Sylphie already has various wounds all over her body, but the fighting intent in her eyes did not vanish. Instead, those emerald-green eyes flickered with an even more intense glow as the battle continued.

"This little girl is insane! Just give up the damned tokens so we can leave you alone!" Shouted the thin man to Sylphie. He was growing irritated at her tenacious willpower. If not for Lu Sulan's warning about killing other applicants, he would have already used his killing techniques against this damnable woman!

The leader watched the battle between his two buddies and Sylphie with surprise. He found it hard to believe that a little girl was actually able to hold her ground against his friends. Although those guys looked deplorable and dishonest, they still came from renowned families outside the Silver Wing Empire and they had access to valuable resources.

The leader's name is Jon. His eyes flashed as he recalled his tough childhood. Jon could see himself in Sylphie and this made him smile.

"Troy, Hans! Let's go! Just leave her be. We don't have much time to dawdle around here." Jon shouted towards his friends as he walked towards Sylphie.

"Boss, come on! She's already spent! Just give us more time!" Hans, the thin man pleaded to Jon, but he only received the latter's cold gaze.

Sylphie could hardly stand to her feet, but she refused to collapse even in that state. This made Jon admire her even more.

Sylphie was quite surprised that the two crooks actually stopped fighting her when she was already on the verge of being defeated. She stared at the leader who was walking towards her with a wary gaze. This guy was able to command her opponents to stop fighting her with just a few words. She wondered what this guy was up to.

Jon put his right hand inside his pocket and took something out before he stretched his arm to Sylphie.

The girl quickly lifted her sword when she saw Jon's strange actions, but this only made the man erupt into peals of laughter. "Girl, I apologize for hurting you so much. We had no choice since this is part of the assessment. I admire your determination, so I will withdraw here with my buddies."

Sylphie could not believe what she had heard and she was at loss for words. These dirty-looking men were actually quite honorable...

"Here. Take this as our compensation." Jon grabbed Sylphie's shaking hand and placed something on her palm. He then smiled kindly at her before he walked away.

"Girl, if you manage to pass all three assessments, just look for me when you need something." Jon waved his hand without looking back.

Sylphie stared at their departing figures with complicated emotions. She then stared at her hand and was dumbfounded at what she saw. It was a token! There was also a piece of healing pill and it did not look cheap either!

She almost cried at this unexpected generosity, but she was too tired for that.

Without hesitation, Sylphie consumed the healing pill and kept the token to herself. She now has three tokens and this made her feel happy.

"I won't forget this kindness..." She muttered while looking in the direction where she had last seen Jon's group.

Unbeknownst to her, there was a silhouette of a woman standing atop a tree just a hundred meters away from her. "Hmph! At least those guys are not completely disgraceful! Since there's nothing more to see here, I should go find my brother and the others."

Swoosh!

Her shadow vanished in a flash...

***

"Sect Master, the emperor requests an audience with you." Xia Xinyue's voice can be heard outside his room.

Jiu Shen calmly sat on his chair when he heard Xia Xinyue's words and said. "Bring him in."

Creak.

Xia Xinyue went inside the room with the emperor following behind her.

Emperor Elyk stared at the man who was still calmly sitting on a chair even in his presence. If it was anyone else, he would have already felt offended, but the man in front of him was different.

"Sect Master Jiu Shen, congratulations on your sect's successful establishment and also for the successful recruitment!" Emperor Elyk smiled as he looked at Jiu Shen's expressionless face.

"Elyk, I know you're not here just to say these words. Just tell me what made you come here." Jiu Shen uttered indifferently.

Emperor Elyk chuckled at his words and replied. "Sect Master Jiu, the Alliance sent four of their Alliance Heads to come here including Alliance Head Situ. They were present during the opening ceremony of your sect and they badly wanted to see you, but we could not find you after that. I hope you can come with me to the castle and grace us with your presence."

"I'm not interested in meeting any of those kids." Jiu Shen refused in a calm tone.

The word 'kids' rang inside the emperor's head like the chiming of bells. Only Jiu Shen was able to speak like this to such individuals. Thinking about it, the emperor could only smile wryly.

Emperor Elyk had already expected Jiu Shen's refusal especially because his Heavenly Sword Tower was still in the middle of recruitment.

"In that case, I shall take my leave. I'm sorry for disturbing you, Sect Master Jiu." Emperor Elyk said in a slightly downcast tone.

"Wait. Before you leave, take this with you and give it to those young ones. I can sense that the demons are planning something and when that time comes, this might come in handy." Jiu Shen said as he flicked a cube-like item to the emperor.

Emperor Elyk caught the item with a look of surprise. He stared at it and sensed a strong power hidden inside when he injected his true essence into the item.

"Sect Master Jiu, this is..." The emperor had no idea what this strange thing was, so he could only glance at Jiu Shen with curiosity, but the man merely stared at him with an indifferent look.

"When the time comes that you need to use its power, just crush that cube. Now leave." Jiu Shen waved his hand and shooed the emperor away as if he was an annoying fly.

Emperor Elyk gratefully bowed his head before he left the room.

Even when he was already outside the sword tower, he still kept on looking at the cube-like item that Jiu Shen handed to him.

"Just what could this be? Maybe I should ask my old man and the Alliance Heads. They might know what this item is..." He muttered before keeping the cube inside his space ring.