Knowing he could not hide his skill, Wu Tao's clothes billowed as he swung his right arm, his Chuxi sword slashing repeatedly.
One after another, sky-piercing sword energies, ten feet long, radiated an biting cold.
In the confined space, sword light danced, and splashes of blood flew.
With successive "bangs" and sharp cries, dozens of Bloodwing Bat Beasts were swiftly reaped by the man and his sword.
This was not the end. Wu Tao's hand moved, his sword fell, and he plunged directly into the Bloodwing Bat Beast horde, his sword energy doubling in intensity, his sword light sweeping across, the cold gleam flashing.
The onlookers were dazzled, but their hands did not cease. They unleashed all their varied techniques.
Screams from the Bloodwing Bat Beast horde echoed endlessly, a shower of blood rained down, and in moments, the ground was covered by hundreds of corpses of Winged Dragon Beasts.
However, the Bloodwing Bat Beasts were simply too numerous. Wu Tao, fighting alone, plunging into their midst, now found his fists no match for their claws.
Under the cover of its companions, a Bloodwing Bat Beast broke through Wu Tao's protective sword energy and lunged at him.
A fierce wind whipped, carrying a foul stench. By the time the others wanted to come to his aid, it was too late. Wu Tao, at this moment, had no time to spare to deal with this beast.
At this critical juncture, a glittering golden thread shot out from Ye Hong's left hand. This golden thread was peculiar, appearing to be no thicker than three or four strands of hair.
Yet, it remained unmoving in the gale, piercing the air and flying straight ahead, firmly entangling the Bloodwing Bat Beast.
The beast struggled violently, but the more it thrashed, the tighter the golden thread contracted, until the creature was literally sliced and torn into countless bloody fragments.
Seeing the Bloodwing Bat Beasts dwindling, the group's spirits soared, their momentum unstoppable. Within the next half hour, they had slaughtered the remaining horde.
After dispatching the Bloodwing Bat Beasts in the sky, the group then turned their attention to the Raging Bull Blood Beasts on the ground.
By this time, the Raging Bull Blood Beast horde on the ground had drawn near. The thunder of hooves shook the heavens, and the roars and howls surged like crashing waves, a noisy yet orderly tide.
Dust billowed, and the Raging Bull Blood Beast horde advanced like a surging tide, their charge fearsome.
Meanwhile, the shadowy mastermind controlling these beasts, the Blood Clan member Xue Ahan, clad in an invisibility treasure robe, stood against the wind atop a hundred-zhang-high hill.
From this vantage point, the view was unimpeded, an ideal command post for directing the blood beast assault.
Unlike humans, Blood Clan members lacked the ability of divine sense projection. However, their eyesight was hundreds of times superior to that of ordinary people, allowing them to clearly observe everything within a hundred miles.
At the early stage of Count, equivalent to the early stage of Nascent Soul in the human realm, Xue Ahan laughed triumphantly as he watched the Raging Bull Blood Beast horde attack Lü Yuehua and Wu Tao's group.
"You human scum, what other tricks do you think you can pull?"
"Heh heh, no matter what desperate struggle you engage in this time, it will be in vain. I have included a Count-level blood beast in this horde."
"Even if it can't finish you off completely, it can stall you until Xue Changa and the others have transported all the blood slaves captured this time back to the clan."
However, Xue Ahan was unaware that Yu Mo had discovered him and informed Lü Yuehua.
The eleven members of the group huddled together, whispering a few words amongst themselves. Then, Lü Yuehua vanished from her spot.
The charging Raging Bull Blood Beast horde, carrying a stench of decay, threatened to engulf them like a tidal wave.
Wu Tao gripped his Chuxi sword, feeling his blood boil and rush to his head.
As the team's vanguard, Wu Tao let out a long cry, holding the Chuxi sword like the arrowhead of an arrow, leading the charge.
He shouted to the group, "I'll charge ahead and break through them. The rest is up to you all!"
Without waiting for a reply, Wu Tao swung the Chuxi sword in a furious dance.
The Raging Bull Blood Beasts before him were successively cut into several pieces by his sword energy.
The others, positioned around the periphery, killed the Raging Bull Blood Beasts.
Dust churned, and countless Raging Bull Blood Beasts charged forward relentlessly. Wu Tao fought with broad, sweeping strokes, constantly slashing, a tiger among sheep, slaughtering with abandon.
Caught up in the frenzy of killing, Wu Tao paid no mind to anything else. His clothes were stained a bloody red, flesh and blood flew, and he trampled countless chunks of meat underfoot without a care.
Limbs and remains littered the ground, severed heads rolled, and the earth flowed with blood, seeking lower ground to form a river of gore.
After half an hour, more than half of the Raging Bull Blood Beasts, approximately a thousand of them, had been slain by Wu Tao.
Ye Hong, Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Ma Fan, Cong Shujie, Shi Zhenxiang, Zuo Zong, Li Zhang, and Zhang Dong, the nine behind Wu Tao, were shocked.
Good heavens, this man was truly a god of slaughter!
Seeing Wu Tao, who showed no signs of fatigue after killing so many Raging Bull Blood Beasts and whose attacks grew ever more fierce, their initial doubts and jealousy slowly vanished, replaced entirely by awe.
…
Splattered blood, mangled corpses, grotesque heads – a bloody prelude, initiated by Wu Tao.
Wu Tao's gaze grew colder, chillingly so, with not a ripple in his heart, his mind as calm as still water.
Sword energy coiled around the blade of the Chuxi sword. With a single slash, several Raging Bull Blood Beasts were cut in half.
Taking a deep breath, Wu Tao scanned his surroundings. Thousands of corpses already lay on the ground.
Even with constant consumption of spirit pills to replenish his inner spiritual energy, this high-frequency combat made recovery impossible…
In just an hour, more than half of his spiritual energy was depleted.
Wu Tao turned to face Ye Hong, Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Ma Fan, Cong Shujie, Shi Zhenxiang, Zuo Zong, Li Zhang, and Zhang Dong, the nine others.
…
Seeing Wu Tao, now a human-shaped blood stain, several of the nine turned ashen with fear. Cong Shujie and Shi Zhenxiang, the middle-aged couple, involuntarily took several steps back.
Wu Tao smiled wryly at their reaction.
It had been a while since he had been so engrossed in killing that he forgot to rein himself in.
He then spoke to Ye Hong, Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Ma Fan, Cong Shujie, Shi Zhenxiang, Zuo Zong, Li Zhang, and Zhang Dong, the nine others.
He said he wanted to rest for a while and asked one of them to take his place.
After exchanging glances, Ma Fan stepped forward, voluntarily taking on the task.
Ma Fan produced the Remnant Treasure Mad Battle Axe. His muscular body moved suddenly, the axe cleaving through the air in an arc of light, continuing the frontline assault.
…
An incense stick's time later, Zuo Zong, wielding the top-tier magical artifact Sun-Dyeing Spear, replaced Ma Fan at the forefront.
In the time that followed, except for Wu Tao who was recovering his spiritual energy, the nine took turns rotating shifts, fighting in succession.
When it was Zhang Dong's turn, holding a pair of top-tier magical artifact Scylla Axes, after killing a few Raging Bull Blood Beasts, he let out a triumphant laugh and cursed, "Is this all these blood beasts are capable of? Utterly pathetic!"
…
Before his words had even finished, a colossal, Count-level blood beast with the Qiongqi bloodline suddenly burst from the Raging Bull Blood Beast horde.
This Count-level blood beast with the Qiongqi bloodline roared and lunged at Zhang Dong.
…
The Count-level blood beast with the Qiongqi bloodline was blood-red all over. When its two pairs of giant wings unfurled, they spanned a hundred zhang.
Its ferocious eyes, black pupils, and gaping fangs. The moment it appeared, it swallowed Zhang Dong whole.
…
Seeing this, Ye Hong's cherry lips parted, and she cried out in disbelief, "A Count-level blood beast! Damnation, how is this possible?"
Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Ma Fan, Cong Shujie, Shi Zhenxiang, Zuo Zong, and Li Zhang, the other seven, fared no better. Their faces all turned ashen.
"What's all the panic? I'll take the main attack, and you all provide support!"
Wu Tao, having recovered more than half of his spiritual energy and now a fresh force, let out a furious slash with his Chuxi sword, a sharp sword energy cleaving towards the Count-level blood beast with the Qiongqi bloodline.
The Count-level blood beast with the Qiongqi bloodline roared, flapped its wings, and brought its massive feet down, striking the body of the Chuxi sword with tremendous force.
With a "boom," Wu Tao's arm went numb, and his Chuxi sword nearly flew from his grasp!
Wu Tao shouted loudly, cursing, "Damned beast, take another strike!"
He spun, a chilling sword light descending in a furious cascade. Wu Tao began to attack with all his might.
Ye Hong, Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Ma Fan, Cong Shujie, Shi Zhenxiang, Zuo Zong, and Li Zhang, the eight others, also unleashed their respective techniques to aid in distracting the Count-level blood beast with the Qiongqi bloodline.
The Count-level blood beast with the Qiongqi bloodline roared repeatedly, its four limbs moving in unison, its long tail sweeping. It fought fiercely and evenly with Wu Tao, Ye Hong, Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Ma Fan, Cong Shujie, Shi Zhenxiang, Zuo Zong, and Li Zhang, the nine of them.
…
Xue Ahan watched, seeing them fight with such gusto, and felt a surge of triumph, letting out a hearty laugh.
However, after a moment of laughter, he sensed something was amiss. He couldn't help but exclaim "Yi,". There were originally eleven people, one died, so there should be ten remaining, but why were there only nine now?
"Not good, could I have been discovered?"
The moment this thought crossed Xue Ahan's mind, he immediately got up, intending to leave and relocate his position to conceal himself.