Violent Sweep

Dozens of Yin Clan children simultaneously flashed out of the crowd.

Yin Xuege stood on the arena, looking down at these Yin Clan children. They were all old acquaintances—and all old acquaintances with whom he had a "blood-forged" relationship. Yin Xuejiao, Yin Xueao, Yin Xueku, Yin Xueyou, and the others: ever since Yin Xuege had gained awareness, either he had made them bleed and broken their bones, or they had joined forces to beat him until he bled and his bones broke.

At first, these direct descendants of the Yin Clan had done nothing but shout and curse at Yin Xuege, calling him things like "bastard" and "wretch." Later, Yin Xuege had risen up in retaliation. He still remembered that the first person he had beaten into howling tears had been Yin Xueyou—the son of Yin Jishuo, Master of the External Affairs Hall!

With one clean, heavy punch, Yin Xueyou had lost every last one of his teeth in a spray. From then on, Yin Xuege had forged a bitter feud with this group of direct descendants, who had powerful backers in the Yin Clan and countless lackeys and followers.

In the years that followed, whenever these direct descendants humiliated and bullied Blood Servants and Blood Slaves, wantonly taking their lives, Yin Xuege would leap out and get into a brawl with them. In any case, Yin Xuejiao and the others did not dare kill Yin Xuege, so he could make trouble for them without restraint! A few mouthfuls of blood and a few broken bones—what did that amount to for a Blood Demon?

They did not dare kill Yin Xuege, but every time, Yin Xuege went straight for their vitals. Gouging out eyes, crushing groins, biting through throat arteries—the various savage methods taught in the Children's Hall had all been used on them by Yin Xuege. Yin Xueao had once had his throat bitten through, losing more than two-thirds of the blood in his body. The resulting grievous injury had delayed his breakthrough to Star Warrior by several months!

"Just think, I actually offended so many people and still lived well. I really do have a charmed life!" Surrounded by blood-colored fireballs radiating scorching heat, three-inch-long blades of blood-light spraying from his ten fingers, Yin Xuege sneered and beckoned to Yin Xuejiao and the others.

"Come on. I want the Blood Spirit Sword! If you're not convinced, come up and fight! I've been indebted to all of you for taking such good care of me these past few years. Truly, thank you!" Yin Xuege's smile was cold, and his voice was colder still, as if it could spray out a sheet of ice shards at any moment.

With an angry roar, four Yin Clan children simultaneously leaped onto the arena.

Yin Xueku, the child whose ribs Yin Xuege had once broken halfway and whose kneecap he had brutally dug out, shook both hands. Blinding blood-light sprayed from all ten fingers as he lunged at Yin Xuege with the Blood Dripping Claw. Behind him, three other children also sprang up, dragging several afterimages behind them as they launched attacks with the Blood Skills they had each comprehended.

Yin Tianmie retreated with a cold smile, clutching the Blood Spirit Sword. Four children attacking Yin Xuege at once clearly violated the rules of the Martial Arts Grand Tournament. Yet whether it was Yin Tianmie or the other Yin Clan elders, none of them showed any intention of stopping it.

Sunwalker! A Sunwalker was said to possess the greatest potential and most monstrous talent in the entire Blood Demon Clan. If you wanted the Yin Clan to nurture you with all its resources and grant you supreme privileges, you had to prove that you were worth the family's investment!

If you could not even handle four children close to you in age, then at best you were merely an ordinary genius. Why would the family waste so much energy, manpower, and material resources on you? Every family elder was a noble and extraordinary figure. Why would they be interested in becoming the backer of an unremarkable, ordinary child?

"Come on, come on!" Yin Xuege's blood was already boiling. A faint blood mist gradually spread from his body, rapidly expanding in every direction until it covered the entire arena in the blink of an eye.

He had waited for this day for several years. Every time Yin Xuejiao and the others had surrounded him and beaten him to the ground, breaking his bones and sinews and making him spit blood, he had told himself countless times that once he possessed enough strength, he would thoroughly repay Yin Xuejiao and the others. He would knock every one of them to the ground and make them afraid to look him in the eye ever again!

As the blood mist spread, Yin Xuege's figure blurred, instantly pulling out dozens of indistinct afterimages. Almost simultaneously, he appeared before Yin Xueku and the other three children. He pressed his right hand against his opponent's chest. The blood-colored fireballs spinning rapidly around him roared into Yin Xueku and the others' chests, their incredible speed driving into their bodies and carrying them backward through the air.

Yin Xueku and the others were hurled dozens of meters away before the fireballs exploded violently.

Amid the muffled explosions, fierce blood-colored flames blanketed an area more than ten meters across. Yin Xueku and the others let out shrill screams. Their faintly blood-colored robes, which possessed a certain defensive power, were blasted into ash. Their skin split apart inch by inch, scorching and blackening, while great quantities of blood sprayed from beneath it. Their internal organs shook violently, and all four vomited huge mouthfuls of blood.

Four bloody bodies were flung high into the air. The tremendous explosive force threw them dozens of meters up before blasting them out of the arena. They crashed headfirst onto the ground and rolled repeatedly in a sorry heap. The blood flowing from their bodies stained a large stretch of earth crimson, and countless cries of alarm immediately rang out from the surrounding Yin Clan members.

Yin Xueku's father, Yin Jiyao—the Chief Grand Steward of the family's Internal Affairs Hall—was the first to rush from the crowd. He grabbed his grievously wounded son, whose charred body was continually exhaling wisps of black smoke, then sliced open his own wrist and dripped three drops of dark-green blood faintly mixed with silver into Yin Xueku's mouth.

For any Blood Demon, natal essence blood was incomparably important. Especially for a Blood Demon with an official noble title, every drop of natal essence blood was treasured beyond measure. They would never casually waste even a single drop.

If Yin Xueku had not been his only descendant, and if Yin Xueku's talent had not been quite excellent, Yin Jiyao truly would not have been willing to waste three precious drops of essence blood on him. With a trace of heartache, Yin Jiyao watched as his essence blood spread through Yin Xueku's body. Yin Xueku's skin rapidly regenerated and his wounds quickly healed, and only then did Yin Jiyao let out a heavy breath.

Three drops of a senior Viscount's essence blood not only rapidly restored all of Yin Xueku's injuries, but also greatly strengthened his power. Dozens of pale-cyan drops of Blood Demon Essence Blood condensed in his heart almost simultaneously. Yin Xueku rose to his feet practically the instant his injuries healed, and the aura he now emitted was several times stronger than before.

Raising his head venomously, Yin Xueku glared at Yin Xuege standing on the arena. He clenched his teeth and helplessly pointed at Yin Xuege with vicious emphasis. He had already been knocked off the arena. Even if his strength had now increased severalfold, he could no longer seek revenge on Yin Xuege.

"That only proves your incompetence, Yin Xueku!" Yin Xuege looked coldly at the opponent he had effortlessly crushed, then shook his head disdainfully. "If you're not convinced, I welcome your challenge anytime after the family tournament! For now, you'd better go put on some clothes. Everyone here is male; no one is going to envy that thing between your legs. Besides, it isn't exactly impressive!"

Yin Xueku suddenly lowered his head. Only then did he realize that his clothes had been reduced to ash in the explosion. Just as Yin Xuege had said, he was now standing naked in full view of everyone! Moreover, after absorbing the three drops of natal essence blood from his father, his vital energy was surging to its peak, and his lower body was standing proudly in a highly indecent manner!

He instinctively bent over and clutched his lower body tightly, almost crying from humiliation. After what had happened today, would he still have the face to meet anyone? Fortunately, Yin Jiyao was beside him. He hurriedly stripped off his outer robe, wrapped it around his son, and sullenly dragged him into the crowd.

The other three injured children were not as fortunate as Yin Xueku. Their fathers had more than one son, and their strength was nowhere near Yin Jiyao's. They were unwilling to expend their own natal essence blood to heal them.

Thus, they were merely fed two bottles of Essence Blood Potion, stuffed into three metal coffins, and had the hot, freshly drawn blood of Blood Slaves poured into the coffins. They were then left beside the square to recover on their own.

Fortunately, the Blood Demon Clan possessed astonishing vitality. The hearts of the three children had not been damaged, so although this method of healing would take longer, they would recover completely within half a month at most. They would merely suffer considerable pain, lose a great deal of vitality, and possibly experience a slight decline in strength.

"Who else would like to offer me some instruction?" Yin Xuege provocatively looked at Yin Xuejiao below. The person he most wanted to beat viciously was this bastard! As for Yin Xueao, who had also made trouble for Yin Xuege since childhood, he had not provoked Yin Xuege for more than half a year after Yin Xuege bit through his throat and major artery last time!

Yin Xuejiao alone had constantly sought trouble with Yin Xuege from the very beginning, creating endless problems for him. Especially this mission to investigate Great Berlin City-State—he had gone so far as to try to put Yin Xuege to death! Yin Xuege would absolutely not let him off easily. He had to make him suffer so badly that he wished he were dead!

"Yin Xuege, don't get too arrogant!" Yin Xuekui, the oldest child in the Children's Hall, roared with laughter as he leaped from below the arena. He vaulted dozens of meters into the air and brought both hands down, once again using the Blood Dripping Claw to strike at Yin Xuege's head. Low-level Blood Demon Star Warriors could comprehend only a few crude Blood Skills and Blood Arts, so Yin Xuekui likewise used the Blood Dripping Claw!

But compared with Yin Xueku, Yin Xuekui was nearly eighteen and already the size of an ordinary adult. In height, weight, and physical strength, by all rights he should have been several times stronger than the eleven-year-old Yin Xuege!

Yin Xuege merely looked up at Yin Xuekui. He reached back and seized one of the blood-colored fireballs spinning beside him. A drop of blood welled from his fingertip and swiftly merged into the fireball. It immediately became incredibly viscous, then twisted and transformed into a blood-colored flying knife of unusual length, which Yin Xuege gripped in his hand.

A point of dark-green light faintly mixed with silver flowed into the flying knife. The Archaic Demonic Script characters "Speed" and "Sharp," which Yin Xuege had comprehended when he awakened his Natal Bat Wings, were engraved into the knife. With a light flick of his finger, the paper-thin flying knife tore through the air with a shrill whistle and crossed more than a hundred meters in an instant, striking Yin Xuekui's throat with uncanny precision.

Yin Xuekui let out a shrill howl. He had not even seen the slightest trace of Yin Xuege's flying knife before being severely wounded by it.

His throat was pierced, and great quantities of blood gushed from the gaping wound. The swiftly flying blood-colored knife sent his body flying. He hurtled backward dozens of meters, completely out of control, and crashed stiffly to the ground below the arena. Clutching his throat desperately, he struggled to circulate all the Blood Demon Essence Blood in his body, and the wound began to heal slowly.

With one knife, Yin Xuege had beaten the oldest and physically strongest child in the Children's Hall to the brink of death. He could not even be bothered to glance at Yin Xuekui writhing on the ground. Instead, he extended a hand and provocatively beckoned to Yin Xuejiao.

"Yin Xuejiao, aren't you coming up? I know how much you hate me, just as I know how much I hate you! Come on. Just like before: either you break my bones, or I—cut your throat!"

Yin Xuege deliberately brought up the humiliating defeat from three months ago, when Yin Xuejiao had just broken through to Star Warrior yet had been soundly defeated by Yin Xuege, who was still merely a child. His voice brimmed with mocking coldness. Yin Xuejiao trembled with rage, his long hair lifting strand by strand despite the absence of wind. A thread of extremely thin blood mist slowly emerged from beneath his feet and coiled around his body.

But he was unwilling to jump onto the arena just yet. He still had not seen through Yin Xuege's depths! Yin Xuege had already attacked twice, and both times he had crushed his opponent with a single strike. Yin Xuejiao simply could not tell what techniques Yin Xuege had used.

He could only barely determine that the powerful blood-colored fireballs were probably a powerful Blood Art. But what about that blood-colored flying knife, swift as lightning and impossible to track? Did it count as a Blood Art or a Blood Skill?

If it was a Blood Skill, that was one thing. But if it was a Blood Art, did that not mean Yin Xuege had already comprehended two powerful long-range Blood Arts? How was that possible? Even a Sunwalker could not possess such monstrous talent, could they?

Seeing the struggle and hesitation in Yin Xuejiao's eyes, Yin Xuege turned his head and glanced at the many Yin Clan elders standing before the ancestral temple.

"Fine. If this is the scene you want to see, then!" Yin Xuege gave a vicious smile and lightly swept his finger across the arena, encompassing the dozens of children below. "If you don't dare come one by one, then come at me together!"

"Then come at me together!" Yin Xuege challenged every child standing below the arena at once!

Over the past year, forty-nine children in the Yin Clan's Children's Hall had achieved breakthroughs! Yin Xuege had already defeated five, but forty-four still stood below the arena! As children of the same Children's Hall, Yin Xuege had actually arrogantly and recklessly challenged all forty-four at once!

"You!" Yin Xuejiao and Yin Xueao were both so enraged that their lips trembled, and their eyes instantly turned pale red.

"All Children's Hall Star Warriors, heed my command! Join forces and surround Yin Xuege. Do not hold back!" Before Yin Xuejiao and the others could berate Yin Xuege for his arrogance, Yin Tianjue, standing before the ancestral temple, laughed softly. "All of you, come at once. Do not hold back. Let us old fellows see just how great a Sunwalker's potential truly is!"

The Yin Clan's founder had spoken. The children had no chance to refuse!

Yin Xuejiao, Yin Xueao, and the others all let out furious, aggrieved roars before leaping dozens of meters into the air and pouncing on Yin Xuege from every direction. Thirty-six of them sprayed faint blood-light from their ten fingers, all using the Blood Dripping Claw. The other eight clasped their hands before their chests, blood-light glimmering faintly between their palms as they prepared to launch long-range Blood Arts.

But the blood mist around Yin Xuege grew increasingly dense. His body spun like a top, and droplets of blood sprayed from his fingertips. Each droplet transformed into a foot-long willow-leaf flying knife, circling and dancing around him like nimble fish in the sea.

In an instant, one hundred and twenty-six blood-colored flying knives condensed. The same two Archaic Demonic Script characters, "Speed" and "Sharp," were driven into the blood-condensed knives. Yin Xuege flicked his fingers, and the knives tore through the air with ear-piercing whistles, leaving faint traces of blood-light beneath the starlight as they crossed a hundred meters of empty space and struck their targets.

Apart from Yin Xuejiao and Yin Xueao, all forty-two of the other children were struck by knives.

Their throats, chests, and lower abdomens—three vital points—simultaneously sprayed great quantities of blood. The forty-two children likewise failed to see even a trace of Yin Xuege's flying knives. They plummeted from the sky with shrill screams, crashing heavily to the ground like dumplings being dumped from a pot.

Before the ancestral temple, one Yin Clan elder gently shook his head, then turned to Yin Tianjue.

"Big Brother, these youngsters are completely outmatched by Yin Xuege. There's no meaning left in continuing the tournament."

Yin Tianjue gently shook his head and smiled calmly. "There is meaning. Let this child Yin Xuege vent some of his anger properly. After the family banquet at midnight, removing Yin Jiwu from his position as Master of the Blood War Hall and Yin Jishuo from his position as Master of the External Affairs Hall would seem a little excessive. Just give them a good warning."

The Yin Clan elders fell silent. They were extremely satisfied with the potential and strength Yin Xuege had displayed today. Vigorously supporting Yin Xuege, letting him vent his pent-up anger, and incidentally clearing away some obstacles within the family and suppressing his enemies were all perfectly reasonable.

As the forty-two children hit the ground, Yin Xuejiao and Yin Xueao, who had been gathering power to activate their Blood Arts, suddenly felt a chill run through their entire bodies.

Yin Xueao turned and fled, wanting to jump down from the arena. Yin Xuejiao, however, considered his strength greatly increased and felt confident enough to face Yin Xuege. He abandoned the Blood Art that had not yet taken shape, drew the soft sword at his waist, and leaped forward to meet Yin Xuege!

Yin Xuege dragged dozens of afterimages behind him as he charged into Yin Xuejiao's arms. Yin Xuejiao could not see his movements at all!

With one claw, Yin Xuege snapped Yin Xuejiao's wrist and knocked the soft sword from his hand. Then he seized Yin Xuejiao and gave him a thorough beating. Dozens of punches, swift as meteors, smashed every joint in Yin Xuejiao's body before Yin Xuege hurled him off the arena.

His figure flashed again. Yin Xuege chased after Yin Xueao and punched toward him.

Just then, an angry curse rang out from below the arena. Yin Jiwu leaped onto the platform and struck toward Yin Xuege's back with one palm.