Chapter 22: This Dou Qi Value

A demon beast, a summoned beast, and a summoned plant were locked in combat.

They were all fierce. The summoned beast let out a "meow" and lashed out with its claws.

The bean sprout swayed its leaves to strike the demon beast. This demon beast had horns and possessed formidable combat abilities; with a summoned beast and a summoned plant working together, they were embroiled in a chaotic melee with the beast.

The hardened soil on the ground was trampled into sand, sending clouds of dust flying into the air.

Rong Yan kept shouting, "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

The bean sprout fought with all its might. Whenever the summoned beast was knocked back, it would immediately charge back into the fray.

Qin Tang held his summoning artifact with a solemn expression. Jiang Xu and the others began to worry; there wasn't much difference between those with spiritual roots and those without—those without were essentially ordinary people. If they couldn't kill the demon beast quickly, someone might come to snatch the artifacts.

Jiang Xu glanced at the teacup in Qin Bi's hands. In his view, Qin Bi was too weak; anyone else using a summoning artifact would be stronger than her. However, the words hovered on the tip of his tongue, and he found it difficult to say.

"We must end this battle as soon as possible." Jiang Xu threw the problem to the Qin family: "Who else can summon another beast?"

Qin Lang thought he could do it. His concubine-born elder sister was too weak and always whimpering; even if he summoned a small beast, it would likely be a low-damage summon that would only serve to pad the numbers in the fight.

Understanding the logic, Qin Xun also realized that Qin Bi was too weak and her summoned beast likely lacked combat power. In the Great Yan Empire, using a summoning artifact depended on one's Battle Qi value, which capped at 120.

The higher the Battle Qi, the more powerful the summoned beasts and plants would be.

There was no need to test Qin Bi; her Battle Qi was extremely low.

However, Qin Bi had condensed two summoning artifacts. Since one had already been given to Qin Tang, it would be unreasonable not to let Qin Bi use one. Qin Bi was not an outsider, so it wouldn't be right to snatch her opportunity.

Whether one could enter the path of cultivation depended on this trial.

"Let Qin Bi summon!" Qin Xun spoke up.

Jiang Xu sighed, not feeling optimistic. Summoning artifacts had a limited number of uses; each summon used one up. It was a waste of a perfectly good artifact to let a single use go to waste.

Upon hearing this, Qin Bi grew nervous and almost backed out.

But then she thought better of it.

She couldn't go through a trial without even touching the edge of using a summoning artifact. At the very least, she had to learn how to use one; if she didn't even know how to summon, giving her an artifact in the future would be useless.

Seeing Qin Bi's nervousness, Qin Lang quickly comforted her: "Take it slow, there's no rush."

Summoning was actually quite simple: one just had to hold the summoning artifact and call out to the beast. Qin Bi summoned a tabby cat, roughly the same size as the one Qin Tang had summoned. As soon as it appeared, it used a paw to rub its eyes.

Qin Lang was stunned. "Good heavens, please don't tell me it's a crying summoned beast."

A summoned beast was very much like its summoner; in terms of Battle Qi and personality, there was usually some resemblance.

Because Qin Bi's lifespan was damaged, her heart was unstable, and she tended to be sentimental. This summoned beast rubbing its eyes the moment it was summoned was terrifying. Jiang Xu and Qin Xun stared intently at the creature.

Qin Bi was also worried it might be a coward. She squinted at the summoned beast and pointed toward the fray of beasts and plants, selecting the demon beast: "Don't make me angry. Kill that demon beast."

The tabby cat let out a "meow"—it was incredibly cute and clearly just a small summoned beast.

Jiang Xu facepalmed, thinking this summon was a waste. But at that moment, the tabby cat "whooshed" into the combat circle, extended a single claw, and the heated battle came to an abrupt halt.

The white tabby and the bean sprout stopped attacking. The demon beast had been instantly killed by a single strike from Qin Bi's summoned beast.

The battle ended so suddenly that Qin Tang and Rong Yan were dazed. Not just them—even Qin Xun, Jiang Xu, and Qin Lang stood frozen in place, unable to recover for a long time. With just one claw, such a large demon beast was dead.

They had originally thought she was the weakest, but this Battle Qi was terrifyingly strong.

None of that mattered as much as the fact that the demon beast died in the blink of an eye.

Sorry, they just couldn't process it; the contrast was too great. Qin Xun, Jiang Xu, and the others needed a moment to settle. Looking at Qin Bi, however, she wasn't dazed at all; instead, her eyes shone with bright surprise.

"Mine is powerful," Qin Bi said, looking at everyone.

"It's more than just powerful!" Qin Lang snapped out of it, his eyes sparkling with a mix of excitement and relief. Fortunately, he and Qin Xun hadn't fought over the artifacts, otherwise, such immense combat power would have been wasted. "Sister, you are practically a Battle Qi expert!"

Qin Tang looked at Qin Bi again with newfound respect; her Battle Qi value was definitely not low.

Qin Xun, still reeling, said, "Your summoned beast killed that demon beast with just one claw."

Qin Bi was uplifted by the praise, yet she felt inexplicably sorrowful. It wasn't intentional, but her unstable heart made her prone to sudden bouts of sentimentality. *Sigh,* Qin Bi sighed inwardly, feeling utterly exasperated by herself.

Seeing her eyes redden, Jiang Xu's heart jumped. *Great, she's going to cry again.*

To his surprise, Qin Bi wiped away a tear and said joyfully, "Are there more demon beasts? Let's go kill another one. Since we've already summoned the beast, we shouldn't let it sit idle."

At these words, everyone's eyes lit up.

Qin Xun pointed toward the southwest: "When I was scouting earlier, I saw two more demon beasts over there. They are both low-level. With the combat power of your summoned beast, you should be able to kill them."

Rong Yan took the opportunity to pick up the demon beast and put it into a storage bag.

Worried that killing the beast might have lowered Qin Bi's Battle Qi, Qin Tang asked Qin Xun: "What kind of demon beast is it? If it's a fierce one, forget it; otherwise, let's pick a herbivore to test it."

Qin Xun quickly replied, "Just a low-level, ordinary demon beast."

The group exchanged glances. They had three summoning artifacts and had already killed one beast, which was outside their original plan. If they could kill another, they would come out ahead. Even if they weren't suited for cultivation, the trip wouldn't be a waste.

Rong Yan looked at Qin Bi: "Let's go find a demon beast to kill."

Qin Bi nodded in agreement. Led by Qin Tang and Rong Yan, they crossed a hillside and saw two demon beasts in the distance. They were spaced apart, allowing them to be killed one by one.

Jiang Xu pointed: "Kill that elk."

Since they had just killed an elk, killing another of the same kind wouldn't be chaotic.

Qin Tang and Rong Yan held their summoning artifacts, directing the summoned beast and plant to fight. Qin Bi merely waved her hand, and her summoned beast "whooshed" forward, killing the beast with a single swipe.

"Uh..."

Qin Lang wanted to say something, but he opened his mouth and forgot.

The white tabby cat stopped, and the bean sprout stood in the hardened soil, its leaves swaying in the wind.

Jiang Xu and Qin Xun stood like wooden chickens. Qin Bi even wiped away a tear. So, what exactly was going on? She looked like the weakest, yet she was incredibly lethal at killing demon beasts.

"There are more," Jiang Xu said, looking bewildered, as he asked Qin Bi, "Do you want to kill more?"

"Where are they?" Qin Bi looked around, only seeing one beast.

Jiang Xu pointed far into the distance: "There are over a dozen demon beasts over there."