My Arts Evolve When Perfected

The instructor from the Soldier Cultivation Academy was single-handedly holding back the majority of the Demon Race. Unfortunately, another three to four hundred demons, led by a Spiritual Great Demon in the form of a Purple-winged Kite Bird, had circled around them, their momentum overwhelming.

The nine hundred-some surviving students gritted their teeth and ran a few steps north, only to be met with a ferocious assault. A sky-blotting barrage of Wind Blades rained down from a thousand meters in the air.

Jiang Qiu dodged and weaved at the very front of the formation as Wind Blades frequently scraped past his ears, tearing his black shirt and leaving shallow scratches on his toned muscles.

Seeing their classmates getting cut down one by one as they tried to dodge, the other students decisively drew their Qi Blood Bows and fired back at the sky. However, the multi-colored arrows they unleashed were blown off course by the fierce winds, and few found their targets.

SWOOSH—

He drew his Black Flood Dragon bow. Skidding to a halt, he spun around, a Conical Arrow nocked and drawn taut. His eyes narrowed, locking onto a Transformed Great Demon circling above.

Tier Two Bow Skill: Black Flood Dragon Breaking Sky!

BOOM—

The arrow, wreathed in the form of a Flaming Cyan Dragon, streaked through the air. In an instant, it clamped its jaws on a weaker Transformed Great Demon, incinerating it like dry straw and sending it plummeting from the sky, trailing black smoke and flames.

One Slaughter Drill

Black Flood Dragon Breaking Sky

10/1000

The surrounding students were inwardly astonished. ’What a powerful Bow Skill!’

CLICK.

His expression unchanged, Jiang Qiu fired again. Another Flaming Cyan Dragon soared into the sky, just about to overtake a frantically fleeing Transformed Great Demon.

BANG—

A single beat of a purple wing extinguished the Flaming Cyan Dragon and swatted away the volley of arrows. The leading Spiritual Great Demon now hovered in mid-air, its vicious gaze fixed on the students below. "Hold them all back! Once Lord Feng Li breaks free and that Martial Artist with the ape Dharma Aspect tires out, we will slaughter every last genius of the Human Race today!"

"If we succeed, the Lord Demon King will reward us with the Ancestral Return Power, and we will all be granted vast lands and rivers as our fiefs!"

Spurred on by this promise, the killing intent of the three hundred-odd demons surged to the heavens. They exploited their aerial advantage, relentlessly unleashing Wind Blades, while their leader, the Spiritual Great Demon, intercepted most of the students’ counterattacks from below.

"Damn it! That’s Purple Kite, a prodigy of the Demon Race! She’s already reached the Spirit Communication Five Realms and has extremely powerful Wind Control Ability. Our ranged attacks can’t touch her!"

"There are more than a thousand of us, but we have far too few options for ranged combat!"

Amid the angry roars, the sharp slicing of Wind Blades through cloth and flesh was audible. Jiang Qiu tried firing two more arrows, but both were effortlessly blocked by the Demon Race prodigy, Purple Kite. It was as if an impenetrable ocean lay between the sky and the snow-covered ground.

The few Bright Soul Realm students who specialized in ranged combat unleashed their techniques. Yet even if their attacks managed to pass through Purple Kite’s wind barrier, their power was so diminished that they couldn’t kill the demons circling behind her.

’If we try to head north now, our backs will be exposed. But if we stay, we won’t be able to get rid of them anytime soon...’

WOOOOOM—

Suddenly, a strange pulse of Gale Spirit Charm swept across the nearby snow, interrupting Jiang Qiu’s thoughts.

The students’ gazes snapped toward the source. From the area primarily occupied by students from the Spirit Control Academy, a young woman in green robes rose into the air. Her hair flew wildly about her as a cyan light, bright as day, shone from her eyes. An ethereal cry left her lips: "Wind Pressure Abyss!"

In an instant, the snow in a one-kilometer radius was compressed into solid ice, and every blade of grass was flattened into the earth. The three hundred demons in the sky felt as if they’d been shackled with thousand-pound weights and began to plummet.

Jiang Qiu felt as if his head had been struck by a frying pan. The pressure on his chest constricted his windpipe, making it difficult to breathe.

"It’s Xia Qing from the Spirit Control Academy! The number one Bright Soul Realm genius of the new generation!"

Amid the gasps of surprise, the immense pressure vanished. Xia Qing let out a cold snort. "All students in the Bright Soul Realm and higher, with me! We’re surrounding and killing Purple Kite! The rest of you, clear out the Transformed Demon Clan!"

"Yes!"

A thousand voices roared in a furious tide. The students swarmed and enveloped the demons, who were now unable to fly. In moments, the field was filled with agonizing wails and sprays of blood.

Temporarily unable to fly, the members of the Transformed Demon Clan lacked strong defenses. With two or three students coordinating, a few thrusts from their spears were enough to quickly slay a Transformed Great Demon.

Even the more formidable Spiritual Great Demons found themselves facing two or three Bright Soul Realm students at once. The battle was brutal.

BOOM—

Jiang Qiu’s figure flickered in and out of existence, a wisp of flame taking on a Dragon Form as he weaved repeatedly through the grounded Transformed Demon Clan. Wherever his spearhead passed, the thin ice beneath his feet vaporized, and demonic bodies exploded like showers of sparks.

One Slaughter Drill

One Slaughter Drill

...

In the span of a dozen breaths, the members of the Transformed Demon Clan near the Soldier Cultivation Academy students were utterly annihilated. Jiang Qiu paused, catching his breath, as a panel flashed through his mind.

Soaring Dragon Piercing, used in combination with Shadow Stepping, has created a new Spear Skill: Dragon Shadow Flash Stab. It enables short-range, piercing surprise attacks.

Dragon Shadow Flash Stab

810/1000

’I’ve killed 81 members of the Transformed Demon Clan in a row. Each Slaughter Drill gives me 10 proficiency points. I only need to slay nineteen more to finish refining this skill. What’s more, the Dragon Spirit’s eyes are growing brighter with all this blood... it feels like it’s about to achieve Soldier Body Integration.’

"KREEE—"

A sky-piercing shriek from nearby shattered Jiang Qiu’s thoughts, making his very soul tremble. He turned to see that the surrounded Purple Kite’s eyes had turned blood-red as its True Form began to swell. "You’re nothing but Human Race whelps who haven’t even fully matured! Did you really think you could defeat me with these pathetic tricks?"

Now over a hundred feet tall, Purple Kite beat its wings, sending the dozen or so Bright Soul Realm students flying. Even Xia Qing, who had been hovering in the air, was sent plummeting to the ground, coughing up blood. It was as if her heart had been crushed, her Spirit Charm exhausted to its limit.

Meanwhile, Niu Yao, the sole participating direct disciple from the Body Tempering Academy, fearlessly leaped into the air. He shot forward like a cannonball, his massive fist enveloped in the golden afterimage of a punch.

BOOM!

The punch slammed into the wall of wind in front of Purple Kite and felt like it had sunk into a swamp. Its speed and Spirit Charm rapidly drained away, and his momentum faltered. A cyan talon swiped at him, and as he raised his left arm to block, a sharp, metallic clang rang out.

Niu Yao was sent crashing back to the ground, his left arm dripping blood. A bloody gash, sharp as a knife wound, was etched across his bare torso, and his broad shoulders trembled. "This is the power of the Spirit Communication Five Realms?!"

’The strongest person here is Xia Qing, a peerless prodigy with Eighth Rank Jade Sinews. She reached the Third Realm of the Bright Soul in a single year, and her Wind Control Technique is unparalleled. Yet even when she used Wind Pressure Like an Abyss with all her strength, all she could do was force Purple Kite to land. She couldn’t actually suppress it!’

’That Purple Kite serves under Demon Marshal Cangyuan and is one of the Great Demon Race’s greatest prodigies. I heard she has the aptitude of a Seventh Rank, and now she’s at the Spirit Communication Five Realms... Her strength is just overwhelming!’

’Without overwhelming burst damage or crowd control on her level, it’s almost impossible to even hurt her!’

Niu Yao’s heart pounded in his chest. He glared up at Purple Kite and roared through gritted teeth, "I can forcibly boost my body’s strength and power! Once I have it pinned down, hit it with your strongest attacks!"

Before he had even finished speaking, the bloody gashes on his body began to heal. His mountainous muscles started to emit the faint yellow glow of a Chenjin Spirit Charm, and a golden light began to brew in his eyes.

SWOOSH—SWOOSH—SWOOSH—

Suddenly, more than a dozen Dragon’s Roars echoed in his ears. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a flaming dragon shadow cutting a path of destruction. Nearby members of the Transformed Demon Clan and even Spiritual Great Demons were instantly blasted into a rain of gore.

’Jiang Qiu?’

’He can instantly kill demons who’ve reached the Spirit Communication Realm!’

Niu Yao’s heart skipped a beat. Suddenly, a cyan light flared up overhead. A terrifying Gale Spirit Charm condensed into a beam and shot out, sweeping toward Jiang Qiu’s flickering, fiery figure.