Chapter 96: Chapter 89: Spiritual Fruit
Within the aperture of the Book of Spirituality.
Rao Mingxian sighed softly and opened his eyes.
The Book of Spirituality was too difficult, throwing oneself into a flesh and blood swamp without saying a word, just calling it a test.
Utterly clueless, like a headless fly bumping around.
Despite racking his brains, he couldn’t even pass the first layer of the test.
But...
Rao Mingxian looked at his body and manipulated Qi into his hands.
The branches of purple lines on his hands were no longer there, instead, there were denser net-like lines.
By fluke, he had comprehended something new, resulting in a rapid surge in power, even stimulating the pill power accumulated over the years.
Officially breaking through the early period of Blood Transport, advancing to the middle period of Blood Transport.
"Now, even if I encounter Zhou Leng and the Molten Hammer, I can hold my own."
Rao Mingxian heard discussions not far away, looked in that direction while walking.
Within the aperture, the crowd grew, a rough glance showed three to four thousand people.
Outside the aperture, tens of thousands of demons approached mightily.
Within the demon army, hundreds of Inheritance Spiritual Lights shone brightly, their aura sky-high.
Other races hurriedly retreated, even within the aperture, not daring to approach.
Leading them was a Candleholder Demon, white skin with blue blood, crowned, wearing magnificent Demon Armor, and both arms covered with dense flesh candles.
He and many demons behind him had Inheritance Spiritual Light attached.
On him, three colors of Spiritual Light were complete.
The demons within the aperture either bowed or kneeled on the ground.
"Respected Star of Dim Light, Your Highness."
The Star of Dim Light merely nodded lightly, proceeded nonchalantly to the edge of the aperture, surveying the crowd.
No one dared to meet his gaze.
The Star of Dim Light looked towards the three Long-horned Demons who were fleeing from here.
"Zhuhuo Jiu, dead here?"
"Yes, died at the hands of a human, a very powerful human."
"Is he among them?"
The three tall demons holding Steel Forks surveyed the crowd and eventually shook their heads one by one.
"Not here."
"Bring Zhuhuo Jiu’s corpse."
"Yes."
The body of the Candleholder, whose head was pulled off by Zhou Leng, was brought before the Star of Dim Light.
The Star of Dim Light’s eyes glowed repeatedly, the flesh candle flames on his arms blazed fiercely.
"You followed me for eight years, slowly climbed from over five thousand Zhuhuo to nine."
"You originally had an excellent spiritual gift, waiting for me to advance to the middle rank, destined to grant you a new candle, but..."
The Star of Dim Light looked up at the sky, after a moment, took out a stained blood crystal bottle from the Magic Spirit Bag.
He opened the bottle and poured the stained blood onto the corpse.
A leech in the blood jumped out and burrowed into the corpse.
The three demons shuddered, pleading in their eyes.
The Star of Dim Light ignored them.
Before long, the leech emerged from the severed neck, about a foot long, two fingers thick, its body glimmering with blood light.
"You, open your mouth." The Star of Dim Light looked at the tallest of the three demons.
"Your Highness..."
The Star of Dim Light frowned slightly, his eyes glowed and the demon’s body suddenly rose into the air, mouth open, legs kicking erratically.
"Find him, kill him." The Star of Dim Light raised a finger.
The Leech Demon arched and sprang, turning into a blood light, drilling into the demon’s mouth.
The demon let out muffled cries, blood splattered everywhere, soon after, he slowly fell to the ground.
Both of his eyeballs popped and flew, landing on the ground and rolling far away.
Two blood-red fleshy tongues squeezed out of the eye sockets, more than a foot long, floating like seaweed.
The Leech Demon glanced around, chose a direction, and walked forward.
"You, follow him and avenge Zhuhuo Jiu."
"Understood!"
Suddenly, a thousand-strong demon squad followed the Leech Demon, charging mightily into the distance.
The Star of Dim Light stood outside the aperture, looking at the thousands of humans, dwarves, demon spirit masters, or giants inside.
"I, the Star of Dim Light from the Endless City, who dares to fight me?" The candlelit eyes of the Star of Dim Light burned fiercely, speaking fluent Chinese.
He came here originally for a transaction, but the Celestial Ladder descended, sealing the space and ruining his business, likely to be punished by his father upon return, making it difficult for him to go out again.
Subsequently, his troops suffered heavy losses, even Zhuhuo Jiu was killed.
He wanted to burn everything.
No one dared to meet his gaze, no one dared to step forward.
"Hmph." The Star of Dim Light stepped into the aperture, proceeding to the Book of Spirituality, sat down to contemplate.
Rao Mingxian saw everything, thought for a moment, gathered some people intending to go to the Land of Extreme Cold, and formed a hundred-strong team to leave.
Several kilometers away from the Land of Extreme Cold.
Thirty-some students arranged in multiple layers, facing outward, battled demons.
On the grass they surrounded, over a dozen wounded students were bandaging, stopping bleeding, healing each other.
Xu Qingjin’s left leg was broken, gritting his teeth, sitting sideways on the ground, helping a female classmate whose ear and side had been torn off with bandaging.
Outside, many demons roared.
Ruda, formerly the first, now second, Ji Changnian, and several Martial Arts Academy experts were within the inner circle team, each capable of defeating any one demon in a one-on-one battle.
Yet, the demons were too many, they gradually faltered.
A Humpbacked Horse Demon lashed out with eight flesh whips like long tongues, Ji Changnian hurriedly dodged, but was a step too slow.
His left shoulder was struck by a flesh whip.
"Hiss..." Ji Changnian stepped back half a step, not daring to look down, only scanning with the corner of his eye.
A blood hole pierced on his left shoulder by the flesh whip.
Ji Changnian gritted his teeth and continued fighting.
Suddenly, a demon from the side unexpectedly attacked, stabbing with a Bone Fork.
Thud...
The bone fork pierced through Ji Changnian’s calf, and he let out a cry, stepping back.
He cursed but gritted his teeth and held his ground, refusing to retreat, still standing firm.
Due to excessive blood loss, his face turned deathly pale.
Looking around, he saw that most people were injured, and there were still many Demons.
Suddenly, a classmate was knocked to the ground by a Demon, vomiting blood, clawing at the grass, unable to stand up again.
"It’s over." Ji Changnian’s fighting spirit collapsed.
A claw came towards him; he instinctively raised his hand to shield his face.
With a tearing sound, pain shot through his arm.
Ji Changnian fell to the ground, looking at the approaching Demon, letting out a tragic smile.
In the next instant, his eyes widened.
He saw a person, enveloped in white light, leap high into the air, and descending, stomped on the Demon’s head.
Bang!
With just one kick, the Demon’s head exploded, blood splattered, drenching Ji Changnian’s face, blurring his vision.
The world before him was blood-red.
Ji Changnian gazed at the person, akin to a god of slaughter descending, charging into the group of Demons, fists and palms striking, none a match.
"Zhou Leng..." Ji Changnian recognized the person he had seen outside the Copper Man Array, also the recent talk of the class.
Beside Zhou Leng, a short-haired dwarf barely reaching his chest wielded a Great Hammer as tall as himself, and the fierce Demons dared not approach.
"Zhou Leng!" Xu Qingjin softly shouted from behind, her eyes shining.
Zhou Leng remained silent, stepping with the Eight Trigrams, his body moving like flowing water.
His Sea Suppressing True Qi was terrifyingly powerful.
Landed on a Demon’s chest, caving it in.
Struck the heart, and the heart burst.
Hit the back, the spine snapped.
A Demon unfortunate enough to be struck in the abdomen had its entire lower back blown out, viscera pouring forth.
Even the leader of the Demons, enveloped in white Spiritual Light, was slain on the spot.
Every strike carried nearly the full tenfold Palm Power, with nothing held back.
One palm per demon, leaving them dead or crippled.
Before long, a heap of Demons lay around Zhou Leng, dead or incapacitated, unable to continue fighting.
The dwarf with the Molten Hammer held his weapon, executing the demons one by one, each hammer blow shattering a skull.
The Demons were scared out of their wits, with some cowardly ones turning to flee.
Only a few remained to fight to the death, killed by Zhou Leng and the others in combined effort.
With the battle over, the others collapsed to the ground.
"Master, thank you for saving my life, which Martial Arts Academy are you from?" someone asked loudly.
"He’s Zhou Leng, from Ruda’s," Xu Qingjin said.
Ji Changnian’s eyes still flickered, with Zhou Leng’s figure seemingly still fighting in his pupils.
Ji Changnian’s mind kept replaying Zhou Leng’s palm techniques.
In his heart, he kept repeating three words.
"I don’t believe..."
Zhou Leng scanned the crowd, then walked over to Xu Qingjin.
"How is it?" Zhou Leng asked, looking at the bandage on Xu Qingjin’s leg.
"It’s just a broken leg; I’ll be fine after a few days of rest."
"I came when I saw your message."
"I know." Xu Qingjin smiled softly, sitting tilted on the ground, looking up into Zhou Leng’s eyes.
"Take some medicine first, open your mouth."
Xu Qingjin parted her pale lips, her small mouth trembling slightly.
Zhou Leng fed her a Blood Replenishing Pill, Qi Nourishing Pills, and a Ten-Perfection Pill, then moved behind her.
Zhou Leng’s palm pressed against Xu Qingjin’s heart from the back, channeling True Qi.
"Qi Manipulation."
Xu Qingjin closed her eyes.
The warm True Qi circulated throughout Xu Qingjin, cleansing meridians and veins, reconnecting blood vessels at the broken leg, sealing the wound.
The rest glanced at Xu Qingjin and Zhou Leng, then focused on healing themselves.
The dwarf with the Molten Hammer tossed a second Stone of Spiritual Light in his hand, looking over at Zhou Leng and Xu Qingjin.
After healing Xu Qingjin, Zhou Leng asked, "How about you guys? I suggest we move quickly; otherwise, more Demons will be attracted."
"I also agree to leave quickly. We’re not far from the Land of Extreme Cold, which is our best option," someone said.
"But there are too many injured..." Ji Changnian said, looking down at his leg pierced by a fork.
Xu Qingjin sat in Zhou Leng’s shadow, looking up at him, her eyes sparkling.
Zhou Leng said, "There’s only one way. Those uninjured should carry or piggyback the injured and move quickly."
Saying this, Zhou Leng bent down, placing one hand on Xu Qingjin’s back and the other under her legs, lifting her princess-style in front of him.
"Mm..." Xu Qingjin murmured, her face flushed red, turning slightly, too shy to make eye contact.
"Let’s go, no time to waste!" the dwarf threw the Stone of Spiritual Light onto Xu Qingjin, hung the hammer behind his back, and reached out to lift Ji Changnian in a princess carry as well.
Ji Changnian tilted his head, full of questions, opening his mouth, then shutting it.
The rest didn’t dare waste time, carrying or piggybacking the wounded, following Zhou Leng, moving quickly.
Zhou Leng said, "We might encounter more enemies ahead, so stay prepared and close to me."
Zhou Leng kept his eyes forward, constantly observing in all directions.
Xu Qingjin turned her head outward, her side gaze passing through her catfish-whiskered hair, frequently glancing at Zhou Leng.
"This Spiritual Light..." Xu Qingjin asked.
"You keep it," Zhou Leng said, not having the mind to think about it.
"Okay." Xu Qingjin’s little heart happily beat.
The group moved quickly for half an hour, approaching a sparse forest ahead.
A faint sight of an ice mountain seven to eight meters tall stood upright.
A white shimmering aperture surrounded the ice mountain, with beings of all races within it.
Outside the aperture, squads of Demons patrolled in all directions.
"How do we get in?" someone asked anxiously.
Zhou Leng said, "Molten Hammer, give me your Spiritual Light. I’ll distract them, and you all find a chance to rush in and then cover me."