"Xu Shangjie was in a valley one li away, surrounding a True Martial Realm demon beast."
The man told Lin Bai everything clearly.
Lin Bai turned and looked back. "A li away? Good. Xu Shangjie, I'm coming."
When Lin Bai relaxed his guard, a sly, cold smile appeared in the man's eyes. He reached into his robes and shot out a hidden weapon.
"Hahahaha, go to hell, Lin Bai! The ten thousand spirit stones are mine!"
"Hmph, did you really think those little tricks of yours could fool me?"
Lin Bai whirled around and severed the hidden weapon with one slash.
When the man saw that Lin Bai had blocked the hidden weapon, his face instantly filled with panic, and he had just begun to beg for mercy again.
Lin Bai decisively brought his sword down, killing the man beneath his blade.
"I hadn't wanted to kill you, but you insisted on seeking death."
Lin Bai sheathed his sword and quickly ran toward the valley a li away.
Soon, Lin Bai arrived above the valley.
Inside, he saw more than fifty martial artists surrounding and attacking a huge lizard.
"The Hellfire Lizard King!"
Lin Bai looked at the lizard. Its entire body was scarlet, its eyes blazed with fury, and flames poured from its mouth.
The flames and cultivation of the True Martial Realm burned a large number of martial artists alive.
"Charge! Charge! Whoever goes up, I'll give him a hundred spirit stones!"
"All of you, get up there!"
Xu Shangjie roared at the martial artists beside him.
A hundred spirit stones just for joining the fight. The Imperial Xu Family truly was rolling in wealth.
"A hundred spirit stones? Damn it, I'm going all out!"
"I'm going all out too! Charge!"
"Kill this lizard!"
The more than fifty martial artists took turns attacking. Although many of them died, the lizard was also beaten until it was covered in wounds, with blood gushing wildly from its body.
"Hahaha, good! Leave the final blow to me."
Seeing that the lizard was already on its last breath, Xu Shangjie laughed wildly and drew an extremely beautiful treasured sword from his waist.
A second-grade spiritual weapon!
The moment Lin Bai saw that treasured sword, his eyes burned with desire.
A second-grade spiritual weapon cost at least ten thousand spirit stones.
Lin Bai couldn't afford one himself.
"Hahaha, the Purple Token is mine!"
Xu Shangjie charged forward with a wild laugh.
The Purple Token was equivalent to ten Ordinary Tokens. Logically speaking, it was not particularly valuable.
But Xu Shangjie didn't think so.
The Purple Token was in the hands of a True Martial Realm demon beast. If Xu Shangjie killed a True Martial Realm demon beast while still at the Martial Dao Ninth Level, he would surely become famous in a single battle and gain a certain standing among the outer disciples.
In fact, many martial artists thought the same way.
Once they obtained the Purple Token, it would mean they had established a foothold among the outer disciples of the Spirit Sword Sect and gained a certain status.
"Haha, Xu Shangjie, I'll take this Purple Token for you first."
Lin Bai suddenly attacked. He leaped from the hillside and sent dozens of Sword Qi slashing down at Xu Shangjie.
"Lin Bai! You're still alive?"
When Xu Shangjie saw Lin Bai appear, he instantly flew into a rage.
He had offered ten thousand spirit stones for Lin Bai's death, yet he still hadn't managed to kill him?
"Hmph, I haven't even sent you down to meet King Yama yet. How could I die?" Lin Bai snorted coldly, sword in hand, and charged toward Xu Shangjie with unstoppable force.
Along the way, Lin Bai's killing intent surged. His eyes were like swords, and Xu Shangjie felt his entire body grow cold beneath that gaze.
"Whoever kills Lin Bai, I'll give him ten thousand—no, twenty thousand spirit stones!"
"Twenty thousand!"
"Twenty thousand spirit stones for one head!"
"Kill him! Kill Lin Bai!"
With great rewards, there would always be brave men.
When these people heard that killing Lin Bai would earn them twenty thousand spirit stones, they immediately turned back and charged toward him.
"A bunch of people blinded by profit. Do you really have no idea whether you can kill me? You insist on coming here to die!"
Lin Bai swept out with his merciless sword, slaughtering all the martial artists attacking him in a single stroke.
"Xu Shangjie, come here and face your death!"
Lin Bai quickly cleared away the trouble and charged toward Xu Shangjie.
Xu Shangjie had already fought Lin Bai before. He was no match for Lin Bai.
Glancing at the Lizard King that had yet to be killed, Xu Shangjie's face twisted with pain. "Lin Bai, I'll come back for revenge!"
"Lin Bai, just wait! These ordinary martial artists may not be able to kill you, but that doesn't mean the New Talent King can't!"
After Xu Shangjie finished speaking, he gave up on killing the Lizard King and obtaining the Purple Token. He turned and fled from the valley in another direction.
Although Xu Shangjie couldn't defeat Lin Bai, his speed was quite good. Lin Bai actually couldn't catch up with him.
"Consider yourself fast enough!"
Unable to catch Xu Shangjie, Lin Bai immediately turned back. Returning to the valley, he saw the Lizard King violently spit a stream of flames at him.
"Beast, you still dare to bark at me!"
Lin Bai was not as weak as Xu Shangjie. He thrust his sword straight at it, killing the already battered Lizard King and ending its agonizing cry.
Beneath the Lizard King's enormous body, Lin Bai found a Purple Token.
Purple. So mesmerizing.
Then, Lin Bai used Devouring Sword Soul to drain the Lizard King's blood essence completely.
"I'm close. I've already touched the barrier to the True Martial Realm."
After absorbing the Lizard King's blood essence, Lin Bai spoke in ecstatic delight.
"The blood essence of a True Martial Realm demon beast is indeed far more powerful than that of a Martial Dao Realm demon beast."
"If I kill all four True Martial Realm demon beasts in this trial ground, my cultivation should be able to break through to the True Martial Realm!"
At that thought, Lin Bai's heart burned with fervor.
"These four demon beasts are mine!"
Lin Bai walked out with determination.
"But True Martial Realm demon beasts are still extremely difficult to deal with."
"If Xu Shangjie hadn't used more than a hundred lives to grind this Hellfire Lizard King down to its final moment..."
"It still would have been very difficult to kill!"
Lin Bai drew a deep breath and sped through the forest.
Three hours passed.
Suddenly, Lin Bai encountered someone in the forest.
The man was dressed entirely in black robes, and his sharp eyes were as ruthless as an eagle's.
In his hand, he carried a sharp sword whose blood had not yet dried.
"Enough nonsense. Make your move."
The moment Lin Bai saw this man, he knew that he was an expert sent by Xu Shangjie.
The man looked at Lin Bai and first knitted his brows slightly. Then, when he saw that Lin Bai had already drawn the Spirit Severing Sword, his expression abruptly changed, and a thread of killing intent spread from him.
Clang!
The man also drew his sharp sword and thrust it fiercely at Lin Bai.
The sword moved incredibly fast, almost beyond Lin Bai's expectations.
Lin Bai's pupils rapidly widened. In an instant, the sword was already right before him.
"One Sword Bloodspray!"
Lin Bai struck back with a reverse slash, sending the man flying with a single sword blow.
The man was not discouraged in the slightest and charged straight at Lin Bai again.
The two came and went, battling furiously in the forest for hundreds of exchanges.
After a hundred exchanges, Lin Bai and the man were evenly matched.
After two hundred exchanges, they were still locked in a bitter struggle.
After three hundred exchanges, both sides fought to their hearts' content.
"My heavens! Lin Bai is fighting Ye Guxing!"
"The two New Talent Kings are fighting!"
"This is going to be good. Lin Bai and Ye Guxing are both sword experts."
"Ye Guxing once killed thirty-two experts with a single sword strike."
"Lin Bai once defeated Xu Shangjie with a single sword strike."
"This is the strength of a New Talent King!"