Yamero!

Bai Xiaodu showed a standard, professionally polite smile.

“Haha, just trying to figure out how to slaughter all those Dragon-Blood Battle Eagles you burned your origin source to summon.”

He abruptly revealed his hands from beneath his sleeves, clearly showing the spell runes for 【Gust】.

The Red Dragon Demon's suspicions were spot on. He had indeed been weaving the spell runes since the very start of their conversation, keeping his hands hidden inside his coat the entire time.

Without a moment's hesitation, Bai Xiaodu cast the spell.

With a wave of his hand, a cyan-white tornado materialized instantly, wrapping around him and carrying him straight up into the sky!

His silver fox tail whipped wildly in the violent storm. In the blink of an eye, Bai Xiaodu abruptly appeared high up in the air.

Amidst the rapidly flying flock of Dragon-Blood Battle Eagles, his silver figure stood out like a sore thumb!

Below, his two teammates could only watch the scene in a daze.

Liu Qingzhu rubbed her eyes in disbelief.

“Is the spell he's using really 【Gust】? I've learned a similar skill too. If I train it to the Proficient rank, and with enough hard work and dedication, can we catch up to someone like him?”

The Winged human cast a speechless glance at her.

“Can you not drag me into your bragging?”

“Didn't you see how strong our captain was in the first round? Besides, he's the one handpicked by Director-General Shen. Eighty percent of his future ascension path has probably already been laid out for him. Can you even compare?”

“I thought clearing this Secret Realm would exhaust us to death. I was even prepared to get severely injured. But we passed the first stage so easily. I don't think we need to worry about the rest either. We can just relax and enjoy the free carry.”

Watching Liu Qingzhu squat in a corner, drawing circles on the ground in a self-deprecating daze, the Winged human let out a sigh.

To be honest, unlike Liu Qingzhu, what he felt wasn't envy, but awe.

Staring at the solitary silver figure in midair, the Winged human murmured softly,

“To think a backwater place like Blue Star could produce such a genius. It's just a pity that even someone this brilliant is nothing more than ascension material for others.”

“The Eastern Continent Shen Clan can give you everything you want, but you'll have to repay them tenfold, even a hundredfold.”

“There's no such thing as a free lunch. 'All the world's geniuses ultimately fall into the hands of 【Autocracy】.' It seems those words are indeed true...”

He stopped speaking, found a spot where the grass was relatively soft, and quietly lay down.

After all... none of this had anything to do with him anyway.

Up in the air, Bai Xiaodu channeled 【Gust】 once again.

Sensing that something was amiss, the Red Dragon Demon vanished from his spot and instantly reappeared near Bai Xiaodu.

It was the same familiar scent, the same familiar cyan-white tornado.

Compared to the rabbits on the ground, although these flying eagles were stronger, there was absolutely nothing for them to leverage high up in the sky.

As the tornado spun violently in midair, they were helplessly swept along by the currents, drawn toward its center.

The Red Dragon Demon instantly panicked.

“You fucking fox! I already told you these eagles possess fire-bodies! Why are you still using the wind to sweep them up? Your Freezing Ray won't kill them! If you damage them and trigger their fire-bodies, they'll only speed up, and you'll never catch up!”

Bai Xiaodu spared him a casual glance.

“Oh.”

The Red Dragon Demon frantically scratched at the two dragon horns on his head.

“What do you mean, 'oh'?!”

“Is your brain wired differently from everyone else? Do you think acting all different makes you look super cool? Do you think you're just so niche and unique?!”

Bai Xiaodu raised an eyebrow. He fished out another blue potion from somewhere and chugged it down.

Then, he further increased the frequency of his 【Gust】 output.

“Did I trigger you?”

The Red Dragon Demon: “...”

He felt a sense of familiarity. It felt like that line was supposed to be his.

But that wasn't important!

What was important was that this guy seemed to have developed a path dependency!

“Stop messing with me! Right now, immediately! Stop aiming your Gust at my eagles and blast it under your feet, okay? Would it kill you to just participate in the race properly?!”

Bai Xiaodu shook his head in refusal. Under his control, the cyan-white tornado grew increasingly massive, with countless wind blades swirling and circling like a school of deep-sea fish.

The way it twisted and turned high in the sky was an incredibly spectacular sight.

The turbulence generated by a storm of this magnitude was already severely disrupting the flight of the Dragon-Blood Battle Eagles.

“Actually, I'm quite curious. Since my Freezing Ray can't kill them anyway, why are you in such a panic?”

The Red Dragon Demon's entire face trembled with rage.

“No shit! Even with their resistance, if you blast them with a Freezing Ray as thick as a fucking water bucket, it's no joke for anyone of the same rank to take that hit!”

“Every single one of these Dragon-Blood Battle Eagles is irreplaceable. If you happen to get lucky, hit a vital spot, and insta-kill two or three of them, what am I supposed to do?!”

So that was why.

Seeing that Bai Xiaodu had no intention of stopping, the Red Dragon Demon quickly threatened him.

“I'm warning you, you white-haired brat! If you dare fire even a single Freezing Ray, I'll immediately have the surviving eagles ignite their fire-bodies to burst forward. And—and I'll even hide in the back to buff their speed!”

Bai Xiaodu burst into laughter.

“When did I ever say I was going to use Freezing Ray on them? Am I really that kind of person?”

“Why is every single one of you like this, always assuming the worst of my intentions?”

“Am I really such a bad, bad little fox?”

Hearing this, the anger on the Red Dragon Demon's face finally softened slightly.

“Exactly. You're already a genius. Why resort to such underhanded methods to win?”

“Go on, then. Cast another 【Gust】 to speed yourself up, and enjoy the race properly.”

The moment his words fell, a cruel smile spread across Bai Xiaodu's face.

True to his word, he did not use Freezing Ray.

To avoid accidentally triggering their low-HP speed-boost mechanism with the wind blades, Bai Xiaodu had deliberately held back the offensive power of the blades, converting their kinetic energy into a strong suction force instead.

The tornado spun faster and faster.

Just like the rabbits in the previous round, the Dragon-Blood Battle Eagles were rapidly restricted within the center of the tornado.

They were squeezed so tightly that their wings practically pressed against each other, looking extremely miserable.

At that exact moment, Bai Xiaodu reached into his coat and pulled out a delicate, pocket-sized, bat-shaped knife.

Its razor-sharp edge gleamed with a cold light. Bai Xiaodu gave it a gentle kiss.

Though he had carried it with him for a long time, it still retained a faint, sweet fragrance.

It was none other than the 【Blood Bat】 gifted to him by Xin Hai'an!

【Blood Bat】

【Quality: Green】

【Type: Weapon】

【Effect: Throw at enemies to inflict Level 1 Blindness and Level 1 Laceration damage within a 0.5-meter radius.】

【Description: Gliding through the night, throwing bat-shaped darts... Just what is your name...?】

According to Xin Hai'an herself, this weapon could instantly kill powerful enemies below the level of an official transcendent.

The 0.5-meter radius would normally risk friendly fire, but now, it was the perfect tool for a collective harvest.

Bai Xiaodu instantly whipped his hand forward!

With his already enhanced Constitution,

the Blood Bat flew as fast as lightning. To the onlookers, it looked like a streak of crimson drawing a sharp, terrifying line of blood in the air!

It slammed violently into the center of the tornado—right where the Dragon-Blood Battle Eagles were trapped!

A mist of blood exploded upon impact. The fine, dense lines of blood transformed into countless tiny, bat-shaped energy creatures.

They darted back and forth like particles, their mouths letting out a collective, piercing shriek.

Level 1 Laceration, Level 1 Blindness!

The Dragon-Blood Battle Eagles, whose only real strength was their speed, stood absolutely no chance against an attack of this caliber.

The first few eagles hit were literally torn to shreds, instantly dismembered and pulverized!

The few that managed to survive were heavily crippled by the subsequent Blindness and Laceration damage, completely losing their ability to fly.

They fluttered weakly in the air for a few brief seconds before plummeting rapidly toward the ground.

Right then, an incredibly sharp, agonized scream suddenly rang out!

“Nooooo!!!”

The Red Dragon Demon could only watch helplessly as all of his dozens of battle eagles were slaughtered to the very last one.

Even their feathers were violently shredded into hundreds of scattered pieces!

“Stop! Please stop! Stop it right now!”

“The 【Fearless】 origin source I spent so long saving up! It's all gone, all gone! I can't condense any more of it!”