“Xie Changsheng, what are you doing!”

Shen Yi was stunned and then gave a disbelieving shout.

There was only one reason why such a large bloom of blood would appear in the muddy water, when the main artery in the leg was cut. Cutting open the main artery in the leg was akin to suicide for any cultivator. Large volumes of blood poured out of the body and brought great discomfort. Xie Changsheng naturally knew better than Shen Yi that he was killing himself.

Yet as Shen Yi shouted, his strange smile grew bigger.

He raised his sword again, and slashed his leg with an indescribably cruel presence.

“Xie Changsheng!”

Shen Yi grew pale. Even if Lie Yinghong did not stop him, he could not help stop Xie Changsheng’s bleeding. This meant that Xie Changsheng would quickly die. He did not understand why Xie Changsheng would do this.

He could not understand at all, but Lie Yinghong understood the meaning in Xie Changsheng’s actions.

He could sense a minute vibration forming in the ground underneath him. In his perception, the brambles in the distance started to shift, being torn apart by a wild power.

He looked at Xie Changsheng, an unspeakable emotion on his features. He could not help but ask, “Just a competition, is it worth it?”

“One lives by loyalty.”

Xie Changsheng’s face was wet, not because of the stream, but a layer of sweat that had formed due to weakness. But he looked with disdain at Lie Yinghong and sneered. “Also, a favor is a drop of water to be repaid with a gushing spring.”

But the gushing stream was a spring of blood.

Lie Yinghong looked at the bloody spring forming in the stream water underneath Xie Changsheng. He was completely silent. He understood the meaning in Xie Changsheng’s words. Xie Changsheng and Ding Ning were friends, and Ding Ning had done a great favour to the Xie Family.

Yet, at this time, to his surprise, Xie Changsheng looked at him and said in a weak voice, “Also, I am called ever winning. I often win when I gamble, and this is in Min Mountain Sword Sect and not out of it. I gamble that Min Mountain Sword Sect would not stand by and watch me die.”

Lie Yinghong suddenly looked up with a harsh light at Xie Changsheng. But Xie Changsheng could no longer see his gaze.

Xie Changsheng had sunk into unconsciousness, falling backwards like heavy pieces of wood. Splash. He created a large bloody wave.

On the cliff, Jing Liuli saw the rippling red waves and frowned deeply. Her expression turned cold but she did not speak dismissively of Xie Changsheng like she had previously.

Tantai Guanjian was observing the movements in the surrounding wilderness. Seeing Xie Changsheng fall down, this Guanzhong youth that had appeared to be extremely stupid before, became proud in his eyes.

“This Guanzhong youth has some great merits,” he said to Jing Liuli.

Then, moving ahead, he lightly stepped into the air. The sword essence that brimmed out of him moved and as he moved, he shone with sword light. He turned into a blinding sword light that fell through the sky.

Xie Changsheng had low cultivation but was the son of the richest man in Guanzhong. The heir to the enormous wealth of the Xie Family had made such a drastic move. Many of the cultivators on the cliffs were amazed.

But they had no time to be amazed.

As Xie Changsheng fell down, before the bloody waves of water could settle back into the stream, Tantai Guanjian’s feet were already touching the stream water.

His sword essence and the friction between his energies and the air caused the air around his feet to burn and give off a blue flame. The surface of the stream boiled as though it was going to cook Xie Changsheng who had just fallen in.

Many people could not clearly see what happened next. A deep sword mark appeared among the red stream, separating it and cutting into the mud of the streambed. Tantai Guanjian and Xie Changsheng disappeared from Shen Yi and Lie Yinghong’s sight.

In the next moment, Tantai Guanjian, holding Xie Changsheng, appeared in front of a green palace.

This green palace was very far from the stream where Xie Changsheng had fallen, but Tantai Guanjian appeared instantly. A circle of blue flame danced at his feet. The sword essence he gave off blocked off all chaotic turbulence, and seemed to solidify the air around him.

The cultivators watching the sword trials from the cliff changed expression. They could not imagine such a swift person in the world.

Tantai Guanjian could sense the shock and terror of the cultivators in the sky, but his expression was cold, and his calm eyes showed no pride. He was the fastest person in Min Mountain Sword Sect. This was why he followed Jing Liuli all the time. Xie Changsheng had gambled correctly. This was a competition inside Min Mountain Sword Sect. Min Mountain Sword Sect could not stand by and watch any student die.

However, even now Tantai Guanjian was uncertain if Xie Changsheng could be saved.

“Senior Sect Brother …”

He paused by the door to the green palace. Just as he spoke, he heard a rushed and violent voice from inside “What time is it that you still waste time speaking? Send him in.”

The moment the voice spoke, a gentle force shot out and fell on Xie Changsheng. His body flew out of Tantai Guanjian’s hands and shot into the green palace.

The emotions in Tantai Guanjian’s eyes grew graver.

He was the fastest person in Min Mountain Sword Sect and the one who understood swords the best. Inside this green palace was the person who understood medicine the best. Whether or not Xie Changsheng could live was uncertain based on how rushed and violent the person inside was.

Xie Changsheng was no ordinary cultivator. His family’s wealth that was greater than a country could create a different cultivation path. Adding on his performance today, Tantai Guanjian was certain that Xie Changsheng was among the top half of these students…

What would be the result of such a young and promising talent trading his life?

Tantai Guanjian slowly exhaled and turned back to look.

Lie Yinghong had not moved. As the vibrations under his feet grew stronger, the bloody red streamwater around him started to emit small droplets of water.

Completely pale, Shen Yi looked at the wave of energy coming from the surrounding deep brambles. He sensed that these were the energies vibrations that unknown beasts were giving off. He finally understood. Xie Changsheng must have interacted with these beasts previously and knew that the blood of cultivators could attract these beast swarms. This was why Xie Changsheng’s wounds were so pale when he had appeared.

Xie Changsheng must not have just simply stopped bleeding to avoid the pursuit of these beasts. Shen Yi feared he must have purposefully let the stream water flow over his wounds after they stopped bleeding, ignoring the fact that these wounds would likely rot and be difficult to heal.

An intimidating roar sounded in the surroundings.

These roars did not come from these beasts, but the sound created when their energies surged out and gathered.

Shen Yi’s pupils contracted. When the surrounding brambles were torn apart by these powerful waves of energy, flying into the air, he finally saw the shape of the attacking beasts.

These were “locusts” that looked to be hundreds of times better but different from the imperial insects that Ding Ning had seen before. The energy of the rear limbs of these imperial insects had formed into tangible blue-white icicles

Pew!

A cold light blue sword light struck towards the head of an imperial insect.

Lie Yinghong’s gaze was calm, but his breathing deepend. He could see that these beasts were no different than true armies and he refused to wait for them to come at him.

Clang!

Lie Yinghong’s wrist shook and he felt a sharp pain where his palm and the sword hilt was touching.

Lie Yinghong’s longsword sliced down without any obstruction along the thick lower limb of this imperial insect. The tip of the sword went half a foot into the imperial insect’s abdomen, and then this imperial insect was cut open and thrown backwards.

The body of the imperial insect was thrown up to a height it usually could not reach with a jump. As it bounced back heavily to the ground, it madly jumped in pain and collided with several imperial insects.

The noxious insect blood sprayed over Lie Yinghong’s body. Lie Yinghong’s breathing stilled slightly. Even though he had managed to discover what power levels these imperial insects had with one blow, and disrupted the formation of the imperial insects, he was already surrounded by imperial insects. The icicles filled his sight like long spears, accompanied by hissing explosions.

Lie Yinghong urgently swung his sword, blue energy shining out of his blade. The blue sword energy erupted out of his blade in a sprout of water, and immediately cut off dozens of red limbs from the imperial insects. But at the same time, he gave a harsh and furious howl.

Blood sprayed out of his shoulder and back.

His swing had cleared space for him to move and these imperial insects who had their rear limbs cut off would create more chaos, but the energies spraying out of these imperial insect rear limbs formed strong ice. The ice, upon collision with his sword energy, caused sprays of ice that made more terrifying flows and waves of arrows on the battlefield.

His longsword trembled violently, light blue energy flying out like sharp and strong fish scales. They shot into a group of imperial insects ahead of him and immediately created many bloody wounds.

Jing Liuli remained silent.

But she started to admit to Tantai Guanjian’s opinion. Xie Changsheng, who she thought was worthless before, did have some merit.