Chapter 45

Lin Tian stared at the red-faced demon opposite him, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the sword hilt, his gaze fixed on the front.

"Su Shu, step back a bit."

Lin Tian whispered.

Su Shu was taken aback for a moment but quickly moved, retreating several large steps backward.

"Jie!"

The red-faced demon roared, its eyes blood-red, and it charged forward with a face full of malevolence.

"Whoosh!"

Lin Tian kept his eyes fixed on the front, exhaled a breath, and the long sword in his hand spun and pressed down. The Wind Slash Sword Technique was unleashed at the fastest speed, dense sword beams pressing toward the red-faced demon from all directions.

The red-faced demon roared and its claws moved swiftly.

"Chii!"

"Chii!"

"Chii!"

A series of crisp sounds echoed, and in an instant, the Wind Slash Sword Technique Lin Tian had unleashed was completely shattered.

However, Lin Tian's expression did not change. He raised his right hand, and the long sword in his hand flew out, transforming into a beam of light that pierced through the red-faced demon. Then, he slightly crouched and charged toward the red-faced demon bare-handed.

"Lin Tian, what are you doing?! Come back!"

Su Shu's face changed drastically.

Charging at the red-faced demon bare-handed, wasn't that courting death!

Lin Tian's face was calm and serene, with lightning-like flashes in his eyes. He pushed the Two Instruments Step to its limit, moving as swiftly as a fleeting shadow.

"Clang!"

A crisp sound echoed as the long sword Lin Tian had thrown was swatted away by the red-faced demon's claw.

However, at this moment, Lin Tian had already reached the red-faced demon.

Now, Lin Tian had no sword in his hand, but he slashed out resolutely.

"Lightning Sword!"

He uttered four large words.

Though he had no sword in his hand, it seemed as if a true Lightning Sword appeared in his right hand, swift as a shooting star, powerful to the extreme. The fierce and domineering sword intent made the entire space tremble.

"Whoosh!"

Like a flash of light, Lin Tian and the red-faced demon passed each other.

In an instant, the surroundings fell into a deathly silence.

The red-faced demon trembled, let out a mournful cry, and its blood-red eyes quickly dimmed. Then, in Su Shu's widened eyes, the red-faced demon fell to the side with a thud, and fresh red blood slowly oozed from between the claws that had been protecting its throat.

"Dead?!"

Su Shu was greatly shocked, her beautiful eyes filled with disbelief.

She remembered that Lin Tian had no sword in his hand just now, yet he had unleashed the Wind Slash Sword Technique!

And he had killed the red-faced demon with one slash!

"Lin Tian, are you okay?"

Looking at Lin Tian, who was still facing away from her, Su Shu couldn't help but call out.

Lin Tian turned around and smiled at Su Shu. "I'm fine, very well."

He was savoring the feeling of that slash.

"You, you just slashed out the Wind Slash Sword Technique bare-handed? And it seemed even stronger than when you had a sword! How did you do that?! Too monstrous!"

Su Shu's eyes were wide open.

Lin Tian chuckled. "This, it's a secret."

More than half a month ago, when he first practiced array control, he discovered a secret. Without a weapon in hand, through the sword pattern in the center of his right palm, the sword qi he slashed out was much stronger than when he had a sword. So, just now, he directly threw the long sword at the red-faced demon and then slashed out the Lightning Sword bare-handed.

The result was exactly as he had experimented before.

Without a sword in hand, the Lightning Sword he slashed out was indeed more powerful.

Faster!

More accurate!

Stronger!

"This move is truly domineering."

He lightly clenched his right hand, savoring that strike, and felt a sense of satisfaction.

Su Shu glared at him, gritting her teeth. "Another secret?!"

"Cough, cough."

Lin Tian coughed and quickly averted his gaze.

However, at this moment, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a white light under the vines opposite him.

"What's that?"

Lin Tian was puzzled.

Slowly approaching, Lin Tian came to the vines and pulled them apart, instantly startled.

"What's wrong?"

Su Shu curiously leaned in, suddenly stepping back in fright.

Under the vines were dense white bones, their age unknown, faintly glowing in the dim lair.

Lin Tian was puzzled. Why were there so many bones here? And they all seemed to belong to humans. He thought for a moment and suddenly understood: "They must be the disciples of the Martial Academy captured by the red-faced demon in the past."

Su Shu was moved and nodded. "Yes, it must be that."

There were many bones under the vines, so many that it made one's scalp tingle. At this moment, Lin Tian's eyes lit up.

Pulling aside a pile of bones, he saw many black objects the size of a baby's fist.

"What are these?!"

Su Shu's eyes widened.

Lin Tian picked up a black object, wiped off the accumulated dust, and immediately a faint glow appeared, accompanied by a faint aura of spiritual energy.

"It's a beast core!"

Lin Tian said.

Staring at the ground, Lin Tian used both hands to quickly clear away the surrounding vines and bones. In an instant, many similar black objects appeared, roughly about five hundred.

These were all beast cores!

"Heaven!"

Su Shu couldn't help but exclaim.

Lin Tian said, "The owners of these bones were likely Martial Academy disciples who entered the Qingfeng Ridge for training. During their training, they inevitably killed many beast demons and collected many beast cores. Later, they were captured by the red-faced demon, and although they died, the beast cores were preserved."

Su Shu nodded, finding this analysis very reasonable.

The two looked at each other and couldn't help but show a delighted expression.

More than five hundred beast cores, this number was truly astonishing. And among these more than five hundred beast cores, most were second-level beast cores, with quite a few third-level beast cores. In the seven-day trial period, they would need to rest and couldn't continuously hunt beast demons, so collecting more than five hundred beast cores in seven days would be very difficult.

But now...

"This is truly turning a disaster into a blessing."

Lin Tian smiled.

Su Shu's eyes sparkled. "This is a huge profit."

Lin Tian nodded. "Yeah, thanks to you as the bait."

"What did you say?!"

Su Shu glared at him.

Lin Tian laughed, not saying anything, and started organizing the beast cores under the bones. Beside him, Su Shu didn't idle either, helping Lin Tian clear the area. After three hours, they had cleared all the beast cores.

"A total of 589 beast cores, including 63 first-level beast cores, 341 second-level beast cores, and 185 third-level beast cores."

Lin Tian said.

He had prepared five cloth bags, and now three of them were completely full.

"Profit, profit, profit!" Su Shu looked like a money-grubber, her eyes narrowed into crescents, her face filled with happiness. "It's only been one day, and for the remaining six days, we can just sleep and rest."

"We? Sleep? Su Shu, don't tempt me."

Lin Tian coughed.

Su Shu was taken aback, then kicked Lin Tian hard, her face red. "Shameless! Pervert!"

Lin Tian laughed, stood up, and walked to the other side, pulling out the long sword stuck in the ground. He noticed a few new notches on the blade, which made him sigh inwardly. The red-faced demon's claws were indeed very tough. He walked to the red-faced demon's corpse, cut open its head, and extracted a fist-sized beast core. This beast core emitted a strong light, like a night pearl, illuminating the surroundings.

"Truly worthy of a third-level peak beast demon comparable to the ninth level of Body Tempering. Even its beast core is so powerful."

Lin Tian was surprised.

Su Shu was also somewhat astonished, her big eyes blinking.

"Speaking of which, you are only at the sixth level of Body Tempering, yet you managed to kill a third-level beast demon comparable to the ninth level of Body Tempering. You're a monster!"

Su Shu stared at Lin Tian.

Lin Tian smiled. It was actually a trick. Although the red-faced demon was comparable to the ninth level of Body Tempering, it was not on the same level as a true ninth-level Body Tempering martial artist, after all, it lacked the intelligence of a human martial artist.

"Shall we go out first?"

Lin Tian asked.

Su Shu nodded quickly. "Of course, let's go immediately. I don't want to stay here."

The red-faced demon's lair was very dim, and with many bones pulled out from under the vines, the air was filled with a decaying smell, making one very uncomfortable.

Su Shu stood up and walked out of the cave first.

Lin Tian followed behind, and the two quickly left the cave.

At this moment, the sky outside had already darkened, the night enveloping the earth, with only the light of the stars shining down, casting a silver glow over the Qingfeng Ridge.

"What should we do now? Let's go back to the Martial Academy directly."

Su Shu said.

Although the Outer Academy ranking trial was set for seven days, that was just the maximum limit. In reality, the Outer Academy disciples who entered the Qingfeng Ridge could leave at any time during these seven days. Of course, once they left, it meant their ranking trial was over, and their performance would be calculated based on the beast cores they had collected at the time of leaving.

Now, with the beast cores they had collected earlier, she and Lin Tian had a total of more than six hundred beast cores. More than six hundred beast cores was a significant number, enough to place them both in the top ten of the Outer Academy disciples.

"I don't have much ambition. As long as Old Mu is satisfied, let's go, let's go, back to the academy."

Su Shu said happily.

Lin Tian was speechless and pulled Su Shu. "It's only been one day. Could we have collected six hundred beast cores on our own? Do you think the academy mentors are fools? If we go back now, how will we explain it?"

Su Shu was taken aback, then realized. "Right! How could I not think of that!" She paused and looked at Lin Tian. "What do you suggest we do now?"

Lin Tian thought for a moment. "Let's find a place to rest, then continue hunting beast demons and collecting beast cores. Since we're already here, we should make the most of our training. Besides, collecting more beast cores is never a bad thing."

The next day, in a dense forest of the Qingfeng Ridge, astonishing sword qi whistled, accompanied by a mournful cry. A beast demon resembling a rhinoceros was pierced through the throat and fell in a pool of blood with a thud.

"A third-level beast demon, Iron-Tailed Rhino, comparable to the seventh level of Body Tempering, was killed with one slash. This... monster!"

Not far away, Su Shu's eyes were wide open.