38: Chapter 38 Lightning Tribulation Feeds the Sword, a Single Horn Serves as Firewood

"Boom!"

At the very moment Ye Feng's foot landed, the northern city wall exploded.

Without the slightest warning, that Black Rock wall, which had stood for a century, seemed to be violently kneaded by an invisible giant hand, and a hundred-meter-long gap collapsed with a roar.

Before the smoke and dust had even settled, purple lightning fire had already poured in through the gap.

The refugee army that had been huddled at the base of the wall instantly broke into a chaotic frenzy.

Crying out for their parents and abandoning their helmets and armor, the thirty thousand refugees were like a nest of ants scalded by boiling water, frantically squeezing toward the inner city.

People trampled people; people crowded people.

Ye Feng stood in the middle of the counter-current crowd, appearing completely out of place. He raised his eyes to look above the gap.

Hovering there was a behemoth with a wingspan of at least twenty zhang, its body covered in purple scales, with a bat's body beneath a hideous Dragon's head.

Half-step Golden Core realm, a lightning-attribute Yao King—the Purple Lightning Bat-Dragon.

Further away on the inner city wall, the insufferably arrogant Iron Madman was death-gripping the hilt of the blade at his waist, his knuckles turning white.

Tucked in his robe was that secret imperial decree; his feet seemed to have taken root, not moving a single step.

That was the Emperor's command.

It was acceptable for Black Rock City to fall and for the refugees to be wiped out, but the elites of the Northern Guard Army could not be lost.

"Useless."

Ye Feng withdrew his gaze, his Adam's apple bobbing as he spat out a mouthful of bloody froth mixed with grit.

Without sparing a single glance for the terrified refugees, he gripped the broken sword—which had already been chipped back in the capital—and walked step by step against the flow of people toward the gap ravaged by lightning fire.

Since someone wants to watch this drama of the entire city being wiped out, then I'll take over this stage.

"Roar—!"

The Bat Dragon Yao King in the sky noticed this ant moving against the tide.

A hint of human-like mockery flashed in its pupils as it opened its mouth and spat.

"Zzzzt!"

A bolt of purple tribulation lightning as thick as a bowl tore through the air, carrying a violent aura of total destruction, heading straight for the crown of Ye Feng's head.

The surrounding refugees were scared out of their wits, clutching their heads and scurrying away.

Ye Feng didn't dodge.

He didn't even assume a defensive posture; instead, in a jarringly discordant move, he spread his arms wide, as if embracing an old friend after a long separation.

The Chaos Sword Body within him operated to its limit.

If anyone could see through his Meridians, they would find a madly spinning black vortex.

The tribulation lightning struck his body.

Pain, like countless red-hot knives carving his flesh.

But a ferocious grin curled at the corners of Ye Feng's mouth.

If he absorbed such violent lightning directly, his Meridians would surely be ruined.

But who said he was going to absorb it directly?

[Attribute Stripping].

The Chaos Qi cyclone acted like a precision centrifuge, instantly dismantling the power of lightning pouring into his body.

The "violent" attribute, enough to shatter rocks, was overbearingly stripped away, crushed, and expelled from his body as scorched smoke.

The remaining purest and most agile "Origin of Speed" was like a high-concentration stimulant, violently injected into the shattered broken sword.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

A series of popping sounds like beans roasting erupted from Ye Feng's spine, and his entire body seemed to stretch a bit.

The gray Sword Wings on his back were instantly stained with a layer of eerie deep purple; with a slight flutter, a scorched smell was left in the air.

In the next second, Ye Feng vanished.

Only an afterimage remained, dissipated by the belated wind.

When he reappeared, he had turned himself into a human cannonball, slamming violently into the dense swarm of low-tier Bat Dragons outside the gap.

There were no fancy sword moves.

Only speed.

A linear slaughter of extreme speed.

The broken sword, enveloped in purple lightning, took with every swing a still-beating, blood-streaked Thunder Core.

Puchi! Puchi!

Blood bloomed at the gap like a free-flowing fountain.

These first and second-tier Yao Beasts, usually incredibly ferocious, were now like chickens and ducks waiting for slaughter.

They couldn't even see where the enemy was; they only felt a chill on their necks before their vision began to spin.

In less than ten breaths.

The corpses beneath Ye Feng's feet had already piled into a two-meter-high hill.

He stood atop the mountain of corpses, drenched in blood, the broken sword in his hand still dripping blood droplets, while his other hand grabbed a handful of Thunder Cores and stuffed them into his mouth like candy, crunching them with a "crack."

On the inner city wall.

Iron Madman watched that figure charging in and out of the beast tide, the corners of his eyes twitching frantically.

One man, one sword, guarding a city?

Even he, a quasi-Golden Core, wouldn't dare imagine such a thing.

"Dammit!"

Iron Madman slammed a fist onto the battlement, sending stone chips flying.

He reached into his robe, pulled out the secret decree that told him to "preserve strength," and without even a glance, tore it to shreds and tossed it into the wind.

To hell with the Emperor's command!

I am a soldier, not a spectator!

"All generals, hear my command!" Iron Madman roared, his voice shaking the surroundings. "When the general is in the field, he may ignore the sovereign's orders! Open the inner city gates and follow me to kill—"

"Clang!"

Before his words could land, a shrill sound of breaking air suddenly rang out.

A shattered sword covered in beast blood, like a meteor chasing the moon, flew past the tip of Iron Madman's nose and, with a "clang," nailed itself firmly into the blue brick at his feet.

The blade was still trembling violently, emitting a humming sound.

It sank three inches into the stone, blocking the path.

Iron Madman went stiff, the killing intent of that moment making his back run cold.

He abruptly looked up toward the gap.

Atop the mountain of corpses, Ye Feng slowly turned his head.

There was no emotion in those eyes, only a certain beast-like ferocity of protecting its food.

He didn't speak, only gave Iron Madman a cold sweep of his eyes, then made an extremely arrogant gesture—

Get back.

This is my hunting ground. Anyone who dares to steal my experience, I'll kill you along with them.

Iron Madman's hand on his blade froze in mid-air, and the shout of "charge out" was choked back down his throat.

Is this kid insane?

"Screech—!!"

Just then, an ear-piercing shriek bore down from high above.

The Bat Dragon Yao King, which had been circling without moving, finally grew enraged.

Seeing its subordinates and descendants being harvested like leeks, this Yao King, which possessed significant intelligence, completely went berserk.

The single horn atop its head suddenly lit up with a blinding red light, its entire blood supply seeming to ignite, and the surrounding space began to show strange distorted ripples due to the terrifying high temperature.

A suffocating pressure firmly locked onto the blood-soaked man atop the mountain of corpses.

Ye Feng looked up at the horn that was so red it seemed about to drip blood; instead of being afraid, he licked the blood from his lips.

The Golden Core Bottleneck within him, amidst the constant slaughter and devouring, finally loosened by a sliver of a crack.

This feeling—he had been hungry for too long, and finally, the main course was being served.