"Join forces!"
The shifty-eyed youth clutched his right arm, which was still dripping blood, and growled under his breath.
He was also a Quasi-King, named Shao Huanzhe.
"No rush."
The youth surnamed Pan had also retreated to his side and spoke with a pale face.
"Let those Spirit Wheel Realm fellows wear this bastard down a little more."
Shao Huanzhe agreed without hesitation, but a flicker of reluctance crossed the tall, thin youth's eyes as he said heavily.
"Hah! Pan Weihao, what's this? Now that all your people have been eliminated, you want to send mine to their deaths?"
Pan Weihao refused to back down and shot back sarcastically.
"Do you have a better idea, Yan Chen?"
The youth with narrowed eyes, who resembled a fox, chimed in as well.
"We can't coordinate with those in the Spirit Wheel Realm anyway. Better to let them wear this bastard down, then have all of us in the Divine Soul Realm fight him together."
"Or would you rather take those Spirit Wheel Realm fellows' place and sacrifice yourself?"
Yan Chen wavered at those words. He glanced again at Su Qing, who was fighting as though no one could stand in his way, then gritted his teeth and agreed to Pan Weihao's proposal.
The youth surnamed Li remained silent, but his retreat clearly indicated his tacit agreement with Pan Weihao's proposal.
Thus, all the remaining Divine Soul Realm fighters from the five factions withdrew from the battlefield and clustered at the edge of the valley, watching coldly as Su Qing continued to "slaughter" the Spirit Wheel Realm students.
It was not that they had never considered breaking the barrier and escaping, but after trying, they discovered to their dismay that they could not break it.
Su Qing was not remotely worried that anyone might break the barrier. The thick black ink forming it had been refined from countless blood debts and resentments.
Those blood debts and resentments came not only from Su Qing himself, but also in part from Nine Nether, who was linked to him by blood.
Neither the man nor the bird was a kindly soul. Compared with these students, the karmic debts clinging to them were terrifyingly numerous.
The mountain of slaughter Nine Nether had wrought in the Black Nether Abyss alone was beyond anything these people could shake. Even Su Qing would have shrunk back at the countless white bones piled in that basin.
Su Qing had also seen through the leaders' intentions by now. He sneered inwardly while continuing to eliminate the Spirit Wheel Realm cannon fodder one by one with unhurried precision.
The Spirit Wheel Realm students likewise understood what those people intended, but there was nothing they could do about it.
Some cursed furiously, while others remained silent. In the end, they still charged at Su Qing, one after another.
Flee? They could not escape. Surrender? Su Qing would not spare them. They could only grit their teeth and fight with their backs to the river, hoping for a miracle.
But how could miracles come so easily? In the end, Su Qing eliminated them like lambs awaiting slaughter.
Before long, only Su Qing and the dozen or so Divine Soul Realm fighters who had watched coldly from the sidelines remained.
"Planning to use those people to drain my spiritual energy?"
Holding the Kunwu Sword, Su Qing slowly advanced toward the Divine Soul Realm students holding their ground at the edge of the valley, each step accompanied by a thunderous tremor.
The Kunwu Sword in his hand remained clear as water, unstained by even a trace of blood. The mark between his brows had already reached level nine.
"Or did you think I wouldn't touch you once my mark reached level nine?"
Su Qing continued his mockery, his imposing aura climbing once more. Everyone felt as though a sharp sword rested against the space between their brows, with barbs digging into their backs.
At that moment, Shao Huanzhe stepped forward, clasped his hands, and bowed with a bitter smile.
"Sir! Look, we may have chased you all this way, but we never managed to do anything to you, did we? Instead, we've all lost a whole bunch of our brothers."
"How about showing some generosity and treating us like a fart-just let us go?"
"Heh."
Su Qing was amused by this and said.
"You've got the nerve to call them your brothers when you just stood there watching me eliminate them? Have you no shame? They were unlucky to end up with a master like you."
At those words, Shao Huanzhe's smile grew even more obsequious as he said ingratiatingly.
"Well, sir, we had our reasons too, you see-"
"Enough!"
Su Qing had no patience to keep listening to his nonsense. A sharp shout cut him off, and with a raise of his hand, Su Qing sent a streak of sword light slashing toward him.
The youth had been on guard against Su Qing all along. The instant Su Qing raised his hand, he threw out a bronze-colored shield in front of himself.
Clang!
With a piercing metallic screech, the shield successfully blocked Su Qing's sword light. Seeing this, everyone around him breathed a sigh of relief.
When they had first begun chasing Su Qing, they had assumed he had watched the two high-tier spirit beasts fight until both were badly wounded, then reaped the fisherman's reward.
Later, seeing Su Qing flee only strengthened that belief, and they continued their pursuit.
If you could beat us, why would you run?
They had no idea that Su Qing was afraid they would run away.
Soon enough, they paid the price for their earlier assumptions in this valley.
Everyone below the Divine Soul Realm in all five factions had been eliminated. Three of those factions had only Divine Soul Realm middle-stage and late-stage fighters left.
Su Qing had shattered their courage.
Their former assumptions vanished like smoke, replaced by a thought far more in line with reality.
You bastard, you were putting on an act!
You slaughtered two high-tier spirit beasts all by yourself?!
By now, they were birds startled by the twang of a bow, with no will to fight left.
That was why they had instead breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the shield block the sword light Su Qing had unleashed.
Even as Shao Huanzhe sighed in relief, he did not forget to check the shield's condition.
A deep sword scar had been carved into its surface, but the damage was still acceptable.
At this, they seemed to recover a little confidence and looked toward Su Qing, itching to make a move.
Su Qing found their reactions rather baffling. That streak of sword light had merely been a casual attack, so why were they standing there looking so pleased with themselves?
The shield, however, did pique Su Qing's interest.
A spirit artifact?
In the remote backwater that was the Northern Spiritual Realm, Su Qing had never seen any decent equipment apart from Kunwu in his hand.
The sight of it suddenly stirred a somewhat childish urge to destroy it.
Before they could enjoy their delight for long, Su Qing let out a low shout and condensed the aura around him into himself. Tiny sparks of lightning appeared along the Kunwu Sword.
Then Su Qing stepped forward and swung his sword.
A crescent of sword energy flashing with electric arcs crashed into the shield before Shao Huanzhe with a thunderous roar.
The sword energy instantly cut through the shield. Before the youth could react, the mark between his brows shattered automatically.
Then a streak of light rose, carrying the youth toward the horizon.
Yet just as Su Qing turned his attention to the remaining fighters and prepared to continue, a beam of light tore through the inky barrier over the valley.
The old man who had appeared earlier on the Reception Platform swept into the valley through the opening and raised a hand to stop Su Qing.
He looked around and, seeing everyone's miserable condition, said helplessly, "Su Qing, your mark is already level nine. The marks on their brows are no use to you. Let them go."
Su Qing had not wanted to let the matter rest, but after some thought, he decided to give the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy some face and stopped.
After casting a meaningful glance at the youths, Su Qing put away his sword, clasped his hands toward the old man, and asked, "Greetings, sir. Why has the Northern Cang Hall not appeared, even though my mark has already reached level nine?"
"You must reach the center of the Northern Cang Realm before the Northern Cang Hall senses you and appears."
The old man replied.
"Is that so?" Su Qing thought for a moment, then said, "In that case, I'll head there immediately. Sorry for the trouble."
With that, he bowed to the old man in farewell, turned, and darted out of the valley.