A Man in the Snow: Starting with a Sword Challenge to the Northern Liang Prince's Palace

When Ye Yun landed, he crushed the head of a demon beast.

It wasn't intentional. The wolf demon was already dead, its body piled on the ground. He stomped on it, shattering its skull and splattering its brains all over his trouser leg.

He didn't look down, pulled his foot out, and continued walking forward.

Four flying swords hovered at his sides, blood dripping from their blades and creating a row of small craters at his feet.

The demon race was in an uproar.

A human swordsman, charging alone into an army of thousands—what else could this be but suicide? The surrounding demonic beasts were stunned for a moment, then pounced on him in a frenzy.

Ye Yun did not stop.

The "golden light" transformed into hundreds of fine lines, weaving a net around his body. He wielded his four natal flying swords and unleashed a full-force attack.

Where he went, corpses littered the ground.

A swordsman on the city wall shouted, "Boss Ye is back!"

He was alone.

"Stop those powerful demons! Don't let them surround him!"

But no one could stop Ye Yun. He wasn't killing demons; he was clearing a path—a bloody path that stretched from the base of the city wall all the way into the heart of the demon army.

What he was looking for was that tiger demon.

It had a tiger's head and a human body, stood three zhang tall, and was covered in black fur like steel needles, with amber eyes. It was this creature that punched through Dong Bude's chest.

Ye Yun hadn't witnessed that scene. But he knew. He saw the hole in Dong Bude's chest, a fist-sized hole running from his front to his back. It was a wound caused by a punch, not a sword wound, not a claw mark. Only that tiger demon could deliver such a punch from the city wall.

He found it amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

The tiger demon stood atop a high slope, its feet resting on the corpses of several sword cultivators. It was gnawing on a human arm, the finger of which still bore a storage ring. Hearing the noise, it raised its head, its amber eyes fixed on Ye Yun, blood trickling from the corner of its mouth.

"It's you." The tiger demon tossed his arm aside, stood up, and dusted the blood off his hands. "The one at the city gate. Still alive?"

Ye Yun stopped three zhang away and looked at it.

"You killed him."

The voice was soft and calm, as if saying that the weather was nice today.

The tiger demon paused, startled: "Who?"

"That white-haired old man, he uses a sword."

The tiger demon thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled.

He grinned, revealing gleaming white fangs, and his laughter boomed like thunder: "That overconfident old codger? He died with one punch. His bones were too brittle. No fun at all."

Ye Yun nodded.

The "golden light" moved.

It didn't split into countless forms, but rather coalesced into a single beam. A golden beam of light, too fast to be seen with the naked eye, hurtled straight towards the tiger demon's face. The tiger demon turned its head to dodge, the beam grazing its ear and slicing off half of its earlobe.

Blood splattered out, and the tiger demon, in pain, roared and threw a punch.

The force of his fist transformed into a black tiger, roaring as it pounced on Ye Yun.

Ye Yun didn't dodge. He unleashed the "Sword of Law," and the transparent sword light sliced ​​into the black tiger's body, splitting it in two.

The force of the punch was shattered and dissipated into black mist.

The tiger demon's pupils contracted.

Ye Yun had already rushed in front of it.

Three zhang away, he took a single step. Four flying swords attacked simultaneously: "Golden Light" slashed towards his throat, "Purple Cloud" struck towards his head, "Cage" locked his feet, and "Sword of Law" pierced towards his dantian.

The tiger demon unleashed both fists simultaneously, one punch deflecting the "golden light" and the other repelling "Purple Cloud." However, the "cage" locked its ankles, causing it to falter, and the "Sword of Law" had already pierced its abdomen.

The tiger demon let out a miserable cry and slapped Ye Yun away with its palm.

Ye Yun was sent flying backward, crashing into two dead trees and landing on the ground. He got up, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and walked back.

The tiger demon looked down at the wound on its abdomen. The sword wound wasn't deep, but the "Sword of Law" had severed a spiritual vein within its body. It raised its head, and for the first time, fear appeared in its amber eyes.

"Who exactly are you?!"

Ye Yun didn't give it a chance to continue speaking.

The four swords were drawn again.

This time, we're going all out.

The tiger demon struggled desperately, its fists shattering a patch of golden light, and lightning struck its body, blasting bloody holes, yet it continued to struggle. It opened its mouth, and a ball of black light condensed within, which it spat towards Ye Yun.

Ye Yun neither dodged nor avoided.

Nirvana.

The four flying swords shattered simultaneously, then instantly reformed. The instant they shattered and reformed, a terrifying shockwave of sword energy erupted, shattering the black sphere of light. The aftershocks struck the tiger demon, forcing it to its knees.

The "Sword of Laws" fell.

A sword pierces the top of the head.

The sword pierced the tiger demon's head and emerged from its jaw. The tiger demon's eyes widened, its amber pupils losing their luster. Its body stiffened for a moment, then crashed to the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Ye Yun walked over, drew the "Sword of Law," and then beheaded the tiger demon with a single strike.

He picked up the huge tiger head and turned to look around.

The surrounding demonic beasts were stunned by this scene. A powerful demon at the Ascension Realm had died just like that. Beheaded by a human swordsman in front of a thousand troops.

Ye Yun raised the tiger's head high, his voice hoarse but clear: "The first one."

He threw the tiger head on the ground, stomped on it, and continued walking forward.

Among the demon army were two powerful demons who had ascended to the Ascension Realm: a snake demon and an eagle demon.

The snake demon was on the left flank, coiled on a boulder. It had already witnessed the tiger demon's death, its green vertical pupils filled with terror. It flicked its tongue, its body shrouded in poisonous mist, and commanded its lesser demons to rush forward and stop Ye Yun.

Ye Yun fought his way through wave after wave of demonic beasts and finally reached the snake demon.

Without a word, the snake demon opened its mouth and spewed out a cloud of poisonous mist. The mist was a dark green, corroding the ground and leaving a ravine in its wake, while the air was filled with a pungent, sour stench.

Ye Yun did not dodge. "Purple Cloud" summoned heavenly lightning, and a thick bolt of purple lightning struck into the poisonous mist. Heavenly lightning was extremely yang and strong, the nemesis of poisonous mist. The poisonous mist was ignited by the heavenly lightning and burned, green flames leaping in the air, quickly burning it completely.

The snake demon was terrified and turned to run away.

The "cage" locked its serpentine tail. Black chains wrapped around the tail and pinned it firmly to the ground. The serpent demon twisted its body desperately, scales flying off and flesh becoming a bloody mess, but it could not break free.

Ye Yun walked up to it and looked down at it.

The snake demon's vertical pupils contracted, and it hissed, "You can't kill me!"

Ye Yun slashed down with his sword.

The "Sword of Laws" severed its vital point. The snake's head fell to the ground, but its body continued to writhe, its tail lashing out and sweeping away a group of demonic beasts.

Ye Yun, holding the snake's head, glanced at it and said, "The second one."

He threw the snake's head next to the tiger's head and turned to continue walking.

The eagle demon is in the sky.

Having witnessed the fates of the tiger and snake demons, it dared not land. Spreading its wings, it blotted out the sky and hovered high above. It dared not run—to run would mean certain death upon returning. The Demon Emperor would not forgive a powerful demon of the Ascended Realm who deserted in the face of battle.

But it didn't dare to come down.

Ye Yun stood on the ground, looking up at the eagle demon in the sky.

The distance was too far for his flying sword to reach.

He thought for a moment, then bent down and picked up a broken spear from the ground. It was the weapon of a dead swordsman; the shaft was broken, leaving only half, but the spearhead was still intact.

He held the broken spear in his hand, with four flying swords attached to the spear shaft, infusing it with spiritual energy.

Then he threw it.

The broken spear transformed into a streak of light, its speed breaking the sound barrier, tearing the air apart with a piercing shriek. Four flying swords coiled around the spear, golden light, purple lightning, black chains, and transparent sword light intertwining together.

The eagle demon saw the streak of light approaching, flapped its wings, and tried to dodge.

But the "cage" had already locked down its energy. It didn't just lock down its body, it locked down its destiny. The eagle demon felt as if it were nailed to something; its wings were flapping, but its body couldn't move.

The broken spear pierced its chest.

The eagle demon let out a mournful cry and fell from the sky, crashing to the ground and creating a large crater. Feathers scattered everywhere, and blood gushed from its chest.

Ye Yun walked over, stood at the edge of the pit, and looked down at the eagle demon inside.

The eagle demon was not dead yet; blood was gushing from the hole in its chest, its wings were twitching, and its eyes were filled with fear and resentment.

"You...!" The eagle demon opened its mouth, its voice weak.

Ye Yun drew his broken sword, and the half of the "Winter Plum Blossom" sword, which Dong Bude had been holding, shone with a snow-white sword light on the broken blade.

He plunged his sword into the eagle demon's head.

The eagle demon stopped moving completely.

Ye Yun drew his broken sword, wiped the blood off the eagle demon's feathers, and then stood up.

He stood atop the mountain of corpses, beneath which lay the bodies of three ascended demons. All around him was a vast demon army, but they were retreating. Without their leader, the lesser demons crumbled, surging backward like a tidal wave.

On the city wall, the surviving sword cultivators witnessed this scene.

Some knelt down, some cried out, and some raised their swords and roared to the sky.

Ye Yun looked up at the gray sky, raised the broken sword in his hand, and spoke in a hoarse voice:

"Old Dong! Did you see that?!"

The sound echoed across the battlefield, carrying far and wide.

The sword cultivators on the city wall shouted in unison, their voices echoing through the sky. Their morale soared, and the remaining sword cultivators charged down from the city wall to pursue the retreating demon race.

Ye Yun stood atop the mountain of corpses, his entire body covered in blood. His clothes were unrecognizable, soaked through and dripping with blood. His face was covered in blood, his eyes bloodshot, like a demon crawling out of hell.

He looked down at the three heads at his feet and said softly:

"Old Dong, this is the first payment. I'll pay back the rest slowly."

In the distance, the demon army had completely collapsed and disappeared from sight.

All that remained on the battlefield were corpses and broken weapons.