These dozens of civilians cried out with every last bit of their strength.
Their cry of "Long live the Snake King!" came from the bottom of their hearts, and they ended up weeping with gratitude.
’It feels so good to be alive. It’s like we’ve been given a second chance.’
The giant snake in the sky had vanished like a shooting star, but it left an indelible impression on their hearts.
’I’m truly a saint,’
Tu Xiao’an boasted to himself in mid-air before flying off in the direction of Wencheng.
Along the way, he saved many groups of people, killing over a dozen Taotie clones in the process.
Tu Xiao’an wondered, ’Just how many Taotie clones were released from the War Relics? I’ve already killed over a dozen before even reaching Wencheng. I’ll probably be really busy once I get there.’
Every group of people he saved immediately became his loyal followers, without exception, and his Faith Points updated continuously.
However, compared to the haul from that day in Bai Town, this was just a drizzle and hardly worth mentioning.
About an hour later, Tu Xiao’an reached the outskirts of Wencheng—the suburbs, basically.
From a distance, he saw the massive bodies of three Taoties and heard their frenzied roars.
CRASH! BANG! BOOM...!
Hm?
’There’s the sound of fighting?’
To his surprise, Tu Xiao’an discovered a group of humans locked in a fierce battle with the three Taoties.
’Well now, this is interesting.’
’Human Awakened Cultivators. This is the first time I’ve seen any on my flight over.’
’Wencheng really lives up to its reputation. You can find Awakened Cultivators fighting Fierce Beast Taoties even in the suburbs.’
’In Bai Town, you couldn’t find a single Awakener. If it weren’t for him, the Snake King, the civilians would have just been waiting to die.’
Tu Xiao’an’s serpentine eyes narrowed as he focused on the distant scene, and he was surprised yet again. The people fighting the Fierce Beasts were students from the Ancient Academy.
The Ancient Academy’s old-fashioned uniforms were easy to recognize. ’I guess that makes them my schoolmates,’ he thought.
After all, Tu Xiao’an was technically a student there too. Even though it had been a short-lived stint, his enrollment was still official.
With three Fierce Beasts present, the area had split into three separate battlefields.
In one battle, nine students, each with a longsword, confronted a Taotie clone. In another, a different group of nine students fought another clone, and they were surprisingly holding their own.
Tu Xiao’an noticed that these students were all at the Rank Two level. ’Nine of them against one Taotie... To be honest, that’s barely a snack for it.’
However, the students coordinated seamlessly. A mysterious Sword Array seemed to form on the ground, allowing them to advance and retreat with fluid ease, their movements like the tide. It was a bizarrely powerful technique, and they managed to trap the Taotie within it, leaving the beast to roar in frustration.
Two of the three battlefields used the same number of students and the same Sword Array to fight the Fierce Beasts. It was the third battlefield, however, that made Tu Xiao’an look twice.
It was a one-on-one fight.
’To go one-on-one with a Fierce Beast Taotie, you’d need to have at least a Rank 3 Cultivation. That’s the bare minimum.’
’On top of that, you’d need some incredible techniques to overwhelm your opponent.’
It was a young man with sharp brows and bright, star-like eyes, carrying himself with a dignified air. Dressed in white, his clothes revealed strong, bronze-colored skin. He emanated a terrifying and immense aura, and incredibly, he was holding his own against the Taotie.
’Well, well, if it isn’t an old acquaintance. Bai Junran, the heir to the Bai Family.’
More importantly, he was one of Tu Xiao’an’s former defeated opponents.
Tu Xiao’an remained coiled in the sky, silently watching the scene unfold like a spectator.
If the students below were to be overwhelmed, he was ready to intervene at a moment’s notice.
’I can’t just stand by and watch students from the Ancient Academy get eaten by a Taotie,’ he mused. His focus was also on Bai Junran. He had to admit, Bai Junran was quite the character, having actually broken through to the next realm after he had left the academy.
’Could my victory over him have been the catalyst?’
’Not bad, not bad.’ High in the sky, Tu Xiao’an looked on with the air of an elder watching a junior, a hint of gratification on his face.
He watched the show for over half an hour. The students in the two team battles were extraordinary as well; they had actually managed to slay the Taoties with their profound Sword Array. Though they were all covered in wounds and so battered they could barely stand, they had ultimately emerged victorious.
"We won! We killed a Taotie! This is awesome! Haha..."
The students from both battlefields cried out in excitement, their joy palpable.
In the final, one-on-one battlefield, the bronze-skinned man let out a furious roar as his body erupted with cyan light, causing the very space around him to crack and shatter.
Guh...
The Taotie let out a choked gasp. The other victorious students stared in shock as the final Taotie collapsed at the young man’s feet.
"Senior Junran is so strong! He’s truly one of the top experts in the Super Class."
One student exclaimed in awe as the Taotie fell, his eyes filled with adoration.
It took a group of nine of them, using that profound Sword Array, just to painstakingly kill one Fierce Beast. But their senior took one down all by himself.
And his was the strongest of the three, too.
"Of course Senior Junran is on another level. He’s a true Third stage Awakener. How could we possibly compare?"
"If I remember correctly, that’s the fifth Fierce Beast Senior Junran has killed, right? He must be the first person in the Ancient Academy to do that."
"Definitely. Think about it—only about ninety Fierce Beasts have been eliminated in all of Wencheng, and that was with the entire Demon Management Bureau going all out. It’s no exaggeration to call Senior Junran the number one expert of Wencheng’s younger generation."
The students showered him with praise, all of them feeling a wave of relief now that the Fierce Beasts were dead. Suddenly, one student retorted, "Senior Junran is amazing, but calling him number one is a bit of a stretch. Don’t you guys remember? He has a loss on his record."
"You mean the rumor that he lost to the ’strongest new student’?"
"It’s not a rumor. Lots of students saw it happen with their own eyes."
"I don’t buy it. Senior Junran, losing to a new student?"
"Shh! Quiet, he’s coming."
Having killed the Fierce Beast, Bai Junran exhaled a breath of Muddy Qi and walked toward the other students. A round of applause erupted.
"You were amazing, Senior Junran!"
"Our First Squad killed three Fierce Beasts today! We’ll have some serious bragging rights when we get back to the academy."
"I wonder if any of the other squads managed to kill even a single Fierce Beast."
The Ancient Academy had divided its strongest students into five large squads, each led by one of five seniors who had already achieved a breakthrough. Their specific mission was to hunt down lone Fierce Beasts.
Bai Junran gave a proud smile at his juniors’ flattery but inwardly shrugged it off. This wasn’t the first Fierce Beast he had killed, after all.
It was becoming familiar territory.
He had overheard his juniors’ discussion. ’Saying I lost to the "strongest new student"?’
’Humiliating. It was the greatest humiliation he had ever endured.’
’Hmph. I will get my revenge.’ A Flame ignited in Bai Junran’s eyes.
’I’ve killed several Fierce Beast Taoties now. What’s so great about that "strongest new student"? He probably hasn’t even managed his breakthrough yet.’
’Besides, he disappeared a long time ago. Who knows where he’s hiding. Is he afraid I’ll come to settle the score?’
Bai Junran sneered. Now that he had successfully achieved his breakthrough and his power had skyrocketed, he was confident he could utterly crush that so-called strongest new student.
’He had only lost last time because he’d been careless. That was all there was to it.’