Chapter 135: Beast Tide, the World Falls Silent!

Yang Fan stood on the cliff’s edge, looking down into the endless abyss. Despite standing on the mountain peak, he felt as if he were sinking into a bottomless void. Shivering, he quickly pulled his gaze away.

He took two steps back and surveyed his surroundings. This was the top of the Endless Cliff, the very place where the Azure Hawk had once thrown him. Standing here now, Yang Fan felt a sudden sense of bewilderment—where should he go? He had originally intended to return to Earth, but that seemed impossible now. Later, he had planned to head toward the Kunpeng tribe, but he had no idea which direction that might be anymore. When he had arrived, he held a long blade in his hand; now, returning to the same spot, he was empty-handed, covered in scars, and barely clothed.

With a helpless smile, Yang Fan picked a direction and strode forward. He needed to leave this place first; standing on the Endless Cliff offered him no sense of safety whatsoever. Furthermore, he needed to find food as soon as possible. He had spent so long in a daze and in cultivation that his stomach was completely empty.

...

Humans have human speech, and beasts have the language of beasts. As the Great Ape roared, the surrounding exotic beasts surrendered completely. This was not merely a submission of bloodlines, but a submission of sheer power. For countless years, no Rank 11 powerhouse had appeared in the Kunlun Secret Realm. Now that the Great Ape had revealed its Rank 11 strength, the beasts were filled with terror. In the world of exotic beasts, the rules were simple: those with great power and noble bloodlines were the kings.

As the Great Ape’s roar ceased, the beasts moved in droves toward the Azure Plains. The orders the Great Ape had given them were identical to those given to the hundreds of black-robed figures before: guard the passage; those below Rank 5 were to pass unhindered, but those at Rank 5 or above were to be killed without mercy. A massive migration of exotic beasts began. Powerful beasts had their own clans, and under these clans were various smaller, scattered groups. One called two, two called four, four became eight—soon, a beast tide that swept across the entire Kunlun Secret Realm was born. Their only target was the Azure Plains. After issuing the command, the Great Ape vanished; no human or beast knew where it had gone.

...

When Yang Fan approached a small tribe, he was met with fields of corpses and shattered buildings. He quickly took cover, watching the now-lifeless settlement from the shadows. Suddenly, two figures crawled out from beneath a pile of bodies, struggling to push the corpses aside. Dong Xing and Dong Sheng climbed to their feet. Before they could even process the feeling of seeing the light of day or surviving the catastrophe, Dong Xing felt a powerful hand grip his head.

The force behind the grip suggested that this hand could easily crush his skull. Trembling, he looked up to see the face of a young man. Yang Fan held both of their heads in his hands.

"Where is this? What happened?" he asked coldly.

Dong Xing replied hurriedly, "Returning to the superior tribesman, this is the Dongling tribe. Not long ago, a massive beast tide swept through. All the experts of our tribe were killed, and the settlement was razed by the beasts. My name is Dong Xing, and his is Dong Sheng. We were lucky to escape with our lives..."

Yang Fan looked at the pair. Judging by their presence, they were only Rank 1 cultivators—the kind he could kill with a single blow. After a moment of thought, he released them. "Do you have any food?" Yang Fan asked.

Dong Xing and Dong Sheng were about to answer, but as their senses returned and they beheld the carnage all around them, they began to vomit uncontrollably. Yang Fan felt a wave of disgust. Dead bodies? He had seen far too many on the battlefield of the ruins, where technological weapons had destroyed thousands. The sight of flesh and blood flying there was far more horrifying than this. However, Yang Fan, who had been hungry, lost all appetite at the sight of the two men retching.

He felt utterly annoyed. He hadn't lost his appetite even when surrounded by severed limbs, yet these two idiots were disgusting him. After a long while, Dong Xing stopped, his face pale as a sheet, while Dong Sheng had vomited until he fainted from exhaustion. Yang Fan shook his head helplessly—it was a miracle these two were still alive. He then asked, "Do you know of the Kunpeng tribe? In which direction is it?"

Dong Xing, enduring waves of dizziness and nausea, replied, "Returning to the superior tribesman, are you referring to the Kunpeng tribe, one of the ten great clans?"

Yang Fan nodded.

Dong Xing continued, "We have only heard of the great Kunpeng clan. Ours is just a small tribe; we never dared to venture far. The strongest person our tribe ever had was only Rank 6, so while we have heard of the Kunpeng tribe, we have no idea where they are!"

Yang Fan felt a pang of disappointment. Kun Sha had told him that the Kunlun Secret Realm was not very large and the population was small. He had hoped that if he ran into anyone, he could learn the location of the Kunpeng tribe, but he hadn't expected them to be so uninformed. With no further interest in questioning them, he gave the pair a look of pity and stood up to find food on his own. He needed to replenish his strength and leave. Since the beast tide had passed through here, it was no longer a safe place; the sooner he left, the better.

...

In the ruins, three peerless experts of the same rank already lay beneath the tip of Li Tian’s blade. This sight chilled the hearts of the other international powerhouses who had yet to make a move. What kind of strength was this? What kind of monster was he?

Rank 11, the Dao fused into the body. They had originally assumed the gaps between their various strengths were not that significant; while there were differences, it shouldn't have been this terrifying. But today, Li Tian proved to them with facts that, even among Rank 11s, those from Huaxia were simply stronger.

Li Tian looked at the people before him with contempt. Rank 11, the Dao fused into one's own body—the true power of a Rank 11 lay in that single word: "Dao." The greater and more profound the Dao one comprehended, the stronger one’s strength would soar. If the Dao one comprehended was weak, or if the comprehension was shallow, one would inevitably fall to the bottom of their rank.

Huaxia’s heritage had never been severed. The moment spiritual energy revived, the sealed treasuries of the major sects were all unveiled, and under the unified coordination of the government, those with true talent were allowed to study. But what about overseas? Their heritage was either broken or lost, and some nations were not even a hundred or three hundred years old. Such powers were the weakest when spiritual energy revived. Without a foundation, one had to explore every step alone, and one wrong move meant total destruction. There were no such things as miracles where one could just walk their own path and become stronger—those were myths. In true cultivation, one wrong step was an abyss.

Li Tian had proven this with his own actions. Why were the four Rank 11s of Huaxia so unyielding? Why did they dare to stand against the powerhouses of the entire world? It was because they didn't care about these people at all. In their eyes, these people were likely no more impressive than the Rank 10 Martial Sovereigns.

For a moment, the world fell silent. No one spoke. One person falling could be considered a weakness; two could be a coincidence; but three? Four? More? That was sheer power.

Li Tian held his blade horizontally, his spiritual energy spreading in all directions as he began to speak.