Chapter 129: Overwhelming Onslaught

In the mercenary ranks, a thunderous roar echoed, “Why have you all stopped? What’s going on?”

A towering, ferocious warrior roughly shoved his way through the crowd, emerging to the front. He stood over three meters tall, with an extremely burly physique—his arms thicker than the average person’s thighs. This warrior wore exceedingly heavy armor, with plates as thick as a palm. Sharp, fearsome spikes protruded from his shoulders, elbows, and knees, giving him a menacing appearance.

His aura was chaotic, tinged with wisps of dark energy, hinting at a trace of arachne heritage. It turned out he was a half-breed, a mix of human and arachne. His enormous size came from his arachne blood, while his formidable body gave him an advantage in cultivation, allowing him to reach the 15th level of origin power. Compared to the black-armored warriors, he had the upper hand in both defense and strength.

This giant of a man now stepped forward, but Qian Ye remained motionless.

The burly man narrowed his eyes, as if electric sparks were shooting out, and roared, “I am the Thunder King Zhan of Furious Storms! Who are you? Did you kill all my brothers?”

Qian Ye finally opened his eyes, ignoring Zhan’s second question, and calmly replied, “Qian Ye.”

Zhan furrowed his thick brows, “Qian Ye? Aren’t you that Zhao Ye?”

“Want to fight? Then come and die. No need for so much chatter.”

Zhan, known for his fiery temper, couldn’t stand being provoked. Without further questions, he let out a thunderous roar and charged towards Qian Ye, his heavy footsteps causing the ground to tremble!

Qian Ye finally rose, drew the Eastern Peak, and started sprinting towards Zhan. With each step, he moved so fast that he seemed to turn into a blur, and in an instant, he was in front of Zhan, colliding with him violently!

The muffled sound of the collision made everyone—whether mercenary or native warrior—feel a pang of discomfort in their teeth.

After the collision, Qian Ye remained unmoved, while Zhan was sent flying backwards. At that moment, the Eastern Peak glowed with a crimson-golden light, like a flame, and with one slash, cut Zhan and his armor in two!

How could this be? The mercenary soldiers of the Furious Storms were left speechless, almost unable to believe their eyes. Zhan’s body was incredibly strong, and the thickness of his armor suggested how formidable his defense was. How could such a walking war machine be cut in half by a single sword strike?

Qian Ye stood with his sword, exhaling a puff of white breath. In front of him, Zhan’s body, split into two halves, slowly collapsed to the ground.

“Revenge my brother’s death!”

Another fierce general burst forth from the ranks, charging so frantically that he even knocked aside many of his fellow mercenaries. Though not as tall as Zhan, he still stood close to three meters, clad in heavy armor and wielding a massive hammer, clearly a figure of great strength and defense. On the battlefield, such a warrior, once unleashed, could be unstoppable, and his heavy weapon was far more effective than any fine sword or short spear.

Qian Ye sneered, instantly seeing through his intentions.

This man’s combat prowess was actually slightly inferior to Zhan’s, and his armor was thinner. His eagerness to jump out stemmed from the belief that Qian Ye, having killed Zhan, must be exhausted. He wanted to claim the kill and gain military merit.

His logic wasn’t entirely wrong. Qian Ye’s origin power was indeed limited, and he didn’t hide the three vortexes of origin power. The ability to instantly kill Zhan was incredible, likely due to some secret treasure. Such powerful treasures would consume a great deal of energy, leaving the user near death after a single use. This was a prime opportunity to take advantage of a weakened opponent.

This man, though seemingly crude, was actually quite shrewd. Under normal circumstances, his actions wouldn’t be considered a mistake. Unfortunately, like Zhan, he didn’t know who Qian Ye was and had never heard of his name. The Empire and the Neutral Zone were worlds apart, and for the lower and middle classes, they were two entirely different realms, unlikely to ever cross paths. Even if Qian Ye was famous in the Empire, few in the Neutral Zone would recognize him unless he reached the level of a major lord.

Qian Ye once again activated his blood core, spreading golden fire throughout his body. Each muscle and flesh seemed to be ablaze with a brilliant golden flame, unleashing the full power of his inferno-forged body. At the same time, his origin power vortices spun at full speed, channeling the undiluted origin power of the Dawn Awakening to the Eastern Peak. The countless tiny, almost tangible crystals within the origin power became razor-sharp edges.

As the enemy rushed towards him, Qian Ye let out a furious shout, activating his domain, and brought the Eastern Peak down with a mighty swing!

With his formidable body, heavy sword, and pure origin power, the combined force of this blow was nearly unstoppable.

The man, struck with fear, raised his warhammer to block, desperately trying to stop the sword. But Qian Ye, paying no attention, continued his downward slash, cutting the man and his hammer in two!

The mercenaries collectively gasped, but among the desperate, two more warriors charged towards Qian Ye. They were weaker than the previous one, but Qian Ye had already killed two, and with two against one, they hoped to seize the opportunity and claim the glory.

Qian Ye let out a long cry, his figure flashing, and with two swift strikes, he cleaved both men and their weapons in two!

Actually, another warrior also intended to rush in, but his actions were a bit slow. When the other two were cut down, he was just stepping out of the ranks, and this delay saved him. Seeing the fate of his comrades, he couldn’t suppress his fear, exclaiming, “How can this be? This doesn’t make sense!”

No matter who stepped up, regardless of their cultivation or skill, Qian Ye simply and brutally cut them down with a single, unyielding sword strike.

Behind the army of Furious Storms, a shrill horn signaled the attack. The front-line mercenaries hesitated, reluctant to face certain death, but the rear troops quickly surged forward, forcing the entire army to advance, whether they liked it or not.

Qian Ye stood firm with his sword, indifferent to the tide of enemies. If numbers alone were enough, the lords of the Empire wouldn’t hold such a lofty status.

The commander of the Furious Storms knew this well. However, Qian Ye was not a lord; he would get tired and deplete his resources. The plan was to wear him down with expendable mercenaries, exhausting him until he could be easily killed. After all, with money, there was no shortage of mercenaries.

Before the wave of soldiers reached him, countless origin power bullets flew towards Qian Ye. Amid the hail of bullets, he merely swatted away those aimed at his face and head, ignoring the rest.

In moments, Qian Ye’s body was ablaze with origin power flames, like a fireworks display. Countless bullets hit him, yet he remained standing amidst the blazing inferno.

Sometime during the chaos, Little Zhujji climbed onto Qian Ye’s shoulder, her little hands hugging him, excitedly looking around. “We’re about to have a big fight!”

“Yes,” Qian Ye smiled.

“But why wait for them to come? We’ve been waiting for so long.”

“Because we’re going to charge head-on and kill as many as possible.”

Little Zhujji looked confused, “But isn’t hunting supposed to be done from behind?”

“That’s for prey. These are just insects. We don’t need to be so careful, just crush them.”

“Oh, I see.” The little one, not fully understanding, suddenly asked, “I want to crush them too.”

“Alright, together.”

The mercenary wave quickly engulfed Qian Ye and Zhujji. Gordo was deeply worried, but they were too far away to help. Taking a deep breath, his eyes filled with bloodshot veins, and his throat bulged, clearly preparing to use his strongest move.

In reality, the number of surviving native warriors was small, disproportionate to the large army of the Furious Storms. If not for Qian Ye’s intervention, a single squad of the Furious Storms would have annihilated them. Despite the overwhelming odds and knowing it was a suicide mission, Gordo led his warriors to try and rescue them.

Zhujji stood on Qian Ye’s shoulder, waving her little hand towards Gordo, making a gesture. She and Gordo had spent some time together, and he understood that she was telling him not to come. He halted, his prepared battle cry stifled in his chest.

Neither Qian Ye nor Zhujji seemed concerned about the advancing army. Gordo, however, hesitated, unsure whether to charge in. If Qian Ye and Zhujji needed help, he would go without hesitation. But if they were confident, Gordo couldn’t risk his people’s lives.

How would they handle such a large force?

At that moment, the soldiers around Qian Ye suddenly dropped, as if crushed by a mountain, and more than half fell to the ground, immobilized. Clearly, it was the power of a domain, but Gordo’s worry did not diminish. Even the most powerful domains had weaknesses.

From within the ranks of the Furious Storms, a voice both gentle and commanding rang out, “Charge! His domain won’t last long. The more people inside, the less pressure each will feel.”

Gordo’s heart skipped a beat. Indeed, the Furious Storms had capable individuals who saw through Qian Ye’s domain’s weakness. The strength of the ocean vortex was ultimately tied to Qian Ye’s own power, and with a finite amount, the more people sharing the burden, the less pressure each would feel. Additionally, the more people inside, the more Qian Ye would be drained.

Qian Ye, calm, maintained his domain, crushing as many as entered, without holding back. However, his blood core was accelerating, and his energy was depleting rapidly. He couldn’t maintain this for long. But Qian Ye had the Vitality Steal, and the Book of Darkness stored a small reserve of blood energy.

Just as Qian Ye was about to use the Vitality Steal, Little Zhujji suddenly blew a thin, faint green breath. The green line, seemingly intangible, shot out dozens of meters. As Zhujji spun, the green breath spread in a circle, covering the surrounding area.

Qian Ye suddenly felt a tingling on his scalp, a sign of extreme danger. This warning seemed to come from the green breath. What exactly was this green breath that made even Qian Ye feel threatened?

Within the range of the green breath, the faces of all the mercenaries of the Furious Storms suddenly turned black, and they silently collapsed. Those already incapacitated by the domain ceased to breathe.

In an instant, the center of the battlefield became a wasteland.