Divine Seal: Fire Kirin Fly Template, shattering the Demon God Pillar!

Chapter 45 The Despair of the Newly Joined Demon Hunter Team

Behind the demon army, in the deep, inky darkness.

Several subtle yet powerful auras, like giant beasts from the abyss, slowly opened their eyes.

Their gazes traversed vast distances, fixed on Li Hao with scrutiny and chilling killing intent.

Those were seventh-tier, and possibly even eighth-tier, demonic powerhouses!
"Ok?"

Li Hao raised an eyebrow almost imperceptibly, and the arrogant smile on his lips slowly faded.

He is not a reckless man; he can handle taking on five sixth-level commanders by himself.

Going any higher, if you're surrounded by a large number of high-level demons, you're basically just asking for trouble.

He took a deep look at the cleared airspace and the restless Beta Flying Demon swarm further away, which dared not take another step forward.

There was no fear in Li Hao's eyes, but rather a hint of arrogance that looked down upon the world.

As if to say——

Wash your neck and wait, I'll be back.

The next instant, the wings of light on Li Hao's back suddenly flapped, and his whole body transformed into a dazzling golden stream of light.

Without any hesitation, it flew straight towards the city wall of the Exorcist City.

They came like divine punishment descending from the heavens, and they left like a shooting star returning to its place.

That composure and domineering presence captivated countless soldiers on the city wall, their blood boiling with fervor.

"Shh!"

With a flash of golden light, Li Hao landed steadily on the city wall, his wings and the boiling spiritual power on his body slowly receding back into his body.

It was as if the earth-shattering battle he had just witnessed was merely an appetizer before the main course.

As soon as he stood still, a group of people swarmed around him.

Leading the group was Wang Yuanyuan, a tall woman wielding a giant shield and sword.

Her bright eyes were filled with worry as she looked Li Hao up and down, anxiously asking, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"It was so chaotic just now, it was too risky for you to rush in alone!"

Wang Yuanyuan's words carried a hint of reproach, but more than anything, they expressed heartfelt concern.

Before Li Hao could answer, a figure even more exaggerated than Wang Yuanyuan's giant shield squeezed through, it was Priest Sima Xian.

His rugged face was now filled with fanatical worship, and the way he looked at Li Hao was as if he were looking at a god walking among mortals.

"Boss! My dear boss! What was that move you just used called? 'Fire Cloud Burning the Sky'? That was so powerful! It was absolutely awesome!"

"I burned those hairy beasts to ashes in one move!"

"How exactly did you cultivate? Could you teach me a move or two, or even just half a move?"

Sima Xian was spitting as he spoke, so excited that he was gesturing wildly, wishing he could kowtow to Li Hao on the spot.

"Cough cough!" A deliberately painful cough rang out.

Lin Xin squeezed out of the crowd. He didn't look at Li Hao, but instead faced the sky, looking heartbroken and devastated.

His finger trembled as he pointed in the direction where the fiery cloud had just erupted.

"Commander! My commander! Gone again! Gone again!" Lin Xin pounded his chest and stamped his feet, as if his own father had died.

"Those are four sixth-tier Beta flying demon commanders, and more than a dozen fifth-tier flying demons!"

"Their magic crystals, scales, claws... those are all money!"

"A lot of pure, unadulterated money!"

"You just burned it all to ashes with one fire?"

"My heart is breaking! My money!"

Looking at these two clowns in front of him, Li Hao felt a headache coming on.

The brow that hadn't furrowed even when facing a massive army twitched involuntarily twice.

"I'm fine, don't worry." He first shook his head at Wang Yuanyuan, whose face was full of concern, and said gently.

Then, he glanced at Sima Xian and Lin Xin, who were still clowning around, and said irritably, "Alright, stop acting here."

"Our defensive time is up, it's time to go down and change shifts to rest, and leave the battlefield to others."

After saying that, Li Hao ignored the others and turned to walk towards the camp below the city wall.

"Hey, boss, don't go! Let's talk some more..."

"Commander, could you please consider the issue of loot recovery before taking action next time...?"

The members of the Fire Cloud Demon Hunter Squad followed noisily, bringing a touch of lightheartedness to the otherwise tense battlefield.

……

Back in the camp tent belonging to the Fire Cloud Demon Hunter Group, the atmosphere finally calmed down.

The first thing to do after the battle was to tally the merits.

This is the most direct way to measure the contribution of a demon hunter group, and it is also directly related to their ranking and how many resources they can exchange for from the Temple Alliance.

Lin Xin immediately perked up and eagerly took out the crystal used for compiling merit statistics.

"I come first! I come first!"

Wang Yuanyuan pressed her merit badge onto the plate.

A flash of light appeared in the crystal, revealing a line of numbers.

"Killed ten Emerald Twin-Blade Demons and several Twin-Blade Demons, 132 merit points!"

This is quite an impressive achievement; to achieve such a result in a city defense battle is a testament to their strength.

"Hehe, it's my turn!"

Sima Xian slapped his crystal plaque, which was almost the size of his palm, onto it.

"Killed three-headed berserker and several dual-wielding demons, earning 43 merit points."

"I... I have twenty-seven points." Even the usually taciturn assassin Zhongli reported his merits.

As for Chen Ying'er and Lin Xin, one is a summoner and the other is an alchemist and mage. They did not directly participate in the large-scale battle on the city walls, so their merit points were naturally zero.

Finally, all eyes turned to Li Hao.

"Commander, it's your turn." Lin Xin rubbed his hands together, his eyes sparkling. He was more curious than anyone else about how much merit Li Hao would gain in this battle.

Li Hao remained calm and casually placed his merit token on the crystal.

hum-

The merit statistics crystal suddenly burst forth with an unprecedentedly intense light, so bright that it was almost blinding, causing everyone to instinctively squint.

Within the light, a string of numbers jumped wildly, from two digits to three digits in an instant, and then to four digits.

One hundred...five hundred...one thousand...one thousand five...

Finally, when the light stabilized, a number so clear it took everyone's breath to catch in its tracks was imprinted in everyone's pupils.

"One thousand nine hundred and seventy-five!"

Inside the tent, a deathly silence instantly fell.

You can hear a pin drop.

Wang Yuanyuan stared blankly, her small mouth agape and her beautiful eyes wide open, completely dumbfounded.

Lin Xin's smile froze, and his rubbing hands stopped in mid-air, like a statue.

Even Zhongli's perpetually icy face showed a slight crack.

"Gudong."

Sima Xian swallowed hard. He looked at the numbers on the crystal that were almost blinding him, then turned to look at Li Hao, who looked completely calm.

His lips trembled for a long time before he finally managed to utter a single sentence.

"Commander... Commander... are you even human?"

……

Meanwhile, in other areas of the Demon Exorcist City's defensive line, almost all the Demon Hunter groups were conducting post-battle debriefings.

The core topics they summarized all revolved around that golden figure who single-handedly reversed the course of the battle in the air.

Inside the camp of the Second Demon Hunter Squad, also known as the Second Warrior-level Demon Hunter Squad.

The atmosphere was somewhat oppressive.

The leader who replaced Sheng Cai'er, Long Haochen, was sitting in the main seat, his expression calm, but his eyes held a hint of solemnity.

In front of him was also a merit statistics crystal, which displayed the total merit of their entire group—one hundred and forty-eight points.

This is already the highest achievement among the ten newly formed demon-hunting teams, excluding Li Hao's team.

"Haochen, we... we are so far behind him." Sheng Cai'er sat beside him, her clear voice trembling slightly.

Although she was blind, the terrifying fluctuations of spiritual energy and the thunderous cheers told her everything that was happening on the battlefield.

Long Haochen nodded slowly and began to analyze.

"According to the exchange standards of the Hall of Merit, a fifth-tier ordinary Beta Flying Demon is worth fifteen merit points."

"Commander Li Hao's final move, 'Fire Cloud Burning the Sky,' engulfed at least a dozen heads."

"Just this place alone has more than two hundred merit points."

"Before that, he was entangled in a battle with four sixth-tier Beta flying demon commanders. In the distance, he also killed at least a dozen ordinary flying demons who attacked from the side. That adds up to more than 150 points."

"Most importantly, there are the six Beta Flying Demon commanders. Each of these sixth-tier demon commanders has a merit value of 150 points!"

"He killed six heads all by himself!"

Long Haochen's words struck like a heavy hammer, hitting the hearts of everyone in the tent.

After a pause, Long Haochen gave his final summary: "Six commanders, nine hundred merit points."

"In addition to the Emerald Blade Demon he killed earlier, and those other soldiers..."

"I conservatively estimate that Commander Li Hao has earned over 1,800 merit points in this battle, and it may even be close to 2,000!"

"hiss--"

A collective gasp filled the tent.

1,800 points!

Their entire team worked themselves to the bone and only managed to get 148 points, which is less than a fraction of what others get.

How can this compare?
This is not even in the same league as our combat strength!
Of the entire Second Demon Hunter Team, only Long Haochen and Sheng Cai'er remained calm; the others wore expressions of near despair.

They were the cream of the crop, one of the most dazzling star teams in this selection competition.

But at this moment, in the face of the formidable figure of "Li Hao," all their pride was crushed to pieces.

The same scene played out in the camp of the Third Demon Hunter Group.

Regiment Commander Yang Wenzhao's face was so gloomy it was almost dripping with water.

His teammates were also dejected and silent.

"A conservative estimate is 1,500 points... All of us combined don't even amount to one-tenth of his..."

Yang Wenzhao muttered to himself, his voice filled with bitterness and resentment.

He was also a proud and arrogant person, believing himself to be second to none... He was prepared to shine in the team competition.

But after witnessing Li Hao's godlike and demonic battle firsthand today...

All the pride and competitive spirit in his heart were burned away by that golden cloud of fire that blazed the sky!

Competing against a monster that can single-handedly wipe out an entire demonic air force?
Wouldn't that be inviting humiliation?

After a long silence, Yang Wenzhao seemed to have made a momentous decision. He slammed his hand on the table and shouted:

"Cheer up! We're no match for that kind of monster!"

"From this moment forward, our Demon Hunter Squad's objective is to relentlessly pursue the Second Demon Hunter Squad!"

"Let's leave the first place to that monster... We can aim for second place, that's not bad either!"

(End of this chapter)