Gu Zheng’s sharp brows twitched. Instead of giving immediate chase, he hung back and trailed them.

WHOOSH WHOOSH~

Seven or eight members of the Iron Lion Race fled ahead.

Gu Zheng followed at a leisurely pace.

The chase soon led them out of the forest and onto an adjacent mountain.

Before long, rows of crude, primitive wooden buildings at the foot of the mountain came into Gu Zheng’s view.

The seven or eight members of the Iron Lion Race in the lead dashed through a large wooden gate.

They then started shouting and roaring to alert the rest of the Iron Lion Race.

By the time Gu Zheng reached the gate of what was clearly an imitation of a human mountain stronghold, members of the Iron Lion Race, both old and young, were emerging from their dwellings.

Many of them clutched human thighs or arms in their claws, gnawing on them blissfully.

They didn’t even bother to wipe the fresh blood from their mouths.

Upon seeing Gu Zheng, the beastly eyes of these Iron Lion Race members lit up. A moment later, they roared in excitement.

"A human! A tasty human! Get him!"

"Run!"

"ROAR!" 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ𝑤𝑒𝑏𝑛𝘰𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝒸𝑜𝘮

Two shouts erupted almost simultaneously.

The third sound was a furious roar, directed not at Gu Zheng, but at the assembled members of the Iron Lion Race.

"Run! All of you, run!"

The one roaring was a visibly aged, second-tier member of the Iron Lion Race, its skin old and wrinkled.

Only its beastly eyes were bright, and they flickered with terror.

Most of the other Iron Lion Race members were thrown into confusion by the roar, not understanding its meaning.

A small, more obedient faction turned and fled toward the back of the stronghold.

SHING!

A light flared from his blade.

Divine Wondrous energy surged across a wide area, accompanying the Sword Gang as it flooded outward for dozens of yards.

"BOOM~!"

The ground shook and split apart.

With a single slash, Gu Zheng unleashed a wave of Sword Qi over a hundred meters long, engulfing every member of the Iron Lion Race in his field of vision.

SLICE! SLICE! SLICE!

"SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!~"

"ROAR!"

Agonized screams and sickening squelches echoed through the stronghold.

Severed limbs flew everywhere as dark Demon Blood sprayed through the air.

In the wake of that single slash, dozens of Iron Lion Race members were dismembered.

Spirit Capturing!

[Demon Points +15]

[Demon Points +9]

...

WHOOSH~

WHOOSH!

He moved swiftly, blade in hand, performing Absorption on the Bloodshed as he went.

Amidst the brilliant flashes of his blade, group after group of the Iron Lion Race were torn to pieces, deader than dead.

As Gu Zheng cut a path through their ranks, he discovered that of all the Iron Lion Race members left to guard the stronghold, not a single one was second-tier, save for the old one who had screamed for everyone to flee!

"ROAR~"

"Run!"

Furious roars, agonizing screams, and desperate bellows merged into a single cacophony.

The bewildered members of the Iron Lion Race were finally jolted to their senses.

Some turned to flee, while others charged Gu Zheng in a rage.

Still others were paralyzed by fear, frozen on the spot and oblivious to their surroundings.

But it made no difference; none of them could withstand the slicing power of Gu Zheng’s Sword Qi.

SLICE! SLICE! SLICE!~

"SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!"

Wherever the light of his blade flashed, bodies were torn to pieces.

Spirit Capturing!

Spirit Capturing!

Gu Zheng continued to move, performing Absorption on the Bloodshed.

He didn’t stop until not a single member of the Iron Lion Race was left standing.

A thick, bloody stench from the field of mangled corpses drifted in all directions.

WHOOSH~

In a flash, Gu Zheng shot out from the back of the stronghold in pursuit.

A considerable number of the Iron Lion Race had fled—more than a hundred of them.

’Since there are no second-tier Iron Lion Race members, much less third-tier ones, there’s no reason to spare the rest.’

...

「Ten minutes later.」

Gu Zheng emerged from the passage, his body reeking of blood.

"How did it go, Gu?"

Xing Zhilong saw Gu Zheng and hurried over to meet him, asking, "Are you alright? Taking out a dozen or so second-tier Iron Lion Race members is actually quite impressive..."

"They’re all gone," Gu Zheng interrupted calmly.

Huh??

Xing Zhilong froze. "What do you mean, ’all gone’?"

"It means I wiped them out. The entire Iron Lion Demon Tribe on the other side of this passage."