Although Zhang Xiaohu's comeback story inspired many, those who participated in the trial in the Demon Spirit Realm didn't recognize him as much as people outside.
They felt that Zhang Xiaohu was just lucky. After all, a cultivator with lower-tier aptitude at the early Qi Refining stage only killed first-tier demonic beasts. If they had been more ruthless in the secret realm, Zhang Xiaohu would never have secured the tenth spot.
However, many only started to regret and envy after the trial ended and they saw others receiving rewards from Chu Yang. There was no medicine for regret in this world. Even if they had been ruthless, they might not have been as ruthless as Zhang Xiaohu.
While searching for the corpses of Lihuo Palace disciples, Zhang Xiaohu's eyes suddenly flashed with sharp light. He quickly rolled forward, dodging a flying knife that came from the side.
"Who's there?"
Three masked figures leaped out. They had discussed this for a long time. To commit such a misdeed without being identified, they had covered their faces.
"Heh heh! Hand over all the spirit stones and tokens on you!"
"If you hand them over, nothing will happen. Otherwise, if you lose a limb or two later, don't blame us for being merciless!"
"If you don't want to lose your legs like your useless father, then listen obediently!"
The three of them formed a pincer formation, launching verbal attacks at Zhang Xiaohu.
However, Zhang Xiaohu's gaze was immediately filled with killing intent. He hated it most when people brought up his father.
His father was a very sensitive person. The reason he had suicidal thoughts was due to many rumors saying he had become a useless wretch.
But Zhang Xiaohu would not allow it. In this world, no one could speak of his father like that!
Just as he tirelessly killed demonic beasts in the Demon Spirit Realm, a dense killing intent erupted from him, and red flames circulated around his body.
*Flowing Fire Three Thousand Revolutions*, this was a high-grade Xuan-tier cultivation technique, on the same level as Wang Teng and Meng Zibin's techniques.
The three were startled by Zhang Xiaohu's sudden killing intent, but they immediately remembered that this fellow was only at the late Qi Refining stage. What was there to fear?
"Take him down! He's not at the Foundation Establishment stage!"
The three exchanged glances, then shouted to bolster their courage before charging at Zhang Xiaohu.
Zhang Xiaohu's expression was cold, and the scorching flames covered his body. The terrifying high temperature caused the surrounding ground to turn black!
"Unforgivable! Ah!!!"
Violent flames erupted from his body. Because his bloodline had been altered by the Profound Yang Sparrow, faint sparrow cries emanated from him.
A large amount of flowing fire instantly raged outwards!
"Damn it! We might have misjudged!"
One of the masked men exclaimed. He held a gust of wind in his hand and hurled it towards Zhang Xiaohu.
However, the raging flames directly dispersed the wind, startling him greatly!
A fist engulfed in flames shot towards his face. Unable to dodge in time, he felt a sharp pain, and his mind went blank.
The other two masked men were also stunned. After all, they were not seasoned fighters and could not seize the opportunity for a group attack.
And when a three-on-one situation turned into a two-on-one, it meant the tide had turned.
A few minutes later, the violent flames on Zhang Xiaohu's body subsided.
The three men in front of him were bruised and swollen, with many burn marks from the flames on their bodies.
Although they had been wearing masks, their clothes were almost completely burned off.
Zhang Xiaohu panted, the violent look in his eyes fading. He had been a bit agitated upon hearing them insult his father and almost lost control.
The three men trembled as they looked at Zhang Xiaohu approaching them.
The reason they had chosen Zhang Xiaohu was because they thought he was a pushover, someone they could easily bully.
But they hadn't expected that even though Zhang Xiaohu's aptitude was low, his cultivation technique was formidable.
Most importantly, they weren't ruthless enough.
If they had been willing to risk injury to clash with Zhang Xiaohu, they might still have had a chance to take him down.
Alas, there were no "ifs." The roles of hunter and prey had now reversed.
"Don't come any closer!"
The three huddled together, trembling.
But Zhang Xiaohu had no pity for them. His expression was cold as he squatted down and said, "Hand over all your spirit stones and tokens, or I'll break your limbs!"
This sentence sounded familiar. It was exactly how they had threatened Zhang Xiaohu just minutes ago.
"Take it, take it! Take it all!"
"Just don't hurt us! We can talk this out! We can talk this out!"
"Right, right, we just wanted to scare you, we didn't really want to rob you!"
"..."
Finally, he kicked each of them, delivering a particularly heavy kick to the one who insulted his father.
Zhang Xiaohu plundered everything from these three. Before this, Zhang Xiaohu would not have considered robbery. This could be considered a blessing in disguise.
After robbing these three and taking their tokens, he should have enough tokens.
With a thrilled heart, he stepped into the barrier, entering the inner sect world of Lihuo Palace.
...
Besides Zhang Xiaohu, others also found methods to enter the barrier one after another.
Searching for tokens alone was very slow, so the best way to increase efficiency was to rob others.
Meng Zibin and Chen Xiaohan were the first to start robbing. They had remarkably similar opinions. For them, as long as they didn't encounter people from their small group, it was basically a free-for-all!
"Let's go, I heard Daoist Bai has already entered. We can't fall behind him!"
Chen Xiaohan held Meng Zibin's arm and said with a charming smile, "Okay!"
She was very happy because, according to the information they had obtained, Li Qingyun had not yet entered the inner sect.
The two of them entered with a pile of inner sect disciple tokens in their hands.
Behind them lay a bloodied cultivator, his shoulder pierced with a hole by a halberd.
His name was Hu Lang. He ranked 12th in the trial in the Demon Spirit Realm, just two spots away from the top ten. His combat strength was definitely greater than Zhang Xiaohu's, he just lacked a bit of luck.
He had intended to soar in this Lihuo Palace ruin, but he encountered Meng Zibin and Chen Xiaohan. He had no power to resist and was instantly killed by that terrifying halberd.
"Damn it! These damned geniuses! They're already so strong, yet they still rob us of our things!"
"There are still two years left! Meng Zibin! You wait for me, I will definitely get revenge!"
Hu Lang clutched his bleeding shoulder and limped away.
What he didn't notice was that a few purple蛊 worms were entering his body through his bleeding wound, parasitizing his meridians.