Chapter 165 — Used to It

"The Wind Snow Giant Ape is badly wounded and shouldn't be able to fight back anymore. That Legendary forbidden spell scroll has been used up — I'll put it on his tab!" Nie Li glanced at Ye Zong and thought to himself, Ye Zong now owed him yet another favor.

Consider it part of the bride price.

Nie Li smiled and continued toward another Black Gold-ranked Demon Beast, though this time he didn't plan to use a Legendary forbidden spell scroll. Those things were extremely rare — he only had seven in total, and once used, they were gone forever. He was down to six now, and who knew when he might need them again.

The only things Nie Li could still use to wound a Black Gold-ranked powerhouse were his three flying daggers. The Celestial Meteor Divine Lightning Sword could also do the job, but it was far too cumbersome to activate.

Those areas were still caught up in the melee. Nie Li had been hiding in the shadows the entire time, waiting for the right moment to strike. Although the three flying daggers could breach the defenses of a Black Gold-ranked Demon Beast, those beasts were no pushovers — his dagger attacks were easily dodged.

Over on Ye Zong's front, the Wind Snow Giant Ape was gravely wounded and no longer had the strength to fight. Ice spikes formed around its body as it glared furiously at Ye Zong.

"Beast! You invaded our City of Radiance and slaughtered our people. Even if I have to give everything I have, I will cut you down!" Ye Zong roared. Activating his Soul Sea, the sharp sword in his hand transformed into a massive wave of sword qi that slashed down toward the Wind Snow Giant Ape.

In that moment, Ye Zong seemed to have entered a profound state of enlightenment. That single slash gathered together a lifetime's worth of martial comprehension.

The overwhelming sword qi cleaved downward. Crack, crack, crack — the ice spikes around the Wind Snow Giant Ape shattered one after another.

The Wind Snow Giant Ape roared in fury, wanting to lunge forward once more.

BOOM!

The sword qi struck the Wind Snow Giant Ape's body. It let out a mournful wail and collapsed to the ground, blood staining the earth beneath it.

Seeing the Wind Snow Giant Ape driven to the ground, Ye Zong still couldn't be sure whether this rampaging beast was truly dead. He hurriedly leaped forward and drove his sword into the ape's skull. Blood sprayed into the air.

The Wind Snow Giant Ape was finally dead for good.

Ye Zong finally let out a breath of relief.

Shen Hong stared at the fallen Wind Snow Giant Ape, then at Ye Zong, his expression complicated. He had sensed it — Ye Zong's final slash seemed to represent another breakthrough in his martial path. His heart seethed with resentment. He'd had such a perfect opportunity, yet he'd failed to succeed. Finding another chance would be even harder now. Especially since there seemed to be another hidden powerhouse lurking nearby.

With the Wind Snow Giant Ape gone, the remaining Black Gold-ranked Demon Beasts began to falter, showing visible signs of fear and hesitation. Their attacks lost the coordination they'd had before. The Black Gold-ranked beasts tried to withdraw from the City of Radiance one after another, only to be blocked by the city's experts.

Nie Li had been about to leave and help deal with the other Black Gold-ranked Demon Beasts when he suddenly sensed something. Ye Zong's sword split open the Wind Snow Giant Ape's skull, and a glowing Demon Spirit slowly rose into the air.

The Wind Snow Giant Ape's Demon Spirit!

Ye Zong reached out with his right hand and seized it, then stored it away in his Space Ring.

At the sight of this, Shen Hong's eyes turned red. The fury and bitterness inside him were suffocating. Not only had his ambush against Ye Zong failed, but Ye Zong had somehow ended up with such a precious Demon Spirit.

In this world, only one in tens of thousands of Demon Beasts could possibly produce a Demon Spirit, and high-ranking ones were even rarer still. At the same time, the greater a Demon Beast's intelligence, the more powerful its Demon Spirit. Not even one in ten million beasts possessed the wisdom to awaken true sentience.

This was the Demon Spirit of a Black Gold-ranked Demon Beast that had awakened true intelligence!

Neither Ye Zong's nor Shen Hong's Demon Spirits could compare to this Wind Snow Giant Ape's. Ye Zong was already only a single step away from the Legendary realm. Once he fused with the Wind Snow Giant Ape's Demon Spirit, it might very well carry him straight across that threshold — directly into the realm of a Legendary Demon Spirit Master.

Legendary — that was the realm so many dreamed of reaching!

Shen Hong even harbored a fleeting thought of snatching the Wind Snow Giant Ape's Demon Spirit from Ye Zong's hands, but he quickly dismissed the idea. On one hand, the cultivation technique he practiced was ill-suited for fusing with a wind-and-ice-element Demon Spirit. On the other, he likely wasn't Ye Zong's match — to say nothing of the hidden powerhouse lurking nearby.

Once Ye Zong stepped into the Legendary realm, that alone would be enough to give Shen Hong a massive headache.

"Congratulations, City Lord, on obtaining a Black Gold-ranked Demon Spirit that has awakened true intelligence." Though Shen Hong was dying of frustration inside, he still offered his congratulations.

Ye Zong gave Shen Hong a faint glance. The reason he had tucked the item away so quickly was precisely because he feared Shen Hong might entertain some crooked notion. "Then I thank Brother Shen!" he said. While the Wind Snow Giant Ape's Demon Spirit could very well carry him across the threshold into the Legendary realm with a single step, the Wind Snow Giant Ape hadn't been his kill, so he had no intention of claiming the Demon Spirit for himself.

Had it been anyone else, they would have fused with the Wind Snow Giant Ape's Demon Spirit without a moment's hesitation. But Ye Zong's heart was clear and upright — Nie Li's master had intervened to save his life, so returning the Wind Snow Giant Ape's Demon Spirit was only the natural thing to do.

Whoosh!

Nie Li's Crimson Flame Flying Knife shot forth, piercing clean through the chest of a Black Gold-ranked Demon Beast. The several Black Gold-ranked experts besieging it immediately finished the beast off.

More and more Black Gold-ranked experts were freed up, and they promptly hurried to other battlefronts to join the fray.

Before long, Black Gold-ranked Demon Beasts were falling one after another.

After more than ten hours, the fighting inside the City of Radiance gradually subsided.

Outside the city, the Demon Beasts — leaderless and battered by relentless attacks — began scattering and fleeing in every direction.

A beast tide numbering in the millions had finally been completely dismantled.

Gazing upon the ravaged City of Radiance, everyone couldn't help but shudder with lingering fear. The Demon Beast tide had been truly terrifying, but this was already the battle with the fewest losses. In every previous tide, at least several hundred thousand lives had been claimed. This time, only a few thousand had died, with a mere few tens of thousands wounded.