147: Reach the summit

Xiao Weiqing did not panic; he swung his hand back and cut it apart with a fire blade.

He immediately flipped to the side, dodging a violent punch from Crystal Beast No. 3.

The punch smashed into the previous tree, causing the ground to shake violently.

"Fire Owl!"

A pillar of fire, carrying a large amount of Refined Fire, arrived instantly and blasted Crystal Beast No. 3's head, making it stagger.

"Flame Dragon!"

A giant dragon flew out from behind him, knocking Crystal Beast No. 3 away. Then, Xiao Weiqing leaped up and slashed down fiercely with the Crimson Dragon.

"Seamless Slash!"

The forty-meter blade qi seemed as if it would split the entire forest apart.

"Hah!"

Crystal Beast No. 3 pressed its palms together, trying to catch the long blade. Unexpectedly, the blade flashed, leaving an afterimage in mid-air, and the force of the blade qi had already broken through its body.

It sank more than half a meter into the crystal.

"Ang!"

The Flame Dragon bit down on its arm.

"Crack!! Crack!"

The crystal arm, as thick as a bucket, began to crack.

Crystal Beast No. 3 was terrified.

It felt the aura of death; if it were killed here once, its strength would surely plummet, and it would immediately be replaced by other crystal beasts.

"Hmph!"

Crystal Beast No. 3 gritted its teeth, twisted its body, and forcibly tore off its arm. Its figure retreated explosively, disappearing into a crystal tree five meters thick.

Xiao Weiqing landed on the ground and flicked his finger, sending several wisps of Samadhi True Fire onto the severed arm.

Silently, in just a few seconds, the entire crystal arm was incinerated.

"Bang!"

He slashed at the crystal tree, but it remained unscathed, while the shock made Xiao Weiqing's hand go numb; the hardness of this crystal tree far exceeded his imagination.

Xiao Weiqing put away the half-length Crimson Dragon and said:

"Crystal Beast No. 3, you are a worthy opponent."

"Thank No. 998 for me. If not for him, I really wouldn't have known that such a powerful crystal beast existed in the Crystal Forest."

Then.

Xiao Weiqing successfully reached the center and looked toward the transparent walkway in mid-air.

Meanwhile, Crystal Beast No. 3 poked out its large head. After confirming Xiao Weiqing had left, it walked toward the direction Xiao Weiqing had come from with a trace of ruthlessness... beneath the Myriad Phenomena Walkway.

Xiao Weiqing did not hesitate and leaped onto the walkway.

Crack... "Hmm?"

Xiao Weiqing's pupils constricted.

The crystal steps beneath his feet actually showed signs of cracking.

"No way!"

Xiao Weiqing took off and dashed forward.

As expected.

The walkway behind him began to collapse, and the crystals under his feet kept falling.

Not daring to linger, Xiao Weiqing increased his speed, constantly climbing along the spiral crystal walkway.

"Brother Qing, wait for me."

"Da Wei?"

Xiao Weiqing looked back and saw Da Wei.

"Hurry up!~"

"Ah!"

The suddenly appearing Zhang Dawei stepped into thin air and slid down.

Xiao Weiqing turned back and grabbed for Da Wei's palm, but he only caught an afterimage; he staggered and almost fell.

"Damn, an illusion!"

Seeing that the broken crystals had already collapsed to his feet, Xiao Weiqing no longer hesitated and ran forward at full speed.

"Brother Qing, come this way quickly."

On the other side, Wei Lan waved from a fork in the road.

Xiao Weiqing looked at the girl he hadn't seen for a long time; his steps faltered, but he still ignored her and continued running forward.

"You brat, why are you running over there? Where is my mind spirit fruit?"

Illusions constantly appeared on both sides of the walkway to confuse Xiao Weiqing.

Xiao Weiqing opened his Mental Shield, ignoring everything and just charging forward.

He didn't know how long he had been sprinting.

Finally.

Xiao Weiqing passed through the clouds, and his field of vision suddenly opened up.

"Ding!~"

"Clang~"

The sound of fighting came from above!

Xiao Weiqing leaped onto the platform and arrived at a square.

On the square.

There were eight people in total.

Four of them were divided into two groups, standing on either side.

Three others were besieging Dongfang Xuan.

One held dual blades, one was covered in flames, and one had a tall figure with the phantom of a samurai behind him.

At this moment.

Dongfang Xuan was holding a Black-Gold Spear, maneuvering among the three, but he was outnumbered and was being pushed back step by step.

"Dongfang Xuan, you're finished."

"Ye Tianming, just with you?"

Behind Ye Tianming, a person covered in flames waved his hands.

"Fire Ring!"

Five Fire Rings, nearly a zhang in diameter, flew toward Dongfang Xuan, shrinking continuously as they flew.

Dongfang Xuan was entangled by the other two and could not break free, seemingly about to be bound by the Fire Rings.

"Oh, how lively. Dongfang Xuan, do you need help?"

Dongfang Xuan didn't need to look back to know who it was.

"What do you think?"

"Fine, I'll join the fun."

"Fire Owl!"

A pillar of flame three feet in diameter instantly attacked the Fire Rings above Dongfang Xuan's head.

"Hmph, where did this kid come from? So arrogant, looking down on my Xuanhuang Stone Fire."

"Simply showing off before a master!"

Boom!~~

With just one strike.

The five Fire Rings instantly dissipated.

"What?"

"How is that possible?"

Xiao Weiqing didn't waste words and slashed out; the blade qi arrived instantly, and the youth covered in fire was sent flying.

Ye Tianming, holding dual blades, narrowed his eyes. "Qu Yan has a Level 6 Extraordinary Talent and possesses an Exotic Fire. How could he be defeated by some random kid?"

Without Qu Yan, it would be difficult for him and Taniguchi Takao to take down Dongfang Xuan.

He couldn't help but say, "Yun Xi, Chu Xu, are you still not going to act?"

"In the upcoming assessments, are you sure you can compete with Dongfang Xuan?"

The two people from the Vermilion Bird Empire were indeed Yun Xi and Xie Sheng.

The two looked at each other and unexpectedly took a step back in unison, making their stance clear.

"Cough... cough... the Vermilion Bird Kingdom has always been on good terms with Great Xia."

"Don't you agree, Yun Xi?"

Yun Xi nodded slightly in agreement.

Chu Xu of the Xuanwu Kingdom frowned slightly upon hearing this and said to the girl beside him:

"Fu Xiaoling, what do you think?"

"Ignore it. You are a Technique Cultivator and I am a Spirit Cultivator; Dongfang Xuan has no direct conflict with us, and the two from the Vermilion Bird Empire seem very wary of the person who just arrived."

"Given Yun Xi's strength, she still doesn't want to get involved in the struggle between Great Xia and the Tianlang Empire. We should just wait and see. As for Taniguchi Takao, everyone knows the Cherry Blossom Manor's desire for independence; it would be best if he died here."

Chu Xu nodded and, like Fu Xiaoling, took a step back, indicating they would not intervene.

On the other side.

Xiao Weiqing was beating the fire-man back.

Without Qu Yan's long-range attacks, although Dongfang Xuan still couldn't escape the siege of Ye Tianming and Taniguchi Takao, his pressure was significantly reduced.

"Buzz..."

At this time.

At the end of the square, the palace gates opened.

A Daoist Boy walked out with a baby face and a look as if he hadn't fully woken up.

Meanwhile, on the other side.

Xia Mo and Teng Hai of Great Xia also arrived at the square.

"Swoosh!~ Swoosh~"

More and more Geniuses ascended to the square.

Ye Tianming and Taniguchi Takao couldn't take down Dongfang Xuan for the time being, so they had to stop.

On the other hand, Xiao Weiqing knocked Qu Yan to the ground with a few slashes; if not for the arrival of other Tianlang geniuses, Xiao Weiqing would have killed him.

At this point.

The four factions on the square formed a stalemate.

On Great Xia's side were Xiao Weiqing, Dongfang Xuan, Xia Mo, Teng Hai, Lü Heguang, and Luo Dechang.

From the Vermilion Bird Empire were Yun Xi, Xie Sheng, and someone from the Ruan Family named Ruan Dong.

From the Tianlang Empire were Ye Tianming, Qu Yan, and three others: a large fellow and a pair of twin sisters who had just acted to block Xiao Weiqing.

The Xuanwu Kingdom had the most people; besides the initial Chu Xu, Fu Xiaoling, and Taniguchi Takao, four more geniuses had arrived.

Xiao Weiqing retreated to the Great Xia camp and asked:

"Just the few of us? Has Ren Jie not come up either?"

"He likely encountered a crystal beast ranked in the top ten and was held back; it's probably just us left."

Teng Hai said, "We can't worry about that much. The assessment is about to begin; that Daoist Boy seems to be waiting for something."