80: My Godly Father (Part 11)

The Cang Yun Grand Competition was a decennial grand event of the Cang Yun Empire.

Within the Empire's borders, the royal nobility and Sect prodigies all viewed this as a stage to achieve fame in a single battle.

As the competition approached, the various official roads leading to the imperial capital, Cangyun City, were teeming with people and carriages.

Among them, a white jade flying boat traveling through the clouds was particularly eye-catching.

Its hull was engraved with profound runes and shrouded in Immortal Qi; it was the transport of the Flowing Cloud Sect.

While the Flowing Cloud Sect was not considered a top-tier Sect in the Cang Yun Empire, the presence of a Spirit King Realm expert allowed it to barely maintain its status among the first-rate ranks.

This time, they held high expectations for the competition.

Because in this generation, they had a rare Spirit Body Genius.

"Junior Sister Lin, what are you looking at?"

On the deck, a young Cultivator walked up to the girl leaning against the railing and gazing into the distance, his voice filled with concern.

The girl was none other than the girl surnamed Lin who had appeared in Xin'an Village two years ago, Lin Huanqing.

Two years had passed, and she had grown even more elegant and refined, yet there seemed to be a persistent trace of confusion between her brows.

"Senior Brother."

Lin Huanqing turned around and smiled at the young man.

She looked down at the crowds traveling like ants on the land below and spoke softly.

"I was wondering if there really are people in this world who can step onto the path of cultivation without relying on Aptitude, but solely through their own will."

The young man was taken aback, then laughed.

"Junior Sister, are you still thinking about that Mortal Body kid from two years ago?"

He shook his head and said, "A Mortal Body is just a Mortal Body. He might have had some Opportunity that made him temporarily stronger than ordinary people, but in the end, it's just a mirage; he won't get far."

Lin Huanqing did not argue, but the confusion in her eyes deepened.

That day, when the boy threw that punch, the pure will behind it remained clearly imprinted in her heart.

Just then, her unique perception as a Spirit Rhinoceros Body detected a disturbance coming from below.

A surge of violent Demonic Qi... Her gaze sharpened as she looked down.

On the official road below, a merchant caravan had fallen into massive chaos.

A black Ox Demon, as large as a small mountain, was easily overturning carriages with its sharp, massive horns.

A Spirit Nurturing Realm Ox Demon.

For Mortals, this was a disaster capable of destroying everything.

Seeing the Ox Demon about to charge into the crowd again, Lin Xue felt a pang of pity.

"Senior Brother, I'm going down to take a look!"

Before her voice had even faded, she transformed into a streak of pink light and leapt down from the flying boat.

"Hey, Junior Sister!"

The young man was shocked, but it was already too late to stop her... Quan Yun was very troubled.

He had finally managed to convince a merchant caravan manager heading to Cangyun City to let him hitch a ride.

He had just fallen asleep on the jolting pile of straw when he was startled awake by a violent shaking and piercing screams.

The carriage stopped abruptly, and the surroundings turned into a chaotic mess.

He poked his head out from the straw and jumped off the carriage.

The scene before him made his pupils contract.

A massive Ox Demon was wreaking havoc.

Its eyes were blood-red, and scalding breath puffed from its nostrils; every step it took made the ground tremble slightly.

The people from the caravan were crying and fleeing in all directions, their goods scattered everywhere.

In the chaos, a little girl about four or five years old was knocked down by the fleeing crowd and fell to the ground.

She was so terrified she forgot to cry, staring in horror at the Ox Demon that was closing in on her step by step.

The Ox Demon slowly raised a massive iron hoof.

Beneath the hoof was the little girl's head; if it came down, she would likely be turned into meat paste.

"No!!"

Not far away, a woman let out a terrified scream; she appeared to be the little girl's mother.

The people hiding nearby were shivering with fear, none daring to step forward.

Just as the iron hoof was about to stomp down.

"Swish!"

A stone whistled through the air and accurately struck one of the Ox Demon's eyes.

"Moo—!"

The Ox Demon roared in pain, and its descending hoof veered an inch, slamming heavily into the ground beside the little girl, creating a deep pit.

Taking advantage of this opening, a figure rushed quickly to the little girl's side.

It was Quan Yun.

He scooped up the terrified little girl and pushed her toward her mother.

"Run! Go find your family!"

Once the sharp pain subsided, the Ox Demon's fury was completely ignited.

Its injured eye stared fixedly at the youth who had ruined its fun.

"Moo!!"

The Ox Demon stomped its front hoof violently.

"Boom!"

Terrifying demonic power exploded along the ground.

A massive crack split the hard earth, rapidly spreading toward Quan Yun's position.

Quan Yun's expression changed.

The girl behind him hadn't run far yet.

Without time to think, Quan Yun suddenly turned and used all his strength to push the little girl out of the range of the fissure.

But because of this delay, his own path of retreat was cut off by the crack.

The dust settled.

An eerie standoff formed in the clearing.

A deep trench isolated the youth from the outside world.

He stood alone, facing the enraged Ox Demon.

Gasps of shock came from the crowd.

"This kid... is finished."

"What a pity. He threw himself away to save someone else."

The rescued little girl came to her senses and, looking at the trapped Quan Yun, cried out weakly with a sob.

"Save... save that big brother..."

Her mother tightly covered her mouth and dragged her further away, her own body trembling with fear.

Save?

Who would dare to save him? Who could even save him?

Facing a Raging Spirit Nurturing Realm great demon, no one dared to lend a helping hand.

In their eyes, the youth's fate was already sealed.

He would be cruelly trampled into meat paste by that Ox Demon.

However, the youth in peril showed no fear on his face.

He slowly drew the Wooden Sword from his waist that had accompanied him for two years, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground.

Those clear eyes were filled with calm, and even held a hint of... eagerness.

"He wants to fight a Vicious Beast with a Wooden Sword?"

"Is this child scared out of his mind?"

The onlookers were beyond shocked.

The Ox Demon also seemed to feel provoked.

It pawed its hooves frantically, and black Demonic Qi began to condense on its two horns, making the surrounding air turn thick.

"Moo!!!"

With a roar of fury, its massive body charged rapidly toward Quan Yun.

Its sharp horns were aimed directly at the youth's heart.

It wanted to pierce and tear apart this human boy who didn't know the heights of the heavens or the depths of the earth!

At that moment, Lin Huanqing finally arrived.

But what she saw was the Ox Demon's frantic charge, kicking up a cloud of dust that filled the sky.

The dust obscured everything, and her Divine Sense was also interfered with by the violent Demonic Qi, making it impossible to see the situation inside clearly.

She could only sense that the youth's weak aura could be completely swallowed by the Ox Demon's powerful strength at any moment.

In the emergency, she had no time for second thoughts and could only strike out with a sharp Sword Qi toward the center of the dust, guided by her intuition.

And within that dust, where no one could see.

In Quan Yun's eyes, the entire world had disappeared.

Only those constantly enlarging, lethal horns remained.

The sound of the wind, the roars, the screams—everything drifted away from him.

His heart was more serene than ever before.

The hand holding the Wooden Sword was as steady as a rock.

For two years, day after day, millions of repetitions had long since turned this movement into his instinct.

Facing the Ox Demon charging at him to pierce him with its horns, he simply made the most basic move.

A thrust.

PS: Let's discuss, is the pacing of the Quan Yun arc a bit too slow? If any of you godfathers feel uncomfortable with it, please let me know.