168: Chapter 168 Heart-Burning Whip

"You're looking for death!"

Li Linlin's willow-leaf brows arched in anger as her heart-burning whip lashed out like a spiritual snake flicking its tail, flickering with flames as it coiled toward the blade of the moon-breaking sword.

Her cultivation was already one layer higher than Ye Tianhao's, and striking out in a fit of rage, her spiritual power was even more violent and surging.

Clang!

The sound of clashing metal startled the birds and beasts in the forest into scattering. Ye Tianhao felt a sharp pain in the web of his thumb and forefinger; the moon-breaking sword nearly flew out of his hand.

Using the force of the recoil, he violently retreated backward while his left hand quickly channeled spiritual power.

Several throwing knivess hidden in his Storage Pouch suddenly shot out.

These throwing knivess were a type of Low Grade Spiritual Artifact, prized for their nimbleness and specifically designed to pierce a Cultivator's protective spiritual power.

Li Linlin was caught off guard. With several soft "chi-chi" sounds, the throwing knivess instantly streaked toward her head.

She hadn't expected this Cultivator to actually try to kill her. She hurriedly used her spiritual power for defense, but the daggers forcibly sliced through her spiritual barrier.

As she dodged, she leaned back in haste, but she was a step too late. A throwing knives grazed her face, and a sharp stinging sensation immediately followed.

Li Linlin's pupils constricted. She felt a wave of warmth on her face in a daze; reaching out to touch it, her palm was covered in blood.

Her beautiful, flower-like face had actually been cut by a throwing knives. In the eyes of others, half of her face now bore a bleeding wound.

"My face! You dare wound me!"

Li Linlin was both shocked and furious, the killing intent in her eyes exploding.

Born into the Li family, she had been treated like a princess since childhood. When had she ever suffered such humiliation, let alone having her face scarred by a boy of unknown origin?

At this point, she no longer cared about holding back. Chanting an incantation, a jade bottle instantly flew out from the Storage Pouch at her waist.

As the jade bottle opened, a blood-red liquid poured out, carrying a strange sense of pressure, and surged entirely into the flaming whip.

The whip was already a Medium Grade Magical Artifact. Now, bolstered by the spiritual-infused substance, it instantly grew to three inches thick. Flames churned along the whip's body, faintly condensing into the phantom of a ferocious fire snake that roared as it lunged down toward Ye Tianhao.

"Brother!"

Ye Tianyao cried out in alarm. Her spiritual power was severely depleted, more than half of her Spirit Sparrows were dead or injured, and Xiao Chi was tied down by several Qi Refining Seventh Layer Cultivators, unable to pull away.

Su Wan was controlling her talisman treasure. While it was quite powerful, it consumed a massive amount of spiritual power to activate, and her forehead was already covered in cold sweat.

Ye Tianhao watched the fire snake pounce with the power to incinerate everything, but there was no fear in his eyes; instead, a trace of ruthlessness flashed through them.

He immediately tilted his head back and took a large gulp of crimson blood wine. Then, he gathered all his spiritual power throughout his body and began a Blood Burning counterattack.

This was a method Cultivators only used when driven to a dead end. It could temporarily boost one's cultivation, but the price was a period of recuperation afterward and the risk of one's cultivation level dropping.

But in this life-or-death moment, how could he care about such things?

"Break!"

Ye Tianhao gave a thunderous shout. Instead of retreating, he advanced, stepping on a sword to skillfully avoid the fire snake's gaping maw.

Wrapped in surging spiritual power, the moon-breaking sword slashed fiercely toward the heart-burning whip.

With this strike, he had concentrated all the spiritual power in his body, even gambling his final trump card, intending to take this woman down with him.

Li Linlin's expression changed. She wanted to retract her whip, but it was already too late. She could only watch helplessly as the edge of the moon-breaking sword slashed toward her with an indomitable Aura.

Puchi!

With a soft sound, the heart-burning whip snapped directly in two.

The phantom of the fire snake instantly dissipated, and the flames on the heart-burning whip abruptly dimmed. Li Linlin felt a sharp pain in her Dantian as her spiritual power flowed backward. She spat out a mouthful of blood and stumbled back.

"My heart-burning whip!"

Looking at the broken half-whip in her hand, her eyes nearly split with heartache, and the gaze she directed at Ye Tianhao was filled with extreme malice.

"I'm going to kill you!"

Just as she was about to charge forward again, the sound of a zither suddenly reached her ears. The melodious music instantly caused her entire body to become sluggish.

Su Wan, who had used the talisman treasure to finish off those few Cultivators, had a pale face as her slender fingers brushed the zither in her arms. The music, which was melodious at first, suddenly became sharp and piercing.

It was like ten thousand blades piercing the heart, stabbing straight into Li Linlin's Sea of Consciousness.

This zither was no ordinary object; it was the Clear Mind Zither left by the head of the Su Family. Usually used to calm the mind and stabilize the will, it was now being desperately driven by her remaining spiritual power, producing the effect of trapping the enemy and disturbing their consciousness.

Li Linlin's whole body stiffened. Her feet felt as if they were filled with lead, unable to move, and waves of sharp pain radiated from her Sea of Consciousness.

Her eyes went wide with rage as she glared at Su Wan, her voice hoarse: "Bitch! You dare disturb me! You're looking for death!"

As she spoke, she endured the sharp pain and formed a hand seal with her left hand to attack Su Wan, but suddenly, she felt a chill at her neck.

The blade had already reached her throat. Ye Tianhao was right in front of her; if she made even the slightest move, her head would be severed by this sharp blade.

"Don't move! Or else..."

Hearing these words filled with danger, Li Linlin's scalp tingled. What made her feel even more afraid was that...

The spiritual power on the youth before her had actually recovered quite a bit. He was clearly seriously injured, so why was he suddenly full of vigor again!

Before Li Linlin could speak, a Spirit Sparrow flew to her waist. Its sharp claws quickly tore away the string of Spirit Beads tied there.

"You guys!" Li Linlin was furious, but with a sword pressed against her neck, she could only glare at Ye Tianyao, who was controlling the Spirit Sparrow to steal her Spirit Beads.

Ye Tianyao didn't hesitate to make a face at her, her expression full of snickering disdain.

"You! You! Just you wait, the Li family won't let you get away with this!"

Li Linlin shouted in rage. After speaking, her entire person suddenly turned into a puff of green smoke and drifted away, vanishing just like that.

This surprised Ye Tianhao. What kind of Cultivation Technique was this? It was so powerful that she could escape in a single breath.

Seeing that the female Cultivator had escaped, Ye Tianhao also began to sway. He was supported by Ye Tianyao as they descended to the ground.

"Brother! Are you okay?" Ye Tianyao asked hurriedly with concern.

Even Su Wan ran over holding her zither, her face full of worry as she handed healing medicine to Ye Tianhao.

Ye Tianhao didn't take her medicine, but instead took a few more gulps of crimson blood wine. Su Wan knew they were cautious and didn't say anything, only remarking: "We've snatched so many Spirit Beads at once; it looks like we're set for this assessment!"

Ye Tianyao nodded, then said politely to Su Wan: "Not at all, it's the result of everyone working together!"

After Ye Tianhao's breathing stabilized, he looked at the heart-burning whip lying on the ground in two pieces.

He used his Storage Pouch to collect it.

Su Wan was puzzled. This Magical Artifact was already destroyed; what use did Fellow Daoist Ye have for it?

Though she found it strange, she didn't ask further and followed the siblings as they left the area.

Next, the three of them were almost invincible in the assessment. Basically, no Cultivators dared to come and fight them for their Spirit Beads.

With everything going their way, the assessment soon came to an end.

When the time was up, a dull bell toll echoed over the Beast Forest. The sound was loud and clear, causing all the surrounding Cultivators to stop their movements.

The voice of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator carried over like the wind.

"Time is up. Everyone, stop!"