Chapter 318: The Blood‑Stained Splendor

The green dragon died; the poisonous mist it released quickly dissipated, and the sky cleared.

The massive, heavy corpse slammed onto the hyena‑wolfmen's wooden hut with a boom; the ground for several hundred meters trembled, and everyone saw the green dragon's gruesome state—half its skull blown off, exposing brain matter and bone, its tongue hanging outside trembling like a dead fish.

Dragons are in people's minds the embodiment of strength, naturally possessing great talent and long lifespans; they are a perfect race favored by the Creator and once ruled this world.

They are far more terrifying than transcendent beings of the same tier.

Although Monajias is only a young green dragon, having entered the early legend stage for only a few years, it is still a true dragon, controlling a vast territory and many slaves in the Death Forest, and is arrogant.

However, Lei En smashed its skull with a single hammer strike.

Led by Shi Wei Fu Te, the transcendent beings knew Monajias's terror; even though they were confident in Lei En's strength, they did not expect the battle to end so quickly.

From Lei En's appearance to the killing of the green dragon, less than three minutes passed!

Lei En descended from mid‑air, his wind‑and‑thunder wings cushioning the fall; he landed neither lightly nor heavily, landing beside the green dragon's corpse.

He produced a soul stone and affixed it; soon the green dragon's Main Soul was extracted, and the stone turned dark‑green.

The battle continued during this process.

Clack clack clack clack…

The Extreme Warriors' Lambo guns kept sweeping fire; most of the hyena‑wolfmen that burst from the forest were shot down before they could close in.

Their bodies were scarcely whole, scattered across the ground, blood forming rivers.

The hyena‑wolfmen, fearless of death, surrounded from various directions, using cover to reduce the Extreme Warriors' killing efficiency; some even reached within a dozen meters of them.

The harpy‑men in the sky were also conducting low‑level magical air raids.

This made it hard for the four Extreme Warriors to fully suppress them; in another minute or two they would be surrounded and forced into close combat with the hyena‑wolfmen.

However, the death of the green dragon's master shocked all the hyena‑wolfmen.

They froze for a moment, then turned and fled, scattering in a clamor.

The harpy‑men also let out shrill screams, fleeing toward the forest depths. A group, panicked, happened upon several fire dragons flying in from afar, sparking fierce combat; each harpy‑man was either burned to death by the dragons' flames or torn to pieces, screaming incessantly.

Lei En glanced at the sky above the forest; the fire dragons' power far exceeded that of the harpy‑men, and even outnumbered they posed no problem.

The other side, however, needed assistance.

He opened a random door and stepped through, appearing near the dragon's lair entrance; several cyclops giants lay dead on the ground, while seven or eight living cyclops giants were besieging Bu Lai Mi Te and the Soul Hunters.

These were all high‑tier giants—thick‑skinned, massive, wielding huge wooden clubs; the green dragon's death drove them even crazier, eyes blood‑shot, recklessly smashing and trampling despite injuries, the clubs carving large pits, dust billowing.

A few Soul Hunters had just recovered somewhat from severe wounds, still weak, relying on Earth Bear bearing the front; they were momentarily battered into a disheveled state.

Bang!

Bu Lai Mi Te fired a shot at a cyclops giant's eye, but it blocked it with its arm; an Armor Penetration round lodged in the flesh, causing it to roar in pain and swing its club in a barrage.

"Lei En!"

The dwarf retreated while shouting, "Stop watching the spectacle, act quickly!"

Lei En smiled, then hurled his war hammer with force.

The cyclops giant never sensed the enemy behind it; the war hammer whistled in, struck the back of its head, and with a snap the ugly skull burst like a watermelon, leaving a headless corpse on the ground.

The hammer passed through flesh and brain, a golden lightning linking the handle like a chain, pulling the hammer back in a reverse arc.

While the hammer flew back, Lei En cast a spell; an Electric Blast Orb formed in his palm, he tossed it, it landed on a cyclops giant's back.

The three Lightning Affinity Element amplifications, plus a Lightning rune stone, boosted his Electric Blast Orb's power by forty percent; instantly the cyclops giant was blown apart, flesh and blood scattering, the lightning also struck the two adjacent giants, tearing skin and flesh, successfully drawing their attention.

The cyclops giant turned, seeing Lei En catch the hammer and then hurl it again.

Snap!

Another cyclops giant had its head smashed, the huge eyeball on its face turned to mush, driving the other cyclops giants into a frenzy.

Except for the cyclops giant wrestling with Earth Bear, all rushed toward Lei En as if bearing an ancient grudge, swinging their clubs overhead.

"Sir…"

"Count!"

The Soul Hunters shouted warnings, employing every means to try to hold back the cyclops giants.

Lei En, however, did not retreat but surged forward, a charge, catching the returning hammer, raising both hands overhead, slamming the ground with all his might, simultaneously triggering Thunderous Heavy Strike and Chain Lightning.

Boom—

The ground quaked, hundreds of thick lightning bolts erupted, silver serpents dancing within dozens of meters, enveloping all cyclops giants; high‑temperature currents hammered their bodies, skin cracking, blood instantly vaporizing, those standing trembling uncontrollably.

Lei En stood upright, casting; two seconds later a straight rainbow‑colored beam erupted from his hand.

The rainbow‑like beam swept across.

Like an incredibly sharp greatsword, in an instant the cyclops giants before Lei En were cleaved at the waist, their charred corpses falling into the blood pool.

The Soul Hunters were all speechless.

They watched Lei En, seeing his bare upper body stained red with blood, a blood‑colored great cloak fluttering behind, war hammer in hand with electric arcs dancing on its head, the ground beneath littered with cyclops giants' corpses—a shocking scene that instantly stirred an indescribable feeling.

"Is this the Empire's heroic grandeur!"

The Soul Hunters inhaled deeply, their emotions extremely complex; as fellow high‑tier transcendent beings, why was the power gap so vast?

Lei En slaying so many cyclops giants was as easy as killing chickens.

Even a dragon can be smashed with a single hammer!

At this moment Earth Bear also bit the last cyclops giant dead, ending the battle. Lei En approached to look, but did not see Shi Wei Fu Te.

"Where is your commander?" he asked.

The magic swordsman Nei Wei Er gritted his teeth and replied, "The commander chased Hamlin into the forest."

Lei En used Voice of All Things to listen, immediately tracking the sounds of combat in a nearby forest; with Shi Wei Fu Te's strength, dealing with a high‑tier fire Element would pose no trouble, so he paid it no mind.

"Quickly gather all their Main Souls."

Lei En pointed at the corpses on the ground.

Half of these cyclops giants are high‑tier; although their Elements are few, focusing on strength and resilience, they are rather plain—unsuitable as a Main Soul for a transcendent profession, but as a secondary soul, especially for strength‑type professions, they are excellent.

A high‑level one‑eyed giant's demon soul selling for two thousand Gold Shields is no problem.

"Oh, okay, sir." The soul hunters, as if waking from a dream, each took out a soul stone and sprang into action.

Normally, a demon soul remains in a corpse for no more than half a minute; if delayed, it dissipates. Some special souls even travel to other planes, such as a Demon returning to the Abyss, or a devotee entering the divine realm to serve a deity.

The gunfire on the battlefield gradually ceased.

The surrounding jackal‑werewolves and harpy‑men turned into corpses, about a quarter of them, successfully escaping from the muzzle of Lambo's Gun; the Extreme Warriors did not pursue.

Lei En glanced at the interface; the energy rose only slightly.

Because the distance was too great, at least half of the jackal‑werewolf and harpy‑man souls were not absorbed, and the energy those souls could provide was also limited.

The higher a Wizard's rank, the more energy is required.

It seems each upgrade costs a hundred units of energy, but the difference is huge; upgrading from a seventh‑ to an eighth‑level Wizard requires at least fifty percent more spiritual power.

Absorbing two to three hundred souls only raised the energy to 45%, still far from the upgrade threshold.

Lei En shook his head inwardly; upgrades were becoming increasingly difficult.

At that moment, Shi Weifute emerged from the forest carrying a red‑robed Wizard, tossed him before the crowd; it was the Wizard Ha Mulin.

Just moments ago, Ha Mulin had been arrogant and flattering, but now he was spiritless, his hands broken.

The members of the soul‑hunting team all glared at him.

Shi Weifute said coldly, "Ha Mulin, if you have any last words, you may speak now; I will convey them to your family."

"Captain!"

Ha Mulin shivered, struggled to kneel up, and shouted, "I didn't intend to betray everyone; it was that green dragon, I was controlled by it. All the deeds were forced upon me, not my true thoughts…"

"Is that so?" Shi Weifute was unmoved.

"The green dragon only made you pledge loyalty to it; it didn't order you to toy with Lao Ruina and Sang Ya, did it?"

"This…"

Ha Mulin's face turned ashen, yet he didn't know how to defend himself.

He had long coveted the two good‑looking female teammates, usually keeping the desire hidden, but just now, believing he had the victory secured, he laid bare his darkest thoughts.

Lao Ruina and Sang Ya, still recovering from severe injuries, remain terrified.

Had Lei En not appeared to turn the tide, they would have fallen into Ha Mulin's hands, with unimaginable consequences.

"Captain, and everyone, we've been friends for years; after being controlled by the green dragon we made mistakes…" Ha Mulin tried to explain, but Shi Weifute brandished his blood‑flame greatsword and cleaved off his head with a single swing.

"Betrayal can be explained, but your malicious intent is unforgivable."

Shi Weifute spoke to Ha Mulin's severed head.

Lei En continued to watch coldly; a soul flew out of a corpse, was absorbed and converted into spiritual power, and the energy rose a few units.

He opened a random door and appeared atop the forest on Dragon Nest Hill.

The mysterious black‑robed Wizard was still here.

I couldn't sleep last night until dawn for no reason, felt listless all day; today is only this chapter, and from tomorrow I'll keep a double update schedule.

(End of Chapter)