Slaughter

As Ling Yun's words fell, the atmosphere at the scene suddenly froze.

Ghost Butcher licked his lips and slowly drew a Bone Carving Knife from behind his back, staring coldly at Ling Yun.

"Kid, could you repeat what you just said? I didn't quite catch it."

Seeing this, Miao Yin immediately said with some displeasure.

"Hey! I still have use for this kid. Don't you dare kill him!"

Blood Butcher crossed his arms over his chest, a bloodthirsty smile curling at the corner of his lips.

"Hall Master Miao Yin need not worry. My third brother knows his limits."

Ghost Butcher slowly walked up to Ling Yun and let out a "heh heh" sneer.

"Kid, don't worry. I won't take your life. It's just that your eyes are really starting to annoy me."

As he spoke, he slowly raised the knife in his hand, his tone chilling.

"Don't move around. Rest assured, my knife is very..."

"Fast..."

Yet before the final word could leave his mouth, a flash of light streaked before his eyes.

The next moment, Ghost Butcher felt his vision suddenly spin wildly. Everything around him seemed to have turned upside down.

He saw the shocked and furious eyes of his eldest and second brothers behind him.

He saw a headless corpse spraying blood.

That was... his own corpse!

Only then did he seem to understand what had happened.

He opened his mouth, wanting to roar in fury, but he could not even part his lips.

As he recalled everything that had just happened, one final thought flashed through his mind. What a fast blade...

His wide-eyed head fell to the ground. After rolling a few times, it came to a stop right at Blood Butcher and the others' feet.

"Third Brother!"

Blood Butcher and Human Butcher's eyes turned crimson. Everything had happened too quickly; they had not had time to save him at all.

"You little beast, even if I skin you and pull out your bones, it still won't ease my—"

Pfft!

Before he could finish, Ling Yun's figure had already crossed several meters in an instant, passing by Human Butcher.

"How... is this possible..."

Human Butcher clutched his neck, terror written across his face. After staggering a few steps toward his eldest brother, his hands finally fell limply to his sides, and his head slowly slid from his neck.

"Damn it!!"

Seeing two of his brothers cut down in succession, Blood Butcher's eyes nearly split apart. With a furious roar, he unleashed all his blood energy, flashed forward—and bolted toward the rear!

The Butcher Brothers were one body in three parts; none could be missing.

Now that Human Butcher and Ghost Butcher were dead, he was like a tiger stripped of its claws and fangs, his ferocious might already gone.

Xu Hu and the others also retreated rapidly, staring at Ling Yun from afar with fear on their faces.

It sounded like a long sequence of events, but it had all happened in the blink of an eye.

They had thought a pack of wolves had surrounded a little lamb, but who could have imagined that beneath the sheep's skin lurked a savage tiger!

"What the hell is going on with this guy?!"

Xu Hu and the others' hearts pounded in terror. They simply could not understand what was happening before their eyes.

Although the Human Butcher and Ghost Butcher brothers were slightly weaker than them, they were still genuine Spirit Conduit Realm martial artists. Yet now, they had been slaughtered like pigs and dogs.

"Hall Master Xu, that kid's techniques seem to carry a bit of your Tiger Blade Technique's flavor," Tie Mu said gravely.

Xu Hu's expression was solemn. He nodded first, then shook his head.

"It does look similar, but that isn't the Tiger Blade Technique. It feels like something else has been mixed into it."

"You people still have the mood to worry about that?! You should first think about how to deal with him!" Miao Yin's face had turned slightly pale, and none of her earlier seductive charm remained.

At that moment, Ku Xue looked at the long blade in Ling Yun's hand, and his eyes flickered. Suddenly, he felt that he understood everything.

"I get it. The reason that kid is so strong is because of that spirit artifact!"

"As long as we don't fight him head-on and drag things out until his blood energy is exhausted, that'll be enough!"

As he spoke, a trace of greed flashed through his eyes.

It could display such power even in that guy's hands. If he were the one wielding it, then throughout all of Cloud City, he would have nothing to fear!

Thinking of this, he even secretly regretted why he had shared this discovery.

"Because of a spirit artifact?"

Xu Hu and the others also came back to their senses. Their eyes narrowed. Though they felt something was off, there seemed to be no other explanation at present.

After all, judging by the kid's appearance, he was at most a little over twenty. Even if he had started cultivating from his mother's womb, he could not possibly be this monstrous!

At this moment, Blood Butcher was radiating killing intent from head to toe, his blood-red eyes fixed on Ling Yun.

He swore that once this kid's blood energy was exhausted, he would torture him to death without mercy!

Just then, Ling Yun suddenly lifted his foot and slowly walked toward them.

The few people who had been watching his every move were so frightened that they retreated several steps, not showing the slightest trace of the pride they had once possessed as Spirit Conduit Realm martial artists.

The roles of hunter and prey seemed to have completely reversed at that moment.

Ling Yun could not help shaking his head slightly. "Since you won't come over, I'll go to you."

His figure swayed, and in the next instant, he had already appeared in front of Blood Butcher!

At the spot where he had been standing, an afterimage still holding a walking posture only then slowly faded away.

Looking at Ling Yun, who was now within arm's reach, Blood Butcher's pupils instantly contracted. An intense sense of mortal danger nearly drowned him completely.

"Damn it!!"

Blood Butcher roared. The muscles in his arm instantly swelled by a full circle, and the massive axe in his hand let out a sharp howl as it viciously chopped toward Ling Yun's neck.

Facing that earth-shaking strike, Ling Yun's gaze remained indifferent as he slowly extended one finger and tapped it forward.

"Arrogant!"

Blood Butcher laughed in extreme fury, and the force in his hand surged several degrees higher.

Clang!

Amid a thunderous metallic roar, the ground beneath Ling Yun's feet instantly shattered. Countless spiderweb-like cracks spread outward from him in every direction.

Yet when the dust settled, the smile on Blood Butcher's face froze completely.

Ling Yun was still standing where he was, utterly motionless. One finger lightly pressed against the edge of Blood Butcher's axe blade, without even breaking the skin!

"That's impossible!" Xu Hu and the others beside him were also dumbstruck. They had initially thought that strike would kill him, and the feet they had been about to use to rush forward and snatch the spirit artifact slowly came to a halt.

Compared to them, Blood Butcher was the one whose heart had truly collapsed.

No matter how much force he used, that single finger was like a towering mountain, impossible to shake in the slightest.

"Since you've finished attacking, it's my turn now."

Before Blood Butcher could react, a streak of Bloodlight flashed through Ling Yun's eyes. With nothing more than a flick of his finger, the entire axe blade exploded.

Countless fragments shot in all directions like bullets. Blood Butcher could not dodge in time, and dozens of bloody blossoms immediately burst across his body.

Yet he had no mind to care about any of that. Ling Yun clenched his fingers into a fist, without any fancy tricks, and simply threw it toward his face.

I'm going to die!

Faced with this calm, unhurried punch that seemed to carry no threat whatsoever, such a thought suddenly surfaced in Blood Butcher's mind.

As the fist's shadow gradually enlarged in his pupils.

He wanted to run, but his feet would not move.

He wanted to defend himself, but he could not lift his hands.

His entire body felt as though it bore a thousand-pound burden. No matter how madly he roared inside, he could not move even an inch.

To outsiders, he looked as if he had lost his soul, standing there blankly without moving.

Pfft!

With a muffled sound, Blood Butcher's head exploded like a watermelon bursting apart. Red and white matter splattered everywhere, and the bloody scene was beyond description.