Volume One: The Emperor's Sword Chapter 152: Ten Miles of Blood and Slaughter

As one ghost-faced beast after another fell, Yun Que's comprehension of the Dao of the Sword soared.

By the end of the slaughter, his every movement was as fluid as flowing clouds and moving water, as if he himself had transformed into a sword.

A sharp blade, keen enough to carve its way right through the Underworld!

Huu...

Accompanied by the final beast head hitting the ground, Yun Que withdrew his stance and exhaled a stale breath.

His mind was left pristine and clear.

At this moment, he gained an entirely new insight into the second form of his ancestor's sword art: Honing the Blade.

Honing the blade meant not only sharpening the steel in one's hand, but also tempering oneself, forging his own body into a peerless weapon of the mortal world.

This was the ultimate interpretation of "Honing the Blade."

Yun Que's thoughts drifted, filled with reverence and yearning for his ancestor.

Able to be bestowed the title of the Azure Cloud Sword Immortal, his ancestor must have endured a far more brutal journey of honing the blade.

Without tempering oneself to a blinding sharpness, how could one possibly hack through the dense thickets of briars along the path to immortality?

Suppressing this instantaneous flash of enlightenment deep within his heart, Yun Que first chopped up the scattered beast heads to prevent them from calling out to their companions, then led the group onward.

Yun Que always walked at the very front to clear the way.

Every single ghost-faced beast encountered along the path fell beneath his sword.

As the journey extended, the frequency of battles gradually increased.

One ghost-faced beast after another collapsed under his blade.

One beast head after another shattered by the roadside.

Walking all the way, a bloody path paved with the corpses of ghost-faced beasts stretched out behind Yun Que!

The others followed in silence.

From their initial heart-pumping terror to their ultimate surge of confidence, they felt that the hope of escaping death was growing greater and greater, believing firmly that Yun Que would surely lead them back to survival.

One mile, three miles, five miles!

Ten heads, a hundred heads, a thousand heads!

When they had trekked a distance of nine miles, Lando looked back.

Behind them lay a trail smeared entirely in blood!

A creeping sense of horror welled up in Lando's heart. She had hunted numerous fierce beasts and participated in many large-scale tribal hunts.

Yet never once had she encountered such a heart-stopping slaughter.

A bloodbath spanning ten miles!

Lando averted her gaze, looking at the slender figure leading the way, leaving only deep, lingering awe in her heart.

She had finally felt fear.

For the combat prowess Yun Que currently displayed was nearly on par with the Blood-Feathered Spider that had single-handedly slaughtered thousands of disciples in the Phantom Realm!

"He definitely isn't human; he must be some sort of monster in disguise..." Lando muttered to herself, feeling a sudden urge to cry.

The stronger he became, the more remote her hope of ever retrieving her Spirit Jade Bow grew.

"I just hope he keeps his word, leads us out of this ghost place, and returns my bow as well..." Lando whispered, feeling deeply aggrieved.

"He will."

Behind Lando, Mu Qingyao had somehow awakened. Gazing at Yun Que's back, she said firmly, "He is my husband, and he is my hero."

"He's also at the Qi Refining stage, so why is he so powerful? You're his fiancée, do you know why?" Lando asked out of curiosity while carrying Mu Qingyao on her back.

"He remains silent until he startles the world with a single sound..." Mu Qingyao murmured, before lapsing back into unconsciousness.

Due to her severe injuries and the pervasive corrosion of the Underworld's aura, she alternated between periods of lucidity and fainting along this journey.

When lucid, her eyes were dim and devoid of any luster.

When unconscious, strange petals would faintly emerge within her left eye, as if some miraculous flower was eager to bloom, or as if some mysterious power was trying to awaken.

Dragging his paralyzed legs, Yi Hongwen trembled violently and said, "H-How much further is it? My Sword Qi Cloak is about to run out."

Not only Yi Hongwen, but the Sword Qi Cloaks protecting Zhou Yuanliang, Han Jiao, and the others had also been worn down to mere wisps by the Underworld's power, leaving very little protection.

"The final mile!"

Gritting his teeth to endure, Zhou Yuanliang tightened his grip on Wu Dachuan, whom he carried on his back, and said, "Once we crest this small hill, the exit should be right ahead."

To everyone present now, Yun Que was their absolute lifeline.

They believed without a shred of doubt that an exit would appear after ten miles, just as Yun Que had said.

Though called a small hill, it was actually just a steep slope over ten zhang high, completely barren without even a single rock in sight.

Their previous location had resembled a basin.

As long as they climbed up, everyone believed they would surely see the hope of escape.

Yun Que was the first to ascend the steep slope.

He stood motionless at the crest, his expression entirely unreadable, as if his whole body had frozen in place.

Finding it strange and wondering what Yun Que had seen, Zhou Yuanliang climbed up with all his might until he finally reached the top.

Then he, too, froze in place, his gaze going completely vacant.

As the others climbed to the summit one after another, all their expressions unexpectedly mirrored one another.

Blank, stagnant, despairing.

Before their eyes lay a vast, cracked earth stretching as far as the eye could see.

Across the ground, countless ghost-faced beasts were densely clustered, numbering in the tens of thousands!

In the skies, terrifying mutant birds soared about. Resembling oversized vultures with withered feathers, their slender necks were topped with ferocious tiger heads!

Snap!

Amidst the sound of snapping jaws, a tiger-headed vulture swallowed a wandering ghost in mid-air whole.

Awooo!

Having swallowed its meal, the tiger-headed vulture spotted the living humans nearby and immediately let out a piercing screech.

Hundreds and thousands of mutant birds all around joined in with shrill roars.

Pairs of blood-shot, bizarre eyes stared down at Yun Que and the others, their massive wings beating with increasing urgency.

The cries of the tiger-headed vultures awakened the ghost-faced beasts blanketing the ground.

These Underworld monsters rose one after another from their prone positions, their slender necks swaying wildly as they searched for targets.

Some ghost-faced beasts were positioned too close together, causing their two heads to collide, which instantly triggered a savage bite.

The larger beast directly bit off the neck of the smaller one.

Seeing the corpse, nearby ghost-faced beasts swarmed over instantly, crunching away until they had devoured their fallen companion down to the bone in a matter of moments.

Seeing this scene, Yi Hongwen collapsed limply to the ground.

"It's over. We're dead for sure. There's no way out at all..."

Not only was Yi Hongwen in despair, but Zhou Yuanliang also felt that all hope of survival had vanished.

The number one young master let out a miserable laugh, lowered Wu Dachuan from his back, and sat down on the hilltop, saying, "DYing here isn't so bad either. The scenery is actually decent."

Lando's normally wheat-colored face was now drained of color, her mouth hanging open in sheer shock.

"This is even more terrifying than a beast tide in the forest. We can't possibly charge through this," Lando said in despair.

During a beast tide, there were at least treetops or mountain peaks to hide upon.

Given the current terrain, unless they could tunnel underground, there was simply nowhere to hide.

Let alone the swarm of ghost-faced beasts on the ground, there were tiger-headed vultures patrolling the skies; Lando could no longer see a shred of survival hope.

No matter how seasoned a hunter might be, facing such a situation meant nothing left to do but await death.

The final mile had become an impassable chasm between life and death.

After circling around once, the tiger-headed vulture that had first spotted them suddenly dove downward.

Its razor-sharp talons rivaled steel blades!

Meeting the plunging behemoth head-on, Yun Que unleashed his full strength, swinging the heavy sword in his hand.

Boom!!!

Withered feathers scattered in all directions as the tiger-headed vulture was cleaved in two, while the heavy sword in Yun Que's hand shattered into fine powder beneath the impact of its talons.

The debris drifted away, dissolving into the wind before even hitting the ground.

The aberrant sword soul was now completely obliterated, perishing in the Underworld.

Yun Que lowered his head to look at his palms, which had split open from the terrifying recoil, his heart sinking heavily.

The tiger-headed vultures were even more powerful than the ghost-faced beasts!

Though they had not reached the level of secondary fierce beasts, their brute strength was nearly three times greater than that of the ghost-faced beasts!

Seeing the only heavy sword in Yun Que's hand shatter, Zhou Yuanliang and the others abandoned all remaining hope.

In their eyes, Yun Que had already done his absolute best.

In the present situation, all that remained was to wait for death.