Chapter Fourteen: The Slaughter

Time seemed to congeal in that instant. Cao Yun was like a dead branch concealed in the shadow beneath the nest, blending perfectly with the surrounding nest, the towering tree, and even the world itself. Even his breathing appeared to merge with the whispers of the breeze, resonating in endless harmony. His patience and endurance had reached their peak, revealed in their entirety.

From afar came an eagle’s cry that shook heaven and earth, tearing through the tranquil sky. Cao Yun knew that the prey for which he had waited so long had finally returned.

He narrowed his eyes and gazed into the distance. A tiny speck on the horizon gradually grew larger, eventually revealing the majestic form of a giant silver-winged eagle. Clutched in its talons was an enormous water buffalo. Soaring across the nine heavens, it resembled a victorious general returning home, laden with spoils, proud and confident.

At that moment, Cao Yun’s breathing became as steady as a mountain. He held his breath and focused his mind, every ounce of strength in his body drawn taut like a bowstring pulled to its limit. When the giant silver-winged eagle swept over his head, its vast shadow blotted out the sun and engulfed the entire nest. Cao Yun knew that the moment of final battle had arrived.

He stirred the spiritual power within his whole body. It surged like a mighty river, turbulent and unstoppable. Just as the eagle was about to descend into the nest, Cao Yun struck!

A streak of azure light flashed across the sky like lightning, splitting the water buffalo in two in an instant. Its momentum undiminished, it pierced straight through the eagle’s tough feathers and flesh, burying itself deep in its chest.

At the same time, an invisible blade of wind shot forth like a sword drawn from its sheath, slashing toward the eagle’s neck at astonishing speed. Before the giant eagle could react, its fate had already been rewritten. The wind blade swept mercilessly across its neck, and its head was instantly severed from its body. Its unwilling eyes seemed to speak of endless bewilderment.

The headless eagle fell straight toward the nest like a kite whose string had been cut. Cao Yun, meanwhile, transformed into a streak of radiance and swept lightly out of the nest, his entire body blazing with azure light as he hovered in midair.

He watched in silence as the eagle’s body and the shattered nest plunged from the towering tree together, raising clouds of dust amid a clamor that shook the air.

Cao Yun gazed upon it all, his eyes deep and cold as the abyss of a frozen pool.

The setting sun poured down like molten gold, staining the horizon above the Ten Thousand Demons Forest in a breathtaking tapestry. Golden yellow and fiery red intertwined in a beauty that could intoxicate the soul. Who could have imagined that, within this cruel and blood-soaked forest, one might witness a sunset so tranquil and magnificent?

The afterglow draped Cao Yun in a golden battle robe. He stood beside a mountain stream, with a one-horned demonic beast writhing in agony at his feet. Its single horn was drenched in blood, and its body trembled violently from its grievous wounds, presenting a pitiful sight.

Cao Yun’s gaze was cold as frost, like an emotionless killing machine. Yet the waves of agony radiating from his abdomen forced him to furrow his brow slightly. Blood had already soaked through his tattered clothes. Clearly, he too had paid a considerable price in that fierce battle.

The following day, the morning light fell across the rolling hills like scattered flakes of gold, casting the land in a mottled radiance and lending it an air of mystery. Concealed behind a low, secluded slope, Cao Yun watched the breathtaking struggle between life and death below with a frigid, unwavering gaze.

The combatants below were the two blood slaves Cao Yun had encountered on the plains two days earlier. At that moment, they were locked in fierce battle with an extraordinarily agile demonic beast resembling a tiger and a leopard. The creature moved like lightning and possessed the force of raging waves. Every ferocious leap was accompanied by the thunderous collapse of a giant tree, as though it meant to shake the entire range of hills.

The strength displayed by the two blood slaves also astonished Cao Yun in secret. The lean man, thin as a monkey, carried a huge beast-hide sack on his back, yet moved with uncanny agility, like a specter. He was so swift that even the astonishingly fast demonic beast could not touch him. Though he lacked the power to inflict serious wounds with magic, he skillfully disrupted the creature’s attacks, leaving it in a thoroughly miserable state.

The other was a bald giant, carrying a beast-hide sack on his back and standing more than nine feet tall. A foul stench clung to him so strongly that it made one want to cover one’s nose. He wore beast-hide gloves, while an earthy yellow radiance flowed over his body. His hands shifted through a series of seals, and his lips moved incessantly, clearly indicating that he was casting some powerful spell.

Just as the demonic beast was entangled by the lean man and unable to break free, the bald giant suddenly shouted, “Bind!”

Before his voice had faded, four enormous earthy-yellow hands burst from the ground. Like shackles forged by the earth itself, they firmly seized all four of the beast’s limbs. The creature struggled and roared desperately, but no matter how violently it fought, it could not break free of those massive hands.

“Now!” the bald giant shouted to the lean man.

At his words, the lean man’s eyes sharpened instantly, as though he had gathered every ounce of his strength into his palm. A wind blade half a man’s height rapidly condensed there, resembling a silver bolt of lightning tearing across the sky. Carrying an incomparably fierce force, it slashed viciously toward the creature’s neck.

Wherever the wind blade passed, the air seemed to split in two, releasing a shrill whistle. With a crisp crack, the blade plunged directly into the beast’s neck and severed its head from its body. Its enormous carcass collapsed helplessly to the ground, sending dust billowing into the air.

Cao Yun watched it all in silence, secretly marveling at the blood slaves’ strength and flawless coordination. Yet the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

An azure rainbow, like a ghostly radiance suddenly blooming in the sky, shot from his hand toward the bald giant at astonishing speed. The lean man, standing nearby, reacted with swift eyes and nimble hands, shouting, “Sky Kui, look out!”

The giant’s gaze tightened. Without the slightest hesitation, he activated the golden light shield within his body, attempting to block the sudden fatal strike. But the azure rainbow was like an indestructible blade. It tore through the shield with ease and punched viciously through the giant’s chest, leaving behind a horrifying wound as wide as a bowl.

Shock and unwillingness flickered in the giant’s eyes. He stared fixedly toward the direction from which the azure rainbow had come, as though he wished to burn the image of the person behind it forever into his gaze. A streak of azure light flashed across the distance like a specter, vanishing in an instant yet leaving behind an endless chill.

Through his blurred vision, he could just make out the fleeing figure. It was the youth who had confronted them on the Hunting Plain the last time.

A bitter smile crept involuntarily across his lips. He sighed inwardly. If not for the excessive expenditure caused by his Earth Prison technique, which had left his magical power depleted, how could he have been so easily killed by a short blade controlled through the Wind Manipulation technique?

The thought had barely arisen when his mind grew heavy, as though countless weights of lead were pressing down upon it. The world before his eyes began to darken, and his body lost the strength to remain upright. At last, his massive frame collapsed helplessly into the dust, merging with the earth. Only his unwilling gaze remained, still fixed upon the distant horizon.

“Sky Kui!”

That was the final voice the giant heard before his life came to an end.