Stacked Waves!

As Qing Gu pushed both his palms out, clumps of blue energy merged to form a massive wave that surged forth, moving space itself and crushing toward Beiming Tianpeng. Qing Gu held nothing back, seemingly not bothered by Beiming Tianpeng's identity.

Facing the incoming attack, Beiming Tianpeng still had a calm smile on his face. The phantom of a celestial peng appeared around his body as his aura surged. He clawed at the incoming wave and tore it into pieces. Not one bit of the wave reached him as he stood there as carefree as ever.

The look in everyone's eyes changed as they thought, The holy son's strength is indeed impressive.

After his first attack failed, a horsetail whisk appeared in Qing Gu's hands, and he said, "Watch out, holy son. This old man is about to use all his strength!"

Moving the Mortal World!

As he brandished the horsetail whisk, the threads of the whisk whipped about wildly. Each thread seemed to transform into a spear and pierce through the sky, stabbing at Beiming Tianpeng with an overbearing force.

Qing Gu had mustered all his strength in this attack, resulting in an attack much more powerful than his first move. Even a peak fifth-stage Saint would not be able to defend against this move.

All the Saints present raised their eyebrows at the sight of his attack. At least half of them had no way of defending against it. It was curious how the holy son, who was only a third-stage Saint, would react to it. The threads instantly reached Beiming Tianpeng. Just as they were about to leave countless holes in his body, he moved. Using the same technique, he clawed forth.

Celestial Peng Captures the Dragon!

According to the legends, the ancient kunpeng could capture dragons alive for food. As the descendant of the kunpeng, the celestial peng could do the same. Beiming Tianpeng, who had gained the celestial peng as his dao protector at birth, was akin to the child of heavens. Without his incredible talent, he wouldn't have been able to emerge as the Northern Border's Devil Hunting Expedition champion.

He applied even more force in this claw attack and grabbed all the threads with his bare hands, stunning all onlookers. The threads were incredibly destructive. Anyone else who attempted to grab them would either lose their hands or outright die. One could only imagine just how strong Beiming Tianpeng's body was.

Whoosh!

As Beiming Tianpeng's eyes focused, he exerted more force with his hands and broke one-third of the threads. The impact sent Qing Gu flying far away. Beiming Tianpeng did not give chase. 

Qing Gu had not sustained any injury from the attack, and after regaining his balance, he bowed and said, "The holy son is unrivaled. This old man concedes."

The surrounding onlookers also bowed as they shouted, "The holy son is unrivaled."

Beiming Tianpeng maintained a humble expression as he said, "Fellow cultivators, you praise me too much. Tianpeng is only slightly capable in terms of external cultivation. If we do fight seriously, I might not be Saint Qing Gu's match."

"You're too modest, holy son. For this devil extermination operation, this old man is willing to follow your lead," said Qing Gu respectfully.

With him taking the lead, some other people voiced their agreement.

"Thank you, everyone, for your trust. However, I, Beiming Tianpeng, will be happy as long as the devil is slain. It doesn't matter who the slayer is," said Beiming Tianpeng as he cupped his fists at the crowd. "Let's take this chance to give chase while the devil is still near. We can't allow him to reach the Central Region and harm even more humans."

And thus, Beiming Tianpeng led the group of 81 Saints and started heading toward the border connecting to the Central Region. The Northern Border and the Central Region were two different regions. After leaving Icecross City, they still had to pass through a massive distance of wilderness before they could reach the Central Region.

The entire wilderness between the two regions was considered an ancient mountain range. Numerous demonic beasts resided within the mountain range, and countless devilish plants dotted the landscape, preying on the unaware. Few could travel across the wilderness alive, including Sovereigns.

From afar, the wilderness looked like a boundless ocean of trees. The countless trees swayed in the wind, their leaves rustling. Every now and then, ferocious roars sounded out as though to remind all visitors of the mountain range's hidden dangers and warn them not to enter without sufficient strength.

A certain figure was moving nimbly within the mountain range. The figure was none other than Xiang Shaoyun, who had just left Icecross City. He was holding a book in his hand. As he traveled amid the thick forest, he read the book, looking like a traveling scholar. From the carefree and refined air around him, nobody would think that he was a devil.

The book in his hand was one of the random books he had gathered from the people he had killed over the years. He was trying to read more to polish his heart and get to know himself more.

Traveling at a moderate pace, Xiang Shaoyun had withdrawn his aura into his body. Thus, he was able to travel without alarming the local demonic beasts. Even when some demonic beasts detected him and wanted to prey on him, they had no way of keeping up with his speed.

One day, Xiang Shaoyun arrived at the peak of a mountain. Suddenly, he sensed an alarmingly powerful yin baleful energy coming from a certain direction. The surrounding beasts were all roaring as they rushed toward its source. It was as though an astonishing treasure had appeared.

"What a dense yin baleful energy," muttered Xiang Shaoyun as he looked into the distance. At a certain mountain ridge, a large amount of energy was being emitted, shrouding a large area in mist. The plants in the area started withering away, while some of the demonic beasts rushing toward the energy source died before they could reach it. Only the stronger ones among the demonic beasts were able to continue advancing amid the energy.

Xiang Shaoyun kept his book away and started rushing toward the energy source as well. The moment he arrived near the energy source, he sensed that it was no ordinary yin baleful energy. It was an energy of extreme yin. Strands of extreme yin energy were being emitted from a cave. The strands looked incredibly dazzling, as though countless blades were dancing about in the air.

Xiang Shaoyun activated his gift of instincts, trying to sense what the energy source was. But he found that the extreme yin strands were extremely sharp and gave his eyes a piercing pain when he tried to look at them.

Fortunately, Xiang Shaoyun was already a Devil Saint. His body was strong enough to withstand such pain. He forced himself to advance while he resisted the pain and studied the energy the cave was emitting. Instantly, he exclaimed, "Is this the black yin magnetic energy?"

The black yin magnetic energy was an energy of extreme yin and cold. It was a type of energy comparable with the flux goldthorn energy. For cultivators focusing on energies of extreme yin, their combat strength would be greatly enhanced upon absorbing this energy.

Even though Xiang Shaoyun had lost his stars, his heart still skipped a beat upon seeing such an energy. But before he could do anything, more than 10 Demon Sovereigns charged toward the energy source. They started absorbing the energy in the air, trying to refine it and increase their strength.