79: Chapter 78 Reunion with the Winged Clan

On the vast, flat wilderness, two squads of Cultivators dressed in dark green uniforms skimmed across the tips of the grass.

"Captain, the place with the disturbance is just ahead."

The leader nodded, their expression somewhat grave.

"With such a huge commotion, I wonder how many bird-men have gotten in..."

"Everyone, stay alert. Prepare to engage the enemy."

"They've just been exhausted by the earth-worms, so their state shouldn't be too good."

After speaking, the Golden Core leader flicked their palm, and a silvery-white long spear appeared.

He gave a light shout.

"Go!"

The silver light, like a thread, shot out in an instant.

At the same time, the Golden Core Cultivator's Divine Sense followed the spear, probing forward.

In a pool of blood, there were about twenty blurry figures.

The next moment, the surrounding Spiritual Qi gathered, and three layers of Qi shields suddenly appeared, blocking the spear's thrust and resulting in a stalemate.

The Golden Core Cultivator finally managed to clearly inspect this group of people.

"The Human Race?"

He raised his hand and flicked it, and the long spear flew back.

"How did they get in here?"

Filled with doubt, he continued to scan them carefully. Seeing their familiar attire, he finally understood.

"Students from Xuanzong University..."

"Are they here for training before the Joint Tournament?"

Not long after, the two groups converged.

The Junxuan Division leader held his long spear and cupped his hands in greeting toward Li Fan.

"I thought you were those bird-men just now, so I intended to strike first."

"I didn't expect it to be a Prodigy from Xuanzong University. My apologies."

Li Fan sized up the team in front of him, composed of members from the Secret Realm Administration Bureau and the Junxuan Division.

Two Golden Core leaders and twenty Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

The group was surrounded by an unshakable, thick stench of blood, as if they had just escaped from a brutal battlefield.

Li Fan returned the gesture.

"It is no matter. I wonder, what do you mean by 'bird-men'?"

The Golden Core Cultivator replied.

"Those are the foreign Cultivators with wings on their backs who flap around in the sky."

He stuck his long spear into the ground and recalled.

"This group of foreign Cultivators seems to call themselves..."

"...the Winged Race."

Li Fan suddenly realized. Weren't they that group of bird-men who wouldn't stop chasing him in the school examination Secret Realm?

He hadn't expected the Winged Race to be appearing in every Secret Realm now.

Just as he was about to ask more, someone among the Xuanzong University students spoke up first.

"Senior, where does this Winged Race come from?"

Li Fan had some impression of the man who spoke.

He was ranked first in strength by True Monarch Changyun.

His name was also quite unique: Haoxing Jingming.

He had short, neat hair and wore long Daoist robes that completely covered his hands.

The Golden Core Cultivator picked up his long spear and drew a vertical line in the air.

"They come from the rift."

Haoxing Jingming was a bit confused.

"A rift? ..."

But he soon understood.

In the air where the Golden Core Cultivator's spear tip pointed, a black line had just sliced through space, with Spiritual Qi constantly tearing at the rift and gushing out.

Seeing this, the Golden Core Cultivator's expression grew slightly solemn, but he immediately composed himself, and his Spiritual Qi began to circulate slowly throughout his body.

"What a coincidence."

With his long spear ready, he raised his voice and commanded.

"Form up! Prepare to surround and kill them. Let's show the students how it's done."

Not long after, the rift tore open to a size that could allow one person to pass through, and figures with wings on their backs filed out one after another.

And what greeted them was a long spear as fast as lightning.

The spear struck like a Dragon, piercing through the bodies of four or five members of the Winged Race in succession.

The other Cultivators simultaneously cast spells, and colorful rays of spiritual light flew everywhere.

In front of the rift, the Spiritual Qi surged and vibrated violently.

As the offensive ceased, only floating bird feathers were left in mid-air.

No other members of the Winged Race appeared.

The grassland became quiet for a moment, with only a faint breeze blowing past.

None of the members from the Secret Realm Administration Bureau or the Junxuan Division relaxed; they once again gathered their magical power, seemingly waiting for something.

The rift expanded outward by another circle.

The previously gentle breeze suddenly became violent, and gusts of wild wind swept over.

A member of the Winged Race with massive wings darted out from the rift.

It gave a single flap of its wings, and the wild wind stirred the airflow, forcefully deflecting the thrusting long spear to the side.

Then, with a shake of its wings, it soared straight up into the high sky.

The Junxuan Division's Golden Core Cultivator retracted his spear and sent a voice transmission to the Golden Core Cultivator from the Secret Realm Administration Bureau.

"Cover me."

His Spiritual Qi surged throughout his body, and his figure shot up, breaking through the air to follow the Winged Race.

The Secret Realm Administration Bureau's Golden Core Cultivator directed the remaining Cultivators to surround and attack the Winged Race that continued to rush out from the rift.

His gaze was fixed tightly on the two figures already locked in combat high above.

Spiritual Qi gathered at his fingertips, waiting for an opportunity to provide support.

"Should we go and help?"

Yun Baimei, who had been kicked flying far away by Li Fan earlier, leaned in.

She asked as if nothing had happened.

While Li Fan hesitated, the System prompt sounded.

[strongest check-in system offline, Strongest Underdog Counterattack System online]

Seeing that the System had actually switched, he was somewhat puzzled.

The rift was surrounded by the Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the two divisions, and the Golden Core Winged Race were being handled by the two Human Race Golden Core Cultivators.

It looked like there was no opportunity for him to intervene.

However, the System's switches never made mistakes.

If he was about to go into action, it meant the situation would likely deteriorate soon.

So he replied indifferently.

"No need to help. Prepare to run..."

Sure enough, before Li Fan had finished speaking, a powerful aura spilled out from the rift.

The Secret Realm Administration Bureau's Golden Core Cultivator's eyes darkened, and he pushed the spell he had been gathering at his fingertips for some time—originally reserved for support—toward the rift.

Instantly, spiritual light overflowed from the rift.

When the turbulent Spiritual Qi gradually calmed down, the rift did not collapse and close as he had expected; instead, it had a tendency to expand further.

Accompanied by the howling wind, a second Golden Core Winged Race member appeared, spreading its wings.

The Secret Realm Administration Bureau's Golden Core Cultivator had no choice but to fly forward to engage it in battle.

Li Fan stood quietly in the pool of blood and looked up at the high sky.

At this moment, both Human Race Golden Core Cultivators were entangled by the powerful Winged Race, unable to spare any effort in the midst of the intense struggle, and had no time to attend to the battle below.

He turned to look at the rift, where Foundation Establishment Winged Race members were darting out, only to be surrounded and killed by the joint efforts of the Cultivators from the two divisions.

On the surface, it appeared to be evenly matched, but Li Fan knew clearly that this balance was extremely fragile.

Once another Golden Core Winged Race member rushed out of the rift, the situation would take a sharp turn for the worse.

With this thought in mind, he immediately checked the item provided by the System for the Bottom-Up Reversal.

[luofeng sword]

"You again?"

Li Fan took out the familiar luofeng sword, his eyes flashing.

This sword could control wind, making it the most suitable weapon for dealing with the Winged Race.

He casually weighed the sword body, and the feel was completely different from his memory.

Compared to when it was in the school examination Secret Realm, this luofeng sword was several times heavier.

Clearly, the material of the sword body had been significantly enhanced.

As for the difference.

The previous luofeng sword was merely a lower-third-grade item.

But this luofeng sword could completely rank among the middle-third-grade sword weapons, corresponding to a Magic Treasure used by a Nascent Soul True Monarch.

"Good sword!"

Li Fan praised it inwardly, immediately channeled his Spiritual Qi into the luofeng sword, and raised his hand to slash out a wave of Sword Qi.

At the mouth of the rift, several Foundation Establishment Winged Race members who had just rushed out were about to activate their wind-based protective techniques to resist the spell bombardment from the two divisions' Cultivators.

A faster, fatal killing intent had already reached them.

A cold, silent wave of Sword Qi merged with the wind and swept over.

It easily pierced through the Winged Race's wind-based protective Spiritual Qi, instantly slicing several Winged Race members in two.