With Me as the Peak

The buildings on both sides of the road leaned against each other like they were kneeling. Spiders webbing among the vines on broken concrete walls bowed beneath the wind pressure. Ash-gray clouds blanketed the sky. At the far end of the straight street, a young man in silver armor streaked with black patterns strolled over. The steel spear hanging naturally from his left hand slowly parted the wind, while red streamers at the joint of its twin-bladed spearhead fluttered like flames.

Li Juefeng?!

Wang Guanjia, standing silently behind Jiang Qiu, felt his pupils tremble. Blood surged through his heart, and the fist clutching his spear shaft buzzed and shook as a chill ran down his spine.

The light armor, which nearly covered every vulnerable part of his body, made him seem like a young general from ancient times who had risen to fame early. His sharp, level eyes rested above the bridge of his nose, his gaze as cold as a tiger prowling the southern ridge.

Compared with two years ago, his sense of oppression had grown even stronger.

Tap.

A hard black shoe stepped onto the Red-Armored Great Lizard's head. With a crack, he pulled a black short spear from its flesh. Several droplets of fresh blood splashed onto the silver armor over his knee guards before sliding smoothly away.

He thrust the short spear backward. With a click like a sword returning to its sheath, it slipped into an alloy casing shaped like a quiver, joining four neatly arranged spear shafts.

After glancing at the Demon Beast corpses littering the street, he turned his icy eyes toward them. "Who killed these Demon Beasts?"

His gaze swept over them as though a fine horse were looking at cotton. Seeing every student's eyes gathered on an unarmored youth, his brows dipped slightly. "You?"

More than twenty people from the two fields pursed their lips and frowned, silently watching the boy in black. He alone stood at the front of the crowd, like a crane among chickens.

Such intense commotion had erupted here just now. Someone must have caused it by killing Demon Beasts. Slaughtering so many in such a short time was no ordinary feat.

"It was me."

Jiang Qiu raised his gaze slightly, his eyes like mirrors in water. Li Juefeng lifted his chin a fraction, his gaze like a river gull watching crucian carp. Their eyes met, yet seemed to miss each other by a level.

After sizing each other up for a moment, the corners of Li Juefeng's flattened brows sharpened like sword edges, his eyes like a cold spear beneath the moon.

Among more than a hundred Outstanding Students, all bowed their heads before me.

Among No.8 Middle School's eight fields, I stood as the peak.

Just because Martial Spirit Incense had missed the body-tempering session, I wasn't the first choice for the Practical Training Hunt?

You'd better be a genius too.

With that thought, Li Juefeng snorted softly. "Jiang Qiu?"

"Mm."

Jiang Qiu's gaze blazed like fire. Blood dripped steadily from his bloodied spearhead, while his light black clothes swayed in the wind.

Even if those short spears could instantly pierce a Red-Armored Great Lizard's skull, and even if his arm strength was not far from the Steel Bones Realm, giving him an unparalleled advantage in hunting Demon Beasts from afar, the coming slaughter would surely send him soaring upward.

At the very least, Jiang Qiu's current kill count had to be far higher than his.

How could he simply hand over the reward for "Best Performance"?

On the great path, there was only one way forward: compete!

"There was originally a Demon Plant in Qingmu Town. Its main body suddenly vanished yesterday. Whoever finds the Demon Plant first and picks its fruit gets the Spear Spirit Incense."

Li Juefeng turned and left. The ends of the four short spear shafts on his back pointed diagonally toward the sky. Without deliberately projecting it, his imposing presence made the overwhelming pressure in everyone's hearts recede like a tide.

"The Demon Plant vanished?"

Jiang Qiu furrowed his brows. The Red-Armored Great Lizard abandoned on the road reflected in his eyes as the silver-armored figure gradually vanished at the end of the street.

When it came to killing Demon Beasts quickly, how could one long spear compare to four short spears? How could a first-person perspective that advanced step by step compare to an omniscient god's-eye view?

He even knew that the Demon Plant had vanished. He must have learned everything before coming here.

If the Demon Plant's fruit was being used to determine "Best Performance," it might have come from the mouth of his father, Li Ang...

"Damn, Li Juefeng is as oppressive as ever. During the last Outstanding Student martial exchange, just seeing him from afar made me feel like I was looking at a Fierce Tiger."

The bald student clicked his tongue and sighed, then turned to Jiang Qiu. "Brother Jiang Qiu, impressive. You actually didn't change expression when facing Li Juefeng. Looks like Li Juefeng thinks highly of you too. I've never even seen him give someone a proper look."

Jiang Qiu smiled silently. The students of Field No. 5 murmured among themselves, their eyes on him like fireflies glowing within paper lanterns.

He waved Zhang Shan and the others over to gather the Demon Beast remains scattered across the road. Seemingly thoughtful, he looked at the bald student. "Where did you run into so many Demon Beasts?"

"Mm, ever since we were ambushed by several Red-Armored Great Lizards last night and a few classmates were forced to withdraw, we changed locations to rest. Then this morning, we were ambushed again by Iron-Armored Lizards and Red-Armored Great Lizards."

At that thought, the bald student sighed helplessly, his gaze muddied like sludge.

This Qingmu Town was truly absurdly difficult. Encountering mid-tier Demon Beasts on the first night was rare even in the history of Practical Training Hunts. At first, I thought my luck was just terrible.

Then, while escaping, we ran into Xie Kuang and someone else from Field No. 8. They were being chased by Red-Armored Great Lizards too.

Come to think of it, Central Street was the area closest to the secret realm's center. There should be even more Demon Beasts there, right?

Jiang Qiu had actually brought the students of Field No. 8 here to camp. He was truly ruthless!

But with the explosive strength he showed just now, I'd believe it if someone said he could beat a Red-Armored Great Lizard to death one-handed.

"Mm." Jiang Qiu raised a brow and muttered to himself, "There are more Demon Beasts at the edge than on Central Street? This first-choice location isn't so good..."

But the number of Demon Beasts was already secondary. Since Li Juefeng had said the Demon Plant's fruit would decide "Best Performance," his priority now should be finding the Demon Plant.

After all, the value of Spear Spirit Incense could not be measured in tens of thousands of Xia Coins. Its effect of improving one's comprehension of the spear path made even martial artists covet it. Anyone who practiced the spear would fight for it!

And it was a precious martial resource that never entered the market.

If he missed this opportunity, it would be hard to find another.

At that thought, Jiang Qiu's gaze focused. He bid farewell to the Field No. 5 students led by the bald student, then led the Field No. 8 students away while they dragged more than twenty Demon Beast corpses.

As he was speculating about the Demon Plant's location, a vigorous voice sounded beside him.

"Brother Jiang, if we want to find the Demon Plant, we may need to go to the center of the secret realm." Zhang Shan gripped the claws of two Iron-Armored Lizards in his left hand and stared ahead, light reflecting in his eyes. "The Demon race likes secret realms, and the Demon Plant definitely won't be an exception."

"Yeah, Brother Jiang. Demon Plants turn into Demons because secret realms appear, so it definitely likes the secret realm. As long as we get near its center, kill the Demon Plant, and seize its fruit, we can beat Li Juefeng!"

Li Si dragged two Iron-Armored Lizards as he shouted a few words, then smiled sheepishly. "But Demon Plants vary in strength. Many are even stronger than high-tier Demon Beasts. Brother Jiang, you need to be careful. I can't really be of much help."

"You don't believe in Brother Jiang? He fought a Red-Armored Great Lizard barehanded. Even if we run into a Demon Plant on par with a high-tier Demon Beast, it might not be impossible to try!" Zhang Shan raised his head and puffed out his chest, his words fiery. "As long as we find the Demon Plant, I'd say Best Performance might very well belong to our Brother Jiang!"

Jiang Qiu smiled without speaking.

How could a Demon Plant be so easy to find? Li Juefeng had used the word "vanished."

But speaking of which, Demon Plants bore fruit. Did vines bear fruit too?

Whether intentionally or not, his gaze fell on the green vines covering the surface of the ruined buildings, their few fresh shoots swaying in the wind.

The whole of Qingmu Town was wrapped in plants like these. They couldn't be the Demon Plant's main body, merely plants that had undergone a slight Demon transformation.

But precisely because of these plants, finding the Demon Plant was like searching for a needle in the sea—entirely dependent on luck.

"Ding."

The vibration at his left wrist interrupted Jiang Qiu's thoughts and brought the whole group to a halt. He frowned and looked down, but before he could see where another distress signal had come from—

"Ding."

"Ding."

"Ding."