Chapter 81: Reentering the Stone-Throwing Immortal's Realm

Chapter 81: Reentering the Stone-Throwing Immortal's Realm

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The black lightning bolt made contact with the golden dragon whirlwind.

"Chi—"

In the instant they met, they stalemated for a moment, emitting an ear-grating screech like fingers on a chalkboard.

Then came a loud bang as they suddenly repelled each other, sending the Cockroach Monster crashing through the wall and out of the school building.

Xue Jing was also knocked flying by the Cockroach Monster's impact, maintaining his Golden Dragon Whirlwind form as he spun like an unstoppable golden drill, piercing through walls and exiting the other side of the school building.

This was the scene that greeted the White Crow 838 Squad as they disembarked from their helicopter.

"Hmm? Xue Jing?"

Xu Blade was taken aback, spotting the two 'projectiles' that had flown out of the school building and recognizing one of them.

She immediately pointed at the other, "That's the offspring of the Celestial Insect Queen! Capture it alive!"

"Roger that!" Shan Chuen twisted his neck with one hand and held a short, futuristic-looking stick in the other as he strode towards the Cockroach Monster.

Another squad member, a long-haired man, stepped forward as well. He untied the black ring-belt from around his waist and, with a snap of his wrist, transformed it into a straight, sharp black blade.

Noticing the crowd of students watching from a distance, he said with feigned nonchalance, "We just need to keep it alive, right?"

The petite short-haired girl stayed back, silently observing her teammates' actions.

Xue Jing slowly rose to his feet, stumbling a couple of steps before regaining his balance.

He felt dizzy, as if the world were spinning around him.

His entire body felt like it was on fire, as if countless ants were biting and tearing at his skin, causing excruciating pain.

From his chin down, his entire body, except for his face, was covered in dense, scale-like imprints that resembled dragon scales.

Kill Move—Golden Dragon Whirlwind.

This was one of the five kill moves of the Dragon-Hiding Style, a defensive technique. When used, the user infused their qi into their skin, causing dragon-like scale imprints to appear, granting immense defensive power.

This kill move allowed the user to deflect attacks, ensuring they never made direct contact with the user's body.

Combined with the spinning motion, it could deflect and neutralize any strikes, making it an ultimate defense mechanism.

Having mastered this kill move, Xue Jing had managed to block the Cockroach Monster's Cockroach Charge head-on without suffering the same fate as Duan Kaiping, who had been turned into a pile of mush.

However, despite successfully blocking the attack, Xue Jing was in no better shape.

The force of the Cockroach Monster's charge was overwhelming, and he felt like his skin had been torn to shreds, causing unbearable pain.

Even a slight touch on the ground sent a searing sensation from his feet upwards, engulfing his entire body.

"Hiss—" he couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air.

Xue Jing turned his head towards the playground.

He saw Xu Blade, Shan Chuen, and two other unfamiliar individuals who were likely also members of White Crow.

The Cockroach Monster's antennae had one less segment, and its head exoskeleton had some friction marks, but it seemed otherwise unharmed as it fixed its gaze on the two approaching men.

Seeing the reinforcements, Xue Jing breathed a sigh of relief.

If the fight had continued, he doubted he could have defeated the Cockroach Monster.

Xu Blade approached him and, after a brief pause, reached into a small pouch tied to her thigh, producing a small black box.

She opened it to reveal two rows of eight small indentations, three of which were empty while the other five held black and white capsules.

Xu Blade took out a capsule and offered it to Xue Jing.

"This is a painkiller. It works fast and has no side effects."

Xue Jing glanced at her, hesitated for a moment, then took the pill but didn't swallow it, instead cupping it in his palm.

"Be careful," he said. "That thing is incredibly fast, and I'm in no shape to help at the moment."

Xu Blade didn't mind that he hadn't taken the pill. She calmly closed the box, returned it to her pouch, and said softly,

"Don't worry. Just watch."

Before she finished speaking, the situation on the field changed.

Unlike his previous wild fighting style, Shan Chuen now looked extremely serious.

Dressed in tactical gear, he brandished the short stick in his hand and faced the Cockroach Monster head-on.

The petite short-haired girl, standing at a distance, watched the scene unfold, her eyes flickering with data. She placed her right hand behind her ear and murmured, "Here it comes."

"Whoosh!"

The Cockroach Monster lunged, charging towards Shan Chuen.

But just as the Cockroach Monster was about to act, Shan Chuen sidestepped and swung his short stick at the air.

The air around the stick rippled like waves on a pond, creating a clean arc that grazed just under the monster's belly as it lunged forward.

Even though the attack didn't make direct contact, the monster, now several dozen meters away, suddenly retched, spewing out mouthfuls of nauseating, greenish mucus.

"Croak—"

Its body swayed unsteadily, stumbling a few steps as if struggling to maintain its balance.

The long-haired man seized the opportunity, striding forward with his black blade drawn and slicing at the Cockroach Monster.

"Screech—"

Sparks flew as the blade clashed with the exoskeleton, eliciting a surprised exclamation from the man.

"Huh?"

At that moment, the Cockroach Monster unfolded its four thin wings and took to the air, hovering unsteadily as if trying to escape.

"Don't just chop it up, idiot."

Xiao Yu, seemingly having appeared out of thin air above the monster, spoke in a detached tone.

She swooped down in a graceful arc, her entire body surrounded by a flurry of blades that she had swiftly unsheathed. As she passed the monster, the blades returned to their sheaths, and she landed in a crouch like a sleek panther.

The Cockroach Monster froze behind her, its limbs falling limp and crashing to the ground.

"Crack, crack, crack, crack—"

In a matter of moments, its limbs, including all six legs and four wings, detached from its body and lay scattered on the ground.

Each cut was precise, exploiting the weak joints connecting the exoskeleton to the body.

Xue Jing was impressed. "Impressive."

It was like a skilled butcher carving up a cow, incredibly smooth and fluid, ensuring that the blade never touched the hard exoskeleton but only the weak points.

He couldn't help but marvel inwardly.

White Crow really had some skilled members.

Despite his best efforts, he hadn't been able to inflict much damage on the Cockroach Monster, but Xiao Yu had taken it down in mere moments.

It wasn't just a matter of strength; it was also about coordination, understanding, counters, and specialized equipment.

The limbless Cockroach Monster lay on the ground, wriggling its rear end and oozing greenish fluid from its wounds.

Xiao Yu glanced at it and instructed, "Qiyu, stop its bleeding. Don't let it die. We might be able to use it to find the Celestial Insect Queen."

The long-haired man, codenamed Qiyu, looked at the disgusting creature with a pained expression, clearly reluctant to comply. But under Xiao Yu's impassive gaze, he could only nod reluctantly.

"Xiaojing, you write up the mission report and request a 'tracker' from base…"

The petite girl, Xiaojing, nodded and reached into her backpack, pulling out a small laptop.

As they tended to the aftermath, Shan Chuen approached Xue Jing, resting his stick on his shoulder.

"Well, well, genius. You look a bit worse for wear."

Xue Jing shrugged it off with a smile. "You guys got here pretty fast."

It couldn't have been more than ten minutes since he had called Xiao Yu.

"The captain arranged for a helicopter as soon as she got your call. We flew in from the South District… that's considered slow. In more dangerous places like the border, slow support means getting wiped out."

Shan Chuen shook his head ruefully.

Xue Jing's interest was piqued. "Any luck in the South District?"

Shan Chuen shook his head again. "That abandoned building is huge. We've only searched less than a third of it so far and haven't found anything significant."

Xue Jing pondered for a moment before speaking up. "I might have a new lead."

Shan Chuen's eyes lit up. "Oh? Do tell."

Xiao Yu, having finished with the aftermath, walked over, her short hair falling neatly into place.

"What's the lead?" she asked, having overheard Xue Jing's comment.

Xue Jing recounted his encounter with Duan Kaiping of the Razor Gang and his connection to the Golden Wind Dojo.

"That guy is a member of the Razor Gang from the South District and a disciple of the Golden Wind Dojo… It's strange that he showed up here at Qingfu Middle School, and even stranger that he was the first one killed by this Cockroach Monster."

Xiao Yu furrowed her brows in thought. "You think this creature was brought here by that Duan Kaiping?"

Xue Jing wasn't entirely sure. "Maybe… But I've had some issues with him in the past, so it's also possible he came here looking for trouble."

…

As Xue Jing conversed with the White Crow squad, the students who had been watching from a distance breathed a collective sigh of relief, witnessing the terrifying monster lying limbless and immobilized.

"That thing is terrifying!"

"Who are those people? They're so amazing, they took care of that monster in just a few moves!"

"Does Senior Xue know them?"

"So cool and gorgeous... What a figure."

Junior Lin Shiyu gazed from a distance at Xue Jing, who was chatting and laughing with the White Crow squad. She felt a bitter sense of how she and he now existed in completely different worlds, and she shook her head, finally giving up on some unrealistic fantasies.

Over by the teachers, the elite class teacher, Du Shiwei, was standing with a wealthy-looking man in his fifties.

"Teacher Du, you've taught an excellent student." The middle-aged man smiled as he looked at Xue Jing in the distance.

Du Shiwei was still startled but quickly spoke up. "It's all thanks to Principal Tang's excellent leadership that our school has been able to cultivate such a good student."

Principal Tang Yanzhong waved his hand. "Hey, no need for flattery."

He took a few steps and fell into deep thought, saying, "This Xue student is so powerful that he could actually take the 'Wukao' exam and enter the inner ring universities."

...

White Crow squad's long-haired man, Qiyu, was walking towards the cockroach monster, which was wriggling on the ground, with bandages in his hand.

He looked at the monster with disgust and spat, "Disgusting thing."

But he had to obey the captain's orders, so he could only grit his teeth and kneel down, unrolling the bandages and wrapping them around the cockroach monster, mummy-style.

The cockroach monster's compound eyes gazed at him.

After a very rough job of binding it with bandages, Qiyu shook off the greenish-black fluid that had gotten on his hands and stood up, turning to call out to Xu Blade, "Captain, it's done—"

His voice abruptly cut off.

Xue Jing and Xu Blade turned to look at him.

They saw Qiyu standing frozen in place, his face filled with disbelief.

Xu Blade's expression changed drastically, and she shouted, "Xiao Jing, get away from there!"

The petite girl, Xiao Jing, who had been sitting on the ground tapping away at her laptop, immediately stood up and ran to the side without hesitation.

"Riiiip—"

Qiyu's body was torn in half like a piece of paper, and his blood and intestines spilled all over the ground.

What caused this were two insect legs covered in barbs.

Shan Chuen's pupils contracted, and he exclaimed in disbelief, "Super-speed regeneration?"

"No, it's molting, dammit!"

He looked behind Qiyu's corpse and saw a cockroach monster larger than the previous one standing there, its body drenched in blood.

And on the ground, there was a cockroach 'shell' wrapped in bandages!

The newly molted cockroach monster was a milky white color, and not only had its limbs and thin wings regrown, but its body had also become even larger.

Its newly formed milky-white exoskeleton was turning black at a visible rate.

"Croak—"

"Ahhhh!!!"

The students and teachers watching from a distance were terrified, and they fled outside again.

The newly molted cockroach monster spread its four thin wings and flapped them wildly, kicking up dust as it took to the air.

"Damn, it's trying to escape!" Shan Chuen shouted.

Xu Blade's eyes turned cold. "It won't get away—"

She immediately activated her Dragon Wing device, and an anti-gravity force field enveloped her body, lifting her into the air as she gave chase.

At that moment, Xue Jing moved.

"Captain Xu, lend me a knife." Xue Jing spoke up.

Without waiting for Xu Blade's response, Xue Jing reached out and took a blade from her waist.

He weighed the knife in his hand, roughly estimating its parameters, then took a deep breath.

He activated his breathing technique, channeled his energy, and a dragon's roar sounded.

Spiral indentations appeared on his arm holding the knife, extending all the way to his fingertips.

It had been a long time since he had used his Level 5 Aiming skill to its full potential.

Xue Jing's gaze lifted, locking onto the cockroach monster in the air.

Whirlwind Thunder, maximum compressed energy.

Twin Force, Twin Speed—

Xue Jing's eyes narrowed in concentration.

"Boom!"

Thunder exploded, and a blade slashed through the air, creating a visible white airflow as it spun like a drill and flew towards the cockroach monster.

Like a meteor, like lightning, in the instant that no one could react, a white light flashed.

"Puff—"

The cockroach monster in the air had a spiral hole with a diameter of thirty centimeters blasted open in its chest, and its flapping wings stilled as it slowly fell from the sky.

At that moment, Xue Jing reentered the Stone-Throwing Immortal's Realm.

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end