Beneath the night sky, beast roars echoed endlessly through the Purgatory Mountain Range.
Yet amidst the roaring of demon beasts, sudden explosions sounded distinctly jarring.
*Rustle! Rustle!*
Faint rustling swept through the forest as dozens of figures darted and maneuvered through the air.
Over twenty Core Formation cultivators moved in an encirclement, hunting down the lone figure leading the flight.
Ye Feng's gaze was frigid as he fled frantically!
*Swoosh!*
A cold glint struck from an exceptionally vicious angle, shooting straight toward Ye Feng!
Without a sound, the awl flashing with cold light pierced cleanly through his shoulder!
Had Ye Feng not turned his body just then, the hidden weapon would have driven straight through Li Guanqi's heart.
*Ugh!*
A muffled grunt slipped past Ye Feng's lips. Even though he had just broken through to a new realm, he dared not become entangled in the slightest.
All he needed to do now was stall for time. As long as Li Guanqi completed his breakthrough, they would have a chance to tear free of the encirclement!
Yet simple as the reasoning was, both he and the pursuers behind him understood it.
Li Guanqi's terrifying strength and sword path had struck genuine dread into their hearts.
If Li Guanqi smoothly broke through, more than a few among them would surely lose their nerve and choose to back off.
As time slipped away breath by breath, the aura radiating from Li Guanqi grew increasingly intense.
Cold sweat drenched Ye Feng's forehead. With each beat of the Wind Thunder Wings, his form continually shifted course in midair.
*Faster!! Faster!*
Suddenly!
From a massive tree trunk directly ahead, a brown giant serpent as thick as a man's waist lunged forward, snapping its bloody maw toward him!
The sudden ambush sent Ye Feng's heart lurching.
With a flick of his hand, several arcs of sword light flashed, hacking the tier-two demon beast to pieces, yet his speed stalled for an instant!
Ye Feng landed with a grim expression, cursing under his breath, "Damn it!"
*Swish, swish, swish!*
*Whoosh, whoosh!*
A barrage of piercing sonic booms followed in rapid succession, quickly hemming him in from all sides.
Without wasting a word, the surrounding pursuers unleashed their deadliest techniques, hurtling straight at the pair!
In an instant, violent gale-force winds snapped ancient trees across dozens of zhang around them!
Primal energy surged within Ye Feng's body, his eyes gleaming with sharp murderous intent. Stamping hard against the ground, he locked onto a few directions where the enemies' cultivation was relatively weaker.
Gripping his sword with both hands, golden light blazed brilliantly!
"Tiger's Roar: Mountain Cleaver!!"
*Boom!!*
Razor-sharp Geng Metal power ravaged the clearing. Ye Feng's crouched body shot forward like a ravenous tiger hunting its prey!
A golden afterimage cut across the night sky.
A brilliant golden sword flash flared in midair and vanished in an instant!
Wherever Ye Feng passed, the three Core Formation cultivators along his path were cleaved in two at the waist!
Bisected cleanly!
*Boom!!*
Yet having poured everything into the strike, Ye Feng wheeled around to take the full brunt of all incoming attacks head-on!
*Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!*
He swung his longsword furiously, intercepting several strikes, but several arcs of sword light still slashed across his body.
Blood sprayed in an instant, and Ye Feng's form plummeted violently toward the ground!
*Thud!*
*Boom!!*
The soft earth was blasted open into a crater several zhang wide. Sprawled on the ground, Ye Feng coughed up a huge mouthful of blood.
Pain wracked him as though every bone in his body were coming apart; his internal organs had shifted out of place, and his blood and vitality churned uncontrollably.
Forcing himself past the agony, Ye Feng scrambled to his feet. A sword strike had just severed the tendon in his left ankle, and blood poured out in a steady stream.
Before long, it dyed his white robe entirely crimson!
Yet Li Guanqi remained completely submerged in his cultivation, desperately refining the violent energy within him!
He knew Ye Feng's nature—so long as Ye Feng drew breath, Li Guanqi would not suffer a single scratch!
"What are you scared of?! After him!!"
"He's already wounded, he can't hold out much longer!"
"Hahaha, the Purple Sun Immortal Fruit is mine!"
"Hmph! Chase! Don't let him get away!"
"Another hundred li ahead is tier-four demon beast territory! Hurry, before complications arise!"
Listening to the furious curses behind him, Ye Feng's heart sank little by little.
These cutthroats were not the sort to be deterred by killing just a few men!
The moment he took to the air, Ye Feng coughed up another mouthful of blood. Raising a hand, he sealed his wounds to stem the flow, then darted toward the depths without looking back!
Staggering through the air, he burned through vast amounts of primal energy. Having just broken through, his realm was not even stabilized.
The high-intensity slaughter was pushing him to his absolute limit, but even so...
Ye Feng glanced back at the youth whose primal energy fluctuations grew more violent by the second. Gritting his teeth, he flew toward the mountain depths with everything he had!
Yet his speed had slowed far too much, and the encircling crowd closed in once more!
Employing every trick at their disposal, the pursuers constantly choked off Ye Feng's flight path, their attacks pouring in relentlessly like rain through every crevice!
These desperados were ruthless and underhanded to the extreme; a single lapse in concentration would leave several more gashes carved into his flesh.
Ye Feng's sword formed an impenetrable wall, his torso twisting as he evaded several strikes.
Yet right then, the attackers caught on to something: no matter what happened, Ye Feng would never allow the person on his back to take a hit!
In a heartbeat, they exchanged glances, shifting their targets from Ye Feng to Li Guanqi.
The pressure on Ye Feng instantly multiplied!
He pushed his footwork to the absolute limit as he dodged and darted, yet even so, he took several blows head-on simply to shield Li Guanqi from harm!
*Pfft!*
A longsword ran through his body, but Ye Feng violently caught the wrist trying to wrench the blade. With immense force, he crushed the attacker's hand to splinters.
His eyes bloodshot, Ye Feng was now like a cornered beast; no matter where he darted, someone struck at his back.
Several sharp swords stabbed through his body, but to their utter astonishment, Ye Feng used his own arms and palms to physically catch and hold the three blades in place!
At the same exact moment, an explosive burst of sword light instantly decapitated the two men in front of him!
Only the third reacted fast enough to barely dodge!
Clutching his bleeding neck, the man stared with lingering terror.
Backing his body against a tree trunk, Ye Feng looked around with hazy eyes, panting like a bull.
*Haa... wheeze...*
His breaths rattled like an old, broken pair of bellows. Blood blurred his vision.
Raising a trembling left hand, he wiped away the blood and spat out a mouthful of gore.
Feeling the near-empty dantian within him, a vicious glint flashed across his eyes.
Suddenly!
Ye Feng's eyes went wide as he glared around, roaring at the top of his lungs,
"Come on, then, you bastards!!"
As his shout rang out, the pursuers saw that Ye Feng was at the end of his rope and struck in unison!
In an instant, sword light tore across the clearing, bent on wiping out the two of them once and for all!
Ye Feng shifted his footing, leveled his longsword across his chest, and kicked off the trunk behind him with all his might!
*Crack!*
Ye Feng had no intention of clashing with them head-on; using the recoil of that force, he prepared to break away and run.
Chapter 251