Stone Statue Giant Monster

"Brother Ming, are we still getting involved with this stone statue monster? Its power is far too terrifying.

Situ Kong from the Sixth Division, and Zhongli Hao from the Immortal Arts Hall—the people behind them are all tough nuts.

With just us brothers, it'll be hard to get any benefit from their hands."

"What kind of talk is that? Could it be that our Third Division is inferior to their Sixth Division?

That Zhongli Hao is only a Qi Refining cultivator. Could inner sect Qi Refining cultivators really be that much stronger than us outer sect disciples?

This stone statue monster has already run out of strength. Don't be afraid."

Kong Ming reassured the group behind him.

In terms of combat strength, the Third Division was indeed the weakest at present.

Other than Kong Ming, the remaining disciples were only at the Mid Qi Refining Stage.

The other two teams each had one Qi Refining Peak cultivator and several Late Qi Refining Stage cultivators holding the line.

Though Kong Ming still put on a brave front, he had already begun to entertain thoughts of retreat.

"The one standing farthest north is Kong Ming, the chief disciple of the outer sect's Third Division. Behind him stand five Qi Refining Stage disciples from the outer sect's Third Division.

To the south are Situ Kong, chief disciple of the Sixth Division, and Zhongli Hao of the Immortal Arts Hall.

Zhongli Hao is considered one of the outstanding Qi Refining disciples in the inner sect. He ranks eighth on the sect's Dragon-Tiger Ranking."

Tao Yan explained them one by one to Dong Lin beside her.

"Dragon-Tiger Ranking? What kind of ranking is that?" Dong Lin looked at Tao Yan in confusion.

"Junior Brother has only been in the sect a short while. Have you not heard of the Dragon-Tiger Ranking?

It is a ranking of prodigies determined by the outer sect and inner sect grand competitions.

It is divided into the Tiger Ranking for the Qi Refining Realm and the Dragon Ranking for the Foundation Establishment Realm.

The sect competition is held once every three years. The last one should have been last year, right? Junior Brother Dong had only just entered the sect then, hadn't he?"

"Mhm, that's right. Because of the sect competition, they were short-handed. My first lesson at the Immortal Arts Hall was even taught by Lian Steward from the First Division."

"What about Captain and the others? Does Senior Sister know their rankings?"

"Senior Brother Gu seemed to be sixth, Brother Tianming twelfth. I didn't pay attention to Senior Brother Zhao, so he might not have been on it.

After all, a year ago, everyone's strength had yet to reach its peak. Junior Brother Dong is fifteen this year, while Senior Brother Zhao and I are sixteen.

Senior Brother Gu and Brother Tianming are seventeen. The two of them should not be far from the Foundation Establishment Realm."

"This Zhongli Hao is on the same level as Brother Chen."

"That was only a year ago. Zhongli Hao is already over twenty and still stuck at the Qi Refining Peak. His talent cannot compare to Senior Brother Gu's."

Dong Lin nodded and looked once more toward the clearing in the distance.

This Stone Statue Giant Monster, which had only just entered the second rank, had been discovered by Zhongli Hao first.

Even with Zhongli Hao's strength, dealing with this second-rank stone monster was somewhat difficult.

So he had gathered four Qi Refining geniuses who, like him, had already joined the inner sect's Immortal Arts Hall while still in the Qi Refining Stage.

Together, they had come to hunt this second-rank stone monster.

The five had fought this thick-skinned, tough-fleshed stone monster for more than two hours. Because of its enormous body,

its movements were slow, and it could do nothing to the five. Yet their attacks also inflicted very limited damage upon it.

At that moment, a group of Sixth Division disciples led by Situ Kong heard the commotion and rushed over as well.

However, after the two teams met, no conflict broke out. Instead, they tacitly joined forces against the stone monster.

With the addition of the Sixth Division group, and under concentrated attacks aimed at fixed points,

the crowd finally used all manner of methods to break through the second-rank stone monster's defenses.

What followed was an utterly shameless group beating, striking a dog that had fallen into the water.

Surrounded and battered in a revolving battle by more than ten people, the stone monster was nearly drained of all its strength and collapsed to the ground.

Just then, the Third Division disciples led by Kong Ming also arrived. Everyone wanted to gain something from this high-rank stone monster.

The situation instantly spiraled out of control. Chaos erupted as they began fighting with spells to contend for it.

Then, with one desperate strike from the stone monster, the three teams immediately separated again, forming a standoff.

"So many people entered the secret realm, yet the chief disciples of the Third and Sixth Divisions ended up so close together.

Running into each other like this really is quite a coincidence.

And Zhongli Hao of the Immortal Arts Hall is also a ruthless character. Among the prodigies of this batch,

nearly half of them have gathered around this stone monster."

Watching the several squads before him, Dong Lin could not help clicking his tongue inwardly.

"Senior Sister Tao, how about we leave first? These waters are a little too muddy. The two of us may not be able to wade through them."

"Mm, it is a bit thorny. Let's go," Tao Yan whispered.

The two slowly rose onto their toes and retreated toward the dense forest behind them.

Suddenly, Dong Lin felt the ground tremble faintly.

"What's going on? Is this an earthquake?"

Dong Lin looked around in confusion, but found nothing unusual.

Only, a wind had suddenly risen.

This strange forest wind grew stronger and wilder in an extremely short time, carrying grains of sand within it.

"Why does the wind in this forest carry sand?"

Dong Lin looked doubtfully at the yellow sand swirling in the wind.

"Yellow sand..."

Dong Lin's pupils contracted. He seemed to realize something and looked toward Tao Yan.

Tao Yan also nodded somewhat incredulously, seemingly agreeing with Dong Lin's guess.

"Could it be those Earth-Element Armored Beasts from the desert?"

The sky began darkening from the south. The violent sandstorm swept across the entire forest almost in an instant.

All the disciples, Dong Lin and Tao Yan included, were swept into this enormous sandstorm.

"That desert is at least thirty or forty li away from here. How could this be?"

Dong Lin vigilantly scanned the surroundings, intending to call Senior Sister Tao and retreat westward together.

Yet at that moment, the group beside the Stone Statue Giant Monster had already fallen into a perilous situation.

The sandstorm obscured everyone's senses, but there were still capable people among the disciples.

One disciple raised a temporary isolation formation, shutting out the wind and sand.

That disciple was Xie Jichuan, an array master from the Immortal Arts Hall.

At a time like this, there was no room to worry about anything else. Xie Jichuan, who was maintaining the formation, hurriedly called for the disciples of the other two teams to enter the formation and shelter from the sandstorm.

Before the crowd could steady themselves, seven or eight black shadows burst from beneath the earth and attacked them.

The disciples were thrown into a flurry, but these Earth-Element Armored Beasts were not particularly strong.

Most of those present could still handle them. The scene was chaotic for a time, but had not yet reached the point of losing control.

The three Qi Refining Peak leaders each displayed exceptionally powerful battlefield control, suppressing these suddenly appearing Earth-Element Armored Beasts.

At that moment, another seven or eight black shadows attacked from the other side. The doubled assault caused everyone's pressure to surge.

Meanwhile, the Stone Statue Giant Monster, which everyone had overlooked, quietly vanished from their sight.

"Not good! Everyone, watch out for the Stone Statue Giant Monster's sneak attack!"

Situ Kong seemed to realize something and warned everyone.

But the disciples, locked in fierce combat with the Earth-Element Armored Beasts, had no mind to attend to anything else.

What no one knew was that, with the cooperation of several Earth-Element Armored Beasts hidden underground, the Stone Statue Giant Monster had already left the area.

And by a strange coincidence, the direction in which they departed was exactly the same as the direction in which Dong Lin and Tao Yan were retreating.

Dong Lin and Tao Yan moved carefully through the sandstorm, but they could vaguely sense that its edge lay just ahead.

The wind around them had gradually begun to weaken.

"We're finally about to get out. I just wonder whether those people inside can still hold on. What if..."

Dong Lin looked back with some concern.

"Don't worry," Tao Yan said. "Golden Core True Persons are patrolling in the sky. Such a huge disturbance here

must have drawn the attention of the Golden Core cultivators long ago.

They certainly would not stand by and watch so many disciples face mortal danger. We only need to take care of ourselves."

"Mm, true."