Chapter 1291: Torturous Slaughter
That Blood Saint was three meters tall, his skin a blood-red color, covered from head to toe with black patterns. When his four wings spread open, they were over forty zhang long, and the aura he emitted was extremely astonishing.
Seeing that half of the Undying Blood Clan saints cultivating in the valley had died, the Four-Winged Blood Saint roared, "Daring to kill a half-saint of the Undying Blood Clan, you are courting death."
A half-saint required a massive amount of resources to cultivate.
Losing dozens of half-saints at once meant losing a large portion of one's backbone; any force would be driven mad.
Zhang Ruochen, however, remained calm and composed, glancing upward and saying, "I have slain more than one saint of the Undying Blood Clan. What does killing a few dozen half-saints amount to?"
"Such arrogance! Dare you state your name?"
The Four-Winged Blood Saint's spiritual power was far inferior to Zhang Ruochen's; he couldn't clearly see Zhang Ruochen's appearance and didn't know his identity.
Zhang Ruochen didn't respond. He slowly raised a palm and once again mobilized his spiritual power.
Instantly, strands of heaven and earth spiritual energy transformed into lightning, weaving through the air.
"Pfft!"
"Ah..."
The lightning condensed into spears that rained down, killing all the remaining Undying Blood Clan half-saints in the valley, leaving no survivors.
"How dare you!"
The Four-Winged Blood Saint was furious. Before him, a mere human dared to commit such slaughter?
In the Northern Domain, only the Undying Blood Clan killed and enslaved humans. For a human to kill an Undying Blood Clan half-saint was an act of great rebellion.
The Four-Winged Blood Saint's eyes blazed like two fireballs suspended in the blood clouds. Within those "fireballs," a violent power brewed, and then two pillars of flame descended from the sky, striking at Zhang Ruochen below.
Zhang Ruochen's eyes narrowed slightly. He executed a lightning-type spell, "Thunderbolt Art," and his form transformed into a bright flash of lightning, dodging the Four-Winged Blood Saint's attack and landing on a higher vantage point at the edge of the valley.
"Thunderfire Vortex."
Zhang Ruochen cast a third-level lightning-type spell. In an instant, a vortex hundreds of zhang in diameter formed in the sky, with countless bolts of lightning and flames weaving within it.
These spells Zhang Ruochen used were low-level, ones he had cultivated before his spiritual power had even reached the half-saint realm.
Although they were very low-level spells, when cast by a spiritual power saint with a spiritual power intensity of the fifty-second rank, their power was considerable, not something an ordinary saint could withstand.
The Thunderfire Vortex engulfed the Four-Winged Blood Saint. Waves of lightning and flame struck him continuously, causing him to scream in agony as large amounts of saint blood spilled from the vortex.
By the time the Four-Winged Blood Saint broke free from the Thunderfire Vortex, his entire body was charred black, and nearly half of his saintly body had been burned away.
"Die!"
The Four-Winged Blood Saint knew the weakness of spiritual power saints: if he could get close to their bodies, they were as good as dead.
Despite his severe injuries, he attempted a desperate counterattack, diving downward rapidly. A silver-white spike extended from his palm, aimed at Zhang Ruochen's head.
Zhang Ruochen sighed softly. Having his three main channels crippled was troublesome. In his prime, if a Four-Winged Blood Saint charged at him, he could have killed him with a single palm strike.
Now, he could only retreat.
After dodging with the Thunderbolt Art, Zhang Ruochen waved his hand and threw a spherical lightning bolt, striking the Four-Winged Blood Saint. It tore open his flesh, causing him to scream again.
But the spells Zhang Ruochen used were too low-level, with limited power. They could only wound the Four-Winged Blood Saint, not kill him.
"What a despicable fellow! He clearly has profound spiritual power mastery, yet he uses the most basic spells. He's deliberately humiliating me."
The Four-Winged Blood Saint didn't know that Zhang Ruochen had never cultivated advanced spiritual power spells. He only thought Zhang Ruochen was trying to torture him, feeling both aggrieved and enraged.
"For now, let him have his fun. Once the other two Blood Saints arrive, it will be his death."
Even knowing that his opponent was likely toying with him, the Four-Winged Blood Saint persisted, waiting for reinforcements. Today, no matter what, this arrogant human would pay the price—his blood would be drained, and he would be refined into a blood slave.
In truth, Zhang Ruochen was also frustrated. The Undying Blood Clan's vitality and regenerative abilities were too strong. Using low-level spells, he couldn't kill him quickly.
"Bang, bang."
Spherical lightning and lightning blades fell continuously, leaving dozens of wounds on the Four-Winged Blood Saint's body, making him howl nonstop as blood flowed freely and his life force rapidly drained.
Just as the Four-Winged Blood Saint was about to give up and flee, two massive saintly auras erupted from the northwest direction of the valley.
At the same time, dense ranks of Undying Blood Clan soldiers surged toward the valley. They were elite troops, hundreds of thousands strong, formed into battle formations, advancing rapidly. The momentum of their march caused the entire valley to tremble slightly.
The Four-Winged Blood Saint was so moved he almost wept, seeing a glimmer of hope. No longer being tortured, he felt as if he had been injected with stimulant, his entire body erupting with blinding blood light as he roared, "Blood Saint Jingyun, Blood Saint Hongtian, help me kill this human spiritual power saint! We'll split his saint blood three ways."
But before the two Blood Saints could descend from the blood clouds, a silver kitchen knife flew out, striking one of them.
"Pfft."
A miserable cry came from the blood clouds.
Then, the corpse of a Blood Saint fell from the sky.
The silver kitchen knife arced through the air, spun around, and killed the other Blood Saint.
In just an instant, two Blood Saints had fallen, not even having time to flee.
The Four-Winged Blood Saint stared wide-eyed, looking at the harmless-looking little girl standing behind Huang Yanchen, wanting to curse aloud.
All along, he had thought Zhang Ruochen was the strongest of the three, assuming Huang Yanchen and Qing Mo were too beautiful to be anything but Zhang Ruochen's family and maidservant, so he had ignored them.
Who would have thought they were even stronger?
If he had known they were so powerful, why would he have suffered so much? He would have fled long ago.
Having experienced the baptism of slaughter in the Azure Dragon Ruins Realm, the Blood God Sect, and the Yin-Yang Sea, although Qing Mo was still very timid, she had made some progress, at least daring to kill.
It always took the trials of life, death, and bloodshed for a cultivator to truly grow.
Huang Yanchen stood quietly to the side, watching Zhang Ruochen's battle with the Four-Winged Blood Saint. If he encountered danger, she would intervene immediately.
But she was surprised to find that even with his three main channels crippled, Zhang Ruochen was still formidable. An ordinary saint meeting him would only be toyed with.
"Chen Ge, let's finish this quickly. The Undying Blood Clan's army has surrounded us; we need to leave as soon as possible." Huang Yanchen also felt that Zhang Ruochen's strength was unfathomable, that he was merely toying with the Four-Winged Blood Saint.
Hundreds of thousands of elite Undying Blood Clan troops were not a rabble; they had formed battle formations. If they were truly surrounded, even with the three of them, it would be extremely dangerous.
The Four-Winged Blood Saint could no longer hold on, severely wounded. Knowing that Huang Yanchen and Qing Mo were saint-level experts, he was even more unwilling to continue fighting. He executed a swift movement technique and fled toward the valley's exit.
If the Four-Winged Blood Saint hadn't fled, Zhang Ruochen might have taken a long time to kill him. But his fear made him retreat, giving Zhang Ruochen an opportunity.
Zhang Ruochen chased after him at high speed, forming his hand into a blade and slashing forward: "Ninefold Lightning Blade."
A series of nine lightning blades flew out, like waves, one blade after another, layer upon layer, striking the Four-Winged Blood Saint.
The first seven blades were blocked by the Four-Winged Blood Saint. When the eighth blade fell, its violent lightning power tore the four blood wings on his back into pieces of flesh the size of a palm.
The ninth blade flew out, splitting the Four-Winged Blood Saint's saintly body in two, causing his life force to drain away completely.
Huang Yanchen walked over, looking at the Four-Winged Blood Saint's corpse, and said meaningfully, "Even if you only cultivate spiritual power, from now on, you can become a king, an emperor. Anyone who underestimates you will pay a heavy price."
Zhang Ruochen felt somewhat exhausted and didn't say much. "Let's go. We need to leave here quickly. Don't let the top saints of the Undying Blood Clan lock onto us."
After all, they were in Undying Blood Clan territory. Causing such a commotion would surely alert their higher-ups, and Zhang Ruochen didn't dare be careless.
The saint sources of the three Blood Saints were all collected by Huang Yanchen.
Then, Huang Yanchen took the lead, with Zhang Ruochen and Qing Mo behind, forming a triangle as they clashed with the hundreds of thousands of Undying Blood Clan troops.
The army's battle formation hadn't fully taken shape and couldn't stop Zhang Ruochen's group.
About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they broke through and disappeared over the horizon.
At the edge of the valley, only a large area of bloody corpses remained, with over thirty thousand elite Undying Blood Clan soldiers dead and countless more wounded.
Ningfeng Prefecture was territory occupied by the Qingtian Tribe, one of the ten major tribes. News of this massacre quickly reached the ears of the Qingtian Tribe's higher-ups.
Zhongying King was the second most powerful figure in the Qingtian Tribe, second only to the Qingtian Blood Emperor.
At that moment, a doppelganger of Zhongying King stood in a magnificent hall, holding a message light talisman, muttering to himself, "Three Blood Saints fallen, thirty thousand elite troops slaughtered. Quite a bold move. Find out their exact identities."
A sinister woman in a black cloak with a black veil over her face stood below Zhongying King, her voice somewhat hoarse. "Every saint-level being in the Northern Domain is registered. Some have defected to us, some are on the 'Death List,' and some we are still trying to win over. But these three don't seem to be on our registration list."
This woman was named Zhu Qingyi, a direct disciple of Zhongying King and a formidable saint-level expert.
"Not saints from the Northern Domain?" Zhongying King said.
Zhu Qingyi said, "Among the three, there is a spiritual power saint. Could it be an expert sent by the Earth Divine Temple to create chaos in Ningfeng Prefecture, trying to stop the Qingtian Tribe and the other three tribes from besieging Hongchuan Prefecture?"
Zhongying King snorted coldly, "Four Blood Emperors have given the order simultaneously. The four tribes have gathered ten million troops, determined to take Hongchuan Prefecture. This is an unstoppable trend. No one can block it. Causing trouble in Ningfeng Prefecture to try and hold back the Qingtian Tribe's army is pure delusion."
After a pause, Zhongying King asked another question, "Where did those three human saints go after fleeing Langxin Commandery?"
"Hongchuan Prefecture," Zhu Qingyi said.