Chapter 1087: A Fearsome Figure
“Eh! There’s actually a human still alive.”
“Since he didn’t die, he should be running for his life, but instead he comes looking for death. What a complete fool.”
…
Those barbarian beasts were astonished, not expecting any human cultivator to still come to Yingsha City. Then, mockery poured from their mouths, and the looks they cast at Zhang Ruochen carried a hint of amusement.
Over twenty Black Scorpion Beasts crawled out from the yellow sand, appearing ahead of Zhang Ruochen. Black poisonous mist spewed from their mouths, and a fierce green light gleamed in their eyes.
Anyone could see the intense killing intent radiating from them, ready to tear the human man ahead into pieces.
“Life is suffering, death is suffering, one cycle of life and death returns to yellow earth.”
Zhang Ruochen walked forward, reciting this line, myriad emotions stirring in his heart.
Hearing the voice, the still-living human cultivators hanging on the broken wall slowly opened their eyelids, staring at the human man advancing step by step.
“Quick… run…”
Someone let out a low, hoarse voice, extremely faint, like a candle flickering in the wind, on the verge of extinguishing at any moment.
Wan Huayu and Shangguan Linglong also opened their dim, phoenix-like eyes, fixing their gaze on the rather unfamiliar human man. He was very young and handsome, bearing a noble aura, clearly not resembling a strong cultivator, but more like a wealthy young master fond of traveling and sightseeing.
At this moment, he was already surrounded by dozens of Black Scorpion Beasts, most likely about to die.
Last night, they had witnessed too much death, growing somewhat numb.
However, Wan Huayu’s gaze lingered on him, feeling a sense of familiarity, as if she had seen him before. Yet, due to excessive blood loss, she couldn’t recall where.
“Hurry… leave… Yingsha City has already fallen…”
As she spoke these words, blood gushed from Wan Huayu’s mouth in large spurts, and blood also flowed from her pale white lower abdomen.
“Your cultivation is indeed strong, still able to speak. No wonder you killed so many of our clan’s experts.”
A half-human, half-beast barbarian stood beneath the city gate, snorted coldly, and lashed out with a flaming whip, striking Wan Huayu and leaving a deep bloody gash on her right leg.
A muffled groan escaped Wan Huayu’s lips, and her long, straight jade-like legs trembled violently.
Yet, that human man did not heed their warnings. Instead of fleeing, he continued walking toward Yingsha City.
The half-human, half-beast barbarian glared at Zhang Ruochen and snorted coldly, “Kill him. Tear his flesh into pieces.”
Over twenty Black Scorpion Beasts lunged at Zhang Ruochen simultaneously.
Their bodies were seven or eight meters long, each equipped with two sharp pincers that gleamed with a cold light as piercing as swords.
The human cultivators hanging on the broken wall all sighed. Some directly closed their eyes, unwilling to witness the next scene.
Zhang Ruochen did not stop walking. He merely extended a palm and pressed it forward.
Instantly, the Space Domain radiated outward, forming an invisible, powerful oppressive force that spread in all directions.
“Boom! Boom!”
The Black Scorpion Beasts flying mid-air all let out agonized howls. Their carapaces shattered, their bodies burst apart, turning into a vast cloud of crimson blood mist.
Seeing this, the human cultivators hanging on the broken wall all opened their eyes again, expressions of astonishment appearing on their faces.
The barbarian beasts present were momentarily stunned.
Then, furious roars erupted from their mouths. Some stomped the ground with their hooves, some leaped down from the top of the broken wall, and others burst into flames.
Now that the barbarian beast clans had already conquered the human military base and become the rulers of this region, they had actually let a single human kill over twenty of their kind.
This was utterly outrageous.
“Rumble!”
A massive horde of murderous barbarian beasts charged at Zhang Ruochen. There were Black Scorpion Beasts, Lion-Camel Beasts, Bloodthirsty Ants… a total of over a thousand beasts, churning the yellow sand into rolling black smoke.
Over a thousand colossal beasts charging forward was an awe-inspiring spectacle, causing the world’s spiritual energy across this land to violently tremble.
Even a great mountain could be trampled flat in an instant, let alone a single human.
Zhang Ruochen paused for a moment, then continued walking forward.
But as he took his first step, the sky above changed. Wind and clouds shifted, and even the black clouds trembled.
On the ground, tens of thousands of sword qi condensed, lined up in a row spanning dozens of miles.
As Zhang Ruochen walked forward, the sword qi emitted a “shush, shush” sound, like a wave dozens of miles long and three zhang high, advancing forward. It eventually collided with the beast horde of over a thousand beasts.
“Pfft!”
“Puh!”
…
The sharp sword qi, like reaping wheat, killed the barbarian beasts row by row.
In the end, only a few dozen powerful sixth-level barbarian beasts among the thousand managed to escape, while the rest all became bloody corpses.
From start to finish, Zhang Ruochen walked at a steady pace, neither speeding up nor slowing down.
All those barbarian beasts possessed high intelligence. Seeing that this human man was so terrifying, even they felt a chill run down their spines.
“Shush, shush.”
The dozens-of-miles-long wave of sword qi continued advancing.
The barbarian beast clans dared not make contact with the sword qi, retreating step by step until they withdrew into Yingsha City.
The human cultivators hanging on the broken wall were all quite shocked. They hadn’t expected that among the younger generation of cultivators, there was someone with such formidable swordsmanship.
Who was he?
At this moment, everyone began to seriously scrutinize Zhang Ruochen, secretly guessing his identity.
Currently, Zhang Ruochen appeared in his true form. Few people had seen his real face, so naturally, no one recognized him.
Beneath the city gate, the half-human, half-beast barbarian had a crocodile-like head and a human-like body, entirely covered in yellowish-brown scales.
It let out a cold shout: “I underestimated you. It seems you do have some skill.”
“Whoosh—”
The half-human, half-beast barbarian, holding a flaming whip, swung its arm and lashed the whip out, drawing forth a vast wave of fire dozens of miles long that crashed into the wave of sword qi.
Its strength was formidable, having already passed one quasi-saint tribulation.
Zhang Ruochen extended another hand, forming a sword seal with two fingers.
“Rustle!”
The dozens-of-miles-long wave of sword qi rapidly contracted, condensing into a nine-foot-long white war sword.
The white war sword flew out, producing a deafening air-burst sound, forming a white streak of light that pierced through the half-human, half-beast barbarian’s body.
Its entire body was drenched in blood, and like a cannonball, it flew backward at high speed, crashing with a “bang” into the broken wall, embedding itself in the masonry.
It wasn’t dead yet; it was still alive.
The next moment, tens of thousands of sword qi surged from within its body, directly shredding it into a mass of bloody mud that flowed down the wall.
Those sword qi flew back, swirling around Zhang Ruochen, forming a sword qi domain spanning a hundred zhang.
The barbarian beasts atop the broken wall were all dumbfounded, seeing for the first time someone wielding swordsmanship with such exquisite precision and fluidity.
Was he a young sword saint?
Even that female realm son of the human race hadn’t cultivated her swordsmanship to the level of such effortless control as his.
“A fearsome figure has arrived. Notify the Beast King immediately.”
“Too terrifying. With just a flick of his fingers, he killed the Crocodile Commander. With the Crocodile Commander’s quasi-saint level cultivation, he didn’t even have a chance to escape, directly crushed to death.”
…
Those barbarian beasts were all somewhat panicked, immediately notifying the Beast King still fighting in the city.
Because only the Beast King personally intervening could suppress him.
Thirty zhang from the city gate, Zhang Ruochen stopped, staring at the human cultivators hanging on the broken wall, his gaze calm.
Wan Huayu’s voice was very weak: “Hurry and leave… Yingsha City is already… a lost cause… you can’t change anything. Once the Beast King leaves the city, you won’t be able to escape… even if you want to…”
Zhang Ruochen remained silent, ignoring Wan Huayu. He carefully observed the iron spikes piercing their bodies, sensing powerful spiritual power fluctuations.
Those black iron spikes were actually a type of spiritual power artifact, suppressing the power within their bodies, preventing them from breaking free and escaping, forcing them to watch helplessly as their blood drained away to death.
“Such powerful spiritual power. It seems there is a Beast King among the barbarian beast clans that specializes in spiritual power.”
Through the spiritual power fluctuations contained in the iron spikes, Zhang Ruochen could infer the opponent’s spiritual power intensity. That Beast King’s spiritual power was already very close to the fiftieth rank, even slightly stronger than Zhang Ruochen’s.
Zhang Ruochen extended a palm, spreading his five fingers, releasing his spiritual power.
On the broken wall, the black iron spikes pinning down hundreds of human cultivators all trembled slightly, emitting a piercing sound.
Those human cultivators were all shocked, because they knew very well what kind of terrifying being the owner of those black iron spikes piercing their bodies was.
Originally, they had resigned themselves to fate, believing they would surely die today with no way to escape.
Now, a handsome young man had suddenly appeared, possessing powerful spiritual power capable of shaking the black iron spikes embedded in their bodies.
“Withdraw.”
Zhang Ruochen closed his five fingers, pulling his arm back.
Hundreds of black iron spikes all flew out. Under Zhang Ruochen’s control, they spun in mid-air and then flew toward the barbarian beasts atop the broken wall.
A chorus of screams rang out as over a hundred barbarian beasts fell from the towering wall.
Hundreds of human cultivators slid down along the wall, landing on the ground, lying prone, all coughing up blood.
Only about two hundred or so were still alive, all suffering severe injuries.
Of course, the human cultivators who survived were all top-tier experts.
Everyone looked at Zhang Ruochen with grateful eyes. At the same time, their gazes also carried some reverence and curiosity.
Who was he, to possess such powerful spiritual power and swordsmanship simultaneously?
“Roar!”
Just then, the Beast King’s furious roar came from the central area of Yingsha City. The sounds of roaring and hoofbeats grew closer, rapidly charging toward the city gate.