Deep in the Black Demon Forest, on an open patch of ground.
Two groups faced off in tense standoff.
One side had five youths, each broad-shouldered and burly, their imposing presence as fierce as tigers.
The other side had only a young maiden standing alone.
She wore a black dress. Her figure was delicate and graceful, her slender body traced by elegant curves.
Her skin was as fair as milk, so soft and smooth it seemed it could be broken with a touch, tender and luminous.
Her brows were like distant green hills, curving like crescent moons, and her jade-white legs were long and shapely.
Her brilliant silver hair shone like the Milky Way, breathtakingly beautiful.
On her flawless face, as if painstakingly carved by nature, a pair of clear, glass-like eyes gleamed like jewels, drawing the gaze and holding it fast.
The only flaw in her peerlessly beautiful face was its complete lack of emotion. She did not look cold; she was simply as tranquil as a deep pool.
As though nothing in this world could stir her, neither sorrow nor joy touched her.
Even though five Quasi-Kings, each half a step from Level 6, had hunted her day and night for thirteen days, and she had fallen into their encirclement with nowhere left to run.
"Hmph, Luo Li, now that things have come to this, what do you have to say?"
The youth in green led his sworn brothers as they surrounded the silver-haired girl.
He had thought that, after being gravely wounded by the Golden Armored Dragon Tiger Beast, the silver-haired girl would be like a turtle in a jar, easy to subdue with a casual hand. So he had bided his time, waiting for a chance to suddenly bare his fangs.
Who could have imagined that the girl's will to resist would be so unyielding, that she would rather die than surrender?
She had led them in circles through the Black Demon Forest, teeming with high-level spirit beasts. They had faced mortal danger again and again, yet she still had the strength to launch counterattacks from time to time, wearing down their morale.
After fighting fiercely up to this point, the girl was certainly covered in wounds, old injuries still fresh as new ones piled on.
But their group had also been worn down until they were weak and exhausted, their morale shattered and their strength nearly spent. They were on the verge of collapse.
Fortunately, more than ten days of relentless pursuit without sleep or rest had finally paid off.
The girl in black held a long black sword. Quiet as a lotus, she stood alone.
Her long, soft silver hair, crystalline and lustrous, fell like a waterfall to her hips.
A light breeze stirred, sending her shimmering strands floating in the air. She was so beautiful it seemed sacrilegious to look at her.
Her glass-clear eyes blinked ever so slightly. She glanced at the young man in green but did not answer. Untouched by the mundane world, she seemed almost otherworldly.
Damn it, that again!
The youth in green, Zhao Tiandu, was instantly enraged.
She had clearly reached her limit, clearly had nowhere left to retreat, yet she still acted so nonchalant, so indifferent to life and death. She didn't take the five brothers seriously at all, treating them like ants.
Fine. The more you act like this, the more I'll make you taste despair and feel pain!
"Brothers, what are you waiting for? Get her!"
Zhao Tiandu narrowed his eyes, a fierce glint in them, and waved his hand as he charged first.
These men knew nothing of cherishing a beautiful woman. Their attacks were all deadly.
A pack of mad dogs who lived by scheming and made their home among bloodshed, they wanted the huge stockpile of points held by the silver-haired girl—and the black sword.
The Luo God Sword, the Clan-Protecting Divine Artifact of the Luo God Clan, one of the Four Great God Clans of the Lesser Western Heaven Realm.
Though they didn't know its exact origins, they recognized it as a divine artifact.
A divine artifact was a weapon wielded by a Supreme powerhouse in legend. They had to get it!
The girl in black parted her tender red lips. Her voice was ethereal and lovely, yet icy to the extreme. "You want my clan's divine weapon? Then come and trade your lives for it!"
As she spoke, a dim glimmer flashed.
She raised her slender hand and drew the black sword, holding it across her chest. With light steps, she moved forward, her jade feet treading an arcane pattern. She darted nimbly ahead, appearing several meters away in an instant.
"Die!"
Zhao Tiandu gripped a blood-red battle saber, raised it over his shoulder, and hacked down at her head.
Behind him, four youths, each possessing a spirit body half a step from Level 6, followed close on his heels.
The girl in black wrapped both delicate hands around the black sword's hilt. Her slender waist twisted lightly, and she darted forward in silence.
A battle between youthful kings erupted just like that!
"Damn it!"
Not far from the battlefield, an unremarkable human genius hid in the dense canopy of a towering ancient tree. He suddenly hammered his fist against the trunk.
This man was named Xie Guan. He had exceptional talent and formidable fighting strength.
With a spirit body half a step from Level 6, he was unquestionably a Quasi-King contender.
Though he still fell far short of a true King Rank cultivator, he was fairly well known on the Spirit Road and had no shortage of friends.
The only reason Xie Guan had come here, of course, was that he was enamored with the silver-haired girl.
When he heard Luo Li was in danger, he immediately rushed to help, calling on a group of friends to back him up.
But as soon as they learned that their opponents were Zhao Tiandu's notorious gang, the friends who usually called them brothers all made excuses and backed out. None could come.
Actually, Xie Guan didn't blame them.
Though Zhao Tiandu and the others weren't brothers by blood, they were members of the same clan and called themselves the Five Tigers of the Zhao Clan.
It was said that a true King had once fallen at the hands of those five brothers.
Among the hundred thousand human geniuses on the Spirit Road, only a mere hundred had become Kings.
Not everyone had the courage to go to war with Kings just for a little brotherly loyalty.
Without friends or family to back him up, Xie Guan alone couldn't take on the Five Tigers.
Rushing to the battlefield and watching the final fight was already the most he could do.
After all, he had too much to shoulder. He absolutely could not afford to die lightly.
His blood relatives, his clan, his sect, his legacy.
"Miss, don't worry. If you die, I, Xie Guan, will avenge you one day."
After venting his frustration, Xie Guan clenched his fists and murmured dejectedly.
Even now, he still didn't know the beauty's name.
That was right. This fellow was purely pining for her from afar.
Luo Li didn't even know he existed.
Of course, even if she had known, she wouldn't have been very surprised.
After all, ever since she was a child, countless men had fallen for her at first sight, openly or in secret, and confessed their feelings. If she responded to each one, how could she possibly keep up?
Xie Guan was merely one of the thousands of admirers whose talent was decent enough.
"Brother, you shouldn't bolster their morale and undermine your own."
Suddenly, a voice sounded beside Xie Guan's ear.
The unexpected voice startled him so badly that he jerked, his body shuddering. He nearly toppled headfirst from the towering tree, a good twenty or thirty meters up, and hit the ground like a puddle of mush.
"Who?!"
Xie Guan broke out in a cold sweat. He hurriedly steadied himself and put some distance between himself and the newcomer.
As he dodged away, he silently asked himself:
Had he been too lax in his cultivation lately? How had someone gotten so close without him noticing? What if the newcomer had been an enemy seeking revenge?
In the spot where he had been standing, a tall, handsome youth in fine clothes now stood, smiling at him.
"Greetings, brother. I am Mu Chen."
The youth in splendid clothes had ink-dark eyes, sharp brows sweeping into his temples, and a handsome face as finely chiseled as a blade. A warm smile touched his lips as he cupped his hands in greeting and introduced himself right away.
"I am Xie Guan."
Now that he had regained his composure, Xie Guan refused to let his presence weaken. He answered curtly.
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