Wu Ling

Yun Mo and Wen Qingxuan had been walking toward the Protected Zone for some time.

There were roughly three Protected Zones, dividing the Spirit Road into four stretches. Once they passed through them, they would reach the end of the Spirit Road, marking the completion of the Spirit Road Trial and qualifying them for spiritual energy empowerment.

"If you pass the Spirit Road Trial, which academy will you go to?" Wen Qingxuan asked lightly without turning around.

"Uh... I probably won't join the Five Great Academies?" Yun Mo said, sounding uncertain even to himself. Knowing Qing Yilun, he doubted the man would come here to take him home at all.

He was dead set on kicking Yun Mo out to temper himself.

Wen Qingxuan's slender brows creased slightly. "You seem rather opposed to the Five Great Academies?"

"Not really. An elder at my academy told me that some of the Five Great Academies have the continent's top powers behind them, and they control enormous resources." Yun Mo shook his head. He had nothing against the Five Great Academies.

"Oh? If you know things like that, your background must be rather extraordinary too?" Wen Qingxuan asked, her eyes flickering.

"Me? I'm just a lucky fellow. If the old man back home hadn't picked me up, I'd probably have died in some demonic beast's belly long ago."

Yun Mo smiled, feeling a little wistful as he remembered how Qing Yilun had carried him back to the academy when he was still a baby.

Though he always called him "old man," he had long since come to regard Qing Yilun and the others as family.

Wen Qingxuan turned, studying him a little more closely. "I didn't know you were an orphan."

"...Isn't being an orphan pretty normal? Doesn't the Great Thousand World have plenty of orphans? Anyway, it sounds like there's fighting up ahead. Are we really fine just walking over?" Yun Mo paid it little mind, looking toward the people confronting one another not far away.

"Of course we'll walk straight over and make them hand over all their tokens." Wen Qingxuan withdrew her gaze, and a spear appeared in her hand.

Watching Wen Qingxuan walk ahead, Yun Mo rubbed his nose and followed.

"Gentlemen, you're no match for me. Give me your tokens, and I won't kill you." Wu Ling twirled his pitch-black battle staff as he spoke.

A trace of gravity had appeared on his delicate features. He sensed a faint, elusive presence approaching from nearby, so he had to finish dealing with these men quickly.

"Hmph, Wu Ling, you might be strong, but you're dreaming if you think we'll hand over all our tokens. We'll fight to the bitter end. Let's see whether you can come out unscathed!" Lu Dong clutched his left shoulder, where the staff had struck him, and pointed his long saber at Wu Ling as he spoke bitterly.

The three of them had lain in ambush here, hoping to rob people heading toward the Protected Zone of their tokens. They had never expected to run into such a tough opponent. After one bout, all three were already showing signs of exhaustion.

Not only had they failed to steal any tokens, but they had put themselves in danger instead.

Wu Ling narrowed his eyes and sneered. His battle staff swung, stirring a gust of wind. "Then I'll have to send you out of the Spirit Road."

He lunged forward and swept his staff out. It seemed to become an unstoppable force, letting out a chilling howl as it cut through the air without mercy.

The three men's expressions changed drastically. Faced with Wu Ling's vast, mountain-and-sea-like momentum, they could only swing their long sabers with all their might to block him. But there was a clear gap between their strength and his.

Clang!

The battle staff smashed into all three sabers with a thunderous crash, instantly forcing the men into a precarious position.

Another staff strike crashed down, devoid of any flourish. Its sheer force alone drove the three back again and again before finally sending them flying.

"Hmph!"

Wu Ling brimmed with fighting spirit, his eyes flashing with a ferocity they had lacked before. He stepped forward as though breaking through every boundary, displaying boundless might.

Terror filled the three men's hearts as they retreated step by step. This Wu Ling was not someone they could withstand.

"Wait, we'll give you the tokens!" Lu Dong gritted his teeth. Though his eyes were filled with resentment, he could only pull the tokens from his clothes and throw them out to save his life.

If they lost their tokens, they could steal someone else's. But if they lost their lives, they would truly have nothing left.

Yet as the tokens flew through the air toward Wu Ling, a slender, delicate hand appeared and brazenly caught them all.

Wu Ling froze at the sight, then grew wary. He had never expected this person to reach him so quickly.

"Who are you? Give those tokens back!" Wu Ling shouted fiercely. He had spent quite some time fighting these three, only to have someone snatch the tokens at the very last moment. How could he possibly suppress his anger?

Even if the faint aura she gave off put immense pressure on him, even if she was almost outrageously beautiful, this was the Spirit Road. How could he improve his strength without a fight?

Wen Qingxuan wore a black robe that concealed her graceful figure. The breeze lifted her dark hair, lending her a somewhat different air. But when her eyes turned toward Wu Ling, that pride that looked down upon everything once again spread from her.

"Come!"

Wen Qingxuan put away the tokens. Her spear gleamed with golden light as she pointed it at Wu Ling, and an immense fighting spirit erupted, sweeping through their surroundings.

Wu Ling's expression grew grave. His battle staff slowly rotated in his hands, and alarm bells rang in his mind. Yet he did not retreat. Stamping down hard enough to send dust flying, he charged fearlessly toward Wen Qingxuan.

Wen Qingxuan raised a brow slightly and met him with her spear. Apart from Yun Mo, he was the only person she had encountered who interested her enough to fight.

Boom!

Their collision unleashed a deafening roar. Immediately afterward, spear and staff continued crossing without pause, their violent clashes producing an unending barrage of explosive metallic crashes.

Both fighters' battle spirit surged. Wen Qingxuan moved lightly, her steps swift as the wind. Her spear seemed alive in her hands, thrusting one moment and sweeping the next, every move carrying a fierce momentum.

Wu Ling gripped his battle staff, its overlapping shadows brimming with power. Each blow struck with the crushing might of thunder, and the wind from his staff howled as though it would tear the air apart.

"This..."

Lu Dong looked horrified. Here on the Spirit Road, where there was no spiritual energy, the two fighters had actually produced shock waves through physical strength alone. As those waves spread, they threatened to sweep his group into the battle.

Too weak to withstand them, they could only retreat again and again.

One of the men swallowed, his eyes filled with fear. "What kind of monsters are these two? Are they really unable to use spiritual energy?"

"Big brother, should we hide first? Or just leave?"

At those words, Lu Dong gave a bitter smile. He

had finally witnessed the gulf between them and the very best.

"We've already thrown away our tokens. Even if they wanted to kill us, it wouldn't be worth their while. Let's watch from here. Who knows? We might learn something from it."

It seemed they would have to focus on improving their strength from now on. Their current physical strength was only a little greater than that of ordinary mortals. Without spiritual energy, there was hardly any difference between the two.

Lu Dong turned his gaze back to the fiercely battling pair, shaking his head with a sigh. They had taken the wrong path, but fortunately, it was still early enough to correct their course.

He just did not know which of these two would win.

Wu Ling roared again. His battle staff danced, whipping up fierce winds in every direction, yet he could find no way to break through the spear shadows before him.

What made it even harder to bear was that his strength actually fell a fraction short of the girl's. Because of that, the scales of victory were tipping toward her.

Yet just as he thought they had both reached their limits, Wen Qingxuan moved her delicate hands, and her force rose another notch. The spear in her hands became even fiercer.

"What? How is that possible?"

Everyone's expression shook. Wu Ling clenched his teeth tightly. He had never imagined that this girl could push herself even further. Her physical strength had already left him like a lone boat at sea, liable to capsize at any moment.

Gradually, Wu Ling's arms began to tremble. Wen Qingxuan noticed and intensified her assault. Force erupted from her entire body, concentrating on the golden spear tip.

Locked down by her fighting spirit, Wu Ling had no choice but to unleash his full strength as well and bring his battle staff up to meet her.

"Break!"

As that cry rang out, the spear tip became a long golden dragon and struck the battle staff, shattering the force upon it before blasting Wu Ling away.

"Pfft!"

Blood spilled from Wu Ling's mouth. That blow had left him in considerable pain.

Just as he was about to hit the ground, a hand braced his back and dissipated the force carrying him.

He could not help turning to offer his thanks, only to find a flexible sword already resting against his neck.

"Wu Ling? Hand over your tokens." The quiet voice made Wu Ling's expression stiffen.

Though he was no match for this girl, she would have had no way to stop him if he had wanted to escape. What he had never expected was someone lurking in the shadows, waiting for precisely this situation.

With a bitter laugh, Wu Ling realized that this time, he really had been caught.

He decisively tossed his battle staff to the ground and took out his tokens. "Why would two people like you team up?"

Yun Mo shrugged and took his tokens. "We're just ordinary people traveling together, huddling together for warmth so we can deal with heaven's favored sons like you."

He had not expected to encounter a King Rank figure of the Spirit Road while heading toward the Protected Zone.

Every King Rank figure on the Spirit Road was worthy of the title Gu King. After leaving the Spirit Road, Wu Ling would join the Martial Spirit Academy and make a name for himself in the Spirit Academy Competition. Though he lost to Xue Tianhe, he still achieved a respectable result.

Wu Ling's face darkened, but the absence of killing intent from Yun Mo allowed him to relax a little.

"Are you heading to the Protected Zone? Come with us. You owe us your life now, and that debt needs repaying."

Yun Mo withdrew his flexible sword and patted Wu Ling's shoulder. He had a rather favorable impression of this fellow, who would make a capable fighter on the Spirit Road.

There were still limits to strength on the Spirit Road. Though he and Wen Qingxuan were strong, they might eventually find themselves outmatched if, in the later stages, they encountered an alliance of dozens of people who had all improved their physical strength.

But if they befriended some people with both decent character and formidable strength, then all they would need to do was raise an arm and rally them. Wouldn't they be able to beat down anyone who defied them and seize whatever opportunities they wanted? Sweeping across the entire Spirit Road would be much more interesting.