Chapter 584: The Slaughter Begins

“ROOOOAR!”

“AWOOOOOO!”

“CAW CAW CAW CAW CAW!”

Seeing Zhaang Ye pick the fruit, all the Barbaric Beasts and giant birds went red-eyed with fury. Hundreds of Barbaric Beasts and thousands of giant birds roared in anger at once, the immense sound waves making the cliff tremble.

“HISS!”

Sensing this terrifying pressure, Zhaang Ye’s expression changed slightly. He transformed into a gentle breeze, silently flying along the cliff face. Meanwhile, the Fire Spirit, which had been tangling with the two-headed giant bird, used its dexterity and astonishing speed to break free from the bird’s attacks. The strange two-headed bird’s combat prowess far exceeded the Fire Spirit’s, but its attention was entirely focused on Zhaang Ye. Seeing the Fire Spirit flee, it couldn’t be bothered to care, simply flapping its wings to follow Zhaang Ye closely.

“ROAR!”

Amidst the tremendous roars, several immensely powerful Barbaric Beasts suddenly opened their eyes, staring intently at the cliff face. The instant their gazes swept over, Zhaang Ye felt a chill run down his spine, his whole body turning cold!

‘Not good! The Barbaric Beasts have locked onto me!’ Zhaang Ye’s heart jumped in alarm.

These Barbaric Beasts, which had cultivated to the True Dao Sixth Layer, all possessed astonishing intuition—an intuition even sharper than a human’s Spiritual Sense. Some ancient texts even used “animal-like intuition” to describe people.

Although Zhaang Ye had deployed his Wind Realm, he still couldn’t deceive the intuition of these Barbaric Beasts. He had only flown a few hundred zhang before they locked onto him completely!

BOOM!

Several Barbaric Beasts with enormous bodies suddenly leaped up from the ground, pouncing toward Zhaang Ye!

Although these Barbaric Beasts couldn’t fly, their strength was so immense that they could remain suspended in the air for short periods. When several of them pounced at once, it was like several great mountain peaks smashing down simultaneously. The air within a radius of over ten li seemed to have been completely sucked out!

“Heavens!”

Zhaang Ye’s scalp went numb. The Celestial River Righteous Qi inside him churned wildly as he desperately struggled to break free from the Barbaric Beasts’ lock, transforming into a violent Tornado and flying several li away.

“BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!”

Several Barbaric Beasts crashed into the cliff face, forcefully carving several massive cracks into the ten-thousand-zhang-tall cliff. Countless rocks and trees rained down, and it looked as if the colossal cliff was about to collapse.

“ROOOOAR!”

Zhaang Ye dodged and flew several li away, but he still couldn’t escape the Barbaric Beasts’ assault. The beasts were like mountain peaks, rumbling as they crashed toward him. Even with Zhaang Ye’s Body Technique, he felt it was impossible to evade.

“SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!”

After dodging a few times, Zhaang Ye was forced to act. Wielding the Broken Wave Saber in his hand, he carved a bloody path forward. Fortunately, this batch of Barbaric Beasts had combat strength equivalent to the Peak of True Dao Fifth Layer. With every slash of his saber, Zhaang Ye could kill one, making the situation perilous but not fatal.

“ROAR!”

A purple Barbaric Beast, over thirteen hundred zhang long and two hundred zhang tall, suddenly pounced at Zhaang Ye. This Barbaric Beast’s combat strength had shockingly reached the True Dao Sixth Layer Early Stage!

“Slash!”

Zhaang Ye roared, desperately slashing out with the Broken Wave Saber. This slash was precisely the Mountain-Breaking Slash he had created himself. Unleashed with his full power, the projected Sword Gang actually contained countless Tornados. The densely packed, dark Tornados swirled along the edge of the Sword Gang, making it look like a long spatial rift.

“HISS!”

Under this astonishing slash, the purple Barbaric Beast was instantly cleaved in two. Its massive body fell from the sky, and its blood rained down.

After killing the purple Barbaric Beast, Zhaang Ye couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood. But instead of being alarmed, he was overjoyed. The path before him was now empty, with no more Barbaric Beasts to block his way!

“SKREEE!”

Just as Zhaang Ye was about to break through, a long cry echoed from above. The two-headed monster bird had finally locked onto his position and was now diving toward him like a black cloud.

The Fire Spirit had just flown to Zhaang Ye’s side. Seeing the two-headed monster bird dive, it quickly warned, “Be careful! This two-headed bird is incredibly strong!”

The two-headed giant bird’s attack was extremely fast. As it dove at high speed, the air was compressed over and over. The friction between the compressed air and the giant bird’s body ignited into a layer of raging flames. This giant bird, with a wingspan a thousand zhang long, was like a meteor falling from the void—terrifying to the extreme!

What was even more terrifying was that the two-headed giant bird’s vision was far sharper than that of the other Barbaric Beasts. An ordinary giant bird could spot a small mouse from an altitude of ten thousand zhang. This thousand-zhang two-headed giant bird’s vision was even more formidable. Although Zhaang Ye used his Wind Realm, he couldn’t fool its eyes at all!

Its two sharp talons swooped down, grabbing right for Zhaang Ye!

All escape routes were locked down by the two water-tank-sized talons. Caught within their grasp, Zhaang Ye felt his body suddenly become incredibly heavy, as if it weighed a million pounds.

‘What a terrifying two-headed giant bird! Just the attack from its talons is this powerful. Its two heads must hold some other secret. If both heads attack at once, I’ll be in deep trouble! We have to get out of here now!’

Zhaang Ye instantly made up his mind. Man and saber suddenly took flight, breaking through the two-headed giant bird’s lock at an unbelievable speed and flying away!

Cloud-Breaking Slash!

Normally, when Zhaang Ye used the Cloud-Breaking Slash, he would instantly vanish and reappear three li away. But now, locked down by the two-headed giant bird’s power, his flight speed was several times slower, and he could no longer achieve the effect of Instant Teleportation. Even so, Zhaang Ye’s speed was still astonishing. As he executed the Cloud-Breaking Slash, he instantly severed everything in his path and vanished into the distance.

“SKREEE!”

The two-headed giant bird let out a painful shriek. One of its talon tips had actually been forcefully severed by Zhaang Ye, and blood gushed out like a waterfall. Driven mad by the pain, the bird went berserk. Its two heads began spewing fireballs, melting the rocks within a several-li radius into magma. Some of the Barbaric Beasts caught in the blast were cooked on the spot, emitting an alluring, meaty aroma.

Zhaang Ye was already long gone. The Barbaric Beasts within a several-hundred-li radius fought amongst themselves, and after devouring the flesh and blood of their fallen comrades, they finally departed, unwilling to give up. All that remained was a ground littered with bleached-white bones.

After the Barbaric Beasts had left, two figures suddenly appeared in the sky above the cliff. One had a high-bridged nose and purple eyes, the other had pitch-black hands. They were none other than the young experts from the Black Cloud Domain, Zi Nuhou and the Iron Hand Marquis.

Zi Nuhou’s eyes glinted as he surveyed the bones on the ground. He said in a low voice, “It seems a Spirit Elixir appeared here, and these Barbaric Beasts died fighting over it. We’re a step too late.”

The Iron Hand Marquis sniffed the air, his gaze landing on the Jade Marrow tree. He said slowly, “Correct. There’s still a faint, fresh scent in the air. It seems a Jade Marrow fruit just ripened. Huh…”

The Iron Hand Marquis suddenly cried out in surprise. His gaze fixed on a purple skeleton, and his expression changed slightly. “This Barbaric Beast… judging from its frame, its strength was at least at the True Dao Sixth Layer. Such a terrifying Barbaric Beast was actually split in two!”

“SWOOSH! SWOOSH!”

Zi Nuhou and the Iron Hand Marquis both arrived before the purple skeleton at the same time. Their gazes fell in unison on the skeleton, staring intently at the cut on the bones.

The cut was clearly made by a saber.

To an expert, a simple cut could reveal a great deal. Zi Nuhou and the Iron Hand Marquis were both experts among experts, and what they saw was far more than an ordinary person could perceive.

After a moment of silent observation, the two turned their attention to the other Barbaric Beast Skeletons. They meticulously examined the saber marks on the bones as if they were looking at a perfect work of art.

A moment later, their gazes fixed on a severed bird talon. This was the very talon left behind by the two-headed giant bird.

The Iron Hand Marquis spoke slowly, “Barbaric Beasts with combat strength comparable to the Peak of True Dao Fifth Layer were felled in a single slash. Even a Barbaric Beast comparable to the True Dao Sixth Layer was cleaved in two with one strike. And this talon… judging from the aura on it, the giant bird’s combat strength was definitely no less than the True Dao Sixth Layer Middle Stage.

“For even such a powerful beast to have its talon severed… this person’s Saber Technique has reached an incredible level. It seems his combat strength is likely not beneath our own.”

Zi Nuhou nodded slightly and said, “None of the young experts in our Black Cloud Domain use a saber. This saber master must be a young expert from the Purple Spirit Domain. It’s truly surprising that a place like the Purple Spirit Domain could produce such a terrifying Sword Dao expert.”

A bloodthirsty glint appeared in the Iron Hand Marquis’s eyes as he said grimly, “This person is very strong. But no matter how strong he is, he won’t be able to escape the Sword Monarch Ruins. I really want to find him right now and kill him. For such a tyrannical young expert, his blood must be so sweet. Heh heh heh heh…”

Zi Nuhou shot him a disgusted look and said, “Iron Hand, you’re becoming more and more twisted. If this continues, you’ll end up just like the Bloodline Marquis, thinking only about drinking fresh blood all day.”

The Iron Hand Marquis let out a sinister laugh. Just as he was about to speak, his expression suddenly changed, and he said in surprise, “Strange! I can actually smell the Golden Hook Marquis’s scent! Could it be that the Golden Hook Marquis was here too? Could he have been the one who took the Jade Marrow fruit?”

As he spoke, the Iron Hand Marquis kept sniffing the air. A moment later, his figure shot forward with a SWOOSH, flying a hundred zhang away. His gaze locked onto a small pool of blood.

This small pool of blood hadn’t completely dried yet. It emanated waves of a tragic, violent aura, but within that aura was a faint trace of deathly energy.

Zi Nuhou flew over. Looking at the blood on the ground, his expression changed slightly. “This is the Golden Hook Marquis’s blood! Judging from the aura of the blood, the Golden Hook Marquis is most likely already dead!”

The Iron Hand Marquis nodded and said, “The Golden Hook Marquis was most likely killed by that Sword Dao master.”

A flash went through Zi Nuhou’s eyes, and he said in an ice-cold tone, “To think that the Purple Spirit Domain has such a master, one who could even kill the Golden Hook Marquis.

“Originally, I was planning to wait another two or three months before moving against the people of the Purple Domain. Now, we’ll have to change our plans. We’ll notify the others and tell them to kill anyone from the Purple Spirit Domain on sight!”

“SWOOSH!”

With a wave of his hand, Zi Nuhou sent a Sound Transmission Talisman flying off.

In the wake of this Sound Transmission Talisman, a new wave of slaughter was instantly unleashed within the Sword Monarch Ruins.