Boom boom boom...
The artillery surrounding Jiang City suddenly roared, turning the sky and land into a sea of fire, annihilating countless demon beasts.
Even if some managed to escape, they were quickly dealt with by the soldiers who followed.
The drifting blood threads fell like fine rain, staining the ground a dark red. Even with the protective shield released by the [Blue Moon], the pungent smell of blood was still noticeable.
After the demon beasts were killed, various colorful demon spirits crazily surged out, like rainbows being drawn by a mysterious force, flying into the sky.
At this moment, the crescent-shaped, hundred-meter-tall, silver-white [Blue Moon] was like a flower bud about to bloom, revealing a slight gap from the center of the arc, through which numerous demon spirits were continuously being sucked in.
"All just mid and low-level demon beasts," Lin Feng calmly observed this scene.
Demon spirits are the aggregation of the soul and power of demon beasts after death. Unless sealed within the [Blue Moon] or some special container, they quickly dissipate into the atmosphere.
As the guardian divine artifact of Jiang City, besides providing daily protective shields and monitoring functions, [Blue Moon] has many uses, one being the suppression of the beastly nature of demon spirits, but activating this requires a massive amount of energy, generally only done on Awakening Day. To continuously supply students with demon spirits for refinement, each base city dispatches large military forces to hunt and eliminate demon beasts.
The Cyan Peak Mountain Range outside Jiang City is the primary hunting ground.
In the past, Lin Feng hunted demon beasts amidst endless artillery fire, so facing this scene now, he remained unfazed.
Such sights have become commonplace for him, unlike his classmates nearby, who were flushed and trembling with excitement.
Moreover, he knew that such siege hunting was limited to the outer areas of the Cyan Peak Mountain Range, and wouldn't go deeper within.
In the core area of the Cyan Peak Mountain Range, advanced demon beasts are everywhere, even many king-level demon beasts, and even though Jiang City has the capability to hunt them, doing so would result in heavy casualties and not be worthwhile.
Therefore, although the scene looked impressive, it was far from a real siege by demon beasts, and not worth mentioning compared to the massacre nightmare in his memory.
The demon beasts bombarded by the artillery were at most fifth grade, even fifth-grade demon beasts were quite rare.
The truly precious ones are the demon spirits continually sent into the [Blue Moon] over these hundred years.
For instance, the demon spirits those people just offered on the altar were almost all sixth grade or above, many even reaching seventh and eighth grade, and those demon spirits that have survived through the trials of a hundred years are the true treasures, unattainable by anyone but top-level geniuses.
"Now [Blue Moon] begins to suppress the beastliness of the demon spirits, which will take about ten minutes."
Lin Feng looked at Jiang Chu on the altar, his gaze full of respect.
As one of the guardians of Jiang City, Jiang Chu's strength wasn't the strongest among guardians, but in that battle, he performed the most bravely and wildly.
He was the first to self-destruct against the youth in white, and though he did no harm, it inspired everyone.
"Too many people, it's impossible to move now."
Retracting his gaze, Lin Feng looked around, searching in the crowd for his target!
Every Awakening Day brings out some geniuses, and this time was no exception.
Or perhaps...
This Awakening Day might just be the only exception.
Because this time, a demon fiend named Ye Qiu appeared.
This boy named Ye Qiu, at ten years old, was second rank body cultivator; at twelve, sixth rank body cultivator; at fifteen, ninth rank body cultivator. Such talent truly deserves the title of genius.
And this is just the beginning.
At sixteen, after fusing with his lifebound demon spirit, Ye Qiu's life seemed to take off.
In less than a month, he broke through the ninth rank of body cultivation to become a martial artist.
At eighteen, he reached fifth grade, became the captain of the Great Wall University team, led the team to national college glory league, won the championship, and was titled the most valuable glory player.
When he graduated at twenty, he had already stepped into the seventh grade realm.
At twenty-two, reached the ninth grade, and that year, was awarded the title of Son of the City by Jiang City.
At twenty-three, succeeded in his spiritual qi baptism, becoming a martial king, and entered the ranks of truly distinguished individuals.
Shortly after, within four years, at twenty-seven, he broke through to extraordinary, shocking the world.
Extraordinary level!
That's the strongest armed force of the nation, revered as a nation-stabilizing powerhouse, and such a powerhouse enjoys the reverence and tribute of the entire nation.
It should be known, since the recovery of spiritual power, the youngest previously extraordinary powerhouse was forty-two; Ye Qiu surpassed this by fifteen years.
Though becoming an extraordinary powerhouse, he unfortunately perished within a year, yet his short life, with a demonic potential, stunned the world.
In Lin Feng's view, if Ye Qiu hadn't perished prematurely, perhaps the disaster in Jiang City could have been averted.
In the previous life, although peers, the gap between Lin Feng and Ye Qiu was like fireflies compared to the moon, facing such a demon fiend only to look up to, even jealousy and envy were powerless.
In the past life, Ye Qiu's brilliance was high and unattainable, countless people fantasized about reaching such heights.
But today, they start on the same footing.
Lin Feng knew that the demon spirit Ye Qiu fused this time was a human silhouette form, a fifth grade shadow demon spirit.
Demon spirits are divided into nine grades, corresponding to a martial artist's grade.
First grade is the lowest, ninth grade is the highest!
Grades one to three are basic-level demon spirits, four to six are intermediate demon spirits, seven to nine are advanced demon spirits.
A fifth-grade demon spirit is a middle-grade demon spirit, though it doesn't reach advanced, it isn't one an ordinary person could refine.
But as Ye Qiu shattered historical cultivation records nationwide, people doubted why on his Awakening Day at sixteen, he chose merely a fifth-grade shadow demon spirit.
You should know, for a demon spirit master, with increasing strength, the number of demon spirits they can refine increases, but undeniably, the first demon spirit, the lifebound demon spirit, is most important.
Demon spirits also need to advance and grow, requiring massive resources and time.
A martial artist's soul power is limited; therefore, some powerful demon spirit masters are extremely picky about their lifebound demon spirit, with many cultivating only one in their lifetime.
And according to records, when Ye Qiu fought others, he never used this shadow demon spirit, he used a ninth grade dark night elf, while his lifebound demon spirit was merely fifth grade, the difference in grade alone was vast, and in combat power and innate ability, it was worlds apart.
This riddle remained a mystery until three years after Ye Qiu's death, when his wife found a diary while sorting his belongings, revealing the truth.
That human-shaped demon spirit wasn't a shadow demon spirit, but a never-before-seen demon spirit named Nightmare by Ye Qiu.
Nightmares and shadow demon spirits appear similar in appearance, unless closely examined, they're hard to distinguish, hence why it went unnoticed initially.
And demon beasts are divided into nine grades.
Above nine grades are the Celestial and Two Earth Charts!
The Earth Chart records 389 demon beasts, equivalent in power to martial kings among martial artists, while the Celestial Chart has only 86, and many of the celestial-charted demon beasts are extinct, even if alive, they're feared even by extraordinary powerhouses.
Beyond the Celestial and Two Earth Charts, there exists the Exotic Beast Chart, where demon beasts are extremely rare, many are not strong, but possess special abilities.
Such as the famous Gold-seeking Rat.
The demon spirit refined from it grants the ability to find treasures of heaven and earth, in some ways even more precious than those on the Earth Chart, or even the Celestial Chart.
The Exotic Beast Chart records 67 precious demon spirits, and after Ye Qiu's death, Nightmare was also recorded, ranked seventh among the 68 exotic beast spirits.
This is an extremely rare and precious demon spirit, lacking combat power, but with the sole ability to endow the refiner with extraordinary insight and cultivation speed.
It can turn an ordinary aptitude person into a genius with demonic potential.
This demon spirit is extremely evil, also referred to as an evil spirit, for besides granting demonic potential to its owner, it continuously devours the life force and soul of its host, and as strength increases, lifespan decreases.
The only way to survive is to always be stronger than the Nightmare.
Refining it means being constantly pursued by death.
Ye Qiu's unfortunate demise at the young age of twenty-eight might very well have been due to his soul and life force being wholly consumed.
And it, is Lin Feng's target this time.
"Swoosh!"
Suddenly, the crowd let out a huge wave-like sound.
Lin Feng looked up to see the once slightly-gapped, deep-black [Blue Moon] suddenly burst into dazzling light, and within the divine artifact, thousands of demon spirits surged out like a seven-colored rainbow, exceptionally breathtaking.