In a pile of rubble less than a mile from Chu Bai’s battlefield, a figure was in a wretched state.
The number one student of Class Nine, Jin Changyu.
This prodigy, who was usually the picture of magnificence, now had his once-neatly bound long hair in disarray. The green cape on his back was mostly scorched away, revealing the faintly glowing Protective Armor beneath.
The long halberd in his hand trembled slightly—not from fear, but from the exhaustion of a prolonged flight.
"Damn it! How is anyone supposed to kill these damn things?" Jin Changyu cursed under his breath.
A Fireworks Wolf was in relentless pursuit right behind him.
Not only were these monsters incredibly fast, but the gray smoke they spat out also had powerful tracking properties.
Jin Changyu specialized in long weapons and wide, sweeping attacks, making him particularly vulnerable to this kind of relentless, draining pursuit.
He had planned to secure his rank by hunting Qi Cultivation First Layer Demon Beasts, but he never imagined that Dean Su would set a fire that turned the entire Spirit Realm into a hunting ground for creatures at the Qi Cultivation Second Layer and above.
’I can’t fight it head-on. I need to find a place with abundant Spiritual Qi to recover.’
Jin Changyu gritted his teeth and executed a Body Technique, transforming into a blurry afterimage as he fled into the distance.
It wasn’t that he couldn’t defeat the Fireworks Wolf, but he feared that if he got bogged down in a fight, it would never end.
He was known for his speed, not his skill in direct combat. He had achieved his current rank by picking off weaker targets along the way; how could he be willing to give that up so easily?
Originally, Jin Changyu had planned to use his speed to avoid the high-level combatants and hunt some Qi Cultivation First Layer Demon Beasts on the outskirts to secure his rank.
But he never expected that these beasts, having inhaled the Earth Smoke Fire, would develop some kind of coordinated hunting instinct. Once you were targeted, they wouldn’t stop until you were dead.
’White light... another flash of white light.’
As Jin Changyu watched the continuous flashes of teleportation light in the distance, his heart filled with despair.
But when he took a closer look at one of the flashes, his blood ran cold.
’How could there be a corpse on the field?!’
Before Jin Changyu could get a good look, the figure turned to ash in the next instant, and the Shadow Beast beside it turned its gaze toward him.
Now targeted by another Shadow Beast, Jin Changyu knew he was no match for it and had no choice but to flee immediately.
’What is going on?’
’I must have seen it wrong. The smoke is obscuring my vision, visibility is too low...’
The thought had barely crossed his mind when a roar from behind forced him to speed up once more.
Meanwhile, Chu Bai stood before the dissipating remains of the giant rhino, panting heavily.
That one move, Hundred Needles United, had drained nearly sixty percent of the Magical Power in his Qi Sea. Anyone else would have likely collapsed from exhaustion, but he was different.
Chu Bai took a prepared Pill and some food from his Storage Bag. He paid no mind to the taste, simply stuffing them into his mouth and chewing voraciously.
[Acquired Fate Chart: Nourishing and Exquisite]
As his stomach began to churn, the energy converted from the food instantly erupted within him.
At the same time, Chu Bai began his Breath Regulation, boldly drawing the surrounding scorching Spiritual Qi—laced with trace amounts of fire poison—into his meridians.
Through his Spiritual Sense, he perceived the Guiyuan Technique acting like a precise and powerful millstone. The impurities from the smoke Dean Su had released, far from harming his meridians, were instead being ground down, becoming a Sharpening Stone that tempered his Spiritual Power.
In just a few moments, his Spiritual Power had recovered to eighty percent.
This terrifying regenerative ability left Dean Su and Zhou Changkong, who had been watching him the entire time, utterly dumbfounded.
"Old Zhou... this kid, is that a stomach or an Alchemy Furnace?"
Dean Su muttered to himself. He had seen plenty of powerhouses, but he’d never seen a mere Qi Cultivation Second Layer rookie instantly refill his Spiritual Power just by eating some food in such an extreme environment.
"This boy... he was born for this," was all Zhou Changkong could say in response, unable to hide the relief and shock in his eyes.
Just then, the Lingxi Mark on Chu Bai’s brow flashed violently, its golden light exceptionally brilliant against the gray smoke.
[Current Points: 2460]
[Current Rank: 2nd Place]
The point reward for slaying the projection of a Qi Cultivation Second Layer Demon Beast was surprisingly high.
Chu Bai glanced at the first-place ranking. It was still that student from Class Two, Dong Feng, who remained in the lead with over 2,800 points.
’The killing efficiency of a Dharma Artifact is indeed higher than mine.’
Chu Bai wasn’t surprised.
Dong Feng’s Golden Scale Armor allowed him to ignore most attacks, letting him focus entirely on mowing down his enemies.
But Chu Bai wasn’t in a hurry. He simply continued to recover where he stood.
’At this rate, my combat power will be fully restored in a few moments. I’m uninjured, so if I can slay another Second-Layer Shadow Beast, I can definitely take first place.’
As the last rays of the setting sun vanished behind blood-red clouds, the Cyan Prison Spirit Realm revealed its most terrifying aspect.
The toxicity of the Earth Smoke Fire doubled under the cover of night.
The Fireworks Beasts, originally scattered about, seemed to receive some kind of command. They began to spontaneously form packs and close in from the edges of the Spirit Realm toward the center in a sweeping encirclement.
The students’ room for maneuver shrank accordingly.
The gray smoke grew incredibly thick, even beginning to obscure Divine Sense.
Chu Bai stood up, his gaze locked on a spot less than a few hundred yards away.
He could sense killing intent from that direction.
From the depths of the gray fog, which was so thick it felt solid, came the sound of frantic footsteps and suppressed panting.
Accompanied by the muffled thud of a collapsing Magic Technique, several wretched figures came stumbling and rushing in his direction.
And behind them, two massive, fifty-foot-tall gray shadows were in hot pursuit, brandishing giant claws formed from fire and Evil Qi.
’Cooperation is forbidden in this assessment...’
’So I don’t have to worry about them ganging up on me. I do, however, need to be careful of the Shadow Beasts behind them.’
’I’ll assess the situation before making a move.’
Chu Bai pressed his fingertips together, a faint blue water-light gathering there, ready to be unleashed.
His vision was a sea of gray. Chu Bai stood atop a broken stone beam, the Spiritual Power around him pulsing silently, like the waters of a deep spring.
"Over there."
Chu Bai’s brow furrowed. At the edge of his perception, several figures were madly racing in his direction, their rapid movement tearing through the air.
The first to appear was a streak of pale green light, moving as fast as lightning and tearing a path through the gray fog.
It was Jin Changyu, the top student of Class Nine. Chu Bai knew of him, but they had never spoken.
His Bronze Long Halberd showed no sign of battle readiness; instead, he held it horizontally behind him for balance. His feet barely touched the ground as he leaped continuously across the treacherous, rocky terrain.
Fleeing side-by-side behind Jin Changyu were Dong Feng and Lin Xuewei.
Dong Feng had long since lost his earlier swagger. The treasured light of his Dharma Artifacts flickered erratically, a clear sign that his Spiritual Power was nearly depleted.
Lin Xuewei was in an even more pathetic state. Her snow-white, gossamer Daoist Robe was stained with scorched blood, and she continuously shot out faint wisps of cold air from her fingertips, trying to slow the pursuers behind them.
Behind the three of them was another student, an unfamiliar face Chu Bai had never seen before.
The student’s face was a mask of terror, his Magical Power in complete disarray. He was desperately squeezing the last dregs of power from his Dantian, staggering to keep up with the others.
"Brother Chu! Brother Chu, help me!"

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