The leviathan and his prey.

Scores of humans and beasts were all tossed into a narrow space devoid of any light, it was a situation where at best 10% of the beings present were able to see anything at all. And after being thrown into such a situation, it was inevitable that unease and fear would bloom in their hearts, and it was an inescapable fact that chaos would run rampant in such conditions.

First came the howling from the beasts, instinctively lashing out at their surroundings to protect themselves in this hunting ground. Then came the shrieks of pain and fear from the people who were caught by the attacks coming from the beasts, their instincts pushing them to launch attacks of their own to fend off the incoming attacks.

Like a stack of dominoes all leaning on each other, the fall of the first one created a chain reaction that quickly swallowed them all. In this chaotic mess, those who could retain a semblance of calmness were few, but one such person was Xing Shue Yong. He was the strongest man present and had experienced his fair share of battles so he managed to maintain a level head, quickly calling out an order the moment the firs inklings of chaos started to show.

"Cui Ye, light!"

The moment they could see their surroundings, the fear they felt would lessen by a great deal and it would make it much easier for them to handle their current situation. Shue Yong had most certainly figured out the best course of action the instant they were tossed into an unexpected situation. But what a shame, this was the leviathan's hunting ground, and they had all already fallen into his open maw.

"Under...GHK!"

A flash of fire sparked to life a few tens of metres away from Shue Yong, but the only thing the light achieved was to make it possible for everyone else to see Huang Ying arrive in front of the man and tear out his throat with his bare hands. The newfound light was immediately snuffed out and the area was drenched in darkness once more, Huang Ying's final grin in the light of the fire imprinting itself in the minds of everyone present.

Two more screams rang out at almost the same time, Shue Yong's expression darkening solemnly. He couldn't see them, but the two screams undoubtedly belonged to the remaining two fire cultivators he had brought along. The other members of his team didn't cultivate light-creating laws so now it became much more difficult to lighten up the area.

If they just had some luminescent stones or even items engraved with light-creating arrays then things would be much simpler, but who would bring along such things on a regular basis? The cacophony of screams and howls immediately shot towards a crescendo, forcing Shue Yong to click his tongue and quickly call out another order.

"GATHER AROUND ME! Lean on your closest comrade and get over here, we'll make our way to the wall so that we can't be surrounded!"

Huang Ying watched as Shue Yong raised his arm, several metal orbs shooting into the air before they released a loud humming sound that could be used to locate him. It was risky for Shue Yong to reveal his position like this, but he had a hunch that Huang Ying wouldn't have dropped them into a place like this if he wasn't confident in his ability to find his way.

The people trapped in the hole immediately began to move towards the humming sound, bumping elbows with the other people they encountered to identify themselves. Of course, if the humans could follow then sound then so too could the beasts so it quickly evolved into a situation where one group of people formed a retreating defensive wall while a chaotic group pushed against both the defensive wall and themselves, a horrid mess of claws and teeth.

Huang Ying stood a short distance away, but the cover of darkness and the stealth techniques that Li Jun had taught him made it so that none of the enemies could detect him. But he only observed the two groups of enemies for a short handful of seconds before he locked onto a particular beast that looked like a three-horned rhino.

He turned his head over and cast a glance at Ying Feixu, who was currently tearing through some of the people and beasts that had yet to gather up with the rest. She detected his gaze and raised her head, his slightly tilted grin as he pointed at the rhino making her expression sink slightly. She didn't like having to follow his orders, but she guessed that refusing was a good way to make him stop the training he gave her, which would not only slow her growth but also reduce the number of chances she had to kill him.

She clicked her tongue in annoyance and finished off the remaining three beasts, quickly devouring them before dashing after Huang Ying, who had already started moving. He didn't sneak past the beasts between him and the rhino, he simply tore a straight line through them, his spear piercing skulls and shattering limbs.

He swiftly appeared in front of the rhino, which hurriedly turned its head when it noticed the foul bloody scent that Huang Ying brought with him. It stabbed forward with its three horns to halt his approach, but its fate was sealed the moment it fell into this pit.

Huang Ying smashed his spear down on three horns and jumped into the air, the spear leaning on the horn serving as leverage as he vaulted over the attack. He arrived above the rhino and split his spear into its two blade-like parts, a gust of wind pushing down on him from above and making him land on the neck of the rhino. He spun the blade he was holding and stabbed the tip into the rhino's skull, lacerating its brain and instantly killing it.

Ying Feixu reached him only a second after he killed the beast, tearing a path of her own through the beasts. Huang Ying hopped down from the dead rhino and used his thumb to point at one of the openings in the defensive line that the gathering people had formed. He didn't wait for her opinion and grabbed onto one of the rhino's horns, his Qi surging out and turning into a wind that pushed the beast's body upwards.

Ying Feixu grabbed onto one of the beast's legs and mimicked his actions, their veins bulging slightly thanks to the sheer weight of the thick monster. Huang Ying locked eyes with her as he moved the beast's body back and forth a few times, silently counting to three before he exploded forth with all his power.

The body of the beast was launched away from them and soared directly through the opening in the retreating defensive line. It shot directly at Shue Yong, whose entire body tensed up as he heard the sound of the beast flying through the air. He couldn't see it, but he guessed its direction based on the sound and almost instantly turned his body, a metal shield that was vibrating faintly appearing in front of him.

The corpse slammed into the hastily raised shield and pushed it back, Shue Yong barely able to raise his arms to block. He blocked it, but the sheer weight and momentum were still enough to lift his feet off of the ground, both he and the corpse slamming into the nearby wall with a loud rumbling sound.

Huang Ying's knees immediately bent, his torso leaning forward as he prepared to charge straight at Shue Yong before he could push away the corpse. Ying Feixu mimicked his actions once more, there was a risk of Huang Ying dying to someone else if she allowed him to just charge ahead like that.

But his head swivelled to the side just as he gathered all his might in his legs. He still kicked off and shot away, but he charged to the side of the defensive line rather than straight at Shue Yong, catching Ying Feixu rather off guard. She quickly traced his direction to see what made him change his mind, clicking her tongue in annoyance when she saw his target.

Huang Ying charged directly at a burly man who was bleeding from one eye, a hole poked directly into his pupil. He was growling in pain and his greataxe was already swinging out, heading directly for a small sparrow covered in red veins, its beak still wet with blood.

Huang Ying jumped directly into the path of the axe and stretched out his arm to block it, a thin layer of wind and earth covering his hand while rolling in opposite directions. The axe smashed into his palm, the wind pushing it up while the earth dragged it down, the two opposing forces greatly reducing the force of the impact.

But it was still a rather hastily raised defence so it wasn't able to perfectly neutralize the power of the attack, the edge of the axe digging a bit into his palm. But his other arm was already shooting forward, his fist smashing into the man's temple and causing it to cave in.

The law of devouring immediately flooded out and invaded the man's head through the caved-in temple, eating him from the inside out. Huang Ying spat out a breath as the man's axe fell to the ground, tapping Hong Yi a few times on the head.

"You have to be a bit more careful, follow after Hei Ya and only go after targets that you can safely retreat from after attacking."

The little sparrow wanted to chirp, but she knew that doing so could give away their position even in this deafening chaos so she simply nodded her head quickly. Huang Ying gestured her away, the little sparrow quickly flying over to the black wolf that was currently tearing into the throat of a tiger-like Demonic beast as he tried to kill it.

Huang Ying turned his gaze away and returned his attention to Shue Yong, but he had already tossed away the Demonic beast corpse and joined up with three other people. Huang Ying observed the defensive line, Ying Feixu disposing of a Demonic beast as she moved over to him, maintaining a placid and cold expression.

"You just missed a good chance, he would have had a very difficult time defending himself."

Huang Ying simply shrugged his shoulders at her accusing words, he did as he pleased, even if that meant losing a chance or two. Ying Feixu looked like she wanted to say something else, but Huang Ying raised his arm and pointed at the defensive line, speaking up before she could.

"If we've missed a chance, then we'll just have to make a new one, it really isn't something worth fretting over. Lend me some fire in a second."

The earth beneath four people in the defensive line suddenly split open, the jagged ends of the cracks resembling a grim maw as their legs fell into the opening. The cracks immediately closed around their legs, the shattering of their bones mixing with the horrible symphony of death that was already resounding within the pit.

The beasts that were directly in front of the four people were left with no opposition and could charge forward, tearing through the four people as the defensive line was split in two. Huang Ying swept out with his spear and removed the head of the weasel-like Demonic beast that Ying Feixu had just killed, putting away his weapon and picking up the head.

He held the head in front of Ying Feixu, who could guess his intentions and thus inserted a bit of her Qi into the severed head. Huang Ying flung out his arm and tossed the head directly at Shue Yong, who heard it soaring through the air and hastily prepared a defence, several sharp blades forming a spinning circle in front of him.

The blades tore the head apart and unleashed the Qi within it, a burst of fire appearing directly in front of Shue Yong. A gust of wind immediately supported the fire, allowing it to blaze up into a great conflagration that swept over Shue Yong and the three people he had met up with. The fire quickly died away, but two of the people had been wounded and one had died under the fire, only Shue Yong was fine.

But his expression was still grim, because that flash of fire had attracted the attention of every living being stuck in the pit. It was different from the humming metal orbs above him, this was a much more direct and noticeable declaration of his position. And even worse, it revealed all the other people and beasts that were closing in on him.

In an instant, all the attention had been placed on Shue Yong, every living being other than Huang Ying and his group charging directly towards him. They were just like moths charging at the only source of light, like children who believed that the light would protect them from the surrounding dark and chaos.

Huang Ying's brows furrowed just as all the attention was placed on Shue Yong, his head turning to look at Hei Ya and Hong Yi. They succeeded in killing the tiger-type beast, but a small group of beasts was currently barreling towards them as they charged for Shue Yong.

Huang Ying was just about to move towards them when a fist smashed into his shoulder and pushed him back several steps. Ying Feixu stepped in front of him at the same moment as she pushed him back, both her arms crossing in front of her chest as a layer of ice and a layer of crystal formed on them.

Several sharp blades that had silently flown through the air crashed into her crossed arms, leaving a few cuts on her forearms and a few shallow holes in her chest where the weapons had slid past her arms. She staggered back a few steps, separating her arms and tossing aside the sharp blades.

The first time they may have caught him off guard, but Shue Yong was clearly a bit more prepared the second time around, even able to somewhat guess their position by looking at where the head had come flying from. Ying Feux spat out a breath, glancing back at Huang Ying somewhat angrily.

"Pay attention to your surroundings, don't forget that your head is mine to take."

Huang Ying locked eyes with her for a second, his perception had been locked on Hei Ya and Hong Yi so it was true that he had momentarily forgotten to keep an eye on his surroundings, probably due to the fact that he was confident in not being discovered. He shrugged his shoulders, his perception telling him that Hei Ya and Hong Yi managed to avoid being stampeded.

"Fair enough. But look at you, so willing to move in front of me to block attacks, you should take care that you don't die before you get to give me a good fight."

A muddy tentacle stretched out from Huang Ying's body and latched onto Ying Feixu while another one stretched out and latched onto a nearby corpse, devouring it to heal the small wounds she had suffered. Her motivation and reasoning didn't matter, she had blocked an attack for Huang Ying so the least he could do was heal the wounds she suffered as a result, even if that simple act only made her look angrier.

Huang Ying ignored her anger, it wasn't like it mattered to him how she felt about it. He turned his attention back on Shue Yong and the other people, who were currently enduring immense pressure as the beasts in the pit pushed against them. A good portion of the people present had already died, only a handful remaining alive under the constant assault of beasts.

But the same was true for the Demonic beasts, both the people and the other beasts here were their enemies so their numbers were rapidly dwindling, only the strongest remained alive at this point. But that was just fine, everyone here was going to die eventually so their dwindling numbers really didn't matter. Huang Ying looked at the rapidly shrinking groups, his face still carrying a slight grin as he started to move.

"Prepare your water and lightning, I trust that you'll know when to use them."

Huang Ying charged straight ahead, ducking beneath three more blades that came whizzing in their general direction. Shue Yong launched quite a few attacks in their direction, but the response he received left him quite disappointed as only the first few seemed to hit something.

Huang Ying made his way through the remaining beasts, the earth beneath two of the people in the defensive line opening up and swallowing their legs. Huang Ying reached them just as the earth closed on their legs, the two blades parts of his spear stabbing forth and piercing through the heads of the two people.

A hole was immediately opened in the defensive line, the beasts pouring in before Shue Yong and the others got to patch the opening. Huang Ying pulled back his weapon and sliced open the side of a beast just as it ran past him, a gust of wind and a pillar of earth launching the beast into the air and drenching the remaining people and beasts in its blood.

He quickly stepped back and moved to the side, reaching the corpse of a gorilla-like beast. He picked up the beast, lightening the load by using a strong gust of wind, and threw it directly at the part of the defensive line where Shue Yong had positioned himself.

This was already the third time this had happened so Shue Yong reacted the moment he heard the sound of the corpse soaring through the air. He gauged the weight and size of the corpse by listening to the sound it produced, several spinning blades appearing in front of him to block.

But Huang Ying gathered all his strength and threw out his two-headed spear at the same time, his Qi coiling around it and creating several head-sized orbs of earth that also shot forward along with the spear. Several of the earthen orbs were cut apart by the spinning blades, but they slowed the blades as a result. As for the spear and earthen orbs that weren't blocked, Shue Yong frowned but quickly formed a defensive layer of metal on his arms and blocked them by punching them aside.

Unluckily for him, this was also the moment the thrown corpse also reached him. It crushed the spinning blades with ease since they had been slowed by the earthen orbs, allowing the corpse to collide with Shue Yong, who could only block with his metal-covered arms while also covering his chest in metal to dampen the impact.

Huang Ying turned his head, but by the time his eyes landed on Ying Feixu she had already sprung into action. Several orbs of water appeared above the clashing men and beasts, drenching them all in not just the earlier blood but also water. And just as the water drenched them all, the orbs above them morphed into crackling azure lightning.

The lightning descended upon them without mercy, the water and blood covering them providing it with plenty of conductible material it could spread through. The lightning spread to them all in practically an instant, roasting their skin and charring their flesh and organs. Some of those hit by it were even launched away when their muscles spasmed uncontrollably thanks to the lightning.

As for the one who suffered the worst under the lightning, it would definitely be the metal-clad Shue Yong. His metal only served as another conductor for the lightning, which gathered on him with such intensity that some of the metal even started to melt, adding another layer of torment to what he was feeling.

When the crackling lightning finally faded, Shue Yong was the only one left alive. And it was at this moment that he learned that it wasn't dying screams and pained howls that were the most frightening sound in the world, it was the deafening silence that followed. All of a sudden it was just him, the silence forming such a stark contrast from the earlier chaos that he could hear his own blood flowing in his veins, his heart thundering in his chest.

His organs felt as if they were on fire, a stark contrast to his skin and flesh, which he couldn't feel at all any more. All the nerves there had been charred by the lightning and molten metal, forget about the pain, he couldn't even feel the existence of his own arms. And at this moment, the reality of the situation finally set in, his calm exterior crumbling as dread set in.

"Huang Ying, show yourself! Where are you!? Do you really think my clan will just let things go if you kill me?!"

Screaming, practically pleading and begging for his life, that was the only thing his mind could push him to do right now. It was an exceedingly shameful and disgraceful thing for him to do, especially after he had acted so high and mighty before. But how could he have expected things to end like this? In what universe did it make sense for someone who hadn't even reached the Stairs of Ascension realm to lure out and massacre so many cultivators and Demonic beasts of a higher realm?

"Who...Just what are you?!"

That was the question at the forefront of Shue Yong's mind as he called out again and again, just what sort of being was Huang Ying? He had definitely made some plans in advance when he lured them out here, but how could just some plans be enough to produce a result like this? Forget about calling it a battle, it had been a massacre that had always been under his control.

Shue Yong was confident that he could beat Huang Ying in a proper fight, but he hadn't even gotten the chance to get close enough to Huang Ying to engage in a proper fight. Like puppets on a string, they had danced to his tune, allowing him to cut their threads one by one, barely even having to move to do so.

Shue Yong continued to call out, practically only out of desperation at this point, doing whatever he could to drown out the silence that threatened to only increase the dread he felt. And then, as he sat there and tried to scurry back, he got the answer he sought for, but what accompanied it was the most terrifying, and the last, thing he would ever see.

"I am the leviathan, and you... were my prey."

The darkness in front of Shue Yong wiggled as Huang Ying's voice slithered into his ears, hundreds of small crimson eyes opening in the darkness. They swam around seemingly without aim or purpose, but all of them looked directly at him with a twisted glee and excitement, the hundreds of small lamprey-like maws that accompanied the eyes grinning at him malevolently, covering the darkness all around him. And then they all bore down on him, eliciting a final scream that was quickly silenced.