In a clash between experts, a single move could decide life or death, and Li Sha was cautious by nature. His instincts screamed for him to flee. If he could return to the Heavenly Dragon Sect, Liu Wuxie would never dare kill him in broad daylight.
But he quickly realized his mistake. He had underestimated Liu Wuxie's cultivation. Liu Wuxie had already reached the Transcendent Realm.
He had cultivated the Ancient Breath-Concealing Art, perfectly hiding his aura to the extent that even elders at the Primal Origin Realm would struggle to detect if he willed it.
The other cultivator at the Origin Conversion Realm felt his face change drastically. It made no sense. How could someone at the Transcendent Realm release such overwhelming power? What stunned him even more was Liu Wuxie's exquisite mastery over the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms.
Aside from Mad Dog, only the twelve elders outside knew that Liu Wuxie had succeeded in mastering the Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms.
Above them, the divine dragon coiled in the sky like a colossal millstone, its suffocating might sweeping across the heavens.
"Quick, run!" The cultivator at the pinnacle of the Transcendent Realm staggered back, terror breaking his composure. He stumbled, desperate to escape.
Li Sha had just turned to run when an oppressive force descended from above.
"Dragon Subduing Tiger!"
Countless fists materialized in the air. Usually, this form summoned a hundred phantom fists at most, but Liu Wuxie conjured thousands. Packed densely, they cascaded down like a torrential waterfall.
The fists struck like a storm, each punch carrying the weight of an Origin Conversion Realm strike.
"Liu Wuxie, I was wrong! Please spare me!" Li Sha collapsed to his knees, crushed under the dragon aura. He could not even stand, much less flee.
"Too late!" Liu Wuxie's voice rang like a decree of heaven.
The downpour of fists rained mercilessly. Li Sha's body absorbed hundreds of strikes in a single breath.
Mad Dog had been a hardened veteran of the Origin Conversion Realm, yet even he crumbled beneath Liu Wuxie's Nine Heavenly Dragon Forms. What chance did these novices, who had only just advanced, ever have?
Liu Wuxie's barrage pulverized Li Sha's body, and his cries ended. Liu Wuxie drew out the laws from his corpse and sealed them into the Sky Devouring Divine Cauldron for his future breakthrough.
The last surviving cultivator trembled violently, too terrified to resist. But mercy never came. The storm of fists swallowed him as well, reducing him and the other disciple to ashes.
Outside the mountain range, hisses of shock escaped the elders who witnessed the massacre through the Memory Stone. While ordinary disciples remained ignorant of Liu Wuxie's true combat strength, the twelve elders had seen everything with their own eyes.
"He's too powerful! Without a doubt, first place will go to him this year," exclaimed a Heavenly Martial Institute elder.
Last year, first place had gone to the War Dragon Institute. The year before, the Dharma Institute. It had been many years since the Heavenly Martial Institute produced a champion.
"Don't be so certain," Huang Shan snorted coldly. "Two more segments remain, and no one can guarantee survival. Don't forget Mu Heng has already reached the second-level of the Origin Conversion Realm."
"Do you think the second level of the Origin Conversion Realm matters when he can crush a first-level expert with ease?" a Heavenly Martial Institute elder countered sharply.
After the slaughter, Liu Wuxie bent down and collected their interspatial rings. Li Sha's contained three jade tokens, while the other two yielded five more. There were also spiritual pills and astral stones, though nothing of great value.
"We have to move faster. We need to secure all the fifth-grade spiritual pills before anyone else," Liu Wuxie said. He planned to push He Yingwu into the Transcendent Realm as soon as possible so his companion could truly support him.
They pressed on through the plains. Along the way, Liu Wuxie uncovered two more jade tokens. But as he pocketed the last one, several disciples spotted him from afar.
"Go inform Mu Heng that Liu Wuxie has collected a mountain of jade tokens!" they shouted.
They were disciples of the War Dragon Institute. Their real aim was to curry favor with Mu Heng, ensuring that first place would not fall to the Heavenly Martial Institute.
Rumor spread like wildfire, word of Liu Wuxie's growing hoard racing faster than his own movements. Soon, many disciples banded together, realizing that plunder was far easier than searching alone.
On the sixth day, Liu Wuxie's Ghost Eye led him to fifty more jade tokens and two fifth-grade spiritual pills. With the pills, He Yingwu finally stepped into the Transcendent Realm. In just days, their combined strength had transformed drastically.
When Mu Heng heard of Liu Wuxie's staggering number of tokens, fury burned in his eyes, he immediately summoned the War Dragon Institute disciples.
"Senior Brother Mu Heng, we can't allow Liu Wuxie to take first place!" voices echoed, more than fifty disciples rallying to his call.
Now at the second level of the Origin Conversion Realm and on the cusp of breaking into the third, Mu Heng's strength, paired with his noble background, made him the natural leader. Many sought to curry favor, knowing the sect would inevitably promote him to inner disciple. If they formed ties with him now, they would secure their future in the sect.
Meanwhile, in another part of the mountain range, the Dharma Institute disciples gathered.
"Elder Huang has sent word," a disciple announced grimly. "Whoever kills Liu Wuxie will receive one hundred thousand astral stones and two fifth-grade spiritual pills." This content belongs to novel⁂fire.net
The speaker, Qin Ming, had ranked fourth during the assessment and was a second-level cultivator of the Origin Conversion Realm. His talent paled beside Mu Heng's, but without Liu Wuxie, he might have claimed third place.
"Senior Brother Qin Ming, why are we going after Liu Wuxie? We have no feud with him," a Dharma Institute disciple protested. "It was Yan Bei who picked a fight with him in the first place."
Not everyone wanted Liu Wuxie's blood. Many disciples had entered the sect to cultivate in peace.
"You don't need the reasons," Qin Ming said coldly. "All you need to know is that someone in the upper echelons doesn't want him alive. Obey, and the institute will reward you."
He gave no names, but the meaning was clear. This order came from beyond Huang Shan, perhaps from higher in the Heavenly Dragon Sect. Refusal was not an option. If they did, their life would be over in the Dharma Institute.
Reluctantly, the disciples agreed and set out to hunt Liu Wuxie.
Liu Wuxie remained unaware of these plots. His speed in collecting jade tokens only increased. By now, he had amassed more than three hundred, while Mu Heng lagged far behind at thirty. The difference was tenfold.
With only three days remaining, the competition grew bloodier.
"Wuxie, something's wrong. Everyone seems to be avoiding us deliberately," He Yingwu observed. No matter if it was War Dragon or Dharma Institute disciples, they all retreated the moment they crossed paths.
"We'll find out soon enough," Liu Wuxie sneered. He kept gathering jade tokens and searching for the remaining fifth-grade pills.
He could faintly sense the hand of higher powers moving against him. Yan Bei had been only the opening act, and the sudden rule change allowing killing was proof enough that someone wanted him dead.
He had just joined the Heavenly Martial Institute and hardly had time to offend anyone. If he had crossed anyone in the Heavenly Dragon Sect, it could only be Li Chen, whom he had rejected when Li Chen invited him to the War Dragon Institute during the assessment. Accepting that offer would have sealed his fate.
On the eighth day, open war erupted between smaller groups.
The War Dragon Institute rallied under Mu Heng and Shen Yue, forming a formidable army. The Dharma Institute gathered under Qin Ming, equally strong. Its lack of leadership fractured the Heavenly Martial Institute, leaving it vulnerable.
The disciple who had placed sixth in the assessment chose solitude, refusing to involve himself. As for Li Sha, Liu Wuxie had already killed him.
"Senior Brother Qin Ming, we've located Liu Wuxie's trail!" a Dharma Institute disciple reported breathlessly.
"Move out," Qin Ming said, his lips curling as he led fifty disciples down the mountain.
Their group was terrifying—five Origin Conversion Realm cultivators marched within their ranks, Qin Ming himself at the second level. Even Mu Heng would think twice before confronting them head-on.
Elsewhere, Liu Wuxie uncovered another jade token that someone had hidden within a cracked boulder. Alongside it, he retrieved the seventh fifth-grade spiritual pill. His total jade token count now reached five hundred.
Outside the green zone, the elders stared in disbelief.
"If I remember correctly, the best record was three hundred tokens, and that was through plundering others. This is the first time someone has gathered so many purely on his own skill," a Heavenly Martial Institute elder said in awe.
The four elders from his institute looked at one another, joy swelling in their hearts. The Heavenly Martial Institute would dominate the wilderness training this year, securing more resources for itself.
"Celebrate later—if he survives," Ding Yi said heavily. Though optimistic, he recognized the severity of the situation. "If no one intervenes, the death toll will soar."
"So many are heading toward Liu Wuxie's position!" another Heavenly Martial Institute elder exclaimed, rising to his feet. He could see waves of disciples converging on Liu Wuxie's trail.
"What is the Dharma Institute plotting? Why are they targeting him again and again?" the elders growled in unison, their anger rising. They wouldn't bother if it were just robbery, but the Dharma Institute's disciples clearly had other motives.
Ding Yi's sharp gaze cut across the gathering and landed on Huang Shan. Behind the man's calm facade, he caught the faintest smirk. That alone confirmed what he needed to know: that Huang Shan was pulling the strings.