Chapter 1 Snow Mountain

On the summit of the snow mountain, the extreme cold of the high altitude mingled with the intense heat of the volcano, forming clouds. In the faint light obscured by the ashen-grey clouds, two points of purple-green light flickered above the fortress walls.

Su Zhou gazed into the distance, calmly drawing his great bow. Even a semi-spiritual bow of over ten *shi* (approximately 120 kg) felt like a rubber band in his hands. His feet were like steel bars, sinking an inch deep into the solid rock at the top of the wall. Whether it was his arms or his body, he was as steady as a marble statue.

More important than this, however, was the power of the 'Gang She' (Forceful Shooting) technique imbued in the arrow. Flame-like spiritual light converged, and finally, after layers of strengthening, solidified on the arrow as a burning triangle.

And the data that flashed madly through his mind like lightning.

--Wind speed: 24.37 meters per second.

--Target distance: 472.62 meters.

--Target speed calculation, added to the estimated data, arrow trajectory prediction, gravity, spiritual power stabilization...

Calculation complete.

Everything was clear in his mind.

Then, before the crimson demon general could take another step forward, he decisively released the arrow!

Boom!

Like a volcanic eruption, everyone standing near Su Zhou felt a sudden burst of air. The sparks of spiritual power fragments, in the instant they exploded, transformed into shockwave-like tremors.

The air was torn apart by thunder, and the bright cyan-purple arrowhead flashed past like a meteor, carrying a screeching sound, piercing through the strong wind, and smashing straight towards the head of the crimson giant!

At this moment, the Crimson Earth Demon General once again raised his saber – this time with both hands.

'Xin Yan Tong Ming' (Clear Eyesight), a special ability gained by second-level Postnatal martial artists, could see through ghosts and perceive the form of inner strength with the naked eye. Advancing to the Grandmaster realm would strengthen the soul, enhancing reaction speed and allowing the martial artist to sense various rapid attacks and see flying arrows!

But being able to see and sense did not necessarily mean being able to dodge.

Faced with the lightning-like arrow, he could only do one thing.

Block it!

"Hahaha!"

Raising his purple-gold thick-backed saber, the Crimson Earth roared as he charged, his entire body erupting in a scarlet blood aura. In an instant, the surrounding air and earth seemed to be dyed red, becoming dry and cracked due to the high temperature. He gathered all the Yang Flame inner force in his body, and chopped down with all his might towards the brightest point he could see with his 'mind's eye'!

Then, the saber broke.

If one had extraordinary dynamic vision, they would have clearly seen: Under the impact of the incoming arrow, the purple-cyan spiritual power wrapped around it and the scarlet spiritual power were immediately differentiated - layers of triangular, sturdy spiritual structures rotated and cut, easily breaking through the defense of the blood-red spiritual power.

It strengthened the metal arrowhead, causing it to explode the moment it shattered the edge of the blade and embedded itself in the saber.

Thus, accompanied by a clear metallic clang, the saber split in two, and the enormous impact directly blasted the tall Crimson Earth Demon General into the air. Most of the shattered metal fragments shot into his armor like shrapnel, causing blue blood to scatter.

Bang, the Crimson Earth Demon General flew up and landed. Although he immediately stood up again, at this moment, the demon army that had been charging forward hesitated and stopped, casting their gazes upon their general's disheveled figure, shattered armor, and broken saber.

"Li... Listen to my command!!"

Although standing tall, the Divine Wood bloodline rapidly repaired the epidermis that had been injured by the exploding metal fragments. With some roots tearing his wrists and arms, the Crimson Earth Demon General might have had many bad habits, but he was decisive in tactical decisions. He turned around and hurried towards the small forest on the snow mountain. "The entire army retreats! They have a fourth Grandmaster – or even a Grandmaster who has returned to their youth!"

"Aren't you leaving? Waiting to be targets?!"

--Four Gang She (Forceful Shooting) arrows at full power! Even Wei Lie couldn't do that. He originally thought he could wait for that young Grandmaster to exhaust himself and take advantage of the situation to attack the city, but now it seems he still has energy... If this isn't a Grandmaster, what is it? Even if he isn't, he's not far off!

Boom! Although the demon soldiers were fierce and terrifying, they were equally decisive in retreating. In an instant, the seventy-nine demon soldiers and generals who had been pressing forward with imposing momentum turned around and ran, extremely skilled, but also absurd.

"Damn it!"

While leading the retreat, the Crimson Earth was still thinking – when did this suddenly appearing Grandmaster arrive?! The inside line didn't have any news at all. He thought he could seize the great achievement before those two guys, 'Hunter' and 'Beastmaster', with the help of the inside informant... Now it's hanging by a thread!

But he heard the great wind again! The whistling sound of the wind!

He couldn't help but turn his head, and the 'eyes' behind the Crimson Earth's helmet widened instantly!

Because that monster who shot the arrow earlier was now gliding rapidly through the air like an eagle, alone, carrying a spear, almost flying towards his group of demons!

And even more terrifying was that behind him, the other three Grandmasters, a dozen experts, and dozens of Postnatal martial artists were also rapidly charging forward, using their light footwork, like tigers and wolves!

Four arrows, two hits, offense and defense reversed!

"Demon army, don't run!"

Su Zhou's mind was as calm as a machine at this moment, but a raging fire was also burning in his chest – although strange and bizarre, the education he had received since childhood was to protect other ordinary people, to take care of those innocent civilians... Not only as a member of the patrol family, but as a member of the 'Transcendent' world!

Ever since he could casually crush a soda can into thin aluminum paper and tear it in half, and also discovered that the flesh and blood of humans, especially his parents, friends, and that weak, sickly playmate, was not even half as tough as that thing, even more fragile, he had been carefully restraining his power, trying as much as possible not to use the power that was enough to crush bones on his close compatriots.

"I can't say any great principles... Anyway, I get angry when I see you guys abusing ordinary people! I don't care what other Transcendants think, you monsters, I'll tear you apart one by one!"

--How you treat others, I'll treat you a hundred times over! Anyway, it's just that set of the strong preying on the weak, right – then I'll be the 'stronger' one who can 'prey' on you!

--I'm going to go against you self-righteous, stinky idiots!

Supported by such simple and crude ideas and anger, Su Zhou took five steps, each step spanning a hundred meters, each step taking less than three seconds.

With the blessing of the light footwork 'Thousand Mile Walk', his powerful body, and 'Wind Assistance', Su Zhou's speed was comparable to a car driving on the highway. He immediately caught up with the last demon soldier in the demon army, then stepped down heavily from above!

Puchi, pacha, two rapid bursts sounded. This demon soldier's entire head was first stepped into his chest, then crushed by the force of Su Zhou's re-leap. His ribs shattered instantly, and even spinal fragments sprayed out from his back. His entire body became concave, and he lost his breath on the spot, rolling aside to await regeneration.

Su Zhou didn't care much about those ordinary demon soldiers. His target was the Crimson Earth Demon General. At most, he would wave the iron-pole spear in his hand, picking up those blind beasts who dared to block his path, sending them flying into the air, letting the righteous army of hundreds who followed behind to kill – with three Grandmasters serving as vanguards, there was no chance of the demon army without a demon general resisting.

Although these guys had the power of immortality, so what? As long as they were still in human form, wouldn't they lose their combat power if they were beaten beyond recognition? Just like Yala said, regenerative power might still be useful in an evenly matched battle, but in the face of force that could easily kill it once, regeneration was just suffering.

It wasn't that there were no demon soldiers who actively turned back to attack – two tall demon soldiers seemed to have a premonition that something was wrong, so they turned around together, raising their hammers and awls, wanting to fight Su Zhou to the death.

But without reaching the Grandmaster realm, ordinary awakened people were no match for Su Zhou. One must know that even a three-ton awakened-level alien beast like the Wood Centipede had to surrender before the awakened Su Zhou, let alone after he awakened?

Now, Su Zhou swept his spear horizontally with all his might, directly knocking the hammer-wielding demon soldier into a 'bow' shape. Then, he lifted his arm, clamped and twisted, and clamped the long awl stabbed by another demon soldier under his armpit, pulling the whole person closer.

"In this world, because of inner Qi protecting the body, ordinary knives, swords, and arrows are extremely difficult to inflict upon martial artists, so thick-backed sabers, blunt weapons, and armor-piercing long awls are more commonly used?"

Such thoughts flashed through Su Zhou's mind, then his five fingers reached out and pressed on the horrified demon soldier's face.

Peng cha! This was the sound of a spine being twisted. Gouging out the eye sockets and pulling out the demon soldier's head along with the immortal root, then directly crushing the facial bones, Su Zhou's eyes emitted a purple-green light. He laughed wildly, and even the demon soldiers who had killed countless people were trembling with fear at this ferocious aura, daring not to take advantage of his pause to launch a siege.

"Demon! Even in our Heavenly Army, there are few such demons!"

What the Crimson Earth Demon General saw when he looked back was such a ferocious scene – the demon army naturally didn't call themselves the demon army, they called themselves the immortal heavenly soldiers of the Eternal Ning Heavenly Palace – but no matter how much they bragged, no matter how ferocious they were to the weak on ordinary days, they would still feel palpitations when they encountered a truly terrifying monster.

But the Crimson Earth Demon General also knew that if they didn't kill this damned fourth Grandmaster, or even a Grandmaster, they were probably going to stage a rout!

Without any loud shouts, without any warning, the Crimson Earth Demon General's inner Qi exploded, causing his entire body to not only stop but even use his back as a shield, slamming himself towards Su Zhou!

Although the demon general's sudden counterattack was indeed unexpected, and Su Zhou didn't have time to raise his spear to stab, he could only raise his left hand and push forward. But how great was his strength? Half of his spiritual power was concentrated on his fingertips. If the demon general didn't have any tricks up his sleeve, the moment his left hand pushed and touched the other party's armor, he could turn his palm into a claw, grab down in one claw, and in the instant he broke the armor, he could directly tear off his entire spine!

That's what he thought, and that's what he did. But when Su Zhou really turned his palm into a claw, broke the armor, and grabbed into the Crimson Earth Demon General's body, he didn't grasp any fleshy feeling.

Instead, he grabbed a mass of loose, fluffy wooden roots!

"Crap, most demon soldiers are humanoid, but the hand that this demon general showed at the beginning was a wooden root. This huge armor may not contain a human body either!"

Without a human body, there was naturally no vital point of a human. Cursing inwardly, Su Zhou felt layers of tree roots tightly entangling his left hand, pulling him towards the back of the Crimson Earth Demon General – in the final analysis, he only weighed a little over one hundred and twenty kilograms, and when he was leaping with light footwork, he wasn't prepared to stand still and exert force to resist. This moment of miscalculation resulted in the complete loss of the initiative!

But Su Zhou wasn't flustered. The other party's spiritual power had just exploded rapidly when retreating, and he was probably still gathering Qi. Without the blessing of spiritual power, even a monster couldn't break through his perfect body defense blessed by 'Sacred Geometry' and 'Condensing Qi in the Body'.

But the Crimson Earth Demon General's attack was truly unexpected: the back of the demon general's helmet suddenly popped open, and what appeared in front of Su Zhou wasn't the back of his head or tree roots, but a bizarre flower, like a human face, surrounded by clusters of green roots!

"Puchi!"

The petals pulsed, and a rapid spitting sound rang out. Instantly, scarlet, poisonous pollen enveloped Su Zhou's face!