Chapter 107: The Will to Fight

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He immediately raised the Devouring Cloud Sword and knocked the great saber aside.

Then, consumed by fury, he drew upon every ounce of spiritual power within him and sent out a massive fire dragon that wrapped itself around the man’s saber.

“Shameless! Strange Flame Lotus!”

Hearing Lin Hao shout, the bearded man threw back his head and laughed.

“Hahaha! How is that shameless? My weapon has always worked this way. What’s shameless about it? Boy, today I’ll show you what I’m capable of!”

Though his saber had been surrounded by the strange flames, the man made no attempt to call it back. Instead, he simply allowed the flames to engulf it.

Lin Hao frowned. He had thought his strange fire would melt the saber, but judging from the man’s calm expression, something was clearly wrong. Curious, Lin Hao studied the weapon and saw that the flames were burning more fiercely than ever.

The flames grew higher and higher.

Then, all at once, Lin Hao sensed danger. The light of the flames intensified, and with a sharp whoosh, a streak of radiance shot out from within them and flew straight toward him.

Lin Hao tried to dodge, but it was already too late.

“Ugh!”

A muffled groan escaped him as the golden light pierced his shoulder blade.

When Lin Hao looked over, he saw that the white saber, which had moments ago been engulfed in flame, had now transformed into a glittering golden weapon.

After piercing through his shoulder, it continued onward and was driven into the tree behind him.

Then came a thunderous bang, and the entire tree exploded.

Only then did the man extend his hand and pull the saber back.

Lin Hao had truly been injured. Clutching his shoulder, he stared at the man in shock.

“A Metal spiritual root!”

So that was it—the man possessed a Metal spiritual root!

This was the first time Lin Hao had ever encountered one, let alone fought against it.

Among Metal, Wood, Water, and Fire, Metal stood first—and not without reason. A Metal spiritual root was extraordinarily domineering.

Lin Hao had once read in the Scripture Pavilion that its power lay in its ability to make anything incredibly rigid, coating its surface in a layer of metal. It also amplified the power of whatever technique or weapon it was applied to.

That was why the silver saber the man had wielded moments ago had transformed into gold.

Moreover, Metal was unafraid of the other spiritual roots. It was the natural counter to the remaining four.

Lin Hao had yet to awaken a Metal spiritual root himself. He had never expected that the first opponent he encountered would be someone so overbearing.

Still, the battle had broadened his horizons.

Hearing Lin Hao’s cry of realization, the man nodded.

“Not bad, boy. You have some insight. Hmph. You had a perfectly good place in the Qingcheng Sect, yet you insisted on becoming a traitor. Today, I’ll purge the sect in the name of Qingcheng. I’ve heard you have some ability, but so far I haven’t seen much evidence of it. You’d better show me what you can really do.”

With that, the man arrogantly slammed his saber against the ground with a clang.

Lin Hao narrowed his eyes, but he showed no fear.

“Come on!”

“Take this! Golden Saber Slash!”

The man shouted and swung his saber at Lin Hao once more.

Lin Hao’s left shoulder had already been injured, leaving that arm almost useless. He could only raise the Devouring Cloud Sword with his right hand.

Remembering the man’s tremendous strength, Lin Hao merely met the blow lightly before darting aside with a swift whoosh and bending low to slip past him.

Lin Hao had been observing his opponent. Though the man was powerfully built and possessed immense strength, that was also his weakness: his body was not agile enough.

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Since he could not defeat the man head-on, Lin Hao could only rely on his agility to evade him for the time being.

That was right—evade him.

Lin Hao had also realized that the man’s saber technique was extremely domineering. At close range, he could sense that it was not purely the Qingcheng Art, but a modified version of it, retaining only traces of the original style.

The man’s strength also resembled that of the martial cultivators Lin Hao had encountered before.

He was not purely a spiritual cultivator.

That was Lin Hao’s assessment.

After fighting for some time, Lin Hao was deeply shaken by his opponent.

At first, he had barely been able to hold his own. But as his spiritual energy gradually ran dry and his injuries worsened, his physical strength began to fail him. His movements grew slower and slower.

After turning aside once more to evade a sword strike, Lin Hao stumbled and fell to the ground.

Despair flickered in his eyes.

Seeing Lin Hao in such a sorry state, the man looked down at him with smug satisfaction.

He slowly approached. A murderous glint flashed in his eyes as he stared at Lin Hao on the ground.

“This is a battle to the death. Don’t blame me for what happens to you now!”

As he spoke, he raised the saber in his hand.

“Rest in peace!”

The saber rose and fell.

As the golden blade descended toward his neck, Lin Hao’s eyes widened.

The man was completely off guard. He believed Lin Hao had lost all ability to fight back.

At the critical moment, determination flashed through Lin Hao’s eyes. He thrust both hands outward.

“Ah!”

Suddenly, a huge pit opened beneath the man’s feet, and he dropped straight into it.

He did not even have time to cry out before he vanished underground.

In an instant, the earth closed over the pit, restoring the ground as though nothing had happened.

Only then did Lin Hao let out a breath of relief and collapse onto the ground.

It turned out that he had suddenly unleashed every last bit of his spiritual power and used his Earth spiritual root to dig a massive pit beneath the man, burying him alive.

Lin Hao had indeed been completely powerless to fight back, but fortunately, he still possessed an Earth spiritual root.

Now that he had narrowly escaped death, he lay on the ground, gasping heavily.

“Phew… phew… phew…”

After resting for a while, he immediately took several pills from his system storage and swallowed them. Only then did some color return to his face.

Before long, his wounds had healed completely.

Lin Hao sat up and closed his eyes. He entered meditation and recovered where he was for some time before opening his eyes again.

He rose to his feet, determination filling his face, and continued forward.

He had passed the first trial, but his heart was now filled with both fighting spirit and solemn anticipation.

The very first trial had already been this formidable. Who knew what other trials awaited him?

But Lin Hao would never give up. The more difficult the challenge, the stronger his fighting spirit became.

Especially when fighting opponents like this, he felt he could gain a great deal.

At that very moment, Lin Hao faintly sensed that, after watching and battling the man, he had begun to grasp the secrets of his own Metal spiritual root.

It was as if a thin barrier stood between him and the answer. Once he broke through it, he would be able to step through the gateway to the Metal spiritual root.

Lin Hao replayed some of the man’s techniques in his mind and felt that he had benefited enormously.

After witnessing the power of the Metal spiritual root, his eyes burned with excitement. If he could cultivate one himself, would the Devouring Cloud Sword not display even greater power in his hands?

With that thought, Lin Hao felt both curiosity and anticipation toward the trials ahead.

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Thus, Lin Hao did not retreat. He continued onward toward the southeast.

Meanwhile, Cao Yi was waiting for him beside the teleportation array. Before him floated a massive transparent screen.

The image on the screen showed Lin Hao. Cao Yi had witnessed the entire battle between Lin Hao and the man.

When he saw the man buried beneath the earth, Cao Yi’s expression became somewhat complicated.

Then, when he saw Lin Hao charge toward the next trial with fighting spirit blazing in his eyes, the corners of Cao Yi’s mouth lifted slightly.

Cao Yi was not the only one watching Lin Hao.

The Sect Master, the elders of the Qingcheng Sect, and several disciples were all gathered in the sect’s main hall, watching Lin Hao’s battle together. Even the elder of the Discipline Hall was present.

It turned out that after Lin Hao escaped, the Discipline Hall elder had intended to send people after him, but the Sect Master’s men had intercepted them. Now he could only sit in the main hall and watch the enormous screen.

When everyone saw that Lin Hao had actually won, many of them drew in sharp breaths.

Even the Sect Master furrowed his brow.

“Unbelievable! Lin Hao actually defeated Heavy Stone, the chief disciple of the Third Elder!”

“My heavens! How does Lin Hao possess such ability? Why has his Five-Element spiritual root become an advantage instead of a burden?”

The others in the main hall whispered among themselves.

Then the middle-aged man seated to the Sect Master’s right, dressed in an elder’s robes, revealed an extremely ugly expression.

His face had turned ashen, as though he had suffered a tremendous shock.

He was the Third Elder. When he saw Lin Hao kill his beloved disciple, he slammed one palm onto the arm of his chair.

With a loud crack, the chair shattered.

The fury raging through him had nowhere to go.

Only moments earlier, he had been boasting to the Sect Master and the others that, with his own disciple taking the field, no one else would have a chance to participate. Now, Lin Hao had thoroughly humiliated him.

His heart felt as though it were bleeding.

On top of his anger toward Lin Hao, he was also heartbroken over Heavy Stone.

His chief disciple had been the student he was most proud of, yet he had been defeated so easily by Lin Hao.

Unwilling to accept it, the Third Elder cupped his fists toward the Sect Master and said through clenched teeth, “Sect Master, Lin Hao has become far too arrogant. He actually killed Heavy Stone. This is unforgivable. I believe there is no need to set any more trials. Let me go and kill him directly!”

His entire body radiated a dark, bitter aura. He wished he could appear before Lin Hao at that very moment and slaughter him. He no longer wanted to give the boy any chance to continue challenging the trials.

Hearing this, several other elders looked toward the Sect Master with the same expectation.

Yet the Sect Master remained perfectly composed. Sitting in his chair, he appeared utterly calm regarding Lin Hao’s performance and offered no further comment.

He continued watching the illusory screen before them as Lin Hao advanced toward the next trial.

Only then did the Sect Master turn to the elders.

“Since the words have already been spoken, give him this opportunity. We cannot go back on our word. If he is capable of passing the trials, that only proves that your own strength is insufficient. You should all reflect carefully upon this.”

The Sect Master’s earnest words left the Third Elder staring at him, his face flushed crimson. He nearly choked on his own breath.

But the man before him was the Sect Master. There was nothing he could do but sit down resentfully and glare at Lin Hao.

The hatred in his eyes seemed to say that he wanted to drink Lin Hao’s blood and tear the flesh from his bones.

His teeth ached from how hard he ground them.

The other elders were also deeply dissatisfied. From the beginning, this matter was supposed to have been handled by the Discipline Hall.

The Sect Master had clearly given his order.

Yet, at that moment, no one knew what Cao Yi had said to the Sect Master.

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