Time rewound slightly.
Even a powerful martial artist like Gu Xingzhou, Director of the Education Bureau, couldn't withstand that massive twisting of the Earth Vein.
The power to twist the Earth Vein came from the Earth-Turning Dragon's Dragon Pearl.
The Earth-Turning Dragon had been born in the Earth Vein of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm. In a sense, it was part of the Earth Vein itself.
Naturally, Gu Xingzhou couldn't resist the power of the entire Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Earth Vein. If he had that kind of strength, he could have taken down Ten Thousand Beast Mountain single-handedly.
As one of the two sides most affected, the badly wounded White Cat had nearly died in the violent twisting of the Earth Vein. It had been forced to switch cat personas and regress to its juvenile form.
Gu Xingzhou hadn't come through unscathed, either—he was a little dizzy.
By the time he came to his senses, he was already on the mountaintop.
Facing the many Great Demons glaring at him with undisguised hostility, Gu Xingzhou furrowed his brow.
"This is trouble."
A giant toad with what looked like a full moon on its back opened its enormous mouth and spoke in human language. "A human? I don't remember our deal including a meal that came running straight to us."
It gave a sinister laugh. Behind it, the moon's phase kept changing with the passage of time—full moon, crescent, new moon, again and again.
"What should we do with him?" asked a huge Myriad Calamity Centipede in a cold voice.
Demon Monsters gained no cultivation by eating ordinary humans, and they tasted bad, too. So usually, only low-level Demon Monsters ate ordinary people. Those creatures weren't very intelligent; as long as there was food, they'd eat it without being picky.
But the Great Demons on the mountaintop weren't entirely opposed to eating ordinary humans.
In fact, they would eat them if the opportunity arose. Humans were just particularly protective of their own. Ordinary training was one thing, but if high-level Demon Monsters entered the fray and slaughtered people, they might draw retaliation from powerful humans.
Humanity was already in dire straits, yet when it came to revenge, humans could be frighteningly savage.
That fierce resolve to shatter the jade rather than leave the tiles intact sometimes chilled even the Demon Monsters.
Demon Monsters were selfish. They wouldn't put themselves out or make sacrifices for anyone.
So, under normal circumstances, the Great Demons and Great Fiends couldn't be bothered with the trouble of eating ordinary people.
But this time was different. They had stayed on the mountaintop and hadn't broken the "rules of the deal." This martial artist had come to them of his own accord.
The taste of a high-level martial artist's flesh—and the benefits of eating one—were worlds apart from those of an ordinary person.
He was worth eating.
Besides, devouring a martial artist of the same rank wouldn't necessarily bring retaliation. At least, if they weren't exposed, there wouldn't be any for a while.
It was just a bit of a hassle to eat one. Each martial artist had terrifying combat strength; in a one-on-one fight, a Demon Monster of the same rank might not even gain the upper hand.
If not for the vast difference in numbers between humans and the two Demon Monster races, a full-scale war would bring losses so staggering they'd be hard to imagine. Human living standards would probably be even worse than they were now.
In this situation, what could one martial artist do against more than a dozen Great Demon Monsters of the same rank, no matter how strong he was?
"What should we do?" A hideous-looking Hyena licked its lips. "Eat him, of course. It's been ages since I tasted a powerful martial artist."
The Moon-Swallowing Toad said coldly, "Same here."
As Gu Xingzhou listened to the Demon Monsters talking, his heart sank lower and lower.
"Sixteen four-star Demon Monsters. This is going to be hard to get out of... Those kids..."
"It's not over yet. I can't give up!"
The Director's gaze sharpened. He wasn't ready to despair.
"The sooner I leave, the more children I might be able to save. I can't waste time here!"
While the Demon Monsters talked, Gu Xingzhou quietly gathered his strength, waiting for his chance.
The Moon-Swallowing Toad's lower jaw swelled. It opened its mouth and spat. The moon on its back radiated a dim, cold light, and an intensely frigid aura poured out. Even space seemed on the verge of freezing.
"Get lost!"
Gu Xingzhou roared. His whole body turned a deep gold-red as he braced against the Demon Monsters' attacks. Behind him, his surging Blood Qi condensed into three pairs of enormous arms, like wings. Together with his own hands, they slammed forward!
"Eight Gates: Heavenly Stele!"
Eight enormous palm prints turned into golden-red heavenly steles, carved with mysterious inscriptions. Their stone textures were so clear they seemed real. They forcefully drove back the freezing aura!
"Moo!"
A gigantic Savage Bull charged out in great strides. Its hide looked like cracked earth, and red-hot lava flowed through the grooves of its skin.
Braving the cold, it rammed straight into Gu Xingzhou's eight Heavenly Stele Palms and smashed them to pieces.
"Hm?" The Savage Bull paused.
The eight enormous palm strikes had been far weaker than it expected.
Before it could recover, Gu Xingzhou had already turned into a streak of light and shot into the distance.
A feint!
Gu Xingzhou knew full well that fighting here wasn't what he should be doing. He couldn't stand against sixteen four-star Demon Monsters.
Even if he could drag one or two of them down with him, the deaths of one or two Demon Monsters wouldn't help more of the children waiting to be rescued survive.
His urgent task was to save people, not slaughter Demon Monsters!
Run!
No Demon Monsters pursued him. Gu Xingzhou breathed a slight sigh of relief, thinking that it seemed they were still honoring the agreement from back then and wouldn't easily leave the mountaintop.
The Demon Monsters gathered around the Moon-Swallowing Toad and looked at the full moon on its back.
The Beast Realm Hyena said, "You really are clever. Letting him wear himself out means that once he's used up most of his strength, we can eat him without lifting a finger."
The Purgatory Bull said, "How was my acting just now? Pretty convincing, right?"
The Moon-Swallowing Toad said smugly, "I told you I was the best choice to handle the Moonlight Mirror. After refining the moon of Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, I gained control over space and ice. There's no way that human can escape!"
A relatively small Hundred-Eyed Demon Crow opened its beak and let out an especially grating sound. "If I hadn't trapped him in an illusion, do you think he would've run straight into your moon?"
They looked at the moon. A streak of light was racing across its surface—Gu Xingzhou.
Gu Xingzhou had no idea that when he had turned and fled, he'd been running toward the Moon-Swallowing Toad. While the Demon Monsters talked, the Hundred-Eyed Demon Crow had already laid an illusion over him.
The Demon Monsters seemed to be discussing whether or not to eat Gu Xingzhou, but in truth, they had never planned to let him go.
How could they pass up a meal that had come straight to them?
All they had to do now was wait until Gu Xingzhou had nearly exhausted his strength. Then they could devour him without lifting a finger!
A human had come to the mountaintop all by himself. How could they not eat him?
Gu Xingzhou ran at full speed, pushing Startling Swan Escape to its limit.
It was an exceptionally advanced movement technique for straight-line bursts. When activated, the user turned into a streak of light, trailing a brilliant stream behind him.
It was dazzling, and incredibly fast.
With Gu Xingzhou's cultivation, he could reach nearly four times the speed of sound at full power!
After running for a while, Gu Xingzhou glanced back.
The Demon Monsters seemed like fools. They stayed where they were, staring at him.
Perhaps they noticed him looking back, because they even roared at him, telling him not to run.
Gu Xingzhou sped up again, but gradually grew suspicious.
"Can that creation of the Fantasy Sovereign really make them obey the rules so completely?"
As he ran, he gradually noticed something was wrong.
Once suspicion took hold, he kept looking back as he ran.
Every time he looked back, the Demon Monsters roared at just the right moment. Every time he looked back, the distance between them seemed unchanged.
He looked closely. The scenery around him was flying past, but it seemed to keep repeating.
"Damn it, Hundred-Eyed Demon Crow!"
Gu Xingzhou finally realized what was wrong.
Among those sixteen four-star Demon Monsters was a four-star Demonic Beast, the Hundred-Eyed Demon Crow, which excelled at creating illusions!
High-level Demon Beasts were huge, but Demonic Beasts weren't necessarily so.
With the exception of a few unusual Demonic Beasts, most didn't grow much larger even after reaching four or five stars.
Bigger Is Stronger didn't apply to every living creature.
After running for a long time, Gu Xingzhou stopped, his expression shifting between dark and pale.
The Demon Monsters saw him stop and peered at him curiously. "Has he worn himself out already?"
"Probably. I thought he looked weak earlier."
"Does that mean we can start eating?"
The Demon Monsters chatted among themselves.
Gu Xingzhou's expression was grim. He didn't know where the Hundred-Eyed Demon Crow was, or where he was now.
That left him no way to break out of the illusion by conventional means.
"But they're only a few Grotto-Heaven Star Vortices!"
Gu Xingzhou gritted his teeth.
Seventy-two points of light suddenly appeared on his body, scattered across it.
At the same time, seventy-two dazzling Blood Qi Stars appeared behind him, linked together in the void to form a somewhat abstract human figure.
"Break!"
Without the slightest hesitation, the figure formed from the Blood Qi Stars suddenly threw a punch. The three Blood Qi Stars that made up its fist shattered, sacrificing themselves to unleash immense power!
Gu Xingzhou detonated three of his Blood Qi Star Vortices. His surging Blood Qi Power exploded outward, unleashing a terrifying shock wave.
The dazzling light blinded the onlooking Demon Monsters. Even the moon on the Moon-Swallowing Toad's back was blasted open, leaving an obvious hole.
The Bright Moon Space was damaged. A huge hole opened in the sky and the illusion shattered. Gu Xingzhou looked up and saw the hideous heads of Demon Beasts all around him.
The Moon-Swallowing Toad cried out in pain. "Ribbit! (Damn human!)"
Thank you to reader 'Hutao Hall Master' for the 100-point tip~
Thank you to reader 'Tianluo Leiguang' for the 100-point tip~
Thank you to reader 'Baiyu Jiuwei' for the 100-point tip~
Thank you to reader 'Bubai Xiaojun' for the 500-point tip~
P.S. The Secret Realm Martial Exam arc is almost over~ Some readers have said my writing is too padded.
Also, to make things easier to follow, I'll use star ratings for Demon Monster ranks from now on~
Before you continue