At this moment, a stream of icy light suddenly appeared and struck Xue Ahan directly.
A biting chill spread out.
It turned out to be Lü Yuehua, who had already infiltrated near Xue Ahan. Seeing Xue Ahan trying to escape, she launched a sneak attack.
After being hit by this blow, Xue Ahan was inexplicably covered in frost, and the surrounding air plummeted to freezing point. Xue Ahan himself turned into a block of ice, more than ten feet in size.
In the frozen Xue Ahan's eyes, a hint of horror appeared, his gaze panicked and unfocused.
He already felt death. This feeling came so swiftly, so unbearably.
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
At the brink of life and death, Xue Ahan let out a frantic roar. Blood-red light erupted from his body, and a pair of blood-red bat wings grew on his back.
A dense, blood-red flame burned fiercely. This was Xue Ahan's innate divine ability, Blood Flame.
After melting the ice that had restrained him, Xue Ahan's blood-red bat wings spread rapidly. The bat wings, spanning about thirty meters, flapped heavily against the air.
"Vile human woman from the shadows, how dare you sneak attack your great Lord Xue Ahan! I will tear your throat with my teeth and taste your sweet blood!"
Xue Ahan looked at the white-clothed woman in front of him and smiled cruelly, revealing a row of neat, sharp teeth.
Anger surged in his chest and abdomen.
It transformed into a chilling, sharp killing intent.
"Oh, you're out so soon? It seems I underestimated you?"
Looking at Xue Ahan, who had a gaping maw and bat wings, Lü Yuehua's eyes showed a hint of surprise, and a playful look appeared on her face, like a cat toying with a mouse.
Wasn't he just a mere count from the blood race? She hadn't killed any before.
Without further ado, Lü Yuehua didn't even use her own Natal Magical Artifact. She directly unleashed another "Fourth-Grade Divine Ability—Ice Soul Immortal Light."
A river of ice surged and churned, harboring a terrifying power that could freeze everything.
This move was unleashed hastily, and its power was not at its peak, but it was enough to deal with Xue Ahan.
Facing such a terrifying divine ability, Xue Ahan's face turned pale. He could only brace himself, transforming a large amount of blood within his body into the blood race's "Fifth-Grade Divine Ability—Blood Waves Surging," and pouring it towards Lü Yuehua.
The blood-red light filled the sky, gathering into a liquid form, like an ocean, stirring up boundless bloody water and striking towards Lü Yuehua.
The divine abilities collided, and Lü Yuehua was completely victorious.
Xue Ahan fell heavily onto the grass. His wings were broken, and his limbs twitched. He was frozen and motionless.
Lü Yuehua flicked her finger, and fierce red flames began to burn continuously from Xue Ahan's body.
It wasn't until Xue Ahan was reduced to a pile of ashes that it disappeared.
On the other side.
After a period of fierce fighting, this count-level blood beast with Qiongqi bloodline gradually began to falter. With a roar, it turned and fled.
Ye Hong suddenly noticed a gaping wound on its chest and abdomen, covered in blood and flesh. He shouted joyfully, "Attack its wound with all your might! Don't let it escape!"
Upon hearing this, Wu Tao strode forward, seized the opportunity, and with a clang of his sword, his sword energy cut through the air, striking directly.
The sword energy transformed into a rainbow, and the sword light became a line.
Wu Tao's mastery of the sword was already refined to the extreme.
With a muffled "噗" sound, this count-level blood beast with Qiongqi bloodline let out a mournful cry. Its wound burst open, and a large amount of blood sprayed out.
Taking advantage of its weakness, Wu Tao held the Chuxi Sword in both hands and unleashed a hundred-zhang sword energy without any fancy moves. It struck this count-level blood beast with Qiongqi bloodline, and with almost no suspense, it was eliminated in one blow.
And so, apart from the deceased Zhang Dong, Lü Yuehua, Wu Tao, Ye Hong, Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Ma Fan, Cong Shujie, Shi Zhenxiang, Zuo Zong, and Li Zhang, ten people, reunited.
On their journey onward, the ten people proceeded cautiously, but they did not encounter any other blood race members blocking their way.
This made Lü Yuehua, Wu Tao, Ye Hong, Yu Mo, Yang Fan, Ma Fan, Cong Shujie, Shi Zhenxiang, Zuo Zong, and Li Zhang, all sigh with relief. However, the somber atmosphere that enveloped the team did not diminish in the slightest.
One day, the ten people flew for most of the day and began to feel a bit weary. After all, they had just gone through a fierce battle, and now they had to maintain a concentrated state of mind while observing their surroundings, which was a considerable drain on their mental energy.
At this moment, thick mist swirled across the sky, and streaks of golden light pierced through the fog.
Suddenly, myriad rays of light broke through the mist. The world instantly became bright. The clouds were plated in gold and red, and the morning glow danced, ever-changing.
A fireball rose slowly. The morning breeze was refreshing, and everyone felt a wave of relaxation, letting out long cries to the sky.
The grass reached their knees, flowers bloomed in profusion, stretching as far as the eye could see. The sky was as vast as the sea, with white clouds dancing ceaselessly, and butterflies fluttering by.
Cong Shujie and Shi Zhenxiang, a couple, exchanged glances and immediately accelerated their escape light, approaching Lü Yuehua.
The couple said respectfully, "Captain, the scenery here is beautiful. May we rest here for a while, and then continue to pursue the enemy?"
"Hmm, yes."
"But be careful. Check if there are any abnormalities around. Caution is paramount."
Glancing at her team members, all of whom were injured and bloody, Lü Yuehua, as captain, sighed softly. She did not refuse, but calmly gave a single instruction.
In fact, Lü Yuehua was an excellent captain.
Not only was her strength sufficient, but her character was also good, and she rarely gave orders. She also accepted most of the good suggestions from her team members.
"That is natural!"
After receiving the reply, Cong Shujie and Shi Zhenxiang smiled and nodded.
Then, Cong Shujie and Shi Zhenxiang each threw out more than ten formation flags, setting up a simple formation.
After completing all this, the ten of them finally sat down to meditate and rest with peace of mind.
Due to the mission, they would not stay here for long, so they each found a clean spot suitable for them and immediately sat cross-legged, hoping to quickly recover the spiritual energy depleted in the previous battle!
During this time, Wu Tao asked Yu Mo what that object, comparable to the sun in its ability to emit light and heat, was.
Yu Mo stared at Wu Tao with curiosity for a long time. Wu Tao became a little embarrassed before Yu Mo finally explained.
It turned out that although the underground world had no sun, it had a core comparable to the sun, which could emit light and heat.
The Earth's core illuminated more than sixty percent of the underground world, and this naturally included the Chuan Yue Plain...
This was also why so many mortals could live in the Chuan Yue Plain.
On the other side.
Morning mist swirled, and the bright morning light drizzled down through the thin clouds, casting a faint golden hue over the Chuan Yue Plain.
Hundreds of villages were scattered across this plain.
Tens of thousands of dilapidated thatched cottages were sparsely distributed in the plain, where hundreds of thousands of mortals lived.
Today was the Chuan Yue Plain's once-a-year Wind God Festival.
The strong wind blew the thick mist, which drifted with the wind, rising and falling in the sky with the movement of the core.
Finally, as the core's light reached its peak intensity, it disappeared into the dazzling radiance.
Hundreds of villages were centered around a slowly flowing river.
Living by the water was a primal instinct and a habit of humans.
The villagers from hundreds of villages, hundreds of thousands of people, built their homes around this great river.
Beside the river, apart from the houses, were freshly planted wheat seeds.
The tender green wheat sprouts, reflecting the light, exuded a simple and hopeful aroma.
This great river meandered and branched out, disappearing into the mountains and canyons.
Although this place was very dangerous, with the terrifying blood race coming to plunder every few decades, except for some underage children, everyone else was captured, the villagers still lived their lives as usual.
Because as the weak, they had no choice. Instead of constantly worrying and waiting for death, they preferred to live each day happily.
And the high-ranking officials of Tongguan City had their own difficulties in not arranging all the humans into the safe and sturdy Tongguan City.
The most significant reason was that Tongguan City could only accommodate a maximum of two hundred million people.
If this population limit were exceeded, Tongguan City would not be able to bear it.
Therefore, for the benefit of everyone in Tongguan City, the high-ranking officials of Tongguan City would drive out the surplus population every once in a while, leaving them to fend for themselves.
Although it was cruel, they had to do it for the sake of the entire human race.
On the blood race's side.
The leader of this blood race expedition was named Xue Zhahan.
Xue Zhahan's cultivation level was that of a Grand Count, equivalent to the late stage of Core Formation.
He had a string of unbelievable bloody legends and an extremely terrifying title: "Blood Fang Bat!"
Even among the cruel and ruthless blood race members who killed without batting an eye, Xue Zhahan was considered one of the most wicked. He was an unprecedented malevolent star who killed for pleasure, leaving a trail of blood wherever he went.
It was also he who sent out Xue Ahan and entrusted him with all the blood beasts to delay the human cultivator team that would inevitably arrive.
On the other side.
Xue Zhahan, accompanied by his dozens of Viscount subordinates, arrived at the human villagers' settlement in the hundreds of villages.
Xue Zhahan first glanced at the low thatched cottages not far away, then quietly ordered the dozens of Viscount-level blood race subordinates beside him, "Make sure to capture them alive as much as possible!"