191: Beacon Fire Great Swamp

The collapsed ruins of Lingyun Peak had transformed into a crimson purgatory within a few days.

The initial chaos was stirred up by third-tier Yao Beasts, and after the bloody prologue was unveiled, the true predators followed in succession.

The Thunder Kui Demon King's violent lightning tore through the sky, constantly clashing with the frigid waves and angry tides controlled by Lady Jade Flood Dragon, exploding into a sky full of lightning and water vapor; the Black Bone Crocodile King was like a sinister assassin, always launching fatal surprise attacks from the shadows at the most chaotic moments before quickly retreating; and that completely maddened Hundred-Eyed Centipede was like an indiscriminate destruction machine, its toxic miasma rotting everything it passed, even attacking all living things near the mountain core regardless of friend or foe.

The corpses of low-tier Yao Beasts had already piled up like mountains, their flesh and blood mixing with the shattered mountain rocks to soak the earth in dark red. The air was filled with a pungent smell of thick blood, scorched flesh, and toxic corrosion.

The Spiritual Qi had become completely violent, forming streaks of fatal elemental turbulence; occasionally, Yao Beasts were caught in it, screaming as they were turned into powder.

The focus of the struggle remained those crimson-gold light spots flickering occasionally deep within the shattered mountain and in the gaps of the energy storms—suanni precious blood, and the trace of the aura of the Origin Law it contained.

Whenever the aura of the precious blood became slightly more apparent, it would trigger a new round of frenzied scrambling and tragic slaughter.

The flying boats of the Heavenly Sword Branch Alliance hovered like ghosts in the depths of a valley a hundred miles outside the battlefield.

A massive "Stealth and Breath-Concealing Array" operated quietly, reducing their presence to the minimum.

Inside the main ship, the Nascent Soul Cultivator with white hair and beard and an ancient sword on his back—the Heavenly Sword Ancestor—was observing the world-destroying scene in the distance through a "Heaven-Peering Sword Mirror" composed of countless tiny strands of Sword Qi.

The light and shadows in the mirror were violently distorted, and the violent energy interference made the image intermittent, yet the heart-stoppingly terrifying fluctuations could still be felt.

“Old Ancestor, several Fourth-Tier Demon Kings have already fought until their eyes are red, especially that Hundred-Eyed Centipede, which has gone completely mad,” a Golden Core Peak Elder responsible for monitoring reported with a grave expression. “Three of the ‘Sword Shadow Shuttles’ we sent out have already been destroyed by the aftershocks; we can only get as close as a fifty-mile radius lately.”

Ling Xu Zi's expression was calm, but a sharp glint flashed in his eyes: “It doesn't matter. The point isn't how close we are, but to see clearly how much they have consumed, how heavy their injuries are, and... where that final fifth-tier precious blood will ultimately land.”

“Old Ancestor, are we really not going to make some arrangements in advance? In case a certain Demon King succeeds in obtaining the precious blood and flees far away...” another Elder couldn't help but ask.

The Heavenly Sword Ancestor shook his head slightly, his tone carrying an experienced ruthlessness: “Intervening at this moment would force them to temporarily unite against us. The temptation of the fifth-tier precious blood is enough for these mutually hostile Demon Kings to temporarily set aside their grudges. We wait, wait for them to decide a temporary winner, or... wait for them to leave this most chaotic central area with the treasures they've seized.”

He paused and added: “Order the ‘Shadow Sword Guards’ to get ready and stand by. Our goal is not to snatch food from a tiger's mouth at the core, but to perform a ‘precise interception’ after they succeed, when their strength is relatively scattered and they are likely injured.”

“Yes!” the Elders responded solemnly.

Time passed amidst deafening roars and explosions. The tragic intensity of the core battlefield only increased.

One of the Thunder Kui Demon King's giant horns was frozen and cracked by Lady Jade Flood Dragon's Natal Ice Divine Ability; one of Lady Jade Flood Dragon's heart-protecting Dragon scales was torn off in a sneak attack by the Black Bone Crocodile King, leaving her bloodied; the Black Bone Crocodile King fared even worse, its back struck by the Hundred-Eyed Centipede's venom, which corroded pits into its large bronze bone armor, causing it to let out a painful hiss; and the Hundred-Eyed Centipede itself had lost many limbs, and one of its massive compound eyes was shattered by the Thunder Kui's lightning, oozing foul-smelling fluid.

Finally, after another terrifying collision that shook the earth and mountains, the precious blood half-buried in the mountain ruins suddenly condensed into three extremely dazzling crimson-gold blood lights containing terrifying Bloodline fluctuations!

These three orbs of blood light were of different sizes; the largest was about the size of a human head, its crimson-gold light almost materializing, and the aura of Law fragments made the Souls of all living beings tremble; the two smaller orbs were about the size of a fist, their light slightly weaker, but equally precious.

“Roar!!!”

“It's mine!!”

Almost the instant the blood light appeared, all Fourth-Tier Demon Kings with strength remaining, as well as a few of the most powerful third-tier Peak Yao Beasts, pounced forward recklessly!

The most intense, briefest, and most fatal final struggle erupted within a tiny space!

The Thunder Kui Demon King endured a strike from Lady Jade Flood Dragon's ice blade, its lone claw firmly grabbing the smallest orb of blood light, and with a flash of lightning, it fled madly toward Thunder Cloud Mountain to the north as a bolt of lightning without looking back!

Lady Jade Flood Dragon's Dragon tail swept out, perilously coiling around the other smaller orb of blood light, and without pausing, she rode a towering wave of water back toward the Bibo Pond in the northwest, scattering crystalline blood droplets along the way.

As for the largest main blood light, it was hit by several attacks simultaneously in the chaos and actually exploded, splitting into several thin blood streaks that splattered in different directions!

The primary streak was swallowed by the maddened Hundred-Eyed Centipede, but it also had several segments of its body bitten off by the Black Bone Crocodile King's desperate final strike, and it fled for its life toward the Corrosive Poison Marsh to the southeast, shrouded in toxic miasma while hissing miserably.

The Black Bone Crocodile King itself seized another slightly larger blood streak from the explosion and, without hesitation, sank into the shadows of the earth, vanishing using its innate earth-escaping Divine Ability.

The remaining thinner blood streaks triggered a mad scramble among the surviving powerful Yao Beasts, and the battlefield instantly spread from the center in all directions, as chasing and killing extended into the wider mountain forests.

At the Heavenly Sword Alliance's hiding place.

“Old Ancestor! The precious blood has scattered! They are fleeing in different directions!” the Golden Core Elder responsible for observation reported urgently.

A sharp light flashed in the Heavenly Sword Ancestor's eyes as he stood up abruptly: “Good! The Opportunity has come! Shadow Sword Guards, move out in three teams and tail those heading north, northwest, and east from a distance! Remember, only follow and do not snatch; record their movements, evaluate the risks and costs of capture, and report back at any time!”

“What about the main blood streak being chased by the Hundred-Eyed Centipede to the southeast...”

The Heavenly Sword Ancestor pondered for a moment before shaking his head decisively: “That blood light is the strongest, and it's being chased by the most crazed Hundred-Eyed Centipede, which might also draw in other variables; the risk is the greatest. Our Heavenly Sword Alliance won't be greedy for the fattest piece of meat; we will prioritize ensuring we have a chance to take one of the others! Act!”

Several blurred sword shadows silently left the concealment array, trailing their respective targets from a distance like persistent shadows.

The Heavenly Sword Alliance finally began to quietly shift from pure observers to the role of the ‘fisherman’.

Meanwhile, to the southeast, about three hundred miles from Lingyun Peak, at the edge of a mountain valley that had been vitrified by crimson fire.

A dark Dragon shadow, almost blending into the shadows of the rocks, was lurking deep within a crack.

Gao De had just managed to sneak here using the Hidden Scale Concealment Technique and was communicating with Rainbow hidden in the clouds, trying to more accurately locate the source of that “Rainbow Light Resonance.”

Suddenly, his Dragon Soul let out a wild warning!

Looking up, he saw a heart-stoppingly dense crimson-gold blood light streaking through the sky from the northwestern horizon at a terrifying speed, followed closely by a cloud of dark green toxic miasma that blotted out the sun and the Hundred-Eyed's hideous, massive shadow!

The direction... was heading straight for this valley!

Gao De's pupils suddenly constricted.

The small Opportunity he was seeking had not yet been obtained, but a destruction storm far beyond his capabilities was already crashing down toward his hiding place!