Chapter 252 – A Massacre!

The hunters would never give Ye Feng a chance to escape. They shot after him in a blur, surrounding him in an instant. Cold sword light rained down from every side.

Ye Feng fought desperately to fend them off, but the barrage of sword lights tore through his defenses, heading straight for him and Li Guanqi.

Ye Feng quickly pulled Li Guanqi from his back into his arms, then wrapped his Thunder Wings protectively around him.

The hunters’ blades hacked into Ye Feng’s back, carving out chunks of flesh. His body went limp as he plummeted from the sky.

The Thunder Wings, battered and torn, dimmed and lost their spirit light.

Crash!

The hunters lunged in to sever his head.

Boom!

A gale exploded outward, blasting them a dozen zhang back.

Before them stood a terrifying figure, a sword box on his back. Lightning flickered around Li Guanqi as he glanced at the gravely wounded Ye Feng. He had reached the tenth level of the Golden Core Realm.

Seeing the wounds all over Ye Feng, he figured out what must have occurred. A wave of killing intent rose within him.

Ye Feng’s consciousness was slipping away, his eyelids heavy. Looking at the youth standing tall before him, he murmured weakly, “B-boss... I’ll leave it... to you... I’m so... tired... I’ll just take... a nap...”

His eyes shut, and he fainted.

Li Guanqi lifted Ye Feng onto his back and slowly raised his head. His pure white eyes gleamed in the night, cold and merciless. Every hunter who met his gaze felt a chill seep into their bones, as if his killing intent had frozen the air itself.

He roared, each word tearing out like a curse from hell.

“All! Of! You! Must! Die!”

A shiver ran down everyone’s backs, and a wave of terror coursed through them. Overwhelmed, one of them crumbled and turned to run.

Once the first person turned to escape, everyone else followed suit.

They had all witnessed Li Guanqi’s strength. They’d only dared to strike at Ye Feng because Li Guanqi had been incapacitated.

Now...

The hunter and the prey had traded places.

Li Guanqi checked Ye Feng’s injuries and saw they were serious but not fatal—mostly external wounds.

Lightning sparked under his feet. In a blink, he appeared behind a snarling woman.

Pfft!

A blinding sword light flashed before her eyes.

She never even felt the pain of being split in two; her consciousness vanished before her body hit the ground.

Crash! Crash!

The halves of her corpse landed with a thud, drawing venomous insects that swarmed to feast.

A second scream followed, shrill and agonized, scraping across every ear.

Crash! Crash Crash!

One by one, bodies fell. Each sound carried a dreadful certainty: no one would leave alive.

There were screams, pleas, negotiation attempts... Many offered treasures, others swore loyalty. None of it mattered. The youth with the sword box killed like a machine without mercy.

Not even late-stage Golden Core Realm cultivators could withstand a single blow.

Soon, the ones begging lay dead as well. Only the three strongest remained, fleeing in panic.

They were the leaders of their hunting parties, seasoned veterans of the Hell Mountains. They were communicating via voice transmission.

Initially, they discussed surrendering to Li Guanqi, thinking it was better to live even at the cost of a limb. But they soon realized that wouldn’t work. One person had broken their own legs, and another had destroyed their own dantian, yet Li Guanqi showed no mercy. He kept on killing.

He was cold-blooded, powerful, and vicious. That was the impression etched into their minds.

They agreed they were all going to die if things stayed the same, so they decided they might as well fight together to survive.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

The three spun to face their enemy. Li Guanqi halted, cold eyes fixed on them.

𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Drip! Drip!

Blood dripped off the Red Lotus Sword.

The scar-faced leader stepped forward, expression grim. “Fellow Daoist, please show some mercy. We can give you everything we have in exchange for our lives. What do you say?”

The other two nodded vigorously. One of them said, “Fellow Daoist, if we unite against you, even someone of your caliber would take heavy losses. Why not make a profit instead?”

The stubbled man beside him said nothing, but Li Guanqi could tell he was the only shrewd one, already positioning himself to shove his companion forward as a human shield.

Li Guanqi tilted his head, amused. “In exchange for your lives? If I kill you, your things are mine anyway. What else could you offer?”

His voice was flat, eerily calm, more frightening than rage. “Heavy losses? Do you really think you can hurt me?”

Sweat trickled down the scar-faced man’s face, beading in his stubble. He gritted his teeth as vital force erupted from his body. Sword in hand, he charged at Li Guanqi, shouting, “Attack him together, or we’ll all die!”

As Li Guanqi expected, the stubbled man turned and bolted the moment the others attacked.

“Idiot!”

The scar-faced man roared in fury, but he had no choice. He had to press on.

Li Guanqi murmured, “Lightning Spear! Lunar Flying Swords!”

Clouds churned overhead. Thunder cracked.

Dozens of flying swords whistled through the black forest, streaking toward the fleeing man.

The scar-faced man’s eyes widened in shock. “A flying sword technique!”

Li Guanqi surged forward, his aura crashing down like a mountain. The pressure alone stole their breath. He moved so fast that two afterimages trailed behind him.

With lightning coursing through him, the two purple sword lights he unleashed in rapid succession looked like one blinding arc.

Pfft! Pfft!

Two large heads flew into the air.

Even in death, the scar-faced man could not comprehend how helpless they had been against Li Guanqi.

With a burst of speed, Li Guanqi closed in on the last surviving cultivator, his flying sword already zipping through the air.

The stubbled cultivator glanced back in panic. With the blade just a zhang away, he cried, “Don’t kill me! I know a secret!”

The sword stopped, its bloody tip barely piercing his forehead.

Li Guanqi appeared in front of him, gazing down arrogantly. “Speak then.”

The man froze, and he looked up in terror. His face had gone pale, drenched in sweat. Voice trembling, he stammered, “If... if I tell you, will you let me live? I never even attacked you...”

Li Guanqi turned as if to leave. The sword pressed deeper into the man’s forehead. “I don’t bargain.”

The man panicked. “I’ll tell! I’ll tell! In the valley, there’s a lake—something’s about to appear at the bottom! Please, just—”

Pfft!

The blade drove through his skull, pinning him to the ground.

Li Guanqi looked down and murmured, “Like I said, all of you must die.”