The Martial Artist on the Mountaintop

Let's rewind time a little.

That large-scale shift of the earth's veins was something even a powerful martial artist like Director of the Education Bureau Gu Xingzhou couldn't resist.

The power to twist the earth's veins came from the dragon pearl of the Earth-Turning Dragon.

And that Earth-Turning Dragon was a Great Demon born from the earth veins of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain Secret Realm—in a sense, it was part of the mountain range's veins itself.

Gu Xingzhou naturally had no way to resist the full force of the Ten Thousand Beast Mountain's earth veins. If he had that kind of strength, he could have taken down the entire mountain single-handedly.

As one of the two main parties affected, the severely injured White Cat nearly died in the violent earth vein upheaval, forcing it to switch cat personalities and regress into its juvenile form.

Gu Xingzhou, of course, didn't escape unscathed either—he felt a bit dizzy.

And by the time he came to his senses, he had already appeared at the mountain peak.

Facing the predatory gazes of many Great Demons, Gu Xingzhou's brow furrowed deeply.

"Troublesome."

A massive toad, as if carrying a bright moon on its back, opened its huge maw and spoke in human tongue: "A human? I don't recall the terms of the deal including this delivered ration."

It laughed sinisterly, and the moon behind it constantly shifted phases over time—full moon, crescent, new moon—cycling endlessly.

"How do we deal with him?" a massive Myriad Calamity Centipede asked coldly.

Demons eating ordinary humans didn't increase their cultivation, and the taste wasn't good, so generally only low-level demons ate common folk—those creatures had low intelligence and would eat anything without being picky.

As for the Great Demons on the mountaintop, they didn't completely refuse to eat ordinary humans.

In fact, if given the chance, they might still indulge, but humans were especially protective of their own. Normal training excursions were fine, but if high-level demons entered to slaughter, it would likely invite retaliation from human powerhouses.

Humanity's situation was precarious, but when it came to revenge, they were exceptionally ferocious.

That stubborn spirit of "better jade shattered than tile intact" sometimes even chilled the demons to the bone.

Demons were selfish; they wouldn't sacrifice or give for anyone.

So under normal circumstances, Great Demons and fiends found it too troublesome to bother eating ordinary people.

But this time was different. They had been staying peacefully on the mountaintop without breaking the 'rules of the deal'—this martial artist had delivered himself to their doorstep.

The taste and cultivation benefits of a high-level martial artist's flesh and blood were worlds apart from an ordinary person's.

Worth eating.

Moreover, devouring a martial artist of the same rank wouldn't necessarily invite retaliation—at least, if it wasn't exposed, it wouldn't happen soon.

The only trouble was that these martial artists were terrifyingly powerful in combat. Even a demon of the same rank would struggle to gain the upper hand in a one-on-one fight.

If it weren't for the sheer disparity in numbers between humans and the demon tribes—where a full-scale war would incur losses too immense to imagine—human living conditions would probably be even worse than they already were.

Now, with this situation, over a dozen Great Demons faced a single martial artist of the same rank. No matter how strong that martial artist was, what could he really do?

"What do we do?" an ugly Hyena licked its lips. "Naturally, we eat him. I haven't tasted the flavor of a powerful martial artist in a long time."

The Moon-Swallowing Toad said coldly, "Same here."

Listening to the demons' conversation, Gu Xingzhou's heart sank to the bottom.

"Sixteen four-star demons... this time, it won't be easy to resolve peacefully. Those children..."

"It's not over yet—I can't give up!"

The Director's gaze gradually sharpened, without a trace of despair.

"The sooner I leave here, the more children I might save. I can't waste time here!"

While the demons talked among themselves, Gu Xingzhou wasn't idle either. He had been quietly gathering strength, waiting for the right moment.

The Moon-Swallowing Toad's lower jaw bulged, and it opened its mouth to spit. The moon on its back radiated a faint, chilling light, and a blast of extreme icy breath was expelled, as if even space itself was about to freeze.

"Get lost!"

Gu Xingzhou roared, his entire body turning a blazing gold-red. While bracing against the demons' attacks, surging blood energy coalesced behind him into three pairs of enormous arms, like wings, and together with Gu Xingzhou's own palms, he struck out fiercely!

"Eight Gates Stele!"

Eight massive palm prints transformed into golden-red heavenly steles, engraved with mysterious inscriptions. The stone textures were exceptionally clear, as if they were real, and they forcibly pushed back the icy breath!

"Moo!"

A massive Savage Bull charged forward, rampaging wildly. Its body surface resembled cracked earth, with red-hot magma flowing through the crevices of its skin.

Bracing against the cold, it rammed headfirst into Gu Xingzhou's eight Heavenly Stele Palms, shattering them completely.

"Huh?" The Savage Bull paused in confusion.

The strength of those eight Heavenly Stele giant palms was unexpectedly weak.

Before it could react, Gu Xingzhou had already transformed into a streak of light, a fleeting shadow, darting into the distance.

A feint!

Gu Xingzhou knew very well that what he needed to do now was not to fight here. Sixteen four-star demons were not something he could contend with.

Even if he could drag one or two down with him in mutual destruction, the death of one or two demons wouldn't increase the survival rate of the children still waiting for rescue.

The urgent priority was to save people, not to kill demons and fiends!

Run!

No demonic beasts pursued him. Gu Xingzhou breathed a slight sigh of relief, thinking to himself that these monsters still abided by the agreement from back then and would not easily leave the mountaintop.

The monsters surrounded the Moon-Swallowing Toad, staring at the bright moon on its back.

Beast Realm Hyena: "Smart move, letting him drain his own strength. Once he's spent, we can eat him without lifting a finger."

Purgatory Bull: "So? Did I act convincing just now?"

The Moon-Swallowing Toad said smugly, "Didn't I tell you that entrusting the Moonlight Mirror to me was the best choice? After refining the moon of Ten Thousand Beast Mountain, I mastered the power of space and ice. That human couldn't possibly escape!"

A relatively small Hundred-Eyed Demon Crow opened its beak and let out an exceptionally grating sound: "If I hadn't used illusions to confuse him, do you think he would have run into your bright moon on his own?"

They looked at the moon. On its surface, a streak of light was flying at startling speed—it was Gu Xingzhou!

Gu Xingzhou had no idea that when he turned to flee, he was running straight toward the Moon-Swallowing Toad. While the monsters were talking, the Hundred-Eyed Demon Crow had already laid down an illusion.

The monsters appeared to be discussing whether to eat Gu Xingzhou, but in truth, they never planned to let him go from the start.

Food that delivers itself—how could they give that up easily?

Now, all they had to do was wait here. Once Gu Xingzhou's strength was nearly spent, they could devour him without effort!

This human came to the mountaintop himself. Why not eat him?

Gu Xingzhou ran like mad, pushing the Startling Swan Escape to its absolute limit.

This was an extremely advanced linear-dash movement technique. When activated, the body transformed into a streak of startling light, trailing a gorgeous radiance behind it.

Flashy as it was, its speed was also terrifyingly fast.

At Gu Xingzhou's cultivation level, fully activated, it could nearly reach four times the speed of sound!

After running for a while, Gu Xingzhou glanced back.

The monsters seemed stupidly rooted in place, staring at Gu Xingzhou.

Maybe they noticed him looking back, because they let out roars telling him not to run.

Gu Xingzhou sped up again, but doubt slowly crept into his mind.

"Can that Fantasy Sovereign creation really make them this obedient?"

As he ran, he gradually sensed something was off.

Once suspicion took hold, he kept glancing back while running.

Every time he looked back, the monsters roared at just the right moment. Every time he looked back, the distance between them seemed unchanged.

Looking closely, although the scenery was flying past at breakneck speed, it seemed to be repeating itself.

"Damn it, the Hundred-Eyed Demon Crow!"

Gu Xingzhou finally realized the problem.

Among those sixteen four-star monsters, there was one four-star demon skilled at constructing illusions—the Hundred-Eyed Demon Crow!

High-tier demonic beasts were massive, but demons weren't necessarily the same.

Except for some special demons, most demons didn't change much in size even when advancing to four or five stars.

Bigger Is Stronger didn't apply to all living beings.

After running for a long time, Gu Xingzhou stopped, his expression shifting between uncertainty and anger.

Seeing Gu Xingzhou stop, the monsters craned their necks curiously. "Is he already spent?"

"Probably? I thought his condition wasn't great earlier."

"So, can we start eating?"

The monsters chattered among themselves.

Gu Xingzhou's face darkened. He didn't know where the Hundred-Eyed Demon Crow was, nor where he himself was.

That meant he couldn't break the illusion through conventional means.

"They're just a few Grotto-Heaven Star Vortexes!"

Gu Xingzhou gritted his teeth.

Suddenly, seventy-two points of light lit up across his body, scattered over every part.

At the same time, seventy-two brilliant blood-energy stars materialized behind him, connecting in the void to form a somewhat abstract human silhouette.

"Break!"

Without a moment's hesitation, the humanoid figure formed by the blood-energy stars suddenly threw a punch. The three blood-energy stars that made up the fist directly exploded, trading themselves for immense power!

Gu Xingzhou had detonated three of his blood-energy star vortexes. The surging blood-energy force burst outward violently, unleashing a shockwave of terrifying intensity.

The watching monsters were blinded by the dazzling light. Even the moon on the Moon-Swallowing Toad's back was blasted with a clear gap.

The moon-space was damaged. The sky tore open in a massive hole. The illusion shattered. Gu Xingzhou looked up and saw the ferocious, twisted heads of the monster beasts.

The Moon-Swallowing Toad cried out in pain: "Croak! (Damn human!)"

Thanks to reader 'Hutao Hall Master' for the 100-point tip~

Thanks to book friend 'Sky Gong Thunder Light' for the 100-point tip~

Thanks to book friend 'White Jade Nine-Tails' for the 100-point tip~

Thanks to book friend 'Not White Little Lord' for the 500-point tip~

ps: The Secret Realm Martial Exam arc is almost over~ Some book friends said I was padding too much.

Also, for easier reading, from now on demon ranks will be set by star rating~