Heaven's Chosen?

"You damned woman! If you hadn't tried to keep that Nine-Leaf Fruit Tree all to yourself, none of this would've happened! Don't think you can run!" said a man with a bruised, swollen face. Clearly, he had suffered serious injuries in the earlier struggle over the tree.

Wen Qingxuan had yet to make much of a name for herself on the Spirit Road, and anyone dared challenge her. Though she was strong, some thought she was merely throwing her weight around with the spear in her hands.

Had they been given swords from the outset, they wouldn't necessarily have feared this damned woman.

Wen Qingxuan snorted and put away the two fruits. "A rabble of crows. You're welcome to try!"

Yun Mo smiled at the sight. With such a fine fighter at hand, it would be a waste not to use her. "The fruits are good, but you probably don't think much of them. You were waiting there just to hone yourself, weren't you? How about we join forces and cripple this lot, then find somewhere to fight again? What do you say?"

Wen Qingxuan shot him a sidelong glance, but she didn't refuse.

"Hmph, fifteen against four. We'll have every advantage in a fight, and afterward we'll divide the fruits again. Wang Ke, Sun Heng, and the rest of you-what do you think?"

A vicious grin flashed across Wang Ke's face. Looking at Liu Ting, who had spoken, he replied, "Fine. Since we've all formed an alliance, that's only natural."

Groups large and small had gradually begun appearing on the Spirit Road. Those like Mu Chen, who ventured through the world alone, were almost all extremely confident in themselves. Such people were relatively rare, however. Cooperation was the norm.

"Good! You two go after the two behind them. Leave the damned woman with the spear and that neither-man-nor-woman in pink to us!" Liu Ting waved a hand, making no effort to hide his intentions from Yun Mo's group.

In his eyes, their alliance placed them firmly among the Spirit Road's leading contenders. They had enough strength to sweep through this place; admission to the Five Great Academies was already in their hands!

"Heh, neither man nor woman." Wen Qingxuan glanced at Yun Mo. Their temporary alliance didn't mean she would pass up a chance to mock him.

Yun Mo's face darkened. First Wen Qingxuan had said that about him, and now this Liu Ting was saying it too. Couldn't men in this world wear pink? Besides, he had only put on the pink robe to make stealing the fruits easier.

"Brother Yun, we..." Tan Feng looked at the people surrounding them, fear flashing in his eyes. With so many opponents, they had no confidence they could get away unscathed.

"You only need to deal with the two coming for you." Holding the Flexible Sword, Yun Mo stepped straight into the encirclement of more than a dozen people.

Seeing him move, Wen Qingxuan curled her lip, held her spear with its point trailing downward, and followed him.

"Boy, if you hand over your fruits and token, then kill yourself, we can leave your corpse intact." Liu Ting watched Yun Mo and Wen Qingxuan approach, somewhat astonished. They weren't running away.

"Actually, I'm quite curious. How did you all reach an agreement and band together so quickly?" Yun Mo was rather interested in this. It couldn't have been easy.

Liu Ting exchanged glances with Wang Ke and the others, then roared with laughter. "Do you think everyone's an idiot? There are more than a dozen of us, and one tree wasn't nearly enough to go around. You stole everything, so why would we keep fighting to the death?"

Yun Mo understood. "So, with nothing left to divide, you lost the urge to fight. Doesn't that mean you'll fall apart the moment there's something to divide again?"

"Uh..." Liu Ting's laughter abruptly caught in his throat. He noticed that some members of their newly formed alliance had begun looking shifty after hearing those words.

"Hmph! Boy, stop embarrassing yourself with such an obvious attempt to sow discord. Together, we can seize far more on the Spirit Road, and reaching its endpoint will be child's play. You'd better know what's good for you and hand over the fruits, so the two of you suffer less."

Wang Ke cut Yun Mo off. He, too, had noticed how fragile their alliance was. They needed a goal everyone could agree on to hold the group together, and the Spirit Road's endpoint was an excellent choice.

Yun Mo smiled. "Your name's Wang Ke, right? If I offer up the fruits, could I join you?"

"Huh?" Wang Ke was momentarily dumbfounded. He had never considered that possibility.

"What, can't you decide? Surely your alliance has someone who can make decisions? Or rather, who's your leader? Do you all have to listen to this Liu Ting beside you? Is he the alliance leader?"

Everyone present turned to look at Liu Ting, cold smiles flickering in their eyes.

Who among those who entered the Spirit Road wasn't one of heaven's chosen? Alliance leader? Was he worthy?

Seeing this, Liu Ting cursed inwardly. A bunch of idiots! We already said he was sowing discord, and you still let him stir you up like this!

Even Wen Qingxuan couldn't resist turning to study Yun Mo beside her, a faint trace of surprise in her eyes. Though their opponents were hardly impressive, he had seized on their pride and unruliness with just a few words, throwing their ranks into confusion.

He thinks fast! she muttered inwardly.

"You sharp-tongued brat! Whoever brings the greatest benefit to the alliance will be its leader! Right now, whoever gets the most fruits will be the leader everyone elects!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Liu Ting hurled steel needles and charged forward with his wooden club raised. He didn't want to wait another moment. Who knew what else might pop out of this brat's mouth? He had finally brought so many people together; he couldn't let them scatter just like that.

Yun Mo smiled at the charging Liu Ting. He dodged the steel needles as casually as if strolling through a courtyard, while his wrist flicked and force burst forth. The Flexible Sword produced countless sword shadows, every thrust seemingly real yet seemingly illusory, impossible to distinguish.

Refusing to believe it, Liu Ting shouted and swept his sharpened wooden club straight at Yun Mo. Yet the instant it touched those illusory sword shadows, it was obliterated, leaving only a pitiful little length of wooden handle in his palm.

Horror flashed in his eyes. Just as he tried to retreat, a sword shadow swept toward him. That spine-chilling white gleam made him unleash all his strength, pushing his physical power to its limits in an attempt to withstand the sword shadow head-on.

But as he met it, he abruptly discovered that this white sword shadow was merely an illusion meant to lure him into a desperate clash.

With his target gone, his force struck empty air, and he instantly lost his balance.

Naturally, Yun Mo wouldn't let such an opportunity slip away. As he withdrew his sword and stood firm, he drew strength from the ground, stepped forward with his left foot, and turned his right leg into a long whip. Its terrifying

force sent a whistle through the air before it slammed viciously into Liu Ting's chest.

Bang!

Pfft!

The instant that terrifying force struck him, Liu Ting spat out a mouthful of blood and flew away like a cannonball. His internal organs seemed to have shifted, and his breastbone felt utterly shattered. That kick had all but beaten more than half the life out of him.

Their clash had been decided in an exceedingly short time.

Everyone went deathly pale, and an uproar erupted. "Impossible!"

They had just fought Liu Ting themselves. Though they refused to submit to him, they still acknowledged his strength. Now someone had crippled him with a single move. How could they believe it?

"Could this brat be using spiritual energy?"

"Absolutely impossible. The Divine Contest Laws cover the Spirit Road. Every participant in the trial has the status of an ordinary person."

"He must have found some treasure that protects his body and greatly boosts his physical strength. We have to seize it!"

Wang Ke's pupils abruptly contracted, and he shouted, "Everyone, attack together! Don't let this brat catch you off guard. We'll do as Liu Ting said: whoever holds the most fruits becomes the alliance leader!"

Watching more than a dozen people swarm toward them, Yun Mo and Wen Qingxuan charged forward without a trace of fear.

Yun Mo plunged in like a tiger among sheep. His Flexible Sword gleamed coldly, and his astonishing sword intent and physical strength filled the entire space with sword energy. Even drifting flower petals were torn apart. With a low shout, he wielded the Flexible Sword as naturally as his own fingers and thrust straight at Wang Ke, who was approaching with his club raised.

Only now did Wang Ke fully understand why Liu Ting had frozen before Yun Mo. Faced with those endless sword shadows, an ordinary person had no way to tell the real from the false. Trying to fight Yun Mo like this was simply impossible.

But he did have one advantage over Liu Ting: knowing he couldn't do it, he decisively abandoned the attempt. He immediately retreated, trying to put distance between himself and this extreme danger.

Yun Mo snorted, however, and set his intricate footwork into motion. Dodging the wooden clubs sweeping at him from other directions, he turned his left hand. Cold gleams appeared, and several steel needles pierced the air, shooting toward Wang Ke.

Hearing the whistle through the air, Wang Ke knew exactly what was coming at him. But with the needles flying straight at him, completely evading them was now impossible. Left with no choice, he whirled his wooden club wildly to protect his vital points.

Shhk!

"Aaah..."

Three steel needles struck home, piercing major pressure points on the right side of Wang Ke's body before passing through in a spray of blood. Amid a piercing scream, he was sent flying.

Without so much as a glance at him, Yun Mo traced a circle with his right foot and clenched his left hand, turning his palm into a fist. He smashed it toward another wooden club sweeping at him from behind.

With a crack, the wooden club snapped before its wielder's horrified eyes. The force of the punch didn't pause at all, continuing into the man's chest. That single blow robbed him of any chance of survival.

"This... use the steel needles!" Fear filled the eyes of the others surrounding Yun Mo. Six people had attacked him, yet in mere moments two had been sent flying, their lives uncertain.

His physical strength was countless levels beyond theirs.

But they refused to give up. They could only take out every steel needle they carried and hurl them at Yun Mo with all their strength.

"Hmph! Picking up my needles to use against me? How clever!"

A cold glint flashed through Yun Mo's eyes. A black cloth appeared in his hands, and he wrapped it around his entire body. Steel needles struck from every direction, but none could pierce the cloth.

Clink! Clink!

Just as the needles stopped flying and the remaining four prepared to charge with their clubs raised, a burst of force suddenly flung the black cloth covering Yun Mo into the air.

Beneath the cloth, Yun Mo turned, countless steel needles appearing around him. They became streaks of black light, and as his strength surged and his sleeves swept outward, he abruptly hurled every streak toward the four men.

"Aah! No! Spare me!"

Screams rang out. Caught completely off guard, the four men's expressions changed drastically. In their eyes, those black streaks were as swift as black lightning. In almost the flick of a finger, they reached them and pierced their bodies all over.

Yun Mo frowned at the men curled up on the ground, writhing and crying in pain. That Wang Ke seemed to have fled despite his severe injuries when he realized things were going badly.

He shook his head and turned his gaze toward Wen Qingxuan's battlefield. Spear in hand, she was single-handedly chasing several others and beating them down, suppressing them so thoroughly that they couldn't muster the slightest defiance.