Chapter 368: Harvest of a Thousand

Chapter 368: Chapter 368: Harvest of a Thousand

Chapter 368: Harvest of a Thousand

For the next eight days, the beasts of the ancient forest were terrified by the relentless massacre of two crazy demons. ℯℯ𝑙.

Rhain and Lyra had completely transformed from cautious survivors into the undisputed apex predators of this lethal trial realm.

They no longer skirted around the edges of massive territories or waited for Karsten and the mercenaries to lure isolated beasts.

Instead, they aggressively invaded the established domains of the largest beast herds they could find.

It was simply put a brutal extermination.

With Lyra’s cultivation soaring to the peak of the Core Formation Realm and her newly awakened Blood Heaven Valkyrie Physique stabilizing, her combat output had skyrocketed to an incomprehensible degree.

Combined with Rhain’s monstrous physical might, no pack of beasts could stand in their way for more than a few minutes.

Their daily kill count exploded from a meager fifteen to a staggering eighty beasts a day.

Karsten and the surviving four mercenaries were entirely reduced to awe-struck scavengers.

Their only job was to frantically trail behind the two youths, plunging their daggers into pulverized corpses to dig out the glowing Domain Master beast cores.

On the dawn of the twenty-fifth day, Rhain stood atop a towering branch.

His Eyes of Truth swept through the dense morning fog, peering deep into a massive, cratered valley miles ahead.

"We have nine hundred and sixty cores," Rhain stated calmly, the golden glow slowly fading from his pupils as he looked down at Lyra. "We are exactly forty cores away from the quota."

Lyra stood gracefully on a lower branch, her star-forged rapier resting lightly in her hand. Her beautiful face showed not a single trace of exhaustion; instead, a fierce, battle-hungry light burned within her crimson eyes.

"Did you find a herd?" Lyra asked haughtily.

Rhain gave a faint nod.

"Better than a herd. It is a massive turf war," Rhain replied with a smile.

He had now gotten used to Lyra’s changed temperament.

It’s as if she has completely transformed, no matter how much she fought, she never looked tired, instead she was more and more excited with each battle.

"Shadow-Stalker Panthers and Iron-Tusk Gorillas." Rhain spoke in an analytical tone, There are over fifty beasts combined in the valley ahead. More importantly, several of them radiate the dense auras of Level 4 and Level 5 Domain Master Realm beasts."

Karsten, who was waiting on the ground below, felt his knees buckle upon hearing those words.

"L-Level 4 and 5?!" Karsten gasped, his face turning ghastly white. "Over fifty of them?! Lord Rhain, we should wait! Let them tear each other apart first, and then we can pick off the wounded survivors!"

It was the most rational, logical tactic for any sane cultivator.

But Lyra simply exchanged a look with Rhain.

It was clear that she didn’t want to wait.

"Wait?" Lyra scoffed, tilting her chin upward with an arrogant sneer. "If we wait, they will destroy the beast cores in their mindless frenzy. We are taking them all right now."

Rhain knew that arguing with her on this matter was futile.

Swoosh—!

With the Heaven-Grade Boundless Sky Wind propelling him, Rhain shot off the branch like a meteor, diving directly toward the center of the chaotic valley.

"Try not to fall behind!" Lyra challenged with a haughty laugh, an explosive burst of orange-crimson True Heavenly Flame erupting from her slender figure as she darted right behind him.

Down in the valley, the earth trembled under the fierce battle of the savage beasts.

ROAAAAR—!!!

Massive Iron-Tusk Gorillas, clad in impenetrable stone-like armor, swung their colossal fists, crushing the agile, shadow-melding panthers.

In return, the panthers tore into the gorillas’ exposed joints with venomous fangs.

Deafening roars shook the entire valley.

But suddenly, an oppressive pressure descended from the sky.

BOOM—!!!

Rhain landed squarely in the dead center of the crossfire.

The impact of his boots striking the earth sent a shockwave ripping through the valley, instantly blowing several nearby beasts off their feet.

The turf war came to an abrupt halt.

Over fifty pairs of bloodshot, predatory eyes snapped toward the dark-robed youth who had just brazenly dropped into their killing ground.

Rhain looked down at the fifty-plus roaring beasts without any fear.

With a flash of spatial light, a majestic golden bell materialized in the sky directly above the center of the valley.

DONG—!!!

An ancient majestic bell toll rang out, echoing like the voice of a descending god.

The shockwave of pure spiritual authority swept across the entire valley in a fraction of a second.

The effect was instantaneous.

Every single beast in the valley—from the Level 1 panthers to the Level 5 gorilla alpha—froze completely.

Their massive bodies locked up mid-strike, their jaws hanging open, and their feral eyes rolling back as their vulnerable, unprotected spiritual seas were ruthlessly paralyzed by the Emperor-Grade artifact.

"Now!" Rhain commanded.

Lyra was already prepared.

Her crimson eyes blazed with a peerless light.

"Domain of Heavenly Retribution!"

WHOOSH—!!!

A bloody domain of slaughter expanded from her slender frame, instantly engulfing the entire valley.

The orange-crimson True Heavenly Flame merged perfectly into her domain.

Buzz—! Buzz—! Buzz—!

The space behind her back violently rippled.

Hundreds of glowing crimson rapier shadows materialized in the blood-red sky, each one radiating a lethal killing intent.

It was the innate power of the Blood Heaven Valkyrie Physique.

Lyra raised her hand, her breathtakingly beautiful face devoid of all mercy as she pointed her delicate finger directly down at the paralyzed hordes.

"RAIN OF DEATH!"

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Hundreds of blazing crimson rapiers shot downward like a torrential downpour of divine punishment.

They tore through the sky, crashing mercilessly into the valley.

BANG! CLANG! BOOM—!!!

It was a total massacre.

The crimson rapiers effortlessly pierced the thick obsidian hides of the Iron-Tusk Gorillas and pinned the agile Shadow-Stalker Panthers to the earth.

The True Heavenly Flame erupted upon impact, incinerating their internal organs in a split second.

In mere moments, over fifteen Domain Master beasts were killed.

Blood sprayed wildly into the air like a macabre fountain, dying the entire valley in red. The sheer destructive output of her bloodline art left the valley floor looking like a pincushion of corpses.

As the paralysis of the Monarch’s Bell finally wore off, the handful of surviving beasts—mostly the heavily injured Level 4 and Level 5 alphas—snapped out of their stupor.

But the moment their consciousness returned, they didn’t roar in fury.

They looked at the slaughtered remains of their packs, their primal brains overwhelmed by a terror so profound that it shattered their predatory instincts and bloodlust completely.

The surviving beasts abandoned their territorial war entirely. Tucking their tails between their legs, they turned and frantically scrambled toward the edges of the valley, desperately trying to flee for their lives.

Rhain looked at them chillingly.

"Did I say you could leave?"

Boundless Sky Wind!

Rhain’s body blurred, materializing directly in the path of the fleeing Level 5 Iron-Tusk Gorilla.

The massive beast roared, raising its colossal fists to smash the tiny human into paste.

"Void Fist. Second Form."

Rhain also threw a bare punch. But his fist was ridiculously small against the massive gorilla.

Two fists, one big and one small, collided with destructive physical force.

BOOM—!!!

The moment their fists met, the beast’s entire arm shattered.

ROAR!

With a painful sound, its massive body was thrown back like a cannonball and crashed against a rock.

It looked at Rhain with fearful eyes, without caring about the pain in his shattered arm, it turned its head and tried to flee.

But it was no match for Rhain’s speed.

With his boundless sky wind, he easily caught up with the Iron-Tusk Gorilla, and brought his fist down squarely on the beast’s skull.

CRACK!

The beast’s head was pulverized instantly, blood spraying everywhere.

Across the valley, Lyra moved with equal ruthlessness.

Swoosh!

Her blazing rapier danced through the air, cleanly severing the heads of the fleeing panthers before they could even reach the treeline.

Within a few minutes, the slaughter was completely concluded.

Over fifty Domain Master beasts lay dead.

Not a single one had escaped.

A few moments later, Karsten and the four mercenaries came stumbling down into the valley.

They scrambled frantically, digging their daggers into the carcasses with trembling hands, overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude death surrounding them.

Karsten wiped the sweat from his scarred face, his hands shaking as he held up the final, glowing Level 5 beast core.

"L-Lord Rhain! Lady Lyra!" Karsten stammered, holding the core up with both hands.

"One thousand! We have crossed one thousand Domain Master beast cores!"

Rhain walked over, his expression perfectly placid.

With a casual wave of his hand, he swept the final core, along with the rest of the massive pile, directly into his spatial ring.

The moment the 1,000th core settled into his interspatial storage...

RUMBLE—!!!

The entire ancient forest began to tremble.

The space around them distorted, the surrounding valley dissolving into thin air like a fading illusion.

"To hunt one thousand Domain Master beasts in a mere twenty-five days..."

The ancient voice of the old man echoed directly from the sky, carrying a tone of satisfaction.

"You have even exceeded my expectations."