King of Ten Thousand Years

At the other end of the valley.

”AARGH! AARGH!”

Yue Jing faintly heard two miserable screams, less than a breath’s time apart.

”That came from the cave on Luo Tian’s side.”

Yue Jing was overjoyed.

Not far away, Liu Ziyan’s pretty eyes shifted, and she also gazed toward the valley where Luo Tian’s group of three had entered.

The two exchanged a smile, their eyes revealing a cruel chill, a sense of relief and excitement that came from a job well done.

This plan was orchestrated by Yue Jing and Liu Ziyan together.

The plan originated from a piece of classified intelligence Yue Jing had obtained.

The intelligence stated that a Spirit Level Demon Beast that had infiltrated the area was severely wounded by a Sunshine Student from the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion and had fled.

Afterward, Yue Jing sent people to track the heavily injured Spirit Level Demon Beast and actually managed to find its trail, narrowing down its general location.

Thus, he accepted an off-site mission from the higher-ups, using the mission as a pretext to eliminate Luo Tian.

If Luo Tian were killed by the Spirit Level Demon Beast, it could be written off as an accident. Even that old geezer Lin Dongfeng would find it difficult to investigate.

”Finally... is he dead?” Liu Ziyan murmured, a thrill of pleasure at having snuffed out a supreme genius welling up inside her.

In her judgment, Luo Tian’s Martial Vein was at least Earth Tier Upper Grade, and might even be the legendary Celestial Tier Martial Vein.

However, what struck the two as odd was that a third scream never came from the cave.

”Three people went in. This shouldn’t be happening.”

Yue Jing’s face was full of shock and doubt.

No matter how strong Luo Tian was, even if he were a prodigy of his generation, facing a Spirit Level Demon Beast with his Sixth Layer of Meridian Opening cultivation should have resulted in an undeniable, instant death.

”Perhaps one of them died so quickly they didn’t even have time to scream?”

Liu Ziyan said with a faint smile.

She refused to believe that Luo Tian could survive an attack from a Spirit Level Demon Beast.

...

Inside the cave.

The moment the Spirit Level Demon Beast charged in to kill.

WHOOSH!

Luo Tian loosened the Celestial Book Seal on the Demon Emperor Bone, releasing a surge of the Demon Emperor’s Qi and activating the Creation Technique to simulate it.

In that instant, he seemed to transform into a great Demon Venerable that dominated the age, his body emanating the terrifying aura of an Ancient Demon Emperor.

This simulated illusion of an aura, though not even one percent of a true Demon Emperor’s, was still incredibly frightening.

AWOOO!

The eyes of the menacing and overwhelmingly powerful Spirit Level Demon Beast filled with fear, and a tremor originating from the depths of its bloodline ran through it instinctively.

The limbs of the jackal-like Spirit Level Demon Beast bent subconsciously, as if it were about to kowtow in worship.

This time, Luo Tian was simulating it with his full power. The aura was several times stronger than before and might even leak the true aura of the Demon Emperor Bone.

’This Simulation Technique is really powerful. For a short period, it’s convincing enough to pass for the real thing.’

Luo Tian was shocked.

This heavily injured Spirit Level Demon Beast, which had the power to kill him in an instant, was on the verge of kneeling.

However, there was also a trace of struggle and reason on the Spirit Level Demon Beast’s face.

’Die!’

Luo Tian’s heart tightened; he had to seize this fleeting moment.

The Spirit Level Demon Beasts that infiltrated the Azure Cloud Kingdom all had high intelligence. The fake Demon Emperor’s aura could only stun it for a moment.

The Spirit Level Demon Beast could snap out of it at any second.

Seven-stars in a Row!

Luo Tian activated his Divine Vein Power and unleashed his strongest killing move.

SHING SHING SHING—SQUELCH—

The Wind and Snow Sword in Luo Tian’s hand transformed into an icy-blue Star Trace light. In the blink of an eye, it wove seven dazzling, blooming points of Star Sword Light, each one building on the last, one sword strike more powerful than the next, forming a vast, star-like Seven-star Sword Net.

ROAR!

As Luo Tian’s ”Seven-stars in a Row” thrust toward it, the jackal-like Spirit Level Demon Beast let out an enraged roar. It had snapped back to its senses, and a terrifying pressure emanated from it.

But it was too late to dodge.

PFFT-SQUELCH-SQUELCH!

Seven consecutive, ice-cold, and sharp streams of Star Trace Sword Light flashed brilliantly, all of them plunging into the jackal-like Spirit Level Demon Beast’s injured abdomen.

When Luo Tian’s first sword strike hit, he actually felt some resistance—and this was its relatively vulnerable abdomen, where it was already wounded.

One could only imagine how difficult it would have been for Luo Tian to break through its defense under normal circumstances.

Fortunately, Seven-stars in a Row was a continuous sequence of seven strikes, each growing in power. The second sword pierced into the Spirit Level Demon Beast’s abdomen.

”Die—”

Luo Tian let out a cold shout as the next four or five sword strikes frantically stabbed into the Spirit Level Demon Beast’s abdomen, shredding its internal organs.

In this state, its death was certain.

After landing all seven strikes, Luo Tian’s figure flashed, and he moved behind the Spirit Level Demon Beast.

ROOAR!

The jackal-like Spirit Level Demon Beast let out a sky-shaking roar, its eyes blood-red and filled with boundless hatred.

On the verge of death, it mustered its last ounce of strength and swiped a claw forward. A massive, dark claw mark gouged a crater the size of a water vat into the hard mountain wall beside it.

BOOM!

The entire mountain wall shook, sending stone fragments flying everywhere.

’Luckily, I reacted quickly!’

Luo Tian’s face was filled with lingering fear.

He had used his Spiritual Sense to monitor the Spirit Level Demon Beast’s every move, and he also had the sensory warnings from his Creation Technique.

Under such circumstances, he had practically predicted it in advance, dodging the jackal-like Spirit Level Demon Beast’s final, hate-filled strike.

This one strike would have been undoubtedly fatal to any Meridian Opening Realm Martial Artist it hit.

”Let’s go, quickly!”

”There’s a Demon Beast’s roar over there! What a terrifying sound.”

Hearing the commotion, the students in the valley all rushed over.

The Spirit Level Demon Beast’s dying roar was too loud, and its attack had shaken the mountain wall, naturally alerting everyone.

”Let’s go see what’s happening!”

Yue Jing and Liu Ziyan exchanged a look and hurried over.

With their strength, they had no problem protecting themselves against the heavily injured Spirit Level Demon Beast, not to mention there were so many other students around.

”Looks like that Spirit Level Demon Beast has gone berserk. Luo Tian must have a trick or two up his sleeve.”

Yue Jing said with a sneer.

If they hurried, they might even get to see the brutal scene of the Spirit Level Demon Beast tearing Luo Tian to shreds.

At this thought, Yue Jing grew impatient and rushed toward the cave with all his speed.

SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

Liu Ziyan and Yue Jing entered the cave, one after the other.

However, the bloody scene that unfolded before them left the two of them utterly stunned, their gazes vacant, as if they were in a dream.

A dozen or so meters from the cave entrance.

The massive corpse of a jackal-like Spirit Level Demon Beast lay quietly in a pool of blood, the numerous sword wounds on its abdomen a shocking sight.

Blood flowed out of the cave, still faintly warm.

Next to the Spirit Level Demon Beast’s corpse, Luo Tian was unhurriedly using his Wind and Snow Sword to pick out the Demon Core from within.

Then, his gaze fell upon the two horns on the Spirit Level Demon Beast’s head and its two pairs of sharp claws.

SCRAPE! SCRAPE!

Luo Tian gripped his Wind and Snow Sword tightly and began sawing back and forth at one of the sharp claws, as if he were cutting through hardwood with a saw.

”This... How is this possible!”

The color drained from Liu Ziyan’s beautiful face, and her heart trembled.

”You... You killed the Spirit Level Demon Beast?”

Yue Jing stammered, dumbfounded.

Judging by the scene, Luo Tian had clearly killed the Spirit Level Demon Beast. Moreover, he seemed calm and relaxed, quickly cutting off one of its claws.

”Yeah, I killed it.”

Luo Tian gave the two a cool glance before continuing to saw off the other claw.

The important parts from this Spirit Level Demon Beast were quite valuable.

SWISH! SWOOSH! SWOOSH!

Soon, figure after figure entered the cave.

When they saw the scene before them, they were all so shocked they froze, their reactions even more exaggerated than Liu Ziyan’s and Yue Jing’s.

”Luo Tian, you killed the Spirit Level Demon Beast?”

After a long moment, the students snapped out of their daze as if waking from a dream and stared blankly at Luo Tian.

Nangong Yu was also completely shocked.

Everyone stared intently at the handsome youth who was sawing away at the corpse.

”I killed it. How many times are you going to ask?”

Luo Tian said with some impatience.

”Don’t tell me you want to steal my battle merits. I killed this Spirit Level Demon Beast all by myself!”

Everyone present was floored.

They could, of course, see that Luo Tian had killed the Spirit Level Demon Beast.

But what they couldn’t believe was *how* Luo Tian could have possibly killed a Spirit Level Demon Beast.

”Luo Tian, how did you kill the Spirit Level Demon Beast?”

Yue Jing demanded loudly, suppressing the frustration and rage in his heart.

He had two guesses in mind.

The first was that Luo Tian had hidden his true strength and was powerful enough to easily kill a Spirit Level Demon Beast.

The second was that the Spirit Level Demon Beast’s injuries were far more severe than imagined, and Luo Tian had simply gotten lucky.

Yue Jing was more inclined to believe the latter.

”How did I kill it? I stabbed it to death with my sword, of course.”

Luo Tian said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

PFFT!

Everyone present nearly coughed up a mouthful of old blood.

Yue Jing and Liu Ziyan were so furious they were fuming, wishing they could rush up and throw Luo Tian into a pot of boiling oil.

”Luo Tian, what we mean is, how could you *possibly* have killed a Spirit Level Demon Beast!”

Nangong Yu cut straight to the point.

”Sigh, you people are so dishonest. If you have a question, just ask it directly. Why beat around the bush?”

Luo Tian wore a look of disdain as he shook his head and sighed.

”Why was I able to kill the Spirit Level Demon Beast?”

Luo Tian answered while continuing to carve up the demon beast’s parts.

Everyone’s gazes were fixed on his face, their hearts filled with intense curiosity and even a sense of indignation.

’On what grounds!’

’How could Luo Tian, a mere Sixth Layer of Meridian Opening, kill a Spirit Level Demon Beast?’

”The reason, of course, is that this Spirit Level Demon Beast was too weak! It just stood there without moving and let me kill it. How simple is that?”

Luo Tian said with a chuckle.

The Spirit Level Demon Beast was too weak?

It stood still and let you kill it?

Everyone present rolled their eyes. What kind of joke was this!

”Luo Tian, stop lying! What about those two corpses over there?”

a Silver Student demanded.

Everyone wore looks of disbelief.

”You don’t believe me?”

Luo Tian smiled playfully and pointed at the Spirit Level Demon Beast’s abdomen. ”I stood right here and stabbed it seven times, and it didn’t even fight back.”

As soon as he said this, everyone let out a gasp of surprise and stared at the Spirit Level Demon Beast’s abdomen.

That was right. There were indeed seven sword wounds there, and all in the same spot.

From the looks of it, the Spirit Level Demon Beast really had just stood there motionlessly and let Luo Tian stab it seven times in a row, with no ability to fight back.

Otherwise, how could a Spirit Level Demon Beast be so foolish as to let a Sixth Layer of Meridian Opening cultivator, someone it would view as an ant, stab it seven consecutive times in the same spot?

”I get it!”

”This Spirit Level Demon Beast must have been too heavily injured! After killing those two Silver Students, it must have used up the last of its strength and was on the brink of death.”

Some of the students on the scene discussed animatedly and came to a conclusion.

Luo Tian didn’t deny it, simply finishing cutting off all the valuable parts.

Rather than go through the trouble of explaining it himself, it was better to let them analyze it and come up with the most ”reasonable” answer on their own.