“Damn!” Huang Zi Tao and his companions were stunned for a while before finally reacting. They all brandished their respective weapons in a very aggressive manner.
They had already long disliked the look of Ling Han. He was only a single person but he had managed to obtain the hearts of both Twin Pearls of the Imperial City. Hearing his provocative reply now, how could they hold themselves back anymore? They all brandished their respective weapons in attack and charged towards him.
“Bullying those who are younger than you, don’t you feel the slightest bit of shame?” Ling Han snorted, his feet placed in the movements of Exiting Cloud Steps, his sword quivering, shooting out flashes of cold light.
Not all of Huang Zi Tao’s party were powerful elites. The other three were only in Element Gathering Tier, and they had only dared to charge because Huang Zi Tao was there to hold up the lines. Ling Han thus placed his focus on these three people. The Exiting Cloud Steps was a quick and strange movement, allowing him to dodge every single one of Huang Zi Tao’s attacks. His Sword Qi danced unhindered, shooting towards the other three men.
His battle prowess was enough to dominate an ordinary martial artist in the ninth layer of Element Gathering Tier, plus he had also formed six flashes of Sword Qi, so his attack power was definitely domineering. “Shua, shua, shua,” the torn pieces of cloth flew everywhere as if they were butterflies, and the three men suffering the brunt of his attacks shrieked. The clothing on their bodies was continuously being slashes into pieces, leaving behind one wound after another.
“Brat, face me directly if you dare!” Huang Zi Tao shouted furiously.
“Is something wrong with your brain?” Ling Han snorted. “I’m only in the sixth layer of Element Gathering Tier, yet you’re in the fifth layer of Gushing Spring Tier, and you still want me to face you directly? Have you become an idiot from too much martial arts practice?”
“Damn!” Huang Zi Tao once again cursed, and shouted loudly, “Step back, all of you!”
These three people were not able to help him—on the contrary, they were hindering him, making him unable to fully use his abilities. They were even sometimes used as human shields by Ling Han, forcing him to withdraw his saber in the nick of time quite a few times.
After the other three had stepped back as per his command, Huang Zi Tao waved his saber, and indeed, the area of effect of his attacks expanded. The light of the saber was bitingly cold, and like pouring water, surrounded Ling Han completely. In such a situation, he was indeed very much at the advantage, suppressing Ling Han to the point that he was unable to fight back in any way at all and could only dodge to the best of his abilities.
Yet Liu Yu Tong did not fling out any attacks of her own. Instead, she took advantage of the opportunity to continue to advance nearer to that stalk of godly medicine. This was the plan that Ling Han had decided on from the start. He would be the one in charge of detaining Huang Zi Tao, while Liu Yu Tong would be responsible for plucking the medicinal herb.
As long as Huang Zi Tao was unable to free himself to stop her, then how could a few martial artists of mere Element Gathering Tier be able to match Liu Yu Tong?
“Oh, no!” None of the three were idiots, so they very quickly discovered Liu Yu Tong’s movements. They hurriedly pounced, intending to stop her. However, they had moved a little too late, and added with the fact that all three were only in Element Gathering Tier, how could they manage to catch up to her?
Liu Yu Tong moved without turning up any dust, quickly making her way to that stalk of godly medicine.
Just when she saw that she was only about ten metres away from her target, “shua.” A flash of Sword Qi swept towards her, forcing her to stop her advance.
A white-robed young man wielding a sword approached them. His face was like crowning jade, and he had black hair. Every step he took was as if he was performing some kind of amazing rhythm of nature, inadvertently attracting the eyes of everyone in the area, becoming the target of everyone’s attention.
“Sun Bu Ren!” Liu Yu Tong’s eyes narrowed a bit, revealing an expression of deep dread.
Sun Bu Ren, the most outstanding clansman of this generation of the Sun Clan. Though he was not one of the Core Disciples of the Hu Yang Academy, he was still among the ten strongest True Disciples, having the ability to break into the ranks of the Core Disciples.
His name was originally Sun Ren, yet he later changed his name to Sun Bu Ren. Apparently, he has always admired the merciless character of Xiao Xiong, and the way he would use all ends to achieve his means. Thus, the name Sun Bu Ren was born. [1]
Third layer of Gushing Spring Tier, with unfathomable depths to his battle prowess—he should be at least able to reach five Stars.
“Yu Tong girl, could you yield this treasured herb to me? How about it?” Sun Bu Ren wore a smile on his face, as warm as a gust of wind in spring. Yet those who were familiar with him knew very well that this person was of fickle character. In one instant, he could be all smiles, but in the next, his face could change completely as he made a move to kill you.
“I don’t agree with that!” A light laughter was heard, and another person appeared. This newcomer was quite tall, with a handsome appearance, and in terms of aura, was not beneath Sun Bu Ren.
“Hu Feng Yue!” Sun Bu Ren’s expression tensed.
Hu Feng Yue was also one of the ten strongest True Disciples of Hu Yang Academy.
“Me neither!” Another young elite appeared, yet this one was a little fatty. His figure was as round as a wine barrel, yet his appearance caused both Hu Feng Yue and Sun Bu Ren to frown.
Qian Wu Yong, also one of the ten strongest True Disciples.
All right, then. The area was quite empty just now, yet in a few moments, so many elite martial artists have appeared.
Ling Han and Huang Zi Tao naturally both ceased fighting. There were too many elite martial artists here, and whoever made the first move was definitely an idiot.
“Hehe, none of you want to make a move? Then this Spiritual Medicine will belong to me!” Qian Wu Yong shot forward. Though he was exceptionally plump, he was also exceptionally fast, and within moments, he had reached the stalk of godly medicine.
“Insolence!” Sun Bu Ren, Hu Feng Yue, and Huang Zi Tao all acted at the same time. Saber Qi and Sword Qi flew forward in unison, creating a terrifying sight.
Qian Wu Yong could not help but turn over in midair to dodge the attacks of these three people. Even he would not dare to clash head-on with the united attacks of three such elite warriors.
However, the deadlock was broken, and the four of them attacked each other. They would be stopping each other from snatching away the treasured herb, while also trying their best to first get their hands on the treasured herb. All of a sudden, the scene was in a complete mess.
Ling Han did not move. Instead, he simply stood at one side. When the victor was finally decided, he would only need to just take out his treasured saber to snatch back the godly medicine.
Huang Zi Tao and the other three had been worried at first that the shock waves from their battle would be too powerful and damage that stalk of treasured herb. But after their battle had gone on for a while, they realized that all the energy of their attacks would be blocked from advancing further by the light surrounding the herb once it reached it. The shock wave was unable to spread any farther than that.
Now, they were even bolder, and their movements were even more without care. Sabers and swords flashed as Origin Power gushed forth.
As Ling Han watched, he gave a light nod. Aside from Huang Zi Tao, all the other three were extremely powerful. If it was not for the fact that Huang Zi Tao had the advantage in terms of cultivation level, he would have been forced out of the battle by the other three long ago. Even so, Huang Zi Tao was the weakest one of the bunch. There was not much difference whether he was there or not.
Sun Bu Ren managed to form three flashes of Sword Qi, while Hu Feng Yue had three flashes of Saber Qi. The little fatty used claws, and similarly had three flashes of Qi. The three of them could be said to be evenly matched, and it was difficult to decide who was the stronger one.
“They are all among the ten strongest True Disciples of the Academy. As for the question about who is stronger, none of them have revealed their true prowess before, so there is no basis for judgment,” Liu Yu Tong whispered to Ling Han.
Ling Han smiled faintly, and said, “Within three months, you will definitely be able to surpass them!”
If these words were heard by someone else, they’d definitely laugh themselves half to death.
One has to know that the reputations of Hu Feng Yue and the other two in Hu Yang Academy have all come from the many battles they have fought. They had also spent quite a few years before finally managing to attain the positions they had today. How could they simply be surpassed as easily as that?
Yet Liu Yu Tong was absolutely confident. Her talent was real, plus she was cultivating a Heaven Grade cultivation technique and using the alchemical medicines that Ling Han had concocted; there was also the Black Grade high level martial arts technique that she was learning. All these factors added together would definitely allow her to be completely transformed into a new person in three months’ time.
The battle between the four Gushing Spring Tier martial artists was growing fiercer and more violent, inciting flames of rage from all four of them. Seeing that the deadlock was unable to be broken, they all made a move to snatch the stalk of godly medicine, obviously intending to get some benefits first.
“F***!” Ling Han cursed. He hurriedly drew the saber and rushed forward. This was a godly medicine, how could he allow it to be damaged?
But it was at this very moment that something no one expected happened—the stalk of godly medicine actually removed itself from the ground, slipped, and as if its roots were its legs, “Pa, pa, pa,” it turned a cartwheel on the ground and had broken through the siege of the four of them in an instant. It began racing away at a very fast pace.
F***!