The man's entire body seemed built of brass, his face appearing to be smeared with copper powder, gaunt to the point of looking skeletal with skin tightly wrapped around his bones.
He walked slowly, with an imposing presence, as if accompanied by an army.
Tong Tianxia looked at the Rusted Priest and asked amiably, "Have you forgotten what I told you?"
The Rusted Priest bent his back.
"I haven't forgotten, I was simply joking with these kids," the Rusted Priest finished, then addressed everyone, "You may leave now."
The seven people returned to normal, stood up, and looked at the Rusted Priest and the man named Tong Tianxia, motionless.
Tong Tianxia glanced at Zhou Leng, swept his gaze over the others, and showed a broad smile, saying, "Go back, grab your backpacks, leave here, and run toward the Pioneer Base without stopping. If intercepted by the Demon Worship Sect or Demons, just say I am here."
Zhou Leng clasped his fists and said, "Thank you for saving our lives."
He then signaled to the other six people and walked toward the temporary camp.
The other six hurriedly followed, grabbed their backpacks, and left in a small jog, not daring to look back at the two men.
Afterward, Zhou Leng mustered the courage to look back.
Tong Tianxia stood before the Rusted Priest and smiled, asking, "Do you remember what I said before we set out?"
"You... You said, you can kill, but can't harm children."
"So, do you remember?" Tong Tianxia spoke calmly and steadily.
"I remember, and I haven't taken any action."
Tong Tianxia looked back; the seven children had disappeared into the forest, even dragging away two corpses.
Tong Tianxia turned, smiled, and extended his hand, placing it on the Rusted Priest's head.
The Rusted Priest trembled and said in fear, "You..."
Tong Tianxia lightly tapped.
The Rusted Priest's head was pressed into his chest, his body slanted to the ground, black foul blood flowed.
Tong Tianxia turned to look in the direction where the seven fled.
Tong Tianxia slightly narrowed his eyes, falling into reminiscence.
Under the tree, the seven stared at the bodies of Guo Xiaohao and Liu Teng on the tree.
Each person showed sadness and regret in their eyes.
Two good Blood Transporting Period experts had perished just like that.
"A location signal has been sent; someone will come to retrieve the bodies in due time. Now, open your backpacks, discard all unnecessary weight. Next, we'll run back to the Pioneer Base in one go, without rest," Captain Xue Chengsong said.
The group opened their backpacks, discarded tents and other non-essentials, and hoisted their half-empty packs.
"About these two crossbows... Has anyone practiced archery?"
The group shook their heads, and only Cao Jiajia raised her hand and said, "I'll do it."
Xue Chengsong handed the Demonized Bow and Arrow to Cao Jiajia and picked up the Demonized Crossbow, saying, "The crossbow is easier than the bow, but still requires enough strength; Cui Mingcong, with the strongest physique, needs to assault, not suitable for use."
"What about me?" Feng Wenhao asked.
Xue Chengsong shook his head and said, "You're not decisive enough; using a crossbow in combat could harm us."
"Then I'll do it, I can maneuver and shoot when facing magical beasts. I'm not strong, but I've achieved great success in Qi Nourishing Period," Ding Yan said.
"Alright, here you go, begin the return journey!"
Xue Chengsong handed out the Demonized Crossbow, and the group of seven jogged with their backpacks.
Zhou Leng looked up at the sky.
This was an overlapping dimension space; there was no sun, only sunlight visible on the sky screen.
In the suffocating silence, the seven of them traversed streams through the forest.
Chasing the light until the sun set, they trekked long distances in the dark.
The starlight of the Demon City was minimal, and the night was particularly dark.
A sharp alarm suddenly sounded.
Everyone simultaneously stood up, looking surprised at the monitoring map.
"Report! Monitoring shows abnormal spatial fluctuations in several regions, ranging from level one, two, and three; initially judged equivalent to level four or even level five spatial fluctuation! Detection areas are as follows: area 305, area 306..."
Three minutes later, Seventh Division Martial Arts Brigade training ground.
Brigadier General Chen Shouhu held a two-meter-long red and white striped horn, took a deep breath, puffed his cheeks, and infused Innate True Qi, blowing the horn.
"Woooo... Woooo... Woooo... Woooo... Woooo..."
Five consecutive horn sounds echoed.
Shuizhou Demon City entered fifth-level alert.
The sound of the Demon Bull Horn resonated for miles.
In the jungle, the seven heard the five horn sounds, each with a slight change in complexion.
Ding Yan said bitterly, "Fifth-level alert means either a large number of Innate Demons appear, or a Grandmaster Demon emerges. Let's hope the Four-sided Duke doesn't appear; once an upper-rank demon noble of Grandmaster level shows up, the entire Shuizhou Demon City will plunge into a prolonged warfare."
Cui Mingcong looked at Xue Chengsong and said, "You're well-informed; is something major happening? At times , don't keep it from us."
The team looked at Xue Chengsong. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩~𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖~𝙣𝙚𝙩
Xue Chengsong gave a wry smile and said, "How would I know? For Rucheng, only two major events occurred recently. One involves a mysterious treasure, and all Innate Grandmasters with names and titles are competing; unclear if it's related to this incident."
"What's the second major event?"
"It should have nothing to do with demon deployment. The third son of the Zhao Clan is coming to Shuizhou Demon City because there's a fixed 'Super Spiritual Land' in the Pioneer Base of Shuizhou Demon City. He exhausted his cultivation quota in other Super Spiritual Lands and came here to cultivate."
"If he wasn't Martial Saint Zhao's direct grandson, how could he influence the entire Rucheng? I heard that the wealthy and influential families of Rucheng are all trying to associate with the third son of the Zhao Clan."
Zhou Leng said, "I heard the Grandmasters are also making moves?"
Everyone looked at Zhou Leng.
Xue Chengsong nodded and said, "I heard about it too, but it doesn't have much to do with Rucheng. It's said to be of a higher level; the Ten Realms are being influenced, but the impact on us is negligible. Only the Grandmaster families might know the specifics."
"In this situation, a second's delay might mean death here. Should we speed up a bit?" Ding Yan looked at Xue Chengsong.
Xue Chengsong hesitated for a few seconds and asked, "Can you all keep up?"
"Yes!" Ding Yan said.
"Yes!" Cui Mingcong said.
"Yes!" Zhou Leng said.
Feng Wenhao hesitated.
He was at Minor Achievement in the Qi Nourishing Period, Seventh Heaven, carrying a backpack, and struggled to keep up.
"Give it to me." Zhou Leng took Feng Wenhao's backpack and carried it himself.
Everyone watched the two of them.
Feng Wenhao's eyes turned slightly red.
Zhou Leng smiled and said, "Over the years, you and Hu Yi often made excuses to give me some of your meat at lunch; that meat has become solid on my body."
Feng Wenhao nodded firmly.
"Speed up!" Xue Chengsong glanced at Zhou Leng and gave the order.
The team increased its speed by thirty percent.
Ding Yan, not out of breath, said, "Actually, this level five alert is a good thing, a highlight in our record."
"That's right, war merits come from danger," Cui Mingcong gently shook his neck.
Suddenly, a bright orb flew out from the front, exploding in the sky over a hundred meters high, illuminating the high altitude and persistently glowing.
Xue Chengsong cursed, "Detour immediately! We've encountered rookies."
The foremost runner, Cui Mingcong, immediately turned left, and the team followed.
Zhou Leng asked, "Because it can attract demons?"
"Yes. Normally, or if our army was nearby, it wouldn't be a problem. But now, with the situation unclear, it's like signaling to the demons that there's someone there, sure to attract a swarm of demons. Now, everyone nearby is in danger. Be ready for combat."
Cao Jiajia and Ding Yan took down their demonized crossbows from their backs.
As Xue Chengsong ran, he said, "Don't be afraid; innate demons are still few, and we are not far from the base. We're almost at the Red Spot Forest. Even if we encounter demons, they will be just ordinary lower-rank demons in the Qi Blood Realm. We have demonized crossbows and can fight and retreat to escape."
Ding Yan said, "With the horn sounded, the Seventh Division must have been dispatched, and there will certainly be defenses near the Red Spot Forest. We might come across a transport vehicle or a demonized helicopter after a few steps."
Afterwards, there was a silence as deep as the night.
After running for a while, Zhou Leng said, "I have a sharper sense, you choose the direction; I'll run in front."
"Okay!" Xue Chengsong said.
Zhou Leng quickened his pace, taking the lead, utilizing his True Qi, and carefully observing in the dark.
Occasionally, Xue Chengsong took out a portable demonized thermal imaging device for a quick glance, saying, "Had I known it was this dangerous, I would have brought an advanced demonized thermal imaging device."
"Compared to an ordinary research team, we are already armed to the teeth," Feng Wenhao said.
Suddenly, Zhou Leng sniffed, extended his arm, and whispered, "Stop."
"What's wrong?" Xue Chengsong asked in a low voice.
"I smell blood. I worked in a slaughterhouse. It's not the blood of magical beasts or demons; it smells more like human or mammalian blood."
Everyone exchanged glances. They were all high school graduates and momentarily didn't know what to do.
Xue Chengsong said in a low voice, "We can only use normal methods: move slowly, bend down, and take a detour. Wait a moment."
As he spoke, Xue Chengsong took out the thermal imaging device and handed it to Zhou Leng.
Zhou Leng took it and carefully scanned ahead.
"Two points to the right front, the thermal imaging shows particularly dark; it means that place is very cold. The blood smell comes from there, indicating there are corpses within those dark areas."
"Even if a corpse cools down, it shouldn't be particularly dark, only about the same as the surrounding environment," Ding Yan expressed confusion.
"Look," Zhou Leng handed the night vision binoculars to Xue Chengsong.
Xue Chengsong took a look and said, "It is indeed low temperature," and then passed it to Ding Yan.
Cao Jiajia said, "I understand now, it's the power of an ice-type demon."
A few people looked a bit panicked.
Demons, at least those at the Blood Transport Realm, are what you need to deal with.
Demons with ice-type powers are even stronger.
Zhou Leng squinted and observed, saying, "You can vaguely see, indeed there are fragmented human bodies, scattered in several places."
Zhou Leng said, "There aren't many ice-type lower-rank demons in the Qi Blood Realm. Among the ones that appeared in Shuizhou Demon City, there are just four types: Frost Mouse Group, Ice Crystal Demon Lion, Ice Snow Warlock, and Frost Attendant."
Everyone looked at Zhou Leng, listening intently.
"Frost Mouse Group would gnaw away all flesh, Ice Snow Warlock is not interested in eating humans, and Frost Attendant usually commands. Judging by the level of destruction on the bodies, they likely encountered the Ice Crystal Demon Lion, of course, this is just a higher possibility, not a certainty. Captain, you have a microcomputer, you should be able to find detailed information on the Ice Crystal Demon Lion as we take a detour and learn."
Everyone felt a slight sense of relief.
But soon, that slight relief was shattered by the information on the Ice Crystal Demon Lion.
The Ice Crystal Demon Lion's claws can carry ice-type power; once it erupts, anyone below the Blood Transporting Period is doomed.
At least, one must circulate blood with Qi to dispel the cold.