*Bang!*
Paul’s corpse was sent flying by Ye Qiu’s kick, crashing into five or six armed fighters, killing them instantly before landing in a mangled heap of blood and flesh.
The twenty to thirty thousand armed fighters at the Vatican palace gate were shaken, raising their weapons and aiming at Ye Qiu, treating him as a formidable foe.
“Where are the nine nations’ experts? Come out and face death!” Ye Qiu shouted again.
Yet, not a single King Realm expert appeared, not even the ones previously guarding the gates.
Ye Qiu sensed no King Realm auras.
There was only one explanation: they weren’t here.
Otherwise, they would’ve emerged when he killed Paul and Carl.
Where had they gone?
A bad feeling surged in Ye Qiu’s heart.
“Where are the nine nations’ experts?” he bellowed again, but no one responded.
He raised his right palm, grabbing at the air.
Instantly, an armed fighter felt as if his hair was seized, lifted off the ground, and suspended before Ye Qiu.
*Crack!*
Ye Qiu gripped the fighter’s throat.
“Where are those experts?” he demanded.
“Gurgle gurgle…” The fighter spoke in a language Ye Qiu couldn’t understand, trembling all over.
“What gibberish? Speak Chinese!” Ye Qiu snapped.
“Gurgle gurgle…” the fighter continued.
The Prophet appeared behind Ye Qiu, explaining, “He said the experts went to hunt the Vatican disciples. Ye Qiu, what now?”
“What else? An eye for an eye,” Ye Qiu said, tightening his grip.
*Poof!*
The fighter’s throat burst, and he died instantly. Ye Qiu tossed the body off the castle wall.
“Prophet, tell them to summon those experts back now, or they’ll all die,” Ye Qiu ordered.
The Prophet shouted a few words to the fighters below. A commotion stirred, and after a moment, a small squad rushed off to notify the experts.
Ye Qiu was surprised. Didn’t they know to use a phone?
This worked in his favour, buying him time.
He sat cross-legged on the wall, took a Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus from his Qiankun Bag, and consumed it in one go.
Minutes later, he absorbed its full potency and stood.
*Whoosh!*
Ye Qiu leapt from the wall, charging into the armed fighters.
As they prepared to fire—
*Boom!*
A deafening thunderclap erupted.
A massive purple lightning bolt, hundreds of metres long, struck from the sky without warning.
Caught off guard, hundreds of fighters were incinerated instantly.
“Heavenly Tribulation!” the Prophet’s face paled. She hadn’t expected Ye Qiu to trigger a tribulation now.
Lightning bolts followed, striking relentlessly.
Screams filled the air.
In moments, thousands were killed by the tribulation.
The remaining fighters, no longer focused on Ye Qiu, scattered in panic, desperate to escape.
Ye Qiu was ready, unleashing the Slaughter Technique.
*Swish! Swish! Swish!*
Thousands of sword intents rained down like dense droplets, felling scores of fighters.
The tribulation grew fiercer, engulfing the area, shaking the earth with terrifying force.
Where lightning struck, blood and shattered bones flew.
In mere minutes, all twenty to thirty thousand fighters were dead, their bodies in horrific states: some reduced to ash, others to charred limbs, or just heads.
Few corpses remained intact.
Blood flowed like rivers.
The scene was brutal.
The Prophet felt a chill. Ye Qiu’s eye-for-an-eye approach was ruthless.
A quarter of an hour passed.
The tribulation vanished.
Silence returned.
Ye Qiu glowed with radiant golden light. His tribulation injuries healed instantly, his skin gleaming like jade. His spirit and energy soared to a terrifying peak.
He felt boundless strength, as if one punch could shatter the heavens.
*Hum!*
He released a powerful aura, and countless dragon qi strands appeared behind him.
Each strand, ten metres long and dazzling gold, swirled like true dragons around him, making him resemble a deity ruling the heavens.
“One, two, three… seventy-two dragon qi strands!”
“Mid-King Realm!”
The Prophet’s heart raced, her eyes sparkling as she stared at Ye Qiu.
She never imagined he’d leap from Venerable to mid-King Realm in one step.
“No wonder he dared challenge the nine experts. With his ability to fight above his level, even a peak King Realm expert wouldn’t faze him,” she thought. “His talent is terrifying. Others take centuries to reach this realm, but he, a cultivator for mere months, broke through to King Realm. Truly a god-like man.”
Moments later, Ye Qiu retracted his dragon qi, pleased with his breakthrough.
“The Ten-Thousand-Year Snow Lotus is incredible. I thought I’d only reach early King Realm, but I hit mid-King Realm. What a pleasant surprise,” he thought. “With the God-Beating Whip, I fear no one, not even the world’s top experts. Nine nations’ experts, hmph, prepare to die!”
He subdued his aura, walked to the Prophet, and smiled. “Satisfied?”
She knew he meant the slaughter of the armed fighters.
“Ye Qiu, thank you, but…” she began.
He cut her off. “Too cruel, right?”
She fell silent.
Ye Qiu said, “If you don’t uproot the weeds, they’ll grow back. If I don’t kill them today, they’ll cause chaos later. Mercy to enemies is cruelty to yourself. Prophet, I know you’re kind, but don’t pity them. Have you forgotten? Those experts are hunting your disciples, aiming to wipe them out.”
The Prophet nodded slightly, then smiled. “Ye Qiu, congratulations on becoming a King Realm expert.”
He laughed. “Just got lucky. Once your injuries heal, you’ll regain your cultivation soon enough.”
“I wonder when those guys will return. I’m eager to face them…”
He suddenly looked into the distance. “They’re back!”
