Turns Out, I’m In A Villain Clan! Chapter 370 The Morning Stroll of a Monster!
The initial ambush dealt a catastrophic blow to the Demonic Beasts.
In the opening moments, numerous Grade-9 Demonic Beasts were slaughtered, and entire waves of monsters collapsed under the vanguard's synchronized strikes, allowing the Empire's legions to penetrate deep into the Beast Tide.
For a fleeting second, it appeared as though the humans had secured a total victory.
Thousands of creatures perished beneath the weight of the human onslaught.
Their ferocious roars dissolved into shrieks of terror as the frontline shattered. The dawn assault had successfully crippled their ranks, leaving them in a state of absolute disarray.
However, that brief window of dominance was short-lived.
The Beast Tide began to adjust. The massive casualties seemed insignificant as fresh hordes surged forward to replenish the front.
Their fractured formations tightened. Scores of Grade-9 and Grade-8 Demonic Beasts began to regroup, bolstered by reinforcements pouring in from the Great Wilderness.
The lower-ranked creatures followed suit, with thousands of Grade-7 and Grade-6 beasts rushing to plug the holes in their lines.
It was as if their numbers hadn't dwindled at all. On the active battlefield, the pressure remained entirely unchanged.
Within a few minutes, the momentum of the conflict swung back.
“Curse it... their reinforcements are arriving too fast! Damn it! Exactly how many of these beasts are there?”
“Don’t tell me every single Demonic Beast in the Great Wilderness has mobilized?”
The lines that had been crumbling just moments ago were suddenly reinforced. Wherever the humans attempted to push, the Beast Tide retaliated with equal ferocity.
A grueling stalemate emerged, mirroring the situation before the arrival of the human reinforcements.
Across the theater of war, the divisions of the Bai, Zhao, and Li Clans saw their progress slow, their momentum grinding to a halt against the coordinated wall of monsters.
Even the Elders, who had cleared the initial Grade-9 threats, found themselves locked in a futile struggle against the new wave of Grade-9 Demonic Beasts, unable to gain any ground.
But there was a single outlier.
Bai Zihan!
While everyone else found themselves bogged down, he continued his forward march, seemingly untouched by the shifting tide of battle.
His trajectory through the chaos was a straight path of pure slaughter.
A Grade-8 Demonic Beast lunges—it dies.
A Grade-8 shield is raised—it is cleaved in two.
A Grade-8 roar begins—it is silenced forever.
Every time a massive beast attempted to block him, a silver flash would ignite, and the creature would fall apart mid-leap.
Bai Lumei’s followers could only watch with wide-eyed shock.
Bai Zihan wasn't slowing down in the slightest.
He wasn't even exerting himself.
While entire squads were being held back by a single Grade-8 beast, Bai Zihan was butchering them like common insects in his path.
His expression remained stoic. In the middle of a world-shaking war, he looked as if he were merely enjoying a morning walk.
“Is... is this really happening?”
One man muttered, parrying a Grade-7’s claw while staring at the youth who was carving through monsters that usually required Spirit Severing experts to handle.
A woman nearby felt her throat go dry.
“How can an eighteen-year-old possess such power?!”
Bai Zihan didn't just defeat the Grade-8 Demonic Beasts.
He wiped them from existence.
A Grade-8 White-Eyed Tiger lunged at him.
Bai Zihan took a single step forward.
A silver arc cut through the air.
Blood sprayed in a crimson mist.
The tiger was sliced down the middle, hitting the ground before its final roar could escape its throat.
More creatures swarmed him, instinctively drawn to the threat he represented.
But for them, lunging at him was no different than jumping into a meat grinder.
His subordinates tried their best to provide support, but their efforts were largely redundant.
Their attacks rarely landed before Bai Zihan had already finished the job.
“Young Master Zihan, we’ve got your flank!”
Before the warning could even be shouted, Bai Zihan had already decapitated the two beasts that were supposed to be flanking him.
“...Never mind.”
The ground trembled as more beasts reinforced the front lines.
Everywhere he moved, the Beast Tide buckled. The stalemated lines collapsed whenever he drew near.
However... even though Bai Zihan was harvesting Grade-8 Demonic Beasts like wheat, his actions were only small ripples in the context of the vast battlefield.
No matter how many he cut down, their numbers appeared infinite.
When ten died, ten more took their place.
A hundred fell, and a hundred more surged forward.
The battlefield was a waking nightmare where death only created a vacuum for more monsters to fill.
Even a person like Bai Zihan couldn't turn the entire tide of war by himself.
Yet, his presence had another effect.
It utterly demolished the confidence of the younger generation.
This wasn't limited to the Bai Clan—the juniors of the Li and Zhao Clans were equally shaken.
Nearby groups couldn't help but steal glances at the youth who was slaying Grade-8s with impossible ease.
“Is... is he actually the same age as us?”
“No. It’s impossible. Reaching Spirit Severing at eighteen is one thing—but fighting like that?”
“Are we even the same kind of human?”
A prodigy from the Li Clan swallowed nervously, watching Bai Zihan’s silver blade flash through three beasts in the blink of an eye.
“...How are we supposed to compete with a monster like that?”
Their pride—forged through years of elitism and praise—shattered as they watched Bai Zihan treat Grade-8 monsters like a light workout.
The realization that their clans expected them to eventually oppose this monster filled them with a sense of profound despair.
Bai Zihan ignored both their admiration and their fear. “It seems Grade-8 Demonic Beasts don't pose much of a problem for me.”
The trail of carcasses left in his wake was all the proof needed.
Demonic Beasts possessed bodies far more durable than humans, which was often a source of frustration for Cultivators, especially given their sheer numbers.
However, Bai Zihan wielded a Heaven-Grade Sword, and his raw power exceeded even that of a Void Refinement Realm cultivator. To him, cutting down Grade-8 beasts was trivial.
Despite this being his first encounter with Grade-8 opponents, they offered no real challenge.
After slaying about thirty of them, he concluded that no Grade-8 beast could match his speed, strength, or stamina.
As he continued his advance, he suddenly sensed a presence far more powerful than the ones he had been killing.
A Grade-9 Demonic Beast!
Bai Lumei’s heart skipped a beat. “Bai Zihan! Get back!”
But this encounter was no accident.
High above on the left flank, where a Zhao Clan Elder was engaged with a Grade-9 monster, the old man’s palm “slipped.” Instead of a killing blow, he struck the beast sideways.
The massive creature—now free—roared and charged in a direct line toward Bai Zihan in a fit of rage.
The Zhao Elder made a show of clicking his tongue and shouting out.
“Ah—my apologies! I must have miscalculated my strike! Young Master Bai, look out!”
But his eyes—narrow, cold, and calculating—revealed his true intent.
To anyone with experience, the sabotage was obvious.
He had done it intentionally.
Bai Lumei clenched her teeth, her chest burning with indignation.
(That old snake...!) Around Bai Zihan, the Qi of several Bai Clan members flared as rage simmered beneath their anxiety.
But in the chaos of war, an Elder could easily mask malice as a simple mistake.
The Grade-9 Demonic Beast—a colossal Armored Rhinoceros—thundered forward like a moving mountain, its killing intent crushing everything in its path.
The beast was furious after being provoked and then released by the Zhao Elder.
Its heavy footsteps caused the ground to vibrate violently.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
Dozens of smaller beasts were trampled as it charged toward Bai Zihan.
Bai Lumei’s voice was high-pitched and desperate.
“Bai Zihan!! Get out of the way!!”
But Bai Zihan didn't react.
Or perhaps—
He simply didn't feel the need to move.
The young heir slowly raised his gaze, his sword tilting slightly as he calmly observed the Grade-9 monster rushing toward him.
From a distance, the Zhao Elder wore a subtle smirk.
(Go ahead, brat. Perish on the battlefield. No one can blame me!)
In fact, if he succeeded, he would likely receive a massive bounty from both his own clan and the Li Clan.
After all, Bai Zihan had become a significant obstacle to their interests.
The monstrous rhinoceros bellowed, dark Qi erupting from its hide as it lunged directly at the youth.
“Hmph. I was starting to get bored anyway.”
Bai Zihan felt neither fear nor anger. Instead, he viewed this as a perfect chance to test his strength against a Grade-9 beast and gauge their true power.
The armored beast tore through the battlefield, each stride a thunderous tremor.
Its horn shimmered with obsidian Qi, sharp enough to pierce Spirit Severing experts like they were made of parchment.
It struck.
BOOOOM!!
A mountain of destruction descended, but Bai Zihan was gone.
A split second before impact, he shifted his body just a hair’s breadth to the side, letting the horn whistle through the space where he had just been.
The sheer wind pressure from the charge carved a trench into the earth behind him.
The rhinoceros skidded, dirt exploding under its hooves as it spun around with a maddened roar.
Bai Zihan tightened his grip on his silver blade.
“Quite tough!”
The Grade-9 beast charged once more, lowering its head.
This time, Bai Zihan met the charge head-on.
A silver streak cut the air.
SLAASH!!
A geyser of blood erupted as his blade tore across the beast’s flank. The cut was deep enough to expose bone, yet...
“It’s still standing?”
Despite a wound that would have sliced a Grade-8 beast in half, the rhinoceros only became more feral. Black Qi swirled around its frame, and its muscles hardened like iron as it roared toward the heavens.
The Zhao Elder’s smirk widened.
Bai Zihan raised his sword slightly, his gaze sharpening.
“Fine. Let’s see how you handle this!”
The rhinoceros charged for the third time, its aura exploding in a wave of suffocating pressure.
Bai Zihan didn't retreat.
He stepped into the beast's space.
His Sword Intent exploded, sharp enough to sever the very clouds.
Then, Bai Zihan struck.
A single, elegant arc of silver light.
SZZZZZT—
The blade sliced through the rhinoceros’s neck as if it were cutting through fine silk.
BOOM!
The massive head hit the ground a moment later.
The giant body remained standing for a heartbeat—shuddering—before toppling over like a collapsing peak.
A wave of silence washed over the battlefield.
Bai Lumei stood there, her mouth agape.
The juniors from all three clans stared in stunned silence.
“That... was a Grade-9...”
“And he killed it... in just two moves...”
“No... that last one wasn't even a real struggle.”
Bai Zihan flicked the blood from his sword, his expression entirely tranquil.
“Grade-9s are a bit more durable than I expected.”
He continued walking forward as if the encounter had been trivial.
“But they are still far too fragile.”