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 advantage from them."

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

Zhongli Hao is only Qi Refining. Could Inner Sect Qi Refining cultivators really be that much stronger than us Outer Sect disciples?

That Stone Demon has little strength left. Don't be afraid."

Kong Ming reassured the people behind him.

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

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

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

Though Kong Ming was still putting on a brave face, he had already begun to entertain thoughts of retreat.

"The one standing in the far north is Kong Ming, the chief disciple of the Outer Sect Three Divisions. Behind him stand five Qi Refining Stage disciples from the Outer Sect Three Divisions.

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 finest among the Inner Sect's Qi Refining disciples. 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 entered the sect only recently, so you haven't heard of the Dragon-Tiger Ranking?

It is a ranking of prodigies established through the Outer Sect Grand Tournament and the Inner Sect Grand Tournament.

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

The sect tournament 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."

"Mhm, that's right. Because of the sect tournament, 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? Do you know their rankings, Senior Sister?"

"Senior Brother Gu seemed to be sixth, Brother Tianming twelfth. I didn't pay attention to Senior Brother Zhao, so he may 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 in his twenties, yet he is still stuck at 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 first by Zhongli Hao.

With Zhongli Hao's strength, it was still somewhat difficult for him to handle this Second Rank Stone Demon.

So he gathered four Qi Refining genius disciples who had likewise joined the Inner Sect's Immortal Arts Hall while still at the Qi Refining Stage.

Together, they hunted this Second Rank Stone Demon.

The five had battled this thick-skinned, tough-fleshed Stone Demon for more than two hours. Because of its enormous body,

its movements were sluggish, and it could do nothing to the five of them. Yet their attacks inflicted only limited damage on it as well.

At that time, a group of Sixth Division disciples led by Situ Kong arrived after hearing the commotion.

However, after the two groups met, no conflict broke out. Instead, they tacitly joined forces against the Stone Demon.

With the Sixth Division's people joining in and launching concentrated attacks at fixed points,

the Second Rank Stone Demon's defenses were finally broken through by the crowd using all manner of methods.

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

Surrounded and worn down in a rotating battle by more than a dozen people, the Stone Demon was nearly drained of strength and collapsed onto the ground.

At that moment, Kong Ming and the Third Division disciples also arrived. Everyone wanted to gain something from this high-rank Stone Demon.

The situation immediately spiraled out of control, becoming a tangled mess as they fought one another with spells.

Then, with the Stone Demon's desperate strike, the three groups immediately separated again and formed a standoff.

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

They happened to run into each other. What a coincidence.

And Zhongli Hao of the Immortal Arts Hall is no soft opponent either. It feels like nearly half of this batch's prodigies

have gathered around this Stone Demon."

Dong Lin looked at the several groups before him and secretly clicked his tongue.

"Senior Sister Tao, how about we leave first? The water here is a little too muddy. The two of us probably can't wade through it."

"Mm, it is a little 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, the wind had suddenly risen.

This Aberration of a forest wind grew stronger and more violent in an extremely short time, carrying grains of sand within it.

"Why is there sand in the wind inside this forest?"

Dong Lin looked at the yellow sand blowing through the wind in confusion.

"Yellow sand..."

Dong Lin's pupils contracted as though he had realized something, and he looked at Tao Yan.

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

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

The sky began to darken gradually from the south. The violent sandstorm swept through the entire forest almost instantly,

and all the disciples, including Dong Lin and Tao Yan, were swept into the massive sandstorm.

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

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

Meanwhile, the people beside the Stone Statue Giant Monster had already fallen into an extremely dangerous situation.

The wind and sand blocked everyone's senses, but there were capable people among the disciples.

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

That disciple was Xie Jichuan, a formation master from the Immortal Arts Hall.

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

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

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

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

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

At that moment, another seven or eight dark shadows attacked from the other side, and the multiplied assault made the pressure on everyone surge.

Meanwhile, the Stone Statue Giant Monster 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 have realized something and warned everyone.

But the disciples, locked in fierce combat with the Earth-Element Armored Beasts, had no attention to spare for 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 twist of fate, the direction it left in was exactly the same as the direction Dong Lin and Tao Yan were retreating.

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

The wind around them was gradually weakening.

"We're finally getting 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. With such a huge commotion here,

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

They certainly will not stand by and watch so many disciples fall into mortal danger. We only need to look after ourselves."

"Mm, true."