The terrifyingly sharp cutting force, merely the glimmer of spirit dance light alone, had already shaken the hearts of the four men.

If at this moment, they possessed any sense of self-awareness and fled directly, with Ling Xue’s personality, she definitely wouldn’t pursue them, let alone hunt them down!

Yet these four men instead gambled on Ling Xue’s kindness. At this moment, they exchanged glances, and each saw a trace of luck in the other’s eyes!

In their hearts, a beauty like Ling Xue surely couldn’t bring herself to kill anyone, so there was no need to fear her!

But... is that really the case?

Yes, Ling Xue might indeed refrain from personally killing them!

But could those lifeless mechanical guardians truly let them off?

Mechanical guardians have no emotions at all; what they possess are cold cruelty and predetermined programming!

The twelve mechanical guardians had already grouped into teams of three, systematically locking onto each of the four men.

These four men, while having encountered mechanical guardians before, did not see them as a true threat. The Great Tang Empire’s technological prowess was considerable, but it had rarely been used for military purposes. Thus, they considered the mechanical guardians insignificant in their power.

"Attack! Destroy these little things, and Princess Ling Xue will be ours!"

One of them shouted loudly, as if trying to encourage his companions, though it was likely also to give himself courage.

Upon hearing the man’s words, the other three didn’t respond verbally, but their actions conveyed agreement.

The four men simultaneously raised their weapons, preparing for an attack.

But just at that moment, before they could even initiate their offensive, the mechanical guardians struck first!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Arrow after arrow shot forth in rapid succession. This time, their power and precision were greatly enhanced!

The arrows seemed to have an automatic targeting capability, locking onto the four men directly, their attack trajectory unexpectedly precise and cunning!

One of them noticed something amiss and immediately activated his protective light and assumed a defensive posture. Yet the arrows targeted the weakest points of his protective shield!

One arrow failed, so two followed; two weren’t enough, so three came next!

These arrows left no room for the enemy to react — impossibly fast and unnervingly precise!

In the blink of an eye, from the moment Ling Xue released the mechanical guardians, just under two minutes had passed. These four men were now like porcupines!

While the arrows shot by the mechanical guardians were manifested from spiritual power, these spiritual power arrows didn’t simply vanish upon piercing through the bodies of their targets. Instead, they slowly injected their power into the victims’ bodies.

It could be said this method of death was among the most excruciating!

The four men, now riddled with arrows like porcupines, were utterly incapable of escape, unable even to commit suicide. From the moment the arrows struck, their movements were completely sealed by the unique energy of the arrows!

Floating for a brief moment in midair, the mechanical guardians determined that the targets posed no further threat, then reverted to their spherical forms and returned to Ling Xue’s hand.

As for Ling Xue, she was entirely unaware of the ruthlessness of the mechanical guardians she had unleashed.

These mechanical guardians were specially crafted for Ling Xue by Xiaoyao King, who had even given them a lovely name: the Twelve Guardian Knights!

According to Xiaoyao King, these mechanical guardians were meant to protect Ling Xue and would not harm lives, only imprison their targets.

Xiaoyao King instructed Ling Xue to leave immediately once her enemies were immobilized.

Ling Xue followed these instructions, as she naturally didn’t wish to waste time dealing with these people. Turning away, she left decisively!

But how could the protective treasures given to his daughter by Xiaoyao King be so simple?

In reality, the true name of these mechanical guardians was the Twelve Emissaries of Slaughter!

From their initial design, they were meant for killing.

Xiaoyao King would absolutely never allow anyone who dared offend his daughter to live!

Ling Xue left, but the agony of the four men had only begun. The energy within those arrows continued to ravage their bodies, inch by inch, piece by piece!

Their pain intensifying hundreds, thousands of times over!

And this torment lasted for a full, grueling dozen hours!

Even if someone passed by and saw them, they wouldn’t dare step forward to rescue them!

For this wasn’t the outside world; it was deep within the brutal Sacred Temple of Cloud Opening!

The cost of saving someone could very well mean sacrificing yourself!

Of course, in reality, nobody even discovered those four men!

With time pressing onward and slaughter growing rampant, the Cloud Opening Sacred Temple had devolved entirely into a feast of killing!

Perhaps, for the humans who entered this place, many didn’t truly intend to kill. Their priority was acquiring magical treasures, sparing enemies whenever possible.

But the addition of the Demon Clan rendered such ideals impossible!

The Demon Clan entered with only one mission: to kill!

Their goal was to slaughter as many of humanity’s elite as possible. As for magical treasures, these professionally trained members of the Demon Clan didn’t care about them. Frequently, they would snatch magical treasures from humans, then use them to lure other victims into traps for slaughter!

Once the killing started, stopping it was far from simple.

Later, there was no need for the Demon Clan to act anymore; the entire Cloud Opening Sacred Temple had already descended into chaos, soaked in blood and carnage!

Yet amidst this, Ye Luo seemed entirely untouched. He continued leisurely exploring the Sacred Temple’s hidden secrets.

Occasionally, he encountered cloud souls or traps, but for the most part, Ye Luo’s journey was carefree and effortless!

Until a message arrived on Ye Luo’s wristband!

Ye Luo’s wristband was not something just anyone could contact.

Within the Sacred Temple of Cloud Opening, only Yun Liancheng and Ling Xue could reach him directly!

Ling Xue was still making her way toward Ye Luo, so naturally, the contact came from Yun Liancheng.

Sitting casually atop a stone, Ye Luo had just explored another grand hall. Disappointingly, he had found nothing.

"Well, then, Yun, why haven’t you all arrived yet?"

Ye Luo had no idea what was happening elsewhere. In his mind, he assumed others were exploring at their own leisure, just like him.

But as soon as the connection was established, Yun Liancheng’s frantic voice rang out: "Your Highness, you must be cautious—everyone has gone mad, the entire Sacred Temple of Cloud Opening has gone mad!"

"What do you mean? Explain yourself!"

Ye Luo furrowed his brows, unable to grasp Yun Liancheng’s cryptic warning.

"Your Highness, for reasons unknown, everyone has descended into chaos, engaging in relentless skirmishes upon sight. I’ve managed to regroup with a few others due to sheer luck during teleportation, but we’ve faced at least a dozen assaults along the way. Everyone’s gone insane—trust is gone, it’s every man for himself!"

(The recent instability has been overwhelming; my body is truly struggling. If you can empathize, I thank you; if not, I won’t say much. I’ll simply promise to do my best to deliver five Chapters daily. Since the start, with 3 million words written, most days have seen updates of 10,000 words. I’m giving it everything I’ve got...)