Chapter 352: Stepping Stone

Everyone who saw this held their breath.

They had originally thought this expedition was just to hunt a den of Xuanjin Wolves.

Led by two chief disciples with seven Martial Spring Realm cultivators guarding the place, as long as they were careful and didn’t do anything stupid, wiping out a den of Xuanjin Wolves without casualties should have been easy.

But no one expected something like this to happen—

A Burrowing Mountain Bear.

Also a low-tier demon beast, its danger and single-target strength far surpassed the Xuanjin Wolf.

Basically, each Burrowing Mountain Bear could be said to be far stronger than an ordinary peak Martial Spring Realm cultivator, yet still far weaker than a Qi Sea Realm cultivator.

The torchlight flickered wildly in the bloody wind spewed from the bear’s mouth, casting the giant bear’s mountain-like silhouette onto the cave wall, the shadow seeming ready to swallow them whole.

The giant bear lifted its head and turned its gaze toward the cultivators who had appeared in the cave.

Its eyes even looked a bit simple-minded.

The giant bear dropped the wolf head it had been holding, planted all four limbs on the ground, and curiously examined the cultivators in the cave, as if showing no hostility, slowly crawling forward.

Jiang Cunzhen, standing in front, did not lower his guard for a moment.

But when the bear closed the distance between it and the cultivators, it suddenly surged with force and bolted toward the group.

"Qi Circulation Realm disciples, fall back!"

Jiang Cunzhen shouted loudly.

But the speeds of the two sides were not comparable.

Although the cave was relatively narrow for the Burrowing Mountain Bear and would to some extent restrict its movement, its combat power, far exceeding that of ordinary peak Martial Spring Realm cultivators, in an instant swatted several Qi Circulation Realm cultivators against the stone wall.

Those Qi Circulation Realm cultivators lay motionless, collapsing to the ground with their bones shattered.

Except for the two chief disciples, the others had almost no ability to fight back.

This was a brutal battle.

Torchlight painted the scene of the bear fighting the cultivators onto the stone wall.

On the cave wall, some shadows were pierced by the bear’s claws; others were torn in two.

One by one, the Kongshan Sect cultivators present died.

A one-sided slaughter.

Screams, the sound of bones being crushed, the snap of weapons breaking, flesh being ripped apart, mixed with the bear’s roars...

In the end, only two figures remained standing deep inside the cave.

They were, unsurprisingly, the two who could have held on until now.

"Senior Brother Fu, how are you holding up?"

Jiang Cunzhen adjusted his breath and the true qi vibrating through his meridians as he asked.

"Hm, still holding."

The youth in Qingchan Peak daoist robes beside him nodded slightly; his condition was not much better than Jiang Cunzhen’s.

Jiang Cunzhen stared at the bear’s wounds of varying depths—mostly torn flesh but nothing fatal.

This bastard’s tendons and hide were tougher than anyone imagined.

So far, it was hard to inflict truly substantial damage.

They couldn’t continue like this.

"Roar—"

Mixed with stench and rippling demonic energy, the giant bear roared angrily toward the two Kongshan Sect chief disciples.

Jiang Cunzhen fixed his gaze on the bear’s mouth.

"Senior Brother Fu."

He spoke slowly:

"In a moment I’ll try to lure it into biting me. Then you seize the chance—use Kongshan Finger or any other technique that can pierce through this bear... aim for its mouth."

The youth hesitated for a moment, then shook his head:

"Too risky."

"This is the only way, otherwise we’re waiting to die."

Jiang Cunzhen said.

In the next moment, he once more sped up his true qi and lunged into the bear’s embrace.

His figure blurred, his long sword a cold streak as it viciously stabbed at the relatively softer fur on the bear’s chest.

The sword tip sank in just an inch and could not go further.

Jiang Cunzhen used the hilt to spring himself upward.

Then he grabbed the bear’s upper and lower jaws tightly; his arm muscles bulged and knotted, veins beneath the skin swollen like red-hot iron, threatening to burst.

"Ugh ah ah ah!"

Blood-Fueling Technique!

By using a method that placed enormous strain on the body and meridians and likely caused irreversible damage, Jiang Cunzhen’s arm strength in that moment could match the bear’s bite force.

He truly forced open the bear’s gaping maw:

"Senior Brother Fu, quick!"

The youth beside him raised his hand, fingertips gathering true qi, aiming at the not-too-distant bear’s mouth.

At the same time, the youth in Linwu Mountain robes naturally entered his vision.

"......"

The youth’s expression froze briefly.

"Senior Brother Fu, quickly, attack!"

Jiang Cunzhen shouted with all his strength.

"......"

But the youth still did not move.

Jiang Cunzhen—

Chief Disciple of Linwu Mountain, one of the Dao Inquirers at Heavenly Summit Mountain this time, and the sect’s recognized prodigy.

Although he was the chief disciple of Qingchan Peak and the Martial Spring Realm champion of the previous contest, everyone could see that he was a "prodigy" built by relentless effort and the accumulation of resources.

Fourth-ranked Dao Inquirer.

Without real talent, no matter how much effort or how high a starting point, one would ultimately be average.

Heavenly Summit Mountain’s Dao Inquiry was one of the few chances he had to prove himself and secure the sect’s investment.

If he wanted to participate in the Dao Inquiry...

"Senior Brother Fu, quick... I can’t hold on!"

The youth stood motionless, staring at Jiang Cunzhen who was straining to hold open the bear’s jaws, saying nothing.

And the true qi at his fingertips had, just now, silently dissipated.

"Fu—"

Crack!

The youth’s vision was instantly flooded with scarlet as something bloomed red in front of him.

"Fu Qian?"

The youth snapped back to his senses and raised his head to look at the stern white-haired elder sitting on the main seat in Kongyuan Hall.

"So you mean the reason he could return alive to the sect was entirely because Jiang Cunzhen risked his life to save him?"

The white-haired elder asked.

"Yes."

Fu Qian stood in Kongyuan Hall and respectfully bowed toward the white-haired elder on the main seat:

"…Junior Brother Jiang truly is a hero."

The white-haired elder simply stared expressionless at this Qingchan Peak chief disciple in the hall.

Ruan Tingsong, the current Sect Leader of Kongshan Sect, a Unity realm cultivator.

Three hundred years later, he would accept a closed-door disciple named Yun Yichen.

At this moment, he was playing with a small jade pendant in his hand.

It was just an ordinary jade pendant, not even worth a few taels of silver.