Dragon's Origin

## Chapter 752: The Eight Great Families' Pursuers (Part 2)

The expert's first reaction upon seeing the corpse was to immediately adopt a defensive stance, swiftly hiding behind the trunk of a large tree.

Only after confirming that there was no one around did he emerge. He carefully examined the condition of the corpse, then surveyed the surroundings. Before long, he accurately located the tree where A'Qi had been pinned.

The severed short spear still embedded in the tree trunk, the blood, and other scattered items all indicated that someone had been injured and treated here.

No corpse and no person meant only one thing: the person had either left or been taken away. After a thorough observation, the expert determined the direction Wang Sheng had taken.

In Wang Sheng's current condition, it was impossible to traverse the Thousand Absolute Territory without leaving any traces. Not even the Grandmaster Ling Xu could, let alone the heavily injured Wang Sheng.

However, the expert dared not pursue rashly. After all, they were all aware that they were tracking Wang Sheng, an expert capable of commanding the elements within the Thousand Absolute Territory. Without legendary-level strength, the insects and demonic beasts alone would be enough to claim many lives in the Thousand Absolute Territory.

Upon discovering the situation, the expert immediately returned to report. This pursuit was not the work of a single family; all eight great families were involved. Even the command was shared by all eight, centralized in one location, gathering intelligence from all sources.

Wang Sheng had been out for three days. In fact, Song Yan had already led the families out of the underground passage a day prior.

Thanks to Wang Sheng and A'Qi, the eight great families' personnel underground had quickly found the exit. After some effort in excavating it, the final formation posed no problem for the formation experts of the eight great families.

Those who left were Song Yan and the heads of the other seven families. The Dai family's representative was dead, replaced by another present at the time. Their first action upon emerging was to send messages to their respective family heads for a decision. Of course, Song Yan did the same, but she was capable of making the decision herself.

The other experts remained underground, inspecting the stone pillars one by one, marking those with formations, waiting for a large contingent of family experts to arrive and unseal the formations one by one.

Upon receiving the news, the family heads dared not delay. The heads and grand elders set off immediately, heading straight for the core of the Thousand Absolute Territory. Simultaneously, they issued orders to kill without exception anyone in the Thousand Absolute Territory who was not from the eight great families, including Wang Sheng. Of course, within the secret orders, each family might have had slight differences. Some hoped to win over Wang Sheng, while others wanted to eliminate him completely, with varying degrees of intensity.

By the time the expert who discovered A'Qi's location returned to the joint command, half an hour had passed. There was no helping it; the area was too vast, and traveling back and forth took time.

"Discovered a corpse, throat slit, no more than half a day old."

"Found two corpses, one with a broken neck from a face-to-face attack, the other with a knife wound to the chest."

"Five corpses, signs of an explosion, pungent smell of gunpowder, cause of death was slit throats, with no resistance."

"One corpse, jaw shattered, knife wound to the neck. He was carrying a heavy sniper crossbow."

...

"One corpse, assassinated with poisoned needles. The attacker should be seriously injured, pinned to a tree with a short spear, but the person is gone."

When the experts of the eight great families worked together to investigate events within an area, the efficiency was frightening. In the span of two hours, all the corpses were found.

Fifty-three corpses, not one missing. All the people from the Exquisite Pavilion who had been mobilized to besiege Wang Sheng were found.

"Does anyone recognize any of them?" The leaders of the eight great families gathered, sweating profusely. The Tang family's leader, appearing slightly calmer, asked every returning expert this question.

Everyone shook their heads. This was the biggest reason why the leaders of the eight great families were sweating so much. More than fifty experts, after their examination, included more than thirty at the legendary realm. No one recognized any of them, no one had ever seen them. Where in the world did so many terrifying experts come from? Without even an identity?

If Master Qian had died normally, perhaps someone might have recognized his face. However, Master Qian died when Wang Sheng's armor-piercing bullet penetrated his head, causing his entire head to burn into a pile of black charcoal. If anyone could recognize Master Qian from that pile of black charcoal, they would truly be divine.

The other members of the Exquisite Pavilion spent most of their lives working in the most secretive minting workshops, appearing outside no more than twice in their lives. Appearing twice in several decades, and no one knowing where they had appeared, it would truly be a sign of prosperity for the eight great families if they could be recognized.

Clearly, the eight great families did not have that luck. No one could recognize the identities of these experts, let alone know their origins. The thought that such a terrifying secret force was leisurely living under their noses while the eight great families controlled the world sent chills down the spines of the eight leaders.

However, what made them tremble even more was that, after analysis, they discovered that these fifty-three experts had all died at the hands of one person. This person was the Ever Victorious Duke, Wang Sheng, whom their family heads had specifically instructed them about.

The leaders in charge of the pursuit certainly knew Wang Sheng's condition when he left. Wang Sheng had brought a sixth-level peak assassin, A'Qi, and a weak, almost combat-incapable woman on his back, a total of three people, with two considered burdens. One person fought fifty-three experts, including more than thirty at the legendary realm. Just thinking about it sent shivers down their spines!

Although the battlefield was spread over a range of dozens of miles, no one thought Wang Sheng was cowardly. One against fifty-three, the larger side completely annihilated. What kind of concept was that? If it were any of them, they would probably have been dead long ago. How could they have possibly killed all the enemies?

"The Ever Victorious Duke must have been seriously injured," the Song family's leader said, seemingly not at all surprised by the result. After summarizing all the characteristics of the corpses, he stated his conclusion.

"What do you mean?" Everyone was stunned and turned to the Song family's leader.

"Think about the location of the wounds on these people," the Song family's leader sighed and explained to everyone, "They were all killed face-to-face by the Ever Victorious Duke."