The Three Realms Thief Chapter 34

The flames burned away the monster’s face, turning into specks of light that flew out of the furnace, circled the sword, drifted away with the wind, and extinguished in the night sky.

It was dead.

—It died after helping himself complete a battle review.

As a professional player, reviewing battles after a fight is as habitual as eating and drinking.

Now though—

Xu Yuan’s eyes darkened slightly, and waves of killing intent surged in his heart.

He threw the furnace lid down, stepped on it to cover the furnace fire, and then looked back.

In the distance.

The path he came from.

A stillness shrouded in fog.

But will new monsters appear?

After all, he had said something like “I’m even sweating.”

Would the woman with seven or eight legs know about this?

—Ever since he and the little boy met her underground.

The battle never stopped.

This meant one thing.

Even though he was just a low-level Qi Refining layer two grunt, and was carrying an ordinary child—

That monster had no intention of letting them go.

At first, there were several giant earthworms.

After the earthworms died.

The entire tunnel was filled with earthworms to block him.

It didn’t stop him.

Then the great ape revived.

The great ape died.

The human skin arrived.

Relying on the fortifications, the human skin was suppressed and couldn’t kill him.

And then—

They merged into a human skin monster whose strength continuously grew.

—The battle never stopped!

How could this series of battles be a coincidence?

That woman, she simply didn’t want to let him and his group go!

Xu Yuan also had a temper.

After being provoked several times, he constantly adjusted his tactics, from frantic fleeing and dodging to relying on fortifications, then to escaping by car, and finally using the alchemy furnace, using a mix of tactics to kill the monsters.

In any case, cowering and hiding wouldn’t work.

The tactics here had already been tested, fighting Qi Refining monsters was indeed possible.

Bring it on.

Come and kill me.

The high school exam shouldn’t unleash Foundation Establishment level monsters, right?

As long as there are no Foundation Establishment monsters—

I might not lose!

He clenched his fist and looked at his companions.

Jiang Xueyao, Yang Xiaobing, and Zhao Afei, who had been fully activating their elixir flames, were all sitting cross-legged, quietly meditating to recover their spiritual power.

The little boy stood beside them, looking at him with a complicated expression.

“It’s over.”

Xu Yuan smiled at him, his gaze sweeping into the distance.

The path they came from was still calm.

Minutes and seconds passed, but no monsters attacked.

Perhaps—

Those monsters were attacking Gulou Street Subway Station with all their might?

Were there really no more pursuers?

This remained doubtful…

But they couldn’t just wait here. They had to complete the predetermined mission first.

Get out of the city!

Xu Yuan began searching back and forth on the overpass.

His gaze fell on a smoking car, then moved away;

It then fell on a car that was on fire;

Then shifted to a bus covered in blood with its front hood crumpled;

It skipped to a overturned SUV with a twisted A-pillar.

No.

These cars clearly had problems.

But everyone had just gone through an intense chase, and their physical strength, mental energy, and spiritual power were all considerably depleted.

They had to find another car.

Suddenly.

A convertible car parked in the emergency lane with its hazard lights flashing caught Xu Yuan’s interest.

This car seemed to have been in an accident; its headlights were shattered, one wheel was completely flat, and the car body was askew.

Hope.

Xu Yuan jumped off the alchemy furnace, ran to the car, and squatted down to inspect it carefully.

That’s right.

The front wheel had been punctured by a nail as thick as a finger, so the tire was flat.

It was probably due to the flat tire that it rear-ended the car in front, shattered its headlight, and had to pull over.

The front bumper and hood were not seriously damaged.

There was no fluid leaking on the ground.

The engine should be fine.

Looking at the driver’s seat.

Perhaps in their hasty departure, the car keys were left in the cup holder of the center console.

Come on, let’s see if there’s a spare tire.

There must be one, please.

Xu Yuan prayed, took the car keys, opened the trunk, and lifted the cover.

A brand new tire appeared before him.

The spare tire looked slightly smaller, but it wouldn’t be a problem to use!

Xu Yuan whistled and waved to Zhao Afei:

“Come help quickly!”

Zhao Afei rushed over.

Xu Yuan took the tire and tools, then led Zhao Afei to the side of the car.

“Lift it up.”

“This—I—”

“This car isn’t heavy. You’re already in the Qi Refining stage. What’s a minute or two of lifting?”

“Then I’ll try.”

“That’s right, we’re very short on time.”

Zhao Afei took a deep breath, lifted the front end of the car, and the wheel immediately left the ground.

“Good! Just that high!”

Xu Yuan moved like lightning, quickly removed the old tire, then put on the new tire and tightened the bolts.

15 seconds!

Too bad the tool for tightening the bolts was manual, not automatic.

Otherwise, it would have been faster.

“Get in the car, let’s go,” Xu Yuan said loudly, patting Zhao Afei’s shoulder.

Everyone immediately got into the car.

“Are there still pursuers?” Jiang Xueyao asked.

“I actually hope a few more come,” Xu Yuan said indifferently.

“That crazy?” Jiang Xueyao asked in a teasing tone.

Xu Yuan looked back at her and pouted, “Aren’t you also frantically taking pills to recover your spiritual power and stamina?”

Jiang Xueyao laughed.

That battle was really exhilarating!

Such battles were the ones she craved!

Engaging in combat with high-level monsters was an extremely valuable practical experience.

It could not only hone combat skills but also greatly benefit the mindset improvement of low-level cultivators!

“Let’s continue.”

Yang Xiaobing chimed in with similar feelings.

“Yes, let’s keep running,” Zhao Afei also said.

The car roared to life, slowly moved, accelerated, and sped forward.

“How do we go?” Yang Xiaobing asked.

A voice suddenly rang out:

“I’m very familiar with this city, I’ll give directions.”

The little boy!

Xu Yuan’s eyes lit up, and he smiled: “Okay, I’ll drive wherever you tell me!”

“Go straight after getting off the overpass, turn left after three traffic lights!” the little boy said.

“Understood.”

Xu Yuan stepped on the gas pedal.

He focused on driving, Yang Xiaobing released her White Crane, Jiang Xueyao stood on the car’s trunk on alert, and Zhao Afei ate a whole chocolate bar.

Everyone performed their duties, working together.

The little boy also stopped being panicked and trembling, sitting silently on Yang Xiaobing’s lap, his expression calm and composed.

He was like a changed person.

The convertible car sped like the wind, racing rapidly on the road.

Suddenly.

A piercing and strange cry came from the far distance behind them.

“Toward Xinzhou Subway Station, deep in the sky, a monster is chasing us!”

Yang Xiaobing shouted.

Everyone looked back together.

Night.

The firmament.

Leaden clouds, as if squeezed by a giant hand, showed dark, blue-black patterns at their edges.

That monster poked its head out from behind the clouds—

It had no facial features, only seven compound eyes arranged in a ring; its body was an irregular, writhing mass of darkness, appearing alternately with the clouds before everyone’s eyes.

“What is that!”

Zhao Afei exclaimed.

“A demon—and a Foundation Establishment stage one,” Jiang Xueyao said.

“That’s beyond the scope. It shouldn’t be chasing us,” Xu Yuan said.

Is this exam bugged?

Never mind.

Run first.

Step on the gas pedal all the way, release it, then step on it all the way again.

Fast.

Faster!

…

At the same time.

Examination Institute.

The old man—the dean of the Examination Institute—sat on the high platform and said:

“Let’s all discuss, what should we do now?”

No one spoke.

The examiners seemed to have turned into sculptures, sitting there motionless.

Silence.

After several breaths.

The old man sighed, “The temporary world created by using the large-scale soul technique to activate the Zhoutian Instrument has already exceeded our control—”

“How about we terminate the monthly exam for this reason and let the world return to stillness?”

The examiners immediately “came alive” and spoke:

“Yes, yes!”

“I think so too!”

“This reason is the most legitimate.”

“That monster is at the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, it’s definitely beyond the scope. We need to protect the students.”

“Let’s end the exam.”

Seeing the reactions of the crowd, the old man couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.

This was the only way.

Otherwise, if the exam continued and something happened, it would be a catastrophic disaster!

“End the exam, start grading!”

He commanded.

On the other side.

Imperial Capital.

A park.

A lake surrounded red walls and white pagodas.

Just by the arched bridge at the foot of this white pagoda, several old men were playing chess.

Beside them, a middle-aged man waved a cattail fan, gesticulating and cursing:

“Ay, this move is really terrible, can you old man even play chess?”

“Your opponent is also an idiot.”

“If you make that wrong move, you’ll definitely lose a piece.”

The old men looked helpless and pretended not to hear, continuing their game of chess.

—They had already called security earlier, and even called the police once.

But so far, the police hadn’t arrived, and the security was nowhere to be found.

What could you do to him?

“Take this step, hey, believe me, this is the right step, take this step!”

The middle-aged man picked up a chess piece and placed it in a certain direction.

“Are you playing chess, or am I playing chess?”

An old man, annoyed, said.

“Let’s just have some fun, after all, it’s your honor that I’m guiding you,” the middle-aged man said with a smile.

“I’m not playing today!” the old man said angrily.

“Yes, we’re not playing today, we few are going fishing, you don’t need to come along,” another old man chimed in.

They all stood up, packed the chessboard, and hobbled away.

Only the middle-aged man remained, fanning himself, seemingly undeterred.

“There seem to be a few old men practicing martial arts in the east… I’ll go check it out…”

He slowly fanned himself, making to leave.

A black shadow quietly appeared.

The shadow knelt on one knee and reported quickly:

“There’s a small problem with the national joint examination.”

“The Examination Institute forcibly terminated a group of test-takers’ monthly exam because that group was being pursued by a Foundation Establishment peak demon, clearly exceeding the scope.”

The middle-aged man smiled:

“Very good, young people, full of drive.”

“Whether it’s luck or a quick mind, let them keep going, what does it matter?”

“—Why bother reporting such a small matter?”

The shadow bowed its head and said, “That group of students took the princess, escaped from underground, and fled all the way from the surface, seemingly about to leave the city.”

The smile on the middle-aged man’s face finally disappeared entirely.

He put down his cattail fan, gazed at the rippling lake water, and after a long silence, said:

“Yiyi still hasn’t let go of what happened ten years ago…”

“Ah, let her be.”

“No.”

“The Crown Prince is governing, and I am bored—immediately arrange for manpower, I will go too.”

“After all, this exam was my idea.”

“I’ll tie up this loose end!”

The shadow immediately bowed its head:

“As you command, Your Majesty.”