As Lin San unleashed the technique, terrifying flames erupted from the blade, like sword energy, rushing toward the surrounding enemies.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
In an instant, the fearsome flames struck the Thunderstorm Pythons' bodies, exploding them one by one.
[You have slain a seven-star demon beast and gained 700,000,000 evolution points.]
[You have slain a seven-star demon beast and gained 700,000,000 evolution points.]
[You have slain a seven-star demon beast and gained 700,000,000 evolution points.]
...
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a seven-star demon beast and gained 7,000 energy points.]
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a seven-star demon beast and gained 7,000 energy points.]
[You have absorbed the blood essence of a seven-star demon beast and gained 7,000 energy points.]
...
In a brief moment, all the Thunderstorm Pythons around Lin San had been killed.
Quickly, the blood and energy from the pythons flowed toward Lin San's Ye Fan sword, gathering into it.
As the powerful energy was absorbed by the sword, it swiftly surged into Lin San's body.
Lin San immediately activated his cultivation technique, frantically refining the immense energy within him. If he didn't process the energy quickly enough, his body would be overwhelmed by the massive influx.
Huff, huff...
Around him, the others were breathing heavily, exhausted from the battle.
Finally, all the Thunderstorm Pythons had been killed.
"Just this many enemies, and you struggled so much to deal with them?" Tang Wutian scanned the martial gods coldly.
"Exactly. What a bunch of weaklings," Yang Henwei chimed in with a sneer.
However, even as he spoke, he couldn't help but take a deep breath. Deep down, he was still shaken. For a moment, the sheer number of Thunderstorm Pythons had been overwhelming, nearly leading to their demise.
Fortunately, they managed to defeat them all in the end.
Yang Henwei glanced toward the back, his brow furrowing.
What's going on!?
He clearly noticed that Lin San seemed completely unscathed, standing there full of energy and spirit.
"Were you hiding while we fought?" Yang Henwei glared at Lin San, his voice icy.
To him, it appeared that Lin San had come out of the battle without a scratch, looking completely fresh—as if he hadn't participated in the fight at all.
"I wasn't," Lin San replied calmly.
"You dare say that! We all drained ourselves to kill those Thunderstorm Pythons, but you look like you didn't break a sweat," Yang Henwei accused angrily.
"That's because you're too weak," Lin San retorted with a cold smile.
Yang Henwei had been targeting him since the beginning, always trying to stir trouble.
"You—" Yang Henwei's face darkened at Lin San's words.
"Look behind you," Lin San said, his tone cold.
Behind!?
The other martial gods instinctively turned to look behind them.
What they saw left them shocked—there were numerous Thunderstorm Python corpses with their heads cleaved in two lying behind them!
"Did he kill all those by himself!?"
The martial gods were stunned by the sight.
The Thunderstorm Pythons, with their bodies crackling with electrical energy, could easily paralyze anyone they touched, making them highly dangerous to fight.
A single misstep during battle could lead to death from paralysis.
Because of this, they had fought the pythons with extreme caution, and even then, they had not managed to kill that many.
Most of the pythons had been slain by Tang Wutian.
But to their surprise, Lin San had killed a large number of them on his own!
Yang Henwei's face grew even darker, and he felt embarrassed.
"Let's move," Tang Wutian said, already walking ahead.
"Hurry up!" Yang Henwei breathed a sigh of relief at the change of focus and followed Tang Wutian.
The other martial gods quickly resumed their journey as well, not daring to linger in such a dangerous place. After all, another deadly beast could appear at any moment, and they had already lost one member. No one wanted to be the next to fall.
Lin San sheathed the Ye Fan sword as the golden energy around the blade dissipated, leaving the weapon looking once again like a broken sword.
"When will the blade truly be restored?" Ye Fan muttered in frustration.
And right now, there was no telling how his sword would continue to evolve.
They continued onward, encountering no more beasts as they made their way through the forest.
Soon, they emerged from the forest and found themselves standing before a barren wasteland.
"There's a mountain up ahead!" one of the martial gods exclaimed, pointing to the towering peak in the distance.
This mountain was unlike any other. Just looking at it stirred a strange and overwhelming sense of awe, as if it exuded some mysterious, intimidating power.
"The entrance to the secret realm is at the base of that mountain," Tang Wutian announced.
"I'll warn you now: once we enter the secret realm, we may be separated into different areas," he continued, stopping and turning to face the group.
"But no matter where you end up, you must find something for me."
"What exactly are we looking for?" one of the martial gods asked.
"An ancient secret manual," Tang Wutian replied, scanning the group with his gaze.
"An ancient secret manual?"
Everyone exchanged confused glances, unsure of what he meant.
"Yes, that's what you're after," Tang Wutian said casually.
With a wave of his hand, a yellowed book appeared in his palm.
The book floated in the air, its pages turning on their own.
The martial gods gathered closer, their eyes widening in surprise as they looked at the manual. The pages were filled with ancient writing they couldn't understand.
Before long, the book flew back into Tang Wutian's hand.
"No matter what, if you find something like this, you must bring it to me," Tang Wutian said firmly. "You must return it, or else..."
He left the rest of his words unspoken, but the warning was clear.
"We will bring it back to you if we find it," the martial gods quickly promised.
"What about everything else we find?" Lin San suddenly asked.