The slaughter continued, and a massive number of demonic beasts poured into Zhang Fan’s Sword Domain from all directions, lunging at the human cultivators without regard for their lives. Although the Sword Domain exerted a great suppression on the demonic beasts, their sheer numbers and disregard for death gradually led to increased casualties on the human side.
Before charging into the beast tide, there were over a hundred human cultivators. Now, more than half had been killed or wounded, leaving only fifty-odd survivors. The fallen cultivators were mostly rogue cultivators; their weaker strength and lack of effective alliances made it difficult for them to withstand the incessant onslaught of demonic beasts.
As for Luo Xiaoxiao, Lin Haotian, the Wuchen Sword Immortal, Tianhua Tianjun, and the members of the Six Royal Mansions, their inherent strength, coupled with Zhang Fan’s special attention, meant they not only suffered no casualties but also hunted countless demonic beasts, collecting a vast number of their Nascent Souls.
At this moment, the corpses of demonic beasts had piled up into mountains, and scarlet blood flowed like rivers outside the Dark Plain. Even though every cultivator who managed to form a Nascent Soul had emerged from seas of blood and mountains of corpses, such a scene still caused some cultivators to tremble.
…
As a colossal winged beast, exuding a vibrant blue flame, spread its wings and approached, the thirteen great Beast Kings who had surrounded the Dark Plain had fully assembled. Each of them possessed strength comparable to the peak of the Nascent Soul stage, and each was a supreme overlord of the Daluo Realm.
Once the thirteen Beast Kings gathered, Zhang Fan and his companions could clearly feel the beast tide’s offensive intensify, with waves of beast roars shaking heaven and earth.
“The main event is about to begin. How many Beast Kings you can hunt depends on your own abilities,” Zhang Fan said to the siblings Shen Feichen and Cang Lan Mingyue. The iron sword in his hand had now turned completely blood-red, as if sensing Zhang Fan’s fighting spirit. It let out a piercing sword cry, enveloped by a dense aura of blood-fiend energy that lingered persistently.
For other cultivators, such a frenzied battle and slaughter might cause a slight weariness of the soul. But for Zhang Fan, the preceding carnage was merely a warm-up. Even if a few nine-tribulation realm demonic beasts were to charge in, they would hardly warrant his attention. His target this time was the thirteen peak Nascent Soul stage Beast Kings.
Zhang Fan’s current realm had reached the early stage of the nine-tribulation realm. Having cultivated a white immortal infant, his realm’s progression consumed ten to several tens of times, or even dozens of times, more resources than cultivators of the same level. Therefore, he absolutely would not let these thirteen Beast Kings escape.
The eyes of Shen Feichen and Cang Lan Mingyue also became fiery. Demonic beasts at the peak Nascent Soul stage were nearly extinct on the Jiexin Continent. Only the殿主 (Dian Zhu - Hall Master) of the Tengshe Sacred Hall had publicly reached this level.
However, the Tengshe Sacred Hall was not easily provoked. Having emerged from a top-tier power, they were well aware that clans with hundreds of thousands of years of heritage possessed profound foundations that could not be underestimated. These thirteen Beast Kings, trapped entirely within the Daluo Realm without any background or backing, were naturally a prize everyone desired.
After the colossal winged beast, enveloped in blue flames, descended, the flames receded, revealing its true form: a creature of Blue Flame Stone, like an ice sculpture. Its eyes were pure white, devoid of pupils, yet one could clearly sense the cold killing intent within them.
The Blue Flame Stone creature spoke human words, its pristine white eyes fixing on Zhang Fan. An invisible, bizarre force struck his soul: “All humans deserve to die. Not a single one will leave alive today!”
Zhang Fan felt a slight stinging sensation in his soul and a flicker of surprise crossed his mind. He hadn't expected a peak Nascent Soul stage demonic beast to possess a talent for soul attacks.
All the Beast Kings turned their gaze towards Zhang Fan, clearly aware that among these human cultivators, Zhang Fan posed the greatest threat to them.
“The Blue Flame’s soul attack has no effect on him whatsoever. Could it be that he has already merged his soul with the rules, entering the half-step God Transformation stage to resist so easily?” the other Beast Kings couldn’t help but exclaim in shock.
For cultivators in the Nascent Soul stage to break through to the God Transformation stage, the first step was to completely merge the cultivated rules of the Dao with their soul. Once the rules and soul were fully merged, they could cultivate a Primordial Spirit and truly enter the God Transformation stage.
Therefore, any cultivator who began merging rules and soul could be called a half-step God Transformation.
Although the thirteen Beast Kings were all at the peak Nascent Soul stage, there was still a significant gap between them and a half-step God Transformation cultivator.
“No,” the Blue Flame Stone creature stated. “His soul is exceptionally powerful, but he has not entered the half-step God Transformation stage.”
“In that case, let’s conclude this quickly. Our losses are already substantial.”
“Barbarian Bull, lead your nine-tribulation realm demonic beasts to surround and attack that body-refining human expert. The goal is not to kill him, but merely to hold him back.”
“White Jade Lion and Sacred Origin Monkey, go and engage that human expert who wields a saber and sword.”
“Stone Sculpture, you will be responsible for dealing with the human expert who excels in flames.”
“The rest of us will join forces to attack that sword expert. Once he dies, the Sword Domain will collapse on its own, and not a single one of the remaining humans will escape,” a black tiger with wings on its back declared. Its voice was deep and resonant, carrying an unquestionable authority as it clearly assigned tasks to the Beast Kings.
The other twelve Beast Kings nodded in agreement. They possessed intelligence comparable to humans and naturally understood the current battlefield situation. After the waves of beast tide attacks, and even the probing attempts by several nine-tribulation realm demonic beasts, they had already ascertained the strength of the human side. There were five individuals at the peak Nascent Soul stage, but only one posed a fatal threat to them – Zhang Fan.
Once Zhang Fan died, they would no longer be suppressed by the domain’s power. With their overwhelming numerical advantage, victory would be theirs.
“Kill!”
The black tiger flapped its wings, its colossal body transforming into a streak of black light, heading directly for Zhang Fan. A group of Beast Kings followed closely behind, intent on surrounding him.
“Excellent!”
Seeing nine Beast Kings charging directly at him, Zhang Fan’s heart filled with surprise and joy as he actively met them.
“You’re courting death!”
A massive tiger claw ripped through the air, its immense power causing space itself to tremble. Human cultivators and demonic beasts that were too close were sent flying by the shockwave. A peculiar excitement flashed in Zhang Fan’s eyes; this winged black tiger’s strength was no ordinary.
The blood-red iron sword danced, unleashing a colossal blood-colored sword qi, like a crescent moon, slashing towards the winged black tiger.
When the two collided, the winged black tiger’s massive body paused slightly before shattering the blood-colored sword qi. It bared its fangs and grinned at Zhang Fan, seemingly in mockery.
One figure after another arrived, the colossal bodies of the nine Beast Kings surrounding Zhang Fan, appearing as if they could tear him apart at any moment.
In the distance, the siblings Cang Lan Mingyue were surrounded by the White Jade Lion and the Sacred Origin Monkey, leading a dozen nine-tribulation realm demonic beasts. Cang Lan Mingyue, seeing only two Beast Kings, felt a slight disappointment. He glanced towards Zhang Fan’s position, where he saw nine imposing Beast Kings encircling him. He couldn’t help but sigh, “We can’t compete. He’s taken all the prime spoils, leaving us siblings with only scraps.”
Cang Lan Qiuyue shot him an exasperated look and said, “Aren’t you going to attack yet? Do you think Beast Kings are easy to deal with? Once Zhang Fan finishes over there, he might even take these two Beast Kings too.”
Cang Lan Mingyue nodded quickly in agreement. Zhang Fan, even at the peak of the eighth tribulation realm, had the strength to slaughter a group of late Nascent Soul stage cultivators. Now that he had entered the nine-tribulation realm, these Beast Kings might not last long. They had to finish their fight quickly.
Hearing this conversation, the White Jade Lion and the Sacred Origin Monkey were enraged. They unleashed their abilities and attacked the siblings, with the nine-tribulation realm demonic beasts also immediately surrounding them.
On the other side, Shen Feichen and Gong Yiyi were also under siege by a Beast King leading a group of nine-tribulation realm demonic beasts. Both of them were only at the ordinary peak nine-tribulation realm, a notch below the Cang Lan siblings. However, with the assistance of the Sword Domain, they could still manage to hold their ground against one Beast King and a pack of common nine-tribulation realm demonic beasts.
…