Mantis Stalks Cicada

Zhou Qing nodded readily and said, "No problem. I'll count to three, and we'll toss them together. I throw the book, you throw the person!" The Tianxuan Blood Demon suddenly felt something was off. After mulling over Zhou Qing's words, he gave a bitter smile—this brat was taking the chance to insult him! But now wasn't the time to dwell on such trifles. The Tianxuan Blood Demon focused all his divine sense, on guard against any tricks from Zhou Qing.

"One!" "Two!" "Three!" Both tossed their respective items at the same time. Neither noticed that the moment Zhou Qing threw the Gouchen Heavenly Book, his hands formed a strange hand seal, while among the people the Tianxuan Blood Demon hurled over, a faint trace of blood light was hidden. Bang! Just as the Tianxuan Blood Demon reached for the flying Gouchen Heavenly Book, he saw Zhou Qing catch the Little Fox he'd thrown over. The faint blood light sank into Zhou Qing's body. The Tianxuan Blood Demon burst into loud laughter: "Ha! Ha! Brat! You've been hit by my Blood Demon Killing Curse! No matter how high your cultivation, within three quarters of an hour, you'll dissolve into a pool of blood for This Seat. Did you think This Seat was so easy to fool? An arrogant whelp who doesn't know his place!"

The Gouchen Heavenly Book spun in the air, flying before the Tianxuan Blood Demon. He reached out to grab it, but then Zhou Qing's voice rang out: "Little Blood Demon, you're celebrating too early!"

The Tianxuan Blood Demon was greatly startled. Just as he was about to seize the Gouchen Heavenly Book, a hand suddenly appeared beside it, firmly gripping the celestial tome. The Tianxuan Blood Demon looked—wasn't that Zhou Qing again? He quickly turned to see the person holding the Little Fox, and there was another Zhou Qing! The Tianxuan Blood Demon forced out a few words with difficulty: "External Incarnation! Second Primordial Spirit! How did I run into such a freak!"

Then, scrutinizing the Zhou Qing before him, he roared in fury: "So your original body is only at the Qi Induction Stage - Mid Phase! I was wondering how a brat your age could have such high cultivation! It's your Second Primordial Spirit causing trouble! You! You! Go die! This Seat will suck out your soul and make sure you never reincarnate!"

The Tianxuan Blood Demon was truly enraged. Being toyed with by a brat at the Qi Induction Stage - Mid Phase—if word got out, he'd lose all face. Surging blood light roiled around his body. His hair stood on end, shifting from its original black to an eerie purple-red. With a series of hissing explosions, his wide red robe shattered to pieces, revealing his true form. Zhou Qing took one look and shuddered: Damn! This wasn't a human body at all—it was a humanoid shape formed from patches of fish-scale-like blood clots. Shivering all over, Zhou Qing shouted: "Divine Demon Annihilation! Immortals and demons alike shall perish!"

The moment the word "perish" left his mouth, twelve foot-long, blood-red Command Flags suddenly emerged from all directions in the quiet room. Their flagpoles, forged from refined steel, gleamed with a dark, eerie luster. The silk banners were embroidered with bizarre runes in golden thread. As the flags spun, strands of magical power enveloped the entire room, trapping the Tianxuan Blood Demon and the four great monsters in the formation like a spider's web. This Zhou Qing was now flush with resources. To study and experiment with the mysteries of the Twelve Divine Demon Annihilation Formation, he'd spared no expense, spending a fortune to forge these twelve Command Flags. Now, they'd finally come in handy.

The Tianxuan Blood Demon took one look at this setup and nearly jumped out of his skin. If he'd had a real body, he might have pissed himself in fear. "The Twelve Divine Demon Annihilation Formation! My god, how is this possible! This is the number one demonic killing formation of the ancient era! It's been lost for ages! Even the Old Ancestor doesn't know it! How does that brat know it? This is bad!"

Unfortunately, Zhou Qing couldn't hear his shouts anymore. Once the formation activated, it was like opening another dimension—those inside couldn't sense the outside, and those outside couldn't sense the inside. Zhou Qing flashed over to Zhou Chen, shook his body, and withdrew his Second Primordial Spirit. Zhou Chen saw Zhou Qing open his mouth and spit out a mouthful of blood. Shocked, she urgently asked, "Master! What's wrong with you?" Zhou Qing waved his hand: "Let's go quickly. This formation is incomplete; it can't even unleash a thousandth of its power. It'll only trap them for an hour. This Blood Demon is formidable—my Primordial Spirit was hit by that blood light and is badly injured. You take your sister, and we'll get out of here to find Xiao Jin!"

The Second Primordial Spirit was closely linked to the original body; one's glory was the other's glory, one's loss the other's loss. Even if the Second Primordial Spirit were destroyed, the original body wouldn't die, but a severe loss of vitality was unavoidable. Zhou Qing's Second Primordial Spirit was damaged, and his original body suffered some injury as well. Fortunately, the Six-Winged Golden Silkworm was tough, or Zhou Qing wouldn't even have the strength to stand!

Just as Zhou Qing and Zhou Chen stepped out of the villa, four sharp sword auras came rushing at them. The gust stirred up by the sword energy made it hard to breathe! Zhou Qing was alarmed. He grabbed Zhou Chen and rolled to the ground. With a series of crackling sounds, the spot where Zhou Qing had stood was pierced by the sword energy, leaving four pitch-black, bowl-sized holes. Zhou Qing's face changed: This was clearly a sneak attack by sword cultivation experts! If his Primordial Spirit's perception hadn't been sharp, those sword auras would have punched right through him. Whoosh! The Lesser Heaven Flipping Seal shot out from Zhou Qing, turning into an iron disc to shield the three of them. But the seal's power was clearly diminished compared to when Zhou Qing had used it in the quiet room. Its size had shrunk from three zhang in diameter to just over one zhang, and its clear light had dimmed considerably. This was because Zhou Qing's Second Primordial Spirit had been shaken, preventing him from fully driving the seal. He was now using his own True Essence to wield it, so naturally its power was much weaker.

Swoosh! Four figures appeared—the Dragon Group members who had been whispering earlier about killing and stealing treasures: Xiang Hui, Xie Xiaohong, Liu Zhihua, and Lu Hongchen. Seeing these four young men, all clearly at the Qi Induction Stage - Mid Phase, Zhou Qing's heart raced. He couldn't use his Second Primordial Spirit now, and his own cultivation was barely on par with theirs. Zhou Chen might be slightly stronger than him, but she couldn't handle all four either! Judging by their sneak attack, they wanted him dead. When had he made so many enemies?

"Who are you? Why are you ambushing us?" Zhou Chen, sensing the dire situation, asked the four in confusion. Zhou Chen was still wearing the men's jacket Zhou Qing had given her. Xiang Hui and the others hadn't seen clearly at first and thought she was a man. Now, with her silvery voice ringing out, they noticed her features. Even though Xiang Hui and his crew were scions of major families and had seen countless beauties, they couldn't help but swallow their saliva.

"Where did this stunning woman come from? Heh, her cultivation seems about the same as ours. Which sect's disciple? No, that's not right—I know all the female disciples of the various sects, and none are this beautiful! Coming out of the Monster Alliance, could she be a monster herself? Haha, we've hit the jackpot today! That guy looks injured. Huh? And there's an unconscious woman too. I've played with all kinds of beauties, but never a monster this gorgeous! How about a two-for-one today? Wouldn't that be a delight?" Xiang Hui's eyes gleamed with lust as he signaled the other three with a glance.

These four always acted together. With one look from Xiang Hui, the others knew exactly what he meant.

I've been really busy lately, so the chapter's a bit short. I'll try to write more on the weekend!!