Slaying devils with a single strike

"I... bear the surname Ye too!"

Ye Chen stood with his hands behind his back, looking down upon everyone. His voice was quiet, yet it exploded like thunder in every heart.

Everyone trembled to their very souls.

Everyone knew something of the Ye Lineage's glorious past.

But that was all in the past. That branch of the Ye Lineage had long since declined, not even daring to show themselves, like dogs that had lost their homes.

Yet today, they had actually seen someone from the Ye Lineage, and this young man surnamed Ye was a terrifying expert to boot.

Could the Ye Lineage be about to emerge and rise again?

Those words left the inner sect elder's head buzzing, his mind utterly blank.

Yet instinct still drove him to ask, "You... you're also a remnant of the Ye..."

Before he could finish, Ye Chen struck down with his palm.

Instantly, not even the inner sect elder's bones remained.

Just then, a calm voice rang out.

"Senior, openly killing an elder of our Heavenly Origin Holy Land is hardly appropriate, is it?"

Then two figures slowly appeared: Tian Yuanzi and Elder Wan.

Ye Chen's gaze pierced straight into them, his voice like ice frozen for ten thousand years. "How is it inappropriate?"

Tian Yuanzi looked at Ye Chen and sneered. "Senior, Elder Han was a King Realm mighty expert of our Heavenly Origin Holy Land, as well as the Holy Lord's own brother. You killed him just like that..."

His expression gradually twisted into a snarl. "You must pay a price!"

"Oh? What do you want?"

Ye Chen raised an eyebrow.

"Not much, not much."

Tian Yuanzi looked at Ye Chen, his expression growing increasingly savage and crazed, as though he were looking at some peerless tonic.

"Just a little of your flesh and blood..."

As his words fell, behind the outer sect plaza, in the very heart of the holy land, a beam of blood-red light brimming with Sha Qi shot into the clouds.

It instantly punched an enormous blood-red hole in the sky.

The rain grew fiercer, but the rainwater had turned into scarlet blood, foul-smelling and terrifying.

The terrifying blood-red light spread rapidly outward, enveloping the entire holy land in the blink of an eye.

Within the holy land, thick blood mist filled every inch of sight, blotting out the sky and sun.

The ground beneath their feet also became a blood-red mire, trapping people so deeply that they could not pull themselves free.

Moreover, deep within the blood mist, countless Devil Creatures seemed to be roaring and gnawing on flesh.

The sounds of tearing were utterly horrifying, striking terror into all who heard them.

Everyone present except Ye Chen was horrified beyond measure.

"This... this looks like the Devil Domain Blood Refining Formation!"

"What?!"

"Is this really the Devil Domain Blood Refining Formation?"

"According to legend, a hundred thousand years ago, the Blood Refining Devil Emperor relied on this very formation to slay a Great Emperor Realm expert!"

"Most importantly, this formation is extremely evil. It slowly turns everyone inside into a pool of blood, and once you're trapped within it, escape is virtually impossible!"

"Didn't this formation disappear with the Blood Refining Devil Emperor's death?"

"Why has it appeared here?"

"This is bad! This blood mist is corrosive! I feel like my body is about to melt!"

"It's over, it's over! My feet are gone!"

"My hands are gone too!"

"Help! Help! Let us out!"

In mere moments, everyone still within the holy land inside the formation, except Ye Chen, had turned into a pool of blood and merged with the blood-red mire.

Ye Chen stood there quietly, a faint halo surrounding him, impervious to all arts.

This formation was indeed extraordinarily powerful. Even an ordinary Quasi-Emperor expert might perish within it, body and Dao alike destroyed, but for him, it still fell short by a hundred million little bits.

He looked into the distance, his gaze like a sharp sword, piercing through layer upon layer of blood mist to land directly on the three figures at the formation's center.

Two of them were Tian Yuanzi and Elder Wan.

The other was a lean middle-aged man whose body radiated spiritual power fluctuations at the perfected Saint Realm.

Presumably, he was the Heavenly Origin Holy Lord who had never shown himself.

The instant the formation activated, Tian Yuanzi and Elder Wan had come to its center to join the Heavenly Origin Holy Lord.

Earlier, Tian Yuanzi had already sent word for the Heavenly Origin Holy Lord to prepare to activate the formation. Now everything was ready, and it was time to reap the fruits.

The three formed hand seals, blood-red runes floating out of their bodies one after another. Instantly, boundless power from flesh and blood surged toward them.

Their presences soared. Before long, Tian Yuanzi and Elder Wan both stepped into the Saint King Realm, while the Heavenly Origin Holy Lord's cultivation actually reached the level of a Great Saint expert.

Sensing the abundant spiritual power within them, the three were wild with joy.

The mighty power brought them an incomparable sense of intoxication, and all three reveled in it, enjoying it immensely.

Although only their cultivation had broken through, and it would disappear once the formation ended, that was enough.

They only needed to refine Ye Chen, store him within the formation, and then slowly absorb him through a secret art.

Then they could increase their cultivation while comprehending the Dao laws of blood.

Once both reached the Saint King level, together with their divine souls, which were already on the verge of a breakthrough, the three would unite as one, allowing them to attain the Saint King Realm!

If they could find the Ye Lineage's treasury, becoming Great Emperors in the future would not be impossible either.

At that thought, the two could not help trembling with overwhelming excitement.

The three composed themselves, exchanged a glance, and then controlled the formation with all their might.

Instantly, the blood mist within the formation grew even thicker, its temperature rising sharply until it resembled flowing, seething lava.

The blood-red sludge on the ground churned ceaselessly before bulging upward, forming one hideous blood-red Devil Creature after another.

The presences radiating from those Devil Creatures were generally at the Saint Realm. There were even more than ten at the Great Saint Realm, and two at the Saint King Realm.

Their savage, baleful auras surged skyward as the Devil Creatures roared and charged at Ye Chen, intent on tearing him apart.

Ye Chen watched the Devil Creatures baring their fangs and brandishing their claws before him. Not a ripple stirred in his fathomless eyes; they remained as still as an ancient well.

He sneered and extended his right hand, palm upward.

A ball of blazing red light instantly appeared in his hand.

Before long, the red light flared brilliantly, gradually solidifying into a blood-red longsword: Demon Slayer.

Countless blood-red runes coiled and danced around the blade, its towering crimson radiance seeming poised to devour the entire world.

In an instant, blood Sha Qi a thousand times stronger than the formation surged from the sword.

The impenetrably thick blood mist was instantly scattered, while the blood-red Devil Creatures were shattered into pieces and reduced to nothingness.

The entire formation was battered into disarray, showing faint signs of breaking apart.

At the formation's center, the three were terrified by the sight.

The Devil Creatures they had just summoned, together with the blood mist's restrictions and corrosion, were enough to trap a Quasi-Emperor until death.

Yet, to their surprise, they had been undone by nothing more than the imposing force released by a sword.

Even as this shocked them, the fervor in their hearts burned hotter.

"Hmph! Even with such a weapon, how much of its power can you unleash?"

Tian Yuanzi snorted coldly, then spat out several mouthfuls of blood essence, instantly becoming listless.

He activated a secret art and began staking his life.

Seeing this, Elder Wan and the Heavenly Origin Holy Lord threw caution aside and employed forbidden arts as well.

For a moment, the blood mist within the formation thickened again, surpassing its former density, as though about to solidify.

The blood-red mire on the ground churned and roiled violently, and a presence on the verge of transcending the Saint Realm spread outward.

"Devil Creatures about to step into the Quasi-Emperor level!"

A trace of surprise flashed through Ye Chen's eyes.

Then the Devil Creatures grew more and more numerous, reaching into the millions. Even those on the verge of entering the Quasi-Emperor level numbered ten.

Ye Chen looked toward the formation's center, the sneer at his lips deepening. "Looks like you're staking your lives now!"

Then he shook his head. "Unfortunately, a casual swing of my sword is already your limit!"

Without further hesitation, he grasped the Demon Slayer Immortal Sword and gave it a casual swing.

Instantly, heaven and earth lost their color.

One strike to slay devils!