Bear-Slaying Maiden

"Don't think you can lord it over us just because you have a Spirit Sword. It's not like we don't have trump cards too!"

Watching the Brocatelle Youth press closer step by step, the White-Robed Youth gritted his teeth and said.

"Remember this—this young master is Chu Yi of Lingkong Academy!"

Boom!

After the White-Robed Youth, Chu Yi, spoke, a terrifying surge of spiritual energy erupted from his body. In the blink of an eye, his aura rose to the Divine Soul Realm.

"Spirit Vein!"

Many of the surrounding people were startled at the sight.

After all, everyone present was a once-in-ten-thousand young genius. There were quite a few people with Spirit Veins among them. Or rather, the more one came into contact with powerful experts, the more people with Spirit Veins one would encounter. There was nothing strange about it.

Yet the Brocatelle Youth's expression did not change. Instead, a disdainful smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

"It's merely a Human Vein, yet you dare show off before this young master!"

Whoosh!

The Spirit Sword swung, and a fierce gale instantly flew from its blade. Like a storm of sword blades, it left crack after crack across the platform's ground wherever it passed.

What?!

Chu Yi was startled by the scene. Clearly, he had still underestimated the power of the Middle-Grade Spirit Sword.

He threw a full-force punch, only barely managing to offset the blade's power. Even the white sleeve at his cuff was shredded. Chu Yi hurriedly shouted to the others, "What are you idiots waiting for? Attack!"

The other four stopped watching as well. After all, they now shared the same enemy, so there was no problem joining forces for the moment.

Heavenly Sword Break!

Mountain Suppressing Seal!

Illusion Sword Slash!

Heavenly Thunder Break!

The four unleashed their Spiritual Arts simultaneously. Judging by their power, they were all Spirit Grade Low Rank Attack Spiritual Arts.

Liu Bai watched with great satisfaction. As expected of talented students from the major Spiritual Academies. Their temperaments might still be lacking, but their combat strength was certainly genuine.

"Hahaha! So what if you join forces? Why should I, Zhou Ze, fear you?!"

With a long laugh, the Brocatelle Youth Zhou Ze radiated boundless boldness. The spiritual energy around him surged, directly reaching the peak of the early Divine Soul Realm, and he suppressed the other four all by himself.

"Eh? This kid has an Earth Vein too. It seems the geniuses of the Great Thousand World really are as numerous as stars," Liu Bai could not help saying.

After all, Liu Bai himself had nearly killed until he lost himself to madness in order to raise his Spirit Vein to an Earth Vein. Seeing someone born with an Earth Vein was truly just a little irritating.

Boom!

Just as the others' attacks were about to land on him, Zhou Ze held his longsword before himself. Then, a violent storm suddenly erupted from within his body, forming an enormous rotating wind wall that directly blocked every attack. It then spread at high speed, clearing out everything within a radius of dozens of meters.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Four successive impacts rang out. Chu Yi and the other three were instantly sent flying, then crashed heavily to the ground and spat out mouthfuls of blood, their eyes filled with horror.

The surrounding crowd also sucked in cold breaths. Four late Spirit Wheel Realm experts had been utterly defeated without even touching their opponent. Was the gap really that vast?

Then Zhou Ze walked over and raised a hand. The marks between Chu Yi and the others' brows rapidly dimmed, and streaks of light flew out before burrowing into the red mark on his own forehead.

After taking so many Third-Grade Marks, the mark on Zhou Ze's forehead had already become deep red, with hazy silver light shimmering around it. It looked as though it was about to turn silver...

"It still hasn't risen to Fourth Grade? I'm just one short!" With that thought, Zhou Ze's gaze fell upon Liu Bai.

"You. Hand over your mark and spare yourself the suffering."

Although Liu Bai's cultivation was slightly higher, that was not enough to bridge the gap between them. Whether it was his Spirit Vein or the Spirit Sword in his hand, both gave Zhou Ze the ability to fight above his level.

"Hehe, I'd actually quite like to know what suffering you intend to make me endure..." Liu Bai said with a light smile.

Zhou Ze's expression immediately darkened. "Are you provoking me?"

Nine Spirit Sword Art!

Without another word, Zhou Ze shouted furiously. Massive spiritual energy swept out and formed nine longswords of spiritual energy before him.

Formed around the Spirit Sword, each of these spiritual longswords carried sharp cyan wind blades. They shot forth in an instant, encircling Liu Bai in a fan-shaped formation. Their sharpness easily pierced through the air.

Liu Bai was even more surprised at the sight. Zhou Ze truly was extraordinary. Had he entered the Spirit Road, even if he could not become a king, he would certainly have stood among its finest.

"It seems the students recruited by the Five Great Academies, apart from those on the Spirit Road, are not without geniuses either."

The quotas for entering the Spirit Road were selected by the Mirror of Judgment. Even though Liu Bai had read the original novel, he did not know what exactly the Mirror of Judgment was or what it used to make its selections. But relying on a single mirror, it certainly could not sweep up every young genius in the Great Thousand World.

Moreover, not everyone chosen would be willing to enter the Spirit Road. At the end of the day, the Five Great Academies were merely academies, utterly incomparable to those truly powerful factions.

Of course, this was not the time to marvel at how powerful others were. Facing the nine Spirit Swords tearing through the air, Liu Bai rapidly circulated his spiritual energy. A massive yellowish-brown mountain suddenly rose around him, completely enveloping him.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

One Spirit Sword after another struck the mountain, producing crisp ringing sounds.

But what shocked everyone was that Zhou Ze's terrifying attack failed to shake the mountain in the slightest. The formidable spiritual energy left everyone staring in astonishment.

Zhou Ze's face darkened as well. He had not expected Liu Bai's strength to be so great, completely exceeding his expectations.

"You've attacked. Now it should be my turn, right?" Liu Bai suddenly said with a faint smile.

Zhou Ze was alarmed. This guy's defense was so strong—what would his offense be like? He absolutely could not sit back and wait for death!

This was not a turn-based game. After hearing Liu Bai's words, Zhou Ze's first thought was to strike first.

At once, the Spirit Sword in his hand erupted with fierce astral winds again, transforming into a wind blade dozens of meters long that shot straight at Liu Bai.

Whoosh!

The wind blade swept across Liu Bai's body, seemingly cleaving him cleanly in two.

But before Zhou Ze could celebrate his success, Liu Bai's figure, which had been standing in place, rapidly faded away before disappearing...

It had only been an afterimage!

"Not good!"

At that moment, Zhou Ze immediately sensed something was wrong, but it was already too late when he tried to raise his sword in defense.

At some point, Liu Bai had appeared behind him and thrown a punch toward Zhou Ze's chest.

Fist wind surged. Three Black Light Seals rapidly emerged over the surface of his fist, and then he punched out. The domineering gale carried violent origin energy; even a true Divine Soul Realm expert would likely be seriously injured by this punch!

At the critical moment, Zhou Ze finally raised his Spirit Sword and blocked his chest with its blade.

When the black death seals collided with the astral winds surrounding the Spirit Sword, a terrifying shockwave suddenly erupted. Both men were sent staggering backward by the impact.

Zhou Ze could no longer hold his Spirit Sword. It flew from his grasp, while the remaining force of the punch slammed heavily into his chest.

Pfft!

Zhou Ze spat out a mouthful of blood, and his entire aura withered. The Spirit Sword stabbed into the ground beside him, its sharp blade driven a full three feet into the earth.

The entire Reception Platform fell deathly silent. Meanwhile, the four whose marks Zhou Ze had stolen felt incomparably refreshed upon seeing this.

Served you right for daring to scheme against us, you bastard. In the end, weren't you just making a wedding dress for someone else?!

Liu Bai had no intention of mocking him as a victor. He merely raised his hand, and the deep-red mark on Zhou Ze's forehead transformed into a stream of spiritual energy that flew out and merged into Liu Bai's own mark.

Very quickly, the red Third-Grade Mark on Liu Bai's forehead changed rapidly, eventually turning silvery white as it officially reached the standard of a Fourth-Grade Mark.

His goal achieved, Liu Bai naturally had no reason to remain here. He turned and left without looking back.

Although a Fourth-Grade Mark qualified him for admission to Northern Azure Spirit Academy, he would not be content to stop there. Besides, there were plenty of good things in the Northern Cang Realm, and so many people had entered at once. Later, he could even trade marks with others for things he urgently needed. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

This was far more worthwhile than entering Northern Azure Spirit Academy and working hard to earn Spirit Value afterward.

Over the following days, Liu Bai began rapidly traveling through this ancient forest.

Compared with the Northern Spirit Plains and Black Nether Abyss of the Northern Spirit Realm, the Northern Cang Realm had far more treasures. Even searching casually, Liu Bai found several Spirit Materials. After obtaining such spiritual objects, his mark would automatically absorb and store a wisp of their spiritual energy. This not only gave him natural treasures, but also allowed his mark to advance. It was simply killing two birds with one stone.

Naturally, wherever there were spiritual objects, there were guardians. Whenever Liu Bai obtained these treasures, he inevitably had to fight the Spirit Beasts guarding them.

For example, the Ironclad Rhino before Liu Bai now stood four or five meters tall, its body black as iron and a sharp horn growing from its head. It was a top-tier intermediate Spirit Beast, and its powerful defense even gave Divine Soul Realm experts headaches.

Moreover, it had a violent temperament and loved using the meter-long spiraling horn on its head to pierce through every enemy that dared invade its territory. After being disturbed by Liu Bai, it was already in a furious rage.

Moo!

With an enraged roar, the Ironclad Rhino charged over with a thunderous rumble like a tank. Any trees or boulders that dared block its path were smashed into fragments by its hard body.

Seeing this, Liu Bai flashed aside and evaded the deadly charge.

During their earlier exchange, he had already witnessed the Ironclad Rhino's terrifying impact force and absurd defense. His three Senluo Death Seals had struck its body and only forced the black rhino back a few steps without causing even the slightest injury. Liu Bai had been utterly dumbfounded.

Star Shattering Fist, Shatter!

For his next move, Liu Bai directly unleashed his Star Shattering Fist, which had reached the perfect realm and comprehended its true intent.

Like a shooting star, Liu Bai's fist tore through the air and smashed directly into the Ironclad Rhino's thick back.

The tremendous force made the Ironclad Rhino stagger sideways, nearly falling to the ground.

At the same time, an unusual power seeped from Liu Bai's fist through the Ironclad Rhino's tough iron hide. Then a terrifying force erupted from within, immediately leaving cracks deep enough to expose bone across its broad back as blood poured from the wounds like water.

The Ironclad Rhino immediately let out a miserable cry. After several more blows, it finally could not hold on any longer. Its limbs gave out beneath it, and it collapsed to the ground.

Looking at this massive creature, which was breathing out more than it breathed in, Liu Bai could not help thinking that if he had a Spiritual Artifact, it did not even need to be middle-grade. With only a low-grade Spiritual Artifact, he could now kill such a thick-skinned Ironclad Rhino in a single strike.

Why would he need to spend so long tangled up with it here?

Ding! Congratulations to the player for killing a peak intermediate Spirit Beast. You have gained 500 Experience Points and 3 Beast Soul Points.

Looking at his attribute panel, he had nearly forty thousand Experience Points and eighty Beast Soul Points. If needed, Liu Bai could give himself a massive upgrade at any time. Whether it was his spiritual cultivation, body-refining Divine Art, or Array Dao Realm, all could undergo a qualitative transformation.

It was only because he had not encountered any powerful enemies yet that Liu Bai was temporarily maintaining his current relatively average realm. Then, at a critical moment in the future, he could suddenly make an outrageous leap in strength. Whether his enemies were people or Spirit Beasts, he was sure he could give them a real surprise.

This was not playing the pig to eat the tiger. It was simply making reasonable use of his abilities to obtain the greatest possible benefit.

He raised a hand and collected the Ironclad Rhino's Spirit Beast Core. The mark on Liu Bai's forehead absorbed a faint wisp of spiritual energy from it, and the silver radiance upon it deepened slightly.

At this pace, Liu Bai believed he would soon raise his mark to Fifth Grade. By then, he could be considered to have touched the threshold of a Core Quota.

Just as Liu Bai was preparing to determine his direction and continue onward, a terrifying tremor suddenly came from afar, followed by an enormous beast roar that rang out from the sky.

Meanwhile, on a mountain fifty li from Liu Bai's location.

A gigantic black bear crashed to the ground, its scorching blood spreading out and dyeing the earth red.

The giant bear was entirely black, yet a ring of purple patterns circled its neck, as though it wore a collar.

At the front, this "collar" gradually extended downward, forming a purple crescent moon upon its chest. This appearance was precisely the defining trait of the high-grade Spirit Beast, the Purple Striped Black Bear.

And atop the Purple Striped Black Bear's enormous corpse, a girl dressed in black training clothes with an exaggerated curvy figure stood with one foot planted upon it.