Chapter 520: Slaying He Bing

In the chaotic stone forest, the blade light flashed incessantly. Undergoing his beast transformation, Lu Ye's every strike, in both speed and power, reached an unprecedented peak.

He Bing parried with his long spear, but the webbing between his thumb and forefinger began to tear. His spiritual power surged chaotically, and his situation grew increasingly perilous.

Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan supported Lu Ye from the flanks, distracting He Bing and allowing Lu Ye to seize a prime opportunity. Lu Ye thrust his long blade straight towards He Bing's chest.

Fear flickered in He Bing's eyes. His body was tilted back, leaving his mid-section completely exposed. Although he desperately wanted to block the incoming blade, there was simply no time.

Given the power Lu Ye now commanded, his protective spiritual barrier would be utterly incapable of stopping this strike.

In other words, a direct hit would undoubtedly be fatal, piercing straight through him and almost certainly claiming his life.

At this critical juncture, He Bing suddenly channeled his spiritual power with frantic urgency, and a bright triangular barrier materialized instantly, blocking his front.

The Pan Mountain Blade struck the barrier, but was utterly repelled, unable to advance even an inch.

He Bing's face was etched with terror; in that split second, he had genuinely felt the breath of death.

Lu Ye raised an eyebrow, observing the flowing patterns on the suddenly materialized barrier. He recognized it instantly as a Guardian Spirit Mark.

Was the enemy before him a War Mark Master?

No, that's not right!

If he were truly a War Mark Master, there would be no logical reason for him not to have activated spirit marks earlier in the fight. Since he wasn't, then he must possess a Tattoo Mark.

Not every cultivator possesses a Tattoo Mark. There are few Tattoo Masters capable of imprinting spirit marks onto cultivators, and the materials for Tattoo Marks are extremely valuable. Typically, a Cloud River Realm cultivator's physical constitution can only accommodate one Tattoo Mark; any more would be unbearable.

He Bing had a Tattoo Mark located on his chest. At that moment, his channeled spiritual power naturally activated the Tattoo Mark's power, forming a barrier that successfully blocked Lu Ye's fatal blow.

This was clearly He Bing's trump card, something he would only reveal in the direst of circumstances.

Until now, Lu Ye had always been the one activating Guardian Spirit Marks to defend against attacks. To have his own strike thwarted by an opponent's Guardian was a frustrating missed opportunity to eliminate the enemy.

Lu Ye's expression remained unreadable. He retracted his blade and prepared to strike again, but the Guardian Spirit Mark, continuously infused with spiritual power by a Seventh-Level cultivator, proved incredibly solid.

To break through this Tattoo Mark, an exceptionally violent attack would be necessary.

He withdrew, holding his long blade level. Fierce vital energy surged into his right arm, causing his muscles to subtly bulge.

However, before Lu Ye could unleash his strike, Li Baxian, who had been assisting from the side, made his move. The flying swords scattered around them suddenly converged, all flowing into the longsword in his hand. Li Baxian held his sword upright before him, his expression solemn.

In that instant, a chilling killing intent swept through the surroundings. Li Baxian himself seemed to transform into a drawn, razor-sharp sword.

Since Lu Ye's beast transformation, Li Baxian had been focused on supporting him, not on inflicting damage, but primarily on distracting the enemy. Now, seeing He Bing activate his Guardian Spirit Mark, Li Baxian held nothing back.

His sword intent soared to the heavens, and sword light illuminated all around. Li Baxian himself merged into the sword light, flashing like lightning. He appeared before He Bing, his longsword touching the Guardian Spirit Mark.

The touch was silent, yet it was accompanied by an explosion of all his power.

With a resounding crash, the seemingly impregnable Guardian Spirit Mark shattered!

This was the terrifying destructive power of a Sword Cultivator: with a cultivation level three realms lower than He Bing's, he had forcefully shattered He Bing's strongest defensive ability.

After that single sword strike, Li Baxian's face was ashen. He Bing swept his long spear, sending Li Baxian flying.

At this opportune moment, capitalizing on the chance created by Li Baxian, Lu Ye's long blade descended.

A flash!

He Bing's eyes were wide with terror. He once again channeled his spiritual power, attempting to activate the Guardian's power, but he was ultimately a step too late.

As the long blade descended, a faint, phantom tiger seemed to flash behind Lu Ye, and a faint roar echoed.

The fierce battlefield fell into an abrupt silence.

Lu Ye remained motionless, holding the pose of his blade having just descended. On the Pan Mountain Blade, crimson blood gathered along the edge, then dripped.

Drip...

The faint sound shattered the stillness.

Feng Yuechan pursed her red lips, her gaze intently fixed on He Bing, a spell ready to be unleashed.

Three zhang in front of Lu Ye, He Bing stood rigid, his long spear still held in a thrusting posture. The Guardian Spirit Mark that had materialized on his chest flickered once, then silently vanished.

His eyes flickered slightly as he gazed at Lu Ye before him, his face twitching. Then, he toppled backward.

The moment he hit the ground, his body and head separated. His wide, staring eyes seemed to hold both unwillingness and disbelief.

"Haa..."

Only then did Feng Yuechan exhale a long breath, withdraw her spiritual power, and quickly rush to Li Baxian's side to check his condition.

Lu Ye also slumped onto the ground, sprawled out, gazing up at the shifting void above.

His vision blurred, and he found himself back in the underground cave. Yiyi, sensing the battle had concluded, had released them.

"Lu Ye, are you alright?"

Yiyi stepped forward, her voice tinged with a sob, as she looked at Lu Ye, who appeared drenched in blood.

"I'm fine. Where's Fourth Senior Brother?"

From the side, Li Baxian's extremely weak voice replied, "Exhausted!"

His injuries were less severe than Lu Ye's; it was simply that his final secret sword technique had completely depleted his strength.

Hearing Li Baxian's voice, Lu Ye finally relaxed.

As his mind relaxed, a streak of crimson light shot from his chest, revealing Amber. However, Amber appeared visibly listless, indicating that the beast transformation had taken a significant toll on it as well.

The moment he deactivated his beast transformation, an overwhelming weariness washed over Lu Ye, as if all his vitality and spirit had been completely drained in an instant.

This exhaustion wasn't solely a side effect of the beast transformation; it was compounded by the effects of the Bloodied state. The dual burden was simply too much to bear.

He only managed to utter, "I need to rest."

Then, his consciousness plunged directly into darkness.

Yiyi gasped in alarm, quickly checking on him. She only let out a sigh of relief after confirming Lu Ye was not in mortal danger.

Li Baxian also fell into a deep slumber right after, and even Amber curled up beside Lu Ye, leaving Feng Yuechan and Yiyi to watch over them.

After feeding Lu Ye healing pills and carefully bandaging his wounds, Yiyi said, "Senior Sister Feng, I'll go out to keep watch. Please take care of things here."

Feng Yuechan nodded, "Alright."

Having just endured a major battle, with both Lu Ye and Li Baxian unconscious, any unexpected intrusion at this moment would be disastrous.

Yiyi could burrow into the ground, and she often took on the role of scout and guard when with Lu Ye. Having her monitor the surroundings was the best option.

The moment Lu Ye struck down He Bing, his kill points on the hunt leaderboard, suspended high in the sky, abruptly surged by two hundred and fifty, bringing his total to three thousand nine hundred and ninety points—just ten points shy of four thousand.

This sudden change naturally drew the attention of many observant individuals. In recent days, Lu Ye's kill points had often increased by hundreds, and the time he slew a Sixth-Level cultivator, they jumped by a hundred and eighty in a single instance. This, of course, fueled considerable speculation.

It was clear that the cultivation level of Lu Yiye, who held the top rank, couldn't be exceptionally high. Such a significant increase in kill points typically only occurred when a cultivator defeated an enemy of a higher realm.

This latest increase of two hundred and fifty points sparked genuine curiosity. What powerful expert had he slain this time? A Ninth-Level Cloud River cultivator, for instance, only contributed a base merit of sixty points, making two hundred and fifty points over four times that amount.

Five hundred li from the underground cave where Lu Ye and his companions were located, Wei Que frowned, his expression troubled as he stared at the hunt leaderboard.

He knew Lu Ye only possessed a Third-Level cultivation. The addition of two hundred and fifty kill points unequivocally meant Lu Ye had engaged and slain a Seventh-Level cultivator!

For a Third-Level cultivator to kill a Seventh-Level one was almost inconceivable; it was a feat few would believe, even with the assistance of Li Baxian and Feng Yuechan.

Yet, the evidence was undeniable.

What troubled him wasn't the surge in Lu Ye's kill points; he had no ambition to compete on the leaderboard, so Lu Ye's rising score was irrelevant to him.

His primary target had always been Lu Ye.

The reason for his distress was his certainty that he had been tracking in the wrong direction.

A battle involving Third and Fourth-Level cultivators against a Seventh-Level one would undoubtedly be intense and impossible to conceal. Yet, despite his thorough pursuit, he had found no trace of Lu Ye or his group.

Where on earth did those individuals disappear to?

And by what means had they managed to escape?

Wei Que was utterly bewildered.

Time passed, and the rankings on the hunt leaderboard constantly shifted, especially between second and tenth place, where the differences were minimal. A single battle could easily propel someone up several positions.

What brought them even greater delight was that Lu Ye's kill points had ceased to increase.

Although Lu Ye's kill points had sometimes remained stagnant for extended periods before, generally speaking, they had increased almost daily, often by several hundred points each time.

However, for the past few days, Lu Yiye's kill points had been completely fixed at three thousand nine hundred and ninety, showing no change whatsoever.

Initially, Lu Ye had been far ahead, leaving his competitors in despair, as a gap of over a thousand kill points was incredibly difficult to overcome.

Now, however, they saw an opportunity, redoubling their efforts to search for traces of the enemy.

Three days later, Tan Sheng, who had been ranked second, finally surpassed Lu Ye, claiming the top spot on the hunt leaderboard. He felt a moment of elation.

If Lu Ye's name hadn't still been on the leaderboard, Tan Sheng might have suspected the person was dead. But observing the lack of activity for three consecutive days, he concluded that Lu Ye must be seriously injured and was very likely recuperating.

Indeed, Tan Sheng's assumption was correct.

For these three days, Lu Ye had indeed been recuperating. His injuries were not particularly severe; for him, a day or two of rest would usually suffice. However, the dual after-effects of his beast transformation and the Bloodied Spirit Mark left his body persistently weak.

The last time he had experienced such profound weakness was after activating the Fire Phoenix Spirit Mark on the Spirit Stream Battlefield. However, Hua Ci had been there then, and with her meticulous care, he had recovered swiftly.