He’d experienced a few battles today, so quite a bit of his profound energy had been consumed. Even though he wasn’t afraid of Darkbeasts in the Grand Myriad Mountains, it was still better to be careful. After all, Darkbeasts weren’t the most dangerous existences here, and it was humans instead. Especially the Ghost Sect and the monstrous geniuses of the other powers.

He’d experienced the strength of the Flower Palace’s Wenren Yue, yet he hadn’t met any of the renowned disciples from the Origin School and Imperial Academy who were superior to the Flower Palace. So, he had to maintain a peak state at all times.

The Ascension Rankings was related to his mother’s safety, so he had to be careful and couldn’t be careless at all!

The veil of night descended soundlessly. There were no stars or moon in the sky, and the entire Ascension Mountain Range was enveloped in darkness.

Aowu!

Suddenly, a resounding howl resounded. Along with the appearance of this howl, numerous howls resounded incessantly after it, and the sounds of howls rose and fell throughout the pitch black Ascension Mountain Range.

Even though the eyes of human profounders could see through the dark, there was no doubt that Darkbeasts had a greater advantage at night. Especially some special Darkbeasts like the Nightbirds that Yang Ye had encountered at the bottom of Death Abyss….

Besides the geniuses of the six great powers and Imperial Academy, the other human profounder that were participating in the Ascension Rankings could be said to have no advantage before King Rank Darkbeasts, let alone when it was nighttime. So, when the sky gradually darkened, countless participating profounders had found places to hide.

On the enormous tree, Yang Ye suddenly opened his eyes and remained silent for a while before he frowned. Because he noticed that three people were silently rushing over in his direction.

When he turned to look at the violet mink on his shoulder, he noticed that the little fellow had fallen asleep. Yang Ye shook his head and laughed soundlessly. No wonder I only noticed them when they arrived 300m away. So, the little fellow fell asleep already.

Yang Ye hesitated for a moment, and then he decided to pay no attention to them. He felt that it was fine so long as they didn’t look for trouble with him.

In next to no time, the three of them had arrived before the tree that Yang Ye was hiding on. After a moment of silence, Yang Ye heard the voice of one of the men in the group. That man said, “Brothers, let’s rest here tonight. So long as we don’t make a huge commotion, then we probably won’t draw the attention of any King Rank Darkbeasts.”

One of the others frowned and said, “Brother Huang Qing, I feel like there’s something off about this place. Why don’t we look for a different place?”

The man called Huang Qing shook his head and said, “Brother Qing Hai, the entire Ascension Mountain Range feels off. I think this place is a good place to hide. Look at the surroundings, besides a few ancient trees, we can see everything in our surroundings. Even if we notice a King Rank Darkbeast, we can flee in the least amount of time.” When he spoke up to here, Huang Qing looked at the only woman in their group and said, “Junior Sister Hai Xue, what do you think?”

The woman called Hai Xue pondered deeply for a moment before she nodded and said, “Let’s do as Brother Huang said!”

Huang Qing smiled when he heard this, and then he said, “We’ll rest here tonight. Once dawn arrives tomorrow, we’ll go look for even more independent cultivators. These King Rank Darkbeasts are truly too formidable. With just the three of us, we can deal with them if we only encounter one or two Darkbeasts, but if we encounter a group, then all we can do is flee!”

As he spoke, he leaped up and descended onto a branch that was below Yang Ye. After that, the other man and the woman leaped up onto branches as well, and they utilized the branches and leaves to conceal themselves.

Their actions caused Yang Ye’s eyelids to twitch because if they leaped just a little bit higher, then blood would probably have to flow tonight….

After they leaped up onto the branches, the man called Qing Hai said in a low voice, “In the past, the Darkbeasts seem to have never formed groups. I wonder why the King Rank Darkbeasts have formed groups this time. It’s even to the extent that many Darkbeasts are even more united than us, humans. If all the King Rank Darkbeasts in Ascension Mountain Range unite, then all of us who are participating in the Ascension Rankings this time would be in danger!”

Huang Qing nodded and said, “It really did exceed the expectations of everyone. In the past, not only would those Darkbeasts not unite with each other, they would even fight each other instead. But this time, all along the way, we’ve seen that practically all the Darkbeasts have formed groups and are rarely alone. This is very unusual!”

“Perhaps a leader has appeared amongst these King Rank Darkbeasts!” Meanwhile, Hai Xue who was comparatively quiet spoke abruptly.

Huang Qing and Qing Hai’s expressions changed when they heard this, and then Huang Qing said, “How could that be possible? King Rank Darkbeasts are extremely proud. So, besides Spirit Rank Darkbeasts, it’s impossible for them to lower their heads before any Darkbeast at the same rank!”

Qing Hai spoke in agreement. “Brother Huang is right. Even if this King Rank Darkbeast is a royal of the Darkbeast Empire, it’s still very unlikely for it to be able to make all the other Darkbeasts obey its command!”

The woman called Hai Xue glanced indifferently at them, and then she said, “How could it not be possible. Our human race has an extraordinarily monstrous genius like Yuan Tong, so why can’t such a genius appear in the Darkbeast Empire? Just think about it, if Yuan Tong is willing to summon all the participating profounders on Ascension Mountain Range, then how many would follow his lead?”

“But King Rank Darkbeasts are extremely proud fellows….” Huang Qing argued.

Beneath the veil of night, Xue Hai revealed a solemn expression and said, “It’s exactly for that reason that this is even more terrifying. Exactly how terrifying is that extraordinary monstrous genius amongst Darkbeasts that it would be able to make these extremely proud King Rank Darkbeasts willing to listen to its command?”

All of them fell silent, and the night seemed to be even quieter.

After a short while, Xue Hai continued. “I heard that the Royal Clans of the Darkbeast Empire, the Gold Behemoth Clan, the Steel Ape Clan, the Heaven Devouring Python Clan, and the Skyhowl Demon Wolf Clan that possess the legendary blood of a Divine Beast have all dispatched the elites of their clans to Ascension Mountain Range. Perhaps both of you haven’t heard of these four clans, but you just have to know that these clans aren’t inferior to the six great powers in terms of strength!”

“They’re not inferior to the six great powers!?” When they heard this, the expressions of both Qing Hai and Huang Qing had changed, and their faces gradually became solemn.

What did that mean? Simply speaking, besides the genius disciples of the six great powers, the other independent cultivators like the three of them would probably die if they encountered the members of these clans!

“Hai Xue, are those four clans really that terrifying?” Huang Qing asked in a low voice.

Hai Xue nodded and said, “In the past, I had the fortune to see a Steel Ape while gaining experience and tempering in the Grand Myriad Mountains. Its body was extremely enormous like a small mountain, and that wasn’t the most terrifying aspect of it. The most terrifying aspect was its strength. I watched with my own two eyes as that Steel Ape who hadn’t attained the King Rank had utilized its enormous palms to smash a mountain that was over 30m tall and around 15m wide into powder. Even some high leveled Profound Rank techniques don’t possess such might, yet that Steel Ape had merely launched a casual attack and wasn’t even at the King Rank….”

Huang Qing said in a low voice, “It would be alright if these Darkbeasts were being commanded by these four clans, but if they aren’t….”

Huang Qing didn’t continue after he spoke up to here. However, the expressions of both Hai Xue and Qing Hai had turned solemn. If a Darkbeast that was even more formidable than the four Darkbeast clans had appeared, then how terrifying would it be to actually be able to make the elites of the four clans obey its command?

A little bit above on the tree, Yang Ye had a solemn expression as well. Since the beginning, he’d always had disregarded or underestimated the Darkbeasts of the Grand Myriad Mountain because he had the little fellow by his side! However, when he heard the woman called Hai Xue, he felt that this matter was probably not simple. Even though the little fellow was extremely formidable, it wasn’t invincible!

Fortunately, besides the violet mink, he had another seven big fellows with him. So, when he was added in as well, then their group should probably have no need to fear that monstrous genius amongst the Darkbeasts.

Actually, even if he didn’t have the little fellow and the seven big fellows, Yang Ye wasn’t afraid at all. Because he’d always yearned to fight with all his might! He hadn’t utilized his full strength in that battle with Wenren Yue, and this caused him to feel slightly disgruntled in his heart. But it was fine because he would fight that monstrous genius amongst the Darkbeasts or the monstrous geniuses of the Origin School in the end.

Because Yang Ye’s target was the 1st in the Ascension Rankings. Since it was the 1st, then he was bound to trample on countless geniuses on his way up. He had no other choice in the matter because it was related to his mother!

Yang Ye took a deep breath. Suddenly, he said to himself, Shit!

Sure enough, right at the moment that he took a deep breath, the three people beneath him had swiftly flashed off the tree, and then three powerful blasts of energy shot swiftly towards him.

Yang Ye had no other choice. He shook his head as he drew his sword and slashed.