Chapter 375: Fighting Carter

Soon, a response came from the city lord’s residence. In just a moment, hundreds of figures rushed toward this place. Seeing this, a cold smile appeared on Rod’s lips.
“The real players have arrived!” he said to Nightingale, Merk, and the others beside him.
With that, the group broke through the encirclement as agreed and headed forward. They had been waiting for this moment—the arrival of the neutral faction’s army.
Perhaps because too many troops were sent, or perhaps because they never expected an attack, there weren’t many people in Wuyou City. At first glance, there seemed to be only six or seven hundred people—very few.
“Black Phoenix Clan, we of the neutral faction have no grudges against you. Why attack Wuyou City today?! And you, Scorpion King Clan—heh, great. Have you sided with the pro-war faction?” An old man at the forefront roared in anger as his members continued to be killed. His face was filled with hatred as he stared at the members of the Black Phoenix and Scorpion King clans.
“Haha… Old man, you know best what you’ve done. Secrets can’t be hidden forever. Do you really plan to hide them for life? Have you forgotten where and why you sent a large force just a few days ago?” Hearing the old man’s words, Locke laughed loudly, his hearty laughter spreading across the battlefield in an instant.
All these words reached the ears of the members of those small fighting clans. They hadn’t known the purpose of this mission before setting out, and now, realizing it was to attack the neutral faction, they were in shock. They had no idea what was going on, only following the orders given to them by the Black Phoenix and Scorpion King clans, as they were vassal clans after all.
But now, from the conversation between Locke and that old man from the neutral faction, they seemed to hear some different information!
There was a huge secret here, one they were unaware of. Perhaps it was this secret that led the two clans to unite and attack the neutral faction.
Not only these people but also the residents of Wuyou City were pondering. The streets had turned into battlefields, with everyone hiding in their homes. The sounds of fighting outside shattered the silence of the night. To avoid trouble, they chose to stay indoors and watch. The battles outside were not something they could or wanted to get involved in.

This is a struggle among several major families; it has nothing to do with them! If they foolishly get involved, they will only end up as pawns. As commoners, they have no obligation to do so.
“What, speechless? Feeling guilty?” Locke sneered and pressed further when the other party didn’t respond.
Watching Locke, Merk, and the others, the old man’s expression kept changing, showing great surprise. He was clearly taken aback that they knew about this matter—and even more so that they knew his identity.
From Locke’s words, he could sense that all his secrets were now exposed to them.
“Good… very good. I never expected you to know! Well then, no more talk—let’s fight if we must! Among us in the Neutral Faction, there are no cowards! The Black Phoenix Clan, the Scorpion King Clan, and all these small families—understand well: as long as one of us in the Neutral Faction survives today, you’ll face brutal revenge. Even if you try to wipe us out completely, you’ll pay a heavy price. Oh, and the Pro-War Faction too—heh, can you withstand their revenge?” The old man sneered in threat after realizing his secrets had been exposed.
“Stop talking nonsense! I’m not falling for this! Kill them!” The irritable Locke wouldn’t listen to his nonsense. With a loud shout, he charged forward first, followed by the others. A fierce group battle erupted instantly, turning the entire Wuyou City into a battlefield with fighting scenes everywhere.
Rod led the Death Scythe Squad straight ahead. With their terrifying destructive power, they quickly moved toward the city lord’s mansion. The big fish hadn’t appeared yet.
On the streets, blood flew everywhere, and the night sky was filled with screams and the sounds of combat. At this moment, Wuyou City became a hell on earth, a battlefield of demons.
In the blink of an eye, Rod led the Death Scythe Squad, with the help of the Black Phoenix Clan, to the front of the city lord’s mansion.
“Black Phoenix Clan, don’t get overconfident!” Just as Rod and the others were about to attack, a loud shout came from behind. Immediately afterward, six or seven figures rushed forward swiftly.
At the forefront was the current leader of the Neutral Faction! Following closely behind were several elderly men with youthful appearances, each exuding immense power. These were the true strongmen of the Neutral Faction, their real trump cards.
There were seven of them in total—six at the Yin Yellow level, and one at the peak of the Divine level. Two of them were even at the mid-stage apex of the Yin Yellow level. Rod immediately recognized the strength of these people.

“Carter, have you finally shown up?” With a cold tone, Merk sneered at the leader of the Neutral faction.
“The Black Phoenix clan—I never expected you to survive and even reach Wuyou City. We clearly underestimated you!” By now, there was no need to hide anything; everyone understood perfectly.
“Is our Black Phoenix clan something that can be destroyed at will by you? It’s you Neutral faction who’ve hidden for a thousand years—truly well concealed!” Speaking of how the Black Phoenix clan nearly perished in a previous attack, Merk’s face was filled with hatred.
That time, the 10,000-strong army of demons was sent from Wuyou City, so it could be said it was a plan by Wuyou City and the Mi Jiao clan to destroy the Black Phoenix clan. The clan almost was wiped out in that attack—just imagine how deep his hatred for the Neutral faction ran.
“For the shame of last time, today our Black Phoenix clan will exact revenge in full. I hope you Neutral faction won’t disappoint me!” Without waiting for Carter to speak, Merk continued.
The atmosphere grew even more tense. At this moment, the air around them seemed to freeze. The seven people across from them were all highly skilled. Under their combined pressure, those weaker behind them could no longer hold on, their faces turning pale as they struggled to breathe!
“Naitrod, I didn’t expect you to show up too. If I’m not mistaken, your help must have been what allowed the Black Phoenix clan to escape last time!” Ignoring Merk’s words, Carter asked Rod calmly.
“And so what?” Rod replied coldly, giving Carter no regard.
Silence followed Rod’s answer. The two sides stood facing each other at the entrance of the city lord’s mansion. Behind them, battles raged fiercely, but here, it seemed as if nothing behind them existed—as if a separate world had formed, with only them in it.
“Well then, it seems today the Neutral faction is doomed. But don’t rejoice too soon— the Pro-War faction and the Wolf clan will avenge us. Just wait!” After a long while, Carter’s expression suddenly turned wild as he roared loudly.
Immediately afterward, he rushed forward at lightning speed, targeting Rod instead of Merk!

His move immediately affected everyone; they all started moving. Merk, Dolon, and several other elders of the Black Phoenix clan each stopped an old man, while Rod focused entirely on dealing with Carter. At the intermediate level of the Yin Yellow realm, Carter was indeed a formidable opponent who couldn’t be underestimated.

Carter charged fiercely, so Rod quickly drew Xuanyuan and swung it forward, creating a streak of white light. With the infusion of combat energy, Xuanyuan generated a sword aura several meters long, which swept toward Carter with tremendous force.

Unbeknownst to him, Rod also had a long sword in his hand, which he swung wildly at him.

In an instant, the two weapons collided.

“Boom…” A crisp yet deep sound of impact echoed, sparks flying as immense force radiated from their weapons, spreading outward in all directions. Wherever it passed, destruction followed.

The sheer force made Rod’s arm numb and his palm ache. He hadn’t expected Carter’s strength to be so great! He was thrown backward after being violently shaken.

On the other side, Carter wasn’t faring any better. He never imagined Rod’s strength would be so formidable—just one strike had shaken his internal organs, and blood flowed from his palm as he was flung backward like a kite with its string cut.

Seeing Rod on the other side, Carter saw him do a backflip, then push off the ground with his feet, driving his long sword into the ground to stabilize himself. Immediately after, he seized the opportunity to charge at Carter again. Carter’s expression changed drastically.

He still hadn’t regained his balance, and now Rod was attacking again—putting him at a severe disadvantage! More importantly, it was now clear just how much of a gap existed between their strengths; Rod was already one level ahead of him.

All of this was hard for Carter to believe. In just one year, he had progressed to this level. He still remembered the competition held in Wuyou City last year—back then, he was only an intermediate-level divine warrior. Who would have thought that just a year later, he would be unable to gain even a slight advantage against someone at the intermediate level of the Yin Yellow realm?

Such a person filled Carter with a deep sense of fear. Reaching such a level at such a young age—what might he become if given another ten or twenty years? No one could imagine. But one thing was certain: by then, he would stand at the pinnacle of the entire Dark Source, atop the whole continent, invincible.