Clash

"What a rabid, barking dog. There’s not a single thing in that mouth worth listening to."

Gu Sheng rode Black Wind Leopard to the front and blocked Li Yuan’s path. Facing Liu Sanlong, he launched into an utterly merciless barrage of insults.

"You’re the beast tamer, aren’t you? Good!"

Liu Sanlong gave Gu Sheng a long, deep look, as if carving him into his memory. "I’ll remember you. I hope you enjoy yourself later. When night comes, I hope you can still be this stubborn!"

"Attack!"

Liu Sanlong took over command from the bandit chiefs. At his order, the bandits, who had long been unable to hold themselves back, spurred their horses downhill in a charge.

"Yah~"

"Charge!"

"Kill!"

The mounted bandits charged downhill, while even more unmounted bandits surged forward like locusts.

"Looking for death!"

Gu Sheng’s eyes narrowed. He slapped Black Wind Leopard beneath him, and movement stirred within his sleeve. A constant hissing filled the air.

"Roar~"

Amid a heaven-shaking roar, a fierce wind swept up around Black Wind Leopard. Several Blood Shadow Wolves moved and were already the first to meet the vanguard of cavalry.

"What’s going on?"

The charging bandits suddenly realized they were in trouble. Their horses neighed and struggled out of control, as if some terrifying creature were approaching.

"Awooo~"

Several blood-red shadows flashed past, and the bandits at the front were torn to pieces. On this battlefield, which did not belong to the wilderness, Blood Shadow Wolves displayed terrifying might.

The reason Demon Beasts were stronger than ordinary beasts and human martial artists was not only their agile movements and powerful physiques. More importantly, they possessed elemental attacks similar to the magical beasts of Western fantasy worlds.

Blood Shadow Wolves and Black Wind Leopard were both speed-type Demon Beasts. They excelled at riding the wind, and stirring up storms was their innate ability.

"Ah~"

"Help!"

"No!"

One bandit after another wailed. They discovered that they simply could not stop the six figures rushing toward them. The five wolves and the man riding the black leopard and slaughtering freely with his great blade had already become nightmares in their hearts.

"Damn it! Those aren’t ordinary beasts! They’re Demon Beasts!"

The Silver-Haired Elder’s knowledge far surpassed that of ordinary bandits. He immediately recognized the difference between Black Wind Leopard and Blood Shadow Wolves.

"Have everyone retreat! Use bows and arrows!"

He issued hurried orders in succession. "Have the experts hold them off. Use divine weapons to break through their defenses. Ordinary weapons are useless against Demon Beasts."

The Silver-Haired Elder seemed to have encountered Demon Beasts before, and his commands were orderly and precise.

Unfortunately, he had overlooked one problem. The Black Wind Leopard and Blood Shadow Wolves under Gu Sheng were no ordinary Demon Beasts. They could not be stopped by conventional methods.

"Go!"

Lai Wu shouted and led his subordinates’ experts forward, preparing to keep Gu Sheng here.

"Follow me!"

Huang Sa had no time to trouble Liu Sanlong anymore. He hurriedly arranged for the divine archers to deal with Gu Sheng and the six Demon Beasts.

"Die!"

As Gu Sheng slaughtered his way in all directions, he felt a fierce gust of wind strike him. Looking up, he saw a ferocious, bald man descending from midair, bringing an axe down in a vertical chop. This man was quite strong, likely close to the level of a first-rate expert.

Clang~"

Gu Sheng swung his blade upward. When blade and axe collided, the mountain-splitting axe, weighing over a hundred pounds and carrying more than five thousand pounds of force, exploded into pieces. The flying axe fragments turned several surrounding bandits into sieves.

"Bang~"

The bald man was sent flying. After crashing into several people, his entire body split apart, splattering over half the battlefield. Even the air was filled with a small shower of blood.

"Devil! He’s a devil!"

"He isn’t human!"

"Help!"

"Mom!"

The bandits completely broke down when they saw this scene. They dropped their weapons and fled into the distance, but before they had gone far, Huang Sa arrived and slaughtered them all.

"Lai Wu is dead!"

Huang Sa stopped a dozen or so yards from Gu Sheng. His subordinates temporarily held back the Blood Shadow Wolves, while he brought three experts to surround Gu Sheng.

"Do you know? I’ve known him since we were children. We had a wonderful relationship and worked together seamlessly to trick countless people. He was my closest brother!"

Huang Sa raised the spear in his hand toward Gu Sheng. "You killed him. It was as if you killed a part of me. Now, I’m going to use this Bloodspring Spear to kill you, then kill everyone below. None of you will—"

Before Huang Sa could finish, Gu Sheng, already impatient, slapped Black Wind Leopard beneath him. The leopard understood him perfectly, leaped over the obstructing subordinates on all fours, and arrived directly in front of the incessantly chattering man.

Clang~"

Gu Sheng brought his blade down. The so-called Bloodspring Spear was reduced to half a shaft in Huang Sa’s hand, and one of his palms vanished along with it.

"Ah~"

Huang Sa collapsed to the ground and belatedly clutched his severed left arm, howling.

"Heh! Don’t you know that villains die because they talk too much?"

Gu Sheng’s left hand brushed over the gaping crack in Jade Chill Blade. With his anger boiling over, he turned his hand and killed the howling Huang Sa with a single stroke.

"Damn it!"

Gu Sheng looked at Jade Chill Blade, a crack now running across its body, and anger filled his eyes. Jade Chill Blade had accompanied him for so long that it had become comfortable to use. It had also been forged at his own estate, so he had always treasured it. He had never expected this to happen.

It had to be said that Bloodspring Spear was no weak weapon. It was also a divine weapon, more than adequate even for an Innate expert. Unfortunately, it had run into a freak like Gu Sheng, who had yet to reach the Innate realm but already possessed over a hundred thousand pounds of physical strength.

When the two weapons collided with their full power, Bloodspring Spear had been cut apart by Jade Chill Blade, despite the latter’s inferior quality and craftsmanship.

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~"

Arrow after arrow came whistling through the air toward Gu Sheng. He instinctively raised Jade Chill Blade horizontally to block them.

Although his attainments in Internal Fist had increased greatly and he had neared the Grandmaster realm, he was still made of mortal flesh. Taking arrows fired from powerful bows and crossbows head-on would still injure him. The wounds might not affect his movements, but they still hurt, all right?

Clang~ Clang~ Clang~ Clang~"

Gu Sheng swung his blade in an arc, forming a circle of blades in midair to shield himself. After a series of metallic clashes, the ground around him was covered with arrows embedded in the earth.

There were also plenty of arrows around Black Wind Leopard and the Blood Shadow Wolves, with several tangled in the fur of two Blood Shadow Wolves. As expected, ordinary bows and arrows were completely useless against Demon Beasts of this level.

Crack, crack~"

Gu Sheng shook the blade and prepared to continue, but he suddenly felt that something was wrong with the weapon in his hand. When he lifted it for a look, he saw the cracks in the blade widening continuously, accompanied by a series of cracking sounds.

Crack~"

With a soft snap, half of Jade Chill Blade broke off before Gu Sheng’s eyes and fell toward the ground.

Clang~"

The sound was not especially loud, but to Gu Sheng’s ears it was like the tolling of a great bell. It jolted him awake—and filled him with overwhelming fury.

"Very good! You’ve successfully stirred up some of my anger!"

Gu Sheng looked up at the Silver-Haired Elder directing his subordinates atop Iron Cloud Ridge, then at Liu Sanlong beside him, who sat restlessly. Killing intent burst from Gu Sheng. He would have revenge. For Jade Chill Blade, which had accompanied him for so many days, he would kill a group of scum and offer them as a blood sacrifice.