Immortal Martial Emperor

"H-How can this be?"

Bai Luoxue was stunned speechless.

He felt a stifling knot of frustration churning in his chest, making it hard to breathe.

Venerable Xiahuang and the others also looked past Hong Yu to the scene behind him.

While the ordinary experts didn’t think much of it, the expressions of those who knew about the bet between Hong Yu and Venerable Xiahuang changed drastically.

At that very moment...

Within the Executioner’s World Destruction Array, the Giant Axe brought down by the colossal dark shadow didn’t miss its mark after losing Bai Luoxue as a target. Instead, it chopped straight down toward the ground.

At the same time.

On the ground below, the stampede of Desolate Beasts that Hong Yu had stirred up while chasing Bai Luoxue was surging forward, positioning them perfectly right under the Destruction Array.

A rough estimate suggested this single strike would be enough to engulf over two thousand Desolate Beasts.

"My heavens, Hong Yu is about to do the impossible!"

"I remember he has a bet with the Eldest Prince. I’m not clear on the details, but I think he wagered he could take first place in the pre-war hunt!"

"Looks like he’s going to take first place, then?"

"Who knows? But even if he doesn’t, this scheme of his is absolutely astonishing! I really thought his target was Bai Luoxue!"

"So it seems that in Hong Yu’s eyes, Bai Luoxue isn’t even as important as a bunch of Desolate Beasts?"

"Haha..."

The crowd buzzed with chatter and discussion.

Hearing these comments, the faces of Venerable Xiahuang and Bai Luoxue turned ashen and incredibly ugly.

Bai Luoxue, in particular, felt the stifling pressure in his chest intensify.

WAH! He spat out a mouthful of blood.

The boy was clearly beside himself with rage!

’I thought Hong Yu went to all this trouble just to deal with me, but it turns out that in his eyes, I’m not even as important as a herd of Desolate Beasts and the points he can get from them.’

Bai Luoxue was absolutely fuming!

’I am the third-ranked Unparalleled Genius, a top-tier Celestial Pride Son of the entire Xiahuang Ancient Kingdom! How dare you insult me like this?’

Bai Luoxue gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with rage and venom. "Hong Yu, if I don’t kill you in this life, I swear I’m not human!"

Venerable Xiahuang’s expression was dark and clouded, making it impossible to know what he was thinking.

In contrast, Xiahuang Shang was incredibly excited, a hint of fanatical anticipation in his eyes.

’Just how many Desolate Beasts will this one axe strike kill? How many points will it rack up?’

’A hundred?’

’Two hundred?’

’Or even more?’

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, the War Axe in the giant shadow’s hand came crashing down. It was like a devastating attack from one of the great Deities, truly possessing world-destroying power.

A single attack combining the power of seven thousand cultivators at the Peak of Primordial Core Realm.

The sheer terror of it was unimaginable!

RUMBLE!

The strike finally landed amidst the stampeding beast tide.

For a moment, it was as if the entire world had frozen. The churning clouds in the sky stood still, the swaying flowers and grass became motionless, and even the rampaging Desolate Beasts seemed to be fixed in place.

Of course, things had not truly stopped.

In the blink of an eye...

BOOM!

From the massive War Axe wreathed in a dark aura, terrifying streams of black energy suddenly erupted.

The black energy burst forth, taking on all sorts of irregular shapes.

Some looked like black dragons, others like black demons, and some like twisting vines.

They spread out continuously, emitting a terrifying aura and a deafening roar.

In an instant, the black aura enveloped an area over thirty kilometers in radius.

Countless streams of black energy surged through the beast tide like wraiths.

Suddenly, a stream of black energy shot into a Desolate Beast’s nostrils. The beast froze for a moment, then blood poured from its seven orifices as it collapsed, dead.

Another stream of black energy, this one resembling a long dragon, coiled around the body of a Desolate Beast.

It wrapped itself tighter and tighter, constricting the beast.

BOOM!

Blood splattered everywhere.

The Desolate Beast’s body exploded, showering blood as its internal organs were completely pulverized.

Scenes like this repeated over and over.

In no time, blood and corpses covered the ground, filling the valley.

A single glance revealed it had transformed into an Asura Valley.

Everyone was so shocked by the scene before them that no one noticed something else: as the black energy slaughtered one Desolate Beast after another, an even stronger black energy surged out from their bodies and converged on the War Axe.

At the center of the Array, the Devouring Demon Tree on Xingtian’s back pulsed with joy.

RUMBLE!

The Devouring Demon Tree grew even stronger.

It had even shot up from its original height of around ten zhang to fifteen zhang.

One by one, Execution Corpse Spirit Fruits appeared on the Devouring Demon Tree.

He was absorbing the souls of the Desolate Beasts!

Xingtian’s aura grew even more bizarre and powerful.

「Meanwhile!」

Hong Yu checked the Points Token in his hand. A fiery excitement gleamed in his eyes as he watched the numbers on it continuously jump.

’Everything is going exactly as I predicted.’

’Xingtian is an Execution Corpse I refined using my own blood. The Desolate Beasts he slays are recognized by the Points Token and count as my own spoils of war.’

「A full five minutes later.」

The one-sided slaughter finally came to an end.

The entire valley had become a river of blood, converging into a surging, crimson torrent.

This was no exaggeration!

Just imagine how enormous the Desolate Beasts were. The High Tier Desolate Beasts, in particular, weighed anywhere from several hundred to over ten thousand jin. The amount of blood in their bodies was staggering.

Now... under the power of the Executioner’s World Destruction Array, more than three thousand Desolate Beasts had been slain!

"My heavens..."

"Th-This is simply a Demon!"

"If a move like this were used on a battlefield, wh-who could possibly stand against it?"

Countless experts gasped in shock.

Some were even so scared they wet their pants.

They had seen massacres of Desolate Beasts and even humans before.

But... a single attack that could slaughter thousands of powerful Desolate Beasts, create a river of blood, and turn half a mountain range into a hellscape... that was something they had never even heard of!

Xiahuang Shang was also utterly shocked.

However, as a dignified Prince, he recovered quickly. He shot a playful look at the grim-faced Venerable Xiahuang. "Brother, it looks like you’re going to lose this bet!"

"Hmph!"

Venerable Xiahuang snorted coldly.

’As if he didn’t already know he had lost.’

’He had just secretly checked the points leaderboard. After slaughtering over three thousand Desolate Beasts, Hong Yu’s points had already surpassed Xiahuang Ba, leaving him far behind to claim first place in the pre-war hunt.’

Xiahuang Shang just sneered and said nothing more.

「On the other side...」

As he witnessed the terrifying power of that single strike, Bai Luoxue broke out in a cold sweat.

’If Venerable Xiahuang hadn’t arranged for someone to rescue me just in time, I would have been the one to die just now.’

At this thought, Bai Luoxue couldn’t help but recall what Hong Yu had said before: "One day, I will come to your White Tiger Duchy and slaughter your Royal Family."

The corner of Bai Luoxue’s eye twitched.

’Before, he hadn’t taken Hong Yu’s words to heart, but now, it seemed that it wasn’t impossible at all!’

’Perhaps Hong Yu’s combat strength wasn’t enough to deal with the top few experts of the White Tiger Duchy.’

’But...’

’Don’t forget the tens of thousands of Royal Family disciples. What if Hong Yu didn’t target the top experts, but only went after the ordinary ones?’

’What if he flew over the White Tiger Duke’s Palace and unleashed a Grand Array like this one?’

’A single axe strike would probably destroy half the Royal Palace!’

For the first time, a thought of regret entered Bai Luoxue’s mind. ’Fuck, why the hell did I listen to Hai Cangtian’s bullshit and provoke this monster?’

Unfortunately, what’s done is done, and Bai Luoxue was well aware of this.

His eyes flickered, and a frenzied killing intent surged between his brows. ’No, I have to kill Hong Yu.’

Snapping his head up, Bai Luoxue saw that Venerable Xiahuang was also looking at him. He immediately sent a mental transmission, "Your Highness, this brat cannot be allowed to live."

"I am well aware of that," Venerable Xiahuang nodded and replied via transmission. "But now is not the best time to deal with him. Xiahuang Shang is already on his guard. He won’t give us another chance to move against Hong Yu. Besides, with so many eyes and ears here, it’s not convenient to act."

"Then what should we do?" Bai Luoxue asked with a bitter smile.

Venerable Xiahuang pondered for a moment before stating, word by word, "We will use a borrowed knife to kill."

"Hm?"

Bai Luoxue was taken aback.

Venerable Xiahuang continued, "Don’t forget, we’ve already given that little girl to *her*. We’ll just let Hong Yu go and ask for the girl back himself. With her personality, heh heh..."

"Her?"

Bai Luoxue trembled, seemingly recalling just how formidable that person was. He couldn’t help but swallow hard.

’That person!’

’She’s extremely mysterious and incredibly powerful.’

’Although her rank among the Unparalleled Geniuses is even lower than my own, Bai Luoxue knew very well that if you provoked her, even someone like Venerable Xiahuang could lose his life.’

’This wasn’t because of her own personal strength.’

’It was because she has an incomparably dominant guardian Desolate Beast.’

At this thought, Bai Luoxue let out a long sigh of relief. He could already picture Hong Yu being killed by her, and he grinned coldly. ’Hong Yu, oh, Hong Yu. There’s no way you’re getting out of this one alive!’

Of course, Hong Yu was unaware of their venomous plot.

He had Xingtian retract the Destruction Array.

Then, Hong Yu recalled Xingtian into the space within the tower, letting him digest the three thousand Beast Souls he had just absorbed.

SWOOSH!

The Divine Demon Wings unfurled.

Hong Yu flew back to Venerable Xiahuang and the others.

Along the way, all the experts—whether they were still participating in the pre-war hunt or had been eliminated in the first round—looked at him with reverence and awe.

Aside from a few experts who hadn’t participated in the pre-war hunt for special reasons, almost everyone present was a Celestial Pride Son from the True Dragon War.

’How arrogant are they usually?’

’Yet now, they all bowed their heads to Hong Yu.’

’It was because Hong Yu’s strength had thoroughly conquered them.’

Hong Yu couldn’t help but sigh with emotion. ’This truly is a world where the strong devour the weak, where strength reigns supreme.’

He then looked up at Venerable Xiahuang, his gaze unwavering, feeling a wave of emotion.

’The first time I saw Venerable Xiahuang, I thought he was a celestial being and didn’t even dare to meet his gaze.’

’How much time has passed since then?’

’And I already have the strength to contend with an Unparalleled Genius.’

Hong Yu took a deep breath and said flatly, "Eldest Prince, please honor your promise and return Little Chenxi to me."

"This Prince would naturally not go back on his word."

Venerable Xiahuang smiled faintly, a chilling, cunning look in his eyes, and continued...

"That little brat is at..."

[Author’s Note: I’ve been pretty busy these days, so the updates have been irregular and short. Qiye apologizes to everyone for that. But I’m finally done with everything, so starting tomorrow, we’ll be back to three Chapters a day!]