"What? Not fighting anymore?"
Lu Shaoyou held the iron staff as he slowly turned around, his gaze falling upon Xue Yutang, whose expression had changed drastically and whose eyes flickered with uncertainty.
His green robe had long since become filthy in the fierce battle, stained with specks of blood, yet his entire body radiated an unprecedented, terrifying aura.
The pressure brought by Four Dragon-Elephant Power felt almost tangible. It made the two remaining Xiantian experts' hearts and gall bladders split apart in terror, and they instinctively retreated half a step.
Xue Yutang's eyelids twitched wildly. The shock in his heart could no longer be described with words.
Wear him down?
How the hell was he supposed to wear him down?
He only grew stronger the more he fought?
What kind of monstrous freak was this?
He knew the plan had to be moved forward. If this continued, his side would be slaughtered clean before the array was fully activated!
"Demon! You are already at the end of the road. Stop putting on a brave front!"
A trace of madness and resolve flashed through Xue Yutang's eyes. He forcibly suppressed the terror in his heart and once again mobilized all his power. The blood-colored long saber in his hand let out a shrill hum.
"Boundless Sea of Blood!"
A nearly solid blood-red saber force rose into the sky, carrying a thick stench of blood and resentment. It seemed ready to carve a gash through the heavens as it slashed toward Lu Shaoyou with thunderous might.
This strike was his trump card, its power boundless.
Yet in Lu Shaoyou's eyes, now that he possessed Four Dragon-Elephant Power, it was still not worth mentioning.
"The glow of a firefly dares contend with the brilliance of the bright moon?"
Lu Shaoyou sneered disdainfully. The Qi Mei Cudgel in his hand swelled in the wind, blazing with golden radiance like an ancient divine dragon awakening from slumber, roaring as it charged forward.
"Get lost!"
Boom—!
Staff and saber collided viciously in midair.
This time, there was not the slightest deadlock.
The terrifying blood-red saber force was crushed and shattered like rotten wood beneath the golden staff shadow the instant they came into contact.
Xue Yutang only felt an unimaginable force surge wildly up the blade. His treasured saber gave a mournful cry and was violently knocked out of his hand.
His whole body felt as if it had been struck by a mountain. He spat blood and flew backward like a torn sack, shooting straight off the arena and crashing heavily onto the distant ground, his life and death unknown.
This scene completely broke the two remaining Xiantian experts, whose minds had already been thrown into disarray.
Even Xue Yutang, at the Xiantian Mid-stage, had been sent flying with one move. What were they supposed to fight with?
The two exchanged a glance. No longer caring for sect honor or the principles of the martial world, they turned and prepared to leap off the arena to flee for their lives.
But at that very moment, a sudden change erupted!
Hum—!
A deep hum, as though it came from the depths of the earth's core, resounded across the summit of Soul Severing Cliff.
Immediately afterward, with the massive stone arena as its center, strange scarlet patterns as red as blood appeared out of thin air across the ground and spread madly in every direction at an astonishing speed.
In the blink of an eye, a colossal blood-red array covering the entire cliff-top platform formed with a thunderous roar!
"Ah! What the hell is this thing?!"
"My inner power! My inner power is draining away!"
"Help! My blood... my blood is pouring out!"
Miserable screams rose one after another.
The blood-red grand array blazed brightly, and an irresistible, terrifying suction force erupted from within it.
Every martial artist within the array's range, regardless of cultivation, felt the inner power and vital blood in their bodies being uncontrollably drawn out, like floodwaters released from a breached dam.
They transformed into streams of visible blood-red energy and gathered toward the center of the arena.
Only a few martial artists standing at the outermost edge, fortunate enough not to be covered by the array, escaped disaster.
Yet when they saw the horrifying scene before them, like a hell on earth, their legs had already turned weak. They collapsed to the ground, without even the strength to run.
"What is this?"
"How could this happen? Blood Saber Sect! This is the Blood Saber Sect's doing!"
"Xue Yutang! You beast! May you die a horrible death!"
The martial artists trapped within the array finally came to their senses.
They struggled in agony while cursing at the top of their lungs.
Just then, Xue Yutang, who should have been lying there with his life and death unknown, slowly rose from the ground.
He wiped away the blood at the corner of his mouth. There was no longer the slightest trace of embarrassment or fury on his face. In its place was a sickly, crazed smile.
"Haha... Hahahahaha!"
He spread his arms and threw back his head in wild laughter, his voice filled with the delight of a scheme fulfilled.
"Curse! Scream! Your rage, your fear, your blood—they will all become the foundation stones for my ascent to the peak!"
"This Blood River Spirit Sacrificing Array is the destination I carefully prepared for all of you!"
"Your deaths will be deaths well deserved!"
The entire crowd was stunned by these words!
This appointment at Soul Severing Cliff had been, from beginning to end, a thorough and complete conspiracy! A vicious trap using the lives of thousands of martial artists from Azure Province as sacrifice!
"My lord, this..."
On a lone peak in the distance, the Grey-robed Elder's expression changed, and a trace of reluctance flashed through his eyes.
Such an evil array that used living beings as sacrifices was vicious beyond measure and harmed the harmony of heaven.
He subconsciously looked toward the Golden-Masked Man before him, seemingly asking whether they should intervene.
The Golden-Masked Man merely watched quietly. No emotion could be seen in his deep eyes.
"There is no need. Until the Sky Locking Array of the Demonic Sect is broken, we should not expose our identities and startle the snake in the grass. The imperial dynasty's plan cannot afford a single mistake."
He paused, his gaze shifting to the center of the array, to that lone green-robed figure unaffected by it. An amused curve lifted at the corner of his mouth.
"Besides, I would quite like to see how this interesting boy breaks this deadlock."
The Grey-robed Elder was taken aback and looked at his lord in surprise.
He had not expected his lord to hold Lu Shaoyou in such high regard.
This grand array had gathered the vital blood of thousands of martial artists. Even an ordinary grandmaster would likely gain no advantage if trapped within it.
Could that boy truly break the situation?
Inside the grand array, cries of agony filled the land.
The experts of the various sects who had been shouting of slaughter moments ago had now all become lambs awaiting the butcher's knife.
Their bodies shriveled at a visible rate, their eyes filled with despair and terror.
"Young Hero Lu! Save me! I was wrong! I should not have opposed you!"
"Hero Lu! Please! Save us! This was all Xue Yutang's conspiracy!"
"As long as you save me, my Hengshan Sect will be willing to serve you as our master!"
No one knew who spoke first, but before long, pleas for mercy and cries for help rang out as one.
These righteous sects, who moments ago had wanted nothing more than to swallow Lu Shaoyou alive, now treated him as their sole lifesaving straw.
How ironic was this sight.
Lu Shaoyou stood in the center of the array, golden light flowing around him. The protective Inner Force of Dragon-Elephant Prajna completely blocked the terrifying suction force outside.
He listened to the pleas around him, but a disdainful sneer appeared on his face.
Save them?
Why should he?
A pack of foolish idiots who forgot righteousness at the sight of profit—one moment they shouted about eliminating evil for the people, and the next they knelt on the ground begging for mercy.
People like them deserved to die.
What was more...
He glanced at the number on his system panel, and an icy glint flashed through his eyes.
There were so many walking Slaughter Values. Would it not be a terrible waste to let some lousy array consume them all?
"Want to live?"
Lu Shaoyou suddenly spoke. His voice was not loud, yet it clearly entered everyone's ears.
When the martial artists struggling desperately heard this, hope burst forth in their eyes. Like drowning men grasping at a lifesaving straw, they nodded frantically.
Lu Shaoyou swept his gaze across them. Looking at those faces filled with longing, he suddenly smiled.
The smile was brilliant, yet cold enough to send chills through one's heart.
"Wait until your next life!"
Before his words had even faded, the Qi Mei Cudgel in his hand crashed down!
Dragon-Elephant Demon Suppressing Cudgel—Annihilate!
This strike had no fixed target.
A golden staff shadow that reached from heaven to earth, carrying the unmatched divine power of Four Dragon-Elephant Power, swept outward from him with a thunderous crash!
Rumble—!
The golden shockwave was like a ripple of death, instantly sweeping across the entire grand array.
Those martial artists who had already been drained dry by the array did not even have time to let out a scream before they vanished and shattered in swathes like bubbles, turning into blood mist that filled the sky!
Slaughter Value +500 points. Slaughter Value +2000 points. Slaughter Value +5000 points.
A dense stream of system notifications rang madly through Lu Shaoyou's mind like the most beautiful symphony.
In just an instant, the Slaughter Value on his panel broke through the hundred-thousand mark at a terrifying speed!
One strike, and the field was cleared!
Across the entire cliff summit, apart from him, Xue Yutang in the distance, and those surviving spectators already scared senseless, not a single living soul remained.
After losing the restraint of their bodies, the vital blood of countless martial artists erupted completely.
The blood light of the entire grand array grew so dense it reached its extreme, transforming into a true river of blood that roared and churned as it all poured into the bottomless crack at the center of the arena.
Boom!
The entire Soul Severing Cliff began to tremble violently.
A terrifying aura of evil, violence, and bloodlust beyond measure surged skyward from the depths underground!
Along with that aura, a long saber of savage design and entirely blood-red slowly rose from the crack.
Countless wronged souls seemed to be wailing across its blade. Merely looking at it was enough to make one lose control of one's mind and give rise to endless urges to slaughter.
Blood Drinking Demonic Blade!
Unprecedented fervor erupted in Xue Yutang's eyes. With a flash, he appeared beside the demonic blade, reached out, and seized it in his hand.
Hum—!
The moment the demonic blade entered his hand, Xue Yutang's aura began to rise crazily at an inconceivable speed.
Xiantian Mid-stage Peak... Xiantian Late-stage... Xiantian Late-stage Peak...
In the end, he directly broke through the shackles of Xiantian and reached an entirely new realm that made people tremble—Xiantian Peak!
"Hahahaha! It worked! It finally worked!"
Feeling the unprecedented power within his body, Xue Yutang let out an utterly crazed laugh.
Holding the demonic blade, he pointed it at Lu Shaoyou from afar, his eyes brimming with lofty delight and cruelty.
"Lu Shaoyou, thank you."
"If it were not for you, this play of mine would never have reached such a splendid ending."
"Now, as thanks, I will personally send you on your way with this Blood Drinking Demonic Blade that has just been sharpened!"
"How does that feel?"
Faced with this earth-shaking change and Xue Yutang, whose strength had surged to Xiantian Peak, Lu Shaoyou's face remained calm.
He was merely somewhat surprised by the other man's methods, that he had been able to lay out such an enormous scheme.
Then he glanced at the exaggerated number on his system panel.
Slaughter Value: 125800.
A meaningful smile slowly curved Lu Shaoyou's lips as well.
"It feels... wonderful."
Before you continue