Chapter 176: Encountering The Heretics
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was a sunny morning on Little Devil Island. Although the name of the island was unpleasant, there were many monsters wandering around and it was lush with plants. The air in the morning was filled with the fresh fragrance of flowers. Lin Huang woke up at seven, stretched his body as he walked out of the tent and as he took a deep breath, he exclaimed, "The air is so fresh!"
After cleaning himself and snacks as his breakfast, Lin Huang kept his tent and summoned the Viridian Wolf. Riding on the Viridian Wolf, Lin Huang headed to the center of the island. He did not summon the Alexandrian Eagle as the island was not that big anyway. With the Viridian Wolf's speed, he could arrive at his destination in half an hour. Since he had just woke up, he wanted to warm himself up by killing some monsters along the way.
After riding more than 20 kilometers in the jungle, all the monsters that he encountered along the way were easily killed using his sword. The Viridian Wolf did not even need to decrease its speed at all. Suddenly, he patted the Viridian Wolf's back and it stopped running immediately. The silver ring on Lin Huang's right middle finger was transformed into a modified SilverPhoenix16 and he held the gun in his right hand; it was the gun that he traded from the Purple Crows using his accumulated points in the past.
He recalled the Viridian Wolf, turned around and shouted at the tree behind him, "Who is that?!"
With the sensing circle, nothing within the radius of 300 meters could escape Lin Huang. He could sense that there was someone following him since a while ago. Although the sensing circle did not allow him to see the person's face, he could sense the person's height and body size. Lin Huang was sure that it was not Xia Yu.
"You are the only one who could tell that I'm following you." A muscular young man revealed himself. Lin Huang could tell that he was one of the participants who passed the third round of assessment. However, the man did not conceal his aura. Lin Huang could sense that the man was much stronger than he was.
After checking him out, Lin Huang noticed that there were three cross tattoos on the left side of his neck.
"Are you one of the heretics?"
"That's right." The strong young man nodded. "I know your name, Lin Huang. You are the most outstanding one in the assessment. You managed to kill a mutated silver-level rank-3 monster when you were only a bronze-level rank-3. You probably have a powerful summoning monster. Am I right?"
"Since you already know that I do, aren't you afraid that I'll summon my monster and kill you? I'm already silver-level now." Lin Huang smiled.
"Of course I am not afraid. Although you have concealed your aura, you are only a silver-level rank-1. You must have only leveled-up during the past two or three days. No matter how much Life Crystals you have, you won't be able to go to silver-level rank-2 in such a short period of time. Which probably means that the strongest summoning monster that you have would only be a gold-level rank-3. I am already gold-level rank-3." Although the muscular man seemed confident, he did not attack Lin Huang. He seemed to be afraid of Lin Huang's summoning monster.
"So? Are you here to kill me or recruit me?" Lin Huang asked.
"Of course I'm here for the latter. We heretics are always the peacemakers." The muscular man laughed.
"If I reject your recruitment offer, you would definitely kill me. Isn't that what the underworld organizations always do? Do you think that's a peaceful solution?" Lin Huang said in a sarcastic tone.
"No, we don't do that. We like to capture those who reject us and work on their minds until they become one of us." The man shook his head and laughed.
"So you mean brainwashing? You're really different from the rest…" Lin Huang was speechless. "Why me?"
"It's not only you. All the kids who passed the third assessment in this area are our targets. You're the 36th person. From the progress, I believe me and my partner can capture all the targets before noon so that the Hunter Association would get nothing!" The man laughed.
"So you let the Hunter Association do the grunt work while you reap the harvest?" Lin Huang finally understood what the man was thinking, "However, there are less than 500 people who passed the third assessment. Even if you captured all of us, that would do little to your organization. Unless…"
The man's tone suddenly became serious, "Boy, you're asking too many questions."
Suddenly, he launched his attack by attempting to catch Lin Huang with his hands that had claws on them.
"Tyrant!"
Tyrant then appeared before Lin Huang and punched the man.
"Go away!" The man shouted, his held his fist tight and punched hard in Tyrant's fist. Both of their fists collided and an intense wave was generated from their fists colliding, causing dust to fly everywhere.
Even Lin Huang who was standing behind Tyrant covered his mouth and nose with his sleeve. Then, a bang was heard and the man flew 10 trees away and fell to the ground while Tyrant remained standing. Lin Huang was stunned at how powerful Tyrant's punch was. He knew very well that if he was punched like that, he would have died after crashing into the trees. However, since the man was higher leveled than Lin Huang, perhaps he would not die so easily.
"Tyrant, see if he's dead. If he's isn't, don't kill him, I need to talk to him." Lin Huang said to Tyrant. Tyrant nodded and walked towards the man. A few moments later, Tyrant came back with the man and placed the man on the ground. He was dying, the golden armor on him was destroyed by Tyrant's punch. If it was not for the layer of protection, he would have died instantly.
However, he might not be able to live long anyway.
"You're not silver-level rank-1…" The man looked at Lin Huang in hatred.
"I never said that I was. It was you who assumed it." Lin Huang shook his head.
"An Imperial Censor who has a double mutated summoning monster and also happens to be a genius… You are worth dying to…" The man said and vomited blood.
It was obvious that his organs were damaged from Tyrant's punch earlier. He would not live any longer.
"I have a question for you." Lin Huang squat down.
"I won't tell you anything, don't waste your time." The man looked away instead of looking at Lin Huang."
"You have no say in that." Lin Huang said as he summoned the Ghastly Clown.
"Isn't this clown the one who appeared in Daxi City earlier?" The man knew about the appearance of the Ghastly Clown clown in Daxi City, he was shocked to see it with Lin Huang, "Who are you?!"
"Clown, control him." Lin Huang frowned, he did not expect the man to recognize the clown.
A mask was formed in the clown's hand. After putting the mask on, the clown's face was transformed into the man's face.
"Are there more assessment locations that have been invaded? How many of them have been invaded?" Lin Huang asked the questions in his mind.
"Among the 180 locations in Division7, we have invaded 63 of them."
"What is your intention? Is it really to take away all the talents?" Lin Huang asked again.Yes, to cultivate them into members of our organization."
"How did you guys get into the assessment?" Lin Huang could guess the answer to this question but he was not sure.
"We have spies in the Hunter Association who helped us with our IDs in the assessment location. Our aura was sealed by an immortal-level human and there are also experts who helped us cover our organization tattoo and other marks that might reveal our identity."
"How many of you are here in this location, what are their abilities?" Lin Huang proceeded to ask.
"There are a total of 11 of us, one holy fire-level transcendent and 10 gold-level rank-3 hunters.
Lin Huang was shocked at the answer, he did not expect a holy fire-level transcendent to participate in this. The head examiners of the assessment were only gold-level, even Mu Lan who ranked No.4 on the Gold Hunter leaderboard might not be able to fight a holy fire-level transcendent.
"Does the same apply to the other locations?"
"Yes, it's always led by one holy fire-level manager with a team of 10 to 12 gold-level rank-3 hunters.
After hearing what he had to say, Lin Huang was sure that the Hunter Association was at a loss.
"Where do you guys keep the participants that you manage to capture?" Lin Huang was wondering about that.
"In the dark pseudo-prison. The dark pseudo-prison is a one-time relic that imitates the five-star relic, the dark prison. It can capture creatures who had lost their consciousness but once the creatures were released, it would disappear. All of us have one of them with us when we go on this mission."
From what the man explained, Lin Huang could tell that the man would make someone unconscious and place them into the dark pseudo-prison. He then noticed that there was a black cage on the man's waist, he thought it was an odd accessory. Picking up the cage, Lin Huang asked, "Is this the dark pseudo-prison that you're talking about? How do I release the people in there?"
"Yes, there's a spiral Life Pattern on the cage. All you'll need to do is to insert your Life Power and follow the pattern three times."
"When you've completed your mission, how do you leave the assessment location?" Lin Huang could guess the answer as well but he wanted to know more.
"The leader would use a one-time dimensional portal and meet us at…." The man vomited blood again and started to cough. Lin Huang looked at the Ghastly Clown next to him, the clown shook its head. Lin Huang knew that there was no way that he could ask further.
After coughing vigorously, the man spat out a mouthful of blood and died. The mask on the Ghastly Clown's face disappeared.
"Sigh, I almost got their meeting point and time…" Lin Huang shook his head and sighed.
Chapter 177: Reporting To The Management
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang did not expect that he would encounter such a thing when he participated in the assessment. The heretics were one of the most powerful organizations in the underworld. For this mission, they have sent out more than 60 transcendents and more than 600 gold-level rank-3 hunters. It was crazy. Since the establishment of the Hunter Association hundreds of years ago, they had never encountered anything like this. What the heretics were doing was completely out of anybody's expectation.
"Seems like I need to inform the head examiner so she can contact the management and send transcendents here as soon as possible!" Lin Huang kept the corpse of the muscular young man as he summoned the Alexandrian Eagle to head to the assessment location.
A couple of minutes later, Lin Huang arrived at the assessment location. The head examiner Mu Lan frowned as she saw him. Lin Huang leaped from the Alexandrian Eagle and walked towards Mu Lan after recalling his monster.
"Only participants who had completed the assessment can be here. You're breaking the rules." One staff said to Lin Huang.
Lin Huang took out the muscular young man's corpse out and looked at the head examiner Mu Lan, "My name is Lin Huang and I'm one of the participants in the assessment. This man is a spy for the heretics. There is a holy fire-level heretic transcendent hunter and 10 gold-level rank-3 hunters that have infiltrated the assessment. We're not the only ones. There are 63 assessment locations in Division7 are invaded."
Everyone was shocked when they heard what Lin Huang said.
"How did you know about this?" Mu Lan asked in doubt.
"I managed to ask this man before he died." Lin Huang said and took out the dark pseudo-prison. "This is their purpose, they're here to bring the participants back to brainwash them. The participants are kept in this relic."
Mu Lan took a step and next, she appeared next to Lin Huang, "Dark pseudo-prison?! This belongs to the heretics." She recognized the relic at first glance.
"You can have it. I don't have enough Life Power to release the people." Lin Huang then passed the fist-sized black cage to Mu Lan.
"Follow the pattern and use your Life Power to trace the inscription three times."
Mu Lan took the dark pseudo-prison and looked at Lin Huang, "How do I know that what you've said is the truth? From what I know, the heretics would never reveal anything about their mission."
"I have my ways and I'm sure that the information that I got is the truth." Lin Huang explained to her vaguely.
Mu Lan did not ask further as everybody had their own secret so it was normal for Lin Huang to keep his. Following Lin Huang's instruction, Mu Lan managed to open the dark pseudo-prison and released all the captured participants. The one-time relic then disappeared.
Seeing Mu Lan appear before them, a bunch of participants approached her and talked at the same time.
"Please send one person to explain what had happened. As for the rest of you, do not interrupt!" Mu Lan frowned. The participants were silent. Lin Ziluo was pushed out from the crowd and he gave the complete account of what had happened to them which matched what Lin Huang said.
"Alright, noted. The assessment is going to be put on hold for now, please report to the staff. After you're done, stay with the staff and don't walk around." Mu Lan said and briefed the staff.
"Please report to the management as soon as you can. They have transcendent leaders, we can't fight them. Also, the mission will end by noon and they will leave using a dimensional relic. If we want to save all the participants, we have to move fast!" Lin Huang said immediately after the information was confirmed.
Mu Lan looked at him with a complex expression before she contacted someone. After reporting everything that Lin Huang said, she hung up the phone. She looked worried, "The transcendent will take half an hour to arrive here while the other assessment locations would start their own investigations. That being said, there's bad news from the headquarters… They told me that members of the heretics would usually inform their leaders about their progress every half an hour. Now that you had killed the man when the leader did not get any response from him, he would know that something had happened to the man."
Lin Huang frowned, if the leader knew that their mission was compromised, he would possibly leave with the rest earlier. It would be difficult for them to get the participants back if that happened. After some silence, Lin Huang spoke again, "If that's the case, we have to move even faster! If we can't fight the transcendent leader, we can kill the rest first and rescue all the participants."
"Could you really fight those gold-level rank-3 hunters?" Mu Lan asked. If Lin Huang had shown his true ability, Mu Lan would not have to ask that.
"Shouldn't be a problem to fight those hunters who are below transcendent." Lin Huang nodded.
"Alright then, let's split up." Mu Lan nodded and turned around to order one of the staff, "Please get all the coordinates of the participants on the island."
"Do you think the heretics should have changed their Emperor's Heart Rings before the assessment? Can we still locate them?" Lin Huang asked.
"It's doable. Within the assessment period, the head examiner had the ability to triangulate their coordinates. As long as they did not throw their Emperor's Heart Rings away, we can track their locations even if their rings were placed in their storage space." Mu Lan explained.
The staff got all the participant coordinates quickly. On the maps, there were only more than 100 yellow dots left. These were the coordinates of the participants that they managed to locate. Mu Lan frowned and scanned her identity code to access the coordinates.
Then, the map was refreshed. There were a couple of red dots that appeared on the map. The red dots were the locations of the Emperor's Heart Rings that were kept in the storage space. Lin Huang frowned as he had yet to get rid of his old Emperor's Heart Ring, it seemed like keeping it with him would be unsafe. It would mean trouble if the Purple Crow managed to locate him using the same method.
"Lin Huang, please add his contact details to your ring. He'll send you a map." Mu Lan said and briefed a couple of the staff members, "Please keep your map activated at all times. If you close it after I leave, you'll need my authorization again and Lin Huang would not be able to see the red dots on the map anymore." The staff nodded. Lin Huang added his contact number to their rings and got the map from them."I will start from the east. You take the west." Mu Lan said to Lin Huang and left with her Four-Winged Dragon Condor. Lin Huang summoned Alexandrian Eagle and headed to the west.
Chapter 178: You've Got Beautiful Eyes
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang had finally located the first coordinate of the red dots on the map in the forest west of the assessment location.
Although the red dot was moving quickly, it was impossible for it to move faster than the Alexandrian Eagle.
The Alexandrian Eagle quickly flew towards the man. Lin Huang then recalled his eagle and blocked the man's way.
"Haha, a little brat that comes to me all by himself…" The man looked at Lin Huang and teased.
Lin Huang sized up the man. He was not tall and was rather skinny with pale skin and he looked around 20 years old.
"Are you one of the heretics?"
The young man squinted his eyes as he heard this. "Who are you?"
"I think so." Despite avoiding the question, Lin Huang could still confirm his identity. He extended his hand and summoned Tyrant before commanding, "Kill him!"
The young man immediately became alert when he saw Tyrant. Two of the gold weapon rings were instantly transformed into two short blades.
Right after Tyrant had received his orders, he thrust forward and struck a blow at the young man.
The next moment, Tyrant's quickly sped up his blow and a loud sound was heard from the sky.
The young man failed to avoid the attack. He lifted his hand and placed both of the short blades in front of his chest.
"Bang!"
There was a loud explosion and the young man was blown away. Both of the short blades he was holding onto flew away.
The young man died after crashing into several huge trees.
"Congratulations, you've obtained a Rare Skill Card - Hundred Flowing Blades '."
Once the notification window popped up, Lin Huang could confirm that the man had died without even going near him.
He did not check the information of the new Skill Card that he had just obtained. Lin Huang instructed Tyrant to collect the corpse and he took both gold-level short blades that had flown away just now. The blades were still functioning well.
After keeping the corpse and the short blades in storage, Lin Huang took out his Emperor's Heart Ring and after staring at the ring for a moment, Lin Huang then threw it at Tyrant's feet and commanded, "Crush it." Tyrant then stepped on the ring and it was instantly broken into pieces.
Lin Huang recalled Tyrant and summoned the Alexandrian Eagle once again and headed towards the second red dot closest to their location on the map.
…
Division7, Hunter Association Headquarters .
Mu Lan's information had spread quickly to Xu Tianyu who was the executive officer of the assessment. He then gathered the other executive officers.
In the meeting room, 11 holograms of the executives appeared.
"Old Xu, why are you calling for an urgent meeting? Are you going to talk about the locations for the intensive training again?" One of the executives teased.
"No, it has nothing to do with the locations for the intensive training. One of the head examiners informed me that her examination site was being attacked by the heretics. She said that through a trial, they've discovered that the heretics have sneaked into 63 examination sites in Division7. They're looking for candidates that have passed our assessment. They will then brainwash them and train them as new members of the Heretic Organization. Among the 63 examination sites, each of them now has a holy fire-level heretic as the leader of the team and 10 Gold-level hunters." Xu Tianyu then reported the information he had to the others.
"I guess it is just a rumor. The heretics have been keeping a low profile all these years. Why would they suddenly do this? Moreover, there are more than 180 examination sites in Division7. If they sneaked into 63 of them, that would mean that we've heretics sneaking into a third of our assessment sites. Do you really think this could happen?!" The executive that teased Xu Tianyu earlier immediately shook his head and refuted in disapproval.
"Tianyu, are you sure she mentioned the heretics?" The old man frowned and asked.
"Yes." Xu Tianyu nodded his head, "Li Lao, why do you ask?"
"A few days ago, Mr. Fu called me. We discussed the assessment. He then reminded me to be aware of the heretics or any other forces. I thought it was just a gentle reminder and did not bother so much." The old man then told him what happened a few days ago.
"Li Lao, is it Mr. Fu from the Union Government?" Xu Tianyu immediately asked while the rest of them shifted their gazes towards Li Lao.
"Other than him, are there any other Mr. Fu's in Division7?" Li Lao glanced at Xu Tianyu.
"If Mr. Fu was the one who reminded you, could it be true? Who told you about this?" A middle-aged woman immediately asked.
"A female head examiner told me about this. I'm not sure who she was. I'll ask them regarding this matter."Let's listen to the recording of the call when she informed you about this." Li Lao suggested.
Xu Tianyu nodded his head and played the recording.
After listening to the recording, a woman said, "If I'm not mistaken, that should be Mu Lan's voice. I've met her twice. She's quite good and wouldn't report to you without evidence."
"Is Mu Lan the girl who's ranked fourth on the Gold Hunter Leaderboard?" Many of the executive officers had heard her name before.
"Yes, it must be her. Old Xu, please confirm again." The woman told Xu Tianyu.
After a moment, Xu Tianyu nodded his head, "It's confirmed that the information was provided by Mu Lan."
"It seems that there's indeed something wrong with the assessment." Li Lao and the other executive officers had a serious expression on their faces.
"We can't set up an interdimensional blockade now. Otherwise, the heretics would notice it. They'll escape the interdimensional blockade and leave through the dimensional portal before the holy fire rescuers arrive."
"We can't make an official announcement to inform the candidates either as there are heretics among them. We can only inform the head examiners so that they can figure out ways to delay them. It would be best to rescue them without notifying the holy fire heretics."
"We can't stop the assessment. We have to carry on with it. Otherwise, the heretics might notice our actions…"
"Now, we're going to ask our holy fire-level transcendent hunters to go to the nearest assessment site to them. Upon their arrival, only then will we ask them to stop the assessment and set up an interdimensional blockade!"
12 of the executive officers quickly came up with a solution and informed the other assessment sites about it…
…
In less than half an hour, Lin Huang killed three heretics continuously.
Just as Lin Huang was getting closer to the fourth red dot, Lin Huang could sense that the opponent was a girl. He activated Boundless Vision and looked through the gaps between the branches and leaves. Lin Huang was stunned when he saw her from the side.
"She's with the heretics!" Lin Huang saw Xia Yu.
While Lin Huang was startled from his discovery, she seemed to have sensed Lin Huang looking at her and she looked in his direction. She grinned and suddenly disappeared.
"Are you looking for me?" A voice was heard behind Lin Huang.
Lin Huang was taken aback as Xia Yu appeared without him noticing. She was less than 10 meters away from him. However, Lin Huang's sensing circle did not respond to her. This indicated that Xia Yu's had the combat ability of a holy fire transcendent. She must be the transcendent leader of the heretics' operation.
"Oh, I just passed by and I sensed that there was a person moving over there. I didn't know that it was you." Lin Huang's heart sank but he did not show it on his face. "I'm going to continue with my monster hunt. You can continue playing."
"Lin Huang, do you really like the Hunter Association so much? Privileges are only given to the geniuses involved in intensive training while other organizations treat everyone equally. Training resources should only be able to be obtained by hunting down monsters or completing a task with their own two hands."
"Although you are talented, don't ever think about getting a place in intensive training from the Hunter Association. Each year, there are limited slots for intensive training in Division7. Spots are usually given to the geniuses that are capable of killing enemies that are one level above them." Apparently, Xia Yu did not know that Lin Huang himself had killed a silver-level rank-3 monster during the third assessment. Otherwise, she would not have mentioned this.
"I've told you that I'm not interested in joining you regardless of what organization you're from. You don't need to waste your time on me. I believe there are many other talented people out there. You can look other people." Lin Huang then turned his back to her when he was about to leave.
"We have found many of them and most of them had agreed to join us." Xia Yu laughed as he heard what Lin Huang said.
"Oh, congratulations." Lin Huang then summoned the Alexandrian Eagle.
"You have asked me before which organization I'm from right? Don't you want to know now?" Xia Yu asked with a smile.
"It is best to avoid trouble whenever possible. I'm not interested any longer." Lin Huang shook his head and rode off on the Alexandrian Eagle.
"What if I insisted on you joining our organization?" Xia Yu tilted her head and asked.
"Bye." Lin Huang patted the Alexandrian Eagle. Fluttering its wings, it flew up to the sky in an instant.
Lin Huang was relieved after he acted stupidly just now. Just as he thought that he had managed to escape, a hand suddenly patted his shoulder.
Lin Huang was frightened. When he turned back, he saw Xia Yu stabilizing herself, standing on the Alexandrian Eagle' back.
"Eh, do you really hate me so much?" Xia Yu crossed her arms in front of her chest.
"When did you come on?!" Lin Huang was startled.
"I followed after you when you took off." Xia Yu said proudly.
"What do you want from me?" Lin Huang was helpless.
"As long as you promise to join us, I'll not bother you anymore." Xia Yu was not giving up.
"What do you like about me? Can I change it to something else?"
"You've got beautiful eyes. If you can give it to me, I'd consider giving up." Xia Yu was simply being unreasonable and Lin Huang was speechless.
At that moment, the communication page of Lin Huang's Emperor's Heart Ring suddenly popped up and rang. It was an unknown number.
"Eh, your Emperor's Heart Ring rang. Aren't you going to answer the call?" Xia Yu asked.
"No. It must be those direct sale calls." Lin Huang shook his head because it was likely Mu Lan's number. Xia Yu was right behind him. If he answered the call, she would have found out.
He directly ended the call. Lin Huang was trying to figure out a way to settle this matter. However, after a short while, the communication page popped up again.
"It's the same number. You should just answer the call." Xia Yu suggested.
"No." Just as Lin Huang was about to end the call, Xia Yu moved a tad bit faster than him and answered the video call.
Mu Lan's face was instantly projected before them. She then said, "Lin Huang, why are your coordinates on the same location as the red dot? Both of you are heading towards the same direction at a fast speed…"Chapter 179: Mu Lan vs Xia Yu
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Once Mu Lan finished speaking, she noticed that there was a girl behind Lin Huang, bending down her body, staring at the projection suspiciously.
"Damn! I'm doomed!" Lin Huang's facial expression changed abruptly and he quickly closed the communication page. He then communicated with the Alexandrian Eagle telepathically.
Flapping hard, it turned a few rounds in the air and attempted to get rid of Xia Yu.
However, Xia Yu's legs seemed to have deeply rooted itself in the eagle's back as she was standing firmly on it even when it struggled. Even if the Alexandrian Eagle was to hang upside down in the air, Xia Yu's legs would never leave the eagle's body.
Lin Huang was the one who had to bend his body down a hug the eagle tightly. He grabbed its feather tightly as he almost fell.
"So all this while, you actually know my identity but you acted ignorantly?" Xia Yu stared at Lin Huang expressionlessly.
"No, I just found out." Lin Huang told her the truth since he knew he could not get rid of her. "I went after the red dot on the map which showed where members of the Heretic Organization was located and you were there."
"How much do you know about us?" Xia Yu's face was very serious.
"Almost everything." Lin Hung felt that there was nothing he could hide anymore.
"Has the woman informed Hunter Association about this?" Xia Yu continued asking.
Although Lin Huang had immediately closed the communication page, he knew who she was referring to.
"Yes, you're right. The operation was uncovered. The Hunter Association would send transcendents to get this settled." Lin Huang nodded his head and said, "You should stop now!"
"In this case, I'll bring you back with me." Xia Yu extended her arms, about to catch him after she finished her sentence.
However, Lin Huang quickly recalled the Alexandrian Eagle before she had even finished her sentence. They both fell in mid-air and Xia Yu's attack missed him.
Just as he was about to reach the ground, he summoned the Alexandrian Eagle again and flew up into the sky.
The Alexandrian Eagle flew up into to the sky but Xia Yu began chasing after them again shortly after.
Xia Yu had a cold, stony expression on her face as she grinned at them. Her voice was clearly heard by Lin Huang, "Do you know that the more you try to fight against me, the more determined I am to bring you back to the heretics?"
"You're such a crazy woman!" Lin Huang scolded her, instructing the Alexandrian Eagle, "Go down!"
The Alexandrian Eagle tucked in its wings and landed on the ground.
"There's no way you can escape!" Xia Yu's voice was heard again. She did not give up the chase, seemingly holding a grudge against Lin Huang.
Before he landed on the ground, the Alexandrian Eagle flapped its wings again and glided through the air.
"Slow down!"
Lin Huang saw a big tree not far away. He leaped towards the tree and used both legs to step on the branches.
He then bounced from branch to branch and fled.
"Do you think that you'll manage to escape just by going into the forest?" Again, Xia Yu's voice was suddenly heard behind him.
When he saw the open space in front of him, he sped up, jumping down from tree branches to land in the open space. He then stopped.
"Why aren't you escaping anymore?" Xia Yu was still floating in mid-air, not touching the ground because she was worried that there were traps on the ground.
"The Alexandrian Eagle can't fly faster than you and I can't run away from you in the forest. Trying to escape is a waste of strength." Lin Huang shrugged his shoulder.
"So are you going to give up and leave with me?" Xia Yu grinned. She was even more interested in Lin Huang after chasing after him.
"Of course not. I won't be influenced so easily." Lin Huang shook his head, "Since I can't run away from you, let's fight!"
"You want to fight me?" Xia Yu laughed when she heard what Lin Huang said. "Do you know my combat level?"
"I know you're a holy fire transcendent." Lin Huang nodded his head.
"Yes, you're right about that. However, I'm not holy fire-level rank-1. I'm a holy fire-level rank-2 instead and I'm about to achieve holy fire-level rank-3. Even if you could summon a gold-level rank-3 mutated monster, you wouldn't be able to defend yourself against me." Xia Yu grinned when she revealed her actual combat level to him.
Lin Huang had heard about the five colors in the holy fire-level before. After the Life Fire was ignited, each change in the Life Fire color would result in significant improvements in combat level. Those who were on holy fire-level rank-3 could instantly kill creatures on holy fire-level rank-1. Even those who were on holy fire-level rank-2 were much stronger than those on holy fire-level rank-1. It was indeed not exaggerating to say that Xia Yu could kill the gold-level rank-3 mutated monster in an instant.
Lin Huang wanted to summon Tyrant so that he could delay her a little. However, listening to what Xia Yu told him, he hesitated for a while.
At that moment, a screeching sound was heard and a large bird flew towards them.
"Mu Lan?!" Lin Huang could immediately recognize the Four-Winged Dragon Condor.
Xia Yu raised her head as well and looked at the Four-Winged Dragon Condor. She definitely knew who the monster belonged to.
The Four-Winged Dragon Condor flapped its wings and landed on the ground, stirring up a gust of dust.
Mu Lan jumped down from the Four-Winged Dragon Condor and recalled it. She then looked at Lin Huang and asked, "Are you okay?"
"You nearly killed me…" What Lin Huang said was the truth. He might still be hanging in mid-air, attempting to delay her a little while longer if it was not because of her. He would not have had to escape so clumsily.
"I'm sorry. She was right behind you and I didn't notice her at first. I only knew that there was a person behind you right after she bent down her body …" Mu Lan immediately apologized.
"Hi, head examiner. How are you?" Xia Yu looked at Mu Lan with a smile.
"You're the leader of the heretics?" Mu Lan frowned and looked at Xia Yu as she could not really remember seeing her.
"You're right." Xia Yu smiled as she looked at Mu Lan. "Mu Lan is the daughter of the Mu royal family. You're 17 years old with gold-level rank-3 combat level. You major in the sword and you're an Imperial Censor. You are currently ranked fourth on the Gold Hunter Leaderboard. I can't believe that you came to me by yourself. If I can capture you, this operation won't be considered a failure."
"Then let's see if you're capable of doing so!" Despite facing a transcendent opponent, she showed no fear on her face. She was holding a blue sword relic in her hand.
"You're holding a 5-Star Sea Chasm Sword relic. The Mu family is investing a lot in you. No wonder you're not even afraid of me even though you know fair well that I'm a transcendent." Xia Yu could immediately identify the long sword in Mu Lan's hand.
I've killed three holy fire transcendents using this sword." Mu Lan said coldly.
"It's a good sword. However, you can't change the fact that you're gold-level rank-3. Regardless of how powerful your relic is, you won't be able to fully utilize it." Xia Yu grinned as she said this and a huge black sickle appeared in her hand.
"So big…" Lin Huang sighed as he saw the weapon that looked like Death's Sickle. The size of the sickle did not match Xia Yu's body size. Xia Yu's was about 1.6 meters tall in height but the length of her sickle was approximately two meters.
"I'll show you the true force of a relic when a holy fire transcendent wields it." As soon as she finished her sentence, she turned the large sickle around and grabbed the end of the sword. She seemed to use the sickle with ease.
Her sickle released a beam of black light that caused a stir, distorting the air around it as it flew by.
Although the beam of black light seemed to be moving slowly, Lin Huang could tell that it was not the case because it appeared in front of Mu Lan in an instant.
Xia Yu had apparently excluded Lin Huang from the battle as she believed that Lin Huang would definitely die if her attack hit him as he was only a silver-level hunter. In addition, she was not afraid that Lin Huang would run away as she needed only about two minutes to defeat the daughter of the Mu family. She could catch Lin Huang after that.
Of course, Mu Lan was not going to let this happen.
She did not avoid her attacks at all, unsheathing the sword relic in her hand without a moment's hesitation. A beam of blue light streaked across the sky that resembled a blue comet racing across the sky.
Soon, the tip of her blue sword hit Xia Yu's black sickle.
A loud bang was heard when both weapons touched one another. It was not the sound you would usually hear when weapons collided. It sounded more like two immensely powerful forces crashing together.
After a short while, the glow from the black sickle disappeared. Mu Lan's body then swayed a little and the blue glow appeared again, like a fiery beam that moved towards Xia Yu.
Xia Yu's pupils rapidly dilated, as she put on a serious expression.
She brandished her large sickle again and part of her blades disappeared. The moment it reappeared, it was already touching the tip of Mu Lan's sword.
A loud explosive noise was then heard.
Mu Lan who was hanging in mid-air was blown away and retreated about 10 meters away.
"No wonder you dared to challenge me. It's unbelievable that the Mu family had taught you The Sword Immortal's Path!" Xia Yu retreated a few meters away too.
"I didn't expect this from you too. As far as I know, Trials of Death is a combat skill that the heretics would only teach the saints. No wonder you're already holy fire-level rank-2 although you're still so young. If you didn't use this skill, I would still think that you're a old woman that behaves like an underage girl." Mu Lan could confirm her identity after the fight.
"Humph, you're not qualified to call me an old aunty. I should be the one addressing you in that way!" Xia Yu was angry.
"So you're admitting that you have stunted growth?" Mu Lan purposely said that with her head held high.
"Damn, old woman!" Xia Yu seemed to be particularly sensitive to this topic. She then waved the sickle in her hand and the blade disappeared again.
Mu Lan stabbed her sword into the ground abruptly and a loud clang was heard. Mu Lan then leaped up in the air, retreating back to a tree not far away. She stepped on the tree trunk and her body disappeared in an instant.
The next moment when she appeared, the tip of the blade and Xia Yu's sickle hit against each other.
"No wonder you could defend against my attacks easily. You're wearing the Revolution Armor which is a 4-Star defensive relic!" Xia Yu finally noticed that as her attacks could do no harm to Mu Lan.
"It's not too late for you to retreat now. We've killed your companion. If you insist on fighting me, you won't be able to escape later when the transcendent team arrives!" Mu Lan knew that her opponent had no way to defeat her and the attacks had no effect on Xia Yu as well.
"Humph! If I can't catch you, I will catch him!" Xia Yu then extended her arms towards Lin Huang…