“You… you haven’t left!” The Martial King elder, the Ninth Prince, and the Heavenly Martial experts froze, their killing intent surging.
Only now did they realize Lin Xiao and Hu Yue hadn’t fled but had concealed themselves a hundred zhang away.
Seeing their stunned faces, Lin Xiao smiled faintly. “You’re all still alive—how could we leave?”
With that, he slowly raised a finger, his aura eerily calm.
“Hmph, big words! Let’s see how you kill us!” The elder roared, lunging forward, his colossal palm force erupting in an instant.
“I planned to heal before cutting you down, but you’ve come to die instead!” The Ninth Prince’s eyes flashed coldly as he watched the palm strike.
“Is that so?” A mocking curve tugged at Lin Xiao’s lips. He pointed, and a tiny speck of light shot forth, streaking toward them at blinding speed.
“No—retreat!” The elder sensed the terrifying aura first, shouting a warning. But the speck had already closed in, colliding with his palm force.
“Rumble!”
A thunderous boom shook the air, an earth-shattering explosion unleashing torrents of energy. The devastating surge roared outward in all directions.
Closest to the blast, the elder spat blood, his body hurled back violently.
He couldn’t fathom a Heavenly Martial youth unleashing such power.
At the elder’s cry, the Ninth Prince forcibly summoned his strength and retreated. A few quick-reacting Heavenly Martials followed suit.
But the explosion’s speed and scale overwhelmed them, flinging everyone aside.
Only the Ninth Prince, adept at fleeing, escaped the worst. The rest were scattered, their fates uncertain.
Already wounded, the prince coughed blood relentlessly as the outer shockwaves hit.
As the energy began to dissipate amid swirling dust, the elder swallowed a healing pill, sitting to recover swiftly.
“I’ve held back one strike, Lin Xiao. Come near, and I’ll end you!” His eyes blazed with fury, inwardly seething.
But as the thought formed, a blade slashed his neck. His head flew, blood spraying.
Eyes wide in disbelief, he died without seeing his killer.
Moments later, heads rolled one by one—the fallen Heavenly Martials, all dead save the Ninth Prince.
None saw the sword that took them.
“Don’t kill me—don’t!” The gravely injured Ninth Prince, sprawled on the ground, paled with terror. Hands pushing against the earth, he shrank back, eyes darting in panic.
Despite his lofty status and peerless talent, facing death for the first time, he crumbled.
“Hmph, faithless punk! Didn’t you call Lin Xiao trash? Why grovel now?” Hu Yue’s mocking shout rang out as her lithe figure stepped into view.
Then, Lin Xiao’s calm form approached.
“The token—I’ll give you the Shengyuan Token! Lin Xiao, spare me, please!” The prince pleaded, desperation in his voice.
A flicker of malice glinted in his eyes—he’d swear vengeance if he survived.
That brief spark didn’t escape Lin Xiao.
He had no intention of letting him live.
“You think you’ve got a chance?” Lin Xiao sneered.
The Ninth Prince’s heart sank. A prodigy like him, falling here?
“Hmph, Lin Xiao, you’re heading to Shengyuan Academy? My third brother, Mo Jiutian, is a powerhouse there—a Martial King! Kill me, and he won’t let it slide!” Clinging to his last hope, he snarled, “Spare me, and I swear—”
Crack!
Before he finished, spiritual power twisted his head, snapping his neck.
Eyes bulging, face contorted, he died unresigned.
“Mo Jiutian?” Lin Xiao murmured, eyes narrowing. He avoided trouble, but if it came, he’d face it head-on.
From the prince’s words, Mo Jiutian was a formidable Martial King—someone to watch at Shengyuan Academy.
A thirteen-year-old Heavenly Martial Sixth Layer prodigy like Mo Jiuxiao, given time, could’ve become a historic titan in Moyu’s annals. His death before reaching the academy would enrage Mo Jiutian and the royal family to no end.
Sweeping the corpses, Lin Xiao summoned his spiritual power, collecting their storage rings.
Opening the Ninth Prince’s first, a mid-tier Earth-grade technique caught his eye.
“Great Azure Dragon Slash?”
His eyes lit up. Scanning it, joy spread across his face.
A sword technique, Great Azure Dragon Slash amplified power tremendously, transforming sword beams into azure dragon strikes—domineering and potent.
“With my Blood Dragon Anomaly, its power might rival my other trump cards!”
Lin Xiao smacked his lips, envisioning it paired with his anomaly—potentially outmatching Reverse Chaos Second Style or Mountain Collapse Second Form.
“Didn’t expect this kid to have such a technique. Must’ve been his real ace—too bad he died before using it. What a steal!”
Grinning, Lin Xiao pocketed it—another ace up his sleeve, nabbed by sheer luck.
Checking further, he found another Earth-grade beginner technique: Cangyu Sword Art.
It was the prince’s earlier assassination move—light wings sprouting from the sword, boosting speed and power with terrifying lethality.
Lin Xiao mused that without his Heaven-Devouring energy to disrupt it, he’d have been in peril.
A solid technique.
“This Ninth Prince was a walking treasure trove!” Sighing, Lin Xiao pondered briefly before handing the Cangyu Sword Art to Hu Yue.
In her hands, it’d shine brighter.
Rummaging more, he found a token identical to his own ancient stone one—Mo Jiuxiao’s Shengyuan Token.
Unlike his, engraved with “Lan” for Lanlan, this bore “Mo” for Moyu—likely for registration.
Per the elder, it guaranteed entry.
Even if Shengyuan didn’t track token origins, this secured Hu Yue’s admission.
Sorting the others’ rings yielded less—decent pills, but useless to Lin Xiao. He gave them to Hu Yue.
With a final glance, he unleashed spiritual energy, incinerating the bodies to ash before speeding off toward Shengyuan Academy.
