Chapter 276: Rushing to Bewitching Gorge
The spell “Sacrifice · Feast of Ten Thousand Snakes” had been created by Zhou Ming after drawing inspiration from the Resentful Aggregation, combined with the sacrificial knowledge left behind by the Tower’s Master.
Through sacrifice, the Ironthread Snakes were made to die and condense into resentment, forming serpents of death that attacked the enemy one after another.
This spell placed extremely high demands on bloodline control, research into Ironthread Snakes, and the transformation of spiritual consciousness into resentment.
However, ever since Zhou Ming had embarked upon carving out his own path, his research into bloodlines, Ironthread Snakes, and spiritual consciousness had already reached an exceptionally high level.
As long as he obtained new knowledge, he could integrate it into his own system within a short time and thus create new spells.
Compared to other Beast Tamers who walked the paths of their predecessors, opening an entirely new path alone was extraordinarily difficult, yet it also brought tremendous benefits.
His research and understanding of knowledge systems were far beyond what other Beast Tamers could compare with.
According to Zhou Ming’s vision, once he advanced to Transcendent Master, this spell could even use other snake-type Ferocious Beasts as sacrifices, thereby infinitely increasing its power.
If one day an entire world’s Snake Race were used as sacrifices, one could fully imagine a scene akin to the end of the world descending.
As the spell “Sacrifice · Feast of Ten Thousand Snakes” was successfully cast, gray serpent shadows emerged from the blood mist one after another. Their deathly pale serpent pupils revealed endless resentment.
Under the distortion of the Feast of Ten Thousand Snakes, these spirit-form Ironthread Snakes condensed from resentment attributed the cause of their deaths to the Yang Family.
Without the slightest pause, the spirit-form Ironthread Snakes radiating the aura of death immediately swarmed toward the Yang Family.
“What kind of monster is this?”
Murmurs, pollution, and aberration instantly appeared on both the physical and spiritual levels of the Yang Family members. Their consciousness began to descend into chaos.
Common defensive methods became ineffective, and terror engulfed them in an instant.
As for the Imprisoning Wind Barrier, it dispersed at the first moment.
“This is a spirit-type attack method. Physical attacks are completely useless. Use the anger within your bodies or elemental power to isolate them. Do not let your spiritual consciousness spread outside your bodies.”
Compared to the others, Yang Huaiyuan, who had seen much of the world, loudly reminded everyone. At the same time, he took out a light-element Transcendent Equipment and began slaying the spirit-form Ironthread Snakes.
“As expected of someone from a major power. You saw through the nature of the Feast of Ten Thousand Snakes in such a short time. Unfortunately, you forgot about me.”
The Steel-Cleaving Sword and the Phantasmal Spirit Sword once again appeared in Zhou Ming’s hands. With a sweep of the serpent tail beneath him, he instantly transformed into a metallic storm and charged forward.
His body spun like a top. The two longswords in his hands swept horizontally in all directions, while incomparably venomous snake venom spread through the surroundings.
At this moment, taking advantage of the enemy’s inability to resist, Zhou Ming began slaughtering in this uninhabited wilderness.
“Zhou Ming, if you dare slaughter members of my Yang Family, you will surely provoke our Yang Family’s Ancestor to take action personally.”
As one of the few still capable of resistance, Yang Huaiyuan naturally received special attention. With the enhancement of the spell Power of the Giant Serpent, streaks of toxin-laced slashes struck him like rain beating upon banana leaves.
“Rest assured. Once I advance, I will naturally let your Yang Family’s Ancestor reunite with you.”
The moment his opponent was distracted, Vermilion Jade instantly shot out from within Zhou Ming’s body. The vibrating hum of the bone blade at her tail resembled the buzzing of a swarm, like a flying sword as it severed Yang Huaiyuan’s right hand.
The light-attribute Transcendent Equipment that Yang Huaiyuan relied upon fell to the ground, and the surrounding spirit-form Ironthread Snakes immediately swarmed toward him.
Amid waves of agonized screams, Yang Huaiyuan, the Second Elder of the Yang Family, was corroded by resentment.
Zhou Ming was exceedingly merciful. He did not allow the man to suffer excessively and immediately decapitated him with a single sword strike.
As for the others, Zhou Ming likewise showed mercy, ending their suffering with the sword in his hand.
“Hiss hiss hiss…”
Upon seeing their object of hatred dead, the spirit-form Ironthread Snakes hovering in midair grew somewhat restless. Some of their gazes even began to turn toward Zhou Ming.
“It seems this spell still carries the risk of backlash.”
Seeing the changes in the spirit-form Ironthread Snakes, Zhou Ming understood that the Feast of Ten Thousand Snakes could not completely mislead them, after all, he himself had caused their deaths.
However, he was not without methods to deal with such a situation.
“Disperse.”
Spiritual fluctuations emerged. The core that constructed the spirit-form Ironthread Snakes began to disintegrate, and the restless serpents in the surroundings gradually faded into nothingness.
Yet the lingering pollution aura of the spirit-form Ironthread Snakes remained, and the power of death continued corroding the surroundings. Zhou Ming immediately collected the spoils of war and left the area.
…
When the slaughter ended and more than ten minutes after Zhou Ming had departed, a hunter squad quietly approached the battleground.
“Boss, could it be that Transcendent-level experts fought here?”
From within the dense forest emerged a five-man hunter squad. The speaker was a burly man standing at two meters thirty.
His build resembled a bear’s. He carried an ammunition box on his back and held a vehicle-mounted heavy machine gun in his arms. On both thighs hung Thunder Type-2 Revolvers.
Among the five, three were Professional Beast Tamers. The burly man relied on firearms and his own physical strength to become a member of the squad, which was enough to show his considerable power.
“It’s not. There’s no aura left behind by Transcendent-level experts or Lord-level Ferocious Beasts. But there are over a dozen auras left by High-level Professional Beast Tamers.”
The speaker was the only Apprentice Beast Tamer in the squad. However, he possessed a mutated rodent-type Ferocious Beast and had extraordinarily keen perception of auras, serving as the squad’s perception-type Beast Tamer.
As the captain of the hunter squad listened to his team members, he immediately began investigating the ravine within a radius of one hundred meters.
After only a few glances, he saw ten decapitated corpses. The lingering polluted aura had twisted the bodies into grotesque shapes.
“Leave.”
Ten corpses of High-level Professional Beast Tamers, combined with the dark and filthy aura permeating the area—upon seeing this, the leading captain immediately ordered a retreat.
Subsequently, several other hunter squads who came to investigate made the same decision.
As for Zhou Ming, after resolving the Yang Family’s ambush, he continued advancing toward Bewitching Gorge.
However, as he ventured deeper into the Endless Forest Sea, both the quantity and quality of Ferocious Beasts increased dramatically. The surrounding environment also grew increasingly complex.
Gorges, mountain streams, dense forests, swamps, ridges—not only were various Ferocious Beasts lurking in the shadows, but there were also mutated living plants and all kinds of miasma.
The only advantage was that the energy particles in the Endless Forest Sea were exceptionally dense. Precious medicinal herbs could be found almost everywhere.
Yet for Zhou Ming, these ordinary resources held little attraction. The most important matter now was to reach Bewitching Gorge as soon as possible and obtain the Mysterious Black Crystal Stone.
Relying on his formidable strength, he finally arrived smoothly at the Bewitching Gorge marked on the map on the second day.
Amid rolling mountain ranges, a grand canyon resembling a fissure torn open in the earth came into view. It was approximately one kilometer wide and stretched for hundreds of kilometers. These figures were approximate records from available materials.
It was said that at the other end of the gorge, Lord-level Ferocious Beasts might even appear.
The sky above the gorge was shrouded in clouds and mist, completely obscuring the interior. Zhou Ming cautiously heightened his vigilance and slowly approached.