Unfettered

Roars of rage, screams of agony, and beastly howls mingled together.

They played a blood-soaked symphony through the rainy night.

Tie Wuqing glanced back at Ye Xiaofan. Qi and Blood Armor emerged around him like rising wolf smoke as he charged straight at the golden tiger.

The golden tiger's lips curled into a savage grin.

"Go. You two keep that old man company. Leave this woman to me—I can smell how delicious her flesh and blood are."

The two demons behind the golden tiger grinned viciously and rushed toward Bai Tianhei.

Though Bai Tianhei was somewhat old, he was still a ninth-level Body Tempering cultivator.

Devouring his flesh and blood would provide no small boost to their strength.

The golden tiger licked his lips and pounced at Tie Wuqing like a starving tiger hunting prey.

The clash between man and demon was earth-shaking. Booms rang out in succession as dust billowed and grass and trees flew everywhere.

The nearby demons and humans were so frightened that they abandoned their fighting and fled.

Those demons and humans who were a step too slow to escape were struck by the residual force of the battle. At best, their bones broke and tendons snapped; at worst, they were blasted into scattered chunks.

Tie Wuqing frowned slightly. It did not matter if demons died, but the humans on their side still had to be protected as much as possible.

Thus, Tie Wuqing drew the golden tiger away, gradually distancing them from the chaotic battlefield.

Elsewhere,

Two ninth-level Body Tempering demons appeared before Bai Tianhei with vicious grins.

Damn it!

Seeing this, Bai Tianhei immediately started cursing.

Already injured and no longer at his peak, he struggled even against one demon. Two of them were practically demanding his old life.

The two demons did not care about any of that. The moment they met him, they attacked with all their strength.

Terrifying energy waves kicked up dust that filled the sky. The moment they clashed, Bai Tianhei was suppressed.

Danger lurked at every turn. Relying on his movement technique, he barely managed to preserve his life against the two demons.

Ye Xiaofan looked toward Bai Tianhei and Tie Wuqing.

Blood already hung from Bai Tianhei's lips, and he was surrounded by peril.

Tie Wuqing, meanwhile, was locked in an inseparable battle with the golden tiger. Man and demon had both begun fighting with true fury.

Scarlet qi and blood intertwined with jet-black qi and blood, obscuring the figures of the man and demon from ordinary cultivators.

Looking around,

Some demons had been slain, but across most of the battlefield, humans were dying miserably and becoming food in the demons' mouths.

Suddenly,

Ye Xiaofan's expression changed, and two beams of killing intent shot from his eyes.

Uncle Luo was in danger!

With one step, he crossed six zhang and charged into the demons.

Ye Xiaofan flashed before an Iron Hand Gang member who was about to die beneath a demon's jaws.

Sword Drawing Technique—when the sword left its sheath, blood must be seen!

With a ringing sword cry, a savage wolf head flew high into the air.

"Thank—"

Zhang San had just begun to thank him when Ye Xiaofan's figure had already vanished.

At that moment,

Uncle Luo was sent flying by a sixth-level Body Tempering boar demon. Its icy tusks left a bone-deep wound across his chest.

Drooling, the boar demon charged at Uncle Luo.

Uncle Luo's life hung by a thread.

A clear, melodious sword cry rang out, like a summons from hell.

The Sword Drawing Technique struck again.

It was as though a crack had been torn through the black curtain.

The same sword, the same result.

The sixth-level Body Tempering boar demon stared in confusion as its sturdy body ran several more steps before crashing to the ground. Then its consciousness sank into darkness.

"Xiaofan!"

Uncle Luo came to his senses and cried out in delight.

"Uncle Luo, are you alright?"

"Cough, cough. It's nothing. Don't worry about me."

Uncle Luo was delighted to see Ye Xiaofan. He pulled a small porcelain bottle from his robes, removed the stopper, and sprinkled gray powder over his wound.

The bleeding stopped at a visible rate.

"Alright. Uncle Luo, be careful."

Ye Xiaofan nodded and departed like a gust of wind.

Since he had already made his move, he might as well kill to his heart's content.

This time, Ye Xiaofan held nothing back and unleashed all of his strength.

Riding the wind with every step, three feet of icy light bloomed into blood flowers more enchanting than any other.

Ye Xiaofan moved through every corner of the battlefield, and one powerful demon after another fell beneath his sword.

"Wonderful! Hahaha!"

Ye Xiaofan laughed wildly as he lopped off a monkey demon's head. He no longer knew how many demons he had killed. His clothes had already been dyed black with demon blood.

Everything from before had long been thrown to the back of his mind. At this moment, he only wanted to revel in the thrill brought by slaughter.

This feeling of being unfettered and able to strike as he pleased captivated him.

Back when the lingering poison in his body had been suppressed, he had to think things over again and again before every fight, timid and hesitant.

Now,

Nothing could bind him any longer.

He had no more concerns.

He, Ye Xiaofan, had truly been reborn.

The emotions he had suppressed for so long were completely released at this moment.

As Ye Xiaofan moved through the battlefield and continuously slaughtered demons, the tide of battle quietly began to change.

The human side, which had been suppressed all along, gradually began to gain the upper hand.

Everyone was shocked by Ye Xiaofan's strength. Their morale surged at once, and their strength seemed to rise severalfold.

How could the demons' high-level fighters endure watching their underlings be slaughtered by Ye Xiaofan?

Several seventh-level Body Tempering demons exchanged glances and immediately prepared to send one of them to capture Ye Xiaofan.

His Highness the Crown Prince had specifically ordered that Ye Xiaofan be taken alive. They could not kill him, but they could still injure him until he lost the strength to fight.

The battlefield's situation had quietly reversed with Ye Xiaofan's arrival.

How could the Banner Commanders battling the high-level demons allow them to deal with Ye Xiaofan?

Each of them risked life and limb to hold back their own opponent.

The demons' pressure increased sharply, leaving them with no choice but to give up for the moment.

However, the human side's experts were inferior to the demons in combat strength.

A seventh-level Body Tempering fox demon killed a Banner Commander.

She casually dug out his still-beating heart, swallowed it, then flashed toward Ye Xiaofan.

The high-level human fighters' eyes nearly split with rage when they saw this and wanted to stop her, but the demons sneered and easily held them back.

The Crown Prince was currently tied up by the humans and could not free his hands. If she captured Ye Xiaofan, perhaps she would receive a reward from the Crown Prince.

At the thought of the reward, the fox demon's eyes narrowed into slits.

Even the human heart she was chewing no longer tasted sweet.

After cutting down a sixth-level Body Tempering demon with one strike, Ye Xiaofan sensed something and turned his head. A scarlet figure was charging toward him.

A seventh-level Body Tempering demon.

Ye Xiaofan sneered and turned to leave.

If this fox wanted to attack him, she would first have to see whether she could catch him.

One chased while the other fled, and demons fell one after another beneath Ye Xiaofan's sword.

"Ye Xiaofan, stop right there!"

The fox demon was so furious that smoke nearly rose from all seven orifices. She even copied Ye Xiaofan and slaughtered humans, yet Ye Xiaofan did not so much as look back at her.

Ye Xiaofan sneered. So what if she was seventh-level Body Tempering?

Before his perfected Wind God Steps, she could only follow behind him and eat dust.

"Eh, Sun Zhixiang!"

He had nearly forgotten Sun Zhixiang, who was on his kill-on-sight list.

Ye Xiaofan glanced back at the fox demon, the corners of his mouth lifting.

Hadn't an opportunity just arrived?

At that moment,

Sun Zhixiang, a fifth-level Body Tempering cultivator, was "struggling" in an inseparable battle against a second-level Body Tempering boar demon.

Suddenly,

Sun Zhixiang's heart trembled, and a chill spread through his entire body.

Confused, Sun Zhixiang swept his gaze around. Everything was normal. The surrounding demons were all below the third level of Body Tempering and posed no threat to him.

The next moment, Sun Zhixiang's gaze sharpened.

He happened to see Ye Xiaofan leading a scarlet figure straight toward him.

"Damn it!"

Without another thought, Sun Zhixiang hacked the demon to death with one slash, turned, and fled.

But how could his speed compare to Ye Xiaofan's and the fox demon's?

In just a few breaths, Ye Xiaofan drew level with Sun Zhixiang.

"Banner Commander Sun, it's been a while. You still haven't answered me—what exactly are rules?"

"Brother, I'll call you brother. Stop following me."

Sun Zhixiang looked back once, and his soul nearly fled his body. He spoke in a tearful voice.

"Fine. Since Banner Commander Sun doesn't want to see me, I'll leave."

Ye Xiaofan shrugged, then suddenly accelerated. With one step, he seemed to ride the wind, instantly opening a distance of six zhang from Sun Zhixiang.

Watching Ye Xiaofan leave, Sun Zhixiang let out a breath of relief.

"Get out of the way!"

Suddenly, a sharp voice exploded behind him. Sun Zhixiang immediately felt pain throughout his body, while his head became strangely light, as if it had flown up.

Sun Zhixiang looked down and saw a scarlet fox passing beneath him.

"Ye Xiaofan, I'll fuck your—"

Before he could finish cursing, Sun Zhixiang's consciousness sank into endless darkness.