Chapter 175: Demon Fire Suanni

Chapter 175: Chapter 175: Demon Fire Suanni

After stepping into the vast and silent canyon, Yi Xiaoyao and the others from the Seven Kills Star Hall stood together for a moment.

They now finally understood why the Hall Master had split the seven of them into two groups.

With their average strength, a single person couldn’t possibly fight a fourth-rank Demon Beast, let alone hunt one. Teaming up was their only option.

"You four, will you be alright?" Su Xiang asked Hua Yunfeng’s group of four.

Hua Yunfeng and the others nodded. "The Demon Beasts here are probably all low-level fourth-rank. The four of us working together shouldn’t have much trouble."

But Yi Xiaoyao looked thoughtful as he said to Su Xiang and Sword Wind Breaker, "The three of us traveling together is a bit of a waste of our strength."

The others were stunned by his words.

Indeed. Sword Wind Breaker had a record of fighting a Nascent Soul Realm expert, and Yi Xiaoyao was even stronger. Both of them should be capable of taking on a low-level fourth-rank Demon Beast alone.

Adding Su Xiang, who was ranked sixth, to the mix made their three-man team overwhelmingly powerful.

"What do you have in mind?" Su Xiang asked Yi Xiaoyao.

Yi Xiaoyao pondered for a moment. There were, after all, only twenty-five Demon Beasts, and thus only fifteen Demon Cores. Most people were destined to leave empty-handed.

If the three of them stuck together, their overall strength would be immense, and they could hunt Demon Beasts much faster. But how to distribute the Demon Cores they obtained would be a real headache.

Thinking of this, Yi Xiaoyao smiled and said, "I plan to go alone."

Hua Yunfeng’s team of four gave wry smiles. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to go alone; they simply didn’t have the strength.

Sword Wind Breaker’s expression shifted slightly. It seemed he had the same idea as Yi Xiaoyao.

"Sword Wind Breaker, you’re not going to go alone too, are you?"

There was a pleading tone in Su Xiang’s voice. If Sword Wind Breaker also went solo, his only option would be to join Hua Yunfeng’s group of four.

The corner of Sword Wind Breaker’s mouth quirked up. "I’ll go with you. We’ll be able to hunt faster, and it’ll be safer if we run into enemies."

And so, with their decision made, the seven of them shot off in three different directions.

...

Above, the crowds on both sides of the canyon watched the movements of the experts below. Their attention was focused mainly on the top few names on the Hidden Dragon List.

Yi Xiaoyao’s previous clash with Shangguan Tianjian had left a deep impression on everyone, so he and Shangguan Tianjian were the center of attention.

"That Yi Xiaoyao actually chose to go alone?"

"Does he really think he can take on a fourth-rank Demon Beast by himself?"

"Look, at the rate he’s going, he’s bound to run into someone else soon."

Down in the canyon, Yi Xiaoyao moved at a blistering pace, soon speeding into one of the smaller valleys.

A moment later, he stopped.

’Hm? Have I run into other people already?’

Yi Xiaoyao looked at the figures in the valley ahead and frowned. ’And a troublesome team, at that.’

There were four people ahead. As soon as Yi Xiaoyao appeared in the valley, they turned, their gazes locking onto him in unison.

"Yi Xiaoyao?"

The man with bronze-colored skin among the four recognized Yi Xiaoyao at a glance, a deep sense of wariness in his eyes.

It couldn’t be helped. Yi Xiaoyao had previously fought Shangguan Tianjian to a standstill. His strength was widely acknowledged, making him one of the most fearsome contenders in this competition.

Yi Xiaoyao raised an eyebrow, also recognizing the man.

The fifth-ranked on the Hidden Dragon List, Wei Buzhan.

"Yi Xiaoyao, we found this place first. Surely there’s a ’first come, first served’ rule, right?"

Wei Buzhan said to Yi Xiaoyao, his eyes narrowed.

Yi Xiaoyao laughed. "Now that I’ve found my way here, I can’t just leave empty-handed. This is a competition. Even if you’d already gotten the Demon Core, I could still snatch it from you. Not to mention, you haven’t even seen the Demon Beast in this valley yet. What’s this talk about ’first come, first served’?"

Hearing this, Wei Buzhan grinned.

Under normal circumstances, he would naturally be wary of Yi Xiaoyao, but right now, he was full of confidence.

"Yi Xiaoyao, you’d better take a good look at the situation. You’re alone, and there are four of us. You can’t win against us," Wei Buzhan said coolly. "I advise you to know what’s good for you and leave."

Yi Xiaoyao shook his head calmly. "How will we know without trying?"

"If that’s how it is, then we’ll have to fight!"

Wei Buzhan’s expression hardened. He gestured to the three beside him, and the four figures shot forward instantly.

In the next instant, four powerful attacks, whistling through the air, blasted toward Yi Xiaoyao in unison.

Yi Xiaoyao was slightly surprised. Seeing that they all attacked bare-fisted, he realized they were all Body Refiners with powerful physiques.

’Body Refiners? Interesting.’

A glint flashed in Yi Xiaoyao’s eyes. He drew his sword and met them head-on, his body transforming into a draconic silhouette that let out roars as a bloody sword light flared.

Countless streams of Sword Qi enveloped all four of them, but in the next moment, a layer of bronze-colored defensive Qi appeared around their bodies.

CLANG CLANG CLANG CLANG!

The Qi layer was like a steel shield, blocking all the Sword Qi. Not a single stream managed to penetrate it.

’He’s pretty strong, no wonder he’s fifth on the Hidden Dragon List.’ Yi Xiaoyao’s eyes narrowed slightly.

"Haha, Yi Xiaoyao! You can’t do anything to us on your own!"

Wei Buzhan laughed triumphantly, having already appeared several dozen yards in front of Yi Xiaoyao while the other three blocked his escape routes.

"Is that so?"

Yi Xiaoyao snorted coldly. As the sword light reappeared, a single blood-red line shot out.

CRACK!

Under the impact of the blood-red line, a crack actually appeared in the supposedly indestructible defensive Qi layer, instantly spreading out like a spiderweb.

"What!?" Wei Buzhan was stunned and retreated hastily.

He had seen Yi Xiaoyao fight Shangguan Tianjian before, and though he could tell Yi Xiaoyao was strong, he wasn’t sure exactly how strong. After all, he hadn’t personally experienced the might of Yi Xiaoyao’s sword.

Now, he finally knew.

’This guy... he’s this powerful! My defensive Qi Gang was almost shattered by a single sword strike!’

Wei Buzhan’s expression was grave, his heart filled with shock.

Yi Xiaoyao raised his sword slightly, looking coolly at the four men across from him.

"Still want to continue? I have no grudge against your Asura Arena, and I don’t want to kill you. But if you insist, then you’ll have no one to blame but yourselves!"

Yi Xiaoyao’s words made Wei Buzhan hesitate.

Just then, a startling beastly roar echoed out. A massive, lion-shaped Demon Beast suddenly charged out from within the valley. It seemed to have been awakened by the commotion and was utterly furious.

"ROAR!!"

WHOOSH!

The Demon Beast opened its mouth abruptly, and a shocking pillar of red flame shot directly at one of the men beside Wei Buzhan.

BOOM!

The flames exploded, instantly melting the man’s defensive Qi Gang. In the next moment, all that was left of him was a pile of charred bones scattered on the ground.

"What?"

Both Yi Xiaoyao and Wei Buzhan wore looks of shock.

"It’s a Demon Fire Suanni!"

Wei Buzhan exclaimed in a low voice.

It was common knowledge that ordinary Demon Beasts had powerful bodies, but their one weakness was their inability to attack from a distance.

However, Demon Beasts that possessed Demon Fire made up for this shortcoming. A single breath could launch an attack from over a hundred zhang away, making them far stronger than other Demon Beasts of the same rank.

Most importantly, this Demon Fire Suanni was a fourth-rank Demon Beast comparable to the Nascent Soul Realm!

A moment ago, Wei Buzhan was still hesitating whether to cede the area to Yi Xiaoyao. But now, after seeing the Demon Fire Suanni, he didn’t hesitate for a second longer.

"We’re retreating!" Wei Buzhan waved to the two remaining men beside him. Before leaving, he looked back and said, "Yi Xiaoyao, this Demon Beast is far beyond what an ordinary fourth-rank Demon Beast can compare to. I advise you to leave with us!"

But Yi Xiaoyao just stared at the Demon Fire Suanni, which was spewing flames, his eyes shining.

"You guys go ahead. Don’t worry about me."

Despite Wei Buzhan’s final, well-intentioned warning, Yi Xiaoyao had no intention of leaving.

Demon Fire to enhance his Heaven-Shattering Demon Flame Palm was already extremely difficult to find. The Demon Fire of a fourth-rank Demon Beast was a truly rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Now that it had been delivered right to his doorstep, how could Yi Xiaoyao possibly refuse?

...

(PS: If an update is late, it’s definitely because I haven’t finished writing it well. I will definitely post it once it’s done.)