0108 Must not be killed!

Only Jiang Feng could see that the deep black demonic aura surrounding him was growing thicker. It did not mingle with the faint black vapor drifting from the demon core but remained separate, merging with itself and expanding relentlessly. Eventually, it coalesced into a massive black cloud, rolling and churning above Jiang Feng’s head, swiftly moving forward.

This was bad.

Jiang Feng's heart raced anxiously when suddenly the sound of hooves thundered behind him. Moments later, a spear whistled through the air, aimed straight at his back.

Jiang Feng’s eyes narrowed slightly. With a gentle twist of the Celestial Demon Cube, the spear’s trajectory became clear before him. He shifted his footing, rolled sideways, and dodged behind a crumbling wall. The spear slammed into the wall with a thunderous crash, shattering it to rubble. Countless fragments of stone and brick, propelled by tremendous force, rained down upon him, leaving a patchwork of wounds across his body.

There was no time to see who was behind him. Jiang Feng rolled to his feet and dashed onward, shouting as he ran, “I’m from the Southeastern Battle Zone, not the enemy! It’s an emergency—I didn’t have time to report. Please let me pass!”

A voice sneered coldly in response: “Emergency? This is a life-and-death battle—there's no room for negligence. If you want to pass, show your command token first!”

The voice was hauntingly familiar, growing closer by the second.

Jiang Huaiming.

He was also in the demon core area of Stone Street, though assigned to a different battle zone. Jiang Feng had thought they could avoid conflict for now, but he hadn’t expected to be blocked by him here.

His heart sank. Gritting his teeth, he kept running without looking back.

Jiang Huaiming was feeling triumphant.

Before the provincial exam began, arrangements had already been made by Li Ming. Jiang Huaiming was specially assigned here; subordinates of Lord Fuliu had given him a heads-up and crafted a clever plan to assist in combat. They would trap the demons first, then he would throw spears to kill them. This way, the kills—and the points—would be credited to him.

Using this tactic, Jiang Huaiming had held the top spot from the start, steadily increasing his lead over the others.

Not only him, but other members of the Jiang family had also been well positioned, securing favorable ranks.

If this continued, not only would each of them pass the provincial exam, but Jiang Huaiming might even claim the top rank.

Previously, Jiang Huaiming had arranged two assassination attempts, both of which Jiang Feng had evaded. The latter incident had become a ticking time bomb, threatening to cause trouble at any moment.

This made Jiang Huaiming wary of Jiang Feng. When he checked the scores using special means, he kept a close eye on Jiang Feng’s progress. Upon seeing the results, he finally relaxed.

This kid had performed well initially, ranking in the top ten, but lacked stamina—there was a long stretch when he scored nothing.

Now, Jiang Feng had a pitiful 352 points, ranked third from last, while Jiang Huaiming led with an impressive 1,760 points.

So I’d overestimated this kid all along!

Jiang Huaiming swelled with pride, practically inflated with arrogance. At this moment, seeing Jiang Feng pass by, he couldn’t resist harassing him. Riding a fine steed prepared by Li Ming, he followed closely, the hooves thundering behind Jiang Feng.

Spears came flying one after another, aimed at Jiang Feng’s back, accompanied by Jiang Huaiming’s mocking laughter: “What’s the rush? Not staying in your own battle zone, running here to snatch a few stray demon kills? Tsk tsk, no wonder you’ve been scoreless for so long—must be pretty frustrated...”

Jiang Feng didn’t bother to turn his head or respond. None of the spears hit him, but the shockwaves and flying debris left him battered and slowed his pace.

From time to time, Jiang Feng glanced upward. The black cloud above thickened, its shadow dimming the ambient energy to a faint whisper.

In truth, if Jiang Huaiming had paused for even a moment, he would have sensed something was off with the energy around them.

But pride blinded him, and his perception of the energy was not keen enough to notice anything amiss.

Jiang Feng ran faster than the horse, crossing into another battle zone. There, he finally spotted the silver-haired woman. She was drawing her bow, a shard of ice already forming on the silver arrow.

Jiang Feng charged forward, shouting, “Stop! Don’t shoot!”

He called out quickly, but the silver-haired woman’s movements were swifter. The ice arrow instantly formed and was released.

Its target was the bent-blade demon ahead.

The bald, sullen demon revealed a sinister smile. Lowering his weapon, he straightened his chest as if to meet the incoming ice arrow head-on.

This was the last battle zone Jiang Feng had reached, and the last bent-blade demon he’d encounter. If this one fell, all the bent-blade demons in this group would be wiped out.

With a wave of his hand, a silver lightning bolt surged from his palm toward the ice arrow.

The lightning traveled in a straight, blindingly fast streak, growing brighter and thicker as it advanced. At an astonishing speed, it collided with the ice arrow before it could strike.

The lightning had exhausted all of Jiang Feng’s strength, but the harsh difference in rank was unmistakable.

The lightning entwined the ice arrow, scattering tiny ice shards, yet it could not budge it in the slightest.

Suddenly, a shadow flashed forward from ahead. A man seized Jiang Feng by the collar, shouting, “You bastard! What do you think you’re doing?”

His grip was like iron and ice combined. Once caught, Jiang Feng felt the energy in his body freeze instantly. Straining to speak, he managed, “That demon—you must not kill it!”

The man was in his thirties, dressed in black, handsome with a hint of familiarity. He shouted, “Are you a demon spy? How dare you stop us from killing demons?”

At that moment, the Heavenly Seed within Jiang Feng erupted with immense power. The energy around him loosened, and he pushed backward with all his might, shouting, “The demons you killed earlier—they’re not dead! They’re still alive!”

Suddenly, a loud bang drew Jiang Feng’s gaze forward, and his expression changed completely.

The ice arrows rained relentlessly upon the last bent-blade demon, the intense cold instantly shattering it to pieces.

Jiang Feng saw clearly—the demon’s death caused its body to dissolve into countless black vapors, merging with the rolling black cloud above.

He shoved the black-clad man in front of him, shouting, “Don’t you see? The demons’ cores are gone!”

At that moment, the black cloud fully materialized in the sky.

Both the black-clad man and the silver-haired woman looked up, their expressions shifting simultaneously: “Unified Demon!”

The black cloud contained an incredibly powerful demonic aura. It descended from the heavens, unlike the usual foul stench of demonic energy, it carried a faint sweetness. It pressed down, enveloping everyone beneath it.

Jiang Feng immediately felt his heartbeat quicken, his blood flowing at least twice as fast as before.

Around him, he heard a series of thuds—soldiers collapsing one after another.

Under this overwhelming demonic energy, their vital energies were instantly shattered; they no longer had the strength to stand.

At the last moment, Jiang Feng surged forward, leaving Jiang Huaiming and his horse far behind. Jiang Huaiming arrived a moment too late and froze in shock at the scene before him.

Quick to react, he pressed down on the horse, performing a backward flip to leap far outside the demon cloud’s range.

The demonic energy surged in, causing the horse to collapse. Jiang Huaiming retreated repeatedly, face pale and shaken.

Only now did he realize he had unknowingly followed Jiang Feng this far, ending up in such a perilous and inexplicable place.

...

The Unified Demons were a rare and special race.

They appeared to be independent individuals, capable of free movement, communication, and combat.

But in essence, they were a single collective. When one individual died, it returned to the whole.

When all individuals perished, the collective’s true body would manifest, revealing its full power.

The bent-blade demons wielded by the others were rare members of this unified clan. The true body now hidden deep within the black cloud was far stronger than the sum of the ten demons.

Jiang Feng’s power was too low to gauge its rank, but the sheer scale was unmistakable.

Within this area, only Jiang Feng, the battle zone captain, and two unfamiliar strong figures remained standing.

The expressions of these two strangers darkened as well.

Though the Unified Demon was strong and difficult to fight, the crucial issue was that they had failed to recognize its true identity and had been deceived.

Normally, dealing with a Unified Demon was not too difficult—one merely had to avoid killing its individuals and tightly control them.

Both of them were ice-type experts, renowned for their control abilities.

Yet Unified Demons were so rare and indistinct compared to ordinary demons that until the last one was killed, they had remained completely unaware.

The black-clad man stood beside Jiang Feng, asking gravely, “How do you know it’s a Unified Demon?”

Jiang Feng replied, “The silver-haired woman was the first to kill a demon in our battle zone. After that, I checked the demon core and found both the core and the body were missing. Then I saw the remnants of its body turning into independent demonic energy, merging together. I once read about Unified Demons in a book—their traits are very distinctive!”

The black-clad man regarded him strangely, scanning him up and down. When he seemed to grasp his rank, he exclaimed, “Dawn Realm? You’re only at the Dawn Realm?”

Jiang Feng quickly understood his meaning. “Yes, but my perception of vital energy is keen, and I have a special ability to see the flow of vital energy and demonic aura.”

The man eyed him and asked, “Are you a Treasure Craftsman?”

Jiang Feng shook his head, “Not yet promoted—just starting to learn.”

The black-clad man nodded. “No wonder. Only a Treasure Craftsman can have perception at this level. Thank you for informing us. Unfortunately... sigh.”

Jiang Feng glanced coldly behind him, replying calmly, “If no one had interfered, maybe it would have been even quicker.”

The black-clad man recalled the scene when Jiang Feng arrived and looked toward Jiang Huaiming from afar.

Jiang Huaiming felt a chilling gaze sweep over him and shivered involuntarily. He stepped back, instinctively turning to flee.

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