Chapter 1448: This Guy Isn

Five milky-white energy shields floated like five giant light cocoons.

They hung silently at the edge of a swamp reeking of decay.

Inside the shields, the five members of the God-Slaying Martial Temple looked as if frozen by a paralysis spell, their faces filled with shock and bewilderment.

The slender woman holding a dagger bore the codename "Shadow Blade."

Her rosy lips were slightly parted, her beautiful eyes wide open.

She stared at the tall figure standing quietly not far away, and at the still-fading, heart-stopping dark-gold lightning arcs swirling around him.

"This guy isn't a fraud..."

Her melodious voice carried a dreamy, dazed tone.

"This speed and power? This is Star Level Six? What nonsense!"

Team leader Stone was ready to curse.

He was certain that even their God-Slaying Martial Temple's Star Level Eight couldn't unleash a move like this!

This question echoed simultaneously in the minds of the other four.

Who were they? They were elites of the God-Slaying Martial Temple!

Veterans who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and rivers of blood!

With their five-man coordination, they could surround and kill Star Level Seven Spirit-Blood beasts!

Yet before this academy-type who looked no higher than Star Level Six—

They couldn't even block one strike, let alone were... instantly slaughtered!

This absolute dominance in strength brought more than just defeat.

It was a shock that shattered their very understanding.

What resource-fueled fraud? What greenhouse flower?

Before this terrifying Lei Guang, these stereotypes looked laughable and hollow!

"So strong!"

Shadow Blade finally snapped out of her initial shock.

Her face no longer held a trace of her earlier mockery or teasing—only raw fervor:

"S-, here's my Virtual Universe account.

After the competition ends, be sure to add me! I've got a surprise waiting for you~"

As she spoke, she blew him a kiss.

This was the God-Slaying Martial Temple's way.

To the weak, they paid no mind.

To the strong, they showed profound reverence.

Xu Jingming's demonic energy clone stood motionless.

He gave no response to their shock—or even the woman's invitation.

He didn't even spare them a second glance, as if he'd merely brushed away a few insignificant specks of dust.

His gaze turned instead toward the distant forest and sky.

Because the commotion here could no longer be hidden.

"Huh? Strong energy fluctuations over there! Emergency badges have been activated! More than one!"

"What's going on? That direction was Stone's team, right? Did they run into trouble?"

"Let's go check it out!"

"..."

Nearby, multiple five-man squads of the God-Slaying Martial Temple, hunting or searching,

Simultaneously sensed the abnormal energy burst from the swamp direction.

Stone's team was among the stronger ones—if they couldn't win, they could still escape.

In the early stage of the Beast-Hunting Competition, multiple team members being eliminated at once was extremely rare.

It immediately triggered their high alert.

Swish! Swish! Swish!...

Figures leapt into the air from dense forests, cliffs, and stream valleys.

Others sprinted across the ground, converging toward the swamp zone.

They moved swiftly, seemingly in silent coordination, forming an implicit encirclement.

The first to arrive were the four closest squads—twenty men total.

When they saw the five light cocoons on the ground and the ashen-faced members of Stone's team inside, they froze.

Then they spotted Xu Jingming standing nearby.

"Eternal Star Alliance? One person?"

"How bold!"

"Did he do this? One man instantly took out Stone's entire team? How is that possible?!"

"Who cares if it's possible or not—take him down first! Anyone who dares attack our Temple must pay!"

"..."

One after another, powerful auras surged upward, colored streams of law-light flickering.

Swords unsheathed, bows strung, blades and weapons glinted coldly, locking onto Xu Jingming at the center.

"Perfect! Our people are here!"

Team leader Stone's eyes lit up.

"Highest is Star Level Seven, lowest is Star Level Four—do you really think this lineup can take me down?"

Xu Jingming's gaze swept across them, his purple eyes unnervingly calm.

"Since you've all come, then... let's settle this all at once."

The moment his words ended—

Boom!!!

His body suddenly swelled, horns curling like a demon's sprouting from his head.

A violet-gold demonic aura, far more violent and profound than before, erupted from his demonic aura avatar like a volcanic blast!

Demonic aura surged skyward, faintly coalescing into a monstrous demonic silhouette.

A tyrannical, ferocious, terrifying pressure surged outward—as if devouring all life!

At the same time, the dark-golden Void-Extinction Divine Thunder ceased its internal containment.

It transformed into countless writhing lightning serpents, coiling around the demonic aura avatar.

Emitting "crackling" pops, ionizing the air with the scent of charred ozone.

Two utterly different yet equally terrifying energies—lightning and demonic aura—

Merged perfectly, forming a pressure that made souls tremble.

Purple Nightmare Demon Body!

Activated by the demonic aura avatar, the demonic aura became purer, more tyrannical!

"Is this the Demon Clan's bloodline?"

"What an astonishing aura!"

"Move now!"

"......"

The members of the God-Slaying Martial Temple were battle-hardened veterans.

In an instant, they sensed the lethal threat—and hesitated not at all.

Attacks rained down like a storm!

Fireballs, wind blades, rock spikes, ice cones—and warriors wielding battle swords and longswords charged toward Xu Jingming!

Yet, facing this dense assault—

Xu Jingming did not dodge; instead, he stepped forward deliberately!

Crackling—

A dense, solid-looking layer of dark-golden Lei Gang suddenly ignited across the demonic aura avatar's surface.

This Lei Gang was no mere energy shield—it was woven from countless microscopic thunder runes.

Clinging to the skin, resonating faintly with flesh and bone, radiating an unbreakable, heavy solidity!

This was the protective Lei Gang granted by the Star Core Lei Gang Body.

Now activated by the demonic aura avatar, though inferior to the original's perfection, its defensive power was still astonishingly formidable!

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! —!!!

Countless attacks struck the dark-golden Lei Gang, exploding in deafening roars.

Yet that layer of Lei Gang stood like an ancient mountain.

Absorbing every assault without even ruffling a ripple.

The demonic aura avatar's figure remained unmoved amid the exploding light and flame, only its hairtips fluttering slightly in the chaotic flow of law-energy.

"What?!"

"Our attacks... are useless?!"

"What kind of defensive martial art is that?!"

"......"

Shocked cries erupted.

But what chilled them further was yet to come.

The demonic aura avatar, having blocked the first wave of attacks, moved.

It did not use ranged thunder strikes, nor did it deploy large-scale thunder arrays.

Instead, relying solely on the dual physical enhancements of the Star Core Lei Gang Body and the Purple Nightmare Demon Body—

It became a violet-gold humanoid beast, charging straight into the nearest God-Slaying Martial Temple squad!

Then, Ying Ren and the others witnessed a shocking sight.

Close combat!

Pure, savage, overwhelming close-quarters slaughter!