Sword Like Thunderclap

Cloud Canvas slowly descended from the sky. As they descended, the women looked around. They saw that Beast God Ridge was precipitous and extremely terrifying. Many places in the Great Wilderness appeared gloomy, some dangerous, but this place felt strange and evil, causing even these cheerful young women to wear solemn expressions.

When Cloud Canvas landed, Tao Daier took out the small cloth bag and chanted. The clouds in the area of tens of feet around Cloud Canvas then all entered the small cloth bag.

Yu Feiyan strode forward and said, "Sisters, the reward for this mission from Sword Gate is considerable. Many disciples are heading to Beast God Ridge. Some have already set off ahead of us, so we cannot delay. Let's head into the depths of Beast God Ridge immediately and slay the rampaging Demonic Beasts!"

Ting Lanyue quickly followed, "Senior Sister, the elites from the Ten Great Clans are here this time, including some formidable individuals like Shui Qinghe and Lei Gun. There are also remarkable figures among the women, such as Li Xiuniang of the Lishan Clan and Mu Qingxuan of the Mushang Clan. Senior Sister, do you have confidence in surpassing them?"

Yu Feiyan shook her head and said, "It is said that the Spiritual Power of Li Xiuniang, Mu Qingxuan, and others has already reached the level of transforming the virtual into the real. In terms of Spiritual Power, they are indeed stronger than me. They are core disciples of their respective Great Clans, having undergone strict and arduous selection and cultivation since childhood, nurtured by spiritual medicines. Naturally, they have their strengths. My Youyu Clan also has core disciples who are not inferior to them, but if they want me to admit defeat, they will have to fight me! Junior Brother Zhong, you have fought Shui Qinghe. How does his strength compare to mine, in your opinion?"

The girls all looked at Zhong Yue, very concerned about this matter.

Zhong Yue thought for a moment and shook his head, "Senior Sister, you are slightly inferior to Shui Qinghe."

Yu Feiyan glared at him and snorted, "How can we determine victory or defeat without a fight? Also, Junior Brother Zhong, I also really want to spar with you. After you fought Shui Qinghe, I am even more eager to know your abilities!"

"Junior Brother Zhong, when did you become number one in the Men's Court?"

Tao Daier chuckled, "The current number one in the Men's Court is Senior Brother Han Qingmo. He is as famous as Senior Sister Yu and is also a remarkable figure. If you defeat him, you will be number one in the Men's Court."

Zhong Yue smiled and said, "Are empty titles that important?"

"How could they not be important?"

The girls chattered, "If you can get the title of number one in the Upper Court, you will gain the admiration of our Women's Court disciples and captivate thousands of girls!"

"You will also gain the favor of Sword Gate Qi Refiners, receiving all sorts of treasures, spiritual pills, and cultivation techniques, an endless supply!"

"And people will follow you and do your bidding! Raise your arm and they will gather!"

Zhong Yue gaped, stammering, "There are these benefits too? But I'll pass on captivating thousands of girls, it's useless. Right now, I desperately need spiritual pills and cultivation techniques..."

The girls scoffed at him, "Senior Brother Han is as famous as Senior Sister Yu, he won't be defeated by you! If you want to become number one in the Upper Court, you'll have to wait until next year!"

"Senior Brother Han is wise and mighty, overwhelmingly handsome, defeat the little demon of the Zhongshan Clan!"

Suddenly, Yu Feiyan's expression tensed, "Quiet, there are Demonic Beasts nearby!"

The girls became nervous and immediately stood back-to-back, taking out their Totem Pillars, ready for battle.

Zhong Yue also tensed up, but at this moment, he felt a warmth behind him. A soft body pressed against him. He turned his head and saw the girl's beautiful hair and snow-white neck. Tao Daier turned back and smiled charmingly, her lips red and teeth white, very alluring. The girl's body fragrance seemed to dilute the tense atmosphere around them.

Zhong Yue looked around and saw that the Totem Pillars of these girls were only about a foot long, very small. However, the totem patterns on them were very complex, depicting Phoenix Totems, which should be of a higher grade.

The ground vibrated slightly, and then the vibrations became more frequent and violent. The earth undulated like waves. The next moment, they saw hundreds of Feiyi appearing before their eyes!

Hundreds of Feiyi, shaped like large lizards, covered in scales, over a person tall, with thick legs, but bodies two to three zhang long, came charging forward with roars.

"Don't use Soul Weapons!"

Yu Feiyan said rapidly, "Feiyi eat metal and iron. Their stomachs are full of corrosive fluids. If a Soul Weapon is bitten, it will be corroded immediately! Deploy your Totem Pillars immediately and activate the Phoenix Totem!"

Clink, clink, clink!

One Totem Pillar after another was planted. The Phoenix patterns on the Totem Pillars lit up. The Phoenix patterns of dozens of Totem Pillars connected, forming a phoenix floating above the girls.

"This is a formation?"

Zhong Yue looked surprised, observing the phoenix formed by the Totem Pillars. He immediately felt that this phoenix possessed terrifying power, equivalent to a cultivation technique for visualizing a phoenix, and it gathered the strength of these girls together to visualize a phoenix!

This phoenix was highly condensed, almost solidified, and its power must be extremely astonishing!

Whoosh--

The Phoenix Totem flapped its wings. Under its wings, balls of fire, each about a zhang in size, rolled out and flew towards the charging Feiyi. The fireballs landed in the midst of the Feiyi and suddenly exploded with a boom, each fireball expanding dozens of times upon detonation, as terrifying as an explosion, blowing the Feiyi to pieces. Countless Feiyi died in an instant!

The other Feiyi let out strange cries upon seeing this and fled in all directions. The girls breathed a sigh of relief. Suddenly, the ground shook, and they saw holes opening in the earth beneath their feet. The girls cried out in alarm as fleshy red tentacles emerged from underground, without eyes, ears, noses, or tongues, only large mouths, descending towards the girls' heads!

Before one girl could even scream, a fleshy tentacle with a large mouth covered her small head. The tentacle writhed and began to swallow her, along with her shoulder.

"Don't panic, it's Great Mountain Earthworms! Flying Goose Startled Swan!"

Yu Feiyan snorted coldly. With a flap of her arms, the flying geese she visualized flew out one by one, flying close to the ground. With successive slashes of their wings, the tentacles were severed one after another. The girl whose head was covered quickly pulled the severed Great Mountain Earthworm off her.

Ting Lanyue visualized rain to help wash the dirt off her. The other girls exclaimed, "Many of our Totem Pillars have been swallowed!"

"The Great Mountain Earthworms are coming again! The Feiyi are here too!"

The ground bulged, and more fleshy tentacles shot out from underground. The scattered Feiyi from all around came charging back with rumbling sounds, opening their gaping maws and lunging at the girls!

Yu Feiyan's expression changed drastically, and she quickly shouted, "You deal with the Feiyi, I'll deal with the Great Mountain Earthworms..."

Before she could finish speaking, Zhong Yue suddenly stomped his foot heavily. The ground rumbled and shook. A thunderous explosion echoed from underground, and lightning flashed erratically beneath the earth!

Boom--

The earth split open, revealing a crack about six to seven zhang long. Then, a meatball the size of a small mountain rolled out from the crack, still emitting smoke.

This black, massive meatball was at least five to six zhang in size. The meatball was covered in earthworm-like tentacles, scorched black by lightning, and utterly dead.

At the same time, lightning flashed and thundered in the sky. Streaks of lightning transformed into Sword Qi, shooting out in all directions. Then, the lightning Sword Qi in the sky suddenly retracted. Hundreds of Feiyi lay dead on the ground.

The thirty-odd girls turned to look at Zhong Yue in unison. They saw Zhong Yue holding his sword box in front of his feet. The sword box remained still; it was his Spiritual Power visualization of the Thunderclap Sword Art that had acted.

And beneath his feet, a giant dragon claw had appeared, like the trace left by a colossal Flood Dragon's passage.

"So powerful..."

The girls gasped. Yu Feiyan looked deeply at Zhong Yue, her eyes filled with astonishment. She thought, Is Shui Qinghe really this strong? If he is truly this strong, then I might not be a match for him either...

Ting Lanyue looked up at the meatball, seven or eight adult humans tall, in front of her and exclaimed, "This is the true form of the Great Mountain Earthworm? Our totem pillar is inside its belly, isn't it? Should we cut it open?"

"The Great Mountain Earthworm has astonishing digestive capabilities. This type of Demonic Beast can burrow through the ground, eating earth when it encounters earth, stone when it encounters stone, and metal when it encounters metal. The totem pillar is merely carved from wood; it has long since been digested."

Yu Feiyan steadied herself and shook her head, saying, "If Junior Sister Rou'er had been eaten by it just now, we probably wouldn't even find her bones."

The Junior Sister Rou'er was startled and quickly patted her chest, feeling a lingering fear.

Zhong Yue suddenly sensed something and looked into the distance. He saw a pink miasma, like a large mushroom, floating several miles away. He couldn't help but frown slightly and whispered, "Unsheathe!"

Clang--

The Dragon Blood Sword Box at his feet suddenly opened. A black and gold sword light shot through the air with a chi sound. In the next moment, it had traveled several miles, the sword light flashing like a startled swan and lightning!

Yu Feiyan and the others were startled and quickly looked. They saw that the mushroom-like miasma was pierced by the sword light and suddenly shattered. Then, the sword light flew back. Where the miasma had shattered, rainwater suddenly poured down with a pitter-patter, yet the sword light remained completely dry.

Then, the rain suddenly disappeared as if it had never existed.

The Dragon Scale Sword flew back. Zhong Yue raised his hand and grasped the hilt. A trace of blood appeared on the sword. His Thunderclap Sword strike had pierced the miasma, injuring the creature hiding within.

"Senior Sister Yu, something seems off. The Feiyi attacked us, and the Great Mountain Earthworm took the opportunity to sneak up from underground. It wasn't a sneak attack on us, but to steal our totem pillar. Are these creatures targeting our Phoenix Totem Visualization Array? Do ordinary Demonic Beasts have this kind of intelligence?"

Zhong Yue flicked his finger against the Dragon Scale Sword, shaking off the bloodstain. Not a single drop remained. He raised his hand and sheathed the Dragon Scale Sword in its box, saying, "Moreover, after I killed the Great Mountain Earthworm and the Feiyi, someone was secretly watching me. I sensed their gaze, so I sent out a sword strike. Now, there's blood on the sword, which means the Great Mountain Earthworm and the Feiyi were being controlled by someone from the shadows to attack us!"

Yu Feiyan frowned slightly, and Ting Lanyue nodded, "It is indeed a bit strange. The strength of these Demonic Beasts also seems to be much greater than before."

"Everyone be careful."

Yu Feiyan said solemnly, "This Beast God Ridge is indeed somewhat peculiar. We'll go in and explore a bit. If we encounter danger, Tao Tao, immediately activate Cloud Canvas and escape together!"

Tao Daier nodded heavily.

The women put away the remaining totem pillars and walked forward. After a short while, they arrived at the spot where Zhong Yue's sword qi had struck. The miasma had already dispersed, leaving fist-sized pits on the ground, clearly the traces left by the falling rainwater!

"This rainwater has corroded the stones and soil to this extent. Its toxicity is truly ferocious!"

Yu Feiyan's heart trembled, and then trembled again. Where the miasma had been cut, a large hole remained. The cave walls were smooth and rounded. The entrance was at least four or five zhang wide, left by some unknown creature. There were also some bloodstains at the entrance.

Clearly, the creature Zhong Yue had injured had escaped underground from here!

This cave entrance was so large, it was obvious that the creature that escaped underground was also terrifyingly large!

----Yesterday, a warm-hearted reader discovered that "Emperor's Dignity" was being plagiarized on another platform and charged for. Many readers left messages for Zhai Zhu, and Zhai Zhu was also very shocked. However, that night, the plagiarized book was disabled by powerful readers through various means. Brothers, you are too mighty!!

Zhai Zhu sincerely thanks you for your love for Zhai Zhu and Zhai Zhu's works. Thank you all. I am deeply grateful and have no way to repay you except by dedicating myself to writing with all my heart!!