Zeng shiyang lunged at Lin shu, and so did xu jin. Lin shu propelled himself forward, dodging them as he tried to get back to the trees to reach shang.
Then a blade came flying at him. Lin shu was about to jump when he saw han yi on a branch above him, shooting arrows to keep him from leaping. He propelled himself again, but this time xie lang attacked from one side while tiezheng struck from the other.
Lin shu couldn't dodge anymore. He'd already been breaking his ivory armor with Ivory Detonations, and he no longer had enough qi to restore it. So he took the hits and crashed into the ground. He raised his arms, but nothing hit him. Instead, he saw xie lang and han yi throw blood and body parts at him, covering him with the gore. He didn't understand why—until he looked ahead and saw a bloodthirsty beast charging straight at him.
"DAMN IT, WHY IS IT FOLLOWING ME NOW?"
Lin shu scrambled to his feet and tried to run, but cultivators all around kept attacking him. A guy with glasses perched in a tree started pulling blister bombs and throwing them at Lin shu, forcing him back.
"THERE ARE NOW ONLY FIVE MINUTES BEFORE THE HUNT ENDS," the announcer said.
Lin shu jumped to the side as the beast's mouth opened in front of him, ready to bite down. His Infernal Force flared—he was about to blast the beast and push himself away—but something hit him, stopping him for just a moment. He glanced sideways and saw a girl he barely recognized. He couldn't even remember her name. It was duan mei, the one he'd fought before, the one whose juniors he'd killed.
Then he heard something that snapped his attention away. He looked behind him and saw a vial flying his way.
"Did you think I really wouldn't recognize you, Lin Shu?"
He lost only one second to those words. That was all the beast needed.
Lin shu cursed, still sure of his armor—until the vial hit it. The beast bit down. The armor cracked, then started to slowly break and dissolve from the vial's liquid. One tooth broke through and stabbed him.
"Damn it—"
Lin shu poured everything into his Infernal Force, tearing apart the beast's mouth from the inside, but the creature didn't care. The blood and flesh of its mate were all over him. It swallowed him whole, ripping away his flesh armor as he screamed.
Everyone went silent.
The beast slowly fell to the ground. The attacks from Lin shu and the constant battering from the other cultivators had wounded it too much. It collapsed.
Back in the arena, kuang baotu clapped loudly at the scene before him. Yanqi's veins bulged. He glanced at lu Zhenhai, who looked genuinely surprised.
"Why… why did she do that?" lu Zhenhai muttered. It didn't make sense to him. han yi had never been this ruthless. "Does she really hold a grudge that deeply over losing to him?"
"You've got quite the ruthless disciple, lu Zhenhai," said zhao tianxue.
xie tianhun added, "Truly. To think she would smear the male's blood on him so the female would target him. And then I saw her throw something at him—the armor crumbled right after."
The announcer's voice rang out again: "THE FIRST‑PLACE HOLDER IS NOW CHI KAI, AS LI'S TOKEN HAS BEEN DESTROYED."
yanqi looked at the vision, then at the leaderboard. Lin shu's name was nowhere to be seen. Strangely, no one's points had gone up from Li's token. It hadn't been broken by any cultivator—the beast had done it.
The beast breathed slowly, in pain.
han lei, xie lang, tiezheng, and everyone around exchanged glances, then lunged at the dying creature. Yu and zaisheng burst from the bushes and jumped toward it too.
But from above, a storm of feathers rained down. Shang's face was twisted with anger as he looked at han yi. Kai's face was the same.
"That damned piece of shit," shang said.
han lei dodged the feathers and reached the beast first. He raised his blade to decapitate it. The beast closed its eyes.
Then the announcer's voice rang out again: "THE SECOND‑PLACE HOLDER IS NOW LI WITH A HUNDRED THOUSAND POINTS."
Everyone froze.
han lei stood there, arm in the air, blade ready—when a hand shot out from the beast's broken jaw and grabbed him by the neck.
Lin shu crawled out. His body was covered in wounds. His body armor was completely gone—only his helm and gauntlets remained. He clutched han lei's throat, trying to rip the skin, but the gauntlets had lost their fingertips. han lei's body was weaker than his, so all Lin shu could do was choke him.
han yi tried to charge in, but shang landed with kai and blocked her. Yu and zaisheng crept closer, but shang swung his wing and drove Yu back.
"Hey, what's that attitude toward your brother?" Yu said.
shang ignored him. Yu didn't back down. Around them, multiple others circled both the first‑ and second‑place holders.
Lin shu tore the token from han lei's chest and destroyed it. No announcement came, so he knew he was still in second place. That didn't matter now.
han lei punched Lin shu in the helm. Lin shu squeezed harder.
"I really thought I was unrecognizable," he said.
han yi looked at him. "Let him go, Lin shu. I can at least help you get a lighter punishment for your crimes."
Lin shu laughed. "Oh, please. Don't get my hopes up." He turned to shang. "I'll give you eighty aether shards if you help me get out of this place, shang. I'll even give you my points."
shang looked at him in confusion.
xie lang stared. "Wait—you're Lin shu?"
Lin shu ignored him.
xie lang laughed. "How did you get this strong? Also, what kind of moron shortens their name by one stroke?"
Lin shu didn't argue about his foolish decisions when he was younger.
"There's nowhere for you to go, Lin shu. Surrender, and I can at least make sure you won't be killed."
xie lang said, "I mean, he's just a thief. I don't think they'd go that far over a few thousand gold coins. He can probably just pay it back."
han yi shot back, "You stay out of it. He aided the bastards lu Heng and Jiang wuyu—two demonic cultivators—and killed several students of our institute."
Zaisheng's face went tight with anger. He shifted his stance, no longer aiming at Lin shu and kai but facing han yi. Then he caught himself and wiped the anger away.
Yu looked just as pissed, glaring at han yi.
shang looked at Lin shu. He could already tell that Lin shu might as well be a demonic cultivator. "Alright. Let's go, then."
Lin shu nodded, but suddenly he felt weaker. He looked at his wounds and dread filled him. "LET'S GO, SHANG. I DON'T HAVE ANY MORE TIME."
Then multiple figures appeared in the middle of them. A young man with white hair and white eyes smiled. The people around him started moving, placing materials and drawing diagrams, forming a large formation.
The announcer's voice rang out: "THE HUNT HAS NOW ENDED. THE CURRENT RESULTS ARE AS FOLLOWS. FIRST PLACE: KAI WITH A HUNDRED AND FORTY THOUSAND POINTS. SECOND PLACE: LI WITH A HUNDRED AND FORTY THOUSAND POINTS—GAINED FROM KILLING THE FEMALE BEAST AND TAKING HAN LEI'S TOKEN. THIRD PLACE: ZHAO TIEZHENG WITH SIXTY‑SEVEN THOUSAND POINTS. FOURTH PLACE: LANXIN WITH FIFTY‑SIX THOUSAND POINTS. FIFTH PLACE: YU WITH FORTY‑NINE THOUSAND POINTS. SIXTH PLACE: ZAISHENG WITH TWENTY‑NINE THOUSAND POINTS. SEVENTH PLACE: HAOYU WITH TWENTY‑FOUR THOUSAND POINTS. EIGHTH PLACE: SHANG YUFENG WITH TWENTY‑TWO THOUSAND POINTS. NINTH PLACE: HAN YI WITH NINETEEN THOUSAND POINTS. TENTH PLACE: YIN WITH ELEVEN THOUSAND POINTS."
The announcer let silence hang, then said, "NOW WE'LL GO OVER POINTS GAINED FROM THE MANY TASKS GIVEN TO YOU BY THE ARENA'S MASTER—SUCH AS THE KILLING OF QUASI‑RANK‑2 BEASTS AND ONE SPECIAL TASK: BEATING LI. LI HAS GAINED FIVE THOUSAND POINTS FROM KILLING TWO QUASI‑RANK‑2 BEASTS AND TEN THOUSAND POINTS FROM NOT BEING DEFEATED AT ONE OF THE TRUCE ZONES CREATED BY THE HUNTERS. THIS BRINGS LI TO A HUNDRED AND FIFTY‑FIVE THOUSAND POINTS THIS WILL NOW BRING LI BACK TO THE FIRST SPOT."
yanqi laughed. His cultivator had taken first place, and not only that—his other fighter had taken second. "Now I just have to think of what to give him to get the resonance for aoyan."
tianhun cursed. His disciple wasn't even in the top ten. "I'm going to have a long talk with that brat later," he thought.
tianxue didn't mind. His disciple had only gotten third, but the hunt had many variables. He couldn't blame tiezheng—he'd been either up against a rank‑2 beast or stuck with a flight‑path master. "I don't blame him for trying to recruit that kid. The flight path is too hard to achieve, and for him to do it at such an age is quite commendable."
The announcer continued: "PLEASE HEAD TO WHERE THE GREEN LIGHTS LEAD YOU. THERE YOU WILL BE TELEPORTED USING A FORMATION IMMEDIATELY."
Lin shu immediately cut han lei's throat—not deep enough to kill him quickly, but deep enough to make sure han yi was too busy tending to her brother to shoot them down. He nudged shang. shang was about to take off with him when two hands landed on his shoulder.
"Now, now. There's no need to hurry. The hunt has already ended," the young white‑haired man said. "And your friend doesn't look like he's in very good shape."
Lin shu felt his consciousness fading. "Get me out of here," he whispered.
shang didn't respond. Lin shu glanced at him and saw the latter sweating, not moving a muscle. "Damn it, this guy is cowering now of all times."
"You should sit and heal yourself while we finish preparing the teleportation formation," the man said. "After all, we need you in good condition to receive your rewards."
Lin shu looked around. han yi was bandaging her brother's wounds, shooting Lin shu a look of pure malice. "Every time I tried to kill her, her brother jumped in. xie lang jumped in. that girl lanxin jumped in. then a rank‑2 beast jumped in. And now I'm probably going to be killed when the empire finds me."
He started thinking. "But according to what xie lang said, I was branded only a thief. They probably forgot about me. There's also the crime of trying to kill her, but maybe I can get yanqi to help me with this. Yeah, I saved his disciple a couple times already. That's the least he could do to save face. But I'm sure that bastard is going to extort me for this big time."
"I must say, you delivered a great performance. I watched your fights up close," the man said.
Lin shu looked at him. The first thing he noticed was how awfully clean the man was. "I can't tell his cultivation, but he's probably powerful if shang froze when he put his hand on his shoulder."
The man in his twenties had been around the hunt since it started, breaking up rule‑breakers and keeping outsiders away. He hadn't planned to show himself at all until he heard that Lin shu might be a demonic cultivator. He took Lin shu from shang yufeng, then moved to Lin shu, who was throwing pills into his mouth and bandaging his wounds.
"I hear you committed quite the crime—helping a demonic cultivator. But how is it that I've never heard your name before? And you seem awfully clean in my eyes. Do you regret any anything?"
Lin shu looked at him in confusion. The young man suddenly laughed. "Oh, what am I saying? If you regretted anything, you wouldn't be this clean. Unlike your friend over there." He looked at shang. "You're quite filthy yourself."
shang didn't speak.
The man smiled. "Oh, don't shy away from it. We're all either filthy or going to be filthy in the future. And that includes you—what was your name? Lin shu, right?"
shang looked at the man's eyes and saw a brief change. "This guy… he's…"
Lin shu didn't understand a single word. He looked at himself—blood and guts all over—while shang was spotless. "Yeah, this guy is another nutcase."
The man stood up. "Alright. How about we head back to the arena?"
Lin shu stood. He knew he had no choice but to go back—not that he wanted to run anymore. "Ugh, I was too rushed when I tried running just now. I didn't commit anything worthy of death, at least nothing they know about. All I have to do is pay some compensation. I'll just use aether shards to keep the empire from imprisoning me."
Multiple individuals looked at Lin shu with hate: han lei, han yi, duan mei and her juniors, and most of all the chi brothers, kun and mang.
"Petty losers," said Lin shu.
kai looked at him and whispered, "You're one to talk." He nudged shang, but shang didn't respond—he kept staring at the white‑haired man.
kai didn't know what his deal was, so he tried to ease the mood. "Don't worry, Li—or shu, I guess now. I'm sure elder yanqi will be more than willing to help you. He's close to the empire, from what I know."
Lin shu nodded.
He saw multiple individuals coming his way. Yu and zaisheng stood next to him.
"Hey, yanqi would probably help you," Yu said. "But if you actually end up dead, can I inherit your belongings? Since I'm your brother."
shang, as if activated by the word "brother," said, "Of course not. I'm the one getting everything since I'm the oldest."
Yu said, "You're not the oldest, though."
shang countered, "Well, I'm the tallest."
Yu laughed. "Haha. There's also one more thing. We agreed to get twenty thousand points each, didn't we? Since you didn't give them to us, you ended up winning—but it would've been kai who got first place if you had."
Lin shu smiled at Yu. "And what made you think I'd keep my word when you've been itching to take my token since we met in the hunt?"
Yu laughed. "Now, now, I don't deny that. But you can't talk—you thought about doing the same to us."
Lin shu said, "I could never. But back to my token—the points I promised to split got destroyed by that rank‑2 beast. So I'm not obligated to continue that deal. If you're asking for compensation, forget it."
Yu had expected as much. "Of course not. But you did promise shang a favor, right?"
Lin shu said, "I did. What does that have to do with you?"
shang was about to speak when the men who had been forming the formation finished and called for everyone to line up and go through in groups.
Lin shu stepped into the formation alongside his team. He still got hateful stares from everywhere, though xie lang was waving at him. "That guy seemed ready to kill anyone for the resonance, and now he's all friendly. Is he really that cool‑headed about accepting defeat, or is he just an idiot?"
xu jin looked at xie lang. "Why are you waving at him? And how come you're not angry you lost?"
xie lang kept smiling. "Shut up. Of course I'm still angry. I want to bash his skull in right now. But he already won, so it's useless. So why not be nice and get him to sell me the resonance? He's not going to keep it unless he wants to be dissected by who knows who after all remember which city we're in right now it's not called the haven of criminals for no reason."
xu jin said, "Shouldn't we hurry, then? Others will try the same."
xie lang smiled. "You think I don't know that? But you heard han yi—he's Lin shu. A fugitive running from the crime of trying to kill han yi and stealing from lu Zhenhai. I know I said he just stole—they'll force him to pay it back and more. But that's only if that's all he did. The empire dropped the demonic cultivator label because they found no connection between him and lu Heng, but he still tried to kill lu Zhenhai's disciple. Even if the empire abandoned Lin shu's case—which it probably did, since he was a nobody—lu Zhenhai wouldn't let it slide. So we need to hurry to the old man and stop lu Zhenhai from killing him in case he's crazy enough to do it in front of the Valor Seeker. And we also need to do it before anyone else tries to take this chance. He's apparently chi yanqi's disciple and owns a resonance. Others could help him to get closer to yanqi. We can't let that happen. Master has been trying to form a good relationship with yanqi for years. This will boost it. So let's hurry and stay next to him."
xu jin looked at xie lang in awe. "This guy is an absolute contradiction. How can he think this far and still be a moron sometimes? I truly don't get him."
xie lang laughed. "Hahaha. Are you frightened by my superior intelligence?"
xu jin laughed and walked next to him. "I'm just wondering if you have a twin brother who's a moron and you're the smart one."
Lin shu looked to his left. A girl with black hair and flame‑like eyes stood next to him.
"You're suicidal?" asked Lin shu.
chi su said, "What? No."
Lin shu got closer. "Then why are you standing next to me?"
chi su laughed—a cheesy line, she thought—and said, "You're a bit too old to be saying that. What are you, Fifteen? Sixteen?"
Lin shu didn't understand where this conversation had even started. "I'm pretty sure I've tried to kill her multiple times. Why is she even talking to me?"
"What do you want?" said kai, stepping next to Lin shu.
chi su stayed silent. Then Lin shu heard her voice in his head: "I heard what that girl said before. I can help you if you join my side."
Lin shu looked at her and just walked away.
"Hey, I'm talking to you," chi su said.
Lin shu ignored her. "Yeah, as if I'm crazy enough to risk my life against yanqi."
Now Lin shu was being swarmed by multiple individuals from different clans and sects, all trying to introduce themselves. He moved away from each of them—their motives were clear.
lanxin stood alone, everyone keeping a good distance from her. "Like he'll actually trade the resonance. It's already property of the chi clan now."
Light shone around them as the formation finished. The white‑haired man standing among the people activated it. When they opened their eyes again, they were in the middle of the arena.
They quickly stepped down as others were teleported in. Lin shu didn't get away—the white‑haired man was standing right next to him, smiling.
"Well, I don't plan on leaving without my rewards," Lin shu thought. "And as long as I'm not proven to be a demonic cultivator, I won't be outright killed. I can pay for my crimes—which I hate, but it's better than being killed by lu Zhenhai."
The arena roared with excitement at seeing the cultivators back. Some had lost limbs. Others had grave wounds. A few were in perfect condition, covered in the blood of their foes.
Arena workers moved the cultivators aside as everyone waited for the celebration of the victors.
kuang baotu, alongside several clan and sect elders, walked toward the center of the arena.
Lin shu stood to the side and looked behind him. He saw lu Zhenhai, who gave him an annoyed look. Lin shu could tell he wasn't pleased about his students being beaten.
He saw elders from all kinds of clans and sects.
He saw one man walking in armor bearing the empire's emblem. "That armor looks pretty expensive. Is he a commander or something?"
Then he looked left and saw yanqi looking at him, nodding in acknowledgment.
Lin shu turned his gaze to the middle of all these powerhouses. A dark‑skinned man with a shaved head and a thick beard walked there. His eyes were so dark. His smile was wide. When Lin shu locked eyes with him, he physically froze. He wasn't the only one. Without knowing it, his hands were already shaking in the presence of someone like that. He looked left—shang, kai, and gu were in the same condition. Even zaisheng was. Then he looked to where xie lang, han yi, han lei, and tiezheng stood. Their expressions were solemn, but they weren't shaking like Lin shu's group.
kuang baotu walked into the arena, smiling. He raised his head, his voice amplified by qi.
"LET US ALL WELCOME THE HUNTERS WHO SURVIVED AND HAVE PROVEN THEIR DESIRE FOR POWER, FOR WEALTH, FOR FAME… FOR THEIR OWN VALOR!"
The crowds cheered and laughed. Cultivators from sects and clans looked uncomfortable with such a speech and such a crowd. They were used to honorifics, to hiding their desires behind polite words. They weren't used to hearing it said so directly. But unlike them, most of the people around here were fugitives, gang members, rogue cultivators, or even demonic cultivators. They had no interest in that.
"WE HAVE WATCHED THESE FELLOW CULTIVATORS FIGHT TO THE DEATH, LOSE LIMBS, LOSE EYESIGHT, EVEN LOSE THEIR LIVES—ALL TO SECURE THEIR OWN VALOR. THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A CULTIVATOR. SO TODAY I WELCOME YOU TO MY—NO, OUR—ARENA. WHERE EACH OF YOU WILL SEEK YOUR VALOR."
The crowds cheered again, and so did the cultivators who didn't belong to proper sects and clans.
Not a single elder around kuang baotu smiled or laughed with him. Not even tianhun. kuang baotu didn't seem bothered.
Lin shu looked at their expressions, and at yanqi's. None of them seemed to agree with or support the speech. It was as if they were there only as a courtesy.
"Don't be surprised," a voice said. "While they look like they're standing together, they and the Seeker are worlds apart. They can simply never understand his greatness."
Lin shu turned. It was the white‑haired man from earlier.
"Unlike them, he is a man true to his own valor. He doesn't waver for anyone or any reason. He's a true Valor Seeker."
The young man left with those words. Several cultivators looked at him with displeasure, while others could only look at kuang baotu and nod in agreement.
"What's his deal?" said Yu.
"How would I know?" said Lin shu.
kuang baotu moved to the side, and the white‑haired man walked up onto the arena.
"We will now begin handing out the rewards of the hunt."
One by one, from the top two hundred to the top one hundred, names were called.
Then Lin shu heard someone he knew. "THE ONE PLACED AT THE SEVENTIETH SPOT—CHI AOYAN."
aoyan walked forward with a bit of confidence, covering her nervousness as she looked around, as if searching for someone.
yanqi stood at the top of the arena, watching her come. The white‑haired man moved to yanqi and handed him the rewards—a courtesy, letting the master give them to his disciple.
yanqi walked to aoyan. "You did great, aoyan."
She smiled, took her rewards, and went down. She kept looking around until she finally spotted who she was looking for.
Lin shu looked at her, smiling, as she moved next to him.
"Congrats on getting first place, Li."
"You too," Lin shu said.
aoyan frowned. "Is that it? Shouldn't you be celebrating? You won a resonance, after all."
Lin shu was about to shrug it off when he heard Yu chuckle.
"Haha. Celebrating what? He didn't win the resonance. He's just holding on to it until someone takes it. That's all."
Lin shu looked at him. "Are you threatening me, Yu?"
Yu smiled. "Not at all. I'm just telling you the truth, since you seem to know what a resonance is but not what it's worth." He continued, "Everyone is going to want that resonance. In fact, you're going to see a lot of friendly faces from people who just tried to rip you apart earlier. Your only choice in the matter is who you sell it to."
shang barged in. "He's not wrong, Li. You can't keep it. So choose a good buyer—one that won't get all sides angry at you."
Lin shu said, "How do you two know this?"
shang said, "Because I've had a resonance before. You know I was kicked out of my sect, right?" Lin shu nodded. "Well, there was an inheritance found by our sect—a small grave of a cultivator who had prepared it in case he died without a disciple. I was one of the ones who got to enter. There, I got a resonance. One rank lower than yours, but still good—a wind resonance. I hid it immediately, but unfortunately someone I really hate over there saw me. That person told the elders. Then a lot of them approached me, trying to take it. They didn't even try to buy it. They wanted it as a possession of the sect, even though we were allowed to take anything we wanted from the grave—it was only a rank‑2 cultivator's grave. But they turned on me as soon as I got the resonance. So I did the most reasonable thing: I sold it to the Silverpeak Sect. The elders were furious. I got punished with two months of hard missions. Then I got into fights with multiple disciples—even inner ones who were sent to start trouble with me. Eventually I was banished. All because I didn't sell the resonance to them."
Yu added, "And there's also the fact that you're a known fugitive with a very serious crime: being associated with a demonic cultivator. They can bribe the inquisitors to label you as a demonic cultivator. So forget about using the resonance, or even selling it. You're going to have to use it to save yourself. Be prepared to give it to someone so they can save you and stop an inquisitor from being bribed. Actually, I don't even think anyone needs to bribe anyone. The empire would just send a biased inquisitor to take you and your belongings—including the resonance. So it's safe to say you're screwed, Li. Or Lin shu."
Lin shu felt his blood run cold. He cursed. He had thought about paying with aether shards, but now he remembered. "Why would they accept aether when they can just bargain with my life for the resonance?"
aoyan listened closely, then slowly processed what she'd heard. "LI IS A DEMONIC CULTIVATOR?!" She looked at Lin shu, who was slowly losing color. "No—he never used anything like demonic arts. And I remember demonic cultivators always have strange eyes and weird markings all over their bodies. At least that's what master told me. He's not like that."
aoyan looked at Lin shu. "Li, what's going on?"
Lin shu was already sweating, thinking about who to run to so he could keep his life. "yanqi is currently my best option. But what if he just takes my belongings and hands me over? Or makes a deal with lu Zhenhai—hand me over in exchange for the resonance? Damn it. Should I just grab aoyan by the throat and use her to get away?"
He hated that idea immediately. "Yeah, and then I'll be hunted down by yanqi for that. And that's if I succeed, which is impossible with rank‑3 cultivators around. I'll be decapitated before I even get to use her as a hostage." He looked at the ground and sighed. "I'm finished. I can't think of a way to guarantee my safety. I'll just have to convince aoyan so I can get yanqi to help me."
He looked at aoyan. "aoyan, you asked what's going on. I'll be honest with you, since you're my friend. But can you promise me that you'll do me a favor if I tell you?"
aoyan nodded immediately. "Yes, of course I promise, Li. You've helped me so many times. It's the least I could do."
Lin shu then told her everything—from what happened at the institute that made him fear for his life and run away, to how han yi, even though he just tried to leave, was so set on fighting that he had no choice but to save himself, even if it meant taking her life. Of course, he added a few bits here and there to make himself look like a victim—being harassed at the institute, in the mines, given missions that nearly killed him countless times. Those things were true, but he exaggerated the numbers a little.
aoyan looked at him with understanding. "Okay, she's buying it. Now I have to seal the deal."
He leaned in. "I need you to ask elder yanqi to help me. Otherwise they'll frame me and kill me. You know I'm not a demonic cultivator. Yes, I'm ruthless sometimes, but I've always been like that to protect myself—to protect you and kai."
Yu chuckled quietly from the side. "This guy isn't bad at acting. But is she actually going to help him? I hope she doesn't. I might be able to get the resonance if I promise to get him out of here. Of course, that's just wishful thinking. It's better if he dies and I get the resonance for free."
Yu was about to move closer to Lin shu when the announcer called for everyone from tenth place to first place to come up onto the arena.
"I'll have to keep an eye on him. He might run away as soon as he gets the resonance."
They all moved forward and stood next to their respective masters and elders. Those with none were clumped together with those who had them.
lu Zhenhai stepped forward to give han yi her rewards, smiling. "You proved yourself there, Yi. This will be more than enough to get you a good spot in the Stormbreak Sect."
han yi nodded, smiling. She looked to the left and saw yanqi talking with Lin shu, kai, shang, and Yu.
"You four have done a good job," yanqi said. "Especially you, Li and kai. First and second place. I'm truly impressed."
Lin shu glanced at aoyan and motioned for her to speak.
But before she could, xie tianhun and zhao tianxue walked up to yanqi to congratulate his fighters.
"You've got yourself quite the fighters, yanqi."
yanqi smiled and motioned for Lin shu and the others to show respect to the two men. They all greeted the two generals.
tianxue walked toward shang. "You managed to get the better of my disciple with quite a neat trick, didn't you?" tiezheng stood next to him in shame.
shang, sweating a little, laughed softly but didn't say anything. "Why are they talking to me? Couldn't I have just gotten my reward and been sent off?" he thought.
tianhun looked at Lin shu. "Congrats on your win, kid. But don't get too cocky. Beating my disciple isn't much of an accomplishment with his hasty nature and contradictory intelligence."
xie lang, standing next to him, mumbled, "Just go ahead and call me retarded at that point, you senile old man." That earned him a quick slap to the back of his head—Lin shu didn't even see the elder's hand move. He thanked tianhun politely.
han yi watched Lin shu as her master spoke to han lei.
"Don't take it to heart that you lost, Lei. There were too many things in this hunt, and you happened to meet a lot of people of similar strength. Trust me when I say this hunt could have ended any number of ways. There was no sure victor. Even at the end, Li lost all his points and still managed to get to first place. His advantages were just too good for this specific event."