He gripped his blade with both hands and spun. A tightly condensed, dark-red ring of blade light burst outward from him in an instant!
BOOM!!
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
The Stellar Level and Universe Level ferocious beasts charging at him stiffened like butter sliced by a hot knife, then silently split in two!
Their blood barely had time to spray before the terrifying heat and destructive intent within the blade light vaporized it!
With a single slash, hundreds of ferocious beasts were killed in an instant!
Only then did the attacks of the three Domain Lord Level beasts finally arrive!
Facing that terrifying ring of blade light, the Golden-Scaled Lion Beast's pounce, the vicious bird's talons, and the giant scorpion's venomous stinger all seemed utterly powerless!
The blade light swept past--
BOOM!!!
It was like a force sweeping all before it!
The vicious bird and the giant scorpion bore the brunt. Their attacks and protective energy were instantly annihilated by the blade light, and their massive bodies were cleaved clean through. The shock in their eyes had not yet faded when their life force went out completely!
But the Domain Lord Level peak Golden-Scaled Lion Beast, relying on its greater strength and reflexes, crossed its forepaws over its chest at the very last moment. Its dark-golden scales blazed with dazzling light!
Yet--
THUD!!
With a muffled impact, the Golden-Scaled Lion Beast flew backward as if struck by a speeding planet. Its massive body crashed into a cliff hundreds of meters away, sending dust billowing into the air and making the entire valley tremble!
Lu Ming stood with his blade lowered and calmly looked toward the cloud of dust.
"Oh? Still alive?"
As the dust slowly cleared, the Golden-Scaled Lion Beast staggered out of the hollow in the cliff. Its chest scales were shattered, and its forepaws were a bloody mess, but it was indeed still alive.
Its gaze was filled with unprecedented fear and disbelief.
Lu Ming's eyes fell on its broken chest. Embedded there was a roughly basin-sized, pitch-black stone marked with faint, strange patterns. It was this stone that had blocked most of the blade light's force.
"Hmm? So that thing just saved your life?"
Lu Ming raised an eyebrow slightly.
"It withstood my slash without breaking. What is it?"
He walked forward slowly, his tone still calm.
"But that's all it can do."
The Golden-Scaled Lion Beast let out an angry growl, but didn't dare take another step forward.
This human's strength was so terrifying that it was beyond anything the beast could comprehend!
On the mountain, Carlos, Man Ji, and Shadow Shuttle stood frozen in shock, like statues.
One slash... and the field was clear?
Hundreds of beasts, including two mid-level Domain Lord Level beasts... and a Domain Lord Level peak beast gravely wounded?
Could this... really be Lu Ming, who had only just broken through to the Domain Lord Level?
A deathly silence hung over the mountaintop for several seconds before Man Ji's trembling, booming voice broke it.
"Damn... I must still be asleep. This has to be a hallucination..."
He vigorously rubbed his bald head, eyes wide as bells.
"Or were those three Domain Lord Level beasts down there made of paper? When did Old Lu get this strong?!"
Carlos's throat was dry as he murmured, "This isn't a hallucination... One slash... just one slash... His strength is definitely far beyond that of an ordinary Domain Lord Level peak. Just what level did Old Lu reach with this breakthrough?"
The body Shadow Shuttle concealed in the shadows tensed slightly, a sign of his extreme shock. He said quietly, "It seems... our previous estimate of his strength was way off."
While the three stood stunned and speechless, the situation below changed again.
Lu Ming moved once more.
"Since you've lost the will to fight, let's end this."
Before his words had even faded, his figure blurred again.
The Golden-Scaled Lion Beast's pupils contracted. Its scales bristled, and instinctively it tried to retreat and defend itself!
But Lu Ming was too fast!
As if teleporting, he appeared behind it to one side. The flaming War Blade in his hand traced a strange, casual arc, precisely avoiding the hard black stone in its chest and sweeping straight across the more vulnerable point where its neck joined its body!
The blade light flashed and vanished.
Lu Ming was already several meters away, his back to the Golden-Scaled Lion Beast as he slowly sheathed his War Blade.
The Golden-Scaled Lion Beast's massive body stood rigid, its dark-golden eyes filled with bewilderment and disbelief.
A thin line of blood appeared across its throat.
The next moment--
Pfft!
Its enormous head slid along the bloodline and thudded heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Its headless body swayed, then crashed down as blood gushed out like a fountain, staining the ground red.
The black stone that had saved its life fell into the pool of blood with a clink.
The Domain Lord Level peak ferocious beast, the Golden-Scaled Lion Beast, was dead!
Lu Ming didn't even spare the corpse another glance. He turned his gaze toward the dense fog at the deepest part of the valley, as if he'd merely swatted a fly.
He raised a hand, and the black stone along with the corpses of the other two Domain Lord Level beasts were lifted by an invisible force and brought before him. He casually put them away.
The whole process was effortless and fluid.
The three on the mountain were once again frozen like statues.
If the first slash had been shocking, then that second, casual slash was downright terrifying!
He'd killed a Domain Lord Level peak beast in one blow!
Man Ji opened his mouth, but in the end could only manage two words: "...Monster."
After dealing with the three Domain Lord Level beasts, Lu Ming looked up at the three teammates still frozen on the mountain and called out in an even tone.
"Stop standing around up there. Come down. The obstacles are gone, so let's see what kind of treasure is inside."
His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to Carlos and the others, pulling them back from their extreme shock.
The three exchanged glances, each seeing the same disbelief in the others' eyes—and a hint of... awe?
Carlos took a deep breath, forcing down the tumult in his heart, and smiled wryly. "Come on, let's go down. Old Lu... you've been hiding your strength awfully well!"
Man Ji bared his teeth, his expression complicated.
"Damn, I'd better not casually clap him on the shoulder anymore. If he doesn't hold back, my frame won't be able to take it."
Shadow Shuttle said nothing. He merely nodded and drifted down the mountain like a wisp of smoke.
The three landed in the valley one after another, among the still-warm pools of blood and severed limbs. The air was thick with the stench of blood and the scorched smell left behind by the annihilated energy, reminding them that what had just happened was no dream.
They looked at Lu Ming standing ahead of them, his breathing steady and his clothes not even slightly disheveled, and their emotions remained in turmoil.
Carlos walked up to Lu Ming and couldn't help sizing him up, his voice full of amazement and confusion. "Old Lu, you... you really just broke through to the Domain Lord Level? Why do I feel like you're much stronger than some veteran Domain Lord Level peak experts?"