Chapter 287: Chapter 273: Slaughter 1
A crimson meteor streaked across the sky, tearing through the dense fog and constantly releasing pulsating red shockwaves.
Space itself was trembling, tearing apart.
Before it even arrived, while still more than ten kilometers away, the ground began to tremble faintly. Dust floated into the air, and pebbles rolled across the ground.
A tangible pressure silently descended upon every living creature within a radius of several kilometers.
This wasn’t pressure on one’s Heart and Spirit.
It was a real, physical pressure.
"A big shot from... Purgatory is here!"
The other two Super Adaptables, who had already fled some distance, whipped their heads around to look back. Their pace slowed unconsciously as they thought of their captain, who was still behind them.
’It’s just death, isn’t it? If the captain can fight to the death, why can’t I!?’
The Lizardman snapped her head around, the spikes on her body trembling violently—a sign of her body’s instinctual fear.
"How many... how many times has the captain saved my life!?" she stammered, her hands trembling. "This time... if it comes to it, I’ll pay her back with my own!"
All at once, she took a step, spun around, and charged in Han Xiaoyue’s direction.
The other woman was left standing in place.
’Idiot...!’ The woman trembled. ’I’m not fucking stupid like you! I’m not going back there to die!’
BOOM!
She shot off, fleeing into the distance.
But a second later, she came flying back at an even greater speed, heading straight for Han Xiaoyue.
"I remember now! You two still owe me fifty Feather Blood!"
Wiping away tears, she moved faster and faster.
"You haven’t paid me back! Don’t either of you even think about dying!"
*
*
*
’That’s... Father!?’
Princess Lanxi, who was currently hiding among the group with Master Yunxia and Huang Shan, suddenly looked up into the distance.
The terrifying pressure, as immense as a natural disaster, could be clearly felt even from tens of kilometers away.
It was the unique, supreme oppressive aura that belonged only to her father, a Grand Duke of Purgatory.
’Has some important figure arrived?’ A flicker of interest passed through Lanxi’s mind.
She glanced at the fleeing group before her and hesitated for a moment. In the end, she decided not to act, saving them to play with when she returned.
Turning around, she transformed into a streak of red light and shot toward her father’s location.
’I have to see who could possibly force Father to act personally. Ever since I was born, I’ve never seen anyone strong enough to rival him. Even the Glacial Queen could only barely hold her own for a moment by relying on the Source Power of extreme cold.’
’In my mind, aside from the ethereal and mythical Chaos Emperor, Father is the strongest there is.’
After she departed, Master Yunxia secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Positioned at the very front of the group, she had naturally felt the pressure from the massive crimson meteor as well.
Turning her head, she gritted her teeth and stared at the meteor.
"Faster! Speed up! This is our best chance to get away!"
she yelled, her voice echoing in their minds.
The entire group responded, lowering their heads and speeding up.
But in the next moment, the meteor in mid-air unleashed an even larger red shockwave.
The shockwave expanded at a velocity approaching the speed of light, covering a radius of over a thousand kilometers in the blink of an eye.
Amidst a deep rumble, the ground began to smoke and heat up.
Dry trees burst into flame. Rocks turned a scorched yellow, then blackened. Streams and pools of blood evaporated, leaving the ground hard and cracked.
Every corpse began to burn, and one by one, they twisted and contorted as they rose from the ground.
On this land, the number of those who had died recently was well over ten thousand.
Now, these densely packed corpses began to reform amidst the flames, rising to their feet.
They burst from the earth, surrounding Master Yunxia and her people, who were just about to flee again.
A light rain drizzled from the sky, yet it did nothing to extinguish the flames blanketing the earth.
"What... is this!?" Huang Shan skidded to a halt, her expression grim as she stared at the army of flaming corpses blocking their path.
In the blink of an eye, the previously empty path ahead was now swarming with at least several thousand flaming corpses.
Some of the corpses even exuded a pressure on the Heart and Spirit that was stronger than hers.
"This is the special domain of a Purgatory Duke, as recorded in the legends!" Palace Master Jiang Zhixia’s voice echoed in their minds. As the liaison between the Rain Palace and Master Yunxia’s group, he quickly relayed the intelligence gathered by the other Rain Palace leaders.
"In the Purgatory hierarchy, a titled noble can devour those of a lower rank and then summon them again to fight as their servants. The higher their title, the stronger and more numerous the Purgatory servants they can create! What’s more, they’re immortal. The only way to break this is to defeat the Purgatory Duke in the Core Area!"
"Are you kidding me!?" Master Yunxia gritted her teeth. ’Defeat a Duke?’
’Not long ago, we joined forces and fought for an entire day just to surround and kill a single Baron, who was only as strong as a Vanguard. And that was only possible because my strength had surged after returning from the Clearwind Path.’
’Even then, in the midst of the slaughter, the three Blood Ancestors in our party had to self-detonate multiple times. Their bodies were contaminated by Purgatory, and our losses were devastating.’
’And now, we’re supposed to defeat a Purgatory Duke!?’
’Above a Baron is a Viscount, then an Earl, then a Marquis, and only then a Duke!?’
’What are we supposed to fight him with? Our heads?’
She looked ahead, then all around. Everywhere, burning corpses were continuously bursting from the earth.
Master Yunxia felt her Heart and Spirit sink.
She wasn’t the only one; many others in the group wore expressions of despair.
"If I’d known, I would’ve gone to Black Cloud with the last group..." someone muttered.
"If we destroy our bodies, can we avoid becoming monsters like them!?"
"What’s there to be scared of! If I’m going down, I’m taking a few of them with me!"
Some in the group gave up, while others prepared to fight to the death. Most, however, placed their hopes in Master Yunxia, their eyes fixed on the woman at the front.
After all, she was the strongest among them.
The air began to heat up rapidly, climbing from nearly forty degrees Celsius to fifty...
Some of the family members with weaker constitutions were already sweating profusely, showing signs of dehydration.
Fortunately, they realized the danger in time and got a cooling relic from Master Yunxia, which barely managed to stabilize the temperature within a hundred-meter radius.
"Looks like there’s no escape," Huang Shan said, drawing her longsword to shield her parents.
"Master Yunxia, you’re the strongest and the fastest here. There’s no need for you to be dragged down by us. Go now. You should still be able to escape."
"There’s no point in saying that now. Some things... you’ll never know if you can succeed unless you try..." Master Yunxia replied, drawing her own famous weapon—the Mingde Sword.
HSSSS!
Instantly, the vast hordes of burning corpses surrounding them began to charge, closing in.
The crackling of flames, the dull thud of bony feet on the earth, the whistle of weapons cutting through the air—it all blended into a sickening, chaotic din.
A hundred meters!
Ten meters!
One meter!
CRACK!
Master Yunxia was the first to charge, preparing to unleash her Gale Swordsmanship and channel her power.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed across the sky above.
Thunder rolled as dark clouds rapidly converged, forming a massive black vortex that blotted out the heavens.
From the distance, she faintly heard a familiar voice drift toward her.
"Wind."
Her eyes flew open. She was stunned to see that the horde of burning corpses ahead had been bound by an invisible force. Their movements slowed to a crawl, many times slower than before. Some were frozen in place entirely, unable to move a muscle, like statues.
"This is...!?"
At that moment, it wasn’t just her. Everyone from the Clearwind Path, along with the Tuyue People fleeing alongside them like Hong Ling and his sibling, all turned to look toward the source of the voice.
There, in the distant sky.
A colossal gray tornado, stretching from the earth to the heavens, howled as it spun with incredible speed.
In the very center of the massive tornado, a humanoid figure hovered, their eyes glowing with a brilliant blue light.
"Daoist Master...!?"
The title surfaced in everyone’s mind at almost the exact same time.
*
*
*
Black clouds roiled across the sky as fierce winds howled. Sand and stones were swept across the ground, and the world grew dark.
In mid-air.
Lin Hui and the crimson meteor stood facing each other.
One was surrounded by countless gray currents of air. The other was wreathed in scorching hot flames.
"I only came to take my people home. I mean you no harm," Lin Hui said, watching the being opposite him, deciding to attempt communication first.
"You killed so many of my subordinates and annihilated my vanguard, and now you tell me you mean no harm?" From within the crimson meteor, a tall, burly humanoid figure emerged, clad in black, filigreed armor and spewing streams of red flame. Hearing Lin Hui’s words, it couldn’t resist a sarcastic retort.
"There’s no need to be so serious. They were just a few insignificant ants. Is that really a reason to get angry?" Lin Hui chuckled.
"Ants!? Fine! Then how about I go step on your people? They’re all just ants, after all!" The Purgatory Duke laughed, infuriated. His five-meter-tall frame bent slightly as he glared down at Lin Hui.
"That’s different," Lin Hui smiled.
"How is it any different!?" the Purgatory Duke fumed.
"Because even if they’re ants, they’re *my* ants," Lin Hui said, raising his sword and gently running a hand along the blade.
"They’re mine, so you can’t touch them. And even if I were to say you could, I’d just be humoring you."
"Good! I like that arrogance!" the Purgatory Duke boomed with laughter. "You truly are the first to unlock Source Power!"
He clapped his massive hands together, sending a shower of sparks into the air.
"How about a wager? We fight. If I win, you serve me from now on. If you win, I’ll withdraw from this land and wait for my next chance!"
"Whether you withdraw or not has nothing to do with me," Lin Hui said. "If I win, I want you to..." He didn’t finish the sentence aloud, instead transmitting the rest of his words directly into the Duke’s mind.
The Purgatory Duke froze for a second, then burst out laughing again.
"Excellent! Excellent! I’m starting to like you, kid. With a temperament like that, you belong in my Purgatory!"
"So, who goes first?" Lin Hui angled his longsword downward and to the right. "Never mind. Since you’ve come all this way, it’s only proper that I, as the host, offer the first... welcome!"
The word "welcome" had barely left his lips when Lin Hui raised his longsword high.
CRACKLE! A bolt of lightning crashed down, merging with the blade of his sword.
A gale surged around the Ruyi, spinning furiously. In an instant, it extended and enlarged the blade, which shot up toward the sky, transforming into a colossal sword of pure energy that pierced the clouds!
The energy sword slashed down.
Despite its immense size, it vanished the moment it began its swing.
As if it had teleported, the colossal energy sword vanished from the Purgatory Duke’s line of sight.
The next instant, just as he began to raise his arm, a sharp pain shot through his shoulder.
SHLIIICK!
A massive gash opened up, stretching from his left shoulder all the way to his right hip.
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