The Dark Red Prize Pool Appears

"Consume."

The dark red light had stopped over the black orb of light.

Luo Yue pressed his blade against Li Zhexian's shoulder, making half his arm go numb.

"Can you see that orb of light now?" Li Zhexian asked, looking up.

Zhou Lie was breathing heavily.

"I can see it."

"Can people from Spirit Hall drop things too?"

"Shut up!"

Luo Yue pressed down harder.

"Take him alive!"

One of his subordinates hesitated.

"Deacon, didn't you just say we could kill him?"

"That has changed. Don't ask questions."

Li Zhexian looked at Luo Yue.

"You want to keep me alive. It seems that prize pool is more valuable than I am."

"Hand over the fragment, and I can guarantee you won't die."

Li Zhexian remembered a question he had asked before.

"Before the test, could you give me a beating first?"

"You've taken enough of a beating already."

"It's still not enough."

Luo Yue withdrew the red light from his long blade and turned to Zhou Lie.

"Block the left side. Don't kill him."

Zhou Lie clenched his rock-armored fist and charged at Li Zhexian.

Luo Yue stood in his retreat path, while flames and wind blades attacked from both sides.

Li Zhexian didn't dodge.

He held the Azure Lotus Sword crosswise to block Zhou Lie's fist. Vines wrapped around a stone pillar, blocking the attacks coming at him from the side.

The shield's number began dropping rapidly.

999,999,870,000.

999,999,760,000.

The record of 100,000 points of damage was complete.

The dark red light shrank to a point, and the black orb of light split open.

A beam of red light fell in front of Li Zhexian.

A system notification appeared.

[Red Prize Pool triggered.]

[Rewards: Heavenly Mandate Life-Sustaining Liquid, Complete Soul Bone Fragment.]

Zhou Lie stopped his fist, and Luo Yue hesitated at the same moment.

Li Zhexian knelt on one knee on the cracked stone slabs, his clothes soaked through with blood, but he still propped himself up with the Azure Lotus Sword and raised his head.

"That's more like it. Those attacks just now were only a warm-up."

"Take him down!"

Luo Yue swung his long blade and lunged at him.

Li Zhexian reached out and seized the red light, and a vial of medicinal liquid and a Soul Bone fragment fell into his palm. He pulled out the stopper and drank the liquid in one gulp.

The wound on his chest began to close, his shoulder stopped bleeding, and faint sounds came from within his broken bones.

Zhou Lie's fist came smashing at him again.

Li Zhexian raised his palm and caught the fist. The rock armor pressed against his palm, but could no longer advance half an inch.

"You nearly died just now!" Zhou Lie shouted.

"You saw it wrong. This medicinal liquid isn't bad."

Luo Yue reached his back and swung his blade down at him.

The Drunken Immortal Wine Pot sprayed out a mist of wine.

Li Zhexian shifted aside, then drew the Azure Lotus Sword.

"Viewing the Sword While Drunk."

The sword's edge knocked the long blade aside, then pierced Luo Yue's Soul Power armor and pinned him to the stone wall.

"You dare kill a Spirit Hall deacon?"

"You were trying to kill me just now too."

Li Zhexian pulled out his sword.

Luo Yue's body struck the stone wall, and his fourth Soul Skill dissipated with it.

Zhou Lie swung his fist at Li Zhexian.

The Azure Lotus Sword slapped against the rock armor, shattering it. The scabbard then struck his knee.

Zhou Lie knelt on the stone slabs and said between breaths:

"I surrender. I don't want to die."

"Hold them off for me."

"You want me to stop Spirit Hall?"

"You're a level forty-three Soul Ancestor."

Zhou Lie glanced at Luo Yue lying on the ground and said nothing more.

Li Zhexian took the opportunity to rush toward the entrance to the ruins.

The Azure Lotus Sword severed a line of fire, vines wrapped around a stone pillar, and the sword knocked the wind blades aside.

"Viewing the Sword While Drunk."

After the sword light passed through the wine mist, three Soul Masters fell to the ground one after another.

Li Zhexian didn't stop.

Black Crow was dragging his broken leg as he crawled toward the outside of the ruins. Li Zhexian passed by him.

"My leg is broken. I don't want to throw my life away for Spirit Hall."

"That makes sense."

Black Crow pressed a black feather inside his sleeve, and black mist appeared, hiding him from view.

"If word of the Red Prize Pool gets out, more people will set their sights on you."

"Then let them come."

The system panel unfolded in Li Zhexian's sea of consciousness.

[Multiple high-level forces detected marking the host.]

[Current shield-breaking progress is below 0.00001%.]

[Recommended objective: continue searching for Soul Masters with high attack power.]

Li Zhexian put away the Soul Bone fragment and the medicine vial.

A faint sound came from the top of the ruins.

A golden figure stood high above, long hair blowing behind her in the wind, but there were no Soul Rings beneath her feet.

She looked first at the wounded scattered across the ground, then fixed her gaze on the Drunken Immortal Wine Pot.

Li Zhexian gripped his sword hilt.

"Are you here to beat me too?"

The person didn't answer the question, but instead asked:

"Is this the child who can drop treasures?"