Chen Xuanqing gripped the Azure Gleam Sword tightly, pouring the soul power within him into it like mad before swinging it at the thousand-plus bats massed overhead.
Sword light flashed, and the azure radiance instantly transformed into a fierce storm of blades, sweeping toward the bats like a raging wind and torrential rain.
The sword light tore the bats to shreds, turning them into a shower of blood that drifted down into the bottomless abyss of darkness.
Chen Xuanqing swung his sword again. Fierce sword energy split the dark night sky like lightning, and the remaining bats had no power to resist it. In an instant, they were all slaughtered.
Only the sound of falling bat corpses remained, echoing through the silent night.
Chen Xuanqing did not linger. He continued forward, keeping his guard up.
Just then, another bat cry came from the darkness, but this one was different. Low and terrifying, it brimmed with fury and murderous intent.
Chen Xuanqing immediately realized that the cry belonged to the bats' leader-the Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King.
The Dark Gold Three-Headed Bat King had probably been enraged by the slaughter of its subjects or companions.
After walking nearly another hundred meters, Chen Xuanqing finally spotted a figure up ahead.
An enormous creature hung above the narrow passage, its very presence making it seem like the road's natural guardian.
Against the faint red glow surrounding it, its body radiated a deep, dark golden light, mysterious and dangerous.
The creature was over four meters long. Two enormous claws gripped the narrow path, each more than a meter across, their sharp talons sunk deep into the hard stone.
Then a pair of enormous wings slowly unfurled from its dark golden body.
Those wings spanned ten meters, every feather gleaming with a metallic luster. Like