THUD.

The heavy corpse of the Two-headed Thunder Flame Lizard collapsed with a crash, blood gushing forth!

The massive monster looked even more ferocious in death.

WHOOSH!

A silver streak of light flew back and landed in the hand of a handsome, black-robed young man, materializing into the Frost Thorn Spear!

"Mr. Su!"

Bai Xiuying’s eyes sparkled, filled with pleasant surprise.

"Mr. Bai, my apologies... I was practicing a Secret Technique, which held me up."

Su Ye’s tone was sincere as he casually lied.

Cultivation was a personal and private matter.

Neither Bai Xiuying nor Weiyuan Immortal City had any way to verify his claim.

"Please, Mr. Su, lend us your aid in slaying these demonic beasts."

Bai Xiuying didn’t doubt him in the slightest, her expression turning serious.

"Mm..." Su Ye nodded slightly.

At the same time, a line of small text appeared in his vision.

[Killed sea demon. [Pastor of the Sea] EXP +323]

"Hm?"

A flicker of excitement appeared in Su Ye’s otherwise cool and lazy eyes.

’This kill actually gave me experience points?!’

During the previous Beast Tide, Su Ye had tried killing the attacking demonic beasts to farm some experience points.

However, the amount of EXP he gained was almost negligible.

Even a Tier 2 demonic beast only gave Su Ye about ten or so experience points.

For Su Ye, that amount was barely better than nothing.

He had calculated the returns and found that it was far less effective for improving his strength than refining Spiritual Objects to raise his cultivation level.

As for the so-called ’battle merits,’ they held even less appeal for Su Ye.

After all, things like ’battle merits’ were most coveted by Loose Cultivators who lacked connections and backing.

For them, the battle merits leaderboard of Weiyuan Immortal City was an extremely rare opportunity to obtain precious resources!

However, with Su Ye’s current status and position, did he really need something like that to exchange for precious resources?

’What a joke.’

Therefore, he had little interest in fending off the Beast Tide and slaying demonic beasts.

But now, things were different!

’Even though I’m still getting an experience penalty, based on the EXP from this Two-headed Thunder Flame Lizard—a Tier 2 high-grade demonic beast—the ratio... is completely acceptable!’

’I see... It’s because of the Nine Nether Blood Sea Array!’

Su Ye’s eyes darted about, and after a moment of thought, he figured out the reason.

In his system panel’s judgment, this quasi-Tier 4 Array was considered an extremely powerful ’external force’ beyond Su Ye’s control.

This had brought him an extremely severe experience penalty!

But now...

The Nine Nether Blood Sea Array was temporarily disabled!

So...

’Time to farm some points?’

Su Ye raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth curving up, revealing his eagerness to get started.

...

SWISH SWISH SWISH!

Silver light flashed as the spear’s shadow danced across the battlefield!

After Su Ye joined the battle, the situation along the entire defensive line immediately improved drastically!

His attacks were so sharp that they posed a lethal threat even to Tier 2 high-grade demonic beasts!

With the coordination of the other cultivators, he could slay a Tier 2 high-grade demonic beast within tens of breaths!

This speed was nearly ten times faster than before!

And being able to quickly kill the high-grade beasts meant that the Foundation Establishment cultivators could free up their hands to deal with the other Tier 2 demonic beasts!

The Immortal City’s cultivators were no slouches; ordinary Tier 2 demonic beasts were no match for them.

Gradually, the number of Tier 2 demonic beasts capable of breaking through the defensive line dwindled.

Even if one or two got through, they were insignificant and would be killed in an instant.

The cultivators were able to rest, recover, and set up Arrays.

The power of the Arrays increased, the condition of the Foundation Establishment cultivators improved, and the speed at which they killed the demonic beasts rose even further...

This created a virtuous cycle!

The pressure on the defensive line was greatly reduced!

Soon, a vacuum of death was created in front of the defensive line!

...

PCHT!

The Frost Thorn Spear transformed into a silver light and descended from the sky.

It pierced through a giant gray crab, pinning it to the ground!

"Nice!"

"We killed the Mud Swamp Emperor Crab!"

"Thank goodness for Mr. Su. Otherwise, killing it would have been extremely difficult."

Several Foundation Establishment cultivators said, all looking toward Su Ye with gratitude.

Whether his excuse about practicing a Secret Technique was true or not, it was an undeniable fact that the pressure on the defensive line had been greatly relieved after Su Ye joined the battle.

Under these circumstances, harping on whether his excuse was true would be rather petty.

"Not at all... Without the support and cover from all of you, I wouldn’t have been able to use my full strength..."

Su Ye’s smile was gentle, his words humble and polite.

He had already proven his strength with his skills and achievements, so he could afford to be modest.

"Hmph... Su Ye..."

In the distance, Jian Ziheng stared at Su Ye, his eyes filled with a complicated mix of emotions.

On one hand, Su Ye had humiliated him in front of everyone not long ago, filling him with resentment!

But... despite their old grievances, Jian Ziheng had to admit it.

This black-robed young man was strong, very strong!

And his contribution to the battle was second to none!

After all, during a Beast Tide, other cultivators could stay in the back and focus on dealing damage. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

But as a Body Cultivator, Jian Ziheng had to be at the very front, acting as a human shield!

In this situation, he had the most direct sense of the difference in damage output.

Although he was unwilling to admit it, after Su Ye arrived on the battlefield, the damage output had clearly increased by an order of magnitude!

His fierce and ruthless attacks completely surpassed the combined total of the several Foundation Establishment cultivators from before!

Even Tier 2 high-grade demonic beasts couldn’t withstand Su Ye’s Frost Thorn Spear!

With a damage dealer like Su Ye, the pressure Jian Ziheng had to bear was reduced several times over.

Now, he barely even needed to tank any damage.

’A demonic beast charged over? Okay, I’ll just hit it with a gravity-slowing debuff.’

And right after, a brilliant silver light would fly over, pierce through the beast, and finish it off!

This was a level of damage output that Bai Xiuying and the others couldn’t achieve before, even when they were trying their hardest.

’That guy... he held back when he sparred with me...’

Jian Ziheng gritted his teeth, his heart filled with indignation.

Just then, a voice transmission sounded in his mind.

"Jian... are you still going to cause trouble for Su Ye?"

"Why don’t we... just forget about it?"

One of the Jian Family’s Foundation Establishment cultivators transmitted his voice sheepishly.

"How can we just forget about it!" Jian Ziheng glared.

"You think I’m no match for Su Ye, too?"

"I said it before, once my battle armor is repaired, I’ll challenge him to a spar and avenge my humiliation!"

"No, no, no..." the Jian Family cultivator quickly denied, then stammered, "But... this..."

’Judging by Su Ye’s performance tonight, if Jian repaired his armor and went looking for trouble with Su Ye, he would most likely suffer a crushing defeat...’

And just as he was struggling with what to say,

Jian Ziheng’s cold voice sounded in his mind.

"Don’t repair the armor for now. Put it aside."

"Huh?"

"Hmph, I’ve thought about it. The material of this armor isn’t that great. There’s no point in repairing it."

"In a few years, I’ll make a trip to the Outer Sea, get some rare spiritual iron, and reforge it!"

Jian Ziheng snorted coldly.

"Huh?" The Jian Family cultivator’s expression was strange.

"What are you ’huh’-ing about?!"

"N-no, nothing! I was just going to say, a brilliant decision, Jian!"

...

...