Cao Bing

Was this guy trying to get himself killed?

He was pushing his Spiritual Power so hard just to hurry along.

Wasn't he worried he'd exhaust his cultivation?

The young man was stunned by Li Ye's actions.

Then his gaze turned gloomy. "There's never been anything I, Cao Bing, set my sights on and failed to get."

"Let's see whether your legs are faster, kid, or my Profound Ice Sword."

Hum!

The young man formed a hand seal and poured his profound cultivation into the Spirit Sword beneath his feet. The next moment, the sword blazed with light and shot forward.

Before long, he caught up with Li Ye again.

The shrill whistle of a sword reached his ears, and Li Ye flew into a rage.

He knew the young man had caught up again. Why was this bastard following him like a vengeful ghost?

With time running short, Li Ye couldn't afford to fight the young man again. He gave a cold snort and silently began circulating the breathing method of the Nine Heavens Crimson Thunder Art.

Boom!

In an instant, energy coursed through Li Ye's entire body, and his speed rose to another level.

The young man, who had been about to catch up, was left behind once more.

Cao Bing stared blankly for a moment, murderous intent already surfacing in his eyes.

He was absolutely certain that Li Ye knew where to find the Spirit Ginseng.

Although he didn't know how Li Ye had found out.

"You can't escape."

Cao Bing snarled.

He was the sort who refused to admit defeat or accept his fate. Before coming here, he had already considered the Golden Ginseng as good as his.

Cao Bing changed the seals with both hands and sent them into his Spirit Sword. The sword trembled violently, and its speed surged once again.

He rapidly closed the distance with Li Ye.

But this time, he didn't get as close as before.

He had reached his limit.

Li Ye seemed to have reached his limit as well, keeping the same distance between himself and Cao Bing.

And so, the two of them battled across the skies and ground of the Great Barren Forest.

Their spectacle drew cries of surprise from many experts searching for the Spirit Ginseng.

"Isn't that Young Master Cao Bing of the Cao Family? Who is he chasing?"

"Looks like something's happened."

Naturally, they had no way of knowing what had happened.

Neither Li Ye nor Cao Bing would tell them.

In the blink of an eye, a stick of incense had passed.

Li Ye had also successfully found the great tree indicated by the deduction of the Heavenly Secrets.

At that moment, he keenly sensed a forceful surge of Spiritual Qi rushing up from underground.

If nothing unexpected happened, it had to be the Golden Ginseng.

But Li Ye couldn't pinpoint its exact position. He could only get a rough idea from the fluctuations of Spiritual Qi.

"Forget it. I'll take the chance."

He gritted his teeth, darted forward, and thrust out his hand, reaching into the earth.

When Li Ye pulled his right hand from the ground, light shone beneath the night sky.

He had brought out an old ginseng root as golden as gold itself. It struggled fiercely in his palm, like a little dragon.

Success!

Li Ye was overjoyed. Then, as if a chill ran down his back, he saw a dazzling streak of light appear out of nowhere against his wrist.

Oh no!

Li Ye's expression changed drastically. He did everything he could to dodge the cold gleam. But the next moment, his wrist went numb. The streak flashed across it and vanished, spraying a great deal of blood into the air.

The five fingers gripping the Golden Ginseng loosened against his will. It fell to the ground and, in the blink of an eye, burrowed into the earth and disappeared.

Li Ye spun around, fixing his gaze on the figure not far away, his killing intent surging.

Sure enough, Cao Bing was standing there.

He stared at Li Ye's bleeding wrist and said mockingly, "Well, aren't you lucky?"

Whoosh!

A flying sword curved through the air ahead of him and was now right before him.

Four strands of Spiritual Power coiled around Cao Bing, each weighing about five tons.

That meant his strength was at the fourth layer of the Qi Gathering Realm.

But this was only Cao Bing's basic strength. As a Qi Gathering Realm cultivator, he could unleash all kinds of Daoist Arts.

His true power was far beyond the mere twenty tons of force he appeared to possess.

Li Ye had naturally noticed Cao Bing's strength. His expression was grim.

The wound on his wrist was deep; he could vaguely see the stark white of his bones. If he hadn't reacted fast enough, Cao Bing would have cut off his entire right hand just now.

Cao Bing sneered again. "So you really did know where to find the Golden Ginseng—and you found it."

"But if I can't have something, no one else will."

"Die!"

Boom!

Suddenly, Cao Bing formed a hand seal and poured Spiritual Power into the flying sword. It blazed with light and shot forward like a bolt of lightning, heading straight for Li Ye's chest.

Li Ye's expression shifted. His body swayed, leaving a trail of afterimages as he narrowly avoided Cao Bing's flying sword.

Thud!

The sword missed and struck a great tree behind Li Ye. The tree exploded on the spot, shattering into several pieces.

"You want to kill me?"

Li Ye was furious.

First, this man had ruined his chance to claim the treasure. Now he wanted to kill him.

This was outrageous.

Was this the cruelty of the cultivation world?

At the slightest disagreement, you could just kill whoever you wanted?

"We've already made enemies of each other. Do you think I'd let you live?"

"The weak are prey to the strong. That is the law of this world. You're inferior to me, so you can only accept my judgment."

Cao Bing sneered.

He pointed through the air. The flying sword turned around and continued slashing toward Li Ye.

Whoosh!

Cao Bing's flying sword shot out like an arrow of light, stabbing toward Li Ye, who dodged with nimble footwork.

But it was a flying sword. With Cao Bing changing his hand seals, it could shift direction, pursuing Li Ye's every move like a shadow, its path impossible to predict.

Li Ye had no idea which angle the next sword would attack from. Perhaps from behind, perhaps from the waist, perhaps from above...

He could only rely on instinct to respond.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

For a time, traces of the flying sword's passage crisscrossed before, behind, above, and below Li Ye. From a distance, it looked as if glowing arrows were shooting toward him from every direction without end.

Dust billowed all around them. Grass, plants, boulders, and ancient trees were slashed apart, and deafening explosions rang out.

This was the might of a Qi Gathering Realm Great Expert wielding a flying sword.

Li Ye, meanwhile, relied on his nimble footwork to dodge the flying sword again and again, his afterimages appearing in every direction.

In just a few breaths, the two had exchanged an uncountable number of blows.

The high-intensity battle was starting to wear Li Ye down. He was already panting heavily.

"Let's see how much longer you can hold out."

Cao Bing sneered. With a change of hand seal, the flying sword sped up and spun as it slashed toward Li Ye's legs.

He looked as if he had barely spent any energy at all, completely calm and composed.

"You're celebrating too soon."

Li Ye shouted and leaped into the air, avoiding Cao Bing's flying sword.

Then his hands glowed as he plunged toward the ground, and his whole body vanished into the earth.

—Hand of Earth.

What?

Cao Bing stared in shock.

Pfft!

The next moment, the soil beneath his feet split open, and a figure shot out.

"Cao, go to hell!"

Li Ye shouted. Still in midair, he lashed out with a swift kick. Red Electric Arcs surged around his foot, tearing through the air.

That kick contained all of Li Ye's strength.

"You!"

Cao Bing froze. It had happened too suddenly; he had been completely caught off guard.

His flying sword, having lost its target, was still hovering ten meters away. There was no time for it to return and aid him.

Cao Bing had no time to use a spell to defend himself, either. Li Ye's kick was simply too fast.

He had only one option: use the four strands of Spiritual Power around his body to defend against the force of Li Ye's kick.

Boom!

Cao Bing formed a hand seal and summoned the four strands of Spiritual Power around him to meet Li Ye's "Lightning Flash" kick. A blinding light erupted where they collided. The next moment, all four strands of Cao Bing's Spiritual Power trembled in unison, then snapped apart...