Twin Dimension Yin-Yang Mirror: Attaining immortality through the martial path
Chapter 458 - 407: Demonic Barbarian’s Beastly Nature, A Clean Cut in Two

Chapter 458: Chapter 407: Demonic Barbarian’s Beastly Nature, A Clean Cut in Two

To the southeast of the Black Mountain Range, twenty-eight li from Qingyang City.

At Hungry Dog Ridge.

This place had high mountains and dense forests, deep streams, and many stones; apart from thorny undergrowth, it was impossible to grow any decent crops.

However, the people of Black Mountain Stronghold had been refugees and bandits evading taxes for years. They were used to plundering and their hands were stained with the blood of innocent civilians. They had long forgotten what it felt like to farm the land, and so they didn’t find this perilous region unsuitable in any way.

Of course, they didn’t like this place either. Ever since Tang Lin’er had led troops to sweep and eliminate the bandits and strong thieves within fifty li of Heishan City, the Black Mountain Bandits had lost their foothold.

Their original camp had been burned to ashes.

Under the leadership of the second-in-command, the Diviner Wang Shouxin, they had fled into the depths of the jungle. They laid false trails and moved with caution, hunting beasts for a living, and surviving until now was no simple feat.

But in the end, this was a hiding spot chosen out of necessity. If one talked about living conditions, it was definitely better than death, but only marginally so.

Take now, for instance: the four hundred and seventy-nine individuals in the camp, including more than seventy women, were all so hungry their eyes turned green, willing to eat anything they saw.

But unfortunately, not only could they not find anything to eat, they were viewed as food themselves and eaten by others.

"General, all the remaining people are here now. Please show mercy, General. According to the information from my scouts, Zhou Ping’an should currently be in Pinghu City, contending against heavenly might, and temporarily unable to attend to Qingyang City’s affairs. Now is the best opportunity to attack..."

The Diviner Wang Shouxin bowed low, his face full of respect: "If we invade Qingyang City, I, Wang, will lead the vanguard to avenge Gaozhai and the brothers, and I dare not hesitate for a moment."

"Leave the able-bodied to charge at the front, and clean up these women, have to soothe General Red Pupil nicely..."

A bare-chested man with a white wolf tattooed on his chest flicked his ghost-headed great sword and let out a cold chuckle: "You scholars from the Central Plains are the best at deceiving people, who knows if you’re trying to lure the army into a trap? After I verify the information, at midnight tonight, we will strike."

"Black Head, dispatch skilled men to search the surroundings of that path thoroughly, and send some clever people to find out if Zhou Ping’an is still in the city."

"General Bai, to use those women as food, what a waste. Why not let everyone relax instead, those women..."

Wang Shouxin secretly groaned.

This was plainly disregarding his Black Mountain Stronghold’s hundreds of people as human beings, suggesting outright they be turned into food, letting those eight hundred demon creatures slowly chew and savor them. What kind of beasts were they? How had he been so bewitched to lead them over for an assault?

He regretted it in his heart, but now that he was on the boat, it was not so easy to disembark.

General White Wolf of Longmu Camp might still understand human speech and could communicate to a limited extent, but General Red Pupil was so ferocious that just one look could cause a chill to run down one’s spine.

The way he looked at people wasn’t as comrades but as food, ready to bite at any moment.

Such beings were not something he could deal with.

"Mr. Wang, I don’t keep useless people around. If you help me take Qingyang City, there are as many women as hairs on an ox, not worth cherishing. I heard that Fairy Huaiyu is known as one of the Three Beauties of the Southwest, truly as beautiful as a celestial fairy. Once captured, you can enjoy her as you wish, and I might even share a spoonful of the spoils with you."

General White Wolf’s expression sharpened, and the corner of his mouth curled slightly: "If you harbor any second thoughts, it’s better to just clean yourself up and be added as a meal for General Red Pupil’s subordinates to fill their stomachs. When it comes time to attack the city, it will add a bit more strength."

Desperate cries echoed from outside.

"Second-in-command, save me! After following you through all these battles, is this the end I meet?"

"Wang, you will not die a good death."

"Demon, I’m going to fight you..."

Looking out through the skewed wooden door, one could see a flat spot atop the ridge where, at this moment, a collection of strangely shaped beasts were ferociously biting, crunching the bones noisily.

A gaunt, sharp-faced man with bloodshot eyes and black mist swirling around him was sitting on a rock with violent murderous intent in his eyes. When he opened his mouth to exhale, the black mist formed into a whip, trapping a woman who was shouting and running around. He grabbed her with one hand, opened his enormous bloody mouth, and crunched down on her upper body.

He muttered indistinctly:

"It won’t be long. Once we raise the Demon Flag and hold sacrifice to the Demon Venerable, you will all be loyal followers, then you will have the right to live, not just become food..."

"Buzz..."

In the midst of the frenetic screams, suddenly, everyone’s eardrums itched, and their muscles and bones trembled, as if they were caught in the buzzing of bees. The sound of swords whistled, first muffled to the extreme, then becoming sharp and shrill.

Before these demon creatures could react to what the sound was, in a flash of lightning.

A glimmer of azure light dashed across the top of the ridge.

It created a hundred-meter-long wave ripple.

The red-eyed young man sitting on the rock, who was just splitting his fangs to devour someone, immediately sensed danger. He grabbed the blood-colored Hook Sickle in his hand, attempting to turn and block.

His figure shot up into the sky...

Just as he had leaped half a foot, his upper body had already been overwritten by the watery light.

The black mist-entwined armor shattered, the tough and flexible skin covered in calluses tore apart, with no moment of resistance.

Splash.

Azure blood burst forth.

His body was now bisected and toppled.

The red-eyed young man roared in anger, still not dead, rolling and thrashing on the ground, suddenly, two vicious segments of a Blood Centipede appeared on the spot.

Thousands of tiny legs scratched and thrashed, scraping the ground’s stones into powder.

The two segments of the body rushed towards each other, secreting a slime to try to reconnect, but they found an odd force at the wound repelling them from each other.

His Rejuvenation Talent failed to activate, his vital energy and blood force dissipating rapidly. In a moment of panic, he rolled even more fiercely, opening his mouth to spew out a cloud of black mist enveloping a hundred-meter square.

Hiss...

All around, whether ferocious beasts, bandits, or the rattan-armored Totem Soldiers positioned on the hill to prevent escapes, were touched by the black mist and immediately began to rot, chunks of flesh falling off, and many collapsed as they tried to run.

"Sea-Splitting Sword, this split is more than just the sea."

Zhou Ping’an stood in the distance, coldly watching after making a slash.

In his heart, there was a faint sense of threat.

Strangely, this threat did not stem from any unslain masters in the area.

Nor was it due to the eight hundred Demon Beasts or the three thousand Totem Warriors lurking in the dense forest.

Instead, it came from the sharp-faced young man who was just now greedily devouring humans, now spewing out black fog – no, the Blood-coloured Poisonous Centipede.

Using [Sea-Splitting Sword] for the first time in actual combat, he discovered its ingenious effectiveness.

Regardless of whether the opponent had any defense, or if they were protected by dark Qi armor, a slash would cut through flesh and spirit alike, erasing their existence.

Just like that blood-centipede, whose lower half had been completely erased from its own mind.

No matter how strong the talent or skills, it was impossible to recover.

It seemed to be a rule’s limitation.

One that could not be broken in a short period of time.

And the Blood Centipede, having lost half of its body, despite possessing all sorts of abilities and divine skills, was now nothing more than an insect struggling for its life on the ground.

"If one slash doesn’t kill, then another slash will."

Zhou Ping’an, having tasted the sweet fruit of attacking from a distance, especially did not want to come into contact with that black fog, even though he possessed the Life and Death Unpredictable Needle that could transform death Qi into life force.

But, there was no need to personally experience the disgustingly vile and malicious toxins of this creature.

What if it harmed a vital spot and he couldn’t circulate his cultivation technique in time?

Therefore, it was best to eliminate the problem sooner rather than later.

With this thought in mind, his figure flickered, he sprang into the air, calmed his heart and mind, and targeted the Blood-eyed Centipede’s head with a slash.

He made this slash with all his might.

The sword light flashed.

The empty space and the earth around him turned into an extremely soft and viscous stream, firmly locking everything that was still moving in place, turning it into the surface of water.

And then it split asunder.

As the centipede’s head was split in two, half of the cliff was also cleaved in two.

With thunderous rumbling...

The cliff collapsed.

Shouts of alarm rose from all around.

General White Wolf reacted first.

As the sword light swept over the sky, his expression drastically changed, "Zhou Ping’an, how could he be here, you’ve doomed me..."

While he was shouting angrily, the wolf totem on his chest flickered with light, he didn’t have time to turn around, with a heavy stomp, the ground shattered, and his figure collided backwards out of the stronghold, landing with a spring and attempted to flip down the ridge.

Several hundred Totem Warriors left on the mountainside might provide a moment’s resistance, and if he could escape with his life, it would be good enough.

He had followed the Longmu Camp Master’s instructions to detour to the rear and waited for an attack to launch on Qingyang City from the front along the Li River, hoping for a pincer attack.

To strike the enemy’s morale, while also stretching Zhou Ping’an thin, capturing three cities would be as easy as turning over one’s hand.

Because it was coordinated with the water route assault, timing was of utmost importance.

Of course, the intelligence was taken very seriously.

In his view, Zhou Ping’an, having just slain the "Heavenly Sword King Chengtian", was out of his guard, basking in his own accomplishment at that moment.

In any case, it seemed impossible for him to show up in Qingyang City just before the battle for no reason.

This didn’t make sense.

Yet, an event that made no sense was unfolding right before his eyes.

And the Blood Centipede with Red Pupils, whom he had regarded as the main assault force, was directly cleaved in two without managing to put up any effective resistance.

This was somewhat terrifying.

Regardless of how great the "Heavenly Sword King Chengtian" was known to be, most of his fame was due to leading troops in battle and the brutal acts of slaughtering cities.

He embodied the fierce army of the Demonic Barbarian side.

But when it came to personal combat power...

In General White Wolf’s eyes, it was not certain that he was better than the Blood Centipede with Red Pupils.

This Demon had tricky methods, and virulent poison; below True Martial, very few could confront it directly.

Even with Zhou Ping’an’s encounter, it would surely be a difficult battle.

The more ideal his earlier thoughts, the more desperate he now felt.

White Wolf had no will to fight, and he didn’t even care about the three thousand elite Totem Warriors under him anymore.

All he wanted was to flee quickly, to the side of the camp master.

Not only was there the Longmu Camp Master, a formidable figure with astonishing methods, but more reassuring was the presence of the Southern Scale Demon Chief.

Anyone going there was on a death wish.

Just as he thought of this, leaping out of Hungry Dog Ridge, before he could fall into the underbrush, a white figure flashed beneath the trees ahead, a full moon rose amidst the shadows, and the mirror-like water of Pinghu conjured an illusion of being out of the mortal world.