Seven days later.
Lin left the cave where he had buried himself in cultivation and set out on the journey again.
He had already completely consolidated his cultivation at the Spirit Transformation level of Martial Realm. With more ethereal Qi, Lin now boasted an aura as sturdy as towering mountains and as vigorous as unbridled seas.
Earlier on the seventh level of Martial Realm, Lin had defeated Shin Wenbin, who was on the ninth level of Martial Realm.
On the eighth level of Martial Realm, Lin defeated trainees including Wen Mingxiu, Shiao Kun and Hu Long.
Even with the eighth-level cultivation, he had killed many strong ones from Voodoo-barbarian Tribe in the Demon-cloud Ridge in these days.
While he reached the ninth level of Martial Realm, he caused a sensation all over the Demon-cloud Ridge for he killed more than 50 strong Voodoo-barbarians and five top strong Voodoo-barbarians of the young generation. Undoubtedly, Lin had become the most eye-catching trainee in this assessment.
At this very moment, even Lin did not know which level of fighting capability he had achieved. Though at least, he already had no fear of anyone in Martial Realm!
...
Time slowly ticked away.
Fighting in the Demon-cloud Ridge was doomed to bloodiness and cruelty. But Lin had hardly encountered any real threat.
In the daytime, he kept on fighting and accumulating military merits, while in the evening he focused on cultivation and the comprehension of the first movement "Reaching for the Stars" of Tianyuan Saberplay.
This movement was undoubtedly powerful. The deeper Lin dug into it, the more mysteriousness he could feel over it. Its power was virtually unfathomably strong and it must take a long time to attain mastery of this move.
Sometimes Lin also could not help wondering who created Tianyuan Saberplay. Why could a single movement, "Reaching for the Stars", release such profound and enigmatic power?
What terrible power would he exert if he learnt all its secrets?
Lin was looking forward to that day.
But Lin was aware that he couldn't make it at least when he was in Martial Realm. Even if he fully grasped this movement, it was still hard to exert all of its power for him with the cultivation of Martial Realm.
Pretty soon, it had been a month since the trainees entered the Demon-cloud Ridge.
Lin had obtained a total of 278 military merits, which meant that he had killed 278 strong Voodoo-barbarians in the past month!
The thick pile of Totem Barbarian Tattoos hidden in his storage ring served as the best confirmation of the military merits he got.
It was worth mentioning that the military merits would be classified specifically when they left the Demon-cloud Ridge. For example, killing a ninth-level barbarian slave would amount to a much bigger military merit than that got by killing an eighth-level barbarian slave.
Specific assessment would be decided by the imperial military.
In addition, Lin got a lot of trophies by fighting, the most valuable one among which was definitely "Amrita Saint Pearl".
But the "Amrita Saint Pearl" was now dormant. It still had many mysteries that Lin couldn't yet fully grasp. He could only wait for future chances to get to know them.
Apart from "Amrita Saint Pearl", Lin also got other things such as spiritual materials, spiritual minerals, weapons and medicines and all these were worth a lot.
As for the other things which were of a little value but not much helpful to his cultivation, Lin had to discard them all for the scarcity of space in his storage ring.
Right now, Lin was walking along a rolling river when he heard the sound of fierce fighting.
Having encountered similar situations for more than once, Lin showed no fear or hurry. In a flash, he approached the place where the fight took place.
Soon, in a jungle next to the river, Lin saw a group of people fighting.
More than ten strong Voodoo-barbarians were besieging one man, with several strong Voodoo-barbarians' corpses lying nearby.
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It was an intense fight which had apparently lasted for quite a while, leaving this area a total mess with blood and broken trees and rocks everywhere.
To Lin's surprise, the besieged practitioner was Hu Long, who came from Camp 39 as Lin!
Hu Long was a conceited lad, who had once made impertinent remarks on Lin and had then been heavily beaten by Lin when on the battleship heading towards the Demon-cloud Ridge.
So Lin's first impression of him was not good at all.
But when Lin Xun saw Hu Long under siege at this time, Lin did not stab him in the back, nor did Lin leave him in the lurch.
In Lin's opinion, though there existed some personal conflicts between Lin and Hu Long, they were on the same side and those Voodoo-barbarians were their mutual enemies.
Lin held a simple standard when it came to major issues-the personal conflicts must be put aside in case of fighting between the empire and outside forces.
This didn't mean Lin had forgiven Hu and it was just his principle as an imperial practitioner.
During the bloody battle on the volcano, many imperial practitioners did not lend a helping hand to Lin, intending to draw on advantages and avoid disadvantages.
But Lin was different from them. He had his own position and judgment, and definitely couldn't allow the people of the same kind as him to be killed by the enemies in front of him.
Clang!
Drawing his saber out of the scabbard, Lin, like a flash of lightning, joined the battle in the twinkling of an eye, rendering those Voodoo-barbarians hurry-scurry.
"Lin Xun?"
When Hu Long saw that the person coming to his aid was Lin Xun, he could hardly believe it. This guy should … come to save him?
Although he didn't know why Lin did this, the pressure from the enemies was reduced to a great extent with Lin's help, which allowed him a breathing spell.
At the moment, Hu long was already covered in wounds. If Lin did not appear in time, it would not be long before Hu met his death.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Brandishing the saber, Lin was like a colossal dragon, ready to kill enemies from all directions. In a minute, Lin killed four strong Voodoo-barbarians, which shocked all present.
Even Hu Long couldn't help but stare at the scene with his eyes wide open. Was the rumor true?
Hu had heard of a bloody battle on the volcano several days ago. He thought it must be exaggerated, but when he saw what had just happened, he found that Lin had really become so different that even he felt great pressure.
For a moment, eight Voodoo-barbarians were killed, and the other five ran away with fear.
Only now did Hu Long came to himself. Seeing totally unscathed Lin Xun and his spotlessly clean dress, Hu was both surprised and emotional. It took a while before he said, "This time … I owe you a favor."
After a pause, Hu said with a grim look, "But it doesn't mean I have forgiven your past behavior, unless you apologize to me."
Lin blurted, "You must have thought too much. I saved you because we both come from the Bloodthirsty Camp, not because I want to ask for your forgiveness."
Hu long believed his unceremonious words and nodded, "Fine."
For a moment they remained silent, with only the blood on the ground giving off disgusting smell.
"Well, the crisis has been resolved. I advise you to find a place to cure your wounds at first. Otherwise, the next time you are in danger, you won't necessarily meet someone like me to help you."
Having gleaned his military merits, Lin Xun was about to leave after finishing his words when a flash of horror suddenly struck him. Suddenly, he glanced at the other side of the jungle.
Boom!
Almost at the same time, a faint blue light dashed towards them, almost tearing the air apart, releasing horrible and stifling momentum.
A Barbarian Soldier!
Lin was shocked. He had fought against real barbarian soldiers in the Bloodthirsty Camp. How couldn't he know that only the strong barbarian soldier, equivalent to the practitioner at Gang Spirit Realm, could launch such a horrible attack?
However…
It was not allowed for such strong ones to appear in the Demon-cloud Ridge. Why did a barbarian soldier suddenly show up and launch an attack?
There was already no time to think about it. With no hesitation, Lin sprang and dodged, waving his saber hard against the coming strike.
Boom~
Along with earth-shaking collision and brilliant light, Lin staggered three steps backwards. Lin's look had a subtle change.
The attacker's fighting capability was much stronger than the first-level barbarian soldier he killed before in the Bloodthirsty Camp. It was obviously one of the elite barbarian soldiers!
"Gee, you should be able to withstand my blow?"
A nimble figure, wrapped in a black cloak, nimble as a cheetah, came into view. Only a pair of blue eyes, as cruel as a venomous snake's, could be seen.
"A barbarian soldier!"
Hu Long also realized what was happening and the color of his face suddenly changed. He cried, "You Voodoo-barbarian bastards should dare violate your agreement with the empire!"
"Humph!"
The barbarian soldier gave a cold snort. Without any crap, he exerted force upon his hands; the energy converged, turned into a dazzling blue light and then was unleashed towards Lin in the distance.
"Run!"
Lin warned Hu to run, when narrowly avoiding the blow.
"Wanna go? You both have to stay here today!"
All of a sudden, a cold voice came from another direction. And a figure with the same clothing as the former barbarian soldier appeared-even their Qi was strikingly similar.
Obviously, it was another barbarian soldier!
Seeing this, both Lin Xun and Hu Long were shocked; their hearts also sank.
A barbarian soldier might not be fatal to them, but the consequence could be severe if two barbarian soldiers attacked them together.
"Kill!"
The two barbarian soldiers obviously had rich combat experience. Without any crap, they directly launched attacks.
One barbarian soldier attacked Lin while another rushed at Hu Long.
Lin soon understood that now they were in an extremely critical situation!
Clang!
He took a deep breath, and flew to Hu, ignoring the barbarian soldier who was dashing towards him. At the same time, his saber was raised, making a crisp sound.
It was the movement "Reaching for the Stars".
In this moment, Lin did not hesitate to exert his strongest means!
As a blade popping out of the void, it tore the darkness apart and there seemed to be many stars descending from the sky as if the doomsday had come.
A strong feeling of danger seized the barbarian soldier who intended to attack Hu Long and his body stiffened. The power sent a chill down his spine and there was nothing but horror in his mind. What saberplay was it?