Taking the Lead

"That fast? Whose subordinate is this guy!?"

"Damn, isn't that Lin Suchou, who reached the Thunder Domain Tenth Layer a while back? If you ask me, he must have used that Divine Artifact to get up there."

"Not necessarily. Didn't he make a bet with Li Xuantong recently? They're supposed to fight after this tournament ends."

"I definitely have to go watch when the time comes."

"..."

The senior students watched as Lin Suchou piloted the Flying Boat, racing far ahead and leaving the main group behind. After a few leaps, he arrived at the foot of North Spirit Mountain.

Upon reaching this place, cracks split open across the ground, and countless Spirit Beasts pounced toward them.

However, with Luo Li and Wen Qingxuan fending them off, not a single Spirit Beast managed to leap onto the Flying Boat.

Whoosh!

Lin Suchou raised his head to look at the towering mountain and accelerated once more. Within a few breaths, he reached the mountainside.

Roar!

Yet just as he arrived at the mountainside, several roars suddenly rang out ahead.

Violent spiritual energy swept through the area, snapping some of the towering trees cleanly in half.

Looking closely, Lin Suchou spotted a massive dark-yellow python over a hundred zhang long coiled atop a cluster of rocks.

Its body was covered in stone-like patterns, making it appear as though it had been forged from rock. Cold light glinted from the fangs in its savage jaws.

Venom dripped continuously from its mouth, corroding enormous pits into the ground.

"A Mountain Swallowing Python ranked eighty-sixth on the Earth Ranking?"

Lin Suchou was slightly surprised. This was probably the Heavenly Tier Spirit Beast Zhu Tian had mentioned.

An adult Mountain Swallowing Python was indeed difficult to subdue even for a cultivator at the Heaven Fusion Realm Late Stage, but this one was only at the Heaven Fusion Realm Early Stage.

However, not far from it stood a tiger covered in blood-red stripes, an armored rhinoceros, and others, all around the Heaven Fusion Realm.

"Should Qingxuan and I go down and deal with them?"

Luo Li tilted her head and asked Lin Suchou.

"No. Leave them for the people behind us."

Lin Suchou's eyes were full of amusement. With the Void Breaking Ship, these Spirit Beasts could never catch up to them.

He poured spiritual energy into the Flying Boat beneath his feet. As the two-zhang-long vessel shone brilliantly, the space ahead twisted and formed a spatial passage.

Lin Suchou piloted the Flying Boat straight into it. In the next instant, they appeared behind the Spirit Beasts and continued charging toward the summit.

Under his rapid advance, they soon left the forest and arrived at an incomparably massive stone platform on the mountainside.

Beyond this stone platform lay the path leading to the Mountain Peak.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

At that moment, Spirit Beast roars rang out from every direction once again.

Following the sounds, Lin Suchou discovered that there were as many as thirty Heavenly Tier Spirit Beasts here!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Yet before these Spirit Beasts could attack him, the ground began collapsing at a terrifying rate. From the crimson magma, a giant beastly hand flowing with rolling lava emerged.

As it slammed down onto the earth, it crushed a Heavenly Tier Spirit Beast to death alive.

"Huatian Realm Late Stage!?"

Feeling the powerful spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from the underground Spirit Beast, Lin Suchou's eyelids twitched.

He controlled the Flying Boat to make another spatial leap, passing through pillar after pillar of molten fire as he rushed toward the Mountain Peak.

"Why did they release this big fellow?"

In the Northern Sky, Li Xuantong looked at the magma pillars erupting from the ground and frowned slightly.

The other senior students also looked horrified.

"Hehe, luckily last year's Freshman Tournament was only an arena battle. It wasn't this dangerous."

"Yang Hong, give it your all! My ten thousand Spirit Value can't go down the drain!"

"Luckily, I bet on Lin Suchou. Too bad I didn't bet more."

"Why are Mu Kui of the Wood Spirit Clan and Bing Qing of the Ice Spirit Clan still behind Mu Chen and Yang Hong!?"

"..."

Watching the chaotic scene below, filled with roaring Spirit Beasts and explosions of spiritual energy, the senior students could not help but break into a cold sweat.

No matter what, they would never gamble again next time!

As for Lin Suchou, he controlled the Flying Boat to evade one pillar of fire after another, leaving a golden-red trail across the sky.

Seemingly sensing Lin Suchou's successive breakthroughs, a pair of enormous fiery-red eyes slowly opened within North Spirit Mountain.

Roar!

It suddenly let out a low roar.

The sound echoed continuously through the mountain, and the entire North Spirit Mountain began to tremble.

A massive crack spread horizontally across the summit. Crimson magma surged into the sky, transforming into a magma Fire Curtain several thousand zhang high.

It sealed off the path leading toward the Mountain Peak.

The entire world became scorching hot, and the searing heat caused even the spiritual energy between heaven and earth to boil.

Enormous fireballs occasionally flew out from the Fire Curtain and crashed down toward the figures still climbing below.

It left them miserable beyond measure.

Not only did they have to fight the Spirit Beasts, they also had to guard against fire pillars bursting from the ground and fireballs falling from the sky.

Some figures were struck by fireballs on the spot and fell freely toward the foot of the mountain.

Others failed to dodge in time and came face-to-face with the fireballs.

Fortunately, Zhu Tian in the sky was not merely standing idly by.

With every wave of his sleeve, the figures on the mountain would be enveloped in white light and reappear in the open space at the foot of the mountain.

Though they had survived, they had also lost their qualifications to continue.

At this moment, only Mu Chen, Yang Hong, Mu Kui, and Bing Qing remained on the mountainside, relying on their cultivation to race through the air toward the Mountain Peak.

Lin Suchou glanced back at the situation of the four people several thousand meters below. He controlled the Void Breaking Ship to leap once more, passing through the enormous Fire Curtain and arriving at the Mountain Peak.

"Someone has reached the Mountain Peak!"

Startled cries rang out one after another. Countless gazes turned toward that slender figure, their eyes filled with amazement and curiosity.

Lin Suchou put away the Void Breaking Ship and swept his gaze around before finally landing on a white Spirit Flag planted in a crack between the rocks.

Whoosh.

He raised his right hand and gathered spiritual energy, directly drawing the Spirit Flag into his hand.

He then handed it to Luo Li and quietly waited for Mu Chen and the other four to arrive.

More accurately, he was waiting to intercept Yang Hong. The grudge from the Spirit Road would be settled here once and for all.

Meanwhile, Yang Hong, who was still on the mountainside, watched the streak of golden-red light in the sky as hatred gradually surged within his heart.

"You actually have such a powerful flying Spirit Artifact? Kill you... and everything you have will be mine!"

Remembering how he had begged for mercy in the Spirit Road, only to still die beneath Lin Suchou's sword, Yang Hong could not help accelerating once again.

This time... he would wipe away his humiliation!

"Tsk, tsk. This Kid is really taking the lead."

Zhu Tian watched Lin Suchou pull out the Spirit Flag, his eyes brimming with interest. "It seems the Spirit Academy won't be peaceful from here on out."

The two Old Men behind him also nodded. "He reached the Thunder Domain Tenth Layer as soon as he entered the academy, and his cultivation has reached the Huatian Realm Mid Stage. I also heard that he has a wagered battle with that Kid Li Xuantong."

"Oh?"

Hearing this, Zhu Tian became interested as well. He then turned his gaze toward the figure in blue robes in the Northern Sky.

With a smile, he said, "Then there will be a good show. Huatian Realm Mid Stage against Huatian Realm Late Stage. Still, the clothes Lin Suchou is wearing don't seem simple either. They may be a Divine Artifact as well. More importantly, I actually can't see through his cultivation..."

"Hmm!?"

The two Earthly Seat Elders behind him looked utterly shocked upon hearing this.

Even a Supreme Strong Person could not see through his cultivation. Just how many trump cards was this Kid hiding?

"Well done, Little Brother Lin!"

Song Hao watched Lin Suchou pull out the Spirit Flag and fiercely swung his right fist.

This time, he had made another fortune thanks to Lin Suchou!