Chapter Ninety-One: Settling the Heart

Nearly a hundred young powerhouses of the Celestial Martial Empire appeared without warning. Those quick of mind had already hurled their talismans the instant they arrived. As for those who were a breath too slow, nine out of ten were slaughtered into nothing but dregs in the blink of an eye.

"Leave one alive!" Ye Feng said, helping Illusory Light Dance to her feet.

He quickly took a spirit fruit from his ring and handed it to her.

Having been besieged by more than a dozen people, it was fortunate that Illusory Light Dance was already half a step into the Spirit Emperor realm, and furthermore possessed the Illusory Clan's secret arts; otherwise she would have perished. Even so, those attacks had left her badly wounded.

With a wave, he beckoned the monkey over and ordered it to guard her while she healed.

After finishing this, Ye Feng walked with a cold expression up to the young man subdued by the others. "How many people from the Bliss Starl Empire entered?"

His icy gaze, his emotionless voice, and the merciless violence of his earlier strike, made him seem like a scourge in the eyes of that young powerhouse from the Bliss Starl Empire.

Trembling as he looked at Ye Feng, the man stammered, "One hundred fifty entered this place. Aside from those unlucky enough to be sent to beast dens, only one hundred thirty-seven gathered together."

At that, everyone’s eyes lit up. Ye Feng had already said before that he would gather them and seize the Bliss Starl Empire’s talismans. Now, the chance was right before them.

Ye Feng kept staring at him. "You mean all of you gathered in one place?"

Seeing the crowd's excited reaction, how could this young man not guess what they were thinking? When Ye Feng pressed him further, he simply lowered his head and said nothing.

Seeing his reaction, Ye Feng also remained silent and slowly approached him. As he crouched down, a dagger suddenly appeared in his hand.

Squelch.

The nearly three-inch dagger sank viciously into the man’s thigh. At the same time, Ye Feng’s other hand flashed out like lightning and clamped over his mouth.

Mmmph...

Agony struck, and with Ye Feng’s rough hand covering his mouth, the man could do nothing but emit muffled cries. Sweat the size of millet beads instantly broke out across his forehead.

Ignoring the man’s trembling body, Ye Feng held the dagger in his left hand and slowly twisted it.

Mmmph, mmmph, mmmph...

Feeling the dagger grind through the flesh of his thigh and hearing the blade scrape against bone, the man struggled violently. But he was firmly held by several people, and all resistance was clearly futile.

"I’ll ask you one last time. Where is the place where you gathered?" Ye Feng stopped his motion, and his voice, without the slightest trace of emotion, entered the man’s ears again.

"At... at one kilometer to the west!" the man said, trembling after enduring immense pain.

Squelch.

As soon as the words fell, a blinding flash swept across his throat.

Ye Feng casually wiped the blood from the dagger onto the man’s body. Once done, he rose slowly, as though nothing had happened at all.

"Now, I’m going to wipe out that group. Anyone who’s afraid of death can leave now. But let me make one thing clear: if you do not leave now, there are only two outcomes. Either you die in battle, or you follow us and seize the talismans. There is no third path."

His gaze swept across the crowd as Ye Feng spoke slowly.

Although they had long since known Ye Feng was going to make a move against the people of the Bliss Starl Empire, when the battle was truly about to begin, many still shrank back.

Pampered and coddled since childhood, they could be vicious enough when bullying the weak. But if they were truly asked to fight for their lives, these out-of-touch young nobles did not yet possess such courage.

In silence, more than a dozen people kept their heads lowered and quickly left the group. But far more people clenched their teeth and forcefully endured the terror in their hearts.

Or rather, the deepest rebelliousness of youth, and the blood that every young man carries within him, made them decide to go mad with Ye Feng for once.

A quarter of an hour later, Ye Feng looked at the fewer than one hundred young members of the Celestial Martial Empire and said slowly, "As for those who choose to stay, I dare not promise you much. The only thing I can promise is this: from this day on, I will make each and every one of you into a true man who can stand tall beneath heaven and earth!"

"A true man should slay his enemies!" To Ye Feng’s surprise, the first voice from below was actually Jin Ming, whom he had once looked down upon.

"A true man should slay his enemies..."

The next moment, the thunderous roar of nearly a hundred young experts, burning with blood and passion, shook the heavens.

Looking at these fiery youths below, even Ye Feng’s long-silent heart began to burn.

Only by looking at them did Ye Feng, for the first time, feel that he had a great chance of winning against the Holy Land.

"There was something I didn’t tell everyone just now. The next battle is only to let you all experience the feeling of killing; there should be no danger to your lives. Move west in stealth and await my signal."

Walking step by step toward Illusory Light Dance, Ye Feng lifted her onto the back of the Three-Eyed Sword-Fanged Tiger, then whispered, "Wait for me!"

He swiftly used the Coiling Dragon Step, while at the same time fully releasing his spiritual sense to search for the surrounding beast aura.

It was obvious that the crafty Second Brother Ye was once again going to borrow the aura of a demon king to do something wicked.

With the help of his own people, Ye Feng was confident he could take down the more than one hundred men from the Bliss Starl Empire. But if he did that, casualties would inevitably follow.

Those people had only just taken refuge with him, and many had not yet truly pledged their hearts. If the losses were too heavy, he could not guarantee that the others would not begin harboring other thoughts.

After weighing everything, Ye Feng had no choice but to think of this method.

Very soon, a pack of fifth-rank Gale Wolves appeared in Ye Feng’s mind.

His figure shot forward, and at the same time he drove the demon king’s inner core to its limit. A pressure unique to a demon king blotted out the sky and covered the pack of Gale Wolves.

Woo-woo-woo...

The instant the demon king’s aura pressed down upon them, this group of thirty to forty Gale Wolves prostrated themselves at once. Their massive bodies trembled violently, and urine streamed across the ground.

"Don’t be afraid. This demon king is treating you to a feast!" Ye Feng said as he walked up to the largest Gale Wolf and stroked its fur.

With a leap, he mounted the Wolf King and led the pack onward toward a group of Purple-Maned Blazing Lions.

Using the same method, in less than an hour, hundreds of fourth- and fifth-rank beasts were following behind Ye Feng in a mighty procession.

Among them were even several sixth-rank beasts. However, these usually arrogant and domineering beings all bore varying degrees of injury.

As for the reason, it was simple: pride. These beasts were not like the fourth- and fifth-rank ones. They each possessed their own arrogance.

Only, arrogance depended on whom one was facing...