Grinding EXP From a Demon Hunting Ship

At that moment, his surroundings were now a sea of fiery red!

Underground lava!

The Grotto Heaven node had opened, suffusing the area with high-quality, fire-aspected Spiritual Qi. The result was this intensely scorching lava, a rolling tide of destructive heat that crazily seared his skin!

Even in his Balder Form, he wouldn’t last long under this intense heat!

’Escape!’

’Otherwise, I’ll be burned alive!’

Qiu Mu was horrified. After falling into the lava, his Magical Power was being consumed at an extremely rapid rate!

But just then, the torrent of water suddenly contracted, solidifying into an impenetrable wall that sealed the chasm and made it impossible for Qiu Mu to escape!

’This isn’t working...’

Qiu Mu was frantic, his face a mask of terror. Under the threat of death, his heart was filled with dread!

The ball of flesh whirled, bombarding the seawater confinement and the surrounding earth. Despite his efforts, the prison formed by the water didn’t loosen.

However, the surrounding rock and earth weren’t nearly as solid. With Qiu Mu’s cultivation level, it wouldn’t take long for him to smash a tunnel out!

’There’s hope!’

Seeing a chance at survival, Qiu Mu’s potential was unleashed to one hundred and twenty percent!

But in Su Ye’s eyes, Qiu Mu’s desperate struggle for survival was...

"Utterly pointless."

Su Ye smiled, a bloodthirsty glint flashing in his eyes.

BZZZT.

Deep underground.

A single point of pitch-blackness suddenly materialized above Qiu Mu’s head.

Immediately, this point of blackness expanded, forming a bowl-sized portal connected to the Netherworld!

Meanwhile.

Inside the hull of the Ghostly Flood Dragon, in the Spiritual Furnace chamber.

Dressed in a black-and-red ceremonial robe, Jiaojiao stood barefoot, her expression serious. Following her orders, she manipulated the ship’s hull, causing it to reshape and form a Plasma Cannon within the cabin!

HUMMM.

Crimson conduits connected the Spiritual Furnace to the Plasma Cannon.

Crimson patterns appeared on the surface of the Plasma Cannon. Inside its barrel, Spiritual Power surged, and it began to glow with the light of blood-red flames!

"Perfect."

"Master, the cannon is ready to fire."

"Very good." Su Ye nodded.

"On my mark. Three, two, one..."

"Fire!"

The cannon roared. A Plasma Bomb, containing terrifying destructive power, howled forth and struck the pure black portal to the Netherworld directly in front of the barrel!

BOOM!

Using the Netherworld as a waypoint, the blast fired from the Ghostly Flood Dragon descended upon Qiu Mu’s head in less than a tenth of a second!

"What...?!"

Sensing the threat, Qiu Mu jerked his head up... but it was too late. At such a short distance, the Plasma Bomb’s speed was practically instantaneous!

The instant he looked up, the Plasma Bomb, brimming with terrifying power, slammed into his face and, within a single breath, blasted straight through the ball of flesh!

A face full of plasma!

He didn’t even have time to utter a final word.

Qiu Mu’s life force was extinguished in an instant!

Kill confirmed!

"Didn’t see that coming, did you?"

Su Ye said lightly, his expression full of mockery.

The Four Seas Pearl Chain and the Earth-Fire Lava were just a diversion... The real killing blow was always the Ghostly Flood Dragon!

’Looks like your Divine Technique’s judgment isn’t very intelligent... My life-bound Spiritual Ship isn’t within its scope, so it couldn’t get the Divine Technique’s boost.’

Su Ye swept the area with his Divine Sense, watching as Qiu Mu’s flesh was completely eroded by the blood-red flames, leaving behind a charred skeleton resting peacefully in the lava.

...

On the high platform.

The moment Qiu Mu’s life force was extinguished, "Qiu Mu!" Han Tiantong’s eyelid twitched violently.

’Qiu Mu, in whom he had placed such high hopes—even giving him a Golden Armor Divine Talisman—was dead, just like that?!’

The other Golden Core and Crystal Formation cultivators had weaker Divine Sense detection abilities.

But once the smoke and dust cleared and the spiritual fluctuations stabilized, seeing that only Su Ye’s figure remained in the sky, even the Crystal Formation cultivators knew who had won the battle!

"Another victory!"

"Yehai is invincible among his peers!"

The cultivators from the True Treasure Pavilion cheered, their faces alight with excitement!

If nothing else, this aerial deathmatch had brought the True Treasure Pavilion cultivators much closer to the Flame Alliance, and especially to Su Ye.

Han Tiantong took a deep breath.

His gaze swept over the cultivators on the high platform. The Mid-stage Golden Core cultivators who met his eyes all lowered their heads in unison, cowering like quails.

It wasn’t just the demonic cultivators or those from Immortal Peak Palace; even the core Golden Core cultivators from the Star Casting Hall itself did the same.

Su Ye’s terrifying combat record, having slain two opponents in a row, had already scared them witless.

Han Tiantong knew that these Mid-stage Golden Core cultivators wouldn’t dare to enter the fight, no matter what.

’Detestable! Despicable!’

Han Tiantong gave Su Ye a long, hard look before finally making a difficult decision.

He forcibly suppressed the rage in his heart and turned to the cultivators from the Candle Python Cave on the platform. "Daoist Chiyou," he said calmly, "I’ll have to trouble you."

That’s right.

A change in tactics!

After Qiu Mu’s death, the Star Casting Hall absolutely could not produce a single Mid-stage Golden Core cultivator who could match Su ye.

Therefore, he had to substitute the fighter—he had no other choice. He would send out Chiyou, a fellow Golden Core Perfection cultivator of outstanding strength, to force Su Ye to withdraw and compel Mr. Guan of the True Treasure Pavilion to take the field!

"Shameless!"

"For one of the dignified Nine Sects of the Inner Sea to act so despicably!"

Faced with the Star Casting Hall’s substitution tactic, the True Treasure Pavilion naturally erupted in curses.

These humiliating taunts made the younger cultivators on the Star Casting Hall’s side feel deeply ashamed, their faces burning.

Even Han Tiantong’s expression was grim, his eyes filled with a sinister and savage light. For the Star Casting Hall, such humiliation could only be washed away with blood!

"Daoist Chiyou, take this. If that old fossil Mr. Guan answers the challenge, find an opportunity to activate this and kill him!"

Han Tiantong, concealing the action with his sleeve, passed over a Treasure Pearl that looked unremarkable and dusky black. But from within it, silver light would occasionally flash, potent enough to make one’s heart pound in fear!

An Immortal Thunder Pearl!

A quasi-fifth-tier Spiritual Object!

An item of this level completely violated the restrictions of the deathmatch rules!

The hidden meaning behind Han Tiantong’s action was self-evident... He intended to use the aerial deathmatch as a pretense to assassinate Mr. Guan. If he succeeded, they would immediately declare war!

And if he failed, they would use the threat to force the issue and declare war anyway!

Han Tiantong’s plans had changed, and the main reason was Su Ye!

This Yehai, a mere Mid-stage Golden Core cultivator, already possessed such combat strength. The threat he posed was too great to be ignored... Otherwise, if he were allowed to cultivate to the Late-stage Golden Core or even Golden Core Perfection... he would become a calamity for the sect!

"This old man understands."

Chiyou was a veteran fiend himself; he accepted the Immortal Thunder Pearl without a change in expression. Everything was understood without a word being spoken.

Faced with Chiyou taking the field, the True Treasure Pavilion was momentarily unable to decide on a course of action. Even though Su Ye had slain two Golden Core cultivators, the Star Casting Hall still held the advantage on the battlefield.

Twenty-five Golden Core cultivators versus the True Treasure Pavilion’s twelve!

It was still more than double their number—a clear numerical superiority.

This made it very difficult for the True Treasure Pavilion cultivators to proactively start a war. The disparity in strength was too great... If a war broke out, the Star Casting Hall would suffer heavy losses, but they would be annihilated!

"What do we do?"

"Do we have no choice... but to send Mr. Guan out?"

"No! Their intentions are sinister. If anything happens to Mr. Guan, they will definitely declare war immediately!"

"These bastards from the Star Casting Hall have already thrown all face away!"

Aboard the Myriad Longevity Treasure Ark, discussions raged, but no decision could be reached.

As the Star Casting Hall continued to apply pressure, the atmosphere grew tense. Many of the True Treasure Pavilion cultivators, including Su Ye, realized that the Star Casting Hall seemed to be spoiling for a fight.

"Please send out a Golden Core Perfection cultivator to engage in the aerial deathmatch," Han Tiantong urged again, his expression icy.

However, just at that moment, a brilliant flash of spiritual light appeared on the distant horizon!

"Han Tiantong, you’re as shameless as ever!"

"You should hurry up and learn a Flesh Regeneration technique. That way, you can pave the Star Casting Hall’s warships with a layer of your face. Then, no matter what magic treasure or cannon hits them, they’ll never break through!"

"Hahaha..."

Amid the laughter, a slender and elegant, pure white spiritual ship that resembled a flying sword appeared before everyone!

"That’s..."

Zheng Yunzhe was suddenly taken aback.

"The Dust Crossing Flying Boat!"

Su Ye said in a low voice, naming the spiritual ship before Zheng Yunzhe could.

It was... a spiritual ship from the Jade Void Sword Sect!