Lin Yue: Whoever Gets It Through Their Own Ability Is The One Who Gets It

Chaos Qi currents churned between the rocky valleys, sweeping grit and dust across Lin Yue's cheeks. He watched Su Qingyan lunge for the Three-Leaf Golden Ganoderma, his fingertips condensing Chaos energy into a faint glow. His earlier suggestion to split it was meant as a compromise, but her immediate action, without a moment's hesitation, clearly showed she hadn't taken his proposal seriously.

"Since we can't agree, we'll have to rely on our own abilities," Lin Yue murmured to himself. He stomped his foot, his body shooting out like an arrow loosed from a bow. He didn't rush directly for the spirit herb but instead circled to Su Qingyan's rear. The Chaos Qi in his dantian suddenly accelerated, and a walnut-sized orb of light flew from his hand, whistling through the air towards her flank.

Su Qingyan, reaching to pluck the Three-Leaf Golden Ganoderma, caught sight of the approaching orb out of the corner of her eye. Her expression instantly darkened. She clearly hadn't expected Lin Yue to act so decisively. Hastily retracting her movement and spinning around, she ignited the flames at her fingertips, transforming them into a half-foot-long fire whip that lashed out at the orb. With a dull thud, the flames collided with the Chaos energy, exploding into a wave of scorching heat that made the surrounding pebbles sizzle.

"You're asking for death!" Su Qingyan roared. This attack had forced her back half a step, and the spirit herb she was about to grasp was now further away. The flames around her surged, and the heat radiated outward, as if igniting the very air. "I didn't want to hurt you, but you insisted on snatching what doesn't belong to you!"

Using the blast wave as cover, Lin Yue had already reached within a few feet of the Three-Leaf Golden Ganoderma. He could clearly smell the rich vitality emanating from the herb. The scent flowed into his body through his nostrils, even making the Chaos Qi circulating in his dantian more active. "Whether it's mine or not, we'll know after I've taken it," he sneered. He tapped his foot, his body suddenly shifting left. Su Qingyan's condensed flames shot out like arrows, grazing his shoulder and striking the rock face behind him, erupting in a shower of sparks.

The two instantly became locked in a fierce struggle, their figures darting rapidly through the rocky valley. Su Qingyan's flames were incredibly powerful, each attack carrying the force of burning mountains and boiling seas. The ground was scorched with blackened ravines, and rocks turned into molten lava upon contact with the fire. However, her flames required time to condense; before each strike, the light at her fingertips would flicker several times before forming an effective attack.

Lin Yue exploited this precise weakness. He could summon his Chaos Little Light Orb with extreme speed, almost as soon as he thought of it. The orb was small and its trajectory was tricky, always managing to harass Su Qingyan during the brief moments she needed to condense her flames. More importantly, he was familiar with the terrain of the rocky valley. He used the jagged rocks to constantly maneuver, sometimes hiding behind boulders, other times circling into Su Qingyan's blind spots, causing her flames to miss repeatedly.

"Just a cowardly rat hiding and dodging!" Su Qingyan was enraged by Lin Yue's hit-and-run tactics. She took a deep breath, and the flames around her suddenly converged, gathering in her palm to form a long sword blazing with intense fire. "Fire Spirit Sword Art!" she cried out. The sword swept horizontally, and a flame sword energy several yards long tore through the air, slashing towards the boulder where Lin Yue was hiding.

"Not good!" Lin Yue's pupils contracted. He could feel the terrifying energy contained within this sword strike, far exceeding any previous attack. He dared not meet it head-on. He forcefully pushed off the rock wall with his toes, his body shooting upwards like a gecko, narrowly evading the sword energy. The boulder behind him split in two, cleaved by the flame sword energy, its surface still burning with an ethereal blue flame.

Using the momentum from his leap, Lin Yue had closed in on the Three-Leaf Golden Ganoderma. He reached out, his fingertips mere inches from the herb's leaves, and could even feel the gentle energy flowing from its three golden leaves.

"Don't even think about it!" Seeing this, Su Qingyan disregarded her flame sword and flicked her finger. Three sparks shot out like meteors towards Lin Yue's wrist. She had calculated that if Lin Yue intended to grab the herb, he would find it difficult to evade such a close-range attack.

Lin Yue indeed couldn't evade it. His mind raced. Instead of retreating, he pressed forward. He slammed his left hand down onto the ground beside the Three-Leaf Golden Ganoderma, using the reaction force to tilt his body to the right while his right hand shot out. The sparks grazed the back of his hand, leaving three burning red marks, but his fingertips finally touched a golden leaf!

The instant his fingertips brushed against the leaf, Lin Yue felt a warmth surge within his dantian. The Dao Rhyme Fragment, which had been dormant for so long, trembled slightly. An indescribable sense of enlightenment flowed through his meridians, as if a certain bottleneck had been instantly broken. His control over Chaos energy became incredibly precise, and he could even clearly "see" the trajectory of Su Qingyan's next attack.

"Huh?" Lin Yue's heart stirred, and he instinctively activated his Chaos energy. An orb, smaller than before but more condensed, flew from his fingertip. It no longer traveled in a straight line but traced a strange arc in the air, grazing Su Qingyan's arm as it flew and precisely striking a rock behind her.

"Crack!" The rock shattered. The flying debris struck Su Qingyan's cheek, causing her movement to falter. In that brief pause, Lin Yue seized the opportunity and yanked hard. One of the Three-Leaf Golden Ganoderma's leaves was forcefully torn off!

"How dare you!" Su Qingyan was both shocked and furious. She hadn't expected Lin Yue to snatch a part of the spirit herb right under her nose. Without bothering to wipe the dust from her cheek, she swung her flame sword again. This time, her target was no longer Lin Yue but the golden leaf in his hand.

Lin Yue had just stowed the leaf in his storage bag when the flames swept towards him, and he hastily leaped back to dodge. The two pulled apart again, their gazes falling simultaneously on the remaining two golden leaves. An atmosphere of tense confrontation filled the air.

"Now, we each have one. The rest should be split equally, right?" Lin Yue said, panting. The burning sensation on the back of his hand was still spreading, but a strange excitement bubbled in his heart due to the movement of the Dao Rhyme Fragment. That momentary precise control had given him a new understanding of how to wield Chaos energy.

Su Qingyan, however, let out a cold laugh, her flame sword pointing directly at Lin Yue. "Does what you stole count? This spirit herb was meant to be mine from the start, and the piece in your hand must be returned as well!" With that, she lunged forward again, flames surging like a tide. It was clear she had no intention of backing down.

Lin Yue frowned, knowing negotiation was hopeless. He could only condense another Chaos orb to meet her attack. Just as their attacks were about to collide, a powerful, ferocious aura suddenly swept in from the depths of the rocky valley, accompanied by a deafening roar. The entire ground began to tremble violently.

Both were startled and instinctively stopped fighting, looking towards the source. A massive black bear emerged from the shadows. Its body was covered in dark fur, its eyes were blood-red, and with every step it took, rocks shattered. It was a high-level Chaos Fierce Beast, the Chaos Giant Bear!

What made their hearts sink further was that the Chaos Giant Bear's gaze was fixed intently on the Three-Leaf Golden Ganoderma on the ground. Clearly, the vitality emanating from the spirit herb had attracted this ferocious beast.