In the darkness.
Everyone waited in uneasy suspense.
No one knew whether the flood dragon would continue its attack.
Xu Yuan’s waist suddenly vibrated.
He took out his walkie-talkie and pressed the button.
“Sha—sha—”
After a burst of static—
“Fellow colleagues, please hold on. Our high-level cultivators are on their way.”
“I repeat.”
“You must hold your positions and protect the nearby civilians!”
Xu Yuan’s expression shifted. His gaze met Yang Xiaobing’s, Zhao Afei’s, and Jiang Xueyao’s.
Everyone grew excited.
—A high-level cultivator was going to appear in this city massacre?
Who would it be?
In truth,
every high-level cultivator was a treasure of humanity, the very pinnacle of civilization, an incomparably dazzling superstar.
As for these superstars, high school students like them knew them like the backs of their hands!
But the city massacre had been covered up for years.
No one knew what had really happened!
“As long as I get to see a high-level cultivator fight the flood dragon, I’ll accept failing this monthly exam.”
Zhao Afei clenched his fists and said excitedly.
“Xiaobing, what’s the situation outside now?” Jiang Xueyao couldn’t help asking as well.
“That flood dragon seems to be looking for something…” Yang Xiaobing frowned. “Why do I feel like it’s preparing to cast another spell? Wait, something is coming this way.”
The next second,
her eyes suddenly widened, and she murmured in a daze:
“A mid-stage Qi Refining demon beast… is here…”
Qi Refining had nine levels in total.
The middle stage referred to the fourth, fifth, and sixth levels.
Demonic beasts were already physically stronger than humans by nature, and this one’s Qi Refining realm was even higher—
The situation instantly became grim!
The hearts of the few of them shook, and they all involuntarily looked toward the subway entrance and exit.
One breath.
Two breaths.
A furry, enormous black body crawled down along the stairs.
It was a giant ape.
“Buy me some time,” Jiang Xueyao said in a low voice.
She retreated a few steps and hid herself among the crowd.
Xu Yuan’s expression shifted.
Although he had no idea why a test question like this would appear—
After all, against a mid-stage Qi Refining demonic beast, an ordinary examinee would have no chance of winning.
Was this a bug in the exam venue?
But since Jiang Xueyao had said so, that proved she might still have a way!
“Hey, Brother Monkey.”
Xu Yuan spread his arms and greeted it warmly, buying time in the process.
“You know me?” The giant ape stared at him with its blood-red eyes, sizing him up from head to toe.
“I know a great demon too, one of your kind. It became sworn brothers with several other great demons, and they were all called Great Sages,” Xu Yuan said.
The giant ape looked at him uncertainly, its voice like muffled thunder. “If you dare lie to me by even half a word, I’ll turn you into a meat patty.”
It walked toward Xu Yuan step by step.
Xu Yuan smiled and also walked toward the giant ape.
—He had to stand outside the crowd.
Yang Xiaobing’s spiritual power was exhausted.
Jiang Xueyao needed a little time.
If he let this demonic ape enter the crowd, then once a fight broke out, casualties would definitely be disastrous.
“Come on, tell me, who is this great demon you spoke of?”
As the giant ape asked, it raised both arms high, aiming at Xu Yuan before it. A cruel look appeared on its face.
With just one smash, the battle would be over!
It hadn’t believed Xu Yuan’s words at all!
“Afei.”
Xu Yuan suddenly shouted.
Zhao Afei gritted his teeth, formed a spell seal with both hands, and roared:
“Watch this!”
Boiling flames soared into the air and swept toward the giant ape.
—Pill fire!
When the giant ape saw the fire, it instinctively thrust both arms forward to block.
The flames scorched the fur on its arms.
But that was all.
A first-level Qi Refining cultivator had too little spiritual power, and the flames he ignited had limited might.
And the giant ape’s defensive power was simply not something ordinary demons could compare to!
“A little brat dares play with fire?”
The giant ape was full of mockery. It turned and pounced toward Zhao Afei.
Zhao Afei hurriedly slapped the storage pouch at his waist, releasing a puppet over three meters tall, forged entirely from metal, to block in front of him.
Clang—
The giant ape casually swung its long arm and sent the puppet flying directly away, smashing a hole in the wall.
—What astonishing strength!
Zhao Afei was so frightened that he scrambled backward, rolling and crawling.
The killing intent on the giant ape’s face grew even stronger. It accelerated again and pounced forward.
With just one lunge, this student would be dead!
At the critical moment—
Pfft.
A soft sound rang out.
The giant ape froze in place, trembling all over, then slowly turned its head to look back.
At some unknown point,
Xu Yuan had drawn his longsword and stabbed it straight into its chrysanthemum!
The power of the Qiongxia Sword, “Blowing Snow”—
“By stimulating spiritual power to activate this ability, your next sword strike’s speed can be increased twofold!”
—This sword was so fast that even the giant ape failed to react, and it struck its weak point directly.
The chrysanthemum was the weak point of animals!
Even if you became a demon, it was still a weak point!
“Hiss, hiss, hiss—you—sir—please stop—quick—”
The giant ape sucked in cold air and spoke to Xu Yuan.
There was even a hint of “human politeness and courtesy” in its tone.
Xu Yuan’s eyes were cold.
Not only did the enemy refuse to surrender, it even dared tell him to stop!
Was it trying to rebel against the heavens?!
He snorted coldly, gripped the sword with both hands, and forcefully, rapidly thrust it in and out.
How sharp was the Qiongxia Sword!
On top of that, there was the enhancement to strength and agility!
And Xu Yuan’s nine shallow thrusts and one deep one!
The results of battle expanded dramatically!
—So what if you’re mid-stage Qi Refining? Before my pay-to-win treasured sword, that tender weak point of yours has long since been seen through!
The giant ape could no longer endure it. It clutched its butt with both hands and jumped up, letting out an extremely vicious roar:
“I’ll eat you in one bite, brat! No one can save you!”
Surging killing intent filled the entire underground passage.
The giant ape covered its butt with one hand while clenching the other into a hammer shape, fiercely smashing it toward its own back.
Xu Yuan turned and ran.
—He ran toward the outside of the subway station.
That move just now had generated more than enough aggro.
He refused to believe the other party would let him go.
“Brat! I want you dead! Die for me!”
The giant ape roared, blood flowing from its butt, and chased after him with all its strength.
The plan succeeded!
As expected, it abandoned everyone in the subway station just to kill him.
Was Jiang Xueyao still not ready?
Xu Yuan’s thoughts flashed like lightning, and he suddenly stopped.
At this moment, he had just climbed a long stretch of stairs and turned around the corner. Originally, if he fled a bit farther upward, he could return to the surface.
But he stopped where he was, knees slightly bent, one hand pressing on the sword hilt.
The next instant,
the giant ape turned the corner and roared:
“I’m going to slaughter—”
A sword came straight at its face, stabbing into the giant ape’s mouth like a flash of lightning.
To others, Xu Yuan had clearly already run away, yet he suddenly leapt back out from the corner, kicked off the giant ape’s body with both feet, and sprang high into the air.
The giant ape instinctively reached out with both hands to grab him.
But the sword had already stabbed over!
Xu Yuan circulated his spiritual power and once again activated the sword’s divine might in an instant: “Blowing Snow.”
This sword was even more impossible to guard against than the previous one—
The Qiongxia Sword stabbed directly into the giant ape’s mouth, which was full of fangs, and erupted with a high-pitched hum.
Flying Swallow Chain, the Sword Moves the Eight Desolations!
Pfft.
It was as though eight lines of blood burst open across the giant ape’s head, forming a strange and gorgeous scarlet flower in midair.
After activating “Blowing Snow” twice in a row, Xu Yuan’s spiritual power was also completely drained.
Now,
as long as the giant ape used demonic power and unleashed a skill—
Xu Yuan absolutely would not be able to withstand it!
But in this instant, the situation changed again.
Xu Yuan released the longsword and instead took out the submachine gun slung across his back.
The muzzle pointed at the giant ape’s head.
At this range, there was no need to aim at all!
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Flames spat from the muzzle as he rapidly emptied an entire magazine.
The giant ape froze in place, its fists clenched like hammers, as if it wanted to withstand the opponent’s assault head-on and unleash a skill.
Its head was covered in blood, from wounds sliced open by exploding sword qi as well as bullet craters left by the gunfire.
Although its injuries were severe, as long as—
As long as it could unleash one Glowering Vajra Cannon Hammer—
This brat before its eyes was dead for sure!
The giant ape trembled all over and raised both arms high—
“Stop forcing it. You’re not the Tyrant. Are you really treating a headshot like it’s nothing?”
Xu Yuan said considerately. His hands quickly changed the magazine, and he pulled the trigger again.
At this moment, he was standing on the Qiongxia Sword stabbed into the giant ape’s mouth, holding the submachine gun—
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—
The barrel spat tongues of flame.
The bullets were emptied in an instant.
After all, it was a demon. Who knew whether it had some spell like resurrection?
He’d heard demons could revive.
Xu Yuan swiftly changed magazines.
Again!
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat—
Wow, Qi Refining demons could really take a beating?
Change magazine.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Why did the light in its eyes disappear? Did it stop loving me?
Change magazine.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
Thud.
The giant ape’s enormous body finally collapsed to the ground, making the entire staircase tremble several times.
Its head had already exploded into a mass of mangled flesh and blood, splattering across the floor.
Golden light flew up from the corpse, forming a string of coin phantoms.
A bumper harvest!
Xu Yuan silently drew a cross over his chest, pressed his palms together, and softly recited:
“Allah, forgive my sins.”
…Hopefully this world didn’t have animal rights activists.
It probably didn’t.
Right?