Bolstered by Baleful Intent, Slaying a Demon on the Mountaintop

On the other side of the mountainside, a stretch of level ground lay beneath a cliff.

The air was thick with killing intent. Ji Li stood there quietly, the baleful intent swirling around him having shifted from gray-black to a startling dark red.

The red glow set off his white robes, lending him an eerie, overbearing beauty.

Across from him, a burly examinee stood with his back to the rock face, his face deathly pale and his whole body trembling uncontrollably.

It was despair.

"Ji... Ji Li..."

The examinee swallowed, his voice thick with tears and pleading. "For the sake of our three years as classmates, could you... could you let me go this once?"

He watched Ji Li close in step by step, his resolve on the verge of collapse.

"I... I still want to reach the third round. I still want to fight for a place in the top ten!"

"Even if I only get to stand in the Arena, even if I lose in the end, at least... at least I'll have something to show for these three years of effort. At least I'll get one look at the view from higher up!"

Being eliminated in the second round would not cost him his life. The Spirit Realm's restrictions would automatically teleport him out.

But it would mean his Immortal Official Examination ended here.

Three years of bitter cultivation, and his dream shattered in a day. For any young man with dreams, the blow was crushing.

As he spoke, the student stumbled backward until his spine pressed against the cold stone wall. He had nowhere left to retreat.

Yet Ji Li's handsome, jade-like face remained indifferent to his classmate's humble pleas. He was not moved in the slightest.

"Classmate ties?"

Ji Li stopped. His detached gaze swept