A golden emblem was imprinted on the forehead of the girl in red, signifying a Grade 5 Core quota, which was one level higher than Liu Bai's. It was clear that this girl was also a gifted student.
Only after truly entering the Northern Heavens Realm did Liu Bai realize how many so-called geniuses existed. By now, he had already grown numb to it.
After slaying the Lion King, the girl finally let out a breath of relief, and the next moment, her entire body collapsed to the ground. With great effort, she took out a verdant fruit, about the size of an apricot, and directly swallowed it in one bite.
"Eh, that's actually a Spiritjade Fruit. This is a top-tier healing spiritual item. It works even better when refined into pills. To just eat it raw like that is far too wasteful," Liu Bai murmured to himself, feeling a sense of regret.
The knowledge of spiritual plants, ores, and beasts was an essential course at the Northern Spiritual Academy. Over the course of nearly two years, Liu Bai had memorized a great deal of practical information.
Though it felt like a waste of its medicinal power, with that Spiritjade Fruit, the red-clothed girl's injuries would likely be seventy to eighty percent healed within an hour at most.
Naturally, the three figures hovering in the sky with clearly malicious intent wouldn't allow her to recover so easily.
The next instant, the three of them dove down from the sky like hawks spotting prey.
"Heh, I knew you weren't being honest. So you were hiding a Spiritjade Fruit after all. Even the Goldenflame Lion King fell to you. Seems we of the Sealion Faction underestimated you…" The three surrounded the girl as a black-robed youth sneered.
"But since you've already come this far, we won't make things too difficult. Hand over all remaining Spiritjade Fruits and your emblem. As long as you agree, we'll let you leave peacefully."
The red-robed girl's expression turned icy, clearly not expecting that the three had been tracking her all along. She didn't need to guess to realize that the lion horde earlier must have been a trap set up by them.
However, now that she was severely injured, with her spiritual energy churning chaotically within her, she couldn't control it at all—making her unable to fight back in the short term.
"Fan Xiu, don't push me too far!" the girl shouted coldly, her voice filled with anger. If one looked closely, they would also see the grievance and helplessness welling up in her crystalline eyes.
"Zhou Ze already took the entire Spiritjade Fruit Tree. Why are you still pushing me this hard?"
The situation was simple. The girl had discovered a Spiritjade Fruit Tree an extremely rare natural treasure. Then others came to seize it. Facing overwhelming numbers, she had no choice but to retreat. Yet she never expected them to relentlessly pursue her, still wanting to steal the few fruits she had picked.
The boy named Fan Xiu didn't care for her beauty in the slightest. Even seeing her forcibly composed expression only made him scoff in disdain.
The real reason the three had joined forces to pursue her wasn't merely for a few Spiritjade Fruits.
The truth was, this girl had stumbled upon certain information she shouldn't have. That was why they'd been hunting her all this time to prevent her from accidentally revealing the secret.
It was just that, even now, she still didn't seem to realize she was being hunted for this reason. Truly foolish!
Of course, the three weren't planning to kill her or anything. As long as their boss took care of things on his end, this girl would no longer be a threat, and they could stop chasing her.
But if there were a method to settle things once and for all, Fan Xiu didn't mind using it.
After thinking for a moment, Fan Xiu's lips curled into a sly smile. "How about this—keep the Spiritjade Fruit, but I want you to destroy the emblem on your forehead and withdraw from the examination altogether."
Wouldn't that solve everything in one move?
Ah, what a brilliant idea! Truly worthy of being called genius!
"Impossible! You might as well kill me, but if I die, I'll take at least one or two of you with me!" the girl growled, her once cold and elegant face now contorted with fury.
This did frighten the trio a bit. After all, she did have the ability to follow through on such a threat.
In an instant, the other two looked toward Fan Xiu with discontent in their eyes, blaming him for going too far with his words. What if this stupid girl really did go all out?
At this moment, as a bystander, Liu Bai saw through the situation. The three clearly had another motive their true goal was to silence her.
"So, they really are hiding something. That's perfect. Let me find out what it is…"
With both hands raised, dozens of spiritual seals rapidly flowed from Liu Bai's palms, merging into the void before him. A formidable spiritual energy fluctuation began to ripple outward.
A full thirty-five spiritual seals. The array he was preparing had a power equivalent to at least the mid-Phase of Divine Soul Realm.
Liu Bai had already entered the Heart Array state, so he didn't need to rely on his eyes to draw the Spiritual Diagram. Within just a few breaths, golden lines began to form in the air, spreading outward like a spiderweb.
Soon, the red-clothed girl and the three pursuers sensed the spiritual fluctuation and turned toward Liu Bai's direction with wary expressions.
After all, they were in the dangerous Northern Heavens Realm. It was natural to be vigilant of possible ambushes by powerful spiritual beasts.
But Liu Bai no longer cared. At this moment, his hand seals shifted slightly, and a massive golden array began to expand within a hundred-zhang radius in front of him.
The moment the array was activated, the surrounding air began to distort under the intense spiritual force.
"Not good! Someone's deploying an array!" Fan Xiu shouted. With a wave of his hand, a spiritual sword appeared and shot toward Liu Bai's location.
Unfortunately, while Liu Bai had only set up a Rank Two spiritual array, with his current array mastery and complete understanding of the Spiritual Diagram, the time he took had already been enough to fully complete the Five Wheel Heaven-Splitting Array.
"Chi chi!"
As the sharp spiritual sword sped toward him, Liu Bai remained calm. The golden array spun slowly, emitting sharp golden light that quickly condensed into five golden gear-shaped blades over three meters wide.
The instant they appeared, the gears began spinning rapidly, the terrifying saw-like teeth slicing even the air. Gradually, the golden light grew more radiant, the blades appearing as if forged from pure gold.
Clang!
A crisp metallic ring echoed out as Fan Xiu's flying sword was instantly shattered upon touching the spinning blade. Then, the five massive blades spun forward, hurtling toward the trio with terrifying speed.
"Danger! Dodge!" Fan Xiu cried out upon sensing the immense threat from the approaching blades.
He immediately took out a small black shield-type spiritual artifact, channeling his spiritual energy into it with all his strength.
Zzzzzz!
A massive black spiritual shield materialized and shielded Fan Xiu's back. The spinning blade ground against the surface of the shield, emitting a piercing screech.
The other two weren't as lucky. Lacking such durable defensive artifacts, they used all their spiritual energy to defend but even so, they were still seriously injured by the blades.
One particularly unlucky fellow was nearly disemboweled, left with a massive wound across his chest.
Of course, this was Liu Bai holding back. Otherwise, even the Goldenflame Lion King from earlier would have been sliced cleanly in half by these spinning blades.
After all, this was still an entrance examination. If he truly killed someone, the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy would surely notice, and he might end up expelled just like Mu Chen was back on the Spiritual Road.
As for Fan Xiu, who was barely hanging on behind his shield, Liu Bai merely focused his will. Instantly, the five saw-toothed golden blades curved into a spinning arc, transforming into five golden bolts of lightning from all directions, ready to dismember him into five pieces.
"I surrender!!!"
At the last possible moment, Fan Xiu directly collapsed to the ground in complete submission, prostrating himself and shouting his surrender at the top of his lungs.
The five golden light wheels stopped just short of one meter from his body. The deadly arcs of spiritual light resembling saw blades had already torn through his robes, even leaving faint traces of blood on his skin.
Fan Xiu was drenched in cold sweat, his entire body trembling slightly.
Just a moment ago, he had nearly been dismembered on the spot!
That guy who had been hiding and secretly setting up arrays was absolutely ruthless. He had genuinely intended to take his life.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
A series of footsteps echoed, and the four figures present—wounded or kneeling turned their eyes toward the sound.
A tall, slender figure walked over slowly, his back to the sunlight.
"Surrender, huh? That's fine. Then as punishment for your defeat, hand over your emblems all three of you."
Upon hearing this, the expressions of Fan Xiu and the others immediately turned grim.
They had worked hard to accumulate their current Grade 5 emblems. To have them stolen all at once was something they could not accept.
Moreover, it wasn't until Liu Bai appeared that they realized this guy was merely at the peak of the Spiritual Wheel Realm. His cultivation level was lower than any of theirs...
If not for him having pre-arranged a spiritual array, how could the three of them have lost so miserably?
With that thought, a different idea emerged in Fan Xiu's mind. As Liu Bai approached, his entire body tensed, prepared to strike at any moment.
"You dared to make me kneel I'll take your life!"
All of a sudden, Fan Xiu exploded into motion, surging spiritual energy erupting from his body. Without hesitation, he punched forward with full force.
Even a newly advanced Divine Soul Realm cultivator possessed spiritual energy several times more abundant than someone at the peak of the Spiritual Wheel Realm. An ordinary cultivator at Liu Bai's level would never dare to face him head-on, or they would be crushed instantly.
But Liu Bai was no ordinary person. Not only did he possess three spiritual wheels within his body, he also cultivated a Deity-level body refinement art. His Mountain God Art was known for its weight and defensive power.
Therefore, without hesitation, Liu Bai raised his fist and collided with Fan Xiu's attack directly.
Boom!
The instant their fists collided, the joy that had flashed across Fan Xiu's face vanished completely. An intense pain shot from his fist up his arm. The spiritual energy from Liu Bai's punch was abnormally domineering. Not only did it forcibly shatter the spiritual energy protecting his fist, but there was also a mysterious force that surged into his body as if aiming to break him apart from the inside.
Fan Xiu's body trembled violently. He staggered backward, blood surging up his throat before he spat out a mouthful.
Not only had his body suffered from the terrifying impact, but his entire right arm had gone numb and powerless, as though the bones inside had been reduced to fragments.
"Looks like you weren't truly surrendering. In that case... destroy your emblem. Otherwise, I don't mind sending you out of this world myself."
If Liu Bai's original intent had merely been to seize their emblems, now he had truly developed a killing intent.
The red glow that had been buried deep within his pupils emerged once again. The cold killing aura enveloped the sky above, sending a chill down the spines of everyone present.
"You... you can't kill me! I'm a member of the Zhou Faction, and if you kill me, the monitors from Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy won't let you go!" Fan Xiu shouted desperately, clinging to this final thread of hope.
"Oh? Zhou Faction? Heh... then would you like to test it? Test whether I'll kill you, and after killing you, whether I'll be punished for it…"
Liu Bai remained unmoved. His previously handsome face now wore a smile utterly devoid of warmth.
Looking at that smile especially those eyes that disregarded all life—Fan Xiu finally broke down completely. He began to sob uncontrollably.
"Don't kill me, please don't kill me. I'll do whatever you say... anything…"
After all, he was merely a sixteen- or seventeen-year-old youth. Perhaps he had experienced killing and seen life and death, but when such a thing truly fell upon himself, he could not bring himself to face death with calm.
Liu Bai smiled faintly. This guy really couldn't handle fear. Besides, even if he truly intended to kill, he had to be able to carry it out. One had to remember the emblem on their foreheads wasn't just a level marker, but also a safeguard to prevent them from dying too easily.
Still, that faint smile from Liu Bai combined with his cold detachment struck terror into the hearts of everyone who saw it.
With a wave of his hand, a golden light shot from the emblem on Fan Xiu's forehead and merged into the Grade 4 emblem on Liu Bai's own forehead.
Since Fan Xiu's was a Grade 5 emblem, after fusion, Liu Bai's emblem directly rose to Grade 5. Combined with the other two Grade 5 emblems, the golden glow on his forehead had already begun shifting toward dark-gold.
Once it completely transformed into dark-gold, his emblem would officially enter the Grade 6 rank.
As for Fan Xiu, not only had the spiritual energy within his emblem been lost, but even the emblem itself had been stripped away…
Under Liu Bai's indifferent gaze, he could only grit his teeth, shut his eyes, and destroy the emblem on his forehead.
Shortly after Fan Xiu's emblem was destroyed, only a few minutes later, a stream of light descended swiftly from the sky and landed directly before them.
Liu Bai glanced at the newcomer. He appeared young, but the aura around him was as heavy as a mountain. His very presence felt as vast and oppressive as heaven and earth themselves.
.....
For Advance Chapters
pateron.com/Translaterappu
Bonus Chapter @
300 power stones =1
500 power stones =2
1 Review = 1 Chapter