Chapter 106: The Fierce Youth

Qingxi watched the 200,000 source energy points vanish into thin air, his mouth twitching as he muttered, "Forget it. This breakthrough has all but emptied my reserves; where would I find the source energy to cheat again?"

After his cultivation breakthrough, his remaining total was only 60,000. While a significant amount in the past, it was negligible at his current stage.

He looked at the dragon horse, which was still fast asleep, and lifted it onto his shoulder with a sigh.

As for the Little Vajra Ape, it had consumed all thirty-five cubic meters of fire-spirit soil. Its little belly was round and taut, feeling as elastic as jelly. It, too, had fallen into a deep slumber, its snores roaring like thunder, vying with the dragon horse for dominance.

Qingxi curled his lip, hoisted both creatures onto his shoulders, and used the Earth Escape technique to return to the surface.

Carrying the horse and the monkey, he traversed thirty meters with every stride, heading toward Flame City.

However, when they arrived, they found everyone leaning against the city walls, wearing the expressions of people who had narrowly survived a catastrophe. As for the eighteen otherworldly demons, they had long since vanished without a trace.

"What the hell is going on?"

Qingxi felt a sudden jolt, followed by an inexplicable pang of heartache. Only a day had passed, and the battle was already over?

"No way, I have to ask!"

He leaped onto the city wall, startling everyone into standing up and staring at him with vigilance. Seeing that the newcomer was merely a youth, the crowd relaxed. A Xiantian-realm expert scolded, "Kid, are you trying to scare us to death?"

"Wait, it's you!"

A Qi-Refining disciple from the Red Flame Sect recognized Qingxi’s face, scrambled back two steps in terror, and roared, "Senior brothers, come quickly! The shameless disciple from the Lingyuan Sect is back!"

Qingxi cast a curious glance at the man and recognized him. This was Yuan Shi, an inner disciple of the Red Flame Sect at the twenty-sixth level of Qi Refining.

During this year’s Eastern Domain Elite Tournament, he had attempted to challenge Wang Le, a direct descendant of the Wang family, using a mid-grade spirit weapon, the Blazing Wind Spear. The moment he made his move, the spear shattered into pieces. Having later discovered that Qingxi had tampered with it, Yuan Shi had lived in its shadow ever since.

Seeing Qingxi swagger into the territory of the Red Flame Sect, he was incensed, gritting his teeth as he called for his fellow disciples to assist him.

"It’s him!"

The other Red Flame Sect disciples gathered around as well. Every one of them who had participated in the tournament felt a deep grudge; had it not been for Qingxi, their spirit weapons would not have been shattered.

"Hmph, I want to see what this so-called 'quasi-prodigy' is truly capable of!" A disciple at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining, who had already begun to convert his energy into True Qi, gripped a long saber and glared viciously at Qingxi.

Qingxi was slightly surprised. He hadn't expected to be so famous; he had only wanted to ask a question, yet he had attracted such a crowd.

"Attack! Swarm him!"

At the command of the Great Perfection disciple, over a dozen Qi-Refining disciples struck simultaneously, their momentum so fierce that even a Xiantian-stage disciple would have found it difficult to parry.

Yet, this group came fast and left even faster.

With a mere surge of his aura, Qingxi sent all dozen disciples sprawling to the ground, wailing in pain.

"Xiantian realm!"

"How is this possible!"

Everyone was stunned. The Xiantian-realm expert guarding the city stared at Qingxi in shock. His perception was sharper than that of the Qi-Refining disciples, and he could clearly feel the immense aura of a late-stage Xiantian cultivator. Terrified, he sat down hard on the ground.

Since when did the Lingyuan Sect produce such a formidable disciple?

"Who are you?"

A powerful aura, no less formidable than Qingxi’s, approached, the words laced with profound shock.

Qingxi turned to look, paused for a moment, and then couldn't help but stifle a laugh. The person approaching was the Second Elder of the Red Flame Sect, Luo Wei. However, the left side of his face was swollen; if not for the strong impression Luo Wei had left on him, Qingxi might not have recognized him.

"Second Elder, this man is Qingxi, the quasi-prodigy of the Lingyuan Sect! Take him down!" The Great Perfection disciple gritted his teeth in pain, his finger trembling as he pointed at Qingxi. In his view, Qingxi had only been at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining a short while ago. Even if he had reached the Xiantian realm, he would only be in the early stages and could not possibly be a match for the Second Elder.

"Take down your head!"

Second Elder Luo Wei slapped the disciple unconscious, then looked at Qingxi with a nervous expression, cupping his hands. "So it is the prodigy from the Lingyuan Sect. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He had heard of Qingxi’s reputation as a quasi-prodigy. Though he didn't know how he had reached the late Xiantian stage so quickly, he knew he was no match for such a talent. If he were to fight, he feared his other cheek would end up swollen as well. Thus, he decisively knocked out the babbling disciple.

"It’s nothing, really. I just wanted to ask, was this place not attacked by otherworldly demons?" Qingxi rephrased his question.

At the mention of this, Luo Wei’s mouth twitched violently. Suppressing his humiliation, he said, "There were over a dozen demons besieging Flame City, but Qiu Yingying, the prodigy from your Lingyuan Sect, appeared and killed them all."

"They're really all gone?"

Qingxi looked truly regretful. Had he known his senior sister was coming, he would have struck first. Thinking about it now, he felt a sharp pang of annoyance.

Over a dozen Xiantian-level demons, including one at the Great Perfection stage—that was tens of thousands of Five-Element source points! Not to mention the rich vitality and spatial imprints.

"A loss, a massive loss!" Qingxi felt his heart ache.

However, he reasoned that while he had missed out, he had at least obtained the "dog nose" divine ability from the soil-eating demon and over a hundred cubic meters of fire-spirit soil, so it wasn't a total loss.

With that thought, he looked at Luo Wei, his gaze lingering on the swollen cheek for a moment. He suddenly guessed the truth and couldn't stop himself from laughing.

Then, carrying the dragon horse and the Little Vajra Ape, he leaped off the city wall and vanished in the blink of an eye.

Watching Qingxi’s receding back, Luo Wei finally let out a sigh of relief. He touched his swollen face, his shock quickly replaced by fury. Yesterday, because he had complained about Qiu Yingying stealing his demons, she—having advanced to the late Xiantian stage—had beaten him black and blue. If he hadn't begged for mercy, it wouldn't have just been one side of his face that was swollen.

Thinking of it now, he felt utterly humiliated. A dignified Second Elder of the Red Flame Sect, beaten publicly by a youth from a semi-rival sect. If this got out, how could he show his face again? Luo Wei sighed inwardly.

"Elder, why did you hit me?" The disciple he had knocked out woke up, his face twisted as he clenched his fists. "Qingxi is at most in the early Xiantian stage, why fear him? Besides, Qiu Yingying isn't here."

"Get out of my sight!"

Hearing the name Qiu Yingying, Luo Wei’s suppressed anger flared up again. He kicked the disciple, sending him flying, then looked at the others with a mix of frustration and disappointment. "Look at him. He’s barely in his teens, yet he’s already at the late Xiantian stage! And look at you lot... I... ouch, my face... hiss!"

Luo Wei’s face throbbed with pain, and he gasped, quickly heading off to find a place to heal.

In his teens, and already at the late Xiantian stage?

Was that even human? The disciples stood frozen, collectively suffering a blow no one their age should have to endure. The disciple who had been kicked off the wall had just climbed back up when he heard this, and he promptly fainted from the shock.

As for the Xiantian-realm guard, he remained hidden in the corner, trembling. He decided that sometimes, having no presence at all was a blessing.