Chapter 1626: Slaughter

A man and a beast were locked in fierce combat on the wilderness.

Facing the world force of the Bone-Stripping Rat, Ye Yuan showed no sign of weakness.

His deep and steady sword aura faintly showed signs of breaking through the world force.

The crowd was stunned beyond words, but Ye Yuan sighed inwardly.

On this trip, treasure hunting was merely incidental; his true purpose was to find an opportunity for breakthrough.

The appearance of these Bone-Stripping Rats gave him a chance to hone himself.

A life-and-death struggle with such a powerful beast might spark inspiration and help him comprehend the fourth layer of the technique.

But now, his attempt to test the waters had yielded nothing.

Driving the current Ethereal Sword Art with the Chaos True Scripture indeed allowed him to contend with fourth-order experts.

Yet he still could not find where the problem lay.

Now Ye Yuan was like a ship lost in a vast ocean.

Seemingly powerful, but with a bleak future ahead.

If he could not find a direction forward, the strongest opponent he could face in the future would be at most the first level of the Divine Lord realm.

"Ethereal Sword Art—Rift-Space Condensing Edge!"

Ye Yuan gave a soft shout, and his powerful fused laws, like an ice-breaking blade, instantly pierced through the world force of the fourth-order Bone-Stripping Rat, pinning it firmly to the ground.

This move, Rift-Space Condensing Edge, was the strongest strike combining Ye Yuan's sword dao and spatial laws, and also his most powerful trump card.

He integrated spatial laws into his sword technique, infusing his sword aura with powerful rift-space force, making it exceptionally sharp.

With the attack boost from the Divine Lord-grade treasure Junyi Sword, Ye Yuan could pierce the defense of a fourth-order beast.

The fourth-order Bone-Stripping Rat lay on the ground, twitching incessantly, clearly on the verge of death.

Seeing this, the crowd's eyes nearly popped out.

The sharpness of that sword strike made their hearts tremble.

Especially the first-level Divine Lord martial artists; their gazes toward Ye Yuan now held a hint of fear.

A Return to Void realm martial artist had actually killed a fourth-order beast—this was simply inconceivable.

After all, even they dared not claim absolute victory against this fourth-order beast!

In other words, Ye Yuan was equally capable of killing them!

Ye Yuan sheathed his sword and stood tall. His slightly thin figure now appeared towering in everyone's eyes.

"Elder Ye is... so strong!"

"A Return to Void slaying a Divine Lord—unheard of!"

"So the Return to Void realm can be this powerful!"

"Spatial laws truly are the supreme laws, with such might! If only I could grasp a shred of them!"

...

The stewards and protectors were all astounded, deeply shaken by Ye Yuan.

Zheng Qi's eyes flickered as he said slowly, "Ye Yuan's ability to kill a fourth-order beast relies not only on spatial laws! His technique is extraordinarily profound, enabling such martial skills. I feel that the true source of Ye Yuan's strength is the technique he cultivates!"

The crowd was startled by this.

What kind of technique could allow a Return to Void realm to defeat a fourth-order beast?

Wasn't this technique a bit too abnormal?

Zheng Qi's sharp eyes caught a trace of disappointment on Ye Yuan's face, and he was secretly surprised.

With such formidable combat power, was this kid still dissatisfied?

That disappointment was not feigned.

Ye Yuan clearly wanted to hide it, but Zheng Qi saw through it.

What was this kid pursuing?

Gu Han had long forgotten about saving his master.

He was utterly shattered by Ye Yuan's strength.

When Ye Yuan returned, he was inevitably surrounded by the crowd. He merely smiled, somewhat forced.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

Suddenly, a series of explosions came from within the beast horde, sending Bone-Stripping Rats flying everywhere.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

A string of figures suddenly burst out from the encirclement of beasts.

The first was Gao Yuan!

He was now drenched in blood, clearly suffering from serious injuries.

These Bone-Stripping Rats were nothing to Ye Yuan, but they were deadly to others.

Moreover, these mutated Bone-Stripping Rats possessed a strange force field that was hard to guard against.

"Master!"

Gu Han, seeing Ling Zikun break out of the encirclement, was overjoyed and rushed over to support him.

Gao Yuan, upon seeing Ye Yuan, glared with rage, his face twisted as if he wanted to devour him alive.

But he only roared, "Quick, flee! A fourth-order mid-stage Rat King is chasing us!"

Zheng Qi's expression changed, and he said gravely, "Everyone, run!"

A large group sprinted with all their might, using every ounce of strength.

Suddenly, they heard no more sounds behind them and stopped.

After successive battles and this frantic run, the group was exhausted.

Originally, the two clans' teams numbered hundreds, but now less than half remained.

Clearly, many had fallen among the Bone-Stripping Rats, their bodies likely lost forever.

Once they stopped, the gazes of Tianxing, Dean, Gao Yuan, and others all fell on Ye Yuan.

Naturally, these were not friendly looks, but ones that wanted to tear Ye Yuan apart.

They had used every last resource to escape, suffering heavy losses.

In contrast, Ye Yuan was spotless, not even a speck of dirt on him!

This stark contrast made them feel extremely unbalanced.

"Gao Yuan, our demon race agrees to ally with you! Our target now is this brat!" Tianxing said darkly.

Gao Yuan's lips curled into a sinister smile. "Good! Ling Zikun, how about it? This kid deliberately saved your disciple but left you behind. You're not still going to defend him, are you?"

Ling Zikun's face showed conflict. He glanced at Gu Han and suddenly said, "Forget it. Ye Yuan saved my disciple, which is like saving me. This time, I stand with him!"

Ling Zikun now regretted that if he had firmly sided with Ye Yuan earlier, the Jiangyong Imperial City might not have suffered such heavy casualties.

Since Ye Yuan had brought Gu Han out, he would surely have brought them out as well.

Gu Han was his most valued disciple, on whom he had lavished great effort.

If not for Ye Yuan, Gu Han, trapped by the Bone-Stripping Rats, would have died without a burial place.

So now, he would stand with Ye Yuan.

Gao Yuan's face turned ashen; he hadn't expected this outcome.

"Hmph! Ling Zikun, since that's the case, let's part ways now! You take the broad road, I'll take the narrow bridge! This battle is unavoidable!" Gao Yuan threatened.

Ling Zikun took a deep breath. "Then let's fight! Gu Han, step aside."

Zheng Qi looked at Gao Yuan and said coldly, "Gao Yuan, you despicable wretch, colluding with alien races to slaughter your own kind! Today, we'll settle old and new scores together!"

With that, Zheng Qi raised his sword and charged at Gao Yuan.