Why Should I Surpass Him?

A Demon Plant capable of controlling thousands of low- and mid-tier demon beasts had to rival high-tier demon beasts, perhaps even approach the top tier.

Looking through the history of demon slaying, even among those who had entered the Steel Bones Realm, there were few geniuses capable of standing against a demon beast of this level.

For students in the Iron Flesh Realm, even prodigies who had fully comprehended Transformative Force would have to give everything they had to kill it!

These thoughts flickered through Li Juefeng's eyes. His hands trembled as he braced himself against the ground, his waist shaking as he climbed out of the sunken crater. Crisp cracks sounded from his chest.

At the edge of his bloodshot vision, a figure in black landed with a thud. His bent knees rose alongside the broken half of the spear shaft in his hand.

What was a spear-path prodigy?

This was!

A flash of cold light accompanied by a dragon's shadow, an ultimate burst of power that crossed realms and instantly killed a Demon Plant with thick roots!

Its edge was unstoppable, its Transformative Force crushing all before it!

That fleeting cold gleam and dragon shadow was the Ancient Martial Spear path I had pursued so desperately yet never attained!

A surge of heat erupted from Li Juefeng's chest, setting his limbs and bones ablaze. Even blood streaming from his eye sockets could not conceal the brilliant light in his gaze. "Jiang Qiu has reached the mastery level!"

The quiet words fell into the pool, and towering waves rose.

"We lived! We lived?!"

"Haha—we lived! We lived!"

"Haha! Jiang Qiu killed the Demon Plant, all the demon beasts are dead, and we survived!"

A few hysterical roars expelled the suffocating pressure from their chests. Like thunder exploding through an empty valley, they stirred a chaotic symphony of life.

The scattered students shouted Jiang Qiu's name. Their wild, unrestrained laughter soared into the sky, while saliva and blood ran unchecked from the corners of their mouths.

Like fireflies converging, everyone's gazes gathered on Jiang Qiu. The youth holding the broken spear was bare from the waist up, with a few strips of black cloth that had not been shredded by Transformative Force hanging from his shoulders. His broad, hill-like back muscles shifted from bronze-yellow to crimson, and cloudy white steam drifted from him, as though a war god had finally quelled his rage.

"Penetrating Force hollowed out my tendons and bones, Copper Transformation burned through my blood. I unleashed it in the briefest instant, gathering all my strength into Transformative Force and gambling everything on that strike. It could kill the Demon Plant."

Jiang Qiu lowered his eyes and glanced at the broken spear shaft in his hand, then slowly exhaled a breath of stale air. "Unfortunately, the shaft was too soft and couldn't take it. Once we're out of the secret realm, I'll use the money from recycling demon beasts to buy a sturdier spear shaft."

Mastery Integration Drill: 1

Penetrating Force + Copper Transformation + Transformative Force = Soaring Dragon Pierce

In an instant, the sensations from his earlier strike that had pierced the air and killed the Demon Plant flooded his mind. His fingers twitched slightly, and light shone in his watery eyes.

Ancient Martial Spear (Mastery)

Mastery Points: 1/10

Move One: Soaring Dragon Pierce

Traits: Its momentum is like a soaring azure dragon, its spear tip pierces armor like crashing thunder

Once the Ancient Martial Spear reached mastery, it could only continue advancing through Mastery Integration Drills. Every integration was a deeper exploration of his own Ancient Martial Spear path.

For most students in Northwest Province who had entered the martial path, years of body training and spear practice were all for the sake of one day attaining sudden enlightenment and stepping into the mastery level.

Even a genius like Li Juefeng had yet to find his own Ancient Martial Spear path. He had pinned his hopes on the rumored Spear Spirit Incense that could break through bottlenecks.

Thinking of this, Jiang Qiu shook his head and laughed softly. Looking around, he saw the students sitting on the ground raising their right fists and shouting his name. "Jiang Qiu!

Awesome—"

Crack.

The crisp pop of knuckles tightening into a fist was drowned out by the shouts of dozens. Xie Kuang stared wide-eyed at the celebrated youth in the distance, and several drops of blood squeezed from the corner of his twitching mouth.

My talent isn't bad. Back in my first year, Wang Guanjia failed to challenge Li Juefeng, and I was recognized as second among the eight fields!

Doesn't that make me one of the top geniuses?

Yet he came to Field No. 8 less than half a month ago and snatched the two portions of Martial Spirit Incense that should have been mine. Right in front of everyone, he shattered my spear shaft with one move!

Why can he do this?!

He replaced me as Field No. 8's leading student, claimed the Practical Training Hunt priority selection that I never even dared to hope for, and now he turned the tide by killing the Demon Plant and wiping out the demon beasts!

He stepped over Wang Guanjia's head and mine, and now even Li Juefeng can't compare to him!

Why can he improve so quickly and save everyone, while I am like a rat, and everyone around me has died?

The gap is so vast...

As the thought fell, Xie Kuang's bloodied clenched teeth stopped trembling. Bitterness spilled from the corner of his mouth along with the bloody foam.

Hiss.

A faint sound lightly tugged at his heartstrings. As if a thought had drawn away his gaze, he saw three unnoticed White Jade Fruits lying ten steps away, eye-catching as pale jade emerging from mud.

The Demon Plant's fruits!

No one had noticed them?!

Xie Kuang's heart skipped a beat. Pushing himself up with a hand on his knee, he walked over, his chest pounding.

If I secretly eat the Demon Plant's fruits, I can devour the power they have nurtured for years.

I can break through the Iron Flesh Realm and advance further into the Steel Bones Realm.

They contain the Demon Plant's lifelong essence, absorbing the life force of dead demon beasts that it had not yet converted to restore itself.

They might even be the egg-stones of the Demon King, the Crimson Flame Spider Matriarch. They can conceal the aura of becoming stronger.

I can surpass my peak self and crush Jiang Qiu, whose strength is exhausted right now.

Then I can kill everyone. No one will report me after we return, and even Director Zhao won't be able to tell that anything is wrong!

The whispers in his heart linked together one after another. Xie Kuang bent down and picked up the White Jade Fruits. Their warm, smooth texture in his palm made them seem like genuine precious jade, causing his mouth and cheeks to twitch. "As long as I eat them, I can kill everyone in the secret realm. But can eating a few fruits really let me surpass Jiang Qiu?"

Tap. The instant he grasped the fruits, it seemed as though a jam-filled berry burst against the back of one White Jade Fruit. Xie Kuang's eyes narrowed like slashing blades, his clouded pupils reflecting a speck of purple-black pulp and severed limbs on the pad of his index finger.

"What are you? You think you're worthy of controlling my mind!"

Through gritted teeth, he crushed the severed remains of the purple-black spider between his thumb and forefinger. Xie Kuang glanced at Jiang Qiu in the distance and snorted coldly. "He saved everyone by himself. What right does the current me have to surpass him?"

Tap, tap, tap.

Xie Kuang let out a long breath of pent-up air and carried the three White Jade Fruits toward Liu Zili, who was kneeling on the ground in the distance.

At Field No. 8, she was now the one he knew least well, and the only one closest to Jiang Qiu.

The victor's prize should ultimately belong to the victor.

In the bitterly cold wind, the Demon Plant's trunk yellowed and dried, like a rootless tree that had decayed for a thousand years.

His gaze swept over the devastated battlefield. The bodies of Iron-Armored Lizards and Red-Armored Great Lizards rose and fell around the surviving students, while more than a dozen classmates lying on the ground remained motionless.

Gray clouds churned endlessly across the sky. The secret realm's boundary stretched beyond sight, and everyone panted within this in-between space.

Jiang Qiu remained silent for a long time, the chill pressing down the heat in his chest.

If all I seek is the identity of a martial artist, can I truly survive in a world like this?

Since the secret realms awakened a century ago, Xia Country's territory had shrunk again and again. The areas where safety could truly be guaranteed amounted to less than one-tenth of the land.

And I was born in Northwest Province, where war was most frequent—in a city repeatedly trampled by the Demon King, the Crimson Flame Spider Matriarch.

Slaying demons was destiny.

"I need to work harder to improve myself. I can no longer remain trapped by the demon race's schemes, falling into desperate situations without knowing why."

The quiet words settled in his chest. Jiang Qiu's eyes burned like black jade as he clenched his fist and shouted, "The Demon Plant is dead! Light the fire and roast the meat!"

"Yeah—"

At his call, all responded. The students sprawled on the ground climbed to their feet and followed the leading students of their respective fields.

Crack. They broke off sections of the dried, waterless Demon Plant roots. Click. A flame sprang from a lighter.

The bonfire blazed to life, its great flames bending in the wind without going out.

The belly of a Red-Armored Great Lizard was cut open, its heavy armor plates stripped away, and the meat roasted.