Chapter 71: Small Trial of Skills

As a newcomer who had been on the Spirit Creek battlefield for only about three months, Lu Ye naturally didn't understand the intricacies of the situation.

However, the light from his battlefield mark made it easier for him to navigate.

At this moment, he and Amber were positioned behind the four Xuanmen cultivators, about thirty zhang away. As the Xuanmen cultivators continually retreated, the distance between them rapidly closed.

The burly man sustained more and more injuries, making the situation increasingly unfavorable for the four Xuanmen cultivators.

Just as the burly man seemed on the verge of collapsing, another third-level cultivator beside him roared, "Die, all of you!"

As he spoke, he conjured a dazzling golden spirit talisman and activated it with his spiritual power. Instantly, a golden disc, flowing with spiritual patterns and the size of a washbasin, appeared before him.

This was precisely the Golden Wheel Talisman Lu Ye had used against a pack of wolves when he first entered the Spirit Creek battlefield.

While this talisman's single-target destructive power wasn't as strong as the Fire Snake Talisman's, it excelled in its duration. Lu Ye had previously used it to repel a pack of wolves that had surrounded him.

As golden light erupted, golden crescent-shaped slashes shot out from the disc with a rushing sound.

For low-level cultivators, a single spirit talisman was quite valuable, but anyone with sufficient financial resources would keep one or two as a last resort for survival.

The moment this person unleashed the Golden Wheel Talisman, the fourth-level cultivator from the Nine Stars Sect immediately took a step back. Although his cultivation was higher than the others, he dared not recklessly withstand the Golden Wheel Talisman's attack; that would be suicidal.

He immediately pulled a palm-sized round shield from his waist storage bag and held it in front of him. Simultaneously, his two sectmates placed their hands on the shield.

All three simultaneously channeled spiritual power into the shield. The palm-sized shield instantly expanded to the size of a tabletop, shielding all three of them behind it.

The crescent-shaped golden slashes struck the shield, producing sharp clanging sounds. The force of the impact pushed the three Nine Stars Sect cultivators back repeatedly, and the shield bore numerous slashes of varying depths. However, the Golden Wheel Talisman's attacks clearly could not penetrate the shield's defense.

This shield was a defensive spiritual artifact.

The four Xuanmen cultivators gradually despaired...

The golden disc formed by the Golden Wheel Talisman slowly dissipated. The fourth-level cultivator from the Nine Stars Sect retracted his shield, a murderous expression on his face, and sneered, "Now you won't even have the luxury of dying!"

Although his defensive spiritual artifact had blocked the enemy's attack, it was severely damaged. The unknown cost of repairs made his heart ache as if it were bleeding.

He raised his weapon, about to step forward and attack, but instead looked behind the four Nine Stars Sect cultivators with a startled expression.

At the same time, the four Nine Stars Sect cultivators also noticed something amiss. Someone was rapidly approaching from behind, and before they could even turn around, a shadow swept over them.

The next moment, a large, snow-white tiger appeared in their sight, with a black-clad youth riding on its back...

A white tiger, a youth...

In an instant, all seven cultivators present understood who the newcomer was.

Lu Ye's hand rested on his saber hilt as he leaped from the tiger's back, his gaze fixed on the fourth-level cultivator. His long saber flashed out of its sheath, sweeping downward in a strike aimed at the enemy's neck.

The fourth-level cultivator reacted quickly. He had recognized Lu Ye's cultivation level—a third-level Spirit Creek cultivator—the moment Lu Ye appeared, just as Senior Brother Cao had predicted.

His cultivation was one level higher than Lu Ye's, so he was not afraid of this attack. He held his weapon horizontally at his side, blocking the formidable strike. However, because Lu Ye had seized the initiative and struck with the momentum of his charge, the blow forced him to stoop slightly.

Before he could disperse the force, Lu Ye, still airborne, pulled his saber back and thrust it forward.

This thrust was extremely tricky, and the fourth-level cultivator found it difficult to defend against immediately. Being a ruthless individual, he instantly activated his protective spiritual energy to guard the area where the saber was about to strike, while simultaneously swinging his weapon at Lu Ye's neck.

Although there was only one level difference between the third and fourth stages, there was a significant disparity in strength, as many more spiritual apertures were opened at the fourth stage.

Thus, the cultivator believed Lu Ye's saber strike would, at most, inflict only a minor injury, as his protective spiritual energy was not for show. However, if Lu Ye took one of his blows, his entire head would be severed.

Remembering the bounty of a thousand spirit stones, the fourth-level cultivator's heart burned with excitement. With so many spirit stones, he could cultivate to the sixth or even seventh stage!

With a *thump*, the long saber pierced through his chest. The intense pain shattered the fourth-level cultivator's illusions, but what astonished him even more was that his seemingly assured strike had failed to harm Lu Ye in the slightest.

The moment his weapon struck Lu Ye's neck, something indistinctly flashed past, blocking his attack.

Lu Ye flipped over him and delivered another strike to the back of his neck.

The sharp blade sliced through his neck as easily as tofu. His protective spiritual energy proved useless; his head flew off, and blood gushed from his neck.

Lu Ye rolled and landed, a stream of blood spurting from his waist where another third-level cultivator had taken advantage of his unguarded moment to stab him with a sword. However, the injury was not serious, merely a flesh wound.

At that moment, he had to activate his Imperial Guard spiritual pattern to block the fourth-level cultivator's fatal strike, leaving him unable to defend against other attacks. He could only rely on his protective spiritual energy to resist, but fortunately, his spiritual energy was pure enough, and its protective effect was quite good.

The lightning-fast developments left the four Xuanmen cultivators dumbfounded.

They had believed they were certainly going to die, but then the youth riding a white tiger unexpectedly burst forth from behind and instantly killed the opposing fourth-level cultivator.

While they were astonished, Lu Ye did not pause. The moment he landed, dust flew up from his feet as he charged toward the third-level cultivator who had stabbed him.

The opponent was clearly startled by his senior brother's death. Facing Lu Ye's incoming saber strike, he instinctively brought his sword horizontally to block.

However, the long sword snapped instantly! Not every low-level cultivator possesses a spiritual artifact, and only spiritual artifacts could withstand a sharp, enhanced saber; ordinary weapons simply couldn't.

The sharp blade fell from the opponent's nose bridge, split open his cheek, and created a foot-long gash across his chest and abdomen. Blood and internal organs spilled out, and only then did the person scream. Lu Ye raised and brought down his saber, felling him to the ground.

The second one!

The last remaining third-level cultivator was currently locked in fierce combat with Amber. When Lu Ye rode Amber to attack, he had targeted the opponent's fourth-level cultivator, while Amber pounced on the other third-level cultivator. Amber was somewhat outmatched, letting out continuous roars and tiger cries that shook the heavens as the third-level cultivator struck it.

However, once Lu Ye joined in, the situation changed. Despite being a third-level Spirit Creek cultivator himself, Lu Ye's combat strength was significantly higher than his opponent's. With the large tiger assisting, he quickly dispatched the opponent. Amber, still unsatisfied, then bit through the person's neck, spraying warm blood all over its head and face, making it look even more ferocious and terrifying.

The fierce battle ceased, and all three Nine Stars Sect cultivators were annihilated. The entire engagement lasted no more than ten breaths, so swiftly that the four Xuanmen cultivators hadn't even fully processed what had happened.