I Pick Up Talents on the Interstellar Battlefield

Chapter 394: Chapter 347: Shocking Upheaval, Tier 7 Black Flame Lord

In the days that followed, Qin Tian barely set his feet on the ground, spinning on an endless track that left him with pitifully little time to rest.

Most of the time, he stood guard at the Broken Blade front line, leading the soldiers of the Chijin Battlegroup to clear the surrounding flame pools and fire pits.

On the battlefield, he rarely took the initiative to charge, more often playing the role of support and reinforcement—where the blessing of divine weapons enhanced the quality of the warriors’ weapons, increasing the power of enchantment, so each slash carried a sharp gleam that destroyed demons; the green light of life pulse transformed into an invisible protective barrier, capable of healing wounds, dispelling the fatigue of battle, and enhancing the soldiers’ combat power.

Only when Tier Six demons breached the front line would he personally take action, using Shadowstrike or Thunder Skill to eliminate the enemies.

He also transformed into a master strategist, firmly controlling the troop maneuvering along the three major front lines.

When demons attacked, he would quickly muster strength according to the joint defense plan, transporting warriors to the battlefield to create a scenario where the many faced the few. Often, before the demons could form an encirclement, they were already shredded by human warriors from three sides.

Under the close cooperation of the three battlegroups, the demon caves near the front line were eradicated one by one.

The once continuous demon assaults visibly decreased in frequency, and even more invigorating was the casualty situation. Unless torn apart immediately by demons, even if left with just a breath, Qin Tian could snatch the person back from the Death God. Consequently, the casualties among the battlegroups decreased significantly, and morale soared higher.

After handling battlegroup affairs, Qin Tian would take a few hours each day to infiltrate Flame Mountain.

First, he sat quietly in a cave dense with demonic qi, allowing the “Demon Pattern Turtle Armor” to convert the black demonic qi into body-tempering golden patterns, listening to the crisp sound akin to steel quenching from the bones. Then, he transformed into a wandering demon butcher, hunting in the ravines interwoven with firelight and demonic fog.

Initially, thousands of demons died at his hand every day.

Until one day, he sensitively sensed a cold gaze from the center of the demon source, carrying an overwhelming pressure far exceeding ordinary Tier Six demons.

He immediately decided to adjust his strategy, intercepting the demonic army leaving Flame Mountain, or besieging small demon caves rooted at the mountain’s periphery, thereby avoiding potential risks and continuously reaping evolution points.

After spinning on this track for over half a month, the evolution points on the system panel broke through the mark of 25 million, with the digits jumping on the system light screen, emitting a heart-pounding luster.

Based on the past escalating pattern of evolution points, such an amount of evolution points might just be enough to further advance the nearly deep orange “Night Demon King” bloodline.

However, he still felt uncertain—within the Empire, hundreds possessed the golden bloodline, yet those of the holy blood level throughout history numbered only nine, a count unchanged for thousands of years.

The conditions for ascending from orange quality to a higher tier must be unimaginably rigorous, likely requiring a staggering number of evolution points.

“Better to save up more to be sure.”

Still, Qin Tian remained calm, satisfied with the current pace—strategizing at the front lines by day, watching as warriors steadily advanced under the blessing of divine weapons and life pulse, eradicating demon caves one after another; then infiltrating Flame Mountain by night, tempering his body with demonic qi while collecting evolution points using Soul Devourer.

The dual approach allowed both the battlegroups and his personal strength to advance simultaneously, leaving him rather content.

The demons of Demon Suppression Abyss are fundamentally inexhaustible, and given enough time, multiplying evolution points several times or even dozens of times hardly seemed difficult.

However, this calm was thoroughly shattered one night.

“Boom—!!”

A muffled sound akin to arising from the earth’s core abruptly exploded from the depths of Flame Mountain.

Different from the usual rumble of demonic tides, this sound bore a crushingly terrifying pressure, like the collapse of the sky, causing the entire Flame Mountain to tremble violently.

At the time, Qin Tian was absorbing demonic qi within Flame Mountain, and when the tremor occurred, he quickly ceased his cultivation state, his gaze locked onto the center of Flame Mountain—where the demonic qi was boiling and surging at an inexplicably rapid pace, and the demonic fog condensed into thick black liquid, like an agitated ink pool, forming a constantly rotating vortex in mid-air.

“That is…”

Qin Tian’s pupils contracted sharply.

At the vortex’s center, a colossal shadow rose slowly. It was a Black Flame Lord—standing fifty meters tall, its wings spread like bat wings covering the sky, with every wing bone coursing with lava-like dark red patterns; its body covered in layers of obsidian scales, from which the black flames spray out thick as ink, silently dissolving even the hard volcanic rock beneath its feet, seemingly capable of devouring light.

Even more spine-chilling was its active absorption of the entire energy of the demon source!

Those freshly born Little Flame Demons emerging from the demon source crevices were pulled towards the Black Flame Lord by an invisible force before they could even spread their wings.

They emitted shrill screeches mid-air, their bodies withering and disintegrating visibly, ultimately converging into strands of crimson energy, pouring into the Lord’s body as rivers join the sea.

The giant crevice spewing demonic qi from the demon source center seemed like a drained pool at this moment, with the flow speed abruptly accelerating, and the black mist forcibly withdrawn, pouring entirely into the energy core between the Lord’s wings.

“Roar——!!!”

The Black Flame Lord let out a roar that pierced the heavens and earth, with the sound waves fracturing the volcanic groups into cobweb-like cracks, magma spurting forth like startled serpents.

The black flames around it expanded sharply, enveloping half of Flame Mountain, with the original Tier Six peak’s aura soaring as if rocket-propelled—half a step into Tier Seven.

And—still rising!

This was a terrifying pressure completely surpassing Tier Six, like a tangible mountain, suffocating the demons throughout Flame Mountain.

Qin Tian’s gaze was serious, the Turtle Pattern Golden Light on him flickering frantically, seemingly warning of some catastrophic disaster.

“It’s advancing to Tier Seven…” Qin Tian clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles turning white from exertion.

Tier Seven, this was an absolute powerhouse within the first layer of the demon source.

If this Black Flame Lord successfully advanced to Tier Seven, not only the three battlegroups but all forces stationed near Infernal Demon Sea would be in trouble.

Even though the Black Flame Lord would not remain long on the first layer of the Demon Abyss, entering the second layer of the demon source would pose significant problems for the division stationed there.

“Blaze, I need to borrow your strength.” Qin Tian communicated with calm yet resolute determination, convinced that his only means of stopping the Black Flame Lord’s advancement was the Heaven-Burning Purgatory.

“Too late.”

Blaze’s voice came from within his mind, with a rare gravity in the childish tone, “It’s already succeeded.”

Before the voice fell completely, a dazzling black light erupted at the center of Flame Mountain!

The Black Flame Lord suddenly raised its head, its wings expanding to the fullest, seemingly concealing half the sky. The dark red patterns once coursing along the wing bones fully illuminated, like billions of lava rivers converged, forcibly ripping the surrounding demonic qi vortex apart.

“Roar——!!!”

A roar penetrated the clouds, the Lord’s chest heaving violently, with the final strand of pure demonic qi from the demon source center completely absorbed into its body, leaving those newly formed low-level demons as mere dust before they could even scream.

The obsidian scales covering its body began to fall and rearrange, with the newly formed scale armor emanating a dark golden sheen, each seeming composed of solidified darkness, with bone spurs growing at the ends of the bat wings, reflecting chilling rays capable of slicing through space, creating a black energy storm with each flap, shaving nearby peaks in half.

Most daunting was its aura—the once rampant energy now fully restrained but even more terrifying, as if turned into a bottomless black hole, causing light, sound, and even space around it to collapse inward.

Tier Seven!

This Black Flame Lord, it had broken through.