Surging to the Earth Ranking

An Mintian had brought quite a few people with him, including geniuses of the god race and experts from smaller races. Anyone he brought along was far from weak. Right now, these cultivators were also chasing forward swiftly, though they were not as fast as An Mintian and had fallen some distance behind. In the distance, Huang Teng's saber qi had flared with ferocious might as he slashed an expert dead with a single blow—a sight they had all witnessed. By this point, everyone was anxious to land the finishing blow. Huang Teng was clearly at the end of his tether. Caught up by Tianduo and the others, the heavily injured Huang Teng and Wu Qi plainly had nowhere left to run. As they gave chase, several of these experts chatted idly among themselves. "Looks like there won't be anything left for us!" "Yeah, Huang Teng is a dead man. What a pity we won't get any share of the spoils. Even Lord An might not walk away with much. Tianduo of the Archdemon race really struck gold this time. If the first on the Earth Ranking is slain, the reward from heaven and earth is bound to be immense. It wouldn't be hard at all for it to propel him straight across the eighth and ninth layers of Lingyun, allowing him to fuse his apertures and step into Shanhai." "That'll save him a ton of time. Tianduo isn't even that old." "An Archdemon Shanhai... Once he truly enters Shanhai, even Lord An... might not be able to best him." They sighed with emotion. In this realm, the strong took all. With superior racial talents, superior cultivation arts, and superior strength, mighty races like the gods and demons held a massive advantage. No matter how hard other lesser races worked, catching up was nearly impossible. Some beings were simply born above the rest. Among this group was another Lingyun Realm cultivator of the god race, with six pure white wings protruding from his back. Hearing their discussion, a look of haughty arrogance appeared on his face. Arrogant and condescending—this was second nature to many gods and demons. Gods and demons stood above the myriad races! Listening to their remarks about An Mintian, the six-winged god said indifferently, "The Archdemon race is formidable, but even if Tianduo advances to Shanhai, he is still vastly inferior to our god race's top geniuses. And on the Archdemon side, Tianduo falls well short of Moduona." None of the others disputed this; they nodded in silent agreement. Moduona of the Archdemon race—the peerless cultivator ranked first on the Heaven Ranking. A monster who, at the seventh layer of Lingyun, had slain a seventh-layer Shanhai. Even Zhan Wushuang of the Primordial God Race, ranked second, was eclipsed by him. Zhan Wushuang had slain a first-layer Sun Moon at the eighth layer of Shanhai, yet his rank was still below that fellow's. Speaking of which, one creature asked curiously, "Why didn't Moduona show up this time?" The six-winged god replied aloofly, "There's no way he would come. Huang Teng isn't even worth his notice. Unless Qin Fang and Huang Teng were here together, he might show a sliver of interest. Otherwise, someone as proud as Moduona would never bother hunting down an inferior opponent." Hearing that, the others felt another wave of envy. Such were the supreme prodigies of the myriad races. Their standards were simply too high! Even someone like Huang Teng didn't merit his gaze. As for the likes of Long Zhan of the dragon race, they naturally weren't worthy of his attention either. The only ones who could catch his eye were probably his fellow prodigies on the Heaven Ranking. They bantered along, in no rush to catch up. Arriving early or late made no difference, so why run themselves ragged? Just then, Su Yu arrived. He came with blinding speed! Accelerated by his 'Wind' divine character and stepping on semi-Earth rank war boots, he streaked across the distance in the blink of an eye, tearing through the air. The six-winged god's vision blurred, and he instantly roared, "Kill!" These were veterans of countless slaughters whose reflexes were razor-sharp, yet they were also shaken. Their group had eight experts in total. The other seven were unranked, but the six-winged god was on the Yellow Ranking. He was only at the third layer of Lingyun, yet he had slain sixth-layer Lingyun foes and was quite young. Under such circumstances, someone dared ambush them? A party of eight experts! If the enemy had numbers on their side, it would be one thing, but there was only one person! The moment the word "kill" left his mouth, one of the creatures directly transformed into a massive roc-whale, opening its gaping maw and unleashing a ferocious gale of suction toward Su Yu. Among the others, some vanished into stealth, some transformed into weapons that struck toward Su Yu, and another unleashed towering flames. The six-winged god flapped his wings and pierced through the void. In an instant, he broke away from the others and tore through Su Yu's illusory domain. Catching sight of Su Yu's appearance, he shouted, "Insolent Cui Lang!" Courting death! This human had gone mad to dare launch an ambush against them. "The Six-Winged God race?" The instant he saw the six-winged god, Su Yu was enraged! He utterly detested the Six-Winged God race! In the Human Realm, the Six-Winged God Cult had constantly targeted the Multiple Divine Characters Faction. They had murdered Wu Jia's parents, nearly killed Feng Qi, and forced Chen Yong to flee the Great Xia Prefecture... They deserved to die! Every single one of them! His killing intent boiled instantly to its peak. With a furious roar, Su Yu turned the massive hammer in his grip into a long blade. A blade was the true form of Su Yu's innate divine technique. Though his divine character battle technique formed from ninety-nine characters was not yet fully complete, even a half-formed blade was far stronger than ordinary battle techniques. "Shatter!" With a furious shout, the 'Shatter' divine character broke through the creature's defenses in an instant. The long blade tore out, brimming with powerful willpower, its edge coated in black flame—the Soul Devour Art. This strike was executed through the Heaven-Cleaving Blade! Saber qi swirled violently all around. A mere third-layer Lingyun! You gods really think you're above me? Su Yu let out a thunderous roar and brought the blade down. With a deafening boom, the six-winged god's expression changed dramatically. He flapped his wings to dodge the strike, his heart jolting. *So strong!* Shaken, he made a split-second assessment, and his eyes widened in sheer horror! This wasn't a cultivator of the single divine character faction! This was a multiple divine character battle technique! "Who are you?!" he bellowed. Something was horribly wrong! How could this man possess a multiple divine character battle technique? As a prodigy who had battled humans before, he knew the situation. Multiple divine character battle techniques—especially one this powerful—were mastered by very few people, and Cui Lang shouldn't have been one of them! "I'm your daddy!" Su Yu roared fiercely as he slashed down, shattering the void! The six-winged god retreated frantically, moving at astonishing speed. His mind was reeling in chaos. Who was he? The multiple divine character faction must be eradicated! That was a divine decree of the god race! Just as the thought crossed his mind, Su Yu abruptly altered his cultivation art. The Primordial God Art erupted! The sudden shift caused the six-winged god's figure to stiffen—a suppression of aura and technique born from the rulers of the god race! The six-winged god's face completely drained of color! No... Primordial God Race?! Impossible! "You're not Cui—" *Boom!* At that very second, Su Yu struck with another all-out slash. Willpower and origin qi surged into the blade simultaneously, casting a brilliant gleam across the void. Though not quite as overwhelming as Huang Teng's earlier blade strike, it was by no means weak! With a resounding bang, the six-winged god was torn to shreds by the blow! His six wings remained intact and actually tried to flutter away, but Su Yu activated his 'Fire' divine character. With a low hum, flames ignited out of thin air. "Aaagh!" A bloodcurdling shriek rang out, and in the next breath, the six wings were reduced to ash, utterly destroyed. Fragments of flesh and blood remained where he had stood; Su Yu reached out casually and collected some of the blood. At that moment, the experts who had been suppressed by the illusion finally broke free. Once the illusion shattered, the creatures were struck dumb with shock. Dead? In an instant! Literally in an instant. From start to finish, the clash between Su Yu and the six-winged god had been unimaginably fast. They hadn't even exchanged three complete sentences before the god was dead. "Run!" A terrified roar rang out, and the cultivator who had assumed the form of a roc-whale immediately fled. Terrifying! Run! Meanwhile, a small cloud formed before Su Yu. Taking a glance, he smashed it apart with a single palm. Useless Heaven Yuan Qi—what good was this junk? It only wasted his time. "Run?" Su Yu scoffed coldly. "Teaming up with gods and demons to slaughter humans—quite the nerve you have. Did you really think humans were yours to push around?" The gods and demons were mighty, but what were these small races to him? Even if some belonged to the top hundred races, like that roc-whale, the human race was no weakling. With dozens of Invincibles, these lesser races were truly tired of living to pick a fight with humanity! Right then, the little fur ball shot out. The expert fleeing at the very rear suddenly glazed over in a daze, and in the next moment, a vertical blade slashed down! With a wet rip, the corpse split in two and fell. Before it hit the ground, Su Yu stowed it away. The remaining six fled at all costs. Even the ninth-layer Lingyun expert among them ran for dear life. *Too strong! Too terrifying to provoke!* At the same time, thunder crackled behind Su Yu as Lei Jue rapidly closed in. He hadn't come to rescue anyone; he simply wanted to kill Cui Lang and deny him any chance of escape. Further in the distance, An Mintian glanced back. Seeing the blade light with which Su Yu had dispatched the six-winged god, he frowned slightly, muttered a curse under his breath, and turned back to pursue Huang Teng without looking again. Turning back was too late anyway! Besides, they were only aligned by mutual interest, not kin. Why bother going back? Huang Teng was right in front of him! ... Su Yu ignored Lei Jue. With another sneak attack from the little fur ball, a massive demonic beast was held up, and Su Yu split it in half with a casual stroke. Seeing this, the roc-whale let out a low roar: "If we keep running, we all die! Slay him! Lei Jue is here!" Realizing the truth of those words, the others acted decisively. Stopping in their tracks, they turned and lashed out at Su Yu! A figure emerged beneath Su Yu, thrusting a sword straight up at him. The roc-whale transformed its wings into blades, slashing downward. The others unleashed their attacks one after another. One of them activated a divine character, but the moment it emerged, it vanished... A large white marten froze in disbelief. *Where is my divine character?! How is it gone?!* It was utterly stunned. Even knowing that daydreaming now meant death, it couldn't help freezing in place. Without an offensive divine character, what was it supposed to do? It didn't have to wonder for long! A massive hammer descended. With a thunderous boom, its physical body remained unblemished, but its sea of will was crushed to splinters, ending its life on the spot. Four down! In the blink of an eye, Su Yu had slain four of them, leaving four remaining. As the assassin beneath him thrust upward, Su Yu stomped down, unleashing Time—Mountain Shatterer, Sun Moon Subduer, Invincible Challenger! In this moment, the Art of Time proved utterly devastating against these experts of minor races. With one stomp, Time rotated, and the 'Slow' divine character flared to life. Though the sword was right beneath his feet, it simply couldn't touch Su Yu. It was as if the assassin had been separated by an invisible chasm; no matter how high he flew, he remained at a fixed distance from Su Yu, unable to draw any closer. "Heaven-Cleaving!" With a furious shout, the blade plunged down with a sickening squelch, piercing straight through the assassin's head. Liquid spurted out and splattered across Su Yu, but he paid it no heed. A chilling ruthlessness covered his face! His killing intent shook the heavens! At that very moment, his 'Kill' divine character advanced straight to the fourth tier! Five down! Now, the roc-whale and the other two survivors completely lost their nerve to fight. *Armamentsmith? This isn't an armamentsmith, this is a demon of slaughter!* None of them could fathom where Cui Lang had acquired such monstrous bloodlust! It was overwhelming! It felt as though he had walked straight out of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. In terms of killing intent alone, they were certain no one present today could match him. His bloodlust was so suffocating it seemed he had slaughtered tens of thousands! Killing intent, resentment, fury, and even a trace of death qi were woven together! Right now, Su Yu showed no mercy, unleashing his full combat prowess and butchering his foes in every direction. In the blink of an eye, five experts had fallen. He had dispersed the earlier heaven-and-earth reward with a slap; he had no need for mere Heaven Yuan Qi. Now, following another round of slaughter, another reward descended. A beam of golden light appeared. Su Yu gave it a quick look and allowed the golden radiance to envelop his body. In an instant, every pore on his skin relaxed. Body tempering through golden light! Rumble! His blood surged like crashing waves, echoing through the void with deep roaring sounds—the sheer vibration of overpowering vital blood shaking the air. Body tempering! The fourteenth cast was right before his eyes! This golden light seemed specifically tailored for body tempering rather than providing Heaven Yuan Qi. Su Yu didn't know what it was and didn't care; transforming into astral wind, he moved with unimaginable speed. In a flash, the astral wind drilled through a fleeing great demon, causing its body to explode. The little fur ball plunged straight into the creature's sea of will, chewing greedily until the sea collapsed entirely. It too belonged to an ancient, formidable race. It simply wasn't on the rankings! Because the Heaven Hunting Pavilion had never extracted its aura. It spent all its time hiding inside Su Yu's sea of will, making it virtually impossible to trace. Otherwise, it would have earned a spot on the rankings by now. With that creature dead, another cloud condensed. That one belonged to the little fur ball! Even though it was unranked, that didn't prevent it from receiving a reward. This time, the reward was a bundle of pure willpower. Without hesitation, Su Yu swallowed it in one gulp and sent a transmission: "Lend it to me, I'll pay you back later!" "...Nooo..." The little fur ball's voice echoed back, on the verge of tears. *Mine!* *That was the reward for my kill!* It knew the reward was rightfully its own. Rewards from heaven and earth could not normally be transferred, but it was unique, practically integrated with Su Yu like one of his divine characters. Consequently, the reward had shown no rejection toward Su Yu, allowing him to absorb it directly. The little fur ball was about to burst with rage! *That was mine!* Su Yu couldn't care less. He needed this urgently, and he channeled all the willpower directly into the 'Thunder' divine character. It was still a hair short, failing to advance. Of the eight experts, six were dead. Now only the roc-whale and the ninth-layer Lingyun expert remained. That fellow had also reverted to his true form to flee—a giant vulture! Its flight speed was astonishingly fast! Both the roc-whale and the vulture possessed wings, speeding away with all their might. No one spoke! There was no time for words, only slaughter. They had run into an absolute monster! Flee if you can; die if you can't. It was that simple. Behind them, the crackling lightning was less than a thousand meters from Su Yu. In the blink of an eye, the pursuer would catch up. Both the roc-whale and the vulture were overjoyed. It was too close! If Cui Lang tried to kill them, his speed would inevitably drop, and the moment he slowed, Lei Jue would arrive instantly. When that happened, Lei Jue was in a completely different league compared to the vulture. A ninth-layer Lingyun like Lei Jue was far stronger than an ordinary Shanhai. Su Yu ground his teeth in fury! *Bastard!* *You really think I'm afraid of you?* He had already revealed far too much. He couldn't let this roc-whale and vulture live. Even if he wasn't sure whether they had noticed, he had consecutively exposed a multiple divine character battle technique and the little fur ball; there was no guarantee they hadn't seen it and simply kept quiet. He would be exposed sooner or later anyway, so Su Yu hesitated no longer. He roared once more! "Heaven-Cleaving!" Power erupted from all his apertures. The Heaven-Cleaving Blade, his strongest strike! Saber qi left behind by King Daxia swirled in from all directions, attaching to the blade. At the same time, the massive hammer struck out toward the roc-whale, while the little fur ball lunged into the vulture's sea of will. Both the roc-whale and the vulture suffered a slight tremor in their seas of will! In that split second of hesitation, the Heaven-Cleaving slash came crashing down! *Boom!* A blade light cast its brilliance over hundreds of meters. Saber qi across the gorge was sucked clean, rocks shattered, and the earth fractured! In that instant, every living being in Heaven-Severing Valley turned their eyes toward this direction. Countless cultivators froze in disbelief! Who was Huang Teng? The might of this blade strike was not a shred weaker than Huang Teng's earlier blow. One to the left, one to the right—which one was the real Huang Teng? Those who weren't at the scene were completely unable to tell. And in that very breath, the massive roc-whale and the vulture shattered into pieces like brittle glass, cracking and breaking apart! *Rumble!* A heaven-and-earth reward descended once more. This time, it was an innate divine character of heaven and earth! Having consecutively slain several experts, including a ninth-layer Lingyun, the reward was extraordinarily rich! The divine character entered Su Yu's sea of will, but the moment it crossed the threshold... *Bang!* It was shattered again by the golden atlas. This time, Su Yu actually caught a glimpse of what it was... He nearly cursed out loud! 'Space'! The character for space! But it wasn't human—it was a god race divine character. *Fuck me!* *I actually wanted that! Even if it belongs to the god race, it's an innate divine character from heaven and earth! Fuck, why did you smash it?!* His heart ached with regret! There was no time to dwell on it. Slaying two great demons in a single strike had drained Su Yu immensely, leaving him nearly spent, and a streak of lightning was already surging in from behind! Lei Jue had arrived! Lei Jue was equally shaken, but that did nothing to deter him from killing Su Yu. He knew the fellow before him was severely depleted—an ideal opportunity to strike down someone no weaker than Huang Teng! Right now, he had no time to check the rankings. Yet he knew this man had likely become the first on the Profound Ranking, or perhaps jumped directly onto the Earth Ranking. Killing so many experts, including a ninth-layer Lingyun! Leaping across eight minor realms to slaughter prodigies was downright terrifying. Slaying this guy would yield an absurdly bountiful reward. Lightning erupted from him. Su Yu's back was struck squarely; his third-tier 'Thunder' divine character didn't even have time to digest the remnants of the shattered innate divine character before it reflexively flared with lightning power to resist. Yet in the blink of an eye, the defense was shattered. Su Yu didn't dawdle. Spitting a mouthful of blood, he ignited a burst of flame to incinerate the blood to ash and fled at top speed. As he fled, the Art of Time operated beneath his feet, the 'Slow' divine character dragging out time. A savage resolve set into his face! *Just you wait!* *Once I absorb the lingering essence of that innate divine character and advance my own, we'll fight again!* "Trying to run?" Lei Jue grew equally ruthless! He couldn't let him get away! Once this guy escaped, tracking him down would be hard enough. Furthermore, in an optimal state, Lei Jue couldn't guarantee he could take him down with certainty. Judging by how this fellow had butchered those experts in mere moments, he truly had no confidence in a guaranteed victory! Eight experts! Slain just like that. Even Lei Jue was unnerved. One human and one god engaged in a fierce pursuit through midair, clashing as they flew. Lightning flashed, and blade beams ripped across the sky. Kill! The fighting was relentless. Su Yu's defenses were repeatedly broken, his flesh scorched black by the lightning, but he wasn't without counters. His hammer struck out repeatedly, accompanied by the vibrations of the 'Shock' divine character! Down below, the experts searching the gorge scattered and fled. The battle here was not a fraction weaker than the one around Huang Teng. With two top powerhouses clashing, none of them dared meddle, not even for a sneak attack. ... On the other side of the gorge. Huang Teng and his pursuers were equally dumbfounded. *The one fighting Lei Jue over there is Cui Lang?!* *Are you kidding me?!* *He's that strong?!* *Isn't he only at the first layer of Lingyun?* *And what the hell was that Heaven-Cleaving strike?!* *Cui Lang knows the Heaven-Cleaving Blade?!* They were utterly bewildered! Huang Teng was currently hauling Wu Qi along as he fled frantically. Wu Qi's face was deathly pale as she coughed up blood nonstop. Green vapor rose from the blood, filling the air with poisonous fog. Huang Teng couldn't resist quipping, "Humanity's number one vicious woman! Did you refine yourself into a poison human?" Wu Qi ignored him. Vicious? She didn't think so! Seeing her silence, Huang Teng couldn't hold back again: "Holy crap, Old Wu, how are you ever going to get intimate with anyone? No one can even kiss you! You'd poison them to death, damn it..." "Shut up!" Wu Qi yelled furiously, coughing up another mouthful of blood that splattered across his clothes. A sizzling hiss sounded, and in the next second, his clothing vanished completely, while a hole was instantly corroded into Huang Teng's flesh. Writhing in agony, he yelled, "I was wrong! I'll shut up! Big Sister Wu, don't spit on me!" Wu Qi was so furious she felt ready to explode, genuinely tempted to spit on him again and poison this bastard to death. Meanwhile, Tianduo and the demon experts behind them were held back by the blood mist. Vital blood flared from Tianduo as origin qi detonated around him. He glared coldly at them, distinctly annoyed. He hadn't expected Wu Qi, a mere cultivator on the Yellow Ranking, to be so troublesome! Yes, Wu Qi. Everyone knew Huang Teng was powerful. What about Wu Qi? All they knew was that she was ruthless enough, but no one had expected this woman to be vicious enough to refine her own blood into poison. It was lethal stuff. Even he was astonished that Wu Qi hadn't poisoned herself to death during the refining process; it was unbelievable! If a Lingyun cultivator was tainted by it, their flesh would be corroded in an instant. Even if she hadn't died, Wu Qi must have endured unimaginable agony back then. Huang Teng had no time to ponder that. He sensed An Mintian's aura nearby, cursed under his breath, and hollered, "Stop staring at me! Look at the guy ahead! That's the real successor of the Xia family, the Manor Head's biological son! Fuck, why are you killing me?!" "..." Silence fell on all sides! Everything truly went dead quiet for a moment! "Xia Huyou?" someone blurted out in shock. News about Xia Longwu's son, Xia Huyou, the direct lineage successor of the Xia family, had circulated recently! *That's Xia Huyou?!* Huang Teng cursed back, "Xia Huyou my ass! That's Xia Lang, the Manor Head's eldest son! Nobody knows about him! Stop chasing me! He's the true heir to the Xia family, I'm just a puppet..." He didn't look like he was lying! At this moment, even Wu Qi was caught off balance. *Xia Lang?* *Xia Longwu's eldest son?* *Such a person exists in the Xia family?* *Nobody ever knew about this!* *Is Cui Lang a hidden illegitimate child?!* ... In that split second ahead, An Mintian's expression shifted slightly. *Is that true?* *Xia Lang?* *The direct successor of the Xia family, son of the Blood Butcher King?* *Great-grandson of King Daxia?* *The leader of the Xia family's fourth generation?* *And Xia Huyou, as well as Huang Teng, are merely targets on the surface?* If so, that would explain the formidable Heaven-Cleaving Blade. But was it true? Huang Teng shouted once more, "Fuck, it's true! Why would I lie to you at a time like this? An Mintian, is your only reason for killing me the reward? Isn't it to sever the Xia family's heritage?! What do I count for? Xia Lang is thousands of times more important than me..." "Bastard!" Just then, Wu Qi suddenly spat a mouthful of blood onto his hand. The sizzling hiss sounded again, and Huang Teng grunted in pain. Wu Qi slipped from his grasp in an instant and shot him a glare through gritted teeth. Disappearing from his side, she yelled, "Huang Teng, fend for yourself!" With that, Wu Qi roared, willpower erupting as she turned to charge back toward Tianduo and the others. Huang Teng cursed inwardly! Women were truly beyond reason. Wasn't he just trying to survive? That guy ahead didn't look like he was going to die anytime soon anyway, and even if An Mintian went after him, he might not catch up. Did this woman actually believe that fellow was Xia Lang? Was she really that gullible? Watching her charge back into the fray, Huang Teng genuinely wanted to curse out loud. From now on, he would never operate with a woman again, not even if beaten to death. Utterly unreliable, a total disaster of a teammate! Gritting his teeth, Huang Teng turned around as well. A saber appeared in his hand, and in the next moment, one hundred and forty-four apertures lit up. His physical body took on a golden glow as ambient saber qi converged instantly around him. His apertures began to rupture from the sheer excess of power. This strike descended like the cleaving of heaven and earth! Behind him, Tianduo's expression changed, and he barked, "Fall back!" With a massive boom, the blade struck down. A demon expert beside Tianduo failed to dodge in time and was minced into paste by the single slash. The blade beam tore across the area, carving out a path. In that breath, Huang Teng grabbed Wu Qi once more and dashed through the passage, leaving Tianduo and his group behind in a flash. Ensnared by the lingering saber qi, Tianduo and the others could only watch him flee. Soon, Tianduo tore free and shattered the saber qi with a furious roar, leading the survivors to give chase once more! Ahead, the light on Huang Teng's body was dimming rapidly! Soon, blood leaked from the corners of his mouth. Holding the struggling Wu Qi, he chuckled weakly, "Women... heh... idiots... damn it all... carry me, I'm about to kick the bucket..." Wu Qi glanced over and saw his apertures continually bursting. Her expression changed slightly, dimming for an instant before hardening into resolve. She spat a mouthful of blood; Huang Teng instinctively tried to dodge, but she grabbed his arm and sprayed the blood directly onto it. This time, the blood was no longer venomous; it transformed into refined blood, helping him repair his ruptured apertures. "You..." "Shut up!" Wu Qi coughed up a few more mouthfuls of blood, her face frighteningly pale, and said coldly, "Run!" Huang Teng had no choice but to grit his teeth. "Fuck, too many of them came. That bastard Qin Fang wanted to get me killed! I contacted him ages ago, yet he didn't show up. Dammit, otherwise it wouldn't have ended like this!" "Hmph!" Wu Qi sneered coldly. *You actually trusted someone else? Foolish!* On the All-Heavens Battlefield, the only person you could rely on was yourself. Expecting others to come to the rescue? What a joke! "If they come again, we fight to the death! Before dying, we'll take a few of them down with us!" Wu Qi glared coldly behind her at the demons. Currently, Mo'erba, Lan Ying, and Tianduo were still alive, though several other demon experts had fallen. Even if she died, she would drag a few along! She wasn't afraid of death. She had come to the Desire Sea Plain to seek life through death; if survival wasn't an option, then death held no terror. "Cui Lang..." "I just made that up!" Huang Teng cut her off. *It's fake, don't ask me, how would I know? But hell, now that you mention it, even I'm starting to believe it. Could he really be an illegitimate child of the Xia family?* *Xia Longwu is impossible... Marquis Xia's?* *Terrifying!* *Could he be Manor Head Xia's cousin?* *Truly terrifying!* To have practiced the Heaven-Cleaving Blade to such a level didn't feel like Su Yu. He knew Su Yu and knew he had killed people, but for his killing intent to be so dense that one could feel the murder and death in that blade qi from dozens of li away—he felt that didn't fit. Could a Civilization Master be that bloodthirsty? Calling him a member of the Xia family sounded far more plausible. ... At this moment, Su Yu and Huang Teng were fleeing in opposite directions once again, one running from Lei Jue's pursuit, the other from Tianduo's. ... At the same time. A hundred li outside Heaven-Severing Valley. Another battle between powerhouses was underway. A young man clad in black armor, spear in hand, rode atop a flying tiger. His eyes were icy as his spear thrust out with a thunderous roar, skewering an expert to death. In the next moment, the youth glanced back. "Moduona, if you want to kill me, show some real skill!" With those words, the flying tiger soared into the sky, fleeing in an instant. Behind him, a purple-haired demon youth with a vivid flame emblem on his forehead smiled faintly as he watched him, murmuring, "Qin Fang, I wonder... if I kill you, will King Daqin step in?" Qin Fang ignored him, continuing his escape. *Try killing me first!* As for Huang Teng... sorry, wait for death on your own. There was nothing he could do. Moduona had intercepted him; he was lucky enough just to escape. That guy's spot at the top of the Heaven Ranking wasn't for show—he couldn't beat him! ... Battles erupted everywhere. Across the Desire Sea Plain, experts clashed incessantly throughout the day, and names vanished one after another from the Heaven Hunting Ranking. What baffled onlookers most was Cui Lang of the Great Ming Prefecture! Ranked thirty-sixth on the Earth Ranking! Battle record: Slew a ninth-layer Lingyun at the first layer of Lingyun! His ranking had skyrocketed! From the Profound Ranking, he had shot directly onto the Earth Ranking, and not even into the lower tiers, but right into the middle. If he slew a Shanhai, he might soon break into the top ten of the Earth Ranking! His age was still holding him back! A thirty-five-year-old human was equivalent to a three-hundred-and-fifteen-year-old god or demon—a bit on the older side! Demons like Moduona were under two hundred years old, which was effectively equivalent to a human in their twenties, which was why their rankings were so high. Had this Cui Lang been ten years younger, he would already be among the top five, or even top three, on the Earth Ranking. Pity he was simply a bit too old. ... As for outsiders calling him old... Su Yu had no thoughts on the matter; he wasn't that old man Cui Lang anyway. Right now, he was fleeing continuously. He hadn't heard Huang Teng claim he was Xia Lang. All he knew was that Huang Teng was likely done for. Whatever, he had to look out for himself; he couldn't afford to care about others. After unleashing dozens of hammer strikes in succession, he finally managed to stall Lei Jue for a split second. Su Yu instantly sank into the ground, escaping via earth escape. He vanished without a trace in a flash. The moment he dove into the earth, he even sensed Fu Tuling not far away, but having no time to pay him any mind, he simply sped away. Fu Tuling was left dumbfounded. *Holy crap!* *I thought that was one of my own clansmen! That's Cui Lang?!* *What the hell is going on?!* *His earth escape is no slower than mine!* With no time to overthink, he scrambled to flee in the opposite direction. Lei Jue was recovering his senses; if he didn't run now, what if Lei Jue took his anger out on him? Yet his heart was reeling with shock. *What is going on? Has the human race's earth escape become this formidable?* *It feels like our Five Elements race doesn't have an advantage at all!* In midair, Lei Jue's gaze shifted slightly. Gritting his teeth, he said coldly, "Cui Lang?" This Cui Lang... was truly absurdly strong. And he possessed far too many divine characters! He gave off a feeling completely unlike the Cui Lang he knew! "Thunder, Kill, War, Fire, Slow..." He recited several divine characters in a row, his eyes flickering with suspicion. Outside the multiple divine character faction, where could a human possibly get so many divine characters? This Cui Lang... was definitely suspicious!