The sudden turn of events was like a stone dropping into a frozen pond, the icy water sending a chill down everyone’s spine. Jiang Qiu’s body trembled.

A Top Tier Demon Beast stood at the pinnacle of the Demon Race, just before the Transformation Barrier—the equivalent of a human at their absolute peak before becoming a true Martial Artist.

Even a Top Tier Non-commissioned Officer who had stepped into the Jade Sinew Realm might not be able to easily kill an injured Top Tier Demon Beast. They were born with powerful physiques and possessed unique Talents of unknown origin.

’If a Top Tier Demon Beast is really fleeing in this direction, it means disaster is upon us!’

’No one will survive!’

At this thought, Jiang Qiu’s brow furrowed. He casually retrieved the prepared Blood Boiling Liquid from his Storage Ring, popped the cap with a SNAP, and gulped the entire contents down.

In an instant, the sound of vials clattering to the ground rose one after another. Nearly everyone drank Blood Boiling Liquid to recover their stamina and moved closer to Hu Tianlin and the other Non-commissioned Officers.

THUD THUD THUD—

Suddenly, the ground began to tremble. The sound of heavy footsteps came charging from the depths of the Iron Forest. Each step closed the distance by dozens of meters, the pace incredibly fast.

"MROOOO—"

Following the deep, resonant roar, a strange pressure descended from the sky. Jiang Qiu’s searing heart felt as if it had been put in a pressure cooker, his boiling blood turning into cooked soup.

CREAK.

He clenched his fist and casually drew a long spear. With a SWISH, he swung it out in a black arc, its cold glint flashing into view!

"It actually ran all the way here from the Dongqi Lake battlefield?!"

"Damn it, it’s that bastard King Niu!"

Suddenly, Hu Tianlin was heard cursing loudly as he directed the remaining Middle Level and Senior Non-commissioned Officers to gather at the front. He snapped his helmet back onto his head, and his voice suddenly deepened as if coming from an abyss. "It must have gotten information from the Iron Feather Birds that scattered just now! That’s why it came for us on its way!

Switch to spears!"

At his command, the swishing of spear points pierced the air. Everyone, including the Prodigy Program students, held a long spear, their killing intent soaring to the heavens!

BANG—

The thunderous crashes of falling Iron Trees drew closer and closer. The figure of a bipedal Demon Beast with two large, curved horns on its head charged from the distance like a runaway locomotive.

With a flick of its arm, the Iron Trees blocking its path snapped like toothpicks. It forcibly carved a straight, flat path through the Iron Forest!

"Holy shit, it’s King Niu!"

Finally seeing the newcomer’s form, Sun Yongsheng’s burly frame trembled, and he stumbled back five steps.

THUMP, THUMP, THUMP...

The sound of his heartbeat hammered in Jiang Qiu’s ears. Cold sweat streamed down his back, as if trying to extinguish the surging, scalding blood in his body.

’Killing the High Tier Demon Beast, the One-eyed Owl, took two uses of [Black Flood Dragon Breaking Sky]. That Bow Skill combined four Metamorphosis Attributes and completely drained my Qi Blood.’

’But King Niu is a Top Tier Demon Beast; its body has already metamorphosed to an unimaginable degree. A [Black Flood Dragon Breaking Sky] shot from an ordinary Conical Arrow probably won’t even break its defense.’

’I’ve also taken my second dose of Blood Boiling Powder; my body can’t handle a third.’

’The only thing that can break a Top Tier Demon Beast’s defense is this Double Arc Blade spearhead. And it has to be with an explosive Spear Skill. A [Soaring Dragon Thrust] from a Steel Bone Realm Martial Artist might not be effective!’

At this thought, Jiang Qiu cursed King Niu under his breath as a long series of panels flashed across his pupils.

[Ancient Martial Arrow (Mastery)]

[Features: Qi Blood Burst, Long-range Sniper Kill]

[Mastery Points: 1/10]

[1/10]

[Ancient Martial Spear (Mastery)]

[Features: Momentum like Thunder, Azure Dragon Probing the Moon]

[Mastery Points: 1/10]

[Steel Bone]

[Features: External Iron Body Training, Inner Steel Bone Training]

[Body Casting Points: 1/4]

[Metamorphosis Attribute: Powerful Penetration, Copper Transformation, Spear Sense, Blood Circulation, Steel Arm, Aim]

’If I can fuse these Metamorphosis Attributes into a more powerful Spear Skill, I might have a chance to hold on for a while!’

THUD THUD THUD—

Hu Tianlin and the other four Senior Non-commissioned Officers were already leading over a hundred Middle Level Non-commissioned Officers, charging like iron beetles toward the rapidly approaching figure. They let out a world-shaking cry: "Hold on until Officer Liu Qi gets back!"

SWOOSH—

Hu Tianlin, charging at the very front, leaped into the air and thrust out his ink-black long spear like a striking python.

The cold glint of the spear tip was wrapped in a vortex of wind. It burst forward with astonishing speed, a mere flash of cold light. Then, with a BANG, King Niu caught the spearhead between its left hoof as easily as picking something from a pocket, holding it as steady as a stone monument on Taishan Mountain.

Such a masterfully executed thrust only caused its charge to pause for a fraction of a second. With a BOOM, its right hoof smashed toward Hu Tianlin, who was still in mid-air.

CRACK—

The Advanced Armor, which even the One-eyed Owl’s purple feathers had struggled to pierce, instantly shattered into pieces. The blow landed on Hu Tianlin’s abdomen. His body bent like a shrimp as he was sent flying like a cannonball, spitting out fragments of his internal organs and murky blood that streaked across the sky, stirring up a huge gust of wind!

"Mwahaha," at that moment, the Demon Beast King Niu was actually heard laughing wildly. "You damn Human Race! You launch a night raid while I’m breaking through the Transformation Barrier, and now I just happen to run into the precious little cubs you worked so hard to raise!"

Its muffled voice carried the pressure of a giant. In the eyes of Jiang Qiu and the other prodigies, King Niu had taken down a fully-armed Senior Non-commissioned Officer with a single hoof. A Spear Skill honed for over a decade was like a toothpick stabbing a stone!

It charged forward violently, crossing a hundred meters in the blink of an eye. The Middle Level Non-commissioned Officers who had been sent flying behind it hadn’t even hit the ground yet!

And it was at this moment that Jiang Qiu got a clear look at it.

It stood at least five meters tall, its forearms longer than a person is tall. A bloody gash from a spear cut across its tough abdomen, the blood staining its Black Armor skirt.

A broken arrow shaft was pierced through its shoulder. Its crimson eyes were filled with savage fury, and its breathing was like a great river surging. "There isn’t even a single person in the Jade Sinew Realm here. All of you can just die!"

’This Top Tier Demon Beast is heavily injured, but it’s already lost in a bloodlust!’

’Even Hu Tianlin of the Steel Bone Realm couldn’t withstand the might of that single hoof. To survive, I have to break my limits!’

With this thought, Jiang Qiu tightened his grip on his sweat-drenched spear. A glint of one who has embraced death flashed in his eyes as scorching Qi Blood surged toward his arms, which were beginning to emit a metallic sheen.

"King Niu is seriously injured! There must be Martial Artists from the Military Department chasing it!"

"Buy time! Stall until Officer Liu Qi gets back!"

"Hold it off! Hold it off!"

Terrified shouts erupted from the remaining ranks of Non-commissioned Officers. The prodigies gritted their teeth, gripped their spears, and fearlessly charged forward to help, but they hadn’t even made it halfway.

With a BANG, King Niu leaped up, jumping toward them in an instant like a titan.

It crashed down among the prodigies with a thunderous BOOM. The ground collapsed into a crater, and every student within a two-hundred-meter radius felt their feet jolt, as if the ground had been ripped away from under them for a moment.

And in that brief opening, King Niu let out a savage grin and swung out another hoof, smashing it straight toward the female in indigo blue armor who was closest and charging at the very front.

BANG!

In the nick of time, she brought her spear shaft across her body to block, but it was like a praying mantis trying to stop a chariot. A force of ten thousand tons, like a mountain crashing down, slammed into her. Her Chest Armor shattered, and she was sent flying backward, her body feeling as if it might leave her soul behind!

"PFFT—"

In that moment, the blood Yang Yu spat sprayed through the air. Her entire body shot backward like a cannonball, breaking five or six Iron Trees before she finally crashed to the ground.

She lay prone on the ground, clenching her fists and gritting her silver teeth. She lifted her scraped chin and looked up at King Niu, now over twenty meters away, who had sent a prodigy flying with a single hoof. Resentment turned into bitter tears that welled in the corners of her eyes.

’Why? I worked so hard, but I only just entered the Steel Bone Realm. I haven’t even properly trained my arms.’

’And I can’t even withstand a single hoof from a Top Tier Demon Beast!’

’Brother, why don’t I have your amazing talent for Horizontal Training!’

As this thought crossed her mind, a loud BANG carried on a gust of wind blew the helmet from Yang Yu’s head. Two thick, stump-like hooves landed before her eyes. Its left hoof, which could reach high enough to pluck the moon, was already raised. "A Steel Bone Realm cultivator this young... letting you live would just be asking for trouble!"

Just at that critical moment, a burst of unfamiliar Spear Dao strength erupted from behind her, carrying the momentum of a soaring dragon!