Chapter 25: Kid, I’ll Let You Strike a Blow

On Fire Clear Peak, all the ocean monsters had gathered.
The forces from the Fire Moon Sect, Xuan Yang Temple, and Jade Host Sect also came together. Given the situation, it was inevitable for the three sides to unite, otherwise they would likely be wiped out one by one.

On the side of the ocean monsters, there was a powerful being in the early stage of exiting the body—Thunder Ice Crocodile. It could rival the three powerful figures from the three sects who were also in the early stage of exiting the body: Ling Huo Shangren, Xuan Gu Shangren, and Ling Ji Shangren. After all, to match the strength of such monsters, human cultivators usually needed three or more of their own to confront them.

Yet the ocean monsters had four powerful beings in the late stage of Yuan Ying, one more than the three human cultivators in that stage. If not for Qian Shun, Jia Ping, and Mu Zhen going to Fang Lao Mountain Peak, the human side would have had six such cultivators. Now, only Wan Chang, Ding Shun, and Lian Ming remained.

As for other cultivators at the Yuan Ying stage, the ocean monsters had a decisive advantage—twenty monsters at that stage were looking down on the human cultivators with smugness. Yong Shan, Cheng Chang, Qiu Yu, Qing Yang Shangren, and Bing Yu Shangren all felt a chill run down their spines.

As for the cultivators at the Golden Dan stage, the two sides were on completely different levels. Nearly five hundred golden dan monsters were laughing mockingly at the cultivators from the three sects, as if they were about to feast on them.

The number of cultivators at the Golden Dan stage among the three sects was now only eighty-three, most of them still in the early stage of Golden Dan. If they fought against the golden dan monsters, it was obvious that within a few exchanges, most of those eighty-three would be dead.

The situation was extremely unfavorable for the three sects.

Xuan Gu Shangren glanced at the ocean monsters and calmly looked at Thunder Ice Crocodile, saying with a smile, “Brother Lei Bing, it seems you ocean monsters have also destroyed the foundations of our Xuan Yang Temple and Jade Host Sect. Your anger should have subsided by now.”

Under such circumstances, Xuan Gu Shangren no longer felt the urge to avenge his sect and only hoped the ocean monsters would stop.

Thunder Ice Crocodile transformed into human form. Blue lightning still flickered in its eyes as it glared coldly at Xuan Gu Shangren and said angrily, “You wretched Xuan Gu Shangren! You actually tried to trick me, deliberately getting close to me to let some people from Xuan Yang Temple escape. Just seeing you makes me angry. How could my fury subside?”

Unexpectantly, Thunder Ice Crocodile was so vindictive—it still remembered how Xuan Gu Shangren had deliberately stalled things a few days ago and used it to mock him now.

Xuan Gu Shangren immediately fell silent.

The Spiritual Master felt displeased at this moment and shouted, “Lei Bing, I advise you to stop now. As for the destruction of the Jade Host Sect, I don’t intend to hold it against you. Otherwise, I’ll summon those advanced beings from the palace, and your life will be over.” Clearly, the Spiritual Master wanted to use threats to force the Thunder Ice Crocodile to submit. Hearing this, the Thunder Ice Crocodile tensed up, his arrogant expression finally fading as he thought calmly. “Alright, I agree to stop pursuing the people from the Xuan Yang Temple and the Jade Host Sect. But those low-level disciples of the Fire Moon Sect must die,” the Thunder Ice Crocodile said calmly. “No!” Ling Huo Shangren and Yong Shan shouted simultaneously. However, Xuan Gu Shangren and the Spiritual Master remained silent—they were actually happy with this situation. With the foundations of the Xuan Yang Temple and the Jade Host Sect destroyed, it would be extremely difficult for them to recover. In that case, Cui Mu Planet would belong to the Fire Moon Sect. Now, since the Ocean Monsters were going to destroy the Fire Moon Sect’s foundations, Xuan Gu Shangren and the Spiritual Master were delighted. This would restore balance among the three sects once again, and when it came to capturing Qu Yi and fighting over the treasures, everyone would be back at square one. The Thunder Ice Crocodile stared coldly at Ling Huo Shangren and Yong Shan. Seeing the expressions of Xuan Gu Shangren and the Spiritual Master, Ling Huo Shangren and Yong Shan immediately understood their intentions. Should they fight? Then all the Golden Core-stage members of the Fire Moon Sect present would die. Ling Huo Shangren knew he could hardly resist the current situation, but after thinking briefly, he didn’t care much. His purpose for coming to Cui Mu Planet was only for the Jade Sword; the fate of the Fire Moon Sect was secondary. “Lord!” Yong Shan looked at Ling Huo Shangren hopefully. Ling Huo Shangren remained silent, which was also an answer. Yong Shan was distressed and even shed tears. Soon after, the Thunder Ice Crocodile waved his hand, and two hundred Golden Core-stage Ocean Monsters flew away to various peaks of the Fire Moon Sect to start their purge. At Fire Clear Peak, the Ocean Monsters and the three sects sat silently in their respective places. … Two hundred Golden Core-stage Ocean Monsters went to various peaks of the Fire Moon Sect and began killing the low-level disciples. On one of the peaks, a speck of dust was blown by the wind onto the peak, then disappeared, and Qu Yi suddenly appeared. The Dimension Ball brought Qu Yi to this peak. On the peak, there were five Golden Core-stage Ocean Monsters, all transformed into human form, wielding magical weapons as they slaughtered the disciples of the Fire Moon Sect.

These five marine monsters included two in the late Golden Core stage and three in the middle Golden Core stage. Rui Yi relied on the “Silent Art” to suppress his cultivation level to that of the late Foundation Establishment stage, then flew among the Fire Moon Sect disciples. Along with them, he cried and shouted loudly, acting confused and running around aimlessly. A monster in the late Golden Core stage suddenly appeared in front of Rui Yi, holding a large black sword high above his head and laughing maniacally, “Kid, stop running. I’ll send you to rest.” Rui Yi froze instantly, looking at the monster with grief and anger, and shouted defiantly, “Aren’t you just someone at the Golden Core stage? It feels good to kill us who are at the Foundation Establishment stage, right? I refuse to accept this! You may be able to kill me with one sword, but I can also kill you with one too. Do you believe that?” Seeing Rui Yi’s defiance even at the brink of death, the monster’s smile almost distorted. “Very good, kid. I’ll let you strike me with a sword—so you can die satisfied.” The monster put down his sword and stepped forward, straining his body. It turned out that this monster’s true form was a Golden Scaled Dark Turtle, possessing extremely high natural defense. With his late Golden Core cultivation, he could already withstand attacks from those in the early Nascent Soul stage. Naturally, he thought that with Rui Yi’s late Foundation Establishment cultivation, it was impossible for him to pierce through his body. So he wanted Rui Yi to strike him first before killing him—thinking it would be quite interesting. An indetectable glimmer of joy flashed in Rui Yi’s eyes, and he appeared astonished, asking in a daze, “You really want me to strike you with a sword?” “Yes, kid. I want you to strike me,” the monster said, even more delighted by Rui Yi’s expression, as his vanity was further satisfied. Rui Yi bit his lip and then took out the Jade Sword. Although the Jade Sword was an elite spiritual weapon, its appearance was that of an ordinary weapon, not even comparable to a magic weapon. Seeing that the magical artifact Rui Yi had taken out had no magical power at all, the monster grew even more confident. He laughed heartily, his eyes encouraging Rui Yi to strike with all his might, as if he would be displeased if Rui Yi didn’t use his full strength. “I’m coming!” Rui Yi grunted, pretending to be defiant, then raised the Jade Sword and thrust it at the monster’s chest. Silence… The monster stared at the Jade Sword now embedded in his body, blood slowly dripping down along it. His eyes were filled with disbelief; he didn’t feel pain nor knew whether to say anything. Then, in silence, the monster opened his eyes and collapsed.

The moment the jade sword pierced its body, Qu Yi infused mixed true energy, completely crushing the monster’s interior. Qu Yi chuckled, immediately took out the monster’s demon core, then put the corpse into his storage bag. He pretended to be panicked and ran around the mountain without a clear direction, with his target being another late-stage Golden Core monster on that mountain. He wasn’t interested in the three mid-stage Golden Core monsters—after all, having already reached mid-stage, if he wanted to advance further, he would need 500 mid-stage demon cores, whereas 50 late-stage ones would suffice. The other late-stage Golden Core monster was actually a Thousand-Fin Shark. When it took human form, its thousand fins became its life treasure—thousands of flying shards. These shards were crescent-shaped with blades; upon being thrown, they would cut people while also releasing the shark’s unique true energy, causing immediate numbness. More shards would then be sent out until the victim died. At that moment, the monster was holding those shards, shouting happily in the air at the panicked members of the Fire Moon Sect, firing shards that struck the sect’s disciples, paralyzing them and causing them to fall to their deaths from great heights. Qu Yi followed a few disciples of the Fire Moon Sect into the air, deliberately landing behind them and waiting for an opportunity. Seeing more disciples rise into the air, the monster laughed loudly and fired shards at them. The moment those disciples went numb, Qu Yi acted, using his Golden Element speed technique, “Ten Thousand Miles in an Inch.” The Thousand-Fin Shark was extremely fast in the sea, but its speed dropped significantly in the air. By the time it realized Qu Yi had suddenly appeared before it, it was too late—it watched helplessly as Qu Yi plunged the Red Nan Sword into its body. Golden Element true energy entered the shark’s body through the sword, completely destroying it. Qu Yi smiled, immediately took out the shark’s demon core, put its corpse into his storage bag, and vanished from the air. Inside the Dimension Sphere, Qu Yi laughed triumphantly, leaving Bai Man beside him speechless—was it really that big of a deal to defeat two monsters? “Instrument God, please fly the Dimension Sphere to the next mountain. If I don’t seize these easily available demon cores, I’ll feel guilty,” Qu Yi said after laughing for a while.

Immediately, a speck of dust was seen in the air, carried by the strong wind toward another mountain peak.