Spells Grinding: From Basic Sparks to Divine Arts

Gu Yue’s opponent was a monstrosity—a Demon Beast resembling a tiger, but twisted into something far more primal.

The beast’s body stretched nearly forty feet in length, a ripple of black and white stripes over corded muscle. Its limbs were thick pillars of destruction, and its twin fangs curved downward like jagged greatswords.

But the most terrifying aspect was its face. It was a visage of pure malice, a nightmare that had crawled out of the eighteenth level of hell.

This was a Second-Stage Late Demon Beast—the [Ghost Face Tiger]!

At this moment, Gu Yue, despite being in the mid-Foundation Establishment realm, found herself locked in a stalemate. She could gain no ground against the beast’s ferocity, relying solely on her formidable combat experience to keep from being overrun.

Shriek!

The air screamed as Qin Lu plummeted from the sky. His descent was not a fall, but a targeted strike. His left fist clenched, gathering momentum, and he swung it with the weight of a collapsing mountain.

BOOM!

A shockwave of compressed air exploded outward, hammering toward the massive [Ghost Face Tiger].

However, a beast of the Second-Stage Late tier possessed instincts honed by survival. The moment Qin Lu began his dive, the tiger’s ears twitched. It sensed the incoming threat.

As the crushing wind of Qin Lu’s fist descended, the beast snapped its massive body backward, attempting to retreat from the kill zone.

Unfortunately for the beast, Gu Yue had no intention of letting it escape.

“Stay!”

She brandished her long spear, the weapon becoming a blur. Countless spear shadows materialized in the air, raining down like a localized storm.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The barrage hammered the beast’s hide. While the spear shadows failed to inflict critical wounds, the sheer kinetic force pinned the tiger in place, stalling its retreat just long enough.

Bang!

Qin Lu landed. His fingers snapped together in a blur of motion—the [Finger Flick Technique].

The attack slammed directly into the [Ghost Face Tiger]’s exposed abdomen.

“Groan!”

The beast let out a muffled, pained grunt. The technique tore through its iron-like hide, ripping the abdomen open to reveal the wet, crimson muscle beneath.

What formidable defense, Qin Lu noted, a flicker of disappointment crossing his mind.

This same strike could shatter a granite peak or blast a ten-meter crater into a cliff face. Yet, against this creature, it had merely carved a flesh wound.

Even with his attribute panel allowing him to push low-level techniques to their absolute zenith, there was a hard limit to their potency. Against a Second-Stage Late Demon Beast, the days of instantly killing opponents with a single casual strike were over.

However, Qin Lu’s internal critique did nothing to dampen Gu Yue’s shock. Her eyes widened. She hadn’t expected him to breach the [Ghost Face Tiger]’s defense so easily.

She recovered instantly, her combat instincts taking over.

“Together!” she shouted.

“Understood!”

Qin Lu flicked his wrist, and the [Silver Sand Sword] materialized in his grip. He immediately channeled the [Gray Shadow Sword Art], his figure blurring as he charged the hideous beast.

In an instant, the battle turned into a slaughter. Gu Yue wielded her crimson spear, Qin Lu his silver sword. They became a whirlwind of steel and Spiritual Qi, surrounding the [Ghost Face Tiger].

Slice! Slice! Slice!

Blades cut through fur and flesh. Blood sprayed into the air as fresh wounds opened across the tiger’s flanks. The beast’s massive size, once an advantage in intimidation, now made it a clumsy target. It couldn’t track both attackers at once.

Under their relentless assault, the [Ghost Face Tiger] began to slow, its movements growing sluggish.

Then, pure animal cunning flashed in its eyes.

It feigned a stumble, then violently twisted its spine. It spun 180 degrees, ignoring Qin Lu entirely. Its jaws—foul-smelling and lined with razor-sharp fangs—snapped open, aiming directly for Gu Yue’s throat as she pursued from behind.

“Damn it!”

Qin Lu’s heart skipped a beat. He vanished from his spot, pushing his speed to the limit to intercept the bite.

But his worry was unnecessary.

Gu Yue didn’t panic. She torqued her waist, her body bending at an impossible angle to let the snapping jaws pass within inches of her armor.

It was a bait.

As she dodged, she pulled her spear back and thrust it violently in a reverse grip—the classic “Returning Horse Spear.”

Schlupp!

The spearhead, glowing with lethal Spiritual Qi, punched through the softer skin of the tiger’s throat and buried itself deep in the windpipe.

Blood geysered outward.

The [Ghost Face Tiger] stiffened, its massive frame seizing up as the fatal blow severed its connection to life. It stumbled, legs giving way.

Qin Lu arrived a split second later.

Whoosh!

His [Silver Sand Sword] flashed, humming with the vibratory power of the [Cutting Technique].

Snick.

Thud!

The massive head of the tiger separated from its shoulders, flying into the air. The headless carcass collapsed, shaking the ground and kicking up a plume of dust.

Qin Lu exhaled slowly, landing softly beside the corpse.

“Uh… when did you become so strong?” Gu Yue walked over, wiping a speck of blood from her cheek, her expression a mix of relief and bewilderment.

“Oh, that? I just advanced to mid-Foundation Establishment. Haven’t had a chance to mention it yet,” Qin Lu replied casually, already busy dissecting the [Ghost Face Tiger] with his sword.

Gu Yue stared at him, her expression complex.

“How can it be so fast…”

She remembered him clearly. Not long ago, to make her act as a thief more convincing, she had led market patrols on wild chases, using a broken Magical Artifact to hide. During one of those escapes, she had trespassed into Qin Lu’s courtyard.

That was their first meeting. He had been a low-level Loose Cultivator—cautious, weak, unremarkable.

Then he had moved next door. Then he had saved her brother, Xiao Can, at East Head Ridge.

But what truly shook her was the timeline. On the night they met, Qin Lu was a destitute cultivator at the fourth level of Qi Condensation. Now? He was mid-Foundation Establishment.

He had caught up to her.

Sigh. It seems my reputation as the family genius is a bit inflated, Gu Yue thought bitterly.

While she was lost in thought, Qin Lu had efficiently stripped the massive carcass of value. Fangs, pelt, heart—everything went into his [Storage Bag].

He looked up. “I’ll hold onto these materials for now. We’ll split the profits evenly after the battle. Sound fair?”

“Uh… right. Good!” Gu Yue snapped back to reality, meeting his gaze and nodding.

“Then let’s go. The others need help.”

Qin Lu didn’t waste another second. He kicked off the ground, soaring back toward the chaos atop the walls.

The battle for the East District was a grinder.

Crowds of powerful Demon Beasts had gathered outside the light curtain, heaping immense pressure on the defenders. With the defensive shield breached, the situation had teetered on the edge of collapse.

But under Jiang Ge’s desperate command, Foundation Establishment reinforcements continued to pour in.

It took nearly half an hour of brutal, bloody combat. Five Foundation Establishment cultivators paid the ultimate price, their bodies broken amidst the rubble. But finally, the last of the intruding beasts was cut down, and the hole in the light curtain was sealed.

Seeing the density of Second-Stage Demon Beasts thinning outside, the surviving cultivators sagged against the battlements, exchanging weary smiles.

As long as the high-tier threats were dead, the remaining First-Stage fodder couldn’t turn the tide.

“Fellow Daoist Qin! I never expected you to be so ferocious! Killing a Second-Stage Late Demon Beast with mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation? Impressive!”

A burly, bearded cultivator slapped Qin Lu on the shoulder, grinning through a mask of sweat and grime.

“Fellow Daoist Zou flatters me,” Qin Lu smiled, cupping his hands. “Fighting alongside you just now—that was truly exhilarating!”

The man was Zou Chang, a well-known figure in the market. During the chaotic melee, he and Qin Lu had coordinated to take down another beast, forging the kind of trust that only comes from sharing a battlefield.

“Hah! Once this is over, we must drink and talk merrily! Oh, right! My sect’s grand opening ceremony is coming up—you must come!” Zou Chang laughed boisterously.

Qin Lu chuckled. “That is a given! I will certainly bring a gift and—”

BOOM—!

The sentence died in his throat.

A thunderous explosion, louder than anything they had heard all night, tore through the air. The ground trembled.

Every head on the wall snapped toward the west.

Qin Lu turned, his eyes narrowing.

On the western city wall, the defensive light curtain was gone. In its place, a thick, rolling red mist was spreading like a slow-moving avalanche. The cultivators stationed there weren’t fighting; they were fleeing, scattering in blind panic.

“Hey, hey… what is that?”

“No… that mist… does it look like blood to you?”

“Wait! It can’t be…”

On the eastern wall, the faces of the cultivators drained of color. They recognized that phenomenon.

“How…”

Qin Lu’s expression turned grim. He clenched his teeth, staring at the crimson fog drifting across the sky.

He had seen this before.

In the Great Lie Dynasty.

Blood Cultivators.