He immediately halted, signalling the little fire qilin to restrain its aura. One human and one qilin blended into the surroundings, silently creeping behind a dense thicket of thorns and peering out through the gaps.
Ahead lay a relatively open hilly valley, where a chase with overwhelming numerical disadvantage was unfolding.
Five cultivators in uniform black robes, their sleeves embroidered with golden thread depicting a ferocious, twisted ghost head that seemed to devour souls incessantly, were besieging two individuals.
The besieged pair had unusual appearances, not purely human.
The man was extraordinarily burly, nearly ten feet tall, with knotted muscles and faint tiger stripes on his bronze skin.
A clear “king” character mark adorned his forehead. He wielded a massive axe the size of a door panel, swinging it with gusts of wind and an aura of the king of beasts.
The woman was agile in build, with wheat-coloured skin and a face exuding wild beauty. Her eyes were rare vertical pupils, sharp and alert.
A fluffy, spotted ring-patterned long tail swayed flexibly behind her. She held a pair of short daggers gleaming with cold light.
Strong demonic energy emanated from them, but unlike the chaotic violence of uncivilised beasts in the forest, it had been refined through some cultivation method, appearing condensed and orderly. They were beast clan members who had achieved cultivation!
At this moment, the male and female beast clan members were at the end of their strength.
The man’s tiger mouth had split, blood staining the axe handle. Deep, bone-visible wounds covered his body, especially a claw mark on his back that nearly exposed his internals. His breathing was laboured like bellows.
The woman’s condition was slightly better, but her movements were clearly sluggish. Her left shoulder was charred black, evidently injured by some sinister spell. Blood foam continuously overflowed from her mouth, her vertical pupils filled with anger and defiance.
“Heh heh heh… You two obstinate beasts who fail to appreciate kindness! If you do not hand over the distribution map of the beast soul crystal veins, the next strike will extract your souls and refine them into my Myriad Souls Banner, condemning you to eternal suffering without rebirth!”
The leading black-robed cultivator, whose strength had reached the fifth grade of the Heavenly Immortal realm, held a soul-summoning banner shrouded in black energy. Countless agonised, twisted faces flickered on its surface, emitting silent wails.
He shook the banner, producing mind-disrupting ghostly howls, while laughing coldly.
“Pah! You scum of the Myriad Souls Demon Sect! Thieves!”
Despite his grave injuries, the tiger-striped man glared furiously, his voice booming like thunder. “The Tenth Heaven is vast and boundless. You have your own territories. Why repeatedly invade our Myriad Beasts Mountain Range, forcibly seizing the beast soul crystal veins our clan relies on for survival? Such actions are no different from extraterritorial heavenly demons!”
“Hmph. The law of the jungle is the ultimate principle of heaven and earth! Your beast clan occupies treasure lands yet lacks ambition. It is fitting that you become resources for the rise of our Myriad Souls Demon Sect!”
Another black-robed cultivator sneered, sacrificing a ghastly green skull that spewed highly corrosive poisonous flames towards the leopard-tailed woman.
“Guard the mountain range, even unto ten thousand deaths!”
The leopard-tailed woman cried out sharply. Her dual daggers crossed, slashing two intersecting cold beams, barely blocking the poisonous flames, but her figure staggered back once more from the impact.
Myriad Souls Demon Sect!
Hiding in the shadows, Chen Ping heard these four words. In that instant, his eyes sharpened like a hawk’s, a surge of icy killing intent rising from the depths of his heart!
All thoughts of caution and temporarily avoiding trouble were cast aside in this moment!
It truly was searching far and wide only to find it effortlessly!
That old dog, Soul-Devouring Venerable, was hiding within this Myriad Souls Demon Sect!
Seeing the leading black-robed cultivator seemingly lose patience, the Myriad Souls Banner in his hand erupted with intense black light.
It condensed into a massive ghostly claw, carrying piercing soul wails, clawing towards the tiger-striped man’s head, who could barely resist. Clearly, he intended to kill.
Chen Ping hesitated no longer!
“Little Qi, attack!”
Before the words fully left his mouth, his figure shot out from the thorn thicket like an arrow released from a bowstring!
While still in mid-air, the Dragon-Slaying Sword was already unsheathed, its cold sword light illuminating the somewhat dim valley!
“Five elements cycle, sword breaks all laws!”
He held nothing back. His first move was a killing strike fused with his deepest comprehension of the five elements laws!
A condensed sword astral presenting five-coloured flowing light, within which countless tiny worlds seemed to birth and perish, tore through the air.
Carrying an unstoppable, resolute killing intent, it arrived first despite being launched later, instantly crossing dozens of zhang, aimed straight at the black-robed leader’s brow and sea of consciousness!
This sword!
Fast!
Ruthless!
Precise!
And infused with a supreme sword intent of judgement and conclusion!
