Chapter 43: Making His Move

　　Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

　　Swoosh!

　　Yin Kai was very swift. His blood meridian was a Fifth Level blood meridian, also known as the Green-winged Nighthawk, which excelled in speed. He had made his blood meridian explode and was quick as lightning.

　　No wonder he dared to make a move even before the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard had fully fallen asleep.

　　Yin Kai’s figure flashed a few times, and he was already beneath the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard’s neck. He reached out, seized the point-worthy metal piece, and tugged at it forcefully. The metal chain that bound the metal piece soon broke.

　　Roar!

　　The jerking motion seemed to aggravate the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard. It growled and swiped a massive claw towards Yin Kai.

　　Yin Kai’s body glowed suddenly and he evaded its attack.

　　After its blow missed its target, the Black-scaled Monitor Lizard seemed dizzy. With a low snarl, it did not give chase.

　　“Haha, the 500 points are mine. This year, I’ll definitely be the Apprentice Champion.”

　　Seeing that the Black-scaled Monitor Lizard did not pursue him, Yin Kai was filled with glee. He was on the verge of bursting out in joyful laughter.

　　“Yin Kai, let go of the metal piece!”

　　At this moment, from the entrances around the cavern, one figure after another lunged forward. They were the experts of the four halls. Amongst them were the number one experts of the other three halls, Duanmu Jue, Huang Yu, and Xie Hong.

　　“Now that I’ve gotten it, you guys plan to snatch it from me? Dream on.” Yin Kai laughed coldly. As he waved his arms, there was a vague impression of green wings flashing by.

　　Whoosh!

　　A fierce gale was stirred up. Yin Kai rose over ten meters into the air and flew towards an entrance that was high above him.

　　Yin Kai had planned it all out. With the advantage of his blood meridian, he would snatch the point-worthy metal piece, lure out the experts from the three other halls, then leap up into an entrance ten meters above their heads to escape.

　　Those tunnels were tangled and complicated. If he fled into one of them, the others could forget about tracking him down.

　　His plan was good. Nonetheless, Lu Ming just so happened to be waiting in that direction.

　　Therefore, without a second thought, Lu Ming leaped down and slashed his sword towards Yin Kai.

　　At Lu Ming’s sudden appearance, Yin Kai yelped in shock and quickly drew his sword up. “Lu Ming? Scram!”

　　Clang!

　　The two swords clashed, sending out a burst of energy.

　　Yin Kai’s cultivation was on the Fourth Grade Master Realm, so he had significant strength. Lu Ming was swept upwards by a large impact, but since he was attacking from the high ground and was not that weak either, Yin Kai immediately dropped down from the attack.

　　At this point, Duanmu Jue, Huang Yu, and the rest hurried over.

　　“Yin Kai, hand over the metal piece, or you won’t get out alive.” Duanmu Jue coldly huffed, his eyes burning lethally. Formidable attacks instantly rained down upon Yin Kai.

　　“Lu Ming, I won’t rest until you’re dead!” Yin Kai bellowed in fury.

　　“Save your own skin first!” Lu Ming landed by one side and smiled breezily.

　　“Hand over the 500-point metal piece!”

　　Duanmu Jue, Huang Yu, Xie Hong were all Fourth Grade Masters. There were also other experts at Third Grade Master Realm. Yin Kai could not hold on to the metal piece at all.

　　All of the attacks were directed at the 500-point metal piece he was holding. If he did not let go, his hand would be crushed.

　　Helplessly he released his grip.

　　“The metal piece is mine. Get away!”

　　“Huang Yu, you dare to act against the Duanmu Family!”

　　Duanmu Jue yelled a few times.

　　“Duanmu Jue, you can stop using the Duanmu Family to scare me. Other people might be afraid, but I’m not.”

　　Huang Yu grinned coldly.

　　The place was instantly caught up in a chaotic battle. Everyone wanted the metal piece and was struggling for it with their full strength. Essential Qi erupted, and the metal piece bounced and danced amongst the midst of all this. For a moment, no one could seem to grab it.

　　Zing!

　　Just then, Lu Ming suddenly perceived a subtle slicing sound behind him. A mighty blow was directed towards his back.

　　Someone was attacking him in stealth!

　　Swoosh! At the crucial moment, Lu Ming twisted his body to one side, evading the attack by a hair’s breadth.

　　Lu Ming whipped his head around, and his eyes glinted coldly. “Yuan Lang, you’re begging to die!”

　　The one who had sneaked up on him was Yuan Lang.

　　“The dead one will be you. Yesterday, I didn’t explode my blood meridian. Let’s see if you’re still a match for me this time?”

　　Yuan Lang’s murderous aura surged out as he spoke. Following that, there was a bloody flash as his blood meridian exploded. He barreled towards Lu Ming mercilessly.

　　Slash slash!

　　The icy metal claws stirred up a vigorous gale as he swiped at Lu Ming.

　　His power was even greater than yesterday.

　　Lu Ming did not waste time with words and wielded the Lustrous Sword Technique.

　　Instantly, he had created more than ten arcs of sword light.

　　Clang! Clang!

　　The exchange of blows rang out in succession.

　　As soon as they fought, Yuan Lang’s expression changed, because he found out that the strength of Lu Ming’s strikes was greater than yesterday.

　　Could it be that Lu Ming’s cultivation had broken through in less than a day?

　　That was impossible. Yuan Lang dismissed that thought. Lu Ming must have hidden his capabilities yesterday.

　　He started to consider giving up.

　　However, the light trembled on Lu Ming’s blade. One of Yuan Lang’s arms turned numb and he took two steps back.

　　Swish!

　　There was a burst of sword light, more dazzling than usual, piercing straight into Yuan Lang’s abdomen.

　　“Lu Ming, don’t kill me…”

　　Yuan Lang shrieked in alarm.

　　“I told you yesterday that there won’t be a second chance!” Lu Ming spoke coldly. Then, he cut Yuan Lang’s throat in one move and threw him backward.

　　The direction where Yuan Lang fell was the battlefield where Duanmu Jue and the rest were fighting for the 500-point metal piece.

　　With blades flashing all over the place, one was sure to end up as a severed corpse after being thrown out like that.

　　“Argh!” Yuan Lang screamed in terror. After Lu Ming stabbed his abdomen, he still had not died. To survive, he had to unleash his full strength. His body burst out in blinding red light as his hands kept on clawing the air.

　　“Scram!”

　　“Die!”

　　Duanmu Jue and the rest yelled angrily, delivering their attacks without hesitation.

　　Pfff-hiss!

　　In the blink of an eye, Yuan Lang was sliced apart. His blood and flesh splattered everywhere. Even in his struggle against death, he blocked all of them for an instant.

　　This was the instant that Lu Ming was waiting for. Without any hesitation, he dashed out. His Dragon Serpent Steps unleashed his greatest might. In one step, he covered 20 meters.

　　Swoosh!

　　Lu Ming was like a streak of lightning as he leaped over the fight between Yin Kai and the rest. In one smooth grab, he captured the 500-point metal piece.

　　“Lu Ming, it’s you! Hand over the metal piece to me and I’ll spare your life!” Yin Kai snarled in rage.

　　“Lu Ming, I know you. You dared to kill an apprentice from the Duanmu Family. Give me the metal piece, and I’ll plead with the adults on your behalf to reduce your punishment,” Duanmu Jue hollered as well.

　　All at once, the attacks were aimed at Lu Ming.

　　With so many experts, he could not possibly resist them stubbornly. He took another step and raced forward by another 20 meters.

　　The mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard was lying in that direction. Presently, Lu Ming was only about 30 meters away from it.

　　Behind him, Duanmu Jue, Yin Kai, and the rest joined forces and closed in around Lu Ming.

　　“Lu Ming, you can’t run. Someone like you wants to seize the point-worthy metal piece? How hilarious! You’ll die today.” Yin Kai’s eyes glimmered with a bloodthirsty expression. If it were not for Lu Ming, he would have obtained the point-worthy metal piece and left this place, essentially becoming this year’s Apprentice Champion.

　　However, all his dreams had turned to dust, thanks to Lu Ming. His hatred towards Lu Ming ran deep in his bones.

　　“Lu Ming, hand the metal piece to me. I can safeguard your life!” Huang Yu cried out.

　　At the same time, they kept on cornering Lu Ming while he withdrew further backward. Soon, he was only a few meters away from the mutated Black-scaled Monitor Lizard.