I Will Grind My Way To Godhood

Black lightning clashed with the golden-scaled whirlwind.

“Screech—”

In the instant they connected, they seemed to stall, emitting a nerve-grating screech like nails on a chalkboard.

Then suddenly, with a bang, they repelled each other. The cockroach monster crashed through a wall and flew out of the school building.

Xue Jing was also sent flying by the impact of the cockroach monster, maintaining his golden-scaled tornado form as he became a relentless golden drill, piercing through walls and exiting from the other side of the school.

The White Crow 838 squad arrived in a helicopter, witnessing this dramatic scene.

“Huh? Xue Jing?”

Void Blade was surprised, recognizing one of the two "cannonballs" flying out of the school.

She quickly pointed to the other one, “That's an offspring of the Celestial Parasite Mother, capture it alive!”

“Got it!” Mountain Ape cracked his neck with one hand, while holding a short baton that exuded a technological vibe in the other, advancing towards the cockroach monster.

Another team member, a long-haired man, stepped forward as well, untying the black band from his waist and with a forceful flick, it transformed into a rigid black blade.

He looked at the crowd of students gathered on the sports field and, in a slightly pretentious tone, said, “Just leave it alive, right?”

The petite short-haired girl, however, did not approach, merely observing her teammates' actions in silence.

Xue Jing slowly stood up from the ground, stumbling a few steps before he could barely steady himself.

His head was spinning, and he felt dizzy.

His entire body burned with pain as if countless ants were biting his skin relentlessly, causing excruciating pain.

His whole body, except for the face, from the chin down, was covered in dense, dragon scale-like marks, as if he were clad in scales.

The killer move—Golden Scale Transformation.

This is one of the five major defensive techniques of the Hidden Dragon Stream. When used, it merges energy into the skin membrane, causing special energy to reveal dragon scale-like patterns on the skin with unrivaled defensive strength.

This killer move can block all attacks outside the skin membrane, using it to withstand all impacts.

Coupled with the body's high-speed rotation, it can deflect and neutralize any attack that touches the body, truly an ultimate defense, exquisitely unparalleled.

With this killer move, Xue Jing directly intercepted the cockroach monster's ferocious thrust, avoiding the fate of being crushed into minced meat like Duan Kaiping.

However, though he caught it, Xue Jing did not come out unscathed.

The impact force from the cockroach monster's thrust was overwhelming, and he now felt as if every inch of his skin had torn open, the pain unbearable.

Just lightly stepping on the ground was akin to a sudden stomp when one’s foot is numb, a wave of sharp pain surged from his foot upwards, crawling all over Xue Jing's skin.

“Hiss—” He couldn’t help but inhale sharply.

Xue Jing turned his gaze towards the sports field.

He saw Void Blade and Mountain Ape, along with two other unfamiliar figures who were presumably also with the White Crow.

The cockroach monster had a broken antenna and some scuffs on the exoskeleton of its head, yet it seemed mostly unharmed, focusing on the two men advancing towards it.

Seeing the reinforcements, Xue Jing let out a sigh of relief.

Continuing the fight seemed futile; he truly was no match for this cockroach monster.

Not far away, Void Blade swiftly crossed over to him, reaching into a small pouch tied to her thigh to retrieve a black box.

She opened the box, revealing two rows of eight small slots in total, three of which were empty, leaving five capsules in black and white inside.

Void Blade extended a slender hand, taking one capsule and handing it to Xue Jing.

“This is a fast-acting painkiller, with no side effects.”

Xue Jing glanced at her, paused, and took the capsule, holding it in his palm rather than swallowing it.

He spoke slowly, “Be careful. That creature is incredibly fast. I can't help for the time being.”

Seeing he didn’t take the medicine, Void Blade was unconcerned, closing the box with an unperturbed expression and tucking it back into her pouch, saying softly,

“Don't worry, just watch.”

As soon as her words fell, the battle in the field shifted.

Unlike the previous wild fight with Xue Jing, Mountain Ape now appeared extremely serious.

He donned his tactical gear, snapped the short stick in his hand, and faced the cockroach monster head-on.

A petite short-haired woman nearby watched everything unfold, data flashing across her eyes. She put her right hand to her ear and murmured softly, “It's coming.”

“Whoosh!”

The cockroach monster lunged forward with a sudden thrust towards Mountain Ape.

But just before it acted, Mountain Ape anticipated the move, sidestepping and striking at the void with his short stick.

Ripples like water spread outward from the short stick just below the belly of the lunging cockroach monster.

Although seemingly not making contact, the cockroach monster, upon landing dozens of meters away, suddenly regurgitated a couple of gulps of dark green fluid.

“Gwa—”

Its body swayed unsteadily, stumbling a few steps, clearly off-balance.

A long-haired man dashed forward a few steps, spinning a black long knife in his hand, aiming to strike the cockroach monster.

“Sss—”

The blade clashed with the exoskeleton, sparks flying, and the long-haired man exclaimed in surprise, “Eh?”

By this time, the cockroach monster had unfurled its four thin wings and shakily lifted off, seemingly trying to escape.

“Don't chop directly, you fool.”

At some point, Void Blade had already flown above the cockroach monster, speaking with an indifferent tone.

She spiraled in the air, diving straight for the cockroach monster.

Along the way, she quickly retrieved and arranged the blades hung on her body at high speed, letting them float around her before passing by the cockroach monster.

As her tigress-like body landed in a crouch, all the blades had already returned to their sheaths.

The cockroach behind her suddenly froze in place.

“Crack, crack, crack, crack...” The sound echoed.

In no time, its limbs, including six insect legs and four thin wings, completely detached from its body, scattering onto the ground.

Each incision was impeccably clean, cut through the joints between its exoskeleton and appendages with astounding precision.

Xue Jing's eyes lit up with admiration, praising, “Professional skill, indeed.”

Like a skilled butcher dissecting an ox, it was all performed with such flow, completely avoiding contact between the blade and the tough outer shell, hitting only the vulnerable connecting points.

He sighed internally.

Bai Ya certainly had some tricks up his sleeve.

The cockroach monster that he had struggled so much against without inflicting serious harm was taken down in a single round by the Vacuous Blade.

This wasn't merely a matter of power but involved synergy, understanding, restraint, and the professionalism of equipment usage as well.

Devoid of wings and limbs, the cockroach monster lay on the ground, wriggling its body slowly by pushing its rear end.

Ink-green slime oozed continuously from its wounds.

Void Blade glanced at the cockroach monster and instructed, “Qi Yu, help stop its bleeding. Don't let it die—this thing might just lead us to the Queen Infestor.”

Reluctantly, the long-haired man known as Qi Yu, looked at the disgusting creature, his face a mask of dismay. Yet, under Void Blade's impassive gaze, he could only nod in reluctant agreement.

“Xiao Jing, write up the mission report, and apply for a 'Tracker' from the upper management...”

The petite girl named Xiao Jing nodded, pulling out a small notebook computer from her backpack.

While handling these matters, Mountain Ape approached Xue Jing.

Xue Jing wasn't bothered, merely smiling and saying, “You all arrived quite quickly.”

From the moment he called Void Blade until now, it had scarcely been ten minutes.

“As soon as the captain got the call, arrangements for a helicopter were made immediately. We flew straight over from the southern district... believe me, this was considered slow. In a hazardous region like the Borderlands, even a small delay in support could mean annihilation,” Mountain Ape remarked with a wistful tone.

Xue Jing was inspired and asked, “And in the southern district, did you find anything?”

Mountain Ape shook his head, “That unfinished building complex is vast. We've been searching for a long time and have only covered about a third of it yet, with no significant findings.”

Xue Jing pondered for a moment before saying, “I might have a new lead.”

Mountain Ape's eyes gleamed with interest, “Oh? Do tell.”

At that moment, Void Blade had finished arranging the closing procedures and walked over.

She too heard Xue Jing's words and, while adjusting her short hair, inquired, “What lead is this?”

Xue Jing then recounted his encounter with Duan Kaiping from the Razor Gang.

“That person is a member of the Razor Gang from the South District and also a disciple of the Golden Wind Dojo... It's very strange that he would appear inside Qingfu High and become the first victim of this cockroach creature.”

Void Blade pondered, “Do you mean to suspect that this thing was brought into the school by that person named Duan Kaiping?”

Xue Jing wasn't sure. “Maybe... But I've had some conflicts with Duan Kaiping before, so I can't rule out the possibility that he entered the school to trouble me...”

...

Meanwhile, Xue Jing was talking with the members of the White Crow Squad. The teachers and students standing at a distance, who had witnessed the dreadful creature being cut to pieces and lying on the ground, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

“That monster was terrifying.”

“Who are those people? They're amazing—took down the monster in mere moments!”

“Senior Xue knows them?”

“What a cool woman, and her figure is stunning...”

Lin Shiyu, a junior, gazed from afar at Xue Jing chatting with the White Crow Squad, overwhelmed by the feeling that she and he were in completely different worlds.

She showed a bitter expression, shook her head, and finally let go of some unrealistic fantasies.

On the teachers' side, the elite class teacher, Mr. Du Shiwei, stood with a plump, middle-aged man around fifty years old.

The middle-aged man, looking at Xue Jing from afar, commented with a smile, “Mr. Du, you've taught an excellent student.”

Though still slightly shaken, Du Shiwei quickly responded, “It's all thanks to your leadership as the principal, for nurturing such great students in our school.”

Principal Tang Yanzhong waved his hand, “Ah, no need for those flatteries.”

He took a few steps and, with a thoughtful glance, said,

“This Xue student is so talented; he could actually pursue the path of 'martial exams' to enter Inner Ring University.”

...

Qi Yu, a long-haired man from the White Crow Squad, was holding bandages and approaching the writhing cockroach monster on the ground.

Glancing at the cockroach with disdain, he spat, “Disgusting creature.”

However, the captain’s orders couldn’t be disobeyed. He suppressed his revulsion, crouched down, and began wrapping the cockroach monster with bandages, round and round like mummification.

The cockroach's compound eyes glimmered as it gazed at him.

After quickly securing the bandages, Qi Yu shook off the dark green slime from his hands, stood up, and turned to shout towards Void Blade:

“Captain, it’s done—”

His voice abruptly stopped.

Xue Jing and Void Blade turned their heads to look at him,

only to see him standing motionless, a look of disbelief written all over his face.

Void Blade's expression changed drastically as he shouted, “Xiao Jing, get away from there now!”

The petite girl, who had been typing on her laptop, stood up without hesitation and ran to the side.

“Scritch—”

Qi Yu appeared as fragile as a thin sheet of paper forcefully torn in half, leaving blood and entrails splattered across the ground.

The cause of this gruesome scene was a pair of insect legs covered in sharp barbs.

The Mountain Ape's pupils narrowed in disbelief. "Super-speed regeneration?" he questioned.

"No, it's shedding, damn it!" he exclaimed.

Behind Qi Yu's corpse stood a cockroach monster, even larger than before, drenched in blood.

On the ground lay the shell of a cockroach, wrapped in bandages!

The freshly molted cockroach monster was a pale white, its limbs and delicate wings regenerated, its size more formidable than ever.

Its new exoskeleton was darkening visibly before their eyes.

"Croak—"

"Aaaah!!"

The gathered students and faculty were terrified, fleeing frantically at the sight.

The reborn cockroach monster unfurled four slender wings behind it, vibrating them fervently, kicking up a cloud of dust as it took flight.

"Damn it, it's trying to escape!" the Mountain Ape yelled.

Void Blade's eyes were icy. "It won't get away—"

She activated her dragon wing device, enveloping herself in an anti-gravity field, lifting her into the air to give chase.

At that moment, Xue Jing moved beside her. "Captain Void Blade, lend me your blade," Xue Jing requested.

Without waiting for a reply, Xue Jing reached for and grabbed a weapon from her waist.

He tested its weight, roughly gauged it, and then took a deep breath.

He employed his breathing technique, channeling his energy, as the sound of a dragon's roar filled the air.

Spiral indentations appeared on his arm wielding the blade, extending all the way to his fingertips.

It had been a long time since he had utilized his Lv5 targeting ability to its full potential.

Xue Jing's gaze moved upward, locking onto the airborne cockroach monster.

Gathering thunder, he compressed his strength to the utmost limit.

Twin forces, twin speeds—

Xue Jing's eyes focused intensely.

"Bang!"

With a deafening crack of thunder, the blade tore through the void, spiraling with visible streams of air, hurtling towards the cockroach monster.

It streaked through the sky like a meteor, fast as lightning—in a blink of an eye, white light flashed.

"Splat—"

A massive cockroach creature hovered in the air, but suddenly its chest exploded open, creating a spiraling hole thirty centimeters in diameter. The flapping of its wings instantly halted, and it began a slow descent to the ground.

In that moment, Xue Jing re-entered the realm of the Stone-throwing Immortal.