Seeing Bai Ye's pitiful expression, Xiong Zhuang felt a strong sense of possessiveness rise within him, disregarding Lu Ying's warning.
Bai Ye ignored Xiong Zhuang's words and just looked at Li Sheng.
"Alright, it's nothing serious. Just be more careful in the future," Li Sheng said, annoyed.
Xiong Zhuang, feeling ignored, gradually turned pale with anger. His sharp-eyed underling stepped forward, raising his right hand to slap Li Sheng's head while shouting, "Useless thing, I'll teach you a lesson..."
Before he could finish, Li Sheng moved his foot, dodging the incoming palm, and sharply lunged into the underling's embrace.
"Bang!"
A dull thud echoed as the underling was sent flying three zhang away, blood spraying mid-air, his right chest collapsing inward.
"Bang!"
He hit the ground with a loud crash, spitting out blood mixed with internal organs, and died instantly.
The scene unfolded so quickly that the others hadn't even reacted before it was over.
"Bold!"
"Dare to ambush?"
"Kill him, avenge Liu Hu!"
The remaining three disciples, instead of being frightened, were filled with rage as they charged forward. They thought Li Sheng had merely succeeded by breaking through to a new realm, and assumed they could easily defeat him in a fair fight, completely underestimating him.
Looking at the three approaching, Li Sheng sighed, "I'm kind-hearted and don't like fighting. Why must you force me?"
He then activated the Spirit Seal, unleashing an invisible wave of energy that doubled his strength.
As the disciples threw their fists at him, Li Sheng quickly struck out three punches, effortlessly sending them flying. Then, he switched to the Snake Shape Seal, his figure instantly blurring and disappearing.
When he reappeared, he was already catching up to the three mid-air, delivering a devastating knee, elbow, and hook punch to their heads.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
As they hit the ground, they didn't even have time to scream before losing their lives.
Xiong Zhuang was still fantasizing about how to win over the beautiful Bai Ye when the situation changed in an instant. By the time he realized it was bad, it was too late.
"You... how did you do that?" Xiong Zhuang's face twisted in anger, unable to comprehend how a useless nine-star martial artist just days ago could now kill several eight-star warriors in an instant.
Though he could do it too, he was at the peak of the seven-star realm.
"I haven't even come for you yet, but you're delivering yourselves right to me. I truly dislike fighting, but you've forced my hand and brought about your own demise."
"Enough nonsense. I underestimated you, but this trip hasn't been in vain. The assets left by the sect master seem quite substantial, even a waste like you can experience such great change." Xiong Zhuang put aside his contempt, deciding to go all out.
"Senior brother, let me handle this. The opponent's aura has reached the peak of the seven-star realm," Bai Ye stepped forward, standing in front of Li Sheng.
"Peak of the seven-star realm, huh... then you take care of it." Li Sheng nodded, not trying to show off.
In the Tianxuan Continent, martial arts are divided into nine ranks.
Nine-Star Body Refining Realm: The foundation is a thousand pounds of strength; at peak, it can reach two thousand pounds of immense power.
Eight-Star Internal Breath Realm: The foundation is four thousand pounds of strength; at peak, it can reach seven thousand pounds of immense power.
Seven-Star Bone Forging Realm: The foundation is ten thousand pounds of strength; at peak, it can reach seventeen thousand pounds of immense power.
Six-Star Organ Refining Realm: The foundation is twenty-five thousand pounds of strength; at peak, it can reach forty-two thousand pounds of immense power.
Five-Star Blood Movement Realm: The foundation is ninety thousand pounds of strength.
Four-Star Spirit Cultivation Realm: Can awaken one's own martial domain; terrifying strength.
Three-Star Master Realm: Awakens martial arts supernatural powers, intimidating all.
Two-Star Grandmaster Realm: The pinnacle of humanity.
One-Star Earth Immortal Realm: Rarely appears in a millennium; combat power is unknown, capable of breaking the void.
In life-and-death battles, rank is only one aspect; skills, weapons, will, and techniques all influence the outcome of the fight. The preciousness of spiritual-level martial arts lies not only in changing one's aptitude but also in the substantial boost in battle strength provided by Spirit Seals.
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Having just entered the eight-star realm, Li Sheng possessed four thousand pounds of strength. With the addition of two Spirit Seals, he could unleash twelve thousand pounds of strength, as each Spirit Seal doubled his combat power.
Seeing Bai Ye take action, Xiong Zhuang revealed a sinister smile: "Even if you've broken through to the seven-star realm, I advise you not to struggle in vain. I've reached the peak of the seven-star realm, my technique has attained the Power Extreme realm, capable of unleashing twenty-five thousand pounds of strength. If you get hurt, I'll be quite saddened."
"Done talking? Then die!" Bai Ye shot him a disdainful glance and vanished, a flash of sword light appearing before him.
"The Power Extreme realm only enhances my output by fifty percent, and it can't be used for long. With the support of the two Spirit Seals, Bai Ye can completely crush him," Li Sheng thought to himself, chuckling inwardly, while silently ordering the team to keep watch and attack if anything went wrong.
The sword light struck, and the might it contained startled him, causing Xiong Zhuang's expression to become serious.
His fists, wrapped in spiked gauntlets, collided with the sword light.
"Clang!"
A shower of sparks erupted along with a piercing clash, and Xiong Zhuang's face turned pale as he was blasted back three zhang, a sharp pain coursing through his body.
After just one sword strike, he was severely injured. Seeing the sword light come at him again, Xiong Zhuang gritted his teeth and exerted all his strength.
"Violent Kill Fist!"
"Clang!"
Xiong Zhuang spat out a mouthful of blood, his heart filled with terror as his body lost control, sending him flying.
As the sword light approached again, Xiong Zhuang was completely frightened and shouted, "Wait... I have something to say!"
The sword light flashed, and his chest was pierced through, his eyes wide with horror, freezing in place.
"Boom!"
Xiong Zhuang fell, having lost all life.
"Impressive! Just three swords and a peak seven-star warrior is finished. Congratulations, junior sister," Li Sheng clapped and laughed.
"All thanks to senior brother. This martial art is indeed powerful," Bai Ye smiled lightly.
"Tuan Tuan."
Hearing Li Sheng's call, a white light appeared.
"Chirp chirp?"
"Throw these guys out and clean it up."
"Chirp!"
A mist swirled as the scattered corpses on the ground vanished without a trace.
"Junior sister, has your technique reached the Power Extreme realm?"
"Not yet, but I'm getting close," Bai Ye shook her head.
The technique realm is divided into three levels of Power Extreme; each level enhances strength by fifty percent. After that, there are the three levels of Subtlety, which are even more mysterious, and there isn't much recorded in the Qingling Sect.
"That's understandable; the best way to improve technique is through combat. Figuring it out alone will take much longer."
As the two conversed, several peasant women approached from a distance. One of them spoke nervously, "Li Zhangmen, we have some young boys in our village. Could they join the Qingling Sect to practice martial arts?"
In this world, martial artists are revered, and those who wish to enter the path are as numerous as the fish crossing a river. However, the costs of martial arts are substantial, and ordinary families cannot afford them.
Except for those with exceptional talent, the rest must pay to join a martial school or sect.
After hearing about the intruders, including a seven-star warrior, the women were worried about Li Zhangmen and Bai Ye. Little did they know, it only took a short time for the two to eliminate the threats.
Seeing their power, the women's minds began to race, wanting to send their children to join the sect.
"Li Zhangmen, rest assured, we understand the rules. We can gather some funds from our families, and if it's not enough, we can work for free to repay you," one of them proposed.
"Sure." Li Sheng nodded, not rejecting the idea. For a sect to thrive, having more disciples is always better.