As a top-tier Valiarior-rank martial artist practicing two powerful body-refining techniques, "Demonic Ape Colossal Art" and "Destiny-Reversing Profound Art", Sevrin's speed was naturally extreme.
Even a steel-rank martial artist observing with full focus could only barely see his fleeting, blurry afterimages.
Therefore, these bandits, whose highest martial level was no more than Vitality Circulation, could not even clearly see the specific process when facing Sevrin's bloody slaughter.
They could only look on in horror as dense, crimson whip shadows flashed constantly from every direction at every moment.
Moreover, every time these whip shadows nearly weaving into a heavy Blood Net appeared, they would blast everything within a range of tens to hundreds of meters, or even larger, into debris.
If it were a person, they were beaten into massive heaps of blood-mud and meat fragments, splashing across every wall and floor.
If it were a wall, large sections would shatter into powder, mixed with bloodwater to paste the ground in crimson.
At the same time, Sevrin did not merely swing his whip to kill the nearby bandits.
Occasionally, he would unleash over ten vacuum air blades as large as cutting boards with a single whip stroke.
These vacuum blades hummed as they crushed everything in their path, carpet-bombing all buildings and people within a distance of one hundred to over three hundred meters in a specific direction.
Thus, under such a grand massacre, Sevrin took care of about two to three thousand bandits in a short instant.
Simultaneously, an untold number of buildings, large and small, were conveniently blasted into ruins by him.
And those unlucky bandits resting or eating inside the rooms also naturally and tragically turned into piles of blood-mud, mixed among the scattered stone debris of the ruined houses.
But such intense slaughter and destruction were merely a warm-up for Sevrin, not yet reaching the level of intensity of a true battle.
Because while these ferocious bandits might be seen as the incarnation of disaster in the eyes of ordinary people.
To Sevrin, they were merely bags of peach tea, swollen and bulging, that burst into a spray of crimson at the slightest touch.
Likewise, the buildings that seemed so sturdy to others were, in Sevrin's eyes, no different from cardboard models, collapsing in great heaps with a casual sweep.
Even the very earth and rock supporting everything felt as fragile as soft tofu under the lashes of Sevrin's steel whip; every strike carved a deep trench into the ground.
To put it simply, while Sevrin was reveling in the slaughter, the bandits of Wolf's Nest were enduring a nightmare.
With a single whip stroke, the land, houses, and personnel within a range of dozens to a hundred meters were turned to dust; facing such a level of carnage, there was no way for the bandits to organize any effective counterattack.
Whether they were common thugs or martial experts, none could withstand even a single lash from Sevrin, nor could they even find a way to flee.
But just as the bandit horde of Wolf's Nest fell into absolute despair, a "person" gleaming with a metallic luster, appearing as if forged entirely from steel, suddenly emerged from a street corner and charged toward the blood-drunk Sevrin with twin blades in hand.
HAH!
Icy blade-light suddenly flared, instantly transforming into a silver-scaled, sharp-toothed dragon that roared as it slashed toward the rampaging Sevrin.
In response to this sudden ambush, Sevrin let out a great laugh, turning to meet the attack with a heavy sweep of his whip shadows.
In a flash, thousands of dense, crimson whip shadows and brilliant silver blade-lights clashed violently amidst the vast ruins.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
For a time, nearly half of Wolf's Nest, from the ground to the sky, was filled with flickering silver light and dancing red streaks, while the clashing of weapons rang out in a continuous, surging rhythm like intersecting lightning.
Even the surrounding air was shaken into turbulent waves by the shriek of this "lightning," generating phantom gales that howled toward all directions.
While the two combatants fought with abandon, the buildings and bandits caught within this radius suffered a terrible fate.
No matter how tall or thick the architecture, no matter how skilled at hiding or escaping the brigands were.
All were caught in the splashing shockwaves of this contest, disintegrating and being torn limb from limb, turning into piles of rubble and pools of blood-mud.
In this manner, over half of the nearly ten thousand bandits in Wolf's Nest became casualties.
Sevrin and the swordsman, the ones responsible for this tragic scene, were themselves moving as fast as lightning. As the "iron-forging" sound of their clashing blades and whip grew more intense, their speed surged repeatedly, becoming faster and faster.
Eventually, they were so swift that their figures blurred, drifting and unfixed as if fading into the countless intersecting blade-lights and whip-shadows, nowhere to be found.
However, this "forging" session came as suddenly as it ended. After only four or five breaths, all the whip-shadows, blade-lights, and clashing sounds vanished instantly.
Simultaneously, a figure sparkling with silver light and covered in bone-deep wounds was sent hurtling through the air. After slamming heavily into the ground, it plowed through countless houses and buildings, carving up a full 1,000 meters of street surface before finally coming to a halt.
Clearly, this fierce battle ended with Sevrin's victory.
"I truly didn't expect it. even a blade can become a spirit," Sevrin remarked with clicking amazement. Only then did he leisurely descend from mid-air, landing in front of the unknown swordsman who was gravely injured and covered in silver blood.
This swordsman was indeed as Sevrin described, a steel blade that had cultivated into a spirit. As for its personal interface:
[ Character Name: Unknown
Level: Spirit-Anomalous → Sixth Rank
Mastered Skills: "Anomalous Life-Source" "Blade-Bone Edge-Veins" "Metal-Iron Physique"
Special Traits: [Level 3 Robust Physique] [Level 3 Stamina] [Level 3 Iron Body] [Level 3 Technique] [Level 3 Blade-Bone]
Expert Shards: None ]
Sevrin, of course, had learned all of its skills during the earlier exchange and pushed them all to the peak level.
Now, he could transform into a silver-shining form like this swordsman at any time or place, though he found it unnecessary.
Furthermore, perhaps because their physical forms were not vastly different, even if Sevrin did not switch to the blade-spirit state, he still possessed a significant portion of the strength provided by the Level 3 Blade-Bone trait.
This power manifested as an even harder body, and his comprehension and utilization of blade-type weapons had ascended to a much higher level than before.
This was the primary reason Sevrin was able to quickly overwhelm the blade-spirit. While the blade-spirit only had "Blade-Bone Edge-Veins" and "Metal-Iron Physique", Sevrin possessed far more.
"To be honest, your body is much tougher than Salt God's; he couldn't take two lashes, yet you endured so many," Sevrin looked down at the blade-spirit and said with a light smile. "But although your body is hard, you have no self-healing ability whatsoever, which is a bit disappointing."
SPURT!
The blade-spirit spat out a mouthful of silver blood, then looked up at Sevrin and said coldly:
"To reach the Valiarior realm at such a young age is a rarity through the ages, and to be so profound and comprehensive. Sevrin, you are truly extraordinary."
Before Sevrin could respond, the blade-spirit suddenly broke into an eerie, chilling laugh:
"Fortunately. fortunately, my Master did not underestimate you this time and did not send me alone."
As soon as he finished speaking, the ground beneath them shook violently.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Accompanied by thunderous roars and tremors, the ground under Sevrin's feet instantly split open into series of jagged, thick, and deep crevices.
Sevrin's reaction was lightning-fast. Sensing danger, he first used his whip as a blade, slashing off the blade-spirit's neck, which was already nearly broken, causing an Expert Shard to drop.
Then, his figure blurred as he suddenly retreated, leaping onto the top of a building ruin over 500 meters away.
Only then did he lower his head to observe the continuously shaking ground.
He saw countless dark-green vines inexplicably emerging from the crevices in the earth.
The surface of these vines, some thick and some thin, was covered in an innumerable amount of pale-white flowers.
And in the center of each flower, a pitch-black eyeball bulged out, staring fixedly at Sevrin perched high atop the ruins.
WHOOSH!
Under the gaze of those thousands of black eyeballs, Sevrin suddenly felt his essence and life-energy begin to weaken inexplicably. The rate of depletion was incredibly rapid, as if thousands of mouths had burrowed into his body and were greedily devouring his vitality.
However, Sevrin did not panic; he immediately understood the cause of his anomaly. it was these vines emerging from the ground, covered in a mass of eyeballs.
[ Character Name: Unknown
Level: Spirit-Anomalous → Sixth Rank, Bloodline Divinity → High
Mastered Skills: "Anomalous Life-Source" "Eyes of Hollow Thorns" "Harmful Corrosive Poison-Blood" "Basal Node Abode"
Special Traits: [Level 2 Robust Physique] [Level 1 Iron Body] [Level 3 Stamina] [Level 3 Self-healing] [Level 3 Pupil Arts] [Level 3 Toxicity] [Level 3 Sustenance]
Expert Shards: None ]
This was an extremely rare Spirit-Anomalous that possessed Bloodline Divinity, completely shattering Sevrin's previous assumption that only humans could wield divinity.
Furthermore, the cause of Sevrin's rapidly depleting essence and life-energy was precisely those vines' Bloodline Divinity, the "Eyes of Hollow Thorns".
This divinity could bridge a vast distance to instantly and inexplicably seize an enemy's essence and life-energy for its own use. The victim whose life-energy was stolen would rapidly weaken and lose combat power, eventually dying of physical failure and exhaustion.
Sevrin only understood this after having learned all of the vine monster's skills.
His method of resolving the current predicament was quite simple: he activated the Kiyou Grotto portal within his chest, allowing currents of energy to saturate his body, and then circulated the "Destiny-Reversing Profound Art".
Under the influence of this miraculous technique, his inexplicably lost life-energy was instantly replenished.
The heavy fatigue that had rapidly expanded to seize his body and mind evaporated into thin air.
At that moment, however, from the crisscrossing crevices in the ground around Sevrin, over a hundred bizarre creatures with frog-like faces, turtle shells, and human limbs suddenly leapt out.
Once these monsters nearly the hybrids of frogs, turtles, and humans appeared, they raised their heads and opened their wide mouths to vomit out massive clouds of thick black smoke.
The moment this black smoke left their mouths, it acted like ink dropped into a basin of clear water, rapidly diffusing and swirling in all directions.
Naturally, Sevrin was soon encircled and shrouded within it.
But in the instant before being engulfed by these vast clouds of black smoke, he clearly saw the personal interfaces of these monsters:
[ Character Name: Unknown
Level: Demon Beast → Mid
Mastered Skills: "Demon Form, Beast Likeness" "Sacrificial God Miasma" "Toxic Demon Physique"
Special Traits: [Level 1 Robust Physique] [Level 1 Stamina] [Level 2 Self-healing] [Level 2 Toxicity]
Expert Shards: None ]
"So they are a pack of demon beasts."
Feeling his spiritual senses being severely suppressed by the black smoke, Sevrin couldn't help but let out a cold laugh:
"I see. So this black smoke can actually mask human perception. Heh, however. raising Spirit-Anomalous and demon beasts at the same time. Lan, you truly are quite busy."
"Indeed, I am very busy," a faint voice drifted through the black smoke. "So. you, who have disrupted my busy life. could you please just go ahead and die right now?"
This was clearly the voice of Lan Yuca.
As soon as he finished speaking, four blade-spirits shimmering with silver light suddenly charged out of the black fog from all directions. Each brandished twin blades, bringing with them heavy waves of icy blade-light as they slashed toward Sevrin simultaneously.
Faced with such a perilous siege, Sevrin threw his head back and laughed:
"Good, good, good. four shards! Truly wonderful!"
Amidst his laughter, he instantly whipped his twin whips into a frenzy. He unleashed thousands of dense, crimson whip shadows, simultaneously drawing out thousands of vacuum air blades, both near and far, from the tips of the lashes. These layers upon layers of strikes boomed as they hammered into the area within a 300-meter radius surrounding himself and the four blade-spirits.
In an instant, this vast territory was subjected to a violent bombardment akin to a cluster of missiles.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Within this continuous explosion, innumerable silver blade-lights and blood-red whip shadows flashed incessantly, clashing and slashing against each other, relentlessly destroying every building and house, and tearing through every living thing.
Thus, many hidden bandits, frog-faced turtle-shell demon beasts, and the bizarre vines emerging from the ground were all blasted and shredded into massive heaps of blood-dust and meat scraps by the shockwaves of the battle between Sevrin and the four blade-spirits.
Not long after, the dense, intersecting waves of blade-light began to dwindle, eventually vanishing completely.
Clearly, those four blade-spirits had been slain one by one by Sevrin within the thick black fog.
"Impressive, truly impressive," Lan Yuca's voice rang out once more. "I did not expect that at such a young age, you could reach the Valiarior realm. This is a feat that is practically non-existent within the borders of Graew."
As the voice trailed off, the figure slowly drifting out of the black smoke was. not the familiar face of Lan Yuca.
Instead, it was a child, appearing only about ten years old, dressed in black robes with a deathly pale face.
"You are not Lan Yuca," Sevrin said, making no move to strike. He observed the boy drifting toward him, yet he could not see even a sliver of the child's personal interface. He said indifferently, "Who exactly are you?"
"I am Lan Yuca," the child bared his teeth in a grin. "It is just that this body. is not my true form."
"I think I understand," Sevrin replied, catching the strong, salty stench of brine emanating from the child. He narrowed his eyes and said calmly, "This clone of yours was made using the sacrificial children from Lialod Village."
"Ah, you guessed correctly."
Lan Yuca patted his small hands in mock celebration, then said slowly in an aged voice that did not match the body's age, "Brined children are indeed a primary material for crafting Dharma-Puppets, and also a key ingredient for many Occult Techniques."
"Good, good. what a fine old beast you are!"
Sevrin bared his teeth in a frigid grin. "Brining children's corpses to craft magical tools. you truly are. a worthless piece of trash raised by a whore!"
"Hmm?"
Lan Yuca was stunned for a moment. "What you just said. I didn't quite catch it."
"No need to understand. Just die!"
In an instant, Sevrin lashed out with his steel whip, unleashing ten vicious shadows that blasted the pitiable Dharma-Puppet, which carried a portion of Lan Yuca's mind and will, into a large cloud of lime-like dust.
As those bloodless ash particles fell onto his shoulders, he thought he heard a faint, innocent voice:
"Thank you. Uncle."
Sevrin realized immediately.
The voice was not a hallucination, but the lingering obsession of that Child-Corpse.
This realization instantly ignited the fury in his heart, fueling a boiling killing intent.
"Lan Yuca," Sevrin said coldly. "You truly deserve to die."
With that, he suddenly crushed the ground beneath his feet, soaring into the sky with a thunderous roar of wind.
WHOOSH!
Reaching an altitude of a thousand meters and looking down at Wolf's Nest, Sevrin saw that the fortress had turned into a domain of pitch-black fog, making it impossible to tell where Lan Yuca was actually hiding.
"It seems." he whispered calmly, "my only choice is to transform into a Spirit-Anomalous."
Indeed, Sevrin decided to transform into a Spirit-Anomalous, utilizing powers distinct from those of a human martial artist to thoroughly search the entire Wolf's Nest and find Lan Yuca, who was hidden somewhere within.
The most suitable Spirit-Anomalous for this task was the vine monster from earlier.
With that thought, Sevrin abruptly shifted his form from human to monster. His entire body swelled ten-thousand-fold, becoming a colossal Vine-Spirit composed of innumerable dark-green vines coiled together. He plummeted from the sky toward Wolf's Nest below.
THUD!
After falling from a thousand meters and slamming into the ground, Sevrin instantly dispersed all his vine-limbs. Like a horde of pythons, they slithered into the various cracks and crevices, burrowing deep into the earth.
Simultaneously, the vines tunneling through the soil utilized the "Basal Node Abode" skill to frantically absorb nutrients from the surrounding earth, causing his form to proliferate and grow.
New vines burst forth from the surfaces of the old ones, spreading through the earth and rock toward an even greater range.
As he expanded, Sevrin also opened portals on each vine, frantically devouring everything within Wolf's Nest, both above and below ground.
Thus, whether it was the fragmented remains of corpses, collapsed buildings, or the limbs of that other giant vine monster lurking underground.
Everything was subjected to the high-frequency, serrated "gnawing" and devouring controlled by Sevrin through his portals, turning into a torrent of debris that fell onto the vast wilderness of the Kiyou Grotto's East Forest Garden.
Under normal circumstances, a vine monster could never possess such exaggerated proliferative and expansive abilities; if it couldn't, Sevrin, who wielded its powers, theoretically couldn't either.
But Sevrin was not only ruthless toward others; he was equally harsh with himself.
During the process of his vine-limbs spreading in all directions, the moment he realized his overall expansion had reached its limit, he would unhesitatingly use his portals to sever and swallow the old limbs. This left behind vast areas of thoroughly excavated pits and tunnels, while the remaining new vines continued to proliferate and branch out into the next wave of fresh growth.
Consequently, that unlucky vine monster was rapidly encroached upon during Sevrin's "territorial expansion," eventually vanishing into the portals and dropping an Expert Shard.
When the snake-like vine-limbs finally spread to the heart of the Wolf's Nest fortress, Sevrin finally discovered Lan Yuca's hiding place.
More accurately, it was a massive underground palace beneath Wolf's Nest, connected to the surface by several spiral pathways.
After his vines burrowed through the earth and broke into the interior of this underground palace, Sevrin observed through his multitude of eyeballs.
Inside this subterranean palace nearly which consisted of over ten levels, each a thousand meters wide everything from tables, chairs, and beds to daily utensils, water, electricity, and lighting was fully provided.
Additionally, hundreds of female bandits were diligently maintaining the operation of the entire underground palace.
After his vines coiled around and crushed these female brigands, Sevrin discovered something else: in several secret rooms on the third, sixth, and ninth levels of the palace, there were piles of white bones and fragmented human limbs.
Horrifyingly, the surfaces of these blood-stained bones and mangled limbs bore clear marks of being burned, steamed, and sliced.
The answer was glaringly obvious, that Lan Yuca was actually a cannibal, and the number of people he had consumed was undoubtedly staggering.
"Truly. disgusting."
Accompanied by his cold words, Sevrin nearly who had shifted back from his Spirit-Anomalous form to his human one slowly averted his gaze from the severed limbs and looked toward the entrance of the secret room over thirty meters away.
Standing there at some point was a smiling child in black robes.
Indeed, this was yet another Dharma-Puppet controlled by Lan Yuca.
"What is it?" Lan Yuca said with a beaming smile. "Are you interested in 'food-men' too?"
"'Food-men'?" Sevrin said coldly. "You treat people as food?"
"Why not?" Lan Yuca said softly. "Some people are born to be eaten by others. If we don't eat them, wouldn't we be wasting their naturally delicious flavor?"
Before he could finish his sentence, a crimson whip shadow lashed out at extreme speed, blasting him into a mess of dust.
But just after the strike landed, Lan Yuca's hateful voice rang out again:
"Look at you, what's the point of destroying a puppet? I have plenty of those; destroying one or two doesn't bother me in the least."
"Where are you?" Sevrin scanned the surroundings, following the voice. "Why didn't a puppet appear this time?"
"No need to look. In this underground palace, I can make my voice appear in any corner; there's no need for a Dharma-Puppet to manifest. Furthermore."
Lan Yuca's voice drifted from every direction. "I am not even in this underground palace right now."
"Then where are you?" Sevrin asked in a deep voice.
"I am right above, within that Wolf's Nest fortress you smashed to pieces," Lan Yuca's voice came again. "Oh, my, I must say, Sevrin. you truly are extraordinary. I originally thought you would spend quite some time searching the surface before finally finding your way into this underground palace.
I never expected you could transform from a human into a Spirit-Anomalous, and coincidentally, into one identical to my vine monster.
To be honest, I have never heard of such a mysterious technique, nor do I know where you learned it. I can only say that in this vast world, there is truly no shortage of wonders."
Accompanied by Lan Yuca's remark, tens of thousands of dense, crimson silk threads appeared out of nowhere, wrapping the interior and exterior of the secret room where Sevrin was located, layer upon layer, making it look like a blood-prison.