Hai Bodong had no interest in exchanging pleasantries.
He was, after all, a Great Elder of Boundless Heavenly Hall now. His schedule was packed.
"Profound Ice Kill."
The air around him crystallized. Ice—countless shards, each razor-sharp—coalesced into a raging torrent that surged toward Yuan Yi.
The Two-Star Dou Huang's face went white.
His hand plunged into his storage ring, frantically retrieving defensive treasures. Amulet after amulet. Talisman after talisman.
Crush. Activate. Pray.
The Profound Ice torrent crashed against the light shields.
One treasure shattered. Then another. Then another.
Under the relentless assault, his reserves evaporated.
And then—the shields were gone.
The ice found flesh.
It carved. It cut. It froze.
Yuan Yi's blood, before it could even flow, crystallized within his wounds.
When the torrent finally ceased, a block of ice hung suspended in the air—and within it, the frozen form of the Eight Gates City Lord.
Then, inexorably, the ice fell.
CRASH.
Bai Ya's battlefield was less a battle and more a slaughter.
His opponents were mere Dou Wangs.
He was equivalent to an Eight-Star Dou Huang.
A wolf among sheep. A shark in a pond of minnows.
"DON'T KILL ME! Kill them! Why are you chasing me?!"
"I have body odour! Athlete's foot! I don't taste good!"
"DON'T EAT ME—I just urinated! I've been consuming too much heaty food lately, my qi is unbalanced, my bowel movements are irregular—I'm disgusting!"
"I'LL BE YOUR HUMAN SLAVE! Spare my life and you can do ANYTHING to me!"
A heavily made-up woman among them even winked at Bai Ya.
Then she pulled open the front of her dress, revealing half her ample bosom.
Bai Ya paused mid-air.
His expression shifted to one of profound disgust.
These people… are they trying to make me vomit?
The Dou Wangs, sensing his hesitation, redoubled their pleas.
The female Dou Wang even flapped her wings and flew toward him, her "surging aura" preceding her approach.
The surrounding students erupted.
"That woman has no shame! She deserves to die!"
"Is this… interspecies romance?!"
"Such a surging aura! This is exciting!"
The women's faces contorted with disgust. A small subset of the men, however, had very different focal points.
Bai Ya watched the woman approach.
Then his tail swung.
CRACK—
The massive appendage made intimate contact with her body.
Under that overwhelming force, her form simply… atomized.
A fine mist of blood hung briefly in the air, then dissipated.
"What kind of trash are you?"
Bai Ya's voice was flat, utterly unimpressed.
"Do you even deserve my favour?"
He didn't spare the blood mist a second glance.
His form shot toward the remaining Dou Wangs.
"Since you are all so filthy—I shall become this world's sanitation worker."
A pause.
"Lest you defile this realm further."
The Dou Wangs stared at him.
Sanitation… worker?
What is that?
Now was not the time for questions.
They scattered—fleeing in every direction, desperate, panicked.
Sanitation worker. Bai Ya had heard the term while Xiao Jietian was telling stories.
Sometimes, when he performed well on missions, his master would permit him to rampage freely through the Black-Corner Region. Occasionally, he would use this opportunity to listen to stories.
Listening to stories is secondary, he thought. The main thing is to show my face. Let my master see me. So when benefits are distributed, he might remember me and grant a reward.
Just like that other stinky snake of my master's. Always showing off. And now it's already reached the peak of the Fifth Tier.
Envious. So envious.
The dust settled.
A figure emerged from the dissipating haze.
Xiao Jietian.
At his feet lay a corpse, eyes wide open in eternal, uncomprehending shock.
Old Eagle Claw.
His arms were gone. Blood still pulsed from the severed stumps, staining the earth beneath him a deep, spreading crimson.
A long halberd had been plunged through his chest.
Xiao Jietian withdrew it.
Blood gushed.
He flicked the halberd once—twice. The crimson droplets scattered from blade and crescent. The weapon gleamed coldly under the sun.
"Holy sh*t."
"That old man was a Six-Star Dou Huang. And Xiao Jietian just… killed him?!"
"What cultivation is he? Is he already a Dou Huang?!"
Lin Xiuya's composure cracked.
He turned to Han Yue, his voice urgent.
"Junior Sister Han Yue. Do you know Xiao Jietian's true cultivation?"
All eyes turned toward her.
Han Yue's face glowed with barely concealed pride.
"I do not know," she said. "I never asked."
A pause.
"If you wish to know, you may inquire directly with him."
Lin Xiuya stared at her.
Inquire directly?
And risk personally experiencing his strength firsthand?
No thank you.
The other battlefields resolved.
Old Ban's face was a kaleidoscope of colours—iridescent, terrible, saturated with venom. Blood foamed at his lips. His steps were unsteady, pained.
Yuan Yi remained frozen within his block of ice. Alive, barely. Breathing, shallowly.
Han Feng, who had taken Shui Ye's palm strike, had used the cover of dissipating smoke to consume a hoard of healing pills.
Shui Ye had noticed.
He had simply… ignored it.
Xiao Jietian instructed me not to kill him directly. I do not understand the reason. But I am a subordinate. I follow orders.
If I had struck with full force, even his Half-Step Dou Zong cultivation would not have saved him.
A flaming longsword materialized in Han Feng's grip.
He struggled to his feet, surveying the battlefield.
His expression grew increasingly grim.
This is not—this was not—
Two figures crashed to the ground before him.
Gold. Silver.
The Gold and Silver Elders.
They had been contentedly fighting Su Qian when the screams began.
Then they sensed them.
Three. Three unknown Dou Zong auras.
Their hearts clenched.
The situation has deteriorated.
We must withdraw.
Su Qian, reading their intent, refused to release them.
Now that the advantage is ours, once our Dou Zongs finish their opponents, they can assist me.
He fought with reckless abandon—trading injury for injury, blood for blood—to keep them pinned.
"Old Su! Release us!" The gold-robed elder's voice was strained. "We will apologize to your academy! Name your price—anything!"
Su Qian's expression was absolute.
"I do not want anything."
A pause.
"I only want to keep you both."
Man of few words. Ruthless.
The gold and silver elders exchanged glances.
If he forces our hand…
Their auras surged.