How could Third Heaven cultivation do something like this?
Lin Qi and others stared at Jing Yan in shock. Their strikes against the Stone-spotted Tiger King had slowed to a stop.
Of course, after Jing Yan's one fatal strike with his sword hit the tiger's critical spot, the beast pretty much lost its ability to fight back. Even its powerful defenses and life energy weren't enough to overcome that.
After stabbing the creature's throat, Jing Yan only stepped back slightly to dodge the Stone-spotted Tiger King's not-so-threatening return-strike. The Moonbeam Sword then once again struck as fast as lightning, accurately stabbing through the tiger's throat again.
Roar!
The Stone-spotted Tiger King thrashed frantically, yet the blazing glow in its red eyes inevitably faded away.
"Done!" Jing Yan said.
Jing Yan turned to Lin Qi and others with a smile on his face.
"It's easier to perform the last hit, of course," Jing Yan sighed to himself.
That was true!
If the group of five warriors hadn't first exhausted more than half of the Stone-spotted Tiger King's energy, it wouldn't have been that easy for Jing Yan to kill the beast. After all, it was almost as strong as a Fourth-grade Spiritual Beast. In fact, even if the tiger was severely injured, it would still have been difficult for Jing Yan to hit its Death Acupoint twice in a row without the other warriors there to distract the beast.
The Stone-spotted Tiger King, which was almost as strong as a Fourth-grade Spiritual Beast, was no doubt very challenging to deal with.
"Now I'm gonna take my share," Jing Yan said as he stepped forward to remove the semi-transparent Flesh Horn from the tiger's head.
"No!" someone shouted.
It was Lin Hu. He was angrily staring at Jing Yan.
Jing Yan randomly showed up, sent two almost lazy strikes at the Stone-spotted Tiger King, and then wanted to take half the value of the Stone-spotted Tiger King for himself. Of course, they weren't happy with that.
"What, you guys want to go back on your word?" Jing Yan paused and slightly turned his gaze to Lin Qi.
"Jing Yan, you are a little too greedy to ask for the Flesh Horn of the Stone-spotted Tiger King," Lin Qi said. He was trying to figure out Jing Yan's real level.
"That's right! The five of us have been fighting for so long. You are by yourself. If we go with what you said, then you get half for yourself, but the five of us together have to split the other half amongst ourselves. That's unfair!" Lin Ruoyu also said.
Lin Ruoyu was the only female warrior among the five disciples from the Lin Clan.
"Unfair?" Jing Yan asked with a sneer, raising his eyebrows. "Before I helped you guys kill the Stone-spotted Tiger King, why didn't any of you say anything about it being unfair? Now that the beast is dead, you guys say it's unfair? Well, well. You know very well that if I didn't step in, it would have been almost impossible for the four of you to kill the Stone-spotted Tiger King. Some of you might have died in the fight."
"Lin Qi, are you gonna eat your own words?" Jing Yan asked, turning a hard stare on Lin Qi.
Lin Qi was, after all, the leader of the five.
"Jing Yan, if you hadn't suddenly shown up and distracted us, Dongyang wouldn't have gotten hurt. If Dongyang hadn't gotten hurt, it would have been only a matter of time for us to kill that Stone-spotted Tiger King. Now, I won't hold you responsible for that. Here are 10 Spiritual Stones. Just take them and leave." Lin Qi took out 10 Spiritual Stones.
Lin Qi really wanted to kill Jing Yan. Previously, he had accepted Jing Yan's offer because he wanted to have Jing Yan killed by the Stone-spotted Tiger King. When Jing Yan's attacks had brought the tiger down in moments, it had caught him completely off guard. Now Jing Yan wanted him to honor his words and give up the treasure that was right in front of him.
The value of a Stone-spotted Tiger King was simply too appealing.
"Ten Spiritual Stones! How generous!" Jing Yan burst out laughing and gave Lin Qi a look of scorn. His eyes darkened. "I'm taking the Flesh Horn of the Stone-spotted Tiger King, no matter what."
"If you want the Stone-spotted Tiger King's Flesh Horn, you need to ask for permission from my knife!" Lin Hu suddenly shouted as his Vital Qi surged inside his body. He raised his long knife and charged at Jing Yan.
"Who do you think you are?" Jing Yan curled his lips as he moved.
Although Lin Hu was at the Fifth Heaven, which was the same rank as Jing Yan, his strength was no match for Jing Yan's. Jing Yan had cultivated the Arch of Heaven, he had an incredible prediction ability, and he had also refined the Stance of Autumn Wind and Falling Leaves. Jing Yan wouldn't have been any less confident if he was facing Lin Qi, let alone Lin Hu.
If he hadn't been that confident, Jing Yan would never have revealed himself to the other warriors.
Since they wanted to fight, he would give them a chance to fight.
"Get out of my face!" Jing Yan gave a light sweep with his Moonbeam Sword, and a terrifying sword radiance broke Lin Hu's web of knife attacks.
Lin Hu's martial arts skill was a kind of Low-grade knife skill. In Jing Yan's eyes, it had too many flaws. Even a random strike with his sword could hit one of its technical imperfections and break through it.
"Ah!" As the sword radiance glared, Lin Hu's chunky body was swept more than a dozen meters away like a fallen leaf in the wind. He screamed as he slid back.
"No… Impossible!" Although Lin Hu was struck and knocked back into the air, his life wasn't put at risk. Jing Yan hadn't tried to kill him. If he had, he would no doubt get into a serious fight with the rest of them. He wasn't worried about the others, but Lin Qi, who was at the Sixth Heaven, would be tough for Jing Yan to deal with.
So he didn't mean to hurt Lin Hu for real with the strike.
Seeing that Lin Hu had been knocked into the air by one strike of Jing Yan's sword, the rest of the Lin Clan disciples paled slightly. They all turned their gazes to Jing Yan with shock and fear in their eyes.
"There's no way he's a Third Heaven rank!"
"Sh*t! Rumors aren't trustworthy, indeed. Which stupid jerk said that Jing Yan's rank had fallen to the Third Heaven?"
"D*mn!" Lin Qi and others were all secretly cursing about the unreliable rumors they had heard.
Although Jing Yan's rank might have fallen, it hadn't gone all the way back to the Third Heaven. Kicking a Fifth Heaven warrior into the air with one strike was a feat that even a Sixth Heaven warrior might not be able to pull off.
Lin Qi stood to the side, thinking quietly. Lin Qi knew that he wouldn't have been able to brush off Lin Hu with one sword strike like that.
"That strike was only meant to teach you a lesson. If you don't learn now, then it won't be so gentle next time." Jing Yan sneered and glanced at Lin Hu, who was just climbing back to his feet. Jing Yan then bent over slightly and cut the Flesh Horn from the Stone-spotted Tiger King's head.
"See you next time!" Jing Yan put away the Flesh Horn, slightly cupped his hands, and turned to leave.
"Brother Qi! Are we just going to let him go like that?" Lin Hu and others all turned to Lin Qi as they saw Jing Yan leave.
How could they just let him walk away?!
They had hunted a Stone-spotted Tiger King, yet they now had only half of its value.
"Jing Yan is very strong. He is at least at the Sixth Heaven. If we fight him, we might not be able to defeat him." Lin Qi shook his head. Of course, he didn't want to let the Flesh Horn go either, but he couldn't do anything about it now. Lin Dongyang was still lying nearby, injured. They needed to take him back to the Lin Clan for treatment. Although they had already used a Healing Potion, if they waited for too long, the injury might hamper Lin Dongyang's future cultivation.