Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road

Su Xuan stood suspended in the air, azure streams of water rippling behind her. With her robes fluttering, she looked like a goddess of water listening to the prayers of her followers.

Splash...

Faintly, Liu Bai seemed to hear the sound of ocean waves.

The next moment, he saw a mermaid with dragon horns emerging from the azure waters behind Su Xuan!

"This is..." Liu Bai rapidly searched through the information in his mind regarding the strange Spirit Beast races of the Great Thousand World and quickly found the relevant details.

"A Sea Spirit Merman? It ranks twenty-fifth on the Earth Ranking. This kind of semi-humanoid Spirit Beast is incredibly rare. Though its ranking falls short of the Nine Nether Sparrow, its rarity rivals that of a Divine Beast. I never expected the Spirit Beast Core Su Xuan fused with to belong to such a creature."

The Sea Spirit Merman was born as water's favored child, possessing exceptionally powerful water-controlling abilities, not even inferior to certain water-element Divine Beasts. Su Xuan, having fused with a Sea Spirit Merman core, had inherited that same ability.

What a pity. If he could obtain the Sea Spirit Merman core, he would no longer need to worry about finding a water-element core in the future. After all, this Spirit Beast possessed a trace of Dragon Clan bloodline. With his system's abilities, perhaps it could evolve into something even more powerful.

He shook his head regretfully.

Compared to the shock brought by the Sea Spirit Merman, the fact that Su Xuan had revealed cultivation at the initial Heaven Fusion Realm was perfectly normal.

Even someone like Zhou Fan had already broken through to the Heaven Fusion Realm. Naturally, people like Li Xuantong and Su Xuan, whose talents far surpassed his, could not possibly have lower cultivation than him.

After the Sea Spirit Merman appeared, Su Xuan's spiritual energy aura surged once more, faintly reaching the point where it could suppress the Snow Demon Beast.

Upon sensing that aura, the Snow Demon Beast immediately felt an overwhelming sense of danger. Its struggles intensified in an instant. With a lowered head, it bit through the Demon Vine around its neck at the roots, while cracks began appearing along the vines binding its limbs.

"Not good! It's about to break free!" Guo Xiong immediately shouted a warning. He sprang forward and brought the Black Gold Hammer raised in his hands crashing down on the Snow Demon Beast's forehead with a mountain-splitting strike.

Boom!

A deep, muffled impact rang out, and Guo Xiong nearly lost his grip on the Black Gold Hammer.

The Snow Demon Beast was also dazed by the heavy blow, but at the critical moment, it violently flung its head and sent Guo Xiong flying.

"Pfft!"

The terrifying force struck him, and Guo Xiong felt as though he had been hit by lightning. He spat out a mouthful of blood.

His entire body shot through the air and slammed against an ice wall a thousand meters away. The violent collision made him feel as if every bone in his body were about to shatter.

Liu Bai frowned slightly. The finishing move Su Xuan had prepared was undoubtedly terrifying, but if they could not stop the Snow Demon Beast before then, everything would end in failure!

He did not hesitate for long. The next moment, Liu Bai decided to go all out!

Spirit Seals flew from his hands once again. Compared to the mere thirty-odd from before, this time there were a full fifty, not one less!

"Demon Vine Strangling Array, emerge!"

A Spirit Array covering half the ice valley instantly formed. Massive Demon Vines three or four times thicker than before burst through the ice. In the blink of an eye, they pinned the Snow Demon Beast, which had been about to escape, to the ground. No matter how it struggled, it could not even lift its head for the moment.

This time, it was not merely its limbs and neck that were restrained. Two Demon Vines tightly pressed down on its huge body as well, forcing the Snow Demon Beast's entire body flat against the ground.

This sudden turn of events delighted Li Jing. Though she had no idea why the Demon Vines had suddenly become so powerful, with them holding it down, the Snow Demon Beast could forget about escaping!

"Tidal Sea Spirit!"

Even Su Xuan's usually gentle voice carried a trace of icy killing intent.

At her call, azure waves surged forth. Within those waves, a sea spirit wielding a trident could vaguely be seen charging viciously toward the Snow Demon Beast.

Boom!

Endless waves crashed into the Snow Demon Beast.

In an instant, Liu Bai felt the Demon Vines summoned by his array being destroyed by the terrifying impact of the waves.

As for the Snow Demon Beast, which bore the full force of the waves, it was directly crushed beneath the icy ground by the immense pressure. A trident condensed entirely from Sea Spirit True Water pierced through its body, grievously wounding the giant beast in an instant.

When the surging waves vanished into the depths of the ice valley, a snow-white giant beast on the verge of death appeared before Liu Bai and the others.

Li Jing raised her hand, ready to finish off the Snow Demon Beast...

But Liu Bai raised a hand to stop her.

"Watch out for a final counterattack. Let me do it!"

Seeing the grave expression on Liu Bai's face, Li Jing did not argue. After all, she could not be certain whether the massive creature before them had truly lost its ability to resist or was merely feigning death to launch a counterattack...

Since Liu Bai had said so, he naturally could not simply walk up as Li Jing had intended. Spirit Seals flew from his hands again, and before long, the Second-Grade Spirit Array, the Five Wheel Sky Splitting Array, had taken shape. Then five golden wheels, shrieking as they tore through the air, severed the Snow Demon Beast's head.

Immediately afterward, the system notification sounded in Liu Bai's ears.

"Ding! Congratulations, player, for Level-Skipping and killing the Heaven Tier Spirit Beast Snow Demon Beast. You have received 10,500 Experience Points and 15 Beast Soul Points!"

What a wonderful sound!

With those Experience Points and Beast Soul Points alone, this hunting expedition had not been a loss for him.

As for the spiritual energy of the Snow Demon Beast's Spirit Beast Core and its corpse, they were given to Su Xuan, Guo Xiong, and the others. This had been agreed upon long ago.

After fusing with the Snow Demon Beast's core, Li Jing should be able to break through to the peak of the Divine Soul Realm. He just wondered whether she could reach the Heaven Fusion Realm before Northern Cang Hall appeared...

"Clean up. We should leave as well..."

After Guo Xiong and the other two divided up the Snow Demon Beast's body, while Su Xuan absorbed the spiritual energy from its Spirit Beast Core and raised her mark directly to the eighth level, Liu Bai spoke.

Next, he planned to seek out trouble with those high-grade demonic beasts and accumulate as much experience as possible before the assessment ended.

But before he could finish, Su Xuan paused slightly. Then, with a serious expression, she said, "Ling'er has sent word. Someone has entered the ice valley, and the leader appears to be King Zhou, Zhou Fan!"

"Zhou Fan? Is it those people from Zhou Gang?" Guo Xiong asked, rubbing his chest with a still-pale face.

Li Jing's expression did not change as she said, "It does not matter. We have already killed the Snow Demon Beast. Even if they have come, they have come for nothing!"

Although Zhou Gang had quite a few members, faced with Su Xuan's team, the other side presumably would not dare act unreasonably.

Among those present, Liu Bai was likely the only one who felt slightly awkward. His skin was still too thin, after all. Meeting the rightful victim he had swindled inevitably stirred up the tiniest trace of guilt.

Of course, that was all it was.

When the bustling crowd from Zhou Gang arrived and saw Li Jing's group, who had already cleaned up even the battlefield, their expressions changed at once.

"Su Xuan?!" Zhou Fan, standing at the front of the crowd in black robes, exuded an imposing aura. There was no trace of the savage fury he had displayed when the Northern Nether Golden Patterned Eagle had been stolen from him.

"I did not expect the Heavenly Beast in Ice Valley to have caught King Su's eye. Had I known earlier, I would not have wasted my time making this trip."

Zhou Fan wore a calm smile, maintaining his composure in the face of a woman as talented and beautiful as Su Xuan.

"You flatter me, King Zhou. I merely arrived a step earlier. But with Zhou Gang's strength, I imagine finding the traces of a Heavenly Beast is no difficult matter. You need not care about this one," Su Xuan said gently. Yet among the several hundred members of Zhou Gang, not one dared underestimate this gentle young woman.

Zhou Fan's gaze swept over Li Jing and the others. He found that their strength could only be considered ordinary, yet Su Xuan had brought just these few useless companions and still managed to kill a Heavenly Beast. Her strength was plain to see.

But when his gaze fell upon Liu Bai, it froze instantly...

Back atop that snowy mountain, Liu Bai had used the Five Wheel Sky Splitting Array to hold off Zhou Gang's people. Naturally, his appearance had been remembered by them. Now that they met again, it was truly a case of enemies meeting on a narrow road.

Seeing the sudden change in expression on the faces of Zhou Fan and several members of Zhou Gang, Su Xuan, Li Jing, and the others were all baffled. They did not understand why Zhou Fan, who had been smiling moments ago, had suddenly changed his face.

"King Su, I, Zhou Fan, arrived a step too late regarding the Heavenly Beast today, so let us leave the matter at that. But I hope you will give me some face in what comes next and refrain from interfering!"

"What do you intend to do?" Su Xuan asked, her delicate brows slightly furrowed in confusion.

Zhou Fan looked past the others at Liu Bai and sneered. "What happened to the courage you had when you single-handedly stopped several hundred members of Zhou Gang? Have you now become a coward who only dares hide behind women?"

Su Xuan and the others were all shaken by his words, their gazes turning toward the figure standing behind them.

Liu Bai smiled faintly and slowly stepped forward.

"Hide? Perhaps there are indeed people in the Northern Cang Realm I need to avoid, but you are definitely not among them..."

"Hahaha, good! Arrogant enough!" Zhou Fan did not become angry. Instead, he burst out laughing.

"I am very curious what you are relying on. Your cultivation? With your mere Divine Soul Realm Late Stage cultivation, you have nothing to be proud of before me. Or is it your identity as a Spirit Array Master?"

"A Second-Grade Spirit Array Master may be king among those in the Divine Soul Realm, but before a Heaven Fusion Realm expert, you are nothing more than a joke..."

Liu Bai agreed with that statement. A Second-Grade Spirit Array Master truly could not defeat a Heaven Fusion Realm expert. Even Liu Bai would not have time to set up an array when facing a Heaven Fusion Realm expert. He needed strength capable of confronting them head-on.

"Whether I am a joke or not, you can try it yourself."

Liu Bai remained calm. After all, he was not a Second-Grade Spirit Array Master.

"Then let me see exactly what you are relying on!"

Cold light surged in Zhou Fan's eyes. He took a step forward, and his vast spiritual energy erupted in full. The resulting shockwave shattered all the loose stones around him into powder.

A trace of worry flashed across Li Jing's face, and she was about to step forward to help.

But Su Xuan swiftly stopped her and shook her head.

"This is a battle between Zhou Fan and Liu Bai. If you intervene, then against Zhou Gang's several hundred people, Liu Bai's situation will only become worse!"

Su Xuan transmitted her voice to Li Jing with spiritual energy.

"Besides, do you really think this is all the strength Liu Bai possesses?"

Seeing Li Jing's astonished expression, Su Xuan smiled inwardly and said calmly, "Watch. It is still difficult to say who will win this battle..."

At the same time, Zhou Fan took another step forward, and the ground seemed to tremble. He then threw out a punch. A crack split open in the ground beneath the force of his fist, shooting toward Liu Bai with lightning speed.

Liu Bai's expression turned solemn. Dark spiritual energy surged from his palm as he struck out, meeting the fierce incoming fist wind with a palm strike.

Bang!

A spiritual energy shockwave erupted, shaking countless cracks across the ground. Those Zhou Gang members standing too close were sent flying.

The moment they clashed, Liu Bai felt a terrifying force travel through his right hand, directly sending him flying backward.

The gap between Divine Soul Realm Late Stage and initial Heaven Fusion Realm was simply too great. Had Liu Bai not possessed the Kirin Arm, and had the Senluo Death Seal not been such a fierce and domineering spiritual technique, that strike would not merely have sent him flying.

"You only have this much skill, yet you dare be so proud?"

Zhou Fan's eyes were cold. "Use all your abilities. Otherwise, you will not even have another chance to attack."

Clearly, from beginning to end, Zhou Fan had never taken Liu Bai seriously. If he had any reservations, it was only against Liu Bai's array-setting methods. But in a face-to-face battle like this, how could he possibly be given an opportunity to set up an array?

"Great Sun Sea Burning Palm!"

Liu Bai naturally did not hold back. With a raise of his hand, he unleashed one of his strongest Attack Spiritual Arts.

A blazing great sun rose into the sky. Even within Ice Valley, everyone could feel the heat wildly spreading from it. Even the solid ice showed signs of melting.

"Now this is somewhat interesting..."

Facing the terrifying great sun overhead, Zhou Fan showed no concern whatsoever. Instead, he nodded in satisfaction, as though only an attack of this level was worthy of making him act.

At this point, Li Jing, Guo Xiong, and the others wore looks of astonishment.

"I never expected Brother Liu Bai's own combat strength to be so formidable. I thought he was simply a Spirit Array Master who specialized in arrays..."

Guo Xiong's words voiced the thoughts in everyone's heart. Only Su Xuan had glimpsed a tiny portion of the truth... During their fierce battle against the Snow Demon Beast earlier, those terrifying Demon Vines that had completely pinned down even the Snow Demon Beast could never have been produced by a Second-Grade Spirit Array.

Clearly, Liu Bai had been concealing his strength. And judging by the combat power he was displaying now, he had concealed quite a lot...