Chapter 403: Escape! Surrounded on All Sides

Li Yuan had been wandering the outer and inner domains for some time, encountering only Flying-grade fierce beasts.

Demigod-grade fierce beasts, under normal circumstances, only appeared in forbidden zones, with an occasional one appearing on the fringes.

The inner domain? One almost never saw Demigod-grade fierce beasts.

"The life auras of these Demigod-grade fierce beasts aren't particularly strong; my scans show them all to be level 40 or 41." Li Yuan had already activated his Divine Palace scan, confirming the life layers of these appearing beasts.

"【... Killing them yields spiritual nourishment.】"

"It seems they are true living beings, just like the Flying-grade fierce beasts, not puppets." Many thoughts flashed through Li Yuan's mind: "I just don't know if the spiritual nourishment gained is the same as killing a normal Demigod powerhouse."

Since his soul had not yet broken through to undergo metamorphosis, Li Yuan's spiritual awakening cap had remained stuck at 80%. Even if he killed a Demigod, he would only be notified of gaining spiritual nourishment without knowing the specific amount.

"If there's an opportunity, I could certainly slaughter a few." Li Yuan thought to himself: "That way, when my soul metamorphoses into the Void God realm and my spiritual awakening cap reaches 85% or even 90%, I can make my spiritual awakening degree soar directly to the cap."

Even after reaching the spiritual awakening cap, one could still continue to accumulate spiritual nourishment.

"However."

"For over a dozen Demigod-grade fierce beasts to pop out all at once, could this really be the Blood Calamity that Jiang Xuan and the others mentioned?" Li Yuan was secretly surprised.

A Blood Calamity would sweep through the entire Abyss Demon Blood Cave.

"Sixteen Demigod-grade fierce beasts?"

"With this many, it must be a Blood Calamity outbreak, but it's been less than twenty years since the last one. Has it come so soon?" The complexions of Jiang Xuan, Xu Guo, and the others changed.

They weren't that afraid of a dozen or so Demigod-grade fierce beasts, after all, they had Li Yuan, a great expert, with them.

Given the strength Li Yuan had displayed, slaying these Demigod-grade fierce beasts shouldn't be difficult.

But the truly terrifying thing about a Blood Calamity was the "Blood Demon," which was enough to make any Flying-realm cultivator lose the heart to resist.

"Brother Xu, it must be a Blood Calamity outbreak. We must escape the inner domain quickly." Jiang Xuan hurriedly transmitted her voice: "The danger level decreases gradually from the forbidden zone to the inner domain, and then to the outer domain... Only by escaping to the outer domain will our chances of survival be greater."

"I know you are powerful, but according to the intelligence we've obtained, if we kill these Demigod-grade fierce beasts, the more we kill, the more Demigod-grade fierce beasts will be attracted to surround us. Once we provoke a Blood Demon, we're finished." Jiang Xuan's voice was urgent.

She was worried Li Yuan would strike directly.

Xu Guo and the several armored soldiers couldn't help but look at Li Yuan, waiting for his orders.

Although they were Jiang Xuan's subordinates, in such life-and-death moments, they usually followed the strongest person.

Of course, the premise was that the strongest person wouldn't make a "suicidal move."

"Let's go," Li Yuan said.

Boom!

The Void Warship moved immediately. Xu Guo operated the warship, its speed began to soar, and it quickly fled toward the other end of the canyon.

At this moment, the sixteen Demigod-grade fierce beasts, the instant they rushed out along the cave, had already sensed the life auras of Li Yuan, Jiang Xuan, and the others... In their perception, these were blood food.

Their mission was to slaughter all of this blood food.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!" The sixteen Demigod-grade fierce beasts radiated monstrous ferocity, their momentum far more terrifying than the herd of hundreds of Flying-grade fierce beasts from before, as they turned into streams of light and gave chase.

Among these Demigod-grade fierce beasts, two bat-like beasts were exceptionally swift, their surfaces faintly diffusing a cyan light, dazzling and incomparable.

"Not good."

"There are two wind-type fierce beasts, and they are faster than our warship." Xu Guo's expression changed slightly, and he hurriedly said: "Lord Xu Yuan, Your Highness, I am not skilled at operating the warship."

Li Yuan frowned slightly.

If this Void Warship were to burst forth at full speed, it would be much faster than a Demigod powerhouse's flight speed... Unfortunately, what Xu Guo had condensed was not the Intent of Wind.

"If I were to operate this warship, I should be able to shake them off, but it will take some time for me to refine the warship's core," Li Yuan thought to himself.

Even with his strength, it was impossible to refine a Demigod artifact instantly.

"Roar~" "Roar~" The two bat-like fierce beasts approached rapidly.

Jiang Xuan and the others became increasingly nervous.

"Prepare to put away the warship. Do not resist," Li Yuan's voice sounded in their minds.

Whoosh! Li Yuan waved his hand, and suddenly, beside the original warship, another long shuttle appeared, its surface radiating a hazy light, like a nebula.

Artifact—Nebula Extreme Void Shuttle!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Xu Guo was also a Demigod and reacted extremely quickly. He waved his hand and stored the warship he was sitting in into his storage treasure, immediately feeling an invisible force enveloping him.

He, Jiang Xuan, and the several armored soldiers had already been brought inside the Nebula Extreme Void Shuttle by Li Yuan.

Whoosh!

The Nebula Extreme Void Shuttle's speed was extremely astonishing, like a bolt of lightning, far surpassing the flight speed of the two wind-type fierce beasts, leaving them far behind.

"This!"

"Such fast speed."

"What kind of warship is this?" Jiang Xuan and Xu Guo were shocked. Staying inside the warship, they could barely observe the outside, and naturally discovered that this shuttle warship's terrifying speed was more than twice that of their own warship.

Twice as fast? It was simply shocking!

The flight speed of a peak Demigod powerhouse was probably only about this much.

"One of my warships," Li Yuan said indifferently.

In reality, with Li Yuan's current comprehension of the Laws of Wind and the mysteries of space, if he operated it at full power, the Nebula Extreme Void Shuttle's speed could increase by more than 50%.

After all, the theoretical "extreme speed" of the Nebula Extreme Void Shuttle surpassed that of a peak Void God, and Li Yuan was currently only exerting a small portion of its power.

Whoosh!

Under Li Yuan's full operation, the Nebula Extreme Void Shuttle, less than twenty meters in length, was like a nimble fish, quickly shaking off the pursuit of the dozen or so Demigod-grade fierce beasts.

Deep in the Abyss Demon Blood Cave, in the forbidden zone.

Two powerful consciousnesses were communicating.

"How is the effect of the Blood Calamity?" the consciousness in the forbidden zone asked.

"Very good. Arranging for a large number of our children to enter the inner and outer domains has indeed immediately increased the slaughter efficiency," the consciousness in the earth responded. "At this rate, in just one day, all the blood food will be slaughtered."

"Better leave some. According to the previous ratio, leave one percent," the consciousness in the forbidden zone said. "If they are all slaughtered, I'm afraid no one will be willing to enter again, and it won't be easy to answer to the Abyss Nation."

"I understand," the consciousness in the earth responded.

Suddenly.

"Eh! Interesting!" the consciousness in the earth let out a sound of surprise.

"What is it?"

"My children have discovered something interesting. There is actually a warship whose speed can surpass the peak Demigod level," the consciousness in the earth responded. "It's probably a powerful artifact... Artifacts also depend on the degree of exertion. It seems a Flying-realm cultivator with quite good strength has come in."

"Oh?" The consciousness in the forbidden zone was equally curious: "Listening to you? You want to surround and annihilate them with full force?"

"According to the Master's orders, life contains the essence of heaven and earth. The more powerful the Flying-realm cultivator, the more essence their soul and flesh contain... Killing them is of great benefit."

"Moreover, such a powerful artifact is likely worth hundreds of Divine Crystals... Accumulating little by little, the Master will also be pleased," the consciousness in the earth responded.

These two consciousnesses would also secretly collect the treasures of the trial-takers they killed, though they mostly did it inconspicuously.

"I have ordered my children to surround them from many directions. They won't be able to escape," the consciousness in the earth said confidently. "Better to annihilate them first, then go kill the other blood food."

Inside a dim canyon.

After shaking off another herd of fierce beasts, the Nebula Extreme Void Shuttle slowed down and landed among a group of towering trees, concealing its tracks.

"Blood Calamity outbreak."

"Nowhere is safe," Xu Guo sighed. "Whether we continue forward or go backward, we are likely to encounter other fierce beast herds. It's better to stay put."

"Fortunately, we have Lord Xu Yuan," Xu Guo's eyes were full of reverence.

The several armored soldiers were the same.

"Small matter," Li Yuan said, quite calmly.

"It's just a pity that in this Blood Calamity, I don't know how many trial-takers will die because of it. I'm afraid less than one in a hundred will survive," Jiang Xuan sighed softly. Deep down, she didn't like slaughter.

But she quickly recovered her state and looked at Li Yuan: "Brother Xu, you saved me again."

"I'm also saving myself," Li Yuan said, then changed the subject: "There are ten days left until the trial ends. Will this Blood Calamity continue the whole time?"

According to Li Yuan's estimation, if it continued, the tidal waves of fierce beast herds would likely kill all the trial-takers in the entire Abyss Demon Blood Cave... After all, this was the fierce beasts' lair, and they were very familiar with the terrain.

Under the shroud of the invisible Source Force Array, it was difficult for trial-takers to shake the mountains; even Li Yuan found it so.

Trial-takers could only travel along fixed canyon passages.

But the fierce beasts? They could carve passages through the mountains; clearly, they held the geographical advantage.

"Usually, it lasts for a day or two," Jiang Xuan said helplessly. "Actually, some people have always suspected that the entire Abyss Demon Blood Cave is controlled by an invisible force... Many speculate it's the high echelons of our Abyss Nation."

"High echelons of the Abyss Nation?" Li Yuan was surprised.

"Yes," Xu Guo took over the conversation: "It's just that no one has ever confirmed it, but this is also the origin of the 'Abyss Demon' in the Abyss Demon Blood Cave's name."

Li Yuan was speechless.

It sounded like many Abyss Nation citizens had strong opinions about this Abyss Demon Blood Cave.

Unfortunately, with great power concentrated in one's own hands, it was destined that the high echelons of the Abyss Nation wouldn't care much about the thoughts of the bottom-tier citizens.

As Li Yuan knew, in the Divine Domain, some powerful Heavenly Gods ruled over vast starry territories, with millions of life planets under their command, all under a complete slave system... They would sacrifice large numbers of life planets at the drop of a hat.

They were even called "Demon Gods"!!

But those Heavenly Gods still lived freely and easily, relying on their powerful strength... The rule of the Abyss Nation was actually relatively peaceful.

Time passed, and in the blink of an eye, several hours had gone by.

This canyon was very quiet.

"Hmm?" Li Yuan suddenly sensed spatial fluctuations and looked into the distance, only to see a large number of fierce beast figures appearing in the passages at both ends of the canyon, each with astonishing speed.

The earth was faintly trembling.

"Demigod-grade!" Gu You's voice sounded in Li Yuan's mind: "Brother, you're in trouble. All of them are Demigod-grade fierce beasts, and there are over three hundred of them."

"They seem to know you are here; they are coming entirely for you. I'm afraid someone is ordering them from behind the scenes."

A cold glint flashed in Li Yuan's eyes. Was he really being targeted?

Less than ten seconds.

Rumble~ The earth trembled faintly, and Jiang Xuan, Xu Guo, and the others inside the warship also sensed the change in the situation outside.

"That is..." Xu Guo's expression changed: "Demigod-grade fierce beasts, so many!! At least a hundred."

"What?"

"A hundred Demigod-grade fierce beasts." Jiang Xuan and the several armored soldiers' complexions changed.

Before they could think too much.

"Boom!" Suddenly, a heaven-shattering explosion occurred, and a giant palm wreathed in blood-colored currents suddenly reached out from the earth, like a pillar of heaven, its terrifying aura shrouding the entire world.

"Blood Demon!"

"It's a Blood Demon!" Xu Guo's face had turned deathly pale.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 404 =====