Within the Indestructible City, Qian Ye swept his Eastern Peak, sending a spider demon flying. He used his strength to perfection, not wasting a single ounce of force. The spider demon crashed into a nearby building, collapsing the entire structure.
Amidst the rubble, the spider demon struggled to rise, but the space around him began to warp, weighed down by an immense pressure. Each movement became sluggish. Suddenly, several streams of origin flames erupted from the wreckage, burning the spider demon and forcing it to scream in agony.
These attacks were from the defensive arrays of the Indestructible City. The more severe the damage to the city’s buildings, the stronger the counterattack. While these assaults were not lethal to the combatants, they provided enough interference to be significant. In such intense battles, even the slightest disadvantage could be fatal. Therefore, after realizing this, both sides became extremely cautious, restraining themselves as much as possible to avoid causing further destruction.
As a result, the battle largely turned into a contest of combat skills, which was clearly disadvantageous for the spider demons and werewolves, who were accustomed to fierce and wild fighting. Yet, this was the human territory, and using every advantage was only natural. Additionally, this was also the Empire’s method of protecting the Indestructible City. Otherwise, if the Evernight experts were to wreak havoc, the loss would far outweigh any gains.
However, what frustrated the young and powerful Evernight fighters was that the Empire had monsters like Qian Ye on their side.
In terms of strength, Qian Ye was in no way weaker than the spider demons. His combat techniques were also masterful. Whenever a spider demon or werewolf, unskilled in technique, faced Qian Ye, they often found themselves sent flying in just a few moves, crashing into nearby structures, thus weakening them with the power of the defensive array and providing an opportunity for Qian Ye to strike.
The injured spider demon, now covered in scars and its abdomen burned black, managed to struggle to its feet. Before it could adjust, Qian Ye’s Eastern Peak sliced through the defensive force field, severing two of its limbs.
The spider demon let out a blood-curdling scream. A dark red light appeared at the tips of its remaining six limbs, shooting out six red beams into the night sky. It was as if pulled by six spider threads, vanishing into the darkness.
This escape ability was somewhat similar to Qian Ye’s void flicker. Though it was slightly inferior in grade, when launched suddenly, there was nothing Qian Ye could do but watch it escape. This spider demon was exceptionally strong, even surpassing Qian Ye in physical robustness. Under the full force of Eastern Peak, it only lost two limbs, whereas a regular spider demon would have all four limbs on one side severed by such a strike.
Qian Ye shook his head and selected a nearby vampire. Among all the dark races, Qian Ye was most familiar with the vampires, thanks to the ancient inheritance from the Blood River. He knew most of the abilities of the vampires, ensuring he wouldn’t let his opponent escape.
Just as Qian Ye locked onto his target, he sensed something and turned to another direction. There, a dense and intense aura of blood was slowly spreading, imprinting a sense of pressure in the minds of all the human experts.
This was a challenge to all the human fighters!
When this blood aura appeared, the previously disadvantaged young Evernight warriors found a pillar of support and quickly gathered around it. The human experts, feeling a chill in their hearts, stopped their attacks and watched cautiously, allowing their opponents to reorganize their defenses under the blood aura.
Qian Ye was no stranger to this blood aura; it belonged to the vampire prince Edward, whom he had encountered in the Central Labyrinth. But now, Edward’s blood aura seemed peculiar, less powerful than before. Deep within his blood aura, there was a hint of a pitch-black, purplish blood aura.
This hidden blood aura was very strange, clinging to Edward’s blood aura and burning like a flame. Despite Edward’s resistance, it was still being slowly consumed. If left unchecked, it would be completely ignited. Thus, Edward was using nearly a third of his blood aura to resist the burning of the purplish-black blood.
Many perceptive individuals noticed Edward’s unusual state, seeing it as an opportunity. However, Qian Ye remembered an ancient punishment mentioned in the Blood River inheritance: Burning Blood.
The Burning Blood punishment required a vampire great noble to perform it, using a drop of their own blood essence as a fire seed, injecting it into the victim’s body, turning their blood aura into a burning flame. The victim, while enduring pain, had to fight the burning of the blood fire, or their entire blood aura would turn into a blazing inferno, consuming them entirely. The effectiveness of this resistance depended on the quality and rank of the victim’s blood aura.
Edward, under the effects of the Burning Blood, still dared to challenge the Empire’s experts in the Indestructible City, indicating the high quality and strength of his bloodline.
But the Burning Blood punishment had another layer of meaning. As the great noble’s fire seed burned the victim’s blood aura, it would consume most of it but return a small, refined portion. The process was somewhat similar to the ancient Song scroll Qian Ye practiced, but more aggressive and faster. If the victim survived the entire period, their blood aura would be refined, and their power would increase to a higher level.
Additionally, when the Burning Blood ended, a part of the great noble’s fire seed would remain in the victim’s body, becoming a part of their bloodline. In a sense, it granted a bit of the great noble’s inheritance.
The source of the purplish-black blood aura was unknown, but judging from Edward’s current state, he was not struggling too much against the blood fire and would likely survive the punishment. If Edward successfully completed the punishment, he might become a powerful marquis, adding another formidable enemy for the humans.
We cannot let him return alive! Many human experts thought. Their fighting spirit surged, and they considered a coordinated attack.
However, the blood aura of Edward continued to spread quietly in the air, either unaware or unconcerned that he had become a target.
Zhao Yuying mumbled something, secretly loading a colorful cannonball into her hand cannon. Song Zining stood beside her, gently fanning himself. Each wave of his fan caused the surroundings to distort slightly, as he had set up a domain to protect Zhao Yuying. The hand cannon, though powerful, consumed a lot of energy, leaving Zhao Yuying momentarily vulnerable after each shot.
Even facing the threat of Zhao Yuying’s hand cannon, Edward did not move.
Someone acted faster than Zhao Yuying. A blue line appeared and instantly circled the blood aura dozens of times, producing a series of clashing sounds, like a long note.
After the sound, Li Kuanglan appeared in the air, retreating several dozen meters. Her Cold Moon Sandshroud trembled slightly, and the light on the blade dimmed. She stared intently at Edward, pale and obviously injured.
Most of the human experts were confused, but Zhao Yuying and Song Zining looked grave. Qian Ye frowned, slowly planting Eastern Peak into the ground. He had seen clearly that Li Kuanglan had used her lightning-fast sword, unleashing hundreds of strikes. Edward, enveloped in the blood aura, wore a black cloak, extending a hand with dark golden nails, deftly deflecting all of Li Kuanglan’s attacks, matching her speed.
Compared to the Central Labyrinth, Edward’s fingers now had long, dark golden nails, which could resist the edge of the Cold Moon Sandshroud.
Ji Tianqing suddenly appeared beside Edward, thrusting her hands into the blood aura. Edward grunted, meeting her with a claw, and the two engaged in a contest of strength. Ji Tianqing shouted, her hands shaking, and Edward grunted, his blood aura dispersing by nearly half.
However, Edward’s fingers moved like lightning, striking Ji Tianqing’s hands. She cried out, retreating several dozen meters, facing Edward from a distance, pale and in distress.
Edward grunted, his blood aura surging, quickly recovering to its full strength.
Qian Ye inwardly cursed, realizing that if Edward’s blood aura was weakened enough, he would have to retreat or face certain death from the burning.
When Ji Tianqing made her move, Li Kuanglan simply watched, not intending to intervene. Ji Tianqing, who had been lurking nearby, did not take the opportunity to join the attack. Both were a step behind Edward, and although the gap was small, they had no hope of winning.
If they had teamed up, Edward might have been severely injured and forced to flee. But these two, with their principles and pride, refused to coordinate.
“This is a battlefield, not a dueling ground!” Qian Ye shouted internally, feeling helpless.
After long battles, Qian Ye had accepted Song Zining’s philosophy that the means mattered little if the enemy was defeated. Now, with the chance to team up and defeat Edward, Li Kuanglan and Ji Tianqing were too concerned with honor, leaving Qian Ye with no words.
Knowing he couldn’t influence these two, Qian Ye decided to rely on himself. He alone understood the terrifying power of Edward once he overcame the Burning Blood.
Unable to succeed, human experts did not hesitate to launch a coordinated attack, surrounding Edward. Edward’s figure flickered, dodging all attacks with astonishing speed, even surpassing Li Kuanglan’s. No wonder he dared to challenge the human experts head-on.
Qian Ye took out his Twin Flowers, determined to use a Primal Gun to eliminate Edward. Even if it meant revealing many secrets, letting Edward go would mean countless deaths in the future, possibly including Qian Ye’s friends and brothers.
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