As the Xin family disciples followed behind, one of them seemed to notice something and spoke.
"Hey, look! That person seems to be one of the Azure Lotus Sect disciples!" he said, pointing at Long Huang.
"Yeah, look at the Azure Lotus on his robe."
"Fuck!"
"It just had to be today of all days when I was wearing my Sect robes, damn it all." Long Huang cursed under his breath. He originally planned on keeping his identity a secret, but he never expected that his plan would be ruined by his choice of clothes.
Long Huang, a bit frustrated by the whole situation, used his Wind Deer Steps and then jumped into the trees to lose the Xin family disciples.
"Impressive footwork! His speed, though slower than mine, is remarkable. His marksmanship skills aren't bad either…" Xin Fei murmured as he watched Long Huang's figure maneuver through the trees.
"Hmph! So what!"
"He's nothing but a coward who hides in the dark and steals from others! He better not let me catch him, or else…" a youth, coldly remarked.
This youth's face was stern and rugged, and seemed to be of the same standing as Xin Fe. Further proven by the others, who immediately supported his words.
"You're right! That kid let us be bait while he hid and shot branches!"
"That person saved our lives," said Xin Fei, shaking his head.
"Saved our lives? Fei, a junior, died!" Xin Xi shouted, his eyes red.
"He waited for us to wear the Green Eyed Tiger King down. If he had acted sooner..." said Xin Xi, his voice filled with rage, before being cut off by Xin Fei.
"He wasn't obligate t..."
RoaR!!...
A few miles away, a weak roar of the Green Eyed Tiger King echoed through the air. The expressions of the Xin family disciples changed instantly. Without a second thought, they understood that the tiger was close to death.
Xin Xi charged in the direction of the sound. Meanwhile, Long Huang leaned against a tree, his breathing a bit heavy.
Below him lay the Green Eyed Tiger King, its forehead pierced by several branches. Not long ago, this tiger had been a creature of ferocity and strength; now it was but a pincushion.
As Long Huang was about to jump down, he noticed the tiger's paw twitch and instinctively reached for a branch, waiting for it to get up, but it didn't move. That's when he realized that the poison from both him and the Xin disciples had taken its toll, and it was truly dead.
He jumped down, deep in thought, as he stared at the corpse. Before his gaze shifted to the Xin disciples, who were approaching.
Long Huang stood still, thinking about how he was going to store the corpse. Soon, the Xin disciples arrived.
"Bastard! Don't you dare! This is ours!" Xin Xi shouted angrily.
He looked at the corpse of the tiger, its forehead filled with branches. He then shifted his gaze to Long Huang, who didn't even seem exhausted. Only a few beads of sweat could be seen falling from his face; this observation further fueled his anger.
'Most of us are on the brink of exhaustion and have even lost one of our own; even Xin Fei is drained and seriously injured. And yet this bastard barely broke a sweat. ' Xin Xi thought as he gritted his teeth, his fury boiling, as he glared at Long Huang.
Long Huang noticed his gaze but disregarded Xin Xi.
"Bastard, did you not hear what I just said?"
"Me?" said Long Huang, raising a brow as he pointed to himself.
Xin Xi, whose anger was already at its breaking point, snapped after seeing Long Huang act innocent and was about to attack, but before he could, he heard his name being called.
"XI!"
"He saved our lives. Let's just discuss how to split the tiger," Xin Fei pleaded calmly as he arrived.
"Haha, haha, brother Fei! Great minds think alike.
"I was just saying I lack both the tools to cut it and the strength to carry it away, and you guys showed up just in time. "
Xin Fei and the others looked at the shameless thief before them with disgust. This kid had hidden away and used them as bait, yet he acted like they were friends that haven't seen each other in a while.
Xin Fei clenched his fist, words of anger formed in his mind, but ultimately, he decided to pay no mind to this shameless behaviour and began discussing how to divide the tiger.
"Four to six," Xin Fei said.
"Five to Five," said Long Huang
"Two to eight. The Xin family will take eight," Xin Xi stated firmly.
"Hmph! Twenty percent is already too much for this kid!" The rest of the Xin disciples looked disdainful.
"Two-eight? Hahaha…" Long Huang laughed loudly.
"Kid! What's so funny? I want to hear how much you think you deserve!" the group challenged.
"Two-eight. I get eight… You get two!" Long Huang replied. Truthfully, he wanted to leave nothing for these greedy bastards, but the tiger's body weighed around 10 tons, making it impossible for him to move alone.
"Don't be arrogant!"
"Oh, and what can you do if I don't? Beat me and take it from me? In that state?"
"Okay, bastard! Let's see how strong you are!" Xin Xi shouted as he drew his sword.
"Stop!"
Xin Fei tried to intervene again, but it was too late.
"Illusion Flash-Image Art!"
Xin Xi moved like the wind, whirling toward Long Huang and slashing with his sword, the wind howling around them.
"That kid is dead for sure. Xin Xi Broken Wind Sword has achieved major completion." The Xin disciples said with sympathetic expressions.
"Kid, you best dodge, that's a mid-grade mortal combat art, Broken Wind Sword!" Xin Fei shouted.
"So what!" Long Huang replied without retreating, instead charging forward.
Xin Xi's sword missed Long Huang entirely, and he realized that Long Huang was closing the gap between them with incredible speed.
'Not good!'
"Broken Wind Sword Art, Angry Wind!" Xin Xi launched another attack. Seeing the oncoming attack, Long Huang sent out a punch with all his base strength behind it.
Boom!
A loud explosion echoed as Xin Xi and Long Huang clashed. Xin Xi felt as if a volcano was erupting inside him, as he coughed up blood, and he was sent flying into a tree. He stood up once more, ready to continue the fight.
"You're one persistent idiot, you know that?" Long Huang said as he threw out a second punch.
"You bastard!!!"
Bang!
Xin Xi's sword was knocked away. Long Huang followed up with a third and then a fourth punch.
Boom!
This time, Xin Xi was sent flying again, leaving an imprint of his body on the tree.
"What power!" said one of the Xin while the other Xin disciples stood frozen in shock.
They never imagined someone with the power of a late-level Meridian Tempering Realm cultivator would lose to an Azure Lotus Sect disciple who wasn't even a Core disciple.
"I know all the noteworthy disciples of the Azure Lotus Sect but not you, so who are you?" asked Xin Fei, who was not far away.
"Qin Lee," he replied casually, retracting his fists.
"Who?" The Xin disciples questioned with a bewildered expression.
"Well, I'm someone without a bloodline, so of course you wouldn't know who I am," said Long Huang, his voice one of sadness.
Meanwhile, Xin Xi, who was struggling to get up, heard everything laughed. "Haha ahah, I knew it, if I hadn't been fighting that tiger, I wouldn't be so exhausted and you couldn't beaten me. "
"So you're saying it was luck," said Long Huang as he rolled his eyes.
"Yes, that is it. You were just lucky. " Xin Xi said as if trying to convince the world.
"Okay, if you say so?"
Long Huang replied with a faint smile. Despite Xin Xi's injuries, Long Huang believed he could still defeat him at peak strength.
"Of course, it was just luck, how else could I lose. You're nothing, not even an ordinary-grade bloodline holder," scoffed Xin Xi.
"And I see you're true to your name, talkative much?" Long Huang responded,
"So what if I love to talk? You shouldn't be this strong. I bet you used a strength-enhancing pill," Xin Xi retorted.
"Yeah, that's right. There's no way he could be that strong." Murmured some of the Xin disciples.
"Leave now and go back to whatever it is you were doing before." One of them added.
Whoosh...
In an instant, Long Huang leaped into the air and onto the corpse of the Green Eyed Tiger King. Perched atop the lifeless body of the Green Eyed Tiger King. One hand confidently propped on his thigh, cradling his head as he looked at them with an air of defiance, like a king surveying his domain.
"Oh yeah? Go ahead, try me!" He daringly taunted,
"This time, you won't be so lucky." Xin Xi declared arrogantly.
Long Huang was unfazed by these words. The only person he was wary of was Xin Fei, for only Xin Fei posed a threat.
"All of you, stop it! And Xi, you are not his opponent! Haven't you already lost enough face?" Xin Fei said, slowly turning towards Long Huang.
"Keep your dogs in check, brother Fei," Long Huang mocked as he looked at the scene before him.
Suddenly, a frightening and intense battle intent began to radiate from Xin Fei, causing Long Huang's heart to skip a beat.
"Impossible!"