Chapter 23: I’ll Bully the Few with the Many—and the Weak with the Strong

Meng Qingxi was suffocating with humiliation.

He, a dignified Golden Core expert, was actually being ganged up on by a bunch of Qi Refining brats!

He roared in fury, burning every last card he had to try and break out of the encirclement, but all he managed to do was get beaten even worse. He was nothing but a powerless rage machine.

Dark light crisscrossed everywhere. The battle didn’t even last long—Golden Core expert Meng Qingxi was already defeated. His body was covered in wounds, blood splashing everywhere, spiritual power dried up. He completely lost the strength to resist.

“What a paper Golden Core.”

“Not even remotely challenging.”

“Does someone like this really need to condense a Golden Core?”

Li Shaobai and the others pulled back their attacks, looking at the half-dead Meng Qingxi kneeling on the ground. All of them shook their heads.

Golden Cores were split into grades: weakest at ninth grade, strongest at first grade.

Meng Qingxi was a seventh-grade Golden Core. The Demonic Abyss had always been weak, far inferior to the top righteous sects. Even a seventh-grade Golden Core here was considered an invincible Golden Core.

But in the Five Immortal Sects, or in the super-grade sects, anyone below sixth-grade Golden Core was generally called a “paper Golden Core.”

Literal meaning: a Golden Core made of paper. One poke and it collapses—pitifully weak.

“Paper Golden Core…”

All the demonic cultivators wore very strange expressions.

In particular, the other Golden Core experts’ faces were pitch black. They felt like they’d just been slapped.

Because their Golden Cores weren’t much better than Meng Qingxi’s. Some were even worse.

“No! I refuse to accept this! You ganged up on me!”

Meng Qingxi’s eyes were bloodshot, full of unwillingness, trying desperately to defend his dignity.

At this point, he wasn’t even afraid of death anymore. Losing to a bunch of Qi Refining juniors meant he had already lost all face.

All he could hope for now was to salvage a shred of pride.

“Ganged up on you?”

Xu Gu paused for a moment when he heard that, then burst out laughing.

“I really can’t believe those words came out of a demonic cultivator’s mouth. What’s wrong, spouting righteousness and morality now? Planning to switch sides to the righteous path?”

Li Shaobai and the rest also laughed openly.

They might be righteous infiltrators, but when dealing with demonic cultivators, there was no such thing as mercy. Their behavior was dripping with evil intent—they really did look like big villains.

“Damn you!”

Meng Qingxi choked on Xu Gu’s words and couldn’t even argue back. Rage surged so fiercely that he coughed up a mouthful of blood and roared,

“You’re all going to die!”

Then he turned, screaming hysterically at the three Golden Core senior brothers watching from the sidelines in amusement:

“Tian Chengjun! Wang Guiwei! Ji Jianlin! Are you three really just going to stand there and watch me be humiliated?

“Don’t forget, you three also pressured them earlier. Your little brothers are all involved with them now.

“What do you think is going to happen once they grow up? You think they won’t come back to settle accounts with you?”

A cold glint flashed through the eyes of the three Golden Core experts.

They stopped sneering at Meng Qingxi.

Dark light burst from their bodies, and the oppressive aura rolling off of them climbed to its peak.

One by one, they descended from the sky, surrounding Xu Gu and the other five.

From beginning to end, they had never intended to let Xu Gu’s group go.

You didn’t become a Golden Core demonic cultivator without being ruthless and venomous.

The reason they hadn’t acted before was simple: at first, they thought Meng Qingxi alone could handle everything. Later, they were just enjoying watching him get beaten.

Now that the show was over, it was time to step in and clean up the mess.

“This is…”

Huan Caiyi and the others’ faces shifted slightly.

They weren’t actually afraid of being besieged by Golden Cores—worst case, they’d let their sects step in. But having their identities exposed here still left a bitter taste.

However—

As the three Golden Core experts closed in, Xu Gu showed not the slightest hint of panic. Instead, he took a step forward, blocking in front of the group.

Then he threw his head back and laughed. His aura turned even more sinister and arrogant, like a true peerless demon lord—the mastermind behind everything.

“Jiejiejie…”

“You paper Golden Cores running into us… that’s just your bad luck.

“Today, not only am I going to bully the few with the many—

“I’m also going to bully the weak with the strong.”

As Xu Gu spoke, he suddenly waved his hand.

Boom!

Heaven and earth seemed to collapse.

A towering wave of demonic qi descended from the sky, shattering the firmament and shaking the mountains and rivers.

In an instant, the entire Demonic Abyss was roused. Every demonic cultivator felt the disturbance and looked up in shock.

If not for the protective array of the Abyss, this surge of power alone might have been enough to reduce everything here to rubble.

“This aura…”

All the demonic cultivators on the field turned deathly pale with fright.

The leading Golden Cores were terrified to the extreme.

They could clearly sense where this power came from—

A Nascent Soul elder!

The one unleashing this might was a Nascent Soul-stage elder!

And not just any Nascent Soul—the aura was strong even within that realm. A top-tier existence!

“You damned brats!

“How dare you lay hands on Young Master Xu and the others!

“You’re really looking for death!”

The one who spoke was, of course, Xu Gu’s acting guide—Xiao Bitian.

As a late-stage Nascent Soul at peak completion, in the Demonic Abyss, he was second only to the thirteen Heavenly Demon Elders, a few true legacy disciples, and some hidden old monsters.

His pressure was naturally off the charts.

“Elder Xiao Bitian?”

“Why are you helping them? And you called him Young Master?”

“Acting Master, save me!”

The Golden Cores were scared out of their wits.

They had never expected Xu Gu to summon a late-stage Nascent Soul to his side!

What was worse, this Nascent Soul was unbelievably respectful to Xu Gu and the others. He didn’t spare any face or sentiment at all and directly attacked them!

As for the other demonic cultivators watching in the training arena—

They had already been scared to the point of wetting themselves.

“Xiao Bitian, are you a dog?”

“You’re getting involved in a fight between juniors?”

“And you’re really going to listen to that little brat like this?”

“Are you his guide, or is he your guide? You’re embarrassing our entire demonic path!”

The entire Demonic Abyss boiled over.

The Golden Cores’ own guides couldn’t sit still and started berating Xiao Bitian, hoping he would stop.

But all of them spoke only through sound transmission.

Clearly, none of them wanted to offend Xu Gu and the others.

Unlike those hotheaded Golden Cores who’d just left seclusion, they knew exactly who these six were—descended demonic prodigies.

If they offended them, they would definitely be hunted down in the future.

“As if that’s a mystery. Of course I’m a dog,” Xiao Bitian laughed loudly.

Faced with their questioning, he sounded completely justified.

He really was a dog demon, after all.

And as for listening to Xu Gu? No kidding.

He had been present for the entire entrance trial. He’d seen with his own eyes just how terrifyingly “demonic” Xu Gu really was.

If he didn’t listen, he probably wouldn’t even know how he died someday.

Letting Xu Gu take him as a guide? What a death-seeking idea that had been.

“If anyone still wants to stand against Young Master Xu and the others…

“Step forward. Fight me.

“And stop whining.”

Normally, Xiao Bitian would never have dared be this arrogant. The Demonic Abyss had plenty of big shots, each more ruthless than the last. Crossing them was a death sentence.

But now that he’d become Xu Gu’s acting guide, he finally had his chance to strut around like a fox borrowing a tiger’s might.

The entire place fell silent.

No one answered.

Clearly, everyone knew exactly how twisted these six “descended demonic prodigies” were.

Especially that Xu Gu.

If you provoked him, you would die. No doubt about it.

Hadn’t they all watched his moves in the trials?

Countless demonic powerhouses were trembling.

Meng Qingxi and the other three Golden Core disciples were completely dumbfounded.

No way.

What was going on?

He’d screamed himself hoarse, and he couldn’t even get one person to speak up for him?

Just who were these little brats?

Before they could process it, Xiao Bitian grabbed them in one swoop, destroyed their physical bodies, pulled out their souls, and sealed them into a magic treasure.

Some of the better-informed Golden Core disciples, on the other hand, didn’t react at all.

“Serves them right. You’re a demonic cultivator and still that reckless?

“You’ve been in seclusion so long you don’t even bother checking the situation before you come out?”

“This entire training arena was built for those six. And you dared provoke them?

“That’s not bravery. That’s a capital-letter S-tier act of stupidity.”

(End of this chapter)