Chapter 1161: Three Prodigies Slay the Demon

Jiang Jiang Qinge's warning voice, brimming with killing intent, caused Wu Changkong's expression to stiffen as well. Meeting the suspicious gazes cast his way, he gave a dry laugh and hurriedly explained, "This was triggered by the malevolent Qi, not my own intention."

He hadn't expected Jiang Jiang Qinge's perception to be so sharp—the moment he stirred even a little killing intent toward Li Luo, she detected it.

This showed that although Jiang Jiang Qinge was locked in fierce battle here, she was still keeping constant watch over Li Luo.

Just how much does she care about him?

Wu Changkong felt he couldn't keep thinking about such things, so he clenched his hand, and a dark-gold heavy halberd appeared in his grip. On the halberd's shaft were three purple vertical marks, while flowing light patterns could be seen, resembling the charging momentum of a divine ox.

The heavy halberd was somewhat unusual—both ends were sharp halberd blades, flowing with piercing cold light.

This was the Heavenly Ox Sharp-Gold Halberd, Wu Changkong's most powerful treasure. In all his years as the academy's Chief, very few people had been able to force him to draw this halberd.

But now was clearly not the time to keep holding back, otherwise he might really lose his life here.

Facing a True Demon head-on, only now could Wu Changkong clearly feel that kind of terror.

Moreover, both Ning Meng and Jiang Jiang Qinge had revealed their "Ancient Tracing Phase Patterns." If he didn't bring out some tricks of his own, he was afraid he would be utterly eclipsed by their brilliance.

This was something the inwardly proud Wu Changkong was unwilling to accept.

Hoo.

Wu Changkong took a deep breath, and the "Celestial Phase Diagram" above his head erupted with an earth-shattering ancient ox-bellow. The sound was like raging thunder, stirring the world's energy into agitation.

Crimson energy poured down like a waterfall, and within it an ancient giant ox came diving forth, charging straight into Wu Changkong's body.

The next instant, Wu Changkong's body swelled at a speed visible to the naked eye. On his arms and torso, veins bulged like great pythons. As the veins and flesh trembled, a terrifying force radiated outward, causing the air around him to be constantly blasted apart, producing an endless string of faint explosive sounds.

Clearly, Wu Changkong had also activated some kind of Mi Fa.

Jiang Jiang Qinge withdrew her cold, piercing gaze. With a great enemy before her, it wouldn't do to quarrel with Wu Changkong now, because while the three were each employing their own methods, the descending eighteen-fingered giant hand had completely shattered the energy pillars the others had offered up earlier.

Feng Lingyuan, Duanmu, Yin Yue Zhiyu and the others were all repelled, letting out muffled groans.

But as everyone suffered setbacks, Ning Meng let out a sharp, girlish cry that rang across the entire field: "It's my turn to perform!"

The big club in her hand swung in a slow arc, yet this seemingly unhurried motion carried an utterly terrifying force. Wherever the great club swept, the void shattered one piece after another, and piercing sonic booms rang out without end.

Moreover, because the force condensed too intensely, wisps of peculiar green smoke began rising from Ning Meng's great club. The green smoke billowed and, with extreme speed, spread across the void behind her. Within that green smoke, an ancient, enormous phantom seemed to appear, also wielding a great club and swinging it with the momentum to strike the heavens.

The world's energy churned, and thunder pealed without cease.

It was as if a massive rift had emerged between heaven and earth.

The Yin Yue Zhiyu and the others behind, seeing Ning Meng drenched in sweat as she drove this strike forward, revealed looks of horror in their eyes and couldn't help crying out, "Th-this is... the God-Shocking Club?!"

The God-Shocking Club was an extremely profound Marquis-rank technique within the Holy Light Ancient Academy, its grade reaching the quasi-Tian Ming level. This art was notoriously overbearing, and its backlash was also one of the most fearsome Marquis-rank techniques in the academy. It was said that in the past there had been a Chief student who coveted this art and tried to cultivate it, but in the end failed to lift the club and was instead crushed into half a body by that force.

No one had expected Ning Meng to have quietly cultivated this art to completion.

In midair, Ning Meng's petite figure overlapped with the giant phantom swinging its club. Enormous cracks spread across the void like a black dragon, pouncing toward the descending Mountain of Death.

At this moment, this Chief of the Holy Light Ancient Academy, who bore the ninth-grade Light-Chasing Beast Phase within her, had revealed her trump card.

And at the same time, where Jiang Jiang Qinge stood, boundless light surged forth as well, transforming into a resplendent sacred pillar of light standing tall between heaven and earth.

Within the pillar of light, an ornate, dazzling holy sword emerged.

Embedded in the holy sword were seven sacred gems, radiant and gleaming. The blade was like glazed crystal—sacred and immaculate.

Jiang Jiang Qinge's slender fingers formed a sword seal. Within her golden pupils, holy light appeared, and vast, pure light-phase power flowed from her entire body like holy water.

As her sword-finger pointed forth, that ornate, dazzling sacred sword had already slashed through the air, radiating a holy aura as if to cleanse all impurity from the world.

"Seven Treasures Glazed Light Sword!"

Seeing the gorgeous sword strike Jiang Jiang Qinge unleashed, Yin Yue Zhiyu couldn't help biting down on her lip. As for this Marquis-rank technique, which enjoyed great renown within the Holy Light Ancient Academy and was hailed as the most gorgeous and sacred of them all, she had been longing for it since the very day she entered the academy.

But this art was created by the Third Dean, whose standards for choosing disciples were exacting—ordinary students couldn't catch her eye. Yin Yue Zhiyu had gone through untold hardships, and even now she was still in the observation stage. Yet who could have expected... Jiang Jiang Qinge had already cultivated this art to completion.

The Third Dean truly doted on her far too much!

Although she knew the occasion was inappropriate, Yin Yue Zhiyu still couldn't help feeling a twinge of jealousy.

And at this moment, Wu Changkong was also shaken by the methods Ning Meng and Jiang Jiang Qinge had displayed. These two had both cultivated Marquis-rank techniques of quasi-Tian Ming grade that were famous within the Holy Light Ancient Academy.

"Since the two of you have gone all out, how can our Tianyuan Ancient Academy fall behind?!"

Wu Changkong was unwilling to become mere decoration, otherwise even after this matter passed, it would likely affect his prestige within the Tianyuan Ancient Academy. So he took a step forward, and as his body trembled, azure light began spraying out from every pore across his body.

Within that azure light was contained countless mist of refined blood Qi.

And as the azure light surged forth, Wu Changkong's originally burly and towering frame began to shrink somewhat. From within the azure light, a green giant ox some dozens of zhang tall stepped forth.

The green ox had a single horn, breathed in wind and thunder, and was truly extraordinary.

The heavy halberd in Wu Changkong's hand was at this moment split into two sections, transforming into dark-gold light that shot forth and landed atop the green ox's head, forming two dark-gold ox horns.

Wu Changkong's body kept shrinking, replaced by the green ox growing ever more solid and substantial. A wild, primordial, terrifying aura rose up.

Boom!

The next instant, wind and thunder exploded. The green ox transformed into a streak of azure light that shot forth violently. The two dark-gold horns atop its head tore through the void, shredding space along the way with a sharpness beyond description, and crashed into the eighteen-fingered giant hand that resembled a mountain of death.

At this moment, the three most elite students from two ancient academies had unleashed every last one of their most powerful trump cards.

This scene could truly be called dazzling.

The many students behind all felt a touch of admiration. To clash head-on against a True Demon at the Da Tian Xiang Jing level—such a feat was enough to spread far and wide.

"I've heard that on the Fenghua Rankings of the Tianyuan Records, there's an entry saying that Chu Qing of the Qin Li Tianwang bloodline once wounded a Marquis-rank powerhouse at the Da Tian Xiang Jing level and retreated?" Duanmu sighed, then asked Feng Lingyuan.

Feng Lingyuan stared unblinkingly at the terrifying clash about to erupt in the sky and said, "He poured out every ounce of his Bo Ming Zhi Fa to seize the chance and inflict a minor wound on a Marquis-rank powerhouse. As for retreating unscathed, that was only because the other party feared the might of the Qin Li Tianwang bloodline."

"Moreover, how could some scattered cultivator Marquis-rank powerhouse he encountered compare with this White-Pupil True Demon that carries a trace of the Three-Crowned King's will?"

"Seems like there was some exaggeration," Duanmu said.

"After this battle, the three of them will surely earn a place on the Fenghua Rankings."

"They may not care."

And in the brief span of their conversation, that earth-shattering collision erupted within everyone's field of vision.

An indescribable energy shockwave ravaged outward. The entire Zhongsheng Palace seemed to tremble violently at this moment, and the palaces below collapsed section by section, turning into ruins.

All the students hurriedly dodged to avoid being caught in the rampaging energy.

But their gazes remained fixed, unblinking, on the collision in the heavens above.

The eighteen-fingered giant hand, like a deathly mountain range, radiated an overwhelming, heaven-rising miasma of malice, yet under the assault of three equally astonishing attacks, it was continuously worn away.

The void kept shattering at this moment, and the heavens seemed to develop hollow regions.

Hum!

This stalemate did not last long. After a dozen or so breaths, wild joy suddenly surged in the eyes of the crowd, for those three tremendous, astonishing attacks had finally pierced through the seemingly endless miasma of malice, directly slicing that eighteen-fingered giant hand apart.

The giant hand then crumbled.

And the three's attacks did not stop there. As the giant hand shattered, the three attacks tore across the long sky, swift as startling thunder, bearing down to slay the White-Pupil True Demon behind it.

They seized the momentum and launched a counterattack at once.

In the White-Pupil True Demon's pale pupils, violent ripples also surged at this moment—clearly, the power of the three's counterstrike had likewise exceeded its expectations.

Its figure retreated, and at the same time, from within its white pupils, a ghastly pale light swept out. Wherever the white light passed, it transformed ahead into countless skin-sacs fluttering in the wind.

These skin-sacs piled up, forming a barrier of human skin in a ghastly pale hue.

Yet such a defense was ultimately a bit too hasty. At this moment, the attacks of Ning Meng, Jiang Qing, and Wu Changkong were at their most ferocious.

Thus, after several breaths, accompanied by the shrill, wretched screams bursting from the human-skin barrier, the three tremendous, terrifying attacks pierced straight through and slashed directly onto the White-Pupil True Demon's body.

Fearsome, horrifying wounds immediately spread across the White-Pupil True Demon's body.

Boom!

Its massive body flew backward, crashing straight into that cluster of palaces. The palaces instantly collapsed, turning to rubble that buried it under layer upon layer.

At this point, the violent energy ripples between heaven and earth gradually subsided.

And the many students behind stared dumbfounded at this scene. The next instant, thunderous cheers erupted.

Their reverent gazes turned toward the three figures in midair. With the Da Tian Xiang Jing, they had withstood a True Demon head-on and even wounded it—such a feat was enough to earn a place on the Fenghua Ranking!