Volume 1 Chapter 6: Strange Changes

  From Zhou Ping's first arrow shot to Zhao He's death, it was all over in just a few sentences' time.

  The fourth-order demon beast, Huo Xiong, was injured one after another, but it only needed one move to succeed, and it could immediately kill its opponent. Such a powerful demon beast made Fei Xue and Peng Xiu, who were used to seeing bloodshed, feel chilled to the heart.

  The martial skills they took pride in were almost useless in front of the strong and ferocious Fire Bear. Only the simplest strength, speed, and reaction could exert their power.

  Zhao He's slender figure, like a crane, was knocked down in an instant, proving that all the intricate skills were a joke in front of Huo Xiong.

  Fei Xue shouted from behind, "What are you waiting for? Are you going to die from dazing off?" Fei Xue fired six icy cold rain arrows in a row, almost exhausting the shallow divine soul power. For a moment, he could only move his mouth.

  Peng Xiuruo woke up from his dream, wielding the Flowing Light Twin Swords and flew towards Huoxiong's back. On the other hand, Gao Huan also barely picked up the Wuyetie Gun, making an attacking posture to attract Huoxiong's attention.

  The Huo Xiong's throat was blocked, unable to breathe, and it was extremely painful. However, its demon core could absorb the yuan energy, so it wouldn't suffocate to death. After a long time, it could even rely on its strong resistance to forcibly resist the poison. But its intestines were kicked broken by Gao Huan, and the pain was unbearable. Moreover, its throat was cut open, and blood gushed out like a spring.

  All sorts of pain made Huo Qiu unable to focus. He didn't notice that Peng Xiu had already landed on his back like a feather.

  Peng Xiu jumped up, but was somewhat at a loss. The back of Huo Xiong's fur was the strongest, and the Flowing Double Swords could hardly injure Huo Xiong. After hesitating for a moment, Peng Xiu still didn't want to miss this good opportunity.

  The primordial energy in the body suddenly turned, and the heavenly primordial energy of the elixir field's gate rushed in. The powerful primordial energy finally poured into the Flowing Light Twin Swords. The twin swords' cold light flashed, and they fiercely stabbed into the Fire Bear's nape.

  The twin swords that pierced the Flame Bear's body should have been unstoppable, but after only an inch of penetration, they could not go any deeper. Peng Xiu knew he couldn't force it, so he exerted strength in his legs and pulled out the swords from the Flame Bear's back, narrowly avoiding its rolling and clawing counterattack.

  Gao Huan also seized the opportunity, stepping forward and swinging his staff. The long staff swept through the air, striking down with a loud crash, stirring up a whirlwind of dust and debris. A 120-jin iron staff, wielded by Gao Huan's thousand-jin divine strength, was terrifying in its destructive power.

  Bang, the eight-foot-long black iron rod that was smashed onto Huo Xiong's head suddenly bounced off, Kou Huan's tiger mouth burst open, his arms were broken, and he couldn't hold onto the iron rod anymore, letting it fly away quickly.

  "Clang... clang..." The iron rod flew back and hit the rocky wall of the mountain cave, bursting into thousands of sparks, and finally rolled off to who-knows-where.

  Gao Huan's blow was merciless, and Huo Xiong's head suffered a severe impact. Although his skull wasn't crushed, he was thoroughly stunned. He lay there with his eyes turned upwards, the fiery red glow in his eyes dimming, and he remained stupidly still on the spot.

  At this time, Zhou Ping, who had just rushed over, hastily waved a few soft ropes with simple hook weaving nets and covered them on Huoxiong's body. The flying snow in the back gave a clear shout, "Seal!" The already set up Xuanming Ice Seal Array was activated by the true word spell.

  Four walls simultaneously emitted a white light that wove together and fell on the fire bear. A cold chill surged, and the fire bear was frozen in a thin layer of ice.

  Peng Xiu, who had been accumulating momentum for a long time, was also decisive enough. With a single movement of his twin swords, he merged the two swords into one, and with a surge of energy, the Flowing Light Twin Swords quivered slightly, sending out flashes of sword light.

  The final move of the Gale Storm Sword Technique, Transforming into a Rainbow. A long rainbow appears in the sky, with energy piercing through the Big Dipper. After countless transformations, it finally turns into a cold light that fiercely pierces into the Fire Bear's chest.

  "Hmph..." The flowing light of the twin swords converged and plunged into the white fur that resembled a crescent moon.

  The mortal enemy was pierced through, the fire bear let out a shocking roar, suddenly broke free from the ice seal and the net, and pounced towards Peng Xiu.

  Peng Xiu knew this was a desperate last-ditch effort, but she wasn't afraid. With her swift and agile movements, she led the fire bear to spin around in circles. After a moment, the fire bear finally collapsed from exhaustion. Peng Xiu was also drenched in sweat and panting heavily.

  It's not an easy task to lead a crazy fire bear to run wildly, and any slight carelessness would result in the same outcome as Zhao He. Others also breathed out heavily. This battle was really too difficult and too dangerous.

  Until Huo Xiong was thoroughly dead, Fei Xue only emerged from a crack. As a practitioner, she wouldn't and shouldn't engage in close combat with a fourth-order demon beast.

  "There are so many fire crystal stones, I'm rich now, haha......" Feixue happily played with a bright and shiny red walnut-sized fire crystal stone, the joyful smile on her delicate face almost overflowing.

  Against the backdrop of Zhao He's blood and flesh flying everywhere, Fei Xue's cheerful and bright smile appeared extremely eerie.

  Peng Xiu panted heavily in a place far away from the flying snow, and chuckled: "Yes, we're going to get rich! Heh..."

  Fei Xue glanced at Peng Xiu with disdain and said, "You coward, don't be afraid, I keep my word, let's just divide it according to the previous agreement!"

  "Zhou Ping, and Wu Kong, you two hurry up and get to work! Collect all the fire crystals, and then skin the Fire Bear and take out its gallbladder. Do I need to tell you this?!" Fei Xue ordered bluntly.

  Without getting Peng Xiu's signal, Zhou Ping didn't dare to resist either. Gao Huan naturally wouldn't take action either. After a brief discussion between Zhou Ping and Gao Huan, they decided that Zhou Ping would go collect the Huo Jing Shi, while Gao Huan went to collect the Huo Xiong.

  After the fire bear's death, its skin was tough and resilient, but it had no physical strength to control. Peng Xiu's Flowing Light Sword, although not suitable for his hand, still managed to cut open a cross-shaped incision with great difficulty, taking out both the bear gall and the demon core. But wanting to use the Flowing Light Sword to peel off its skin was simply a pipe dream.

  Huǒ Xióng's yāo hé is only the size of a normal person's little finger, in the shape of a regular hexagonal prism, fiery red and crystal bright, with a hard texture, very much like a precious stone.

  In essence, the demon core is formed by the combination of the demon beast's inhalation and exhalation of the heavenly and earthly yuan energy with its own refined blood. Whether it is used for medicine or for making talismans and weapons, the demon core is required. The demon core of a fourth-grade fire bear is worth more than ten iron-backed gray wolves' demon cores.

  Bear gall is also a top-notch medicinal material, and the bear gall of the four-stage fire bear has an even more wonderful use. These two things can be considered the most valuable things on the fire bear's body. The fire bear skin is also good stuff, but it's limited to tools and can't be completely peeled off.

  Fei Xue was very dissatisfied with Gao Huan's work, pouting and scolding him a few words, but also had no good way to deal with Huo Xiong, could only reluctantly accept Gao Huan's handling method.

  Zhou Ping, who had been searching for half a day, suddenly exclaimed, "There's a box here..."

  In fact, without Zhou Ping saying it, after the fire crystal stones were arranged piece by piece, everyone saw that strange one-foot-square black box.

  It's square and solid, like a black stone, with obvious signs of artificial processing. Anyone with common sense would immediately make the judgment that this is a box.

  The entire box is a uniform entity, with a texture like black crystal, deep and mysterious. The ancient and square shape shows its vicissitudes of history. Everyone who sees the box can't help but be attracted to it. It's not the shape of the box, but a special attraction that comes from the depths of the soul.

  Although the Fire Bear is powerful, it clearly lacks intelligence. The appearance of this box in its den can't help but spark all sorts of speculation.

  Everyone was drawn to the box and gathered in front of it as if by prior agreement.

  "What is this?" Peng Xiu's eyes shone brightly with excitement, her voice trembling slightly as she struggled to contain her emotions.

  The snowflakes fell calmly and unusually, as if smiling yet not smiling, saying: "Looks like a treasure chest!"

  Peng Xiu's murderous intent surged, and she couldn't help but narrow her eyes to conceal the killing intention in her heart. In order to gain Flying Snow's trust, Peng Xiu did not retrieve her twin swords. Close combat would greatly reduce her fighting strength. However, Gao Huan was standing beside her, holding the twin swords, and once the battle began, Peng Xiu could obtain her weapons.

  With Fei Xue's strength, at most she can prepare a trigger-type defensive spell. At such close range, with the three of them launching a sneak attack on Fei Xue together, they have at least a 70% chance of success.

  Peng Xiuxin's mind was racing, and she decided to take action immediately. Pretending to be nonchalant, she said: "Treasure chest? It must be some kind of magical artifact! Wake up, it's already dawn outside!"

  As soon as this was said, Zhou Ping and Gao Huan both understood tacitly and simultaneously made a move towards Fei Xue.

  Zhou Ping stood in front of the flying snow, a strange python flipped over, and he was like a thick and big python, relying on the strong power of his waist, suddenly turning around and punching, two fists raised high above his head, straight to Fei Xue's chest and abdomen.

  Fei Xue was a third-tier practitioner, and in close combat, he might not be that formidable. Moreover, Zhou Ping's Di Ya Quan had the most powerful fist strength, and with full force, even a fourth-tier practitioner couldn't withstand it head-on.

  What's most important is that there are others coordinating at the same time, Zhou Ping's fist strength is fierce, precisely to force Fei Xue to retreat, he also doesn't want to fight head-on with a third-stage practitioner.

  Unexpectedly, the sudden attack of Fei Xue did not dodge, but instead stood there with a gentle smile. The crescent-shaped bright eyes revealed an unspeakable sense of triumph. Zhou Ping's heart cried out in alarm, but the arrow was already on the string and could not be withdrawn.

  Facing Zhou Ping's fierce double fists, Fei Xue let out a soft shout: "Fast!" The talisman paper in her hand transformed into a cold light that shot out and hit Zhou Ping right between the eyebrows. Zhou Ping felt a chill run straight through his bones, his body stiffening involuntarily, as a layer of frost quickly covered his entire body. Although he could still rely on his bodily momentum to move forward, his fists couldn't muster up any strength.

  This move was exactly the Frost Rain Arrow that Fei Xue used to counter Huo Xiong earlier. The 4th stage Fire Bear was already hit, let alone Zhou Ping who had no resistance.

  Zhong Zhao's Zhou Ping was shocked but not afraid, "This move is vicious, but it can't kill people. Fei Xue's curse is powerful, but in a short period of time, it's hard to trigger other spells, and under the joint attack of Wu Kong and Peng Xiu, there won't be another chance to make a move against him!"

  Peng Xiu, standing behind Fei Xue, also showed a joyful expression. Without the protection of her magic spell, Fei Xue was no longer a threat to be feared. At the same time, Gao Huan, who was on the side, charged towards Fei Xue like a fierce bull, turning his body sideways.

  This move, Iron Mountain Strike, is a basic fist technique that uses the knee, hip, elbow and shoulder to generate power while advancing sideways. In actual combat, it's hard to pose a threat to an opponent of the same level. However, for a fragile practitioner like Fei Xue, it's quite suitable.

  Gao Huan burst out with great momentum. What's even more wonderful is that when Gao Huan dodged to the side, he also threw out the Flowing Light Twin Swords in his hand.

  This formula of fist method is applied, attack and send sword are completed at the same time, the connection is extremely smooth.

  "This Wu Kong is not so foolish after all, and has quite a talent for fist techniques! It's just that the twin swords are thrown too far apart!" Peng Xiu thought with some regret. The position of the twin swords was not suitable enough, Peng Xiu had to stretch out his arms to receive them, this posture also affected his subsequent attacks.

  A moment's gap can decide victory or defeat. Peng Xiu's figure moved, and he had already taken over the double swords. At this time, Gao Huan's body, which was charging sideways, suddenly froze in place.

  As a third-class warrior, Peng Xiu was extremely sensitive to breath and movement. He could feel any slight change in Gao Huan's body, even if he was just an inch away. Gao Huan's sudden stop, with his upper body clearly preparing for impact but his feet not moving, was obvious to him.

  "Not right!" Gao Huan's strange change made Peng Xiu immediately vigilant.