Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
"Good!" As Jiang Xinyu finished speaking, spiritual power instantly surged from her body. The blade erupted with a piercing howl of wind as the green light spun at high speed, like a bullet firing from its chamber.
Jiang Xinyu was an Ice Attribute Star Martial Warrior, but those of the Ice Attribute inherently possessed both wind and water attributes, with the Wind Attribute known as the strongest in cutting ability.
Wang Lan had always thought that Jiang Xinyu was not skilled in Wind Attribute Star Martial Skills. Only now did he understand that not only could she use them, but she also possessed a high-level Star Martial Skill.
The howling wind, causing the entire cave to tremble violently, was proof enough of this move’s extraordinary piercing capability.
The Snow Spiders before them grew even more agitated and frenzied. Sherry, the Spider Queen, shrieked with increasing shrillness.
Suddenly, an angry scream filled the air. The Spider King burst through the mountain wall, its massive body moving as fast as a shooting star, pouncing towards Jiang Xinyu’s head almost at the exact instant she launched her stabbing attack.
"Not good—"
Fear instantly surged in the hearts of Wang Lan and the others. The Spider King’s power had reached the pinnacle of the Star Cloud Stage. If the Spider King returned, whether Jiang Xinyu succeeded or not, they were dood to a horrible death.
How could it be so fast... How could the Spider King return so quickly? Xu Xiangwen thought desperately.
Jiang Xinyu felt the crushing pressure from above. Her calm façade instantly crumbled, her eyes revealing deep despair.
What I can’t bear even more than death, she thought, is that I’ve led the entire team into this desperate situation. If I hadn’t been so arrogant, if I hadn’t chosen to take this risk, it wouldn’t have co to this...
This mont was brief, yet it seed to stretch on forever.
It was enough ti for Wang Lan to react decisively. "Activate, Phoenix Form!"
In an instant, a Phoenix Tail Flower seal blazed on Wang Lan’s forehead. Simultaneously, nurous dark red seals lit up around his body.
An imasurable power erupted from Wang Lan’s chest, a scorching, magma-like force instantly flooding his entire being.
BOOM—
A deafening explosion resounded.
The rocks beneath Wang Lan’s feet shattered instantly, creating a shallow crater a ter in diater. In the blink of an eye, Wang Lan appeared above Jiang Xinyu, positioning himself before the Spider King just as its deadly attack was about to land.
"BOOM—"
Wang Lan’s fist, seemingly wreathed in flas, shot out with the Inch Strength Fist, leaving a streak of light in the air.
The enormous Spider King, its body covered in tough, thick armor, froze in mid-air for a second before suddenly exploding into countless fragnts, like an egg violently smashed on the ground.
"Cross-rank kill. Reward: 1,000 experience points, 50 skill points."
A warm current flowed through Wang Lan’s body as his experience points soared. He instantly leveled up from Starlight Rank Seven to Starlight Rank Eight, and his experience bar filled by more than half.
Witnessing the Spider King being obliterated in mid-air by Wang Lan’s single punch left everyone utterly aghast.
Damn... What the hell did I just see? It must be an illusion, definitely an illusion... Xu Xiangwen roared internally. Though his facial expression was petrified, his inner turmoil was like a raging tempest.
"What are you waiting for! Kill!" Wang Lan roared at Jiang Xinyu. Using the last second of his transformation’s power, he punched the weak section of the wall.
SQUEAK—
A sharp cry pierced the air as Jiang Xinyu’s Speedy Wind Stab viciously plunged into the Spider Queen’s ice armor. The armor, already damaged by Jiang Xinyu, could not withstand the wind blade’s cutting power. Her blade, along with her entire arm, buried deep into the Spider Queen’s head.
When Jiang Xinyu withdrew her arm, she held an egg-sized Soul Bead in her hand.
"Quick, retreat—" Wang Lan called out weakly, his strength completely drained.
"Wang Youle, what the hell are you doing? Run—" Xu Xiangwen, having charged through the frenzied Snow Spiders, was dismayed to find Wang Youle still lagging, searching for sothing, while the encircling Snow Spiders closed in rapidly.
Spider King Soul Bead, Spider King Soul Bead... I must find it... I must...
"To hell with that bead! Don’t you even care about your life?!" Xu Xiangwen furiously cut down the surrounding Snow Spiders, grabbed Wang Youle by the collar, and dragged him away.
After bursting out of the cave, Gong Feiyu supported Wang Lan while Xu Xiangwen dragged Wang Youle, and they fled desperately. Until a new queen erged, the Snow Spiders, having lost their current one, would descend into a chaotic frenzy. They would attack any creature not of their kind, be it Exotic Beasts or humans. Their combat power would surge dramatically, as if fueled by a berserker’s rage.
Fortunately, the Snow Spiders had succumbed to madness. Once the team broke free from the battle, the spiders didn’t pursue them. After retreating for five kiloters, they finally found a safe canyon near Wind Valley.
The Spider King Soul Bead... to think we didn’t find it... what a pity... such a terrible pity... Wang Youle lanted, slumping to the ground, lost in remorse. anwhile, Jiang Xinyu sat cross-legged, absorbing the Spider Queen’s Soul Bead, preparing for her breakthrough.
As long as Jiang Xinyu broke through to the Star Cloud Stage, they would truly be safe. Even if they encountered a king of Exotic Beasts, they could escape if they couldn’t defeat it.
Wang Lan lay on the ground, limbs limp, feeling completely hollowed out. He stared at the sky with lifeless eyes.
Who can tell why the after-effects of the Phoenix Form are so agonizing? It felt like being relentlessly drained by a dozen wealthy won for three days and three nights, leaving behind an empty, soulless husk.
Xu Xiangwen closed his Heavenly Eye. "The Snow Spiders aren’t chasing, and the Gale Wolves haven’t discovered us. We’re safe for now."
Having said that, a sly smile spread across his face. "Feiyu, give a hand."
"OK!"
The two of them approached Wang Lan from either side. Xu Xiangwen nudged him gently. "Stop playing dead!"
"Leave alone... Go cool off sowhere else."
"Oh? Pretty cocky, are we?"
Xu Xiangwen and Gong Feiyu suddenly grabbed Wang Lan’s arms, slung them over their shoulders, and then each scooped up one of his limp legs, hoisting him up.
"Hey, what are you doing? Is this so ’village kids ganging up on the helpless old man’ routine?"
"Lanzi, see that tree up ahead?" Xu Xiangwen said. "It’s about twenty centiters in diater, perfectly round and straight. The bark is covered in thorns, each about a centiter long, hard as steel needles."
As they spoke, the two of them slowly carried Wang Lan towards the tree trunk.
"Stop ssing around, I’m not kidding, this could kill soone... Stop playing..."
"Confess and you’ll be treated leniently."
"Resist and you’ll get cracked eggs!"
"Fine! Fine! I’ll talk, okay?"
"Speak up!"
"Hurry up and talk!"
"Well, are you going to ask your damn questions or not?"
"Do we even need to ask?"
"Have you no freaking clue what you pulled off in the Snow Spider cave?"
"Exactly! You’re just playing dumb. This reminds of that ti in eighth grade when so little bastard claid he’d bombed the test, saying he didn’t even get ninety in math."
"And then you, this asshole, got eighty-nine point five in math, full marks in physics, chemistry, English, and biology, and only lost ten points on your Chinese composition. You were still top of the grade!"
"That’s right! And that ti the teacher accidentally gave you the advanced B-version test paper ant for research, and you still managed to score eighty-nine on an exam where the highest score in all of Tong City was only sixty-two!"
"You’re a master pretender! You had gloating for less than ten minutes before you slapped in the face with your scores."
"It’s the sa this ti! All that nonsense about ’just awakened as a Star Martial Warrior,’ ’just a weakling tagging along with the team’... You were playing the pig to eat the tiger all along! I actually believed you and looked out for you the whole way. And what do I find out? You’re the real powerhouse, and I’m the noob!"
"That mont felt pretty aweso, didn’t it? Power surging, one-punch superhero style!"
"Hey, have you guys said enough? Listen to my explanation... I really wasn’t playing the pig to eat the tiger..."
"Still talking tough? Feiyu, ti for so serious persuasion!"
"Stop! Listen to my explanation! That move is a Star Martial Skill, a very dangerous one. It’s incredibly powerful, as you saw, but it completely drained in just a few seconds. Five seconds! Just five seconds! Not even enough ti to drop your pants!"
"Bullshit! Five seconds is more than enough ti for you to finish... AH, PFFT! You’re sidetracking ! You’re saying that was a Star Martial Skill? What kind of Star Martial Skill is that powerful? How co I’ve never heard of it?"
"Ever heard of the Phoenix Form?" Wang Lan gently patted their shoulders. "Put down."
"Can you stand?"
"I think so."
Wang Lan’s legs were still a bit shaky, but he managed to stand firmly.
"Phoenix Form? I’ve never heard of it. Feiyu, have you?"
"There are at least a hundred thousand Star Martial Skills in the world, and at most, only about ten thousand or so have been publicly docunted. And that’s just the existing ones. If you count those that appeared throughout history but were never recorded or have been lost, the number is astronomical."
"So, what exactly is this Phoenix Form Star Martial Skill?"
"It’s a Star Martial Skill that stimulates one’s latent power. I haven’t mastered it yet, so I don’t know much. But I do know that the basic requirent to learn it is the Galaxy Stage."
"Fuck!" Xu Xiangwen looked ready to kick him again. "Are you seriously trying to tell you’re at the Galaxy Stage?"
"Is that even possible? If I were at the Galaxy Stage, I could have flattened this entire trial ground. Who the hell would bother slowly fighting monsters with you guys? This Star Martial Skill was left to by my mom, so perhaps it’s special, allowing to learn it even at the Starlight Stage."
"But what I can use is just a watered-down version. I don’t even know what the real Phoenix Form is like. Satisfied with that answer?"
Silently listening to their conversation, Wang Youle’s eyes reddened with jealousy.
He had never even heard of a Star Martial Skill as powerful as Phoenix Form, let alone seen one. It was sothing he feared he might never attain in his entire lifeti, yet Wang Lan had obtained it so easily.
Why? Why him?
Does being born into an ordinary family an I’m destined for nothing? Why are things so easily available to Wang Lan completely out of my reach? If I had this Star Martial Skill, I’d be a genius too, an even greater prodigy than Jiang Xinyu!
They’re just luckier, that’s all... just luckier...
BUZZ—
Suddenly, a visible ripple of energy emanated from behind them, causing the three to stop talking and turn around abruptly.
Jiang Xinyu sat cross-legged on the ground, surrounded by ripples visible to the naked eye. In an instant, snowflakes began to drift down around her.
A powerful aura overflowed, and the biting cold stung the faces of Wang Lan and the others.
Jiang Xinyu slowly opened her eyes, her beautiful large eyes resembling a serene autumnal pond.
"Did you succeed?"
"Did you break through?" Xu Xiangwen and Gong Feiyu hurriedly asked.
"Yes! Actually, I broke through a little while ago. I absorbed a few dozen more Soul Beads to stabilize my realm. I’m now basically stable at the Star Cloud Stage." Saying this, Jiang Xinyu slowly stood up. "What kind of Star Martial Skill is Phoenix Form? If the basic learning requirent is the Galaxy Stage, that Star Martial Skill must be S-rank, right?"
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