Duncan panted in exhaustion.
He felt as if his entire body was drained of energy. He couldn't support his body anymore. He slumped down and looked at the corpse of the young man before him.
Fortunately, his last strike had decapitated his opponent. He didn't have any more energy to even lift his sword, let alone fight. If that strike hadn't killed his opponent, Duncan knew that he would be dead by now.
Duncan closed his eyes and recalled the last strike he had performed. Something was entirely different about it. The more he recalled the details of that strike, the more he marveled at the sheer beauty of it.
He felt entirely intoxicated by that strike. Even now, he couldn't believe that he had performed such a strike. That sword cut was otherworldly. It had a unique charm that kept tugging at his heartstrings.
Duncan didn't care about anything. Not his recovery, not the dead cannibal in front of him. He entered a strange state of comprehension as he remembered that strike. He was soon lost in it.
The more he looked at it, the more he realized that he wouldn't be able to repeat that strike anytime soon. It was something that his present comprehension could only aspire to.
However, Duncan wasn't dejected. He was rather excited at the thought of being able to perform that sword cut once more. While he could not completely comprehend the beauty of that strike, several questions that had been plaguing him about his sword arts were answered at that moment.
As Duncan entered a state of comprehension, his body started to subconsciously operate the <Slaughter Demon Sutra>. A strand of red qi emanated from the young man's body and entered Duncan's body at that moment.
His cultivation technique started to automatically refine that strand of red qi, unbeknownst to Duncan. Duncan was in a strange state. He paid no attention to his surroundings as he absorbed as much as he could from the sword cut he had unleashed prior to this.
Meanwhile, a large number of cannibals had long ago surrounded the place the fight between Duncan and the young man was happening. Even small noises would attract these cannibals, let alone the commotion the battle between the two had caused.
So, it was only logical that a large number of cannibals made their way into the surrounding. But, being so caught up in the fight, Duncan hadn't realized this tidbit. He was now fully immersed in comprehending the sword cut he had unleashed.
The only reason these cannibals hadn't rushed in earlier was that they were afraid of the young man. The young man had been the iron-fisted ruler of these caves. Any cannibal that caught his sight would be hunted down and devoured. So, the cannibals had long learned to avoid the region around him.
While the cannibals couldn't be considered smart, even they had basic instincts and some learning capacity. Just like they learned to survive by eating each other, they learned to live by avoiding the young man.
So, they stayed hidden in the surroundings for a long time. The only reason that they haven't fled was the alluring temptation that was Duncan. Duncan's living blood was a great temptation to them and the flavor of the blood attracted them more than their desire to stay away from the young man.
Yet, they didn't dare to barge in.
However, now that the threat had gone, these cannibals started to emerge from the surroundings they had hidden in. They cautiously came towards the area Duncan was comprehending his sword arts and searched for traces of the young man.
When they saw the decapitated body of the young man, these cannibals couldn't help but rejoice. A few of the brave ones came forward cautiously and smelled the head to make sure that the young man wouldn't rise and devour them.
When there was no movement from the head, the other ones also slowly started trickling in. Soon, the area in which the battle had occurred was surrounded by these cannibals. They all looked at the delicious prey that was on its knees and licked their lips in hunger.
Despite their desire to devour Duncan, none of them wanted to be the first one to attack him. They were slightly wary of this prey and were also wary of others attacking them. Hence, they all surrounded him and watched him hungrily.
Initially, Duncan didn't notice any abnormality. He was engrossed in the sword cut that he had made. But, as more and more cannibals started to surround him, Duncan began to feel uneasy. His mind couldn't rest and comprehend the marvel of the sword cut.
Soon, goosebumps started appearing on his body causing him to shiver. Duncan slowly opened his eyes and was stunned to see that he was surrounded by the cannibals.
Even though his body had unconsciously started to refine the red stand qi, he still hadn't recovered from his previous fight. So, Duncan was really frightened to see that he was surrounded by a large number of cannibals.
He gripped his sword tightly and looked around in dismay. Where ever his eyes fell, there was a cannibal standing there looking at him hungrily. To see such a large mass of eyes staring at his body hungrily made Duncan shudder.
Duncan rose to his feet and cautiously looked around to see if there was any escape route. Unfortunately for him, there was no such thing. Still, he took little heart in the fact that these cannibals hadn't attacked him yet.
There was a silly hope in his heart that these cannibals might be afraid of him after seeing him kill the young man. After all, the young man had been the strongest cannibal he had come across until now. If there were any stronger existence, then Duncan wouldn't be alive right now.
Slowly, Duncan took a step forward cautiously to see how the cannibals were going to react. He felt his heart shudder as he saw all those eyes tracking every bit of his movements. Stealing his heart, Duncan took another step forward. This time the cannibals started to growl at him in a threatening manner.
"Come on, can't you guys give me a break," Duncan shouted exasperatedly.
But the cannibals didn't move or show any indication that they were going to retreat. Rather, the growls started growing in volume causing Duncan's face to sink.
"Fine," Duncan said angrily. "I killed that bastard to stay alive. And I am not going to die at your hands either. I have long wanted to destroy you lot completely. This just saves me time."
Duncan stared at them with murder in his eyes. He wasn't willing to die in this cave. He wasn't willing to die after surviving the young man. The young man had been ridiculously powerful, but he had managed to kill him. And these cannibals wouldn't be any different.
The desire to completely annihilate every one of these cannibals took root in Duncan's heart and the black aura started to emerge from his body. It connected with Duncan's sword and a reddish hue started coming out as well.
Duncan growled under his breath and his eyes started turning crimson. The cannibals weren't to be outdone. They started roaring in anger and hunger. They wanted to devour this delicious prey and the prey fighting back only angered them further.
With a roar, Duncan pushed off the ground and ran straight into the mass of cannibals surrounding him with his sword in his hand.
*****
"It's time, open the gates," Liang Tianye said nonchalantly.
The guards ran to obey hastily. They didn't want to offend the duo that was in front of them. The gates began to open with a loud rumble. And the guards soon took up a guarding position to prevent any cannibals from leaving this place.
While they knew that the chances of a cannibal escaping under the eyes of Liang Tianye and Feng Feixuan were nil, it wouldn't behoove their health to make them kill the cannibals.
As the guards of this place, it was their duty to prevent that. If not, the devil in the female body would torture them until they begged to die. So, under no circumstances were they going to allow the duo to make a move.
"Vice-Sect Master, your disciple may be hiding somewhere to stay alive," Feng Feixuan said snidely. "Aren't you going to send a few people in to check for him and rescue him?"
"If he indeed did that, then he would wish the cannibals had killed him and devoured his body," Liang Tianye said coldly. "I don't tolerate trash under me."
"What if he is injured?"
"None of my concern," Liang Tianye said calmly. "Either he makes it out of that gate on time, or he dies inside that cave."
"My, my, you really are ruthless, aren't you Vice-Sect Master?" Feng Feixuan tittered. "I almost feel pity for your disciple. After all, he is just a mortal."
Liang Tianye didn't reply. He merely stared at the gates not deigning to give any answer to the vixen near him. He knew full well that if it was the vixen who was in charge of the brat, then the brat wouldn't even survive a week under her.
One of the reasons Sect Master gave the brat to him to train was that other elders in the sect were not people who could be trusted to nurture something so important. The brat would die before he could even realize his full potential under them. Even if the elders didn't make a move on him for the Heart of Killing within him, the rest of the disciples wouldn't stay still.
After all, death during sparing or being plotted against was pretty common in this sect. A mortal who doesn't even have cultivation wouldn't stand a chance if he was thrown into that nest of vipers.
Which disciple of the sect isn't someone who would kill without blinking an eye? Those who joined the Heavenly Demon Sect aren't people who knew rules and restraints. They were demons who killed countless people in the outside world. A naïve little brat would be gobbled up by them for their cultivation. To them, he was a delicious treasure that could be refined to increase their cultivation.
Even if they were afraid that the sect would pursue them for it, these demons would only make sure to not leave traces. Hence, it was imperative that the brat learned to kill and defend himself soon.
The only ones who could be relatively trusted are the disciples under him. While his disciples indeed cultivated the demonic dao, they walked a different path from others in the sect. Even then, it wasn't a certainty. So, Liang Tianye already had a headache regarding how to groom the brat further.
He had initially thought of a plan to train up the brat. But, seeing how relaxed the brat was, he knew that something must be done in regard to that. Hence, he had thrown him into the cannibal cave to give him a rude awakening.
He could only hope that the brat opened his eyes before he died miserably.
*****
A/N: Hey folks!
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