Chapter Thirty-Three: The Fierce Battle with the God of Slaughter

"Be careful, everyone. If you encounter an enemy you can't defeat, don't force the fight!" With a hurried warning to Yi Feng and the others, Yi Tian stamped his foot against the earth, his figure darting forward like a phantom, crossing more than a dozen yards in an instant.

In front of Yi Tian stood a warrior of the eighth rank, gripping a broadsword that flashed with cold light. Yi Tian's Golden Scale Sword gleamed like a streak through the void, a point of starlight aiming straight for the man's throat.

The warrior was caught off guard by Yi Tian's terrifying speed—he barely had time to react and could only sweep his blade across in a desperate attempt to block the incoming sword light.

A metallic clash rang out as Yi Tian's sword struck the broadsword, carving a deep groove and showering sparks. The sheer force of the blow numbed the man's arm, causing a brief hesitation.

But in that fleeting instant, Yi Tian's sword swept in from another direction. In a flash, he slew the opponent, leaving a long, narrow wound across the man's chest, from which blood spurted forth.

In just two moves, Yi Tian had slain a battle-hardened eighth-rank warrior.

However, Yi Tian was quickly surrounded. Three fierce attacks came at him, swift and ruthless, each aimed at a vital point. These strikes were vicious and cunning—even a ninth-rank warrior would have struggled to fend them off without exposing flaws and opening themselves to further danger.

No matter how Yi Tian dodged, the next wave of attacks followed relentlessly. If he were a seasoned veteran, there might have been a way to resolve these attacks, but though his cultivation was powerful, his combat experience was sorely lacking.

At this perilous moment, Yi Tian unleashed the Art of Soaring Feathers, his body soaring skyward like a crane.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The three powerful strikes slashed through the spot where Yi Tian had just stood, carving deep rifts several yards long into the ground, each gouge three or four feet deep, as if torn open by a savage beast.

With a flash of inspiration, Yi Tian rose more than twenty yards into the air, evading the attacks of the three high-level warriors.

But just then, a terrifying sword energy surged up from the earth below, stretching dozens of yards as if to rend heaven and earth itself.

On the ground stood a man whose expression was icy, his entire being radiating murderous intent. After unleashing that sword strike, his figure shot upward.

"The God of Slaughter himself has intervened!" The three Dark Skull Regiment members besieging Yi Tian were taken aback—they had not expected the God of Slaughter, one of the four gods of the Dark Skull Regiment, to act personally.

Yi Tian's strength was formidable—any one of them might not be his match alone, but together, the three could contend with and even slay most ninth-rank warriors. As elite members of the Dark Skull Regiment, they possessed such power.

Now, as Yi Tian hung in midair, he had no way to dodge and was forced to confront the oncoming sword energy head-on.

"Pure Yang Sword Qi—Cleave!"

Facing the murderous sword energy, Yi Tian poured his surging pure yang energy into the Golden Scale Sword, unleashing a dazzling, blazing sword light that collided with the fearsome attack.

After this tremendous clash, Yi Tian was completely spent, drifting down toward the earth as if weightless. Even with his mastery of the Art of Soaring Feathers, he could not halt his descent.

As he fell to within two yards of the ground, the God of Slaughter from the Dark Skull Regiment rushed forward, sending another deadly sword strike his way.

Boom!

Yi Tian swung his sword once more, and the sword energies exploded. The impact sent him tumbling back more than a dozen yards before he finally landed, staggering across the ground.

No sooner had Yi Tian touched down than the God of Slaughter was upon him. Sword in hand, Yi Tian engaged in a desperate duel, their battle so swift and fierce that it was almost impossible for outsiders to follow—only sword lights flashing through the air, each one blazing or filled with killing intent, tearing massive scars into the earth.

Though the two seemed evenly matched, Yi Tian was secretly in agony. Only he knew how terrifying this man was—every strike was razor-sharp, merciless, and aimed at his vitals.

Yi Tian's pure yang energy was equal to a ninth-rank warrior's in both quantity and refinement. Yet, facing the God of Slaughter, he could only retreat, focusing on defense and unable to counterattack. Several times he was nearly struck down.

Were it not for his body, tempered by pure yang energy and thus preternaturally alert to danger, allowing him to sense and evade threats at the last moment, he would have already fallen. His physical might exceeded twenty thousand pounds, far surpassing the limit of ninth-rank warriors; each swing of his sword carried immense force, disrupting his opponent's rhythm. Otherwise, he would have been in even greater peril.

Yi Tian concentrated his mind utterly as he fought the God of Slaughter, one of the four gods of the Dark Skull Regiment. Gradually, through this desperate combat, he began to absorb and refine precious battle experience.

Meanwhile, the other members of the Reincarnation Squad were not so fortunate. Each was being pursued by one or two high-level warriors, with many more Dark Skull Regiment members trailing behind. If not for their proficiency in the Art of Soaring Feathers, which let them flee at incredible speed—leaping several yards with each bound—they would already have been hacked to pieces.

The most dangerous were the high-level warriors of the Dark Skull Regiment, whose energy attacks could harm from a distance. Several times, Yi Feng and Yi Kuang barely escaped severe injury. Even when they managed to shatter incoming attacks, the explosive energies left wounds all over their bodies, leaving them bloodied and battered.

Though Yi Feng and the others were driven into utter chaos and misery, they did not flee. Their captain, Yi Tian, was still locked in battle—they could not abandon him. Besides, this was their first true combat, and the struggle was gradually awakening their own ferocity.

Fortunately, with the Art of Soaring Feathers, they were even faster than ninth-rank warriors and thus avoided being surrounded.

On that stretch of earth, the two sides engaged in a fierce chase and slaughter.

From the very beginning, Yi Tian's battle with the God of Slaughter was intensely violent. Their fight devastated a wide area; within a hundred feet, all was deathly still as sword energies crisscrossed, tearing everything apart.

After hundreds of exchanges, the God of Slaughter finally sensed something amiss. His opponent's combat skills were growing more refined with every move; his attacks were being deflected with increasing ease.

With a metallic ring, the God of Slaughter knocked Yi Tian back, then suddenly his aura became ethereal, and a terrifying murderous intent surged from his body.

"Not good!" Yi Tian's expression changed—his foe was about to unleash a battle technique.

"Mortal-Slaying Sword!"

The next moment, the God of Slaughter's sword pierced through more than a dozen yards of space, like a giant blade from heaven itself cleaving down at Yi Tian. The surging energy behind the strike seemed capable of splitting the very sky.

How terrifying!

After that sword was unleashed, Yi Tian found himself unable to dodge. His mastery of the Art of Soaring Feathers made him faster than any ninth-rank warrior, yet this strike was several times swifter still—no ninth-rank warrior alive could escape it.

"Break!"

Facing mortal peril, Yi Tian mustered all his strength, channeling the full force of his pure yang energy. Instantly, flames roared around him, and from the inferno, a brilliant sword light slashed out.

Boom!

The clash was as if heaven and earth collided.

The God of Slaughter's sword instantly shattered Yi Tian's sword light, tore apart the sea of fire, and crashed against the Golden Scale Sword.

Bang!

Yi Tian was sent flying by the tremendous force. In that instant, the terrifying power nearly tore his body apart; his organs throbbed with pain, and he was certainly wounded within. Stray strands of deadly sword energy penetrated his body, compounding his injuries.

"Hmm!" The God of Slaughter of the Dark Skull Regiment was surprised to see that Yi Tian was merely wounded, not killed. He was well aware of the power of this technique—a high-grade battle skill he had obtained by chance, the Threefold Slaughter Sword, which comprised three moves: Heaven, Earth, and Mortal Slaughter.

His Mortal-Slaying Sword, infused with boundless killing intent, could slay a ninth-rank warrior with ease.