Chapter 65 – The Ice Spear That Descended from the Sky

An unknown amount of time passed before the swirling dust and debris in Warehouse Street gradually subsided.

The street had completely lost its original appearance, transformed into a landscape of rubble and ruins.

Containers once neatly arranged now lay toppled across the ground or existed only as scattered fragments.

The previously intact ground appeared ravaged by artillery fire—either scorched into barren earth or crisscrossed with cracks, gullies, and even deep craters.

The entire Warehouse Street presented such a devastated scene that one might suspect a war had been fought here.

And in reality, it wasn’t far from the truth.

After all, the destructive power unleashed by so many Professionals engaged in fierce combat here was no less than that of a small-scale war.

But this battle had finally come to an end.

Deep within Warehouse Street, a crater buried beneath rubble gradually settled, declaring the conclusion of this intense fight.

“Huff… huff…”

Xu Qianqian stood before the stone pit, tightly gripping her dagger while breathing heavily and murmuring:

“Is it over?”

The answer naturally came from Su Ming.

“Given his incomplete Demonization, reaching this level was already quite impressive. Even if he’s not dead now, he probably has no fighting capacity left.”

Su Ming’s figure finally emerged from the darkness, arriving beside Xu Qianqian. His voice no longer carried its previous playfulness, instead sounding somewhat weary.

Clearly, having repeatedly used spell formulas whose sequence ranking was second only to Advanced Spirit Arts—even with Su Ming’s evolved Spirit Power—had now taken its toll through excessive consumption.

Particularly the maintenance of the final [Wind Demon Pursuit]. Had Su Ming stopped channeling Spirit Power into it, the technique would have long exhausted itself and vanished—how could it have so dominantly pursued the demonized Yi Junchuan, forcing him to flee frantically?

The 58th Formula [Wind Demon Pursuit] was indeed an unparalleled one-on-one technique beneath Advanced Spirit Arts, but maintaining its effects continuously—allowing it to persistently chase enemies while preserving its power—required no small consumption.

Any ordinary Sorcerer, even a Four-Star one, would likely have been overwhelmed by now. Only Su Ming, who had consumed 147 Spirit Power enhancement items from packages, increasing his Spirit Power more than tenfold, could endure this long.

This prompted Su Ming to remark:

“And this was just an incompletely demonized Three-Star Hunter. If we faced a genuine Four-Star Hunter with true Demonization, we’d probably have no choice but to run for our lives.”

Xu Qianqian didn’t dispute Su Ming’s assessment.

Because she understood the true power of Upper-Rank Professionals better than Su Ming did.

“A genuine Four-Star Hunter not only surpasses Three-Star Hunters in their normal state, but their power after Demonization would far exceed the incomplete Demonization we just faced,” Xu Qianqian stated flatly. “You’d do better not to regard the enemy we just fought as a true Upper-Rank Professional.”

“…For you to put it that way, genuine Upper-Rank Professionals must truly exceed my imagination.” Su Ming fell silent for a moment before asking, “Your Xu Family has such powerful individuals, right?”

“Mm.” Xu Qianqian nodded expressionlessly. “But even in my family, there are no more than ten experts of that caliber.””Less than ten?” Su Ming was somewhat surprised.

Not because it was too many, but because it was too few.

One had to understand that the Xu Family was one of the top Hunter Families in Longyao City. While their Bloodline might not compare to those Super Hunter Families inheriting Nightmare Species Bloodlines, they were still second only to that tier.

For such a prominent family to have fewer than ten Upper-Rank Professionals was genuinely surprising to Su Ming.

“Don’t be surprised.” Xu Qianqian seemed to fully grasp Su Ming’s thoughts and immediately explained: “Only those who have undergone ‘Awakening’ can become Upper-Rank Professionals, and only a very, very small portion of Professionals can achieve Awakening. If you carefully compare the number of Upper-Rank Professionals to Lower-Rank Professionals in Longyao City, you’ll find the difference is staggering.”

This reminded Su Ming of something he’d heard from an instructor during class.

According to that instructor, among Longyao City’s population of over sixty million, only about a hundred thousand could become Professionals.

And among these hundred thousand Professionals, approximately 99% were merely Lower-Rank Professionals, with Upper-Rank Professionals comprising less than 1% – extremely rare.

Even looking across the entire Longyao City, the number of Upper-Rank Professionals was probably only around several hundred.

Out of a population of over sixty million, there were only several hundred Upper-Rank Professionals – less than one in a hundred thousand of the total population. This clearly demonstrated how scarce Upper-Rank Professionals were.

With such numbers distributed among Longyao City’s various factions and major families, it was no wonder the Xu Family had fewer than ten Upper-Rank Professionals.

“Lower-Rank Professionals ultimately have no real threshold. As long as one possesses Phantom Demon Bloodline and awakens Spirit Constitution, after several years of Academy training, they can basically enter professional circles and contribute new blood.”

“Even reaching the peak of Lower-Rank Professionals as a Three-Star Professional can be achieved through diligent training, self-cultivation, and steadily improving one’s strength.”

“But Upper-Rank Professionals are different. Only those who Awaken can reach this level, and to achieve Awakening, one cannot lack talent, strength, effort, or opportunity.”

“Therefore, Upper-Rank Professionals hold very high status in professional circles because they represent an entirely different level of existence.”

Xu Qianqian explained it this way.

Su Ming had also heard that when Upper-Rank Professionals emerged, not only would various factions desperately recruit them, but even the Base City would grant them new privileges.

One could say that Upper-Rank Professionals were the nobility among Professionals, the stars of professional circles – completely different from Lower-Rank Professionals who faced no real thresholds.

“Take me for example. While I may appear to have noble status, if I encounter an Upper-Rank Professional, I must still show respect. Otherwise, if I offend an Upper-Rank Professional, the elders in my family would only scold me and would never risk offending the other party over mere words.”

Xu Qianqian spoke with extreme calmness.

“In professional circles, someone of my background can only throw their weight around among Lower-Rank Professionals – we’re nothing special in front of Upper-Rank Professionals.”

“Only by becoming an Upper-Rank Professional can one truly command respect.”

“This circle ultimately values strength above all else.”With that, Xu Qianqian dropped the subject and turned around.

“Let’s get out of here first. With all this commotion, we might have already drawn the military’s attention.”

Hearing this, Su Ming nodded indifferently.

The two turned together, preparing to leave this place.

Yet, in that very instant…

“Boom!”

Accompanied by an explosive sound, the stone pit behind Su Ming and Xu Qianqian burst open.

“————!?”

Both Su Ming and Xu Qianqian jolted inwardly, whipping around to look behind them.

The next moment, a figure filled their entire field of vision, dominating their sight.

The fierce demon had thrown aside the rubble and debris from the stone pit, its body covered in wounds and dripping with blood, like a blood-soaked demon god crawling out of Hell, or a raging beast with fatal injuries, its eyes filled with madness.

“Go to hell!As if expending the last of its strength in its dying state, the Fiend threw a fist surrounded by Qi explosions toward Su Ming and Xu Qianqian.

That punch was terrifying in its force.

Before it even landed, the Qi energy it carried surged like a tidal wave, blowing back the hoods of Su Ming and Xu Qianqian.

Though Su Ming and Xu Qianqian reacted, it was already too late to mount a defense.

The shadow of death instantly enveloped both their hearts.

“Tch!”

At the critical moment, Xu Qianqian’s skills as an outstanding Hunter did not fail her, allowing her to take action.

She abruptly reached out, tightly embracing Su Ming and shielding him in front of her.

“You…!?”

Su Ming’s face changed drastically.

Yi Junchuan’s massive fist, surrounded by sonic booms, headed straight for Xu Qianqian’s slender back.

That scene, in Su Ming’s eyes, seemed to slow down, gradually imprinting itself in his vision.

“Bastard!”

Su Ming’s pupils contracted to pinpricks, and he felt a boiling emotion surging within him, turning his eyes crimson.

On Su Ming’s forehead at that moment, a faint, almost imperceptible pattern quietly appeared.

The pattern appeared quickly and vanished just as fast.

Su Ming didn’t notice it at all, nor did Xu Qianqian, who was right beside him.

And this brought no change to the situation.

Yi Junchuan’s fatal blow was still about to land on Xu Qianqian.

Until…

“Whoosh—!”

A sharp sound of something cutting through the air descended from the sky, abruptly reaching everyone’s ears.

A sharp Ice Spear suddenly appeared, transforming into a brilliant afterimage, trailing wisps of moisture as it sliced through the sky.

No one could react in time.

It shot forth at extreme speed, and just as Yi Junchuan’s massive fist was about to strike Xu Qianqian, it landed on Yi Junchuan like a bullet.

“Thud!”

A tearing sound echoed.

Blood splattered everywhere.

The Ice Spear pierced through Yi Junchuan’s massive body, entering from his back and exiting through his chest, running him clean through.

“Urgh… Aaaaaah…!”

Yi Junchuan’s agonized scream finally rang out, and his descending fist halted mid-motion.

Seeing this, Su Ming reacted.

“Twenty-Eighth Form: Spiral Fire.”Su Ming grabbed Xu Qianqian in an embrace and raised a single hand. Three circular arrays instantly materialized, transforming into cannon-like barrels that hovered before his palm.

“Boom!”

Spiral flames erupted, point-blank against the face, engulfing Yi Junchuan completely.

“Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh…!”

Yi Junchuan’s screams reached an unprecedented pitch of agony as his body gradually charred into coal under the scorching flames.

By the time the flames subsided, the thoroughly blackened, smoking Yi Junchuan slowly collapsed, devoid of Qi.

(End of Chapter)