Li Dan vs. Bai Xiaolin

"Master, master, something terrible has happened! The young master's soul lamp has gone out!"

At the Xiao Lineage estate, a deathly pale servant hurried over to report.

At that moment, a burly middle-aged man in the seat of honor grabbed the servant by the collar and roared in fury.

"What did you say? The young master's soul lamp has gone out?"

The servant answered shakily,

"Not only that, Uncle Chen's soul lamp has... has gone out too."

Hearing this, Xiao Dushui, head of the Xiao Lineage, surged with killing intent in his eyes. In his fury, he kicked the servant, instantly reducing him to a puddle of blood.

"Who? Who killed my son?"

His furious roar rang through the Xiao Lineage estate.

The Xiao Lineage servants all lowered their heads, terror showing on their faces.

"The young master is dead?"

"Who's got the nerve to kill even the Xiao Lineage's young master? They're in for it."

"Watch your tongue. Disputes between these great Lineages aren't for servants like us to comment on."

The servants speculated among themselves. The Xiao Lineage was one of the Upper Realm's top Lineages, yet someone had dared strike at them. Who could be so bold?

Now that the master was enraged, a bloody storm was about to rise.

After his outburst, Xiao Dushui quickly calmed down.

Anyone who dared strike at his Xiao Lineage surely had trump cards of their own. Until he understood the situation, meeting force with force was not the best approach.

After all, only by knowing oneself and one's enemy could one fight a hundred battles without defeat.

At this thought, Xiao Dushui's expression darkened.

"Someone, investigate what happened on God-Worshipping Mountain!"

God-Worshipping Mountain.

At the foot of the mountain, Li Xiao used his divine sense to observe every movement on the mountain.

"Holy shit, isn't that the Li Lineage's young master? Why didn't he go up?"

"Yeah, did that young man following him go instead?"

"He gave an opportunity like this to someone else?"

"Damn, as expected of a great Lineage's scion. He really sees the bigger picture."

Outside, everyone looked at Li Xiao standing where he was, puzzled.

God-Worshipping Mountain had finally opened, and they had expected Li Xiao to participate himself.

Who would have thought he would give the opportunity away? They truly could not understand such a decision.

Listening to their conversations, Li Xiao looked disdainful.

Opportunities? Treasures?

I have a system, which means I have everything. Do I need those scraps?

Go on, let your imaginations run wild.

On the mountain, Li Dan made his way upward step by step, surrounded by several people.

"Brother Dan, could you tell us a little about Young Master Li Xiao's strength?"

"Yeah, Brother Dan. Rumor has it that the Xiao Lineage's Uncle Chen went undefeated in the Ancient Emperor Realm for thousands of years, but your young master killed him with a single punch. That was ruthless."

"Yeah, Brother Dan, let me follow you from now on."

Their chatter left Li Dan feeling irritated.

When he entered God-Worshipping Mountain, these people had come over to cozy up to him. They were all scions of minor Lineages.

Li Dan waved a hand casually and replied.

"We'll talk about it later."

"Brother Dan, there's a stone temple up ahead."

A sharp-eyed young man beside Li Dan called out.

Hearing this, Li Dan looked in the direction the young man pointed. There really was a stone temple.

The group then walked toward it.

"It's you?"

Li Dan exclaimed softly.

Before the stone temple stood a white-robed young man, staring intently at Li Dan.

"Allow me to introduce myself. Bai Xiaolin of the White Tiger Sect."

Bai Xiaolin chuckled, unable to conceal his fighting spirit.

"Where's your young master?"

At the mention of the White Tiger Sect, the people beside Li Dan all took a step back.

Fuck, another top sect.

Li Dan frowned.

"Li Dan of the Li Lineage."

"Our young master has no interest in something like this, so I came."

Bai Xiaolin narrowed his eyes slightly.

"You? You'll do too. I've checked the stone temple behind me. There's a furnace of top-grade pills inside."

"Fight me. If you win, they're yours. How about it?"

Hearing this, Li Dan nodded in agreement.

He had advanced three stages in three months. It was time to test his strength.

He could gain combat experience and an opportunity along the way. Why not?

Li Dan unleashed his presence at the middle stage of the Emperor Realm.

"Come on!"

The instant his words fell,

a pair of golden tiger marks flashed across Bai Xiaolin's pupils, and he hurled a punch at Li Dan.

Unhurried, Li Dan threw a punch of his own.

Their fists collided with a tremendous crash.

Boom!

The shock waves rippled through the air, knocking the people Li Dan had brought to the ground.

Li Dan took a step back and stretched his arm.

"As expected of the White Tiger Sect's young sect master. White tiger power lives up to its reputation."

According to legend, the founder of the White Tiger Sect in ancient times had possessed the bloodline of the divine beast, the white tiger.

Over all these years, however, that bloodline had thinned considerably.

Even so, the power of a divine beast's bloodline could not be ignored.

Anyone else would surely have failed to withstand that punch.

"The Li Lineage's Mountain-Shaking Fist isn't bad either."

Bai Xiaolin replied, white tiger power erupting around him as a tiger's roar rang out.

A white tiger phantom appeared behind Bai Xiaolin.

The next instant, Bai Xiaolin bent slightly and shot toward Li Dan like a cannonball.

"You're at the middle stage of the Emperor Realm too?"

Slightly startled, Li Dan hurriedly used his movement technique to dodge to the side.

Boom!

An enormous tiger-print crater appeared where Li Dan had stood. Giving him no time to catch his breath, Bai Xiaolin continued his assault.

For a time, white tiger phantoms tangled with a streak of golden light.

At the foot of the mountain.

Li Xiao quietly watched the two fight.

"That kid from the White Tiger Sect really is a genius. Without the system, geniuses like these really would crush me."

Li Xiao rubbed his chin and chuckled.

"But there are no ifs. I'm invincible now."

After several hours of fighting, both were panting and had reached the point of exhaustion.

"Tiger Roars Through the Mountain Forest!"

Bai Xiaolin roared and bent at the waist. The white tiger phantom behind him let out a series of roars, then pounced at Li Dan with a murderous air.

A sharp glint flashed through Li Dan's eyes. Seizing his chance, he vanished eerily from the spot.

It was the Saint-grade cultivation technique Li Xiao had given the Li Lineage: Startled Swan Steps.

When he reappeared, Li Dan was already behind Li Dan, driving a punch into Bai Xiaolin's body.

A thunderous crash rang out.

Bai Xiaolin fell to the ground, covered in wounds.

"I lost."

Bai Xiaolin gave a bitter laugh.

"The pills inside are yours."

Li Dan shook his head and extended a hand to Bai Xiaolin.

"It wasn't me who beat you. It was the young master."

Bai Xiaolin struggled to his feet, baffled by Li Dan's words.

Without explaining further, Li Dan walked into the stone temple.

On the offering altar inside the temple, several pills lay quietly in a pitch-black furnace, giving off a faint fragrance.

Li Dan's face soured as though he had seen rat droppings. After holding it in for a long while, he slowly spoke.

"Fuck!"

"These are fucking top-grade pills?"

Seeing that the pills did not even have pill patterns, Li Dan cursed in disgust.

Though this furnace of pills had no pill patterns, they were still high-grade pills of good quality. In anyone else's eyes, they would absolutely be supreme treasures.

But who was Li Dan?

Every pill the Li Lineage distributed had nine patterns. He really had no interest in this stuff.

"No wonder the young master didn't want to participate."

Li Dan muttered, picked up the "rat droppings" in the furnace, and tossed them disdainfully to the people who had accompanied him.

They received them as though they had obtained supreme treasures.

Bai Xiaolin froze at the sight of what he was doing.

What's going on? Are these pills worthless now? He's just throwing them away?

Seeing Bai Xiaolin looking as though he had never seen the world, Li Dan casually tossed a pill from inside his robe.

"This is an Origin-Returning Pill. Take it, and it'll heal your injuries instantly."

With that, Li Dan left with the others.

His eyes burning, Bai Xiaolin cradled the pill in trembling hands and spoke with difficulty.

"Th-this is... n-nine patterns, a nine-pattern pill! Holy shit! Brother Dan, wait for me! Wait for me!"

At the foot of the mountain, Li Xiao curled his lip.

Fuck, he got to do all the showing off. If I'd known, I would've gone myself.