Trap

Li Xiuniang touched her neck, still shaken. The other Lishan Clan disciples hurried over and surrounded her, protecting her in the center. They glared murderously at Zhong Yue, ready to rush over and kill him at a single command from Li Xiuniang!

Yu Feiyan, Ting Lanyue, and the others stared blankly at the result. Only when the Lishan Clan disciples gathered around did they come to their senses, and they hurried forward as well, taking up positions behind Zhong Yue.

The two sides faced one another, brimming with killing intent.

Zhong Yue said softly, "Senior Sister Li?"

Li Xiuniang suddenly came to herself. Seeing the situation around her, she looked at Zhong Yue, snorted, and shouted, "What are you trying to do? Revolt? All of you, stand down! If you can't even bear a single defeat, what kind of Lishan Clan disciples are you?"

The Lishan Clan disciples wore ashamed expressions and retreated behind her one after another. The shattered demonic god behind Li Xiuniang slowly coalesced, and the girl returned to her usual composure. She stepped forward and returned the salute, saying, "Thank you for showing mercy, Junior Brother. I've learned much today. However, we didn't use soul weapons in today's duel, and I didn't know enough about your abilities, so you caught me off guard. When the time comes for an unrestricted duel, we'll determine the victor!"

Zhong Yue broke into a bright smile. "Good. Senior Sister indeed didn't have time to use your full strength this time, and I've also sensed serious shortcomings in my cultivation. I'd like to seek your guidance more often."

He wasn't being modest. He was stating the truth. In all his years of cultivation, the only offensive art he had practiced was the Thunderclap Sword Art. The Dragon Totem Body Coiling Art was merely a body-refining method. Although he had combined it with the Thunderclap Sword Art and evolved it into an offensive art, he had never received the true inheritance of the dragon.

Without the true inheritance, it was impossible to unleash the greatest might of a cultivation art.

For example, if two people had the same cultivation level and both visualized a dragon, the one who had not received the true inheritance could only visualize the dragon's skin, while the other could visualize its flesh, tendons, and bones. Their might would naturally be worlds apart.

The Fire Epoch Palace Suihuang Visualization passed down to him by Kindling was a visualization and cultivation method. Aside from that, he had not practiced any other cultivation arts.

He knew neither the extremely useful arts of visualizing water, fire, wind, and clouds, nor any flying arts. His other auxiliary offensive arts were also a blank slate. Compared with the endless methods of other people, his cultivation was not systematic. His shortcomings were immense, and his flaws were glaring.

Li Xiuniang studied him closely. This big boy was cheerful, with a sunny disposition. He possessed pride and backbone, but he was not overbearing. A trace of fondness unconsciously arose in her heart, and she smiled. "Junior Brother Zhong, could it be that you obtained the Leihu Clan's Thunderclap Soul Tempering Method? I sensed thunder hidden within your spiritual power, automatically forming Thunder Patterns. It shares some similarities with the Leihu Clan's Thunderclap Soul Tempering Method."

"The Leihu Clan?"

Zhong Yue shook his head. "I have another Thunderclap Soul Tempering Method. It isn't the Leihu Clan's art."

Li Xiuniang understood. "The Leihu Clan's Thunderclap Soul Tempering Method can be called one of the Sword Gate's foremost Soul Refining arts. You also temper your soul with thunder, so no wonder your speed and explosive power are so fierce that you caught me off guard. Junior Brother Zhong, Lei Gun of the Leihu Clan is here as well, and his methods are similar to yours. If I had known you were this formidable, I would have sought him out to spar first."

She sighed, deeply regretting that she had failed to build an invincible momentum. "If Junior Brother Zhong doesn't mind, why don't we travel together and explore Beast God Ridge, to see what exactly happened here?"

Zhong Yue smiled. "With one more person comes one more share of strength. With Senior Sister and the others here, the pressure on me will be much lighter."

The two walked side by side. Li Xiuniang moved with lotuses blooming beneath every step, while Zhong Yue strode like a dragon and tiger. Li Xiuniang glanced back and saw Yu Feiyan, Tao Daier, Ting Lanyue, and the other girls trailing behind like shadows. She couldn't help laughing. "Junior Brother Zhong may be young, but you're quite the romantic. You've actually bewitched so many girls. It's no wonder. Junior Brother Zhong can now be called the number one man in the Men's Court. Even I lost to you—how could you not have a few followers? It's just that all your followers are girls. That shows how fickle you are..."

Zhong Yue's face reddened slightly, and he was just about to defend himself when the girls behind him spat out one after another, "Who's been bewitched by him?"

"How is the little devil of the Zhongshan Clan as handsome as Senior Brother Han Qingmo?"

"Until the little devil defeats Senior Brother Han, Senior Brother Han will remain number one in the Men's Court!"

Li Xiuniang turned her head and sneered. "A bunch of ignorant little girls, without the slightest breadth of vision. I've met Han Qingmo too. His abilities are merely mediocre, about the same as Junior Sister Yu Feiyan's. How could he possibly be Junior Brother Zhong's match?"

Yu Feiyan flew into a rage, and the soul weapon on her back stirred restlessly. She said coldly, "Senior Sister Li, are you saying my abilities are merely mediocre?"

Li Xiuniang smiled sweetly. "Your Senior Sister never said that. But if that's what you want to think, there's nothing I can do. Junior Sister Yu, you're still a little short of the mark. If you want to challenge me, you'd do better to have Yu Zhenglong of the Youyu Clan come instead."

"I'd like to see for myself!"

The two women brimmed with killing intent. Zhong Yue cursed inwardly, This is bad. He hurriedly asked Kindling in his sea of consciousness how to handle the situation.

Kindling was thrilled. "With this many women, being able to stay peaceful for the time it takes an incense stick to burn would be a strange thing indeed. Of course they're going to fight. Back then, the Kindling inheritors I taught had fires breaking out in their harems year-round, with goddess-like demonesses fighting until heaven and earth were overturned..."

Kindling is determined to throw the world into chaos. Asking him is useless. Hmm, what's this smell of blood...

Zhong Yue suddenly caught a faint scent of blood. His heart stirred, and then he heard indistinct shouts and sounds of battle drifting over on the wind. The two girls were still bickering, growing fiercer by the moment, so he hurriedly shouted, "All of you, shut up!"

Li Xiuniang and Yu Feiyan jumped in fright and quickly stopped arguing. Li Xiuniang said aggrievedly, "Why are you shouting? You scared me to death..."

"Stop arguing. There are sounds of fighting."

Zhong Yue listened carefully. Seeing this, the girls hurriedly cocked their ears as well. Ting Lanyue closed her eyes and visualized. Spiritual power gathered around her ears and transformed into a huge ear four or five feet long, covered in animal fur.

The girl raised the huge ear and listened for a moment before hurriedly saying, "The sounds of battle are coming from over there. Someone is fighting while moving!"

"Senior Sister Ting knows so much," Zhong Yue praised.

Everyone hurried forward. After running several miles, the scent of blood in the air grew heavier, and the sounds of battle gradually grew louder.

"Someone is fighting ahead. Their cultivation and strength are far from weak—they're experts!"

Li Xiuniang sensed carefully, and her expression shifted. "Could it be that fellow Lei Gun? No, the Leihu Clan's cultivation art is Rumbling Thunder, with a terrifying display of power. This isn't that kind of disturbance. This commotion is weaker... Hmm, the one fighting him is two enormous beasts. The strength of these two beasts is truly frightening, no weaker than yours or mine!"

Zhong Yue sensed carefully as well and detected two extremely terrifying waves of demonic energy. With such earth-shaking commotion, those two Demonic Beasts were certainly enormous!

Before long, they saw that the canyon between the mountains was covered in enormous footprints—footprints left by ferocious beasts. Tao Daier stood in the middle of one and measured it with her hands, her voice trembling. "They're many times larger than the Demonic Beasts we saw earlier... How could such enormous Demonic Beasts have been born in Beast God Ridge?"

Yu Feiyan discovered something and said, "There are traces of thunder here! They should be traces left by the Leihu Clan disciples and that fellow Lei Gun! They were ambushed here and ran into danger... There are corpses over there!"

A corpse of a Leihu Clan disciple lay on the ground. Something had shattered every bone in his body!

As they hurried forward through the canyon, they encountered more and more corpses of Leihu Clan disciples. The traces of battle left on the surrounding cliffs grew increasingly shocking, while fragments of shattered soul weapons and broken Totem Pillars lay scattered across the ground.

"Lei Gun's strength is no weaker than mine. He is a core disciple nurtured by the Leihu Clan, and he intends to compete for first place in the unrestricted duel this time. Could there truly be a Demonic Beast in Beast God Ridge capable of killing him?"

Li Xiuniang's pretty face shifted between gloom and brightness. "Moreover, the person fighting those two giant beasts wasn't him. Then who could it be?"

"We're very close to the battlefield!" Ting Lanyue called out.

"There are other corpses here too!"

More corpses were discovered in the canyon, but these were not corpses of Leihu Clan disciples. Tao Daier recognized one of them and exclaimed in shock, "I know this person. He's a disciple of the Men's Court, and he followed Senior Brother Han Qingmo."

Tao Daier spoke rapidly. "Senior Brother Han brought them to Beast God Ridge ahead of us. Could that mean Senior Brother Han discovered Senior Brother Lei Gun in danger and led everyone here to rescue him? How could so many people have died? Could those two vicious beasts be Qi Warriors of the Demonic Race?"

The corpses of the Sword Gate's Upper Academy disciples lay strewn about the canyon, their tendons and bones smashed to pieces. They were unmistakably dead, a horrifying sight.

Zhong Yue was secretly alarmed as well. Suddenly, he saw broad patches of blood covering the ground ahead. The blood had even gathered into little streams, but its scent was rank and gamey. It wasn't human blood. It was beast blood.

"Those two giant beasts are injured too. They aren't especially formidable—just huge and powerful!"

The girls all breathed sighs of relief. Yu Feiyan hurriedly said, "Daier, take the other junior brothers and sisters up into the air and watch the surroundings. Junior Brother Zhong, Junior Sister Yu, and I will go take a look. That giant beast is too fierce. You wouldn't be able to help!"

At this, Tao Daier immediately took out a small cloth pouch and released Cloud Canvas. She led the girls onto it and flew into the air.

Seeing this, Li Xiuniang secretly admired Yu Feiyan's meticulous thinking. She took out the Demonic Lotus Leaf, had the Lishan Clan disciples climb onto it, and flew into the air as well. "Junior Brother Zhong, let's go!"

Zhong Yue nodded and pointed a finger. The sword case on his back opened, and the Dragon Scale Sword shot out with a whoosh before concealing itself within Cloud Canvas. "Let's go!"

Li Xiuniang and Yu Feiyan were astonished and perplexed at the sight, unable to understand what he meant.

The three hurried forward at full speed. Before long, the canyon suddenly opened up, leading into a valley. The surrounding forests had fallen in swathes. Clearly, a fierce battle had taken place here!

In the valley stood a Black Bear fifteen or so zhang tall, standing upright like a man. It was covered in wounds, and blood streamed constantly from its body. Another giant beast was a mountain goat, equally terrifying in size, but it had collapsed on the ground. It had evidently suffered severe injuries, though it was not yet dead.

In the valley, a man was desperately dodging the Black Bear's attacks. His movements were staggering, and at any moment he might be slapped to death by the Black Bear.

"It's Senior Brother Han Qingmo!" Yu Feiyan cried out when she saw the man's face.

Li Xiuniang noticed another corpse, and her expression changed drastically. She cried out, "Lei Gun is dead?"

Zhong Yue frowned slightly. He looked at Lei Gun's corpse lying beside the ram, then at Han Qingmo staggering away from the Black Bear's attacks. In a low voice, he said, "Strange. Why haven't I seen any traces of attacks from Senior Brother Han along the way? Something isn't right..."

Kindling chuckled. "Three monsters playing house. How interesting..."

"Three monsters?"

Zhong Yue narrowed his eyes and looked at Han Qingmo. "Kindling, what do you mean?"

"That monster peeled off a human skin and put it on."

Kindling laughed. "It's pretending to fight with this Black Bear, and that ram is pretending to be dead. But that fellow called Lei Gun is truly dead."