However, when a Spirit Treasury appeared, experts from all directions would inevitably fight over it.
All signs pointed to at least seven or eight King-level figures having appeared in the vicinity, ready to join the fray. When the time came, another earth-shaking bloodbath was inevitable.
With the foundation built up over generations of the Ji Clan, Ji Xuan had absolute confidence in claiming the Spirit Beast Essence of the Ancient Heavenly Dragon Eagle. But
if he chose the Spirit Treasury, he would lose the girl he loved.
If he chose the girl he loved, he would have to give up the Spirit Treasury.
The Spirit Treasury represented opportunity, foundation, and achievement.
Or, to put it another way, the possibility of taking another step forward in the future.
Luo Li represented love, a life partner, and a lifetime of companionship.
Opportunity or love?
It was a choice between one or the other, an outcome in which the two could not coexist.
A fierce struggle appeared on Ji Xuan's handsome, refined face.
As time slowly passed, this genius of the Ji Clan abruptly opened his eyes, his expression resolute. He had made his choice.
Ji Xuan took one last, deep look at the battlefield, at the slender, lovely figure struggling to keep up and gradually falling behind. Then, without looking back, he turned and fled into the mountain forest.
I'm sorry, Luo Li.
The family's decades of hard work and the efforts of generations cannot be allowed to go to waste in my hands. As a son of an Ancient Clan, entrusted with the hopes of my people and bearing the fortune of the entire clan, I absolutely cannot fail.
Once I open the Spirit Treasury and claim the Heavenly Beast Essence Soul, I'll come back to save you.
Ji Xuan's heart bled as he sped away faster and faster.
He knew that all of this was nothing more than self-comfort.
The place where the Spirit Treasury had appeared was at least a thousand li from the Black Demon Forest.
Even making the round trip as quickly as possible would take about twenty days.
By the time he returned after succeeding, Luo Li would probably already be—
Ji Xuan had no idea that at the very moment he abandoned Luo Li and left the battlefield, a young human boy from the Hundred Spirit Continent had charged out without hesitation.
The situation on the battlefield grew more and more perilous.
The Five Tigers of the Zhao Clan excelled at Battle Formations and the coordinated attacks used by armies.
The five brothers, united as one and fearless of death, had always been invincible.
The King-level fighter who had died at their hands had fallen to this very tactic.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Like a猛 tiger charging down a mountain, Zhao Tiandu wielded his blood-red battle saber and unleashed the Thirty-Six Style Cloak Blade Technique, which he had mastered to perfection, hacking away like a madman.
Bang! Their blades clashed once more. The blood-red saber, its blade riddled with notches, could no longer hold together. It burst apart into a storm of metal fragments.
"Good, good, good! It really is a divine artifact. This thing belongs to me!"
Seeing this, Zhao Tiandu was delighted instead of angry. He threw back his head and laughed.
That blood-red battle saber was a rare High-grade Spirit Artifact.
It was also the handy weapon he had spent a fortune acquiring before entering the Spiritual Road Plane. It could usually cut through metal and jade with ease, and had won him many great victories.
The mysterious divine artifact that could easily sever this saber had to be at least mid-grade.
At a fierce glance from Zhao Tiandu, the four remaining members of the Five Tigers of the Zhao Clan immediately changed formation, taking up positions in the four directions and launching a coordinated attack according to the Four Spirits Formation.
Their angles were viciously cunning, making the attack almost impossible to guard against and forcing their opponent to scramble desperately.
Sure enough, although the silver-haired girl had relied on her profound movement technique to withstand the attack, her stamina had long since fallen below the danger line.
Her steps began to grow unsteady. Her breathing quickened, and sweat beaded on her forehead.
"Hahaha! Get down!"
Zhao Tiandu laughed smugly, as if his scheme had succeeded. He pushed off with both legs and shot forward, hunched over, his Black Tiger Plucks the Heart technique aimed straight at the slender figure's exposed back.
The silver-haired girl, drenched in sweat, let out a soft breath. A trace of resolve flashed through her clear, glasslike eyes as she quietly tightened her grip on the clan-protecting divine artifact.
Her delicate fingers formed a sword sign. She swiftly ran them across the surface of the black sword. A little crimson seeped out and quickly sank into the long blade, where droplets of moisture began to appear.
Just as the girl from the Luo God Clan had resigned herself to death and prepared to perish together with her enemy, a black blur suddenly shot over at lightning speed and slammed into Zhao Tiandu's wrist.
Zhao Tiandu grunted. His Black Tiger Plucks the Heart had failed, and he could only retreat behind the other four tigers.
He glowered at the swelling bruise on his wrist, then looked up at the object that had struck him: a long, old-fashioned battle staff, about five feet in length, stuck in the ground.
"Cowardly rat, get out here!"
One of the Fierce Tigers of the Zhao Clan, indignant at what had happened to their eldest brother, immediately shouted abuse.
At a loud, carefree laugh, both sides turned to look.
A dashing young man in fine clothes stepped out of the dense forest, his black hair falling to his shoulders and his eyes shining with spirit. He strode forward, laughing and chanting.
"The Demon-Subduing Staff Technique has been passed down since ancient times, its double-ended strikes boundless in their wonder.
"The White Ape Exits Cave, swift and strong; the Striding Tiger Ascends Mountain, the proper opening.
"The Rib-Piercing Autumn Frost is a feint; advance, advance—"
"Cough. I'm Mu Chen of Bailing. Greetings, everyone."
Mu Chen had meant to recite a few lines to set the tone, but his performance had gone awry and his mind had gone blank. He could only give a dry cough and awkwardly clasp his hands in greeting.
"Mu Chen? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before."
Zhao Tiandu murmured, sinking into thought.
The Fierce Tiger of the Zhao Clan who had spoken earlier couldn't stand to see anyone else steal the spotlight. His eyes flickered, and he reached out to grab the Demon-Subduing Battle Staff stuck in the earth.
"Hey, brother, it's not nice to take other people's things."
Mu Chen smiled indifferently and reached out with an empty hand.
With a whoosh, the old-fashioned staff rose straight into the air and flew toward its master. As it left, it even smacked the man's outstretched, thieving hand.
"Ah!"
The Fierce Tiger of the Zhao Clan cried out in pain. The blow had broken one of his fingers on the spot.
"A-Liang!"
Zhao Tiandu snapped out of his thoughts. Seeing his younger kinsman injured, his expression gradually turned savage. "You little brat, are you tired of living? You dare provoke the Five Tigers?"
As he spoke, his eyes covertly swept over the Demon-Subduing Battle Staff.
Divine artifacts had spirits. Just like the Mirror of Judgment, the ultimate divine artifact jointly controlled by the Five Great Academies, the higher an artifact's grade, the clearer the consciousness it gave birth to.
To call back a weapon with his bare hand in this world, where the Spiritual Road was sealed, could only mean that the unremarkable old battle staff was very likely a divine artifact too.
Anyone who wielded a divine artifact at the Sensing Realm was no ordinary person.
With victory nearly in hand, Zhao Tiandu didn't want to invite trouble at a time like this. More than anything, he hoped the newcomer would be frightened off by the fearsome reputation of the Five Tigers of the Zhao Clan.
Unfortunately, this newcomer was no ordinary person.
"The Five Tigers of the Zhao Clan? Hah. Just five beaten dogs."
Mu Chen held the old-fashioned battle staff, standing tall with a gentle smile playing at the corner of his lips. He looked exceptionally amiable, but his words were as explosive as they could be.
"Bastard, what did you say?"
"You're asking to die!"
"Big brother, let us brothers beat him to death!"
The fierce tigers of the Zhao Clan flew into a rage at his words.
Even the goddess from the Lesser Western Heaven Realm, who had stood apart until now as if the world had nothing to do with her—as if she were merely an uninvolved spectator—raised her beautiful head for the first time and turned her ethereal, pure gaze toward him.
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