Chapter 129: The Frost Demon

Although Zhou Shitong had an ironclad head and formidable strength, Qingxi was not envious in the slightest.

At that moment, while most of the prodigies were watching the battle, Qingxi was rapidly hunting down the remaining Innate Realm fiends, the smile on his face growing increasingly unrestrained.

There were more than five hundred fiends in total attacking the Scarlet Flame Sect, all of them at least Innate Realm experts. Among them was even the Frost Fiend, a deputy commander at the peak of the Astral Force Realm.

With such a lineup, they should have been powerful enough to crush the combined forces of the four star-rated powers of the Eastern Domain.

What the Frost Fiend had never expected, however, was that nearly every prodigy on the Rising Star Ranking had arrived.

There were no weaklings on the Rising Star Ranking.

Even Ji Mingshan and Bai Ruyu, who occupied the lowest positions, could hold off five fiends of the same rank.

As for super prodigies like Laughing Without Sound, who ranked among the top ten, they could slay more than a dozen Innate Realm fiends with a single sword strike.

By now, the total number of fiends in the Scarlet Flame Mountains had been reduced by more than half.

Moreover, after seeing the Frost Fiend being held back by Zhou Shitong, the remaining fiends had begun to retreat.

As a result, many of the Rising Star prodigies chose to stop and watch the battle.

The Little Spear King, Zhou Shitong, ranked first on the Rising Star Ranking. He was only twenty-seven years old, yet he had already reached the Half-Step Spirit Astral Realm. He was truly an invincible prodigy rarely seen in a thousand years.

He was the target everyone on the Rising Star Ranking aspired to surpass.

The people of the Evil Moon Sect in particular wished they could set up an image-recording formation to capture every one of Zhou Shitong’s movements in battle, so they could return and analyze how to counter him.

Only Qingxi continued to hunt down the fiends with a foolish grin on his face, while the stockpile in his system space grew larger and larger.

After chasing one for several hundred meters, he shot an Innate Realm fiend in the late stage through the head. He then walked over, preparing to store the corpse in his system space.

Suddenly, Qingxi noticed a badly wounded young man lying on the ground.

“Huh? It’s you!”

The man lying there was no stranger. In fact, he had once fought Qingxi.

He was Li Xingyao, one of the Scarlet Flame Sect’s ten foremost inner disciples. After being sent flying by a single strike from the Vajra Ape, Big Yellow, in the Land of Guluo, he had not died.

After returning to the sect, he had reflected painfully on his failure and realized that his strength was insufficient. With his master’s help, he had begun converting all his true qi.

Before he could complete the process, however, the Scarlet Flame Sect suddenly suffered a catastrophe, forcing him to leave seclusion and fight the enemy.

But the Qi Refinement Realm was still the Qi Refinement Realm. Even when facing the weakest extraterrestrial fiends, Li Xingyao had been gravely injured by a single move and left lying on the ground questioning his entire life.

Now, after seeing Qingxi kill an Innate Realm fiend with one arrow, he trembled from head to toe in shock, as though he had witnessed the most terrifying thing in the world.

“So it’s you.”

Qingxi scanned Li Xingyao and discovered that his injuries were severe but not fatal.

After thinking it over, Qingxi placed beside him a century-old spirit herb specially meant for healing injuries, then continued hunting the extraterrestrial fiends.

To Qingxi now, century-old spirit herbs were no different from ordinary cabbages.

Li Xingyao was a spirit-grade prodigy who would one day become a pillar in the fight against the fiends. It would be a pity for him to die here.

Li Xingyao stared at the fragrant spirit herb beside him and said in astonishment, “That’s a century-old Blood-Replenishing Grass…”

After sitting upright, he gazed in complicated silence toward the direction in which Qingxi had departed.

“I’ve had conflicts with him, yet he still left me a healing herb… Could someone truly be so righteous?”

The next moment, however, Li Xingyao suddenly burst into furious curses.

“Damn it, Qingxi, you thief!”

The several fiend cores that had originally been hanging from his waist had vanished without a trace.

Li Xingyao did not need to think to know that Qingxi had definitely slipped them away.

Although he had merely picked them up amid the chaos, having them taken just like that still pained him so badly that he nearly vomited blood. He immediately swallowed the century-old Blood-Replenishing Grass.

Only now did he finally understand why Qingxi had given him the herb.

Qingxi had clearly been afraid that, after taking the fiend cores, he might anger Li Xingyao to death. That was why he had left him the medicine.

The thought left Li Xingyao feeling especially bitter.

…

Several hundred meters away.

Qingxi weighed the several fiend cores in his hand before storing them in his system space.

Including the Lava Fiend, at least fifty more fiends had been added to his system space. Most of them were only equivalent to the mid-stage of the Innate Realm, but the origin essence they could provide together was still considerable.

Although it was not enough to advance his spiritual root, it was more than sufficient to raise his cultivation to the peak of the Innate Realm.

On the main battlefield in the Scarlet Flame Mountains, the four sect leaders, together with Mo Kongxiao, were holding back eight fiend deputy commanders. Meanwhile, Zhou Shitong relied on his ferocious fighting style to force the Frost Fiend steadily backward.

The Rising Star prodigies surrounding them watched as though attending a show, occasionally shouting their approval.

Qingxi stood atop a small mountain and struck an Innate Realm fiend at the peak to death with the Book of Heaven Without Words.

A wisp of smoke rose into the air and merged into the heavenly book. On its third page, the image of a gust of wind appeared.

That fiend had been skilled at controlling wind. After being killed by the Book of Heaven Without Words, this ability had been recorded within it.

Qingxi infused the heavenly book with some true qi. A powerful wind immediately arose around him, lifting him into the air and carrying him toward the distance, though its speed was not particularly fast.

To Qingxi, this supernatural ability was practically useless.

Just as he was preparing to leave the Scarlet Flame Mountains and pursue the fiends farther away, he suddenly heard cries of alarm erupt from the crowd watching the battle.

Qingxi turned his head and saw that Zhou Shitong, who had seemed utterly unshakable moments before, had been sent flying by a gigantic icy fist formed by the Frost Fiend. He smashed through a whole stretch of ancient trees before finally coming to a stop.

His fighting style was extraordinarily fierce, but it consumed an equally enormous amount of energy and was suited only for quick victories.

Against an opponent as powerful as the Frost Fiend, the disadvantage of Zhou Shitong’s lower cultivation realm soon became apparent.

After fighting until now, he had exhausted too much of his strength. At last, he was no longer a match for the Frost Fiend.

“Hahaha!”

“Zhou Shitong is finally exhausted.”

“Everyone, the time to strike has come!”

“Kill!”

The dozens of prodigies who had been watching with solemn expressions all suddenly became as excited as if they had been injected with stimulants. Their eyes shone with the peculiar gleam of hunters admiring their prey as they unleashed their most powerful techniques.

Frost, flames, sword qi, colossal waves…

Countless attacks descended upon the Frost Fiend like enraged beasts, striking him without the slightest restraint.

During his previous battle with Zhou Shitong, the Frost Fiend had been pierced by powerful spear intent, leaving numerous wounds across his body.

Now, after being struck by the combined might of dozens of prodigies, his injuries rapidly worsened. Even the earth beneath his feet began to tremble violently.

“A bunch of treacherous scoundrels!”

Qingxi finally understood.

These prodigies had not merely been watching the battle. They had long since realized that Zhou Shitong was no match for the Frost Fiend, and they had tacitly waited nearby.

The moment Zhou Shitong revealed signs of weakness, they would swarm forward and gang up on the Frost Fiend, who was likewise no longer at his peak.

That way, as long as they ultimately killed the Frost Fiend, they could all claim a share of the points on the Demon-Slaying Ranking.

They might even receive additional rewards.

After the supplementary ranking of the Demon-Slaying List appeared, the leaders of the three two-star powers had added a clarification.

If a member of the younger generation killed a sect-master-level extraterrestrial fiend without relying on assistance from a sect-master-level expert, then regardless of whether they had served as the main force or merely provided support, their name could remain permanently recorded on the Demon-Slaying Ranking.

They would also have a chance to obtain a special reward.

That was precisely why all the prodigies had gathered.

Their watching was merely an act. What they truly wanted was a share of the rewards.

“You… You infuriate me beyond words!”

Zhou Shitong’s face turned purple with rage.

He had never imagined that this group had been waiting nearby for so long—not to observe his battle, but to await the perfect opportunity to strike.

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