A Terrifying Foe, an All-Out Qi Yuan!

Inside the inner city. Blood Tiger sat in the spectator stands. Beside him sat many nobles who, like him, were bizarre amalgams of human, gui, and beast. Some had bull heads, others bore pig faces; hundreds, even thousands gathered together, making the place feel like a menagerie of myriad demons and gui. These grotesque nobles wore frenzied expressions as they stared down into the Captive Arena below. Down in the ring, scantily clad, half-naked men and women gripped blades and clashed in desperate, bloody slaughter. The nobles' eyes were bloodshot, their breath coming heavy and ragged. "Useless piece of trash, snap his neck!" "Bite him! Don't you have teeth?!" "If you make me lose money, I'll skin you alive!" "Fuck your mother!" "Fuck your father!" All sorts of filthy curses filled the air. Blood Tiger shook his massive tiger head as he gorged on minced meat mixed with garlic, his foul breath reeking with every open-mouthed chew. He glanced at his communication artifact with an easy, relaxed posture. "A cultivator back from the dead?" On the other end, seeing Blood Tiger's reply, the Blood Tiger Gang Leader immediately responded with obsequious deference: "That wretch dared disrespect your illustrious name, Lord Blood Tiger, and slaughtered our gang members without cause. Now he's actually fled into the inner city seeking asylum! We humbly beg you to step in and stop him, Lord Blood Tiger—this humble one will present thirty thousand taels of white silver in gratitude!" Blood Tiger narrowed his eyes. "Skip the polite nonsense about disrespecting me. I happen to have some free time, so I'll go take a look." With that, Blood Tiger pushed himself up. Through the communication artifact, the gang leader had already forwarded Qi Yuan's rough location. He was not far from where Blood Tiger was. Before leaving, Blood Tiger gave the captive arena maid's thigh a playful slap, a leering gleam in his eyes. "Save me the thigh meat from that two-legged beast up there." He was referring to the slaves fighting in the ring. Even if one fought desperately and survived the arena, it never guaranteed a chance to keep living. The maid flashed a fawning smile. "Don't you worry, my lord. I'll make sure the tenderest cut is kept for you." Blood Tiger swaggered down the streets of the inner city. Compared to the outer city, the inner city was vastly more prosperous, and the streets were far cleaner. Human servants walked with bowed heads, neatly dressed, diligently sweeping the thoroughfares. *A resurrected cultivator... Thorn Blood verified his death, yet he actually came back to life. Looks like he has secrets on him. He probably came to the inner city to pledge himself to some lord and offer that secret up.* Blood Tiger had a sharp mind and a vivid imagination. He felt he had instantly grasped Qi Yuan's true intentions. *A clever little scheme, but too bad for him, he ran into me.* Confident in his cunning, Blood Tiger bared a murderous sneer across his tiger visage. Just then, he abruptly looked up at the sky, his expression shifting to surprise and bewilderment. A streak of gold flashed across the heavens at staggering speed. Blood Tiger knew that golden radiance well—it belonged to none other than Jin Danhe, a titan of Thorn Blood! This great figure was a Heaven-grade expert, an existence whose mere footstep could cause tremors across all of Yunxue City. Yet as far as Blood Tiger knew, this esteemed elder spent years in seclusion, rarely ever showing his face. Why had he suddenly appeared today? *How strange. Well, it has nothing to do with a small fry like me. My task right now is to cut Qi Yuan down.* *And that useless Zhi Qi—to actually lose track with a surveillance artifact! Looks like I'll have to handle it myself.* With that thought, Blood Tiger abruptly quickened his pace. Suddenly, he looked up at the sky once more. Several more streaks of light flashed across the firmament, each bearing an extraordinarily terrifying aura—every single one was a Heaven-grade expert! *What's going on? Even the Elder Council has been mobilized?* Blood Tiger felt an ominous premonition. In just this short span, he had discerned over ten Heaven-grade experts taking to the air. Something monumental had definitely occurred. *When the sky falls, let the tall folks hold it up. It has nothing to do with me.* Blood Tiger forced himself to calm down. For now, finding Qi Yuan was his top priority. *** Meanwhile, up in the sky, Jin Danhe stood clad in golden robes, his face dark and menacing. "The Princess was actually killed by a human slave!" In the Kuijin Realm, anyone bearing the title of Princess possessed a background so immense it was terrifying. They were either daughters of a guishen or sisters of a guishen. The guishen hung high above the heavens or lurked deep beneath the earth and the sea of clouds, practically never manifesting before the mortal world. Their daughters and sisters held status even higher than the elders of Thorn Blood. The one who had come to Yunxue City for amusement was the daughter of the Dark Pupil Guishen, An Lingyun. This princess loved nothing more than concealing her identity to stir up trouble. When Jin Danhe learned that An Lingyun had arrived in Yunxue City, he had grown exceedingly anxious, specifically dispatching a Heaven-grade expert to shadow and protect her. Yet just moments ago, he watched that Heaven-grade expert's soul tablet shatter. Every member of Thorn Blood left a wisp of their divine soul within a soul tablet. A shattered soul tablet meant perishing on the spot. How could Jin Danhe not be shaken by such news? The other Heaven-grade experts had likewise hurried toward the location where that expert had fallen. "What happened?" Jin Danhe's voice was dreadfully grim. With the princess dead, none of them could escape responsibility. Even if they spared their lives, they would be stripped of a layer of skin. He longed to eat the perpetrator's flesh and gnaw his bones. Tenth Elder's expression was equally ghastly. "The princess set up a stall at the city gate to collect toll fees. A mortal... not only refused to pay, but slapped her to death on the spot! When Long Shiyi stepped in, he was also slapped to death with a single strike!" Long Shiyi was the Heaven-grade expert assigned to protect the princess. Even if his combat prowess was unremarkable, he was still Heaven-grade! And he had been slapped to death in one blow? How could Jin Danhe not be shocked? Now, the powerhouses of Yunxue City were gathering in force, converging with ferocious momentum. "To slap Long Shiyi to death in a single strike, his strength is undeniably formidable. But no matter what, having killed the princess, he must die today!" Jin Danhe stated grimly. "Li Da is currently contacting him to sound out his depths!" Tenth Elder said. Li Da was also a Heaven-grade expert whose specialty lay in speed and escape; thus, he had been chosen to probe Qi Yuan. As for the rest of Thorn Blood's powerhouses, they gathered in the shadows, waiting to unleash a thunderous strike to obliterate him. For now, they would lie in wait, biding their time to strike. If they did not act, so be it; but once they did, it would shake the world. *** At that moment, on the street below, Li Da glared furiously at the man before him. "Do you have any idea what you've done?" Qi Yuan stretched leisurely, his face as languid as ever. "I just wanted to come into the city to grab some breakfast, but someone was blocking the gate demanding a toll—a hundred taels right off the bat! Do you know how many steamed buns that could buy? I complained to the city guards, but they completely ignored me! Their captain was standing right behind that crook, nodding and bowing like an errand boy! Is there no justice left in this world? Is there no law? Since no one was going to uphold justice for an honest man like me, I had to enforce it myself!" Qi Yuan spoke with utmost sincerity. His original plan had been very simple: find Thorn Blood, tell them that he was undergoing a mortal transformation and not to disturb him, or face the consequences. He had always been very reasonable, preferring to convince people with reason. Of course, if reason failed, he could flexibly adapt his approach and convince them with force! Hearing this, Li Da found the situation utterly ridiculous. Killing a princess over a measly hundred taels of silver? Was this man out of his mind?! "You're finished! By slaying the princess, you've sealed your fate. You will not survive this day!" Li Da snapped in a heavy voice. "Someone will come for you shortly—and that will be your doom!" Without an ounce of hesitation, Li Da took to the sky and flew off. This Qi Yuan was simply too terrifying; Li Da dared not exchange blows with him, opting to flee immediately after dropping a parting threat. "Hey, don't run!" Qi Yuan was speechless. Were these people really that fragile? Unfortunately, because he was currently undergoing a mortal transformation, he could not use his divine sense. Otherwise, he could have ferreted out all the enemies hiding nearby in an instant and slaughtered them clean. For now, he could only advance step by step, marching straight toward their lair. After a few dozen breaths, a scornful voice suddenly drifted over. "You've got guts, daring to barge into the inner city!" Blood Tiger stood with arms crossed, his tiger head held high, exuding an overbearing swagger. Qi Yuan looked at Blood Tiger, his face filled with hesitation and gravity. "You're the backup they called?" "Now that you've laid eyes upon this lord, why haven't you knelt?!" Blood Tiger barked arrogantly. His voice boomed like thunder, thick with foul breath. He looked at Qi Yuan as though staring at a corpse. Qi Yuan, on the other hand, grew exceptionally wary. *Could my eyes be deceiving me? Is this guy a genuine big shot? Otherwise, with cultivation like that, how would he dare block my path? Or has everyone in Yunxue City lost their minds, sending a puny little tiger to stop me?* "Since you've come, you are my opponent. I will treat you with respect," Qi Yuan said earnestly, raising his vigilance to the absolute limit. "You think you're worthy of being this grandpa's opponent?" Blood Tiger sneered in contempt. That domineering swagger, that supreme confidence—he looked every bit the peerless master, filling Qi Yuan with deep dread. "Even if you're powerful, you shouldn't use vulgar language!" Qi Yuan muttered displeasedly, the power throughout his entire body beginning to coalesce. He watched Blood Tiger closely. Blood Tiger was clearly riddled with openings from head to toe; Qi Yuan had ten thousand ways to strike him dead in a single blow. Yet he held back, hesitating. After all, the other party wasn't an idiot—daring to strut over meant he had to have real tricks up his sleeve. Even though his brow gave no warning of danger... what if this guy was an unfathomable grandmaster capable of deceiving both his eyes and his instincts? "Hmph. Slay yourself to atone for your crimes, and I might leave you an intact corpse," Blood Tiger commanded grandly. "It seems... I'll have to go all out!" Qi Yuan's expression became exceptionally grim. "This lord only needs a single finger to crush you!" Blood Tiger mocked, a classic display of the strong bullying the weak. Qi Yuan grew furious. This was intolerable! Even if you were strong, did that give you the right to insult his dignity?! Blue veins bulged across Qi Yuan's skin, and the blood surging through his veins grew unnatural. His face flushed deep red, looking like he was overheating. He was gathering power! Charging it to the peak! Blood Tiger looked on with utter disdain, his posture relaxed. "Hurry up and attack already, I'm on a tight schedule!" "Ah!" Suddenly, Qi Yuan let out a thunderous roar. The shout rang out like a bolt from the blue. Yet what followed that crack of thunder was something infinitely more terrifying. Qi Yuan's right foot slammed violently into the ground! "Break for me!" Boundless, inexhaustible power erupted at that very instant! In this single moment, he held nothing back. All of his might was unleashed and vented without restraint. *Rumble! Boom! Crack!* It was the sound of the earth splitting apart! The sound of roaring gales! The sound of entire roofs being torn away! It was like a tornado sweeping through—no, far more terrifying than a tornado! A gargantuan force, like a carpet-bombing nuclear strike, swept through the inner city. With deafening crashes, countless buildings collapsed, and stone pillars were flung into the air! In an instant, devastation stretched as far as the eye could see! Up in the sky, over a dozen terrifying silhouettes tumbled out of the air in utter disarray. Every single one of those silhouettes was a Heaven-grade expert! They had been lurking high in the sky, observing Qi Yuan in secret and preparing to launch a sneak attack. Who could have imagined that Qi Yuan's single stomp would carry such horrific force that the sheer shockwave would knock them straight out of the sky? Yet right now, Qi Yuan didn't spare those Heaven-grade powerhouses a single glance. His eyes remained fixed squarely on Blood Tiger. "You truly are formidable—completely unfathomable!" Qi Yuan couldn't help but marvel in praise. "Even though my attack was terribly slow and someone of your caliber could have easily dodged it, you didn't move an inch. You clearly didn't care about my attack in the slightest." Since Blood Tiger didn't care and the blow would have been nothing more than an itch, Qi Yuan had deliberately steered the brunt of the force away from him. Otherwise, what if Blood Tiger had casually dispersed the momentum? Meanwhile, the dozen-odd Heaven-grade experts who had crashed to the ground wore faces of absolute terror. Clearly, they had been frightened out of their wits by Qi Yuan's single strike! Shattering the earth with a single stomp—was this kind of power even humanly possible?! As for Blood Tiger, his entire body was stiff, completely paralyzed. What on earth had he just witnessed? That seemingly ordinary human had stomped the ground as if it were child's play. And the result... was the sky crumbling and the earth splitting apart! And then... Heaven-grade experts had fallen out of the sky like dumplings dropping into a pot! What now? What was he supposed to do? *Mother of god!* He panicked, terrified to the core, his legs trembling violently, utterly unable to move a muscle. Now he finally understood. The reason all those Heaven-grade experts had mobilized was to deal with this ruthless monster of a human. And he... had foolishly marched right up to block his path?! Just then, the voice of the Blood Tiger Gang Leader drifted from his communication artifact. "Lord Blood Tiger, a massive tremor just shook the inner city. Did something huge happen? Have you captured that puny human yet? Hearing such strange disturbances, this humble one is truly worried for your safety, Lord Blood Tiger!" Seeing those messages, Blood Tiger felt like vomiting blood in pure rage! A puny human? You call this monster who shattered the inner city with a single footstep a puny human?! Am I safe? Safe, my ass! His belly was full of curses; he wanted nothing more than to visit the gang leader's mother in the afterlife! "The muscles in your legs are trembling continuously—are you deflecting the impact? What a terrifying technique for discharging kinetic force!" Qi Yuan remarked earnestly, looking at Blood Tiger. With that said, his gaze swept across the fallen Heaven-grade powerhouses. "Before our duel, pray allow me to clear out these little pests first. Otherwise... they might disrupt our battle." Murderous intent flashed across Qi Yuan's face as he glared at the Heaven-grade experts. Hearing those words, the Heaven-grade experts felt their souls shudder. "Run!" Jin Danhe transformed into a streak of gold, bolting desperately toward the sky. "He can't fly! Take to the sky!" Li Da shouted in warning. During his encounter with Qi Yuan earlier, Qi Yuan had insisted he was merely born with immense strength and had never cultivated. Li Da hadn't believed it back then, but now he did. This truly was godlike strength! Since he hadn't cultivated, and they couldn't sense any aura of a practitioner on him, he presumably couldn't fly. Instantly, the dozen-odd Heaven-grade experts shot upward, soaring higher and higher into the sky. They had merely been caught off guard by the sudden shockwave earlier. Now that they had taken to the air and braced themselves, they believed that as long as Qi Yuan couldn't fly, he wouldn't be able to touch them. Whereas they... could bombard him from above. Yet even though they flew swiftly, two unlucky souls were struck by a pair of stones Qi Yuan casually kicked up, smashing them to death on the spot. Qi Yuan looked at the Heaven-grade experts hovering above, his face clouding with irritation. "Bullying me just because I don't have a mount, are you?" He found himself missing Shen Lingxuan a bit. If he were riding on her, he could soar into the sky and slaughter all of them. "Too bad for you, you don't know... that using technology doesn't count as supernatural power, does it?" A bizarre smile played across Qi Yuan's lips. As the words fell, a pair of mechanical wings unfolded from his back, brimming with high-tech flair.