After leaving the village, Lin Chang’sheng and Gu Shan headed straight for Sunset City, which lay a hundred thousand miles away.
For ordinary people, a journey of a hundred thousand miles would take years, but for Lin Chang’sheng and Gu Shan, it was only a matter of days.
Roar—
Three days later, Lin Chang’sheng and Gu Shan heard the roar of a tiger from afar.
"Up ahead should be Tiger Roar Valley; Sunset City isn’t far now!"
Lin Chang’sheng thought to himself.
Rumble—
But just as Lin Chang’sheng was about to fly across Tiger Roar Valley toward Sunset City, a thunderous rumbling erupted from the ground nearby.
It sounded like cultivators were fighting.
Lin Chang’sheng glanced over and saw small groups of people clashing below.
Most of them were young disciples, from unknown sects, apparently fighting over the corpse of a ferocious Demon Beast tiger.
"You guys from the Profound Nether Sect are going too far! If you want a Demon Beast, why don’t you hunt one yourself? What skill is there in robbing us from the Fierce Sun Sect?"
Below, a young man shouted angrily.
He wore golden robes and cut quite a handsome figure, with sword-shaped brows and star-bright eyes.
Standing across from him was a somewhat older man dressed in blue robes.
"Why go through all the trouble of hunting a Demon Beast, when snatching one is so much faster? I suggest you all just hand it over, or you might end up dead for nothing!"
The older male disciple from Xuan Ming Sect, decked in blue, mocked them.
A black mole marred his right cheek—a clear villain if there ever was one.
But his cultivation was remarkable; though just in his thirties, he had already reached the Middle Stage of Void Refining.
The other disciples were only at the Early Stage of Void Refining, or even lower. Standing against him was clearly a huge stretch.
"Senior Brother Zhu, if it doesn’t work out, let’s just leave! Giving our lives for a Demon Beast isn’t worth it!"
Behind the golden-robed young man, a junior brother whispered a warning.
But Zhu Zicheng showed no intention of backing down. To kill this Red Gold White-striped Tiger, two of their fellow sect members had already been wounded.
How could they just let Xuan Ming take it now?
"You all leave first. If they want to rob us, I’ll make them pay the price!"
Zhu Zicheng’s brow knitted, as if he’d resolved to fight a blood-soaked battle.
"Fine, if you’re looking to die, I’ll grant your wish!"
The blue-robed man swung his blade, primordial power flooding in and making the blade aura burst forth, instantly scaring back many Fierce Sun Sect disciples.
"Go! Quick, get out of here!"
"Senior Brother Zhu, let’s retreat! It’s not worth dying for a Demon Beast!"
"Yeah, let’s just give it to them!"
...
The other disciples chimed in, pleading.
They all withdrew to a safe distance, not wanting to die for a Demon Beast.
Yet Zhu Zicheng showed not the slightest hint of fear, fixing his gaze squarely on the blue-robed disciple.
"If you want to take this Demon Beast from me, then you’ll have to walk over my corpse!"
Zhu Zicheng’s gaze was resolute as iron.
"Die!"
The blue-robed disciple hesitated no longer. With a ferocious slash, his blade aura exploded with sinister might, gathering in midair into a massive arc that cleaved down at Zhu Zicheng.
The Fierce Sun Sect disciples instantly sensed danger, certain that Zhu Zicheng might die beneath that blow.
After all, his opponent was a full Small Realm higher than him.
For ordinary cultivators, even a gap of one Small Realm was a chasm that couldn’t be crossed without special talent.
"Unrivaled Sword Qi!"
Facing the blue-robed disciple’s overwhelming blade aura, Zhu Zicheng didn’t retreat—instead, he slashed out with his sword, thrusting it forward.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
Countless sword auras flared, gathering into a longsword glowing with golden light, surging to meet the blade aura head-on.
The light from the sword was blinding as a blazing sun, making it hard even to keep one’s eyes open.
Clearly, Zhu Zicheng had mastered this sword technique to the realm of Perfection.
Rumble—
In the next instant, the two attacks collided violently in midair.
The deafening boom made everyone’s eardrums ache.
A devastating shockwave blasted out from the two fighters at the center, crushing all trees and boulders within a hundred zhang and turning them to flying debris.
Everyone nearby raised their sleeves to shield their faces.
When the dust finally settled, the two figures still stood at the heart of the battlefield.
Zhu Zicheng had actually only been forced back more than ten steps by that strike before regaining his footing.
The spectators found this hard to believe.
If Zhu Zicheng and the blue-robed disciple were of equal realm, the one to lose might have been the latter.
"Well, kid, I underestimated you! Let’s see how you handle this next slash!"
Xuan Ming Sect’s blue-robed disciple, feeling thoroughly humiliated, swung his blade again at Zhu Zicheng.
"Celestial Blade Splitting Earth!"
With a roar, his blade aura burst into ten thousand rays, hacking down at Zhu Zicheng yet again.
Zhu Zicheng’s gaze remained unyielding as ever—he didn’t take a step back.
Even knowing he might not withstand this next strike, he showed no sign of retreat.
"Come and fight!"
Zhu Zicheng roared right back, pushing his sword aura to the limit. Myriad Sword Lights erupted at once, slashing toward his enemy.
Boom, boom, boom—
Thundering explosions rang out yet again.
After another brutal exchange, one person finally fell. Only one left standing in the heart of the battlefield.
Everyone had expected the blue-robed Xuan Ming disciple to win.
But to everyone’s surprise, Zhu Zicheng was the one still standing.
Meanwhile, the blue-robed disciple from Profound Nether Sect had been blasted away, sword qi tearing into his body, crimson blood gushing from one wound after another—clearly, he was gravely injured.
"How—how is this possible?"
The blue-robed disciple coughed blood, staring at Zhu Zicheng in shock, unable to believe he had lost.