Duke's Malice (1)

Three pairs of scarlet bat wings, each with a wingspan exceeding fifteen meters, unfurled. A dense, bloody aura mingled with soaring evil energy billowed outwards. Yin Xuege and the Yin Clan Marquises beside him felt their vision darken, as if they had been submerged in thick blood. A heavy, foul stench was forcibly pumped into their seven orifices, causing them immense pain.

Sander and Fennice fared even worse. Yin Xuege and the others were of the Blood Demon Physique, possessing a natural, powerful resistance to all manner of bloody and evil forces. While Sander and Fennice possessed certain formidable bloodlines and wielded the power of wondrous natural elements, their reaction to the evil, bloody power was far more intense. This malevolent demonic energy inflicted greater harm upon them.

After swaying unsteadily for a few moments, both of them collapsed onto the ground.

The evil, bloody power had invaded their bodies. The blood within them was rapidly decaying and corrupting, much like blood left in a damp, filthy sewer for decades. Molds and bacteria were proliferating wildly. Their life force was rapidly dissipating. Within fifteen minutes, they would die from complete depletion of their vitality!

"The Curse of Aging!" a Yin Clan Marquis shouted sternly. "Which family do you belong to? Do you wish to provoke a war with the Yin Clan?"

"Family war?" The old man at the center of the three suddenly appearing Blood Demons shrieked. "We no longer care! Family war? Ha, there can be no family war! You despicable Yin Clan, we should have gathered the Thirteen Sacred Clans back then and annihilated you completely!"

The old man's mouth suddenly opened to over a foot wide, revealing two rows of sharp, knife-like teeth that gleamed with a faint light. His four canine teeth slowly grew out with a creaking sound, eventually elongating into three-inch fangs that protruded past his lips.

Crimson blood-red light flickered on these elongated canine teeth. The old man extended a withered, black finger and pointed fiercely at Yin Xuege. "Hand over this damned little mongrel, and let us take him, and all problems will be solved! I don't think you wish to go to war with three powerful Dukes, do you? Moreover, we are all Thousand-Year Dukes!"

Yin Xuege and the eight Yin Clan Marquises' faces turned ashen. They stared at the three aged old men, speechless for a long time.

Before the Era of Dharma Decline, a mere Duke of the Blood Demon race was not considered a particularly formidable figure. In that era, when experts were as numerous as clouds, a Duke of the Blood Demon race was merely a minor lord. But in the Era of Dharma Decline, during the time when divine Immortals and Buddhas had completely vanished, Dukes were the supreme powerhouses in this world.

And the term "Thousand-Year Duke" held a special significance within the Blood Demon race.

These three old fellows before them were not Dukes who had advanced during the Era of Dharma Decline. They were ancient monsters who had survived from that era of rampant powerhouses! Setting aside the immense power accumulated through a millennium of foundation, their knowledge, experience, combat prowess, and mastery of various bizarre Blood Demon secret arts made them terrifying nightmares.

All Blood Demon families universally acknowledged one point: a true Thousand-Year Duke was capable of easily eliminating more than five newly promoted Dukes!

With these three Thousand-Year Dukes joining forces and cooperating with the barrier they had already set up, they could even easily eliminate twenty ordinary Duke-level powerhouses who had advanced during the Era of Dharma Decline!

"Why have you come here instead of slumbering in your lairs?" a Yin Clan Marquis, struggling to resist the terrifying evil energy emanating from the three old monsters, forced himself a step forward. "Even if you are Thousand-Year Dukes, can you truly withstand the wrath of the Yin Clan? You should know the power our Yin Clan possesses!"

"The Yin Clan's power!" A hint of apprehension appeared on the faces of the three old fellows. They roared in annoyance, and then the old man who had bared his fangs slowly descended the slope. He approached Yin Xuege step by step, his teeth gritted, and said, "We can't afford to worry about so much; we didn't intend to offend the Yin Clan!"

"Hand this little mongrel over to us, and all problems will be properly resolved!" The old man advanced step by step, forcefully fanning his innate bat wings behind him, stirring up gusts of foul-smelling hurricanes that made the few Marquises beside Yin Xuege lose their footing and stumble backward!

These Marquises were also newly promoted Marquises whose strength had increased within the past century. Their power was vastly different from that of Dukes, let alone confronting these thousand-year-old undead Thousand-Year Dukes. Facing the formidable power unleashed by the old man, they were even stripped of the strength to attack.

An invisible restraint firmly suppressed Yin Xuege's body, rendering him completely immobile. He watched helplessly as the old man walked right up to him, grabbed his chin with a withered, black claw, and tilted his face from side to side for a thorough examination.

Yin Xuege felt as if the old man was scrutinizing him like a stray dog. His gaze was filled with contempt, mockery, and an inexplicable sense of superiority. Yin Xuege truly saw boundless malice in the old man's eyes; in his view, Yin Xuege was not even as good as a dog!

"Look, such a handsome little pretty boy!" the old man cackled. "He's still young now, but when he grows up, he'll definitely be a menace, just like his damned slut of a mother! Let me think, how should I ruin this detestable pretty boy's face?"

Opening his mouth, he continuously spewed out bone-chilling cold air and a foul, bloody stench. The old man brought his mouth close to Yin Xuege's ear and whispered menacingly, "Little fellow, what do you say? Shall I peel off your face? Then I might consider giving you an uglier one! Don't worry, I'll patch up your face so seamlessly, it'll be as if you were born ugly!"

His five fingers tightly gripped Yin Xuege's chin and throat, causing a gurgling sound from Yin Xuege's throat. He felt suffocated, his face turning red. The terrifying evil energy emanating from the old man suppressed Yin Xuege, making it impossible for him to breathe. Yin Xuege's body twitched and spasmed, like a fish caught out of water.

As if sensing the anger and confusion in Yin Xuege's eyes, the old man laughed, a mixture of resentment and triumph.

"You find it strange, why the three of us old fellows are here to cause you trouble, don't you?"

As he asked this, the old man slightly loosened his grip, and the evil aura around him receded a little.

Yin Xuege felt his neck loosen, and he gasped for air, then coughed violently. He stared at the old man with wide, angry eyes and asked word by word, "How... did you... find me?"

The few Yin Clan Marquises struggling in the bloody hurricane simultaneously shivered. They too snapped back to reality – they were leading the army to execute the 'Startled Insects' plan, a secret plan formulated by the Yin Clan's high command. Why didn't these three old men search for Yin Xuege at the Yin Clan manor, but instead came directly here? How did they know Yin Xuege was in the army, and how did they so accurately pinpoint his location!

"Ah, such a clever little fellow! In this situation, your mind is still so clear!" The old man's eyes widened in astonishment, then he glanced back at his two companions. "What a prodigious talent this little fellow possesses, just like his mother, making one wish to carve him into a thousand pieces and torment his soul with hellfire for eternity!"

"Are you looking for trouble with me because of my mother?" The more dangerous the situation, the clearer Yin Xuege's mind became.

Perhaps the twenty drops of essence blood from Farnburg had also played a part. Not only had they greatly enhanced Yin Xuege's life origin, but these essence blood drops also contained traces of Farnburg's countless experiences and knowledge. By integrating Farnburg's essence blood, Yin Xuege had, in a sense, witnessed many brilliant moments from Farnburg's long life.

Therefore, Yin Xuege had become increasingly sharp and perceptive in thinking through problems and analyzing situations in recent days!

"Because of my mother?" Yin Xuege coldly eyed the old man who had grabbed him. "Then, are you from the Brianburg Family? What happened? Did my mother do something bad to your family? No, no, it's not just that!"

The other two old men also walked slowly to Yin Xuege's front. They looked at Yin Xuege with resentment, then sighed heavily.

"A Sunwalker, a legendary existence! In all our long lives, we've never personally seen a Sunwalker!"

"But you happen to be that woman's son! Because of your existence, our family has been shamed among the Thirteen Sacred Clans! And now, your mother has committed an unforgivable act! You and your mother both deserve to be burned alive!"

Yin Xuege sneered repeatedly. He raised his head, his fingers lightly touching the hilt of the Blood Spirit Sword.

"What exactly did my mother do? To make the three of you Thousand-Year Dukes travel thousands of miles to find trouble with me? If she did something wrong, with your strength, you could have dealt with her as you pleased! But you didn't do anything to her, and instead came to trouble me. Does this mean the power she now possesses is something you cannot control?"

"You!" The old man holding Yin Xuege's neck suddenly turned cold. He shrieked, "Yes, you guessed correctly! Your mad mother, she, she, she actually! Damn it, she committed a crime that makes our entire Brianburg Family unable to forgive her! She must be punished! But you are her only weakness, at least, that's what we believe, you are her only weakness!" (To be continued)