Chapter 450: One Person Chasing a Group of Beast Kings

The one who appeared was none other than the pangolin demon, Heize. He was so enraged, he could only laugh bitterly. He was still mourning his five fallen subordinates, yet he had just witnessed someone, completely invisible, effortlessly slice open a body and extract a demon core right before his eyes. In front of so many demon beasts! How dare this fellow?

No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than he viciously slammed a claw towards where the demon core had been floating. To his surprise, Jiang Fan's reaction was even swifter. The moment Heize lifted his claw, Jiang Fan, without hesitation, countered with a sword art. The unstoppable purple sword soared through the air, instantly piercing through the pangolin's sharp claw, drawing a spray of blood.

“Roar!” Heize let out a pained shriek. Jiang Fan quickly pocketed the demon core, then calmly asked, “Are you asking if I have enough? Or are you planning to give me more?”

Heize was furious. He had seen arrogance, but never such audaciousness! With so many mid-stage Core Formation Beast Kings present, even a late-stage Core Formation human expert wouldn't dare approach so easily. This fellow, caught stealing demon cores, not only didn't flee but dared to utter such brazen words.

“Attack him, all of you!” The Beast Kings, who had noticed the commotion and gathered, immediately erupted in fury, unleashing their various divine abilities. They unleashed a barrage of attacks on the surrounding area. Although they couldn't see Jiang Fan, their carpet-bombing attacks were sure to hit him.

However, in reality, this was beneficial for Jiang Fan. Chaos only made it easier for him to operate while invisible. The noisy environment would mask his aura and movements. With a quick glance, he set his sights on a Core Formation Fourth Stage demon beast. He gathered lightning power in his feet and suddenly launched an attack. “Thunder Dragon Lightning Kick!”

Though this demon beast's defense was exceptionally strong, comparable to a Core Formation Fifth Stage, the Thunder Dragon Lightning Kick was specifically designed to breach defenses! With a bang, a bloody hole was blasted into its thickly scaled back. Immediately after, a purple light flashed. The purple sword entered through the bloody hole, pierced directly through its skull, and then exited through its eye. With a prolonged shriek of agony, it crashed to the ground, writhing in its death throes.

Seeing this, Heize, enraged, personally intervened! He slammed his palm onto the ground. Instantly, the ground liquefied, turning into a muddy quagmire. Moving across it became extremely difficult. Most importantly, it would leave footprints. “There!” Heize immediately spotted Jiang Fan’s tracks.

The Beast Kings were incandescent with rage. They simultaneously unleashed their attacks. Jiang Fan frowned slightly. Indeed, none of the demon beasts capable of human speech were simple opponents. He decisively leaped onto a demon beast's corpse, then activated a rapid movement technique, bouncing back and forth across several demon beast corpses. Seizing the opportunity, he used a Thunder Dragon Lightning Kick to break through the defenses of another Core Formation Fourth Stage demon beast, then followed with a sword art to kill it. Employing the same tactic, he consecutively slew three Core Formation Third Stage demon beasts.

Heize was absolutely enraged: “Human! That’s enough!” He immediately spat out an earthy yellow demon core, which hovered near his mouth. The demon core emitted a yellow halo, illuminating the ground of the entire battlefield. The ground instantly became as smooth as a yellow bronze mirror. It clearly reflected the figures of the demon beasts. Even Jiang Fan, in his invisible state, could not escape its effect. His young and slender figure was revealed in its entirety!

Heize was astonished: “When did the Nine Sects’ territory produce such a formidable young prodigy? If it were the rumored Xia Chaoge or Jin Zhongming, he wouldn’t find it strange. But this young man before him was clearly not them. To be only eighteen years old and capable of slaying several Core Formation Fourth Stage demon beasts amidst a group of Beast Kings... if he were given more time, what an unstoppable force he would become!” Heize felt a tremendous threat and immediately roared, “Kill him! Kill him at all costs!”

Jiang Fan's expression shifted slightly. How could he dare wait for the Beast Kings to encircle him? He immediately launched a soul attack directly at Heize. “Soul Piercer!”

Heize, who had been commanding from the rear, suddenly collapsed in excruciating pain, letting out a tormented roar. What terrified him even more was that a purple light flashed in his pupils. Terrified, he quickly shut his eyes. A thick layer of scales covered his eyeballs. But it was only for an instant. The scales were pierced, and the purple sword instantly penetrated his eye, blinding it.

“Aooo!” Heize let out another agonizing shriek. However, his reaction was not slow. He decisively activated his innate ability. The beast blood within his body immediately transformed into a large quantity of sand, spraying out from his eye. Only then did the purple sword fail to penetrate further into his skull, being ejected by the spray. Even so, his consciousness became hazy. The Soul Piercer had obliterated a large portion of his soul. Feeling his vision growing darker and darker, he panicked. If he were to fall unconscious here, who knew when he would awaken again? Perhaps tomorrow. Perhaps… in his next life.

“Retreat! Protect me, retreat quickly…” Just before losing consciousness, he issued his final command to his subordinates. He couldn't afford to provoke this monstrous human youth, but surely he could hide from him? And so, the Beast Kings had no choice but to abandon Jiang Fan, lifting Heize’s massive body and rapidly retreating from the battlefield.

Whoosh— Jiang Fan let out a slight breath of relief. He pulled off his Turtle Breath Cloak, revealing a slightly pale face. “Capturing the leader first, as expected, was the correct strategy.” He had used Soul Piercer twice in quick succession, which significantly drained his soul power. If this group of Beast Kings had relentlessly surrounded and attacked him, it would have been quite dangerous. After all, Heize wasn't the only Core Formation Fifth Stage beast among them.

He looked at the four recently slain Core Formation Fourth Stage demon beasts. Jiang Fan unceremoniously collected all their demon cores. This brought his total to a remarkable ten demon cores. In terms of merit points, this was equivalent to completing two First-Grade missions. “Two hundred merit points on my first outing,” Jiang Fan said, watching the Beast Kings flee towards the front lines of the beast tide, a faint smile on his lips. “These were all pure, unadulterated merit points!”

He immediately waved his hand, collecting all the demon beast corpses scattered across the ground into his Sky Thunder Stone. Then he summoned Xiaobai from nearby. Jiang Fan donned his Turtle Breath Cloak, and Xiaobai’s patterns shimmered; together, they entered an invisible state and quietly followed.

When he spotted a lone Core Formation Fourth Stage demon beast, Jiang Fan unhesitatingly unleashed a Thunder Dragon Lightning Kick, piercing its defenses. Then he delivered a fatal sword strike! As it crashed to the ground, the retreating Beast Kings were a mix of shock and rage. That monstrous human youth had actually caught up! They immediately flew into a rage, intending to pursue and kill Jiang Fan. But after striking and killing, Jiang Fan had already decisively withdrawn and fled, especially with his invisible state. Where could this group of Beast Kings find him? After searching in vain, they could only continue executing Heize’s command to retreat. As for the corpse of that Core Formation Fourth Stage demon beast, they had no time to attend to it and left it behind.

Shortly after, Jiang Fan crept up and, with great satisfaction, collected its demon core. The spiritual flesh was dug out and given to Xiaobai as a reward. “Wow! It’s great following Big Brother!” Xiaobai munched on the spiritual flesh, wagging its tail happily. Last time there was clam meat, this time there was spiritual flesh from a mid-stage Core Formation demon beast. These were blessings it wouldn't even dare to dream of usually. Jiang Fan glanced at its round belly and chuckled: “There’ll be plenty for the next few days!”

After a brief rest, he quietly followed them again. Over the next few days, the Beast Kings experienced unimaginable torment. They would rather face a late-stage Core Formation human expert head-on than endure Jiang Fan's relentless harassment. Because Jiang Fan, that monstrous human youth, was utterly shameless! He never attacked directly. Either a Core Formation Fourth Stage demon beast would have its throat slit while they rested, or someone would be poisoned while drinking water. There was even one unlucky Beast King who, while urinating, was stabbed in the rear by an ice-covered sword. And each time he killed a Beast King, he would leave without hesitation, retreating decisively, giving the Core Formation Fifth Stage Beast Kings no chance to retaliate.

After a few days, they dared not rest, dared not drink, and even dared not relieve themselves anywhere. “Quick! Once we cross the mountain range ahead, we’ll be in demon territory.” Heize had already awakened, and with his severely injured body, he was even more terrified, unable to sleep a wink throughout the night. He feared that he would be the next one to be slaughtered for his core.

At the same time, atop the mountain peak, Xia Chaoge, Jin Zhongming, and Liang Feiyan were panting heavily. Before them lay the massive corpse of a Core Formation Fourth Stage demon beast. Liang Feiyan extracted the demon core, glanced at Jin Zhongming, and said, “Junior Sister Xia contributed the most. No objections to giving this demon core to her, right?” Jin Zhongming's eyes showed reluctance, but he still said, “Of course not. If Junior Sister Xia hadn’t arrived in time, Junior Brother Liang and I might have lost our lives to it.” He looked at his own injuries and torn battle robe. He sheepishly tried to excuse himself, saying, “Core Formation Fourth Stage demon beasts are far more powerful than we imagined. If anyone else had encountered it, they might not have held out until Junior Sister Xia arrived.” To this, Liang Feiyan nodded in profound agreement. He himself had nearly died several times just now.

“Many mid-stage Core Formation Beast Kings have passed through the front lines this time,” Liang Feiyan mused. “If other junior brothers and sisters encounter them… they can only pray for good fortune.” He sighed faintly, not without worry.

Just then, he noticed Xia Chaoge gazing into the distance, a hint of surprise in her eyes. “Junior Sister Xia, what are you looking at?” Liang Feiyan asked curiously. Xia Chaoge replied with an uncertain tone: “I think I just saw someone… chasing a group of Beast Kings.”