“You!” The old man in the dark robe roared with fury, nearly bursting with rage.
“Let me kill you!” The black-robed youth stepped forward, seething with anger, his body radiating killing intent.
“No, I’ll kill him. This guy’s a bit tricky!” The purple-robed youth, his gaze sharp and his face grim, held back the black-robed youth as he spoke.
“Why don’t you all come at me together?” At that moment, a mocking voice rang out, dripping with thick disdain.
“Hmph, it’s just a fluke. Killing you only takes one of us!” The black-robed youth was provoked. His anger toward Lin Xiao was already the deepest, and even knowing Lin Xiao was deliberately goading him, he still insisted on striking first. He had to kill Lin Xiao himself.
“Whoosh!”
The black-robed youth sprang into action, charging forward fiercely. Black elemental energy boiled around him, whipping up a ferocious gust of wind. Learning from the grey-robed youth’s mistake, he didn’t rush too close to Lin Xiao. Halfway there, he slashed out with his sabre, unleashing a dazzling burst of dark light.
The radiant sabre beam erupted with tremendous force, stirring fierce winds and emitting eerie whistles.
Roar!
A faint earthy glow blossomed from Lin Xiao’s dantian. A blood dragon phantom emerged behind him, soaring into the air. The blood dragon seemed to hail from the primordial ancient era, its ancient, weathered aura spreading in all directions. A terrifying pressure enveloped everything, instilling an instinctive tremor in people’s hearts and an urge to bow in reverence.
Right from the start, Lin Xiao unleashed the strongest elemental energy within him—the blood dragon phenomenon—paired with the perfectly matched Great Azure Dragon Slash. He swung his sword with supreme force.
“Roar!”
A dragon’s roar shook the heavens, the void trembling. A blinding azure sword beam transformed into an azure dragon, surging upward with an ancient, majestic pressure, charging toward the dark sabre beam.
“Boom!”
A deafening explosion rang out as a brilliant, dazzling burst of light erupted, illuminating all directions. A sea-like wave of power surged forward, blasting the black-robed youth backward.
“Pfft!”
A large mouthful of blood sprayed out as the black-robed youth was flung back, gravely injured.
His face was etched with disbelief. How could Lin Xiao’s power be so overwhelming?
At the same realm, he was among the elite of geniuses, especially since his cultivation had only been suppressed.
Yet under Lin Xiao’s strength, he couldn’t withstand a single blow, suffering severe injuries in one strike.
This left him unable to accept the reality before him, a trace of shame creeping onto his face. When had he ever tasted such a crushing defeat? He had approached this with arrogant confidence, intending to crush Lin Xiao, only to end up in this state.
“Swish! Swish!”
Suddenly, amid the rolling waves of energy, a mass of writhing black-and-azure flames rushed toward him.
This cluster of black-azure flames carried an intensely terrifying energy fluctuation. Its searing heat seemed to boil the air itself, resembling a clawed, humanoid monster. An inexplicable devouring force tugged at everything, as if it sought to consume and incinerate all in its path.
The black-azure energy came out of nowhere, moving at incredible speed, reaching the black-robed youth in the blink of an eye.
“No, I concede!”
The black-robed youth’s face twisted in panic as he shouted desperately.
The next moment, just as the black-azure energy was about to engulf him, the crowd saw his body seemingly pulled by an array’s force, vanishing into the void, leaving the black-azure energy to strike nothing.
“Hmm?” Watching this unfold, Lin Xiao frowned slightly. This Talent Platform indeed allowed surrender—once someone conceded, they were teleported out.
“What a pity!” Lin Xiao shook his head with a quiet sigh. He had seized the moment to unleash his Devouring Spirit Energy and Azure Flame Spirit Energy, nearly killing the black-robed youth. Unfortunately, at the last second, the array teleported him to safety.
“Kill!” The old man in the dark robe’s pupils contracted. Furious, he charged toward Lin Xiao. The purple-robed youth and the Spirit Master followed suit, their figures blurring into afterimages as they rushed at him.
Though the black-robed youth hadn’t died, being teleported out meant he had no further chance at the opportunities here.
With the grey-robed youth already killed by Lin Xiao and this new development, they could no longer sit still. They intended to team up to take him down.
“Hmph, think we’re helpless here?” Hu Yue snorted coldly. The Sky Spider Demon Silk appeared in her hand, slicing through the void as she struck forward.
“Kill!” The young commander of the Tiger Guard uttered softly. The three-striped golden tiger beneath him sprang into motion, transforming into a streak of lightning as the pair attacked the old man in the dark robe.
“Outnumber us? We’ve got more than you!”
Lin Xiao summoned the green corpse puppet, ordering it to attack the purple-robed youth and assist Hu Yue. Meanwhile, he unleashed the second form of the Chaos-Reversing Fist, charging toward the Spirit Master.
The old man in the dark robe’s expression shifted dramatically. He had planned to overwhelm Lin Xiao, but now their side was outnumbered—by two, no less.
The young commander of the Tiger Guard and his beast each matched his own combat strength. The commander alone was someone he feared, and now, with both man and beast attacking together, it was downright unbearable.
The purple-robed youth’s face paled as he stared at the green corpse puppet charging across the ground—not flying—toward him, filled with dread.
The puppet’s strength had likely been reduced to the ninth tier of Heavenly Martial as well, but it felt no pain and feared no death. Like a living weapon, its combat power was terrifying.
Combined with Hu Yue’s Sky Spider Demon Silk, he had no chance of winning.
In the void, only Lin Xiao and the Spirit Master could fly. Back when Lin Xiao was at the eighth tier of Elemental Martial and a mid-tier Spirit Controller, he had held his own against the Spirit Master, then a fourth-tier beginner Spirit Controller.
Now, the Spirit Master’s spiritual power was suppressed to the third-tier advanced level—a full realm below Lin Xiao—leaving him deeply uncertain.
“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”…
The two sides clashed, light flaring and energy waves surging. The young commander of the Tiger Guard and his beast forced the old man in the dark robe into a relentless retreat.
Hu Yue’s Sky Spider Demon Silk seemed to slice the void itself, slashing at the purple-robed youth with terrifying sharpness, forcing him to dodge rather than confront it head-on.
Under the green corpse puppet’s close-range assault, it was as if he were struck by iron fists, his body trembling with churning blood as he was repeatedly knocked back.
“Whoosh!”
As the Spirit Master dodged Lin Xiao’s Chaos-Reversing Fist energy, Lin Xiao unleashed a long-unused skeletal hand, clenching it into a fist and hurling it toward the Spirit Master.
The Spirit Master’s expression shifted. He flung out a dagger, positioning it in front of him.
Clang!
A loud collision rang out. The skeletal fist was knocked back a zhang, the dagger sent flying several zhang away. The Spirit Master seized the chance to dodge, letting the dagger fly past him.
But with another surge of spiritual power, he controlled the dagger to circle around him before thrusting it forward again.
