Several gray hounds leapt forward, but such an attack was not a concern for Qian Ye. With a sweep of his Eastern Peak, he slammed all the gray hounds against the cave walls. The entire cave passage shook, and the hounds tumbled to the ground, half of them unable to get up.
However, Qian Ye frowned. He had controlled his sword strike perfectly, intending to incapacitate all the gray hounds with one strike. Unexpectedly, after the sword struck, the origin power on the blade was absorbed by half when it touched the hounds’ ugly, wrinkled skin. This greatly diminished the power of the Eastern Peak, killing only one hound while the rest were wounded but not dead.
Qian Ye changed his approach. He tapped the Eastern Peak, holding back the origin power and enhancing only the sharpness of the blade. This time, it worked, and the hounds were felled one by one. Yet, Qian Ye still noticed that a small amount of origin power was absorbed by the hounds.
Qian Ye examined the corpses and confirmed that their strange, deep gray, wrinkled skin had the ability to absorb origin power, which would significantly reduce the effectiveness of attacks for those who relied on origin power to enhance their strikes.
No wonder William transformed into his combat form and used sharp claws to kill the natives with speed and strength. Attacks based on origin power and ordinary origin power weapons were ineffective.
After passing through this section of the cave, another group of small beings rushed at Qian Ye. This time, he drew out Blood Mandala and fired a shot at them.
Qian Ye used a burst round, and in the narrow passage, there was no place to hide. Most of the small beings were caught in the explosion. However, only two of these Level 5 or 6 beings died, and the rest struggled to their feet.
Qian Ye silently switched to Phantom Manjushaka and fired again, this time with the maximum possible illusionary effect. This shot was more effective, causing many of the small beings to fall into confusion, pain, or madness, but they soon recovered.
It seemed that origin power guns had limited effectiveness against the native inhabitants, mainly because much of the explosive force was absorbed by their strange skin. To deal with them, it was better to use melee weapons, especially those with sharp or piercing properties, and less reliant on origin power enhancement.
Qian Ye re-drew the Eastern Peak, summoned the Power of the Sea, and then swung the sword. This attempt had mixed results. The small beings were highly resistant to the suppressive power of the Sea, but they had no defense against the inherently heavy and sharp Eastern Peak. Relying on its weight alone, Qian Ye killed several small beings with one strike.
A dozen small beings were eliminated by three swings of the Eastern Peak, without even needing the blade to cut. With this, Qian Ye had a plan.
As he delved deeper into the mountain’s belly, covering nearly a kilometer, Qian Ye arrived in a natural cavernous hall.
The massive cave, spanning hundreds of meters and towering several dozen meters high, was majestic. Stalactites hung from the ceiling, and water dripped down from them, forming pools of various sizes. In the center of the cave, an underground river surfaced, winding its way through the cave before disappearing into another opening.
This place was a natural habitat for the native creatures. As Qian Ye entered the hall, he saw at least several dozen dark shadows darting into the shadows. They were not afraid, but waiting for the right moment to strike. Since arriving in this strange world, Qian Ye had not encountered even a single docile creature, not even the clearly herbivorous sword-horned horses, which were extremely fierce.
Qian Ye activated his bloodline stealth, concealed his aura, and advanced slowly in the shadows.
In the previous encounters, he had noticed that most native creatures relied on sensing origin power to detect their surroundings. Once Qian Ye activated his bloodline stealth, they lost their target. After a while, some small beings emerged from their hiding spots, confused and searching for the intruder.
But these hunter-like creatures quickly became prey. A massive, crocodile-like beast suddenly burst from a hole in the ground, biting one of the native creatures in half and swallowing it whole.
The appearance of this underground crocodile caused chaos in the cave, with the native creatures fleeing in all directions. Seeing this at least Level 12 beast, Qian Ye felt a twinge of temptation but restrained himself.
The native creatures’ blood essence was exceptionally rich, and this beast had the equivalent of three or four third-tier barons. Slaying it could push Qian Ye’s blood core to the next level, potentially making him a second-tier viscount.
However, Qian Ye resisted the urge. In this forsaken place, the beasts’ combat power was significantly stronger than outside. With numerous Eternal Night experts nearby, Qian Ye couldn’t afford to engage in a prolonged battle with this underground crocodile. If both sides were injured, someone else might take advantage.
The crocodile moved like lightning, swallowing several other beasts before retreating back into its hole. Looking at the deep, dark opening, Qian Ye felt a chill. There were more such holes in the cave hall.
Qian Ye cautiously navigated around the holes, avoiding detection by other beasts, and moved towards the other side of the hall.
Suddenly, he sensed a strong fluctuation of origin power and stopped, hiding in a nearby crevice. In this underground world, beasts relied on detecting origin power to hunt. Using too much origin power in a fight would make one a target.
With a boom, a section of the cave wall exploded, and two Dark Race viscounts, a spider demon and a werewolf, rushed in. They had assumed their primal forms, and due to the spider demon’s large size, they had used origin power grenades to blast through the wall and enter the hall.
However, this made the two viscounts as conspicuous as the sun in the night, drawing the attention of all the beasts in the hall. When they stood, they were shocked to see a dense horde of at least dozens of types of beasts, numbering in the thousands.
Even the fierce werewolf stepped back, showing fear. But behind them, hundreds of gray-skinned small beings, like a torrent of water, rushed in, screaming and wielding primitive yet deadly weapons, charging at the spider demon and the werewolf.
It seemed these two Dark Race viscounts were in a dire situation. Qian Ye had no intention of sharing their burden. He concealed his aura and slowly moved along the outer edge of the hall, trying to bypass it and continue deeper.
The stalemate lasted less than a minute before the battle erupted. The spider demon and the werewolf, true elites of the Eternal Night, demonstrated their formidable combat power. They unleashed their full strength, utilizing their racial talents and bloodline abilities, cutting down the beasts and gray-skinned small beings in droves.
Yet, the number of beasts and gray-skinned small beings was overwhelming. The small beings continued to pour in from the broken wall, making it impossible to kill them all. No matter how fierce the spider demon and the werewolf were, they would eventually run out of stamina and be torn apart.
The hall was in complete chaos, with the roar of the spider demon and the werewolf, the screams of the gray-skinned small beings, and the roars of the beasts mingling together, punctuated by cries of pain and anguish. This worked to Qian Ye’s advantage, and he quickened his pace, moving rapidly along the cave wall.
As he moved, Qian Ye suddenly detected a faint origin power fluctuation from a seemingly unremarkable section of the wall!
The fluctuation was extremely subtle, and if not for Qian Ye’s True Sight, he would have missed it. Moreover, the source was very close, less than two meters away!
Without hesitation, Qian Ye flicked the Eastern Peak, held it with both hands, and thrust it towards the source of the origin power.
Though the strike was hasty, Qian Ye’s mastery of basic sword techniques was flawless. The sword cut through the air like a storm, with silver patterns flashing and golden lines gleaming.
The cave wall crumbled like tofu, pierced by the Eastern Peak. Qian Ye felt the blade hit something, but the surge of origin power vanished, like a stone sinking into the sea. He heard a low exclamation.
The origin power disturbance caused the cave wall to shatter, revealing a passage. Inside, Li Kuanglan, dressed in blue, held the Eastern Peak’s blade, looking at Qian Ye in astonishment.
“Oops, I hit the wrong person.” Qian Ye widened his eyes, momentarily stunned.
The other’s origin power attributes were extremely obscure, even in True Sight. In the urgency, he had failed to identify them. Now, recognizing them as belonging to the Dawn side, this blue-clad young man must be a powerful figure from the Empire.
Anyone who could grasp the Eastern Peak’s blade with one hand was no ordinary person. Though he had covered his hand with a thin layer of frost to insulate the blade, his combat power was still formidable.
The two locked eyes, and the atmosphere was tense. Just as Li Kuanglan was about to boost his aura, Qian Ye gave a shake, causing the Eastern Peak to tremble and slip from Li Kuanglan’s grip.
The timing was perfect, pulling the sword just as Li Kuanglan’s aura was about to rise.
“Sorry, it was unintentional.” Qian Ye apologized, tossing a potion to Li Kuanglan before quickly leaving.
In such chaotic situations, threats from allies were sometimes no less dangerous than those from the Dark Race. After the bloody battle at the Iron Curtain, Qian Ye understood this well. Li Kuanglan was formidable, and his identity was unknown; Qian Ye had no desire to find a powerful ally in such a place.
Li Kuanglan, still dazed, caught the potion instinctively. Only after Qian Ye was gone did he look at his hand. A faint red line appeared in his palm, a wound from the Eastern Peak’s strike.
“A Zhao Clan member? Interesting!” Li Kuanglan examined the war general-level recovery potion and chuckled lightly.
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