“Hmm? A human?”
As the demon king drew closer, Gu Changqing could finally see clearly—this demon king hadn’t appeared in the shallow sea region without reason. It was chasing… a group of human cultivators!
“Damn it! Why would a demon king-level beast show up in the shallow sea? What kind of cursed luck is this?!”
The speaker was a young girl in a green robe. Petite and adorable, she carried a silver longsword on her back. As the demon king rapidly closed the distance between them, despair started to creep into her heart.
Her name was Huang Yingying, an inner disciple of Dustheart Pavilion, and a fourth-stage True Spirit cultivator.
Dustheart Pavilion was a sect located near the surrounding sea region. Though not weak in strength, its pavilion master was a powerhouse at the half-step King Realm, making it one of the top sects in the area.
This time, the sect had organized an expedition for field training, splitting everyone into over a dozen teams. Hers was one of them.
The pavilion master had placed great importance on this trial. Each team had been assigned two or three elders at the Tribulation Realm for protection.
With elders at the Tribulation Realm guarding them, there should have been no danger. But who would have thought their team would run into a King Realm demon beast—something nearly impossible to encounter in the shallow sea region…
Just a short while ago, two Tribulation Realm elders tried to sacrifice themselves to buy time for the disciples to escape, but—
Cruelly, they hadn’t even lasted a moment. The demon king struck with one claw, and the two elders were instantly reduced to a mist of blood—without even a chance to resist.
The gap between the Tribulation Realm and the King Realm was simply too vast.
Forget two Tribulation Realm elders—even if the pavilion master of Dustheart Pavilion were here, he’d still be doomed against this Profound King-level demon beast.
Not only Huang Yingying, but the rest of the Dustheart Pavilion juniors had also fallen into despair.
“Wuu… I just got promoted to the inner sect… I had such a bright future ahead. I don’t want to die…”
“Sigh—”
“Scatter and run! If even one of us gets away, it’s worth it…”
The last remaining elder of their team stopped in his tracks. He no longer fled, instead turning to face the charging demon king.
“Elder Yang!”
“No, don’t!”
Many Dustheart Pavilion disciples cried out.
Elder Yang had always been kind to everyone in the sect—whether they were inner or outer disciples. Anyone who sought his guidance was never turned away. He was one of the most beloved elders in Dustheart Pavilion.
Now, seeing Elder Yang stand against the demon king to buy them a sliver of hope, many disciples began to cry.
“So touching,” said a calm voice—Gu Changqing’s voice slowly rang out.
He wasn’t mocking them. It really was a moving scene.
No one wants to die. Elder Yang was no exception. But for the sake of his disciples, he still charged forward without hesitation.
Just as Gu Changqing’s words fell, a pure white sword light blasted out in an instant!
This sword strike seemed to pierce through space itself, appearing directly in front of the demon king in the blink of an eye.
The demon king reacted in time and sensed the danger. It raised both arms in defense—but…
“Shiiing—”
The sword light sliced through the demon king as if it were cutting through tofu, and even carved a deep trench into the sea behind it!
The massive body of the demon king was split in two, its blood dyeing the ocean red.
At that moment, Elder Yang, Huang Yingying, and the other disciples of Dustheart Pavilion were all filled with intense shock.
A Profound King-level demon king… was dead?
Just like that?
That was a demon king-level beast!
An existence equivalent to a human King Realm expert…
It all happened so fast, they hadn’t even had time to see clearly.
Everyone instinctively turned their gaze from the demon king’s remains to the young man in white hovering in the air with a handsome face.
He was the one who had unleashed that sword strike!
“A King Realm expert!”
Standing in mid-air, slaying a demon king with a single sword!
There was no doubt—this young man, who didn’t even look very old, was a King Realm powerhouse.
What shocked Huang Yingying even more was his age.
He didn’t look much older than them… maybe even younger?
What kind of monster was this?
In his twenties… and already at the King Realm?
“Profound King-level demon king? Nothing special.” In the sky, Gu Changqing didn’t pay any attention to the expressions of Elder Yang and the Dustheart Pavilion disciples, which looked as if they had seen a ghost. He slowly descended to the sea surface and stored the demon king’s remains into his storage pouch.
The pouch wasn’t small, but it only barely held the demon king’s corpse. Every part of a demon king’s body was a treasure—it could likely sell for a huge amount of spirit stones.
Even Gu Changqing himself was a little surprised.
What shocked him, however, was his own strength.
Originally, he had estimated himself to be at around the early Profound King Realm.
But after that battle just now, Gu Changqing realized that his actual strength might be even greater—far greater than he had predicted!
Even an early Profound King Realm beast couldn’t withstand a single sword strike from him.
“So this is the Chaos Sword Body… I underestimated you.”
At this moment, Elder Yang and the others from Dustheart Pavilion finally recovered from their shock.
Elder Yang hurriedly bowed deeply with clasped fists to Gu Changqing.
“Many thanks, Senior, for your timely rescue. I am Yang Zhen, eternally grateful…”
“Thank you, Senior, for your great kindness!”
“Thank you…”
Huang Yingying and the rest of the Dustheart Pavilion disciples also spoke out one after another.
They had narrowly escaped death—just moments ago, they were sure they wouldn’t make it out alive…
Today’s luck could be called the worst—and also the best.
If this King Realm senior hadn’t happened to pass through this sea region, they would surely be dead. This was a life-saving grace!
“It’s nothing—just a small favor. But this area has been stained with the blood of a demon king, which will likely attract other sea beasts. You all should leave quickly.”
With that, Gu Changqing didn’t linger. With a single step, he transformed into a stream of light and disappeared from the sea.
“Farewell, Senior!”
Elder Yang had wanted to offer something valuable from his possessions to thank Gu Changqing, but the latter vanished right after speaking, not giving him any chance to repay the favor.
Huang Yingying stared in the direction Gu Changqing had gone, her eyes filled with admiration.
She had always thought that her senior brother was already a monster—at just over twenty years old, he had reached the eighth level of the True Spirit Realm, ranking among the top young talents across the nearby sea sects.
But compared to that white-clothed youth just now…
On this training trip, not only had she faced a life-or-death crisis—she had also witnessed a truly unparalleled genius!
Twenty years old. King Realm.
She had never even dared to imagine it.
“That young man is probably one of the Azure Ranking’s prodigies.”
“Only those monstrous talents on the Azure Ranking might possibly reach the King Realm at the age of twenty,” Elder Yang said slowly, still marveling that he had the chance to witness one in person.
“Azure Ranking prodigy?”
“Elder Yang, what’s the Azure Ranking?” someone asked.
Elder Yang raised his head, his expression full of longing.
“The Spirit Domain’s Spirit Rankings are a collection of lists covering nearly all the top geniuses within the domain.”
“The Azure Ranking lists a thousand individuals. Every person on it is a genius among geniuses, a true monster among monsters.”
“A thousand? That many?” a disciple exclaimed in surprise.
Elder Yang gave him a sideways glance and replied irritably,
“Many? Do you know how vast the Spirit Domain is? How many people live in it?”
“Take the Han Qin Empire alone—just that one empire has a population of hundreds of millions. And there are hundreds of such empires in the Spirit Domain.”
“Do you still think a thousand is a lot?”
The disciple was left speechless. Looking at it that way, it wasn’t many at all—in fact, it was pitifully few.
“That young man just now… could he really be an Azure Ranking prodigy?” Huang Yingying asked.
“Most likely,” Elder Yang said. “But I can’t be certain. After all, we’re not in the central lands, and I don’t know much about the Azure Ranking.”
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