Exotic Beast Ranking

Boom! Boom! Boom...

Artillery fire stationed around River City suddenly erupted. In an instant, sky and land became a sea of flames, and countless demon beasts were blasted to death.

Even the few fish that slipped through the net were finished off by the soldiers who surged in afterward.

Fine sprays of blood drifted down like rain, staining the earth dark red. Even beneath the protective barrier cast by Blue Moon, the pungent stench of blood could still be smelled.

After the demon beasts were killed, all kinds of colorful Demon Spirits poured out in a frenzy. Like streaks of rainbow drawn by some mysterious force, they flew into the air.

At that moment, Blue Moon—crescent-shaped, hundreds of meters high, and silver-white from head to toe—resembled a flower about to bloom. A narrow slit opened slightly at the center of its arc, continuously drawing in vast numbers of Demon Spirits.

"They're all low- to mid-level demon beasts." Lin Feng watched the scene calmly.

Demon Spirits were condensations of a demon beast's soul and power after death. Unless sealed within Blue Moon or some special container, they would soon disperse naturally between heaven and earth.

As River City's Guardian Artifact, Blue Moon not only provided everyday protective barriers and surveillance, but also possessed many other functions. Suppression of the beastly nature of Demon Spirits was one of them. However, activating this function consumed enormous amounts of energy, so it was generally only activated on Awakening Day. To continuously provide students with Demon Spirits for refinement, every Base City dispatched large numbers of troops to hunt and encircle demon beasts.

The Qingfeng Mountain Range outside River City was the primary hunting ground.

In his former life, Lin Feng had hunted demon beasts amid endless artillery fire. Faced with this scene, he felt no great emotional stir.

He had long grown accustomed to such sights, unlike the students beside him, whose flushed faces trembled with excitement.

Moreover, he knew that such encirclement and hunting only took place in the outer regions of the Qingfeng Mountain Range. They would not venture deep inside.

The core region of the Qingfeng Mountain Range was crawling with high-level demon beasts, with quite a few King-level demon beasts among them. Even if River City had the strength to encircle them, the casualties would be so devastating that it simply would not be worth it.

Thus, while this scene looked spectacular, it was far inferior to a true demon beast siege, and compared to the nightmare of that City Massacre in his memories, it was not worth mentioning at all.

The demon beasts being blasted to death by artillery were, at most, Fifth-Rank. Even Fifth-Rank demon beasts were rare.

What was truly precious were the Demon Spirits that people had continuously sent into Blue Moon over the past hundred years.

For instance, the Demon Spirits those people on the altar had just delivered were almost all Sixth-Rank or above, with many even reaching Seventh-Rank and Eighth-Rank. The Demon Spirits left behind after a century of sifting through the sands were the true treasures, attainable only by top geniuses.

"Blue Moon has begun suppressing the beastly nature of the Demon Spirits. It should take about ten minutes."

Lin Feng looked at Jiang Chu on the altar, his gaze filled with respect.

As one of River City's guardians, Jiang Chu was not the strongest among them. Yet in that battle, he had been the bravest and most frenzied.

He had been the first guardian to self-destruct toward the young man in white. Though he had failed to harm him, he had inspired everyone else.

"There are too many people. I can't move at all right now."

Withdrawing his gaze, Lin Feng looked around, searching through the crowd for his target!

Every Awakening Day, some geniuses would emerge. This time was naturally no exception.

Or rather...

This Awakening Day was the only exception.

Because this time, a monstrous genius named Ye Qiu had appeared.

This youth named Ye Qiu had reached Body Cultivation Stage Two at ten, Body Cultivation Stage Six at twelve, and Body Cultivation Ninth Stage at fifteen. Such talent fully deserved the title of genius.

And that was only the beginning.

After fusing with his Natal Demon Spirit at sixteen, Ye Qiu's life seemed as though he had activated cheats.

In less than a month, he broke through Body Cultivation Ninth Stage and became a martial artist.

At eighteen, he entered the Fifth-Rank Realm, became captain of Great Wall University's team, led the team in the National Collegiate Glory League, won the championship, and received the title of Most Valuable Glory Player.

By the time he graduated from university at twenty, he had already entered the Seventh-Rank Realm.

At twenty-two, he reached the Ninth-Rank Realm. That same year, River City bestowed upon him the title of Son of the City.

At twenty-three, he successfully underwent Spiritual Energy Baptism and became a Martial King in one leap, entering the ranks of true experts.

Then, only four short years later, when he broke through to the Transcendent level at twenty-seven, the world was shaken.

A Transcendent-level expert!

They were the nation's most powerful armed force, revered as protectors of the nation. Experts of this level enjoyed the reverence and support of the entire population.

It had to be known that since the resurgence of spiritual power, the youngest Transcendent Expert had been forty-two years old. Ye Qiu had advanced that record by a full fifteen years.

Although he tragically fell less than a year after becoming a Transcendent Expert, his brief life had stunned the world with his monstrous talent.

In Lin Feng's view, if Ye Qiu had not died so early, perhaps River City's disaster could have been avoided.

In his previous life, though they had been of the same age, the gap between Lin Feng and Ye Qiu had been like that between a firefly and the radiant moon. Before such a monster, all he could do was look up; even jealousy and envy seemed powerless.

In his previous life, Ye Qiu had shone brilliantly, lofty and untouchable. Countless people had dreamed of reaching the heights he attained.

But today, they stood at the same starting line.

Lin Feng knew that the Demon Spirit Ye Qiu would fuse with this time was a humanoid Demon Spirit—a Fifth-Rank Shadow Demon Spirit.

Demon Spirits were divided into nine ranks, corresponding to the ranks of martial artists.

First-Rank was the lowest, Ninth-Rank the highest!

First- to Third-Rank were low-grade Demon Spirits, Fourth- to Sixth-Rank were mid-grade Demon Spirits, and Seventh- to Ninth-Rank were high-grade Demon Spirits.

A Fifth-Rank Demon Spirit was a mid-grade Demon Spirit. Though it could not compare to a high-grade Demon Spirit, it was still not something an ordinary person could refine.

Yet when Ye Qiu went on to shatter cultivation records throughout the nation, people could not understand why, on Awakening Day at sixteen, he had chosen a mere Fifth-Rank Shadow Demon Spirit.

For Demon Spirit Masters, the number of Demon Spirits they could refine increased along with their strength. But without question, the first Demon Spirit—the Natal Demon Spirit—was the most important.

Demon Spirits also had to advance and grow, which required an enormous investment of resources and time.

A martial artist's Soul Power was limited. Thus, some powerful Demon Spirit Masters were extremely selective about their Natal Demon Spirits; many powerful Demon Spirit Masters cultivated only a single Demon Spirit throughout their lives.

Furthermore, according to the records, Ye Qiu had never used this Shadow Demon Spirit in battle. What he used was a Ninth-Rank Night Elf. His Natal Demon Spirit was only Fifth-Rank, and the two differed not only vastly in rank, but also as far apart as heaven and earth in combat power and innate abilities.

This mystery remained unsolved until the third year after Ye Qiu's death, when his wife was sorting through his belongings at home and discovered a diary. Only then did people learn the truth.

That humanoid Demon Spirit had not been a Shadow Demon Spirit, but a Demon Spirit that had never appeared in any records. Ye Qiu had named it Nightmare.

Nightmare and Shadow Demon Spirits differed little in appearance. Without careful observation, they were difficult to distinguish, which was why no one had discovered it back then.

Demon beasts, too, were divided into nine ranks.

Above Ninth-Rank were the Earth List and Heaven Ranking!

The Earth List recorded 389 demon beasts, whose strength was comparable to Martial Kings among martial artists. The Heaven Ranking contained only 86. Many demon beasts on the Heaven Ranking had already gone extinct, and even those that remained alive were existences feared even by Transcendent Experts.

Beyond the Earth List and Heaven Ranking, there was also an Exotic Beast Ranking. The demon beasts on this list were exceptionally rare. Many were not powerful, but possessed special abilities.

The most famous example was the Gold-Seeking Rat.

By refining its Demon Spirit, one could gain the ability to seek out natural treasures. In some respects, it was even more valuable than Demon Spirits from the Earth List or even the Heaven Ranking.

The Exotic Beast Ranking recorded 67 rare Demon Spirits. After Ye Qiu's death, Nightmare was added to it. Among the 68 Exotic Demon Spirits, it was ranked seventh.

It was an extraordinarily precious and rare Demon Spirit. It possessed no combat power whatsoever; its sole ability was to grant its refiner astonishing comprehension and cultivation speed.

It could turn someone of ordinary aptitude into a genius with monstrous talent in a single leap.

This Demon Spirit was exceedingly evil and was also called an Evil Spirit. While it granted its owner monstrous talent, it would also continuously devour its owner's life force and soul. As one's strength increased, one's lifespan shortened.

The only way to survive was to remain stronger than Nightmare forever.

Refining it meant being pursued by the god of death at every moment.

Ye Qiu's tragic death at only twenty-eight was very likely the result of his soul and life force being completely devoured.

And it was precisely Lin Feng's target this time.

"Whoosh!"

Suddenly, a tremendous roar like a surging tide rose from the sea of people.

Lin Feng looked up and saw that Blue Moon, which had previously revealed only a thin crack of darkness and unfathomable depth, suddenly burst forth with dazzling radiance. The tens of thousands of Demon Spirits accumulated within the artifact surged out madly like a seven-colored rainbow, an awe-inspiring sight.