Chapter 1190, Bloody Hand

Translator: Silavin

  

“We have now properly entered Vibrant Vermilion Peak.”

 

Looking out over this world of ice and snow, Fang Zhong’s expression tightened slightly. He was just about to speak when a roar like that of some primordial colossus came crashing down from the very summit of that frozen world.

 

*Roar!*

 

Under that roar, the entire enormous mountain peak trembled violently, snowflakes were blown apart in every direction, and a wave of devastating cold swept outward in a rush.

 

Beneath that sound, the figures of Fang Zhong’s group froze up all at once, every face becoming grave and heavy.

 

Qin Yichen also stopped, his gaze fixed tightly on the ice-blanketed summit far above. Somewhere within that howling blizzard, it seemed an enormous creature was watching them, these intruders who had dared to approach its frozen domain.

 

Though a considerable distance still separated them, a terrifying pressure had already begun to spread toward them.

 

“A… a Saint Realm Demonic Beast?!”

 

Beside Qin Yichen, the faces of several Late Stage Martial Ancestors had gone distinctly dark. Some were already considering simply turning around and leaving.

 

[The Saint Realm…]

 

Though it was separated from the Martial Ancestor Realm by only one Major Realm, that gap was an uncrossable chasm. Between the two, there was simply no comparison.

 

A Saint stood above all others, and within the range of their Saint Prestige, they were a near-invincible existence!

 

Of course, there were rare individuals who had defied the Heavens, capable of radiating something approaching that aura even while still in the Martial Ancestor Realm, such as Li Yuanba, who had been baptised in rivers of blood and battle countless times.

 

Yet people like Li Yuanba were, naturally, an exceedingly rare exception.

 

And a Saint Realm Demonic Beast, when it came to intelligence, was no inferior to an ordinary person, while its methods and ferocity were often more savage still than those of the average cultivator.

 

In a place like Vibrant Vermilion Peak, if a Saint Realm Demonic Beast truly resided here, then these experts trying to lay eyes on the legendary Sacred Energy Fruit were no different from thieves trying to snatch food from a tiger’s mouth. Or rather, to put it plainly, they would be walking straight into their own deaths.

 

“That beast hasn’t broken through to the Saint Realm yet.”

 

However, upon hearing this single line from Fang Zhong, the feet of those already rehearsing their retreat came to an abrupt halt.

 

Not yet broken through to the Saint Realm?

 

If it were truly a Saint Realm Demonic Beast, these Martial Ancestors likely would not even make for a decent meal, but if that creature genuinely had not yet broken through, then with the combined strength gathered here, there should at least be a fighting chance!

 

A Sacred Energy Fruit, said to be a wondrous medicine capable of allowing one to break through to the Saint Realm.

 

Who among those present did not wish to obtain such a treasure?

 

And for certain individuals, the thing held even greater importance than that.

 

The Myriad Beasts Domain was a paradise for Martial Ancestors!

 

Though it was filled with dangers beyond count, the Restrictions on entry had, paradoxically, made it a place where certain experts who had no hope of breaking through to the Saint Realm had come to regard it as their true home.

 

Within these boundaries, they were near-invincible. The moment they stepped outside, however, in the vast world where heroes and Forces competed across the continent, they would hardly attract a second glance.

 

Some who had broken through to the Saint Realm by some fortunate chance had no intention of leaving at all.

 

If one could obtain this legendary Sacred Energy Fruit, there was every possibility that yet another near-invincible existence would emerge within the Myriad Beasts Domain.

 

One could well imagine, then, just how immense the allure of the Sacred Energy Fruit’ truly was.

 

[It hasn’t broken through to the Saint Realm, but it is only a single step away.] Qin Yichen’s eyes narrowed slowly, his gaze fixed on the distant summit beyond the frozen world, and he inwardly thought.

 

From within that pressure, Qin Yichen could sense that the Demonic Beast had certainly stepped half a foot into the Saint Realm already. It was possible that it was deliberately suppressing its breakthrough, waiting for the Sacred Energy Fruit to ripen so that it might borrow the fruit’s power to perfect itself and breakthrough in one decisive moment.

 

A beast that had already partially-entered the Saint Realm, and which might even be deliberately restraining itself from breaking through, was not something a mere ordinary Peak Stage Martial Ancestor could begin to compare with.

 

The hundred or so experts gathered at the foot of the mountain earlier might have looked like a considerable force at a glance, but in Qin Yichen’s estimation, trying to snatch food from this particular tiger’s mouth was not going to be a simple matter.

 

When the moment came, at the very least, more than half of them would die or be wounded here. And if these experts were all harbouring their own private schemes against one another, a complete rout or a total haul of nothing was entirely within the realm of possibility.

 

At this juncture, Fang Zhong no longer sent Qin Yichen and the other Late Stage Martial Ancestors ahead to scout.

 

Though Qin Yichen and the rest were only Late Stage Martial Ancestors, which even within the Myriad Beasts Domain counted as low-tier combatants, they still represented a measure of force at this particular moment. They might prove to be useful further on.

 

Moreover, they all understood that the moment they entered that frozen landscape, they would be within the territory of that fearsome beast. Within it, no other Demonic Beast would exist. The only thing they would have to face was that creature, half a foot already inside the Saint Realm.

 

With just their single group rushing in recklessly, they would almost certainly be unable to contend with such a beast.

 

For the moment, they had no choice but to gather alongside other experts before they could even have a chance at the Sacred Energy Fruit.

 

Evidently it was not only Fang Zhong’s small group thinking along these lines. A number of other experts had already begun to quietly congregate at a certain point nearby.

 

“Let’s head over as well.”

 

Sensing the gathering auras in the distance, Fang Zhong hesitated briefly and then spoke to Qin Yichen and the others.

 

The group set off immediately toward where those dozens of auras had converged.

 

In no more than a moment, dozens of figures came into Qin Yichen’s line of sight.

 

“That’s… Blood Hand, Zhao Xueqi!”

 

The moment he laid eyes on that group, the tall and slender Mao Gan at Qin Yichen’s side let out a low, startled cry.

 

The name seemed to carry no small weight of its own, for Qin Yichen sensed the others around him tense up ever so slightly.

 

“Zhao Xueqi?”

 

Hearing that name, Qin Yichen’s eyes narrowed.

 

In the several ambushes he had encountered earlier, two separate groups had invoked this name in the moments before he cut them down.

 

From that alone, it was clear that this Zhao Xueqi was one of those long-entrenched experts who had settled permanently in the Myriad Beasts Domain and carved out a territory of his own.

 

“Brother Fang, Zhao Xueqi is the sort who’ll swallow a man whole without leaving a single bone. Do we really need to go over there?”

 

Zhang Qun’s face was equally grave. His gaze, full of wariness, was fixed on a man in crimson robes standing at the apparent centre of that group, and he said in a heavy voice.

 

Looking toward that group and the man who had temporarily assumed its lead, Fang Zhong was conflicted.

 

If it were not absolutely necessary, he had no desire to cooperate with him either.

 

But this hesitation did not last long, and Fang Zhong reached his decision.

 

“Let’s go. However vicious Zhao Xueqi may be, he can hardly cause mayhem in front of this many people. If he tried, he wouldn’t even get to go up.”

 

Hearing Fang Zhong’s words, the others each gave a nod, and then the group swept over toward that gathering.