Another mighty spiritual practitioner in Spirit Sea Realm?

Seeing the man flying on sword with an ethereal air, Lin Xun felt shocked as well as grateful. If not for his timely rescue, he and the little girl would have been killed already.

In the meanwhile, Lin Xun now got a clear view of the murderer. It was an extremely strong and brutal man, his muscles glistening with golden light and hard as rocks, full of explosive strength.

Hair like spears, gaze like lightning, he exhibited vigor of strength reaching high up to the sky, powerful and stable like towering mountains.

In a flash, the minute the man in jade robe appeared, the blue sword with pine pattern he stepped on gave out a clear humming and soared into the sky, sending out a strong light that cut through the air like a rainbow splitting the sky.

At that moment, Lin Xun’s eyes were tingling. The sword light was strong like a scorching sun intending to incinerate the world.

The brutal man moved almost simultaneously. He roared and threw out his fists enveloped in blazing golden light.

Boom!

The sky swayed, the earth trembled, and the clouds burst. The clash of the spirit energy created a power so strong that it engulfed all, eclipsing the world around.

What a horrible scene! A fight between two top spiritual practitioners of Spirit Sea Realm was never a playgame.

There had always been an old saying in Ziyao Empire that whenever a spiritual practitioner of Spirit Sea Realm started a fight, a great disaster was doomed to come, throwing all living things to misery and suffer, causing unimaginable damage.

Now the battle happening before Lin Xun, though not in a populated city, was a nightmare for all things within a radius of over 300 meters. Rocks and trees crumbled into dust, the earth cracked like a cobweb, and the beasts that did not escape fast burst with their flesh and blood splashing without even a second to scream.

It was a scene so devastating that Lin Xun dared not to look at. He rolled over, casting his body over the little girl’s, and exerted all the power he could summon to defend against the fallout of the fight.

For Lin Xun who was only at the third level of Martial Realm, a duel between two spiritual practitioners of Spirit Sea Realm was something nearly impossible to fend against, let alone escape from it.

Life was not in his own hands. Now Lin Xun just hoped that this fight would end soon.

Boom!

The battle got more furious, their moves colliding like rolling thunder that pierced Lin Xun’s eardrum, tossed his Qi and blood, and stirred his soul. He felt so uncomfortable to the point of coughing up blood.

Daring not to have any distractive thought, he subconsciously practiced the Star Circulation of Meditating Magic to keep his inner focus and perceive the profoundness of the stars shining in the sea of his consciousness.

Soon, his soul quieted down, his consciousness turned ethereal and all the negative thoughts ebbed like a tide. Suddenly, he noticed that though his eyes were closed, he could “see” clearly what was happening around in his mind.

In the sky, the man’s jade robe was fluttering in the wind. His blue sword, quick and fierce like lightning, roared like a flying dragon, sending out dazzling sword light that eclipsed the sky.

The brutal man before him, however, was quite uncollected. His stone like muscles were now scarred with sword marks oozing blood. His fists, in particular, burst with torn flesh and revealed bones.

However, as if unnoticed to all the wounds and injuries, the man was still composed and exhibited an air of unparalleled brutality.

“Vertical Sword!” The man in jade rode roared, getting a bit impatient. Then the air of the blue sword changed abruptly. It flew so incredibly fast like a flash of lightning cutting through the darkness that Lin Xun couldn’t even catch a single trace of it in his mind.

In the meanwhile, the brutal man muttered a painful groan, one of his arms chopped off with blood spurting.

“Horizontal Sword!” The man in jade robe was gaining momentum like a legendary swordsman who could turn the world upside down with one single sword. Apparently, he planned to take this opportunity to kill the brutal man at one stroke.

At this critical moment, a huge bird swooped down from the sky, its wings splitting the clouds like sharp knives. Its body was golden, as if cast from gold, with spread-out wings over 33 meters long. And it was fast like lightning, carrying the brutal man away in a flash.

The man in jade robe was caught off guard by the sudden change. Just as he was trying to catch up with the fierce golden bird, it disappeared far away in the sky.

“The dark specie - Golden Eagle!”

The man in jade robe muttered with an unhappy tone, “I never expected that this brute was from there…”

Now the battle was over, Lin Xun didn’t give a thought about the Barbarian Hercules or the golden eagle. Instead, he couldn’t help exhaling a long breath out, feeling tingling pain over his back. Touching with his hand, he noticed that his back was dripping blood, apparently wounded in the battle. Fortunately, the wounds were shallow and his bones didn’t get hurt.

Pulling the girl up, he felt relieved to see that though dirty-faced, she was unhurt.

“Are you okay?” The man in jade rode walked to them.

The area was devastated, full of obvious signs of a fierce battle.

Lin Xun hurriedly cupped his hands and said, “Thank you for your help!” Not until now did he notice that the man in jade robe was quite young and handsome, and his every act and move exuded a regal air.

“Glad to see that you both are unhurt. It never occurred to me that there would be Barbarian Hercules within the Three Thousand Mountains. Do they also come for the peerless treasure?” Sighed the man, as if murmuring to himself.

Peerless treasure? Lin Xun was in a bit of a daze.

“You’d better leave soon.” The man gave a quick glance at Lin Xun and the little girl. Seeing them in shabby clothes which clearly showed they were the inhabitants of the nearby mountains, he immediately gave up the thought of asking for clues.

“May I know your name? Given the chance, I shall return the favor one day.” Cupping one hand in the other, Lin Xun said with an earnest voice.

The man, though looking proud and noble, was quite warm-hearted. At least, he saved their lives. That was a great favor.

“Return the favor?” The man was in a bit of a trance. Seeming to have heard something funny, he shook his head, “You take good care of yourselves. As for me…just take me as a stranger you met by chance.”

Saying that, he stepped on his sword and flew high up to the clouds, his robe fluttering with the wind.

“A stranger?” Lin Xun grew fonder of him. Judging from this, he doped out that the man saved him and the little girl just incidentally, never expecting any sort of return.

“What a kind person!” Lin Xun murmured in admiration.

Just then, the little girl seemed a bit abnormal. Seeming to have lost her soul, she ignored everything around and stared blankly at the deep mountains since the end of the battle, a strong sadness springing up on her young and delicate face.

Seeing that, Lin Xun asked with a low voice, “Little girl, did you stray away from your parents?”

Shaking her head, the girl babbled some obscure words.

Lin Xun went in a trance. What language was that?

Seeing that Lin Xun didn’t understand her words, the girl bit her lip, sighed lightly, and said no more.

“By the way, thank you for saving my life.” Lin Xun remembered being carried away by the little girl in the forest. Though feeling queer in heart, he much appreciated her helping out.

The little girl looked up, her jewel-like dark and crescent eyes wide open, her expression confused, seeming unable to understand Lin Xun’s words either.

“Er…” Scratching his head, Lin Xun couldn’t help wondering if this little girl was a descendant of some savage tribe deep in the mountains.

He had heard the villagers in Feiyun saying that deep within the Three Thousand Mountains, there were all sorts of evil spirits, including beasts and monsters that were commonly seen, and even some primitive barbarians and savages.

But looking at the little girl's young and beautiful face, he overthrew his own speculation immediately. How could a savage be so beautiful?

Just then, seeming a bit tired, the little girl frowned, her weak and soft body falling down.

Seeing this, Lin Xun subconsciously embraced the little girl's body. Only after he checked the girl’s body roughly and found no big harm caused did he sigh with relief.

Without any delay, he carried the little girl on his back and hurried back to Feiyun Village.

On his way back, he couldn’t help shaking his head and sighing constantly due to what he experienced that day. Who’d ever think that he would stumble across such a big upheaval while he was just planning to hunt some beasts for food?

First, he saw the Barbarian Hercules killing the barbarian bear, causing a big turmoil of beasts. Then he witnessed an extreme battle between the Barbarian Hercules and the man in jade robe, which nearly got him killed.

Fortunately, he survived, though saved a little girl who couldn’t even speak clearly.

Now, his game was lost, yet he brought home a girl in coma, which really left him between tears and laughter.

Nevertheless, he accidently got a chance to witness the confrontation of two spiritual practitioners of Spirit Sea Realm, which gave him a much clearer idea of the mighty power of cultivation and further enhanced his determination to cultivate.

If he could possess a power strong enough to scorch the heaven and destroy the earth, he wouldn’t be so helpless and passive with what happened today.

“I must become stronger!” Lin Xun determined secretly in his heart.

…

Several kilometers away, the man in jade robe took out an exquisite jade letter and read it while flying on sword.

It was an imperial notice issued more than a month ago by the Flamen of the Imperial Observatory, which could only be owned and known by the dignitaries at the highest level in Ziyao Empire.

"A heavenly anomaly fell upon the thousands of mountains on the southwest border, whose profound mystery is beyond my capability to perceive. I sincerely hope your majesty would pay great attention to this as it might indicate the appearance of peerless treasure."

The man in jade robe read it out, his eyes full of meditation and wisdom, “Did the Barbarian Hercules also come for this?”

Thinking of that, he couldn’t help but sigh, “But where on earth is the peerless treasure hidden? I’ve been searching the Three Thousand Mountains for over twenty days!”