely burned where its neck should have been, forming a writhing, ethereal shape!

    SCREEEEECHH!!!

    Sensing Iris’s aura, it screeched loudly as if sending a message.

    Its voice was as if broken glass scratching against metal, piercing their ears.

    The sound echoed through the mountains, scaring away nearby low-level Spirit Beasts.

    "What the fuck is that?" Lucian’s eyes widened as he had never seen such a grotesque creature before.

    "It’s like a Spirit body. Unique to those who cultivate the Ghost Path," Iris explained in a heavy voice.

    "How interesting! So the Demon Prince is a Ghost Path cultivator? Hmm? Wait! Ghost Path?" His mind suddenly clicked as he remembered something, "Iris, tell me this Demon Prince’s name."

    "Aldric. Why?" She replied but her eyes was fixed on the ghostly head.

    But before he could ask any further questions to confirm his suspicions, an extremely cold and wicked aura suddenly enveloped them. The sky slowly darkened as thousands of Spirit bodies surrounded them.

    "Iris, how can you do this to me? Do you know I’ve been searching for you ever since I entered this Realm?" A deep voice rang out.