“Hand over the fourth-grade spirit stone and the scroll!”
A booming voice rang out as a figure shot toward Lin Xiao with lightning speed.
It was Wang Ming.
His long spear pierced the air, as if tearing through the void itself, carrying overwhelming force straight at Lin Xiao.
Lin Xiao’s brows furrowed. In a split second, he channelled his maximum vital and spiritual energy, dodging to the side.
“Hiss!”
Wang Ming’s unstoppable spear thrust grazed past, but he halted abruptly, swinging the spear horizontally with the force to sweep an army, as if cleaving the void.
The power was immense.
“Roar!”
Lin Xiao unleashed his blood dragon phenomenon. A dragon’s roar echoed, earthy light blooming from his dantian. An ancient, majestic aura surged, its pressure enveloping all directions.
He drew a sword from his storage ring, gripping it with both hands, and executed the Great Azure Dragon Slash.
His high-third-grade spiritual energy infused the blade.
Facing a sixth-level Martial King like Wang Ming, ranked thirtieth on the Human Demon List, he had to go all out.
*Clang!*
A piercing clash rang out as sword and spear collided, sparks flying. The terrifying force pushed both back over ten metres.
Lin Xiao’s heart jolted. Worthy of a top-thirty Human Demon List disciple—his hands tingled from the impact.
Wang Ming’s face showed shock. Lin Xiao’s phenomenon was this powerful, able to withstand his strike?
He was a sixth-level Martial King, ranked thirtieth! Even peers struggled against him, let alone someone of lower cultivation.
“It must be his spiritual energy!” Wang Ming recalled Lin Xiao’s spiritual attack on Ma Yin. His face darkened. “But so what? All your powers combined can’t match me!”
With that, he charged again.
But it wasn’t just Wang Ming. Yuan Ren attacked too, and the surrounding crowd, driven by the spirit stone’s allure, joined in.
“Hiss!” “Hiss!” “Hiss!” …
The temptation of the fourth-grade spirit stone was too great.
“Swallowing Heaven Art!” Lin Xiao’s cold voice rang out. Spiritual energy surged from his mind, unleashing the Swallowing Heaven Art, a devastating technique from the Heaven-Devouring Spirit Emperor.
It was his deadliest move for group battles.
“Hiss! Hiss!”
A black-green energy, neither fire nor water, coalesced above his head, forming a vortex—black within, green without. A scorching aura erupted, the surrounding space heating up.
A terrifying devouring force spread from the vortex, enveloping all directions. The nearby space dimmed, as if being consumed.
As the Swallowing Heaven Art activated, Lin Xiao triggered the Immortal Skeleton Technique. Two bone patterns within his bones surged, an eerie evil aura radiating from him. He threw a punch, ghostly wails echoing. Visions of headless skeletons, severed-arm skeletons, and skull heads materialized, chilling the crowd.
A fearsome white force, brimming with evil energy, surged like a river toward the attackers.
“What!” Sensing the dual terrifying forces, Wang Ming and Yuan Ren halted, retreating swiftly.
The others weren’t so lucky. Already charging at Lin Xiao, they were caught by the devouring force, sucked into the vortex.
“Ah! Ah! Ah!”
Screams rang out as figures were pulled in, vanishing without a trace of flesh or blood.
The white evil force surged toward Yuan Ren.
Caught between the vortex’s threat and the chilling evil force, Yuan Ren felt cursed—why him? Or perhaps he’d just been in the wrong place.
Still, as a sixth-level Martial King rivalling the thirtieth rank, he wasn’t defenseless.
Retreating, he slashed out, a dazzling blade beam bursting forth. Its radiant light carried immense power, clashing with the white evil force.
*Boom!*
A thunderous explosion erupted, shockwaves spreading. Evil energy flooded the area, the collision shaking the heavens. The force pushed Yuan Ren back.
“Pfft!” Blood sprayed from Yuan Ren’s mouth, his face etched with disbelief. Lin Xiao had injured him?
Though he’d retreated hastily, not using full power, it was still a sixth-level strike—yet Lin Xiao had wounded him?
He struggled to accept it.
Above Lin Xiao, the devouring vortex had consumed twenty to thirty attackers, leaving nothing behind.
The crowd froze, halting their charge, faces pale with disbelief.
Lin Xiao had killed twenty to thirty fighters in one move and injured Yuan Ren?
Wasn’t this stronger than a thirtieth-ranked Human Demon List disciple?
The grey-robed youth and others who’d come with Lin Xiao were stunned. Spared from attacking due to their association, they’d pitied him—only to be floored by his strength.
A third-level Martial King, this powerful?
Gu Xuanyuan, who hadn’t acted, showed surprise. The evil force was familiar, but the devouring vortex was new. Even he’d be threatened by it. Lin Xiao had held back during the preliminary competition.
Yet Gu Xuanyuan knew Lin Xiao’s strongest trump card—that terrifying finger strike, which even he feared. It was one reason he hadn’t attacked.
And he, Gu Xuanyuan, didn’t want to defeat Lin Xiao this way.
As the chaos briefly subsided, Gu Xuanyuan scanned the crowd and spoke loudly, “Everyone, with your strength, you can’t seize the spirit stone. Why not let us fight to the death first, then take advantage as the fisherman reaping the spoils?”
The crowd was stunned. Let Gu Xuanyuan and the others battle, then swoop in?
What was his angle? They didn’t believe he was acting in their interest.
