Chapter 658: Secret Weapon

Chapter 658 -654: Secret Weapon

“Kill all these dregs who have tainted the sacred bloodline of the Celestial Horse Race!”

The apathetic words carried not a shred of emotion.

It was as cold as ice, utterly merciless.

Then, one after another, powerhouses charged out from the sea of fire. They were all experts from the Celestial Horse Race, each one a top-tier combatant from the core region.

At Ma Qi’s command, they all attacked without mercy.

“N-no! Don’t kill my child! He’s only three months old!”

“Please, don’t kill my mommy… SOB SOB SOB… I’m begging you…”

“I don’t want to die! I just got married yesterday! I don’t want to die! Please, I’m begging you, don’t kill me!”

“My lord, we once shared the bloodline of the Celestial Horse Race! You can’t treat us like this…”

The old, the weak, the women, and the children of the Centaur Race shrieked amidst the bloody slaughter, falling one by one to the slaughter knives of their former kinsmen.

It was a one-sided, merciless slaughter.

They were incredibly fast.

A pair of Celestial Horse’s Wings vibrated on the back of each Celestial Horse Race expert. Their momentum was magnificent, and with every move, they reaped countless lives.

They were merciless!

They were savage!

It was precisely because of this that they were able to survive in a savage place like the core region.

‘These people are so ruthless!’ Hong Yu frowned slightly, a hint of pity in his eyes.

But now was not the time to make a move.

The vital energy and blood of the hidden Celestial Horse Race expert surged skyward, like a crimson screen of light forming a long, roaring dragon, proclaiming his power.

Faced with such an expert, even Hong Yu didn’t dare to be the least bit careless.

The eyes of the heavily injured Centaur Race experts, not yet dead, were splitting with rage, their sockets nearly overflowing with blood. They themselves had once slaughtered countless races. Many had even torn swaddled infants apart alive, devouring their flesh. Yet, watching their own people die so horribly, they too felt heart-wrenching pain and fury.

“Stop! Ma Qi, stop!”

“We were once the same people! Why are you doing this…?”

“Stop the killing! If you keep slaughtering us, the Centaur Race will truly be wiped out!”

These experts, who wouldn’t have knelt or shed a tear even in death, were now streaming with tears, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing relentlessly.

They were begging Ma Qi to show mercy.

But unfortunately, Ma Qi was stone-hearted.

He slowly trotted forward on his four hooves, emerging from the shadows. He stared arrogantly at Hong Yu before his disdainful gaze swept over the Centaur Race experts. “A bunch of trash. You can’t even awaken the Celestial Horse’s Wings. A useless bloodline like yours existing in this world is a stain on our Celestial Horse Race.”

“You can’t! You can’t do this…”

“Lord Ma Qi, I beg you, show mercy!”

The Centaur Race experts all fell to their knees, kowtowing with a THUD, THUD. Their heads were split and bleeding as they begged themselves hoarse.

Ma Qi watched them coldly. “Back when the clan wanted to exile you to the Central Area, my grandfather was strongly against it. But the Clan Leader believed that although your blood was defective, you would at least be reasonably strong in the Central Area. He wanted you to take command of it. But after all these years, you’ve only regressed. Now, your entire clan’s elite has been annihilated by a single, filthy human. What’s the use of letting a worthless race like you live?”

“It would be better to just exterminate you now. Try to be smarter in your next life!”

Ma Qi’s words were chilling.

The faces of the Centaur Race experts turned ashen.

Their eyes filled with bitter despair. At this moment, they were truly filled with regret.

‘If we had known it would come to this, why did we ever get involved in the fight against Hong Yu?’

‘If we hadn’t thoroughly enraged this human youth, our Centaur Race could have continued to live without a care in the world.’

But alas, there was no medicine for regret in this world.

They watched helplessly as the Celestial Horse Race experts exterminated the last of the Centaur Race—over one hundred thousand of the old, weak, women, and children. They roared at the sky, overcome with grief and indignation, but they were powerless to change a thing.

The once-thriving Centaur Race was now extinct.

Completely annihilated.

Not even a single trace of their bloodline remained.

“Ancestors, we have failed you!”

The Centaur Race experts roared in fury, their eyes splitting with rage and filled with a crimson glow. A savage, bloody light ignited within them.

They were burning the last of their Essence of Life, intending to take both Hong Yu and the Celestial Horse Race experts down with them.

One-quarter of the experts charged toward Hong Yu.

The remaining three-quarters charged toward the Celestial Horse Race.

After all, the true culprits behind the Centaur Race’s destruction were the members of the Celestial Horse Race. But even at their peak, they had been no match for Hong Yu. What good would a desperate struggle do now?

“You should have thought of the consequences.”

Hong Yu let out a long sigh.

The dark-gold Nine Netherworld Burning World Flame erupted from his body, coalescing into one World-Burning Golden Lotus after another. As the lotuses swept over them, the experts were reduced to ashes, one by one.

The methods of the Celestial Horse Race experts were even more brutal.

They were actually devouring the Essence Blood of the Centaur Race experts. Even if the Centaurs were of the so-called “defective blood” lineage, they were still experts who had cultivated to the War King Level. Their Essence Blood was a great restorative.

After a brutal slaughter, the last few bloodlines of the Centaur Race finally withered away.

In the entire encampment, only Hong Yu and the experts of the Celestial Horse Race remained, locked in a standoff.

Ma Qi clapped his hands. He was splattered with fresh blood, but he didn’t wipe it off. Instead, he wore it like a medal, his eyes filled with smug satisfaction and the glory of victory. “Tsk, tsk. As expected of the man who snatched the Venerable Golden Bone from Hai Wen of the Eastern Divine City. You truly are powerful!”

“So you’re Ma Qi?”

Hong Yu’s eyes narrowed into slits.

Ma Qi’s face was a mask of bloodthirsty savagery. He was the one who had just given the merciless order to exterminate every last survivor of the Centaur Race.

Ma Qi grinned. “The one and only,” he said. “Hong Yu, your strength is impressive, but it’s a pity you ran into me today. This place is destined to be your grave. Before you die, I will permit you one last wish.”

“A last wish? Heh. You aren’t worthy of hearing it.”

Hong Yu retorted with cold sarcasm.

“Hm?”

The smile on Ma Qi’s face slowly faded.

Ma Qi had been a Celestial Pride Son his entire life. With his grandfather being the Grand Elder of the Celestial Horse Race, his status was exceptionally high.

As a result, Ma Qi was incredibly arrogant; there were few experts he deemed worthy of his direct gaze.

In his mind, he had already shown Hong Yu more than enough respect. But Hong Yu’s words made him feel insulted and belittled. He chuckled softly, but the sound was ugly and grating. “Fine, fine, fine. Since you’re in such a hurry to die, don’t blame me for not giving you a chance!”

“Attack!”

Ma Qi waved his hand sharply.

The thirty Celestial Horse Race experts behind him charged out at once.

Celestial Horse’s Wings vibrated on the back of every Celestial Horse Race expert. They didn’t immediately swarm Hong Yu, but instead spread out, forming a circle to surround him.

Then, a golden Great Bow materialized in the hands of each Celestial Horse Race expert. They drew the bowstrings taut. A silver radiance bloomed from their Celestial Horse’s Wings, coalescing into silver Arrows that nocked themselves onto the strings.

This was the greatest difference between the Centaur Race and the Celestial Horse Race.

The Celestial Horse Race’s greatest skill was archery.

Legend had it that an ancestor of the Celestial Horse Race had once used his bow and a Divine Arrow formed from his own back to slay a Venerable Powerhouse.

The wings of a War King Level Celestial Horse were silver, while those of a War Emperor Level were gold.

These thirty-odd experts with silver Celestial Horse’s Wings were all at the War King Level. However, their momentum was overwhelming, and their silver Arrows were especially terrifying. The fluctuations of their auras and their power far surpassed that of the Centaur Race’s War Kings.

“Fire!”

Following Ma Qi’s low roar, WHOOSH WHOOSH WHOOSH, thirty silver Arrows shot forth.

The Arrows were unbelievably fast, but more importantly, their power was terrifying.

Each Arrow was surrounded by a ring of silver light that churned the very fabric of space. The void itself seemed on the verge of shattering. This terrifying, condensed power surged toward Hong Yu from all sides.

Faced with this volley of Arrows, even Hong Yu didn’t dare to be careless.

A lion uses its full strength even when hunting a rabbit. Having survived countless life-or-death battles, Hong Yu understood the truth in that saying better than anyone.

History was filled with top experts who had fallen due to a moment of carelessness.

“Nine Netherworld Burning World Flame!”

The World-Burning Golden Lotus in his right pupil blazed. Dark-gold Nine Netherworld Burning World Flame condensed over his hands like two flaming palms. He then clapped his hands rapidly in front of him, and a series of Palm Lights formed a wall of light that completely enveloped him.

It was a wall of golden flame.

PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!

The silver Arrows were not immediately incinerated by the barrier Hong Yu had formed from the Nine Netherworld Burning World Flame.

At least half of the Arrows broke through the barrier of the Nine Netherworld Burning World Flame.

After all, the Nine Netherworld Burning World Flame was not at its peak. It was merely a flame seed Hong Yu had just fused with. The World-Burning Golden Lotus, which should have had eighty-one petals, now only had nine. It was at its most fragile, unable to completely block the impact of the silver Arrows.

HISS!

Hong Yu sucked in a sharp breath.

‘The piercing power of these silver Arrows is incredible,’ he thought. ‘Even the Nine Netherworld Burning World Flame can’t incinerate them in time.’ Many of the Arrows had burst more than halfway through his defense. The tip of one Arrow was almost at his nose before the Nine Netherworld Burning World Flame finally destroyed it at the last second.

‘What terrifying Arrows. No wonder the Celestial Horse Race cast out the Centaur Race!’ Hong Yu reflected inwardly.

But while Hong Yu was shocked, Ma Qi was utterly stunned.

Ma Qi’s eye twitched violently. ‘What in the world is that flame Hong Yu is using? The Arrows formed from the wings of my Celestial Horse Race are exceptionally potent. At the War King Level, they’re comparable to Sixth-Grade High-Level Primordial Weapon Arrows, they just don’t last very long. Arrows of that strength are incredibly difficult to destroy, let alone incinerate!’

Ma Qi’s eyes narrowed into slits.

A cold glint, like a flash of lightning, shone from between his lids.

「After a long moment.」

Ma Qi made up his mind, a greedy light shining in his eyes. ‘I must kill him. The Venerable Golden Bone is a treasure the Clan Leader specifically requested, so it will never fall into my hands. But if I can get my hands on the method to control this flame, my power will increase dramatically. I might even be able to leap to the Elder Level!’

At this thought, Ma Qi grinned, his expression both ferocious and pained, tinged with reluctance…

‘For a Supreme Treasure, I can only sacrifice you!’