Chapter 309: Heart Torn From the Chest
"KILL HIM NOW!"
High in the sky, Peng Kai heard the command.
He glanced briefly toward the approaching pressure of the Imperial Herald, a wicked, sadistic smile splitting his blood-stained face.
He turned his crimson eyes back to the bleeding, panting Ancestor Ming.
"You’re dead, old man. It was nice fighting you."
ROAAAAAR!
A terrifying, inhuman howl tore from Peng Kai’s throat as his body violently expanded!
His massive frame ballooned to a towering seven feet, his muscles bulging into barbaric, mountain-like contours as dark beast fur erupted across his skin.
The dormant Vajra Bear blood fully awoke, turning his eyes into twin spheres of blinding, hellish crimson!
With a flick of his wrist, he stashed his saber into his storage ring.
Extending his massive, clawed paws, now tipped with razor-sharp, pitch-black talons, he lunged directly at Ancestor Ming like an unstoppable, demonic calamity!
The air groaned under the sudden, suffocating weight of Peng Kai’s full transformation.
The raw, primal aura of the Earth-Tremor Vajra Bear erupted around him, turning the sky into a churning vortex of dark red blood-mist.
Ancestor Ming’s eyes widened in sheer, unadulterated terror.
He tried to raise his silver spear to defend, but his severed shoulder leaked a torrent of vital blood, slowing his movements by a lethal fraction of a second.
"DIE!" Peng Kai roared, his voice sounding like two grinding tectonic plates.
His towering, seven-foot beastial form closed the distance instantly.
His massive, talon-tipped right claw slammed downward, completely shattering the shaft of Ancestor Ming’s ancient spear into a spray of silver splinters.
Before the old man could retreat, Peng Kai’s left claw shot forward like a steel ballista, impaling Ancestor Ming directly through the chest!
THWACK—!
The old man gasped, his withered lips coughing up a fountain of dark, stagnant blood as Peng Kai’s razor-sharp talons wrapped around his beating, early-stage Nascent Soul heart.
"You... bloody demon..." Ancestor Ming choked out, his eyes dimming rapidly.
"Your time was up decades ago, old dog," Peng Kai growled, his crimson eyes gleaming with manic glee.
With a brutal, violent twist of his wrist, Peng Kai crushed the heart to liquid pulp and tore his hand backward, ripping the old man’s chest open!
Ancestor Ming’s lifeless, armored body plummeted from the sky like a stone, crashing into the smoldering courtyard below with a sickening thud.
Down in the ruins, the surviving union members froze, their souls shattering at the sight of their strongest protector falling dead.
At that exact split second, Shen Yu moved.
Still cloaked beneath the stealth of his Phantom Steps, Shen Yu materialized like a silent phantom directly behind the dazed Union Leader, Meng De.
With an imperceptible flick of his wrist, a thin, jade-like needle dipped in lethal, spirit-corroding venom shot from his sleeve, driving straight through the nape of Meng De’s neck in a single, silent blow.
Meng De didn’t even have the chance to gasp.
His eyes rolled into the back of his head, his cultivation base instantly collapsing into ash as his lifeless body keeled over into the blood-stained dust.
With his target eliminated, Shen Yu immediately retreated toward the perimeter.
His role on this stage was complete, the remaining act belonged entirely to Bai Ruolan.
"UNION LEADER!" Bai Ruolan shrieked, her voice cracking with raw, grief-stricken anguish as tears streamed down her soot-covered face.
Seeing the momentary breach in her guard, Zhao Tianxing seized the opportunity, lunging forward with his sword to pierce her chest.
But before the blade could draw blood, a massive, clawed hand shot out from the smoke, clamping around his wrist like an iron vise.
"Time is up, Brother Zhao. We must leave," Peng Kai rumbled, his voice dripping with sinister intent.
"What the hell are you talking about, you demonic bastard?!" Zhao Tianxing roared, thrashing wildly.
"Sublime acting, Brother Zhao, but we truly have no time to waste," Peng Kai chuckled darkly.
With a brutal twist, he disarmed the blacksmith leader and slammed his heavy palm against Zhao Tianxing’s skull.
Dark, chaotic demonic Qi flooded into the man’s meridians, instantly corrupting his mind and paralyzing his senses.
Turning his hellish red eyes toward Bai Ruolan, who was pointing her blade directly at him, Peng Kai leaned in, whispering softly past her ear, "You are an exceptional actress, Madam Bai. Allow me to make your scene even more convincing."
Before she could react, he grabbed her by the shoulder and hurled her backward with a controlled burst of demonic force.
Bai Ruolan slammed violently against a ruined stone pillar, coughing up blood as she collapsed into the rubble, perfectly playing the part of a fallen hero.
Grabbing the dazed, mind-corrupted Zhao Tianxing, Peng Kai shot up into the sky like a dark comet.
BOOOOOOOOM—!
At that exact moment, the sky above detonated with golden power.
Clad in glowing golden robes, an imposing figure materialized in mid-air, his long white hair and sharp white goatee fluttering wildly, his pitch-black eyes sweeping over the gory, ruinous landscape below.
Spreading his middle-stage Nascent Soul spirit sense across the entire sector, the Imperial Herald took in the slaughter and muttered in cold, righteous fury.
"Fucking beasts..."
A block away, as the towering wave of spiritual sense washed over the area, Shen Yu felt the subtle, razor-sharp pressure sweep past his concealed form.
’Fourth Stage Nascent Soul Realm at minimum,’ Shen Yu assessed calmly, channeling his Qi to its absolute limit as his Phantom Steps carried him effortlessly out of the search radius, vanishing into the crowded city streets without leaving a single trace.
High above, the Imperial Herald failed to notice the microscopic ripple in his spirit sense as it brushed past the invisible shadow of Shen Yu.
His icy, furious gaze was locked entirely onto the dark, retreating form of Peng Kai and Zhao Tianxing.
"Where do you think you’re going, you monsters?!" the Herald boomed, his voice echoing across the heavens like divine wrath.
Streaking through the clouds, the Herald gave chase, leaving a blinding, radiant trail of golden imperial light in his wake.
Sensors flaring in alarm as the terrifying pressure closed in from behind, Peng Kai’s expression turned dead serious.
He violently ignited a deeper reservoir of his Earth-Tremor Vajra Bear blood, pushing the demonic lineage past its natural threshold.
Pain tore through his meridians as the intense strain wracked his frame, but he spat a mouthful of dark blood, unleashed a deafening, beastial roar, and surged forward in a crimson blur, clutching the dazed Zhao Tianxing beneath his arm.
Yet, the Imperial Herald gained ground with every passing second.
The presence of a Nascent Soul demonic cultivator rampaging within the Crimson Lotus Empire was an unprecedented catastrophe, one that threatened the very dignity of the Imperial Throne.
He could not afford to let this beast escape.
Forming an intricate hand seal, the Herald invoked an ancient secret technique.
His golden aura flared with blinding intensity, and with a thunderous sonic boom, his speed exploded, hurtling him through the sky directly toward the fleeing demon at a terrifying, world-shattering pace.