Chapter 352 - Competing for the Coveted Spot

"That is the Fist of Myraid Snakes, the very move on which Snake Fist Luo built his reputation!"

"Don't make eye contact with him! He might just choose you otherwise!"

The numerous martial artists on the grass field whispered among themselves after seeing how easily Snake Fist Luo took care of his opponent.

Among them, those at the Seventh Cycle Origin Core realm were especially nervous.

After all, it seemed that Snake Fist Luo was trying to measure his strength against those at the same cultivation level after his breakthrough.

"How strong..." Young Master Xuan Hao commented in admiration. "He only just broke through, but he is already strong enough to match those at the peak of the Seventh Cycle Origin Core realm!"

"Mm," Lu Tianzi nodded while rubbing his chin in contemplation.

Snake Fist Luo was indeed strong, each of his moves clean and decisive.

Seeing how he beat his opponent, Lu Tianzi could not help but wonder what he would do if he were the one to face Snake Fist Luo instead.

Their group had no one who was at the Seventh Cycle Origin Core realm, so they were feeling relatively more relaxed than the others.

"Let's not waste time on him. Look, now that he has left, there's finally a free spot right under the cliff wall. Let's hurry up and take the spot before others do!" Ruan Ling whispered excitedly.

The spots right under the cliff wall were naturally also the ones nearest to the indentation on the cliff wall. This meant that one would be able to experience the strongest pressure there, which would in turn translate to a greater boost to their cultivation rate.

Without even waiting for their reply, Ruan Ling immediately dashed out towards the empty spot right under the cliff wall.

"No, wait!" Young Master Xuan Hao hurriedly called out after her, but Ruan Ling's mind was already set.

Right at this moment, numerous martial artists on the grass field made their moves.

They were all here to enjoy the benefits from the War Intent Cliff, and all of them obviously wanted the best spots for themselves as well.

Snake Fist Luo was someone whom they were unwilling to offend, so they had not done anything while he taking up the spot.

But now that he had left, the only reason why they had yet to make their move was because they were all keeping each other in check.

Everyone knew that the first to make a move would surely become the common target for everyone else, so no one was willing to do so.

But now that Ruan Ling had made a direct move to take the spot, they could no longer hold back.

"Sorry, girl, but the spot is mine!" a hairy man charged out to intercept Ruan Ling.

The Fifth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist struck without warning, firing a giant palm of energy towards her.

"Get lost!" Ruan Ling yelled in response.

To be able to associate with Young Master Xuan Hao, Ruan Ling's actual status in her influence was not low by any measure. Since young, she had always been able to obtain anything that she wanted.

Now that she had already set her eye on the spot, she was no longer willing to back down, not even when facing someone with a higher cultivation level!

Driving her origin core to the limit, Ruan Ling pulled out a treasure mace from her spatial ring and smashed it against her opponent's palmstrike.

"Oh?" Snake Fist Luo was surprised to see Ruan Ling heading straight for the spot that he had just vacated. "A mere Fourth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist actually dares to vie for that spot? How interesting!"

Fortunately for Ruan Ling, Snake Fist Luo was already intending to leave Mount Asui soon, so he cared not about Ruan Ling trying to take his previous spot.

Most people's attention had been on Snake Fist Luo earlier, but now that Snake Fist Luo seemed to be distracted, the martial artists on the grass field relaxed a little.

Everyone gradually turned their attention towards the fight for the spot that had just been vacated by Snake Fist Luo.

Bang-!

Ruan Ling's mace connected with the hairy man's giant palmstrike, and the thunderous collision sent both parties a few steps back, neither of them able to gain an edge.

However, this result only made everyone more curious about Ruan Ling.

After all, she did not suffer a loss even when facing an opponent who was an entire boundary above her!

Even Lu Tianzi raised an eyebrow in surprise, his opinion of Ruan Ling turning for the better.

As expected, someone who had the right to hang out with Young Master Xuan Hao would not be some minor character herself.

"Damn it!" Ruan Ling cursed under her breath.

She might have done impressively in others' eyes, but that was not good enough for her.

What she wanted was the vacated spot, and just matching her opponent evenly was not going to cut it.

In fact, she could already see many others getting into position to vie for the coveted spot, just that those people were all waiting for the two of them to finish fighting it out first.

���Girl, your strength is pretty decent. Why don't you follow me from now on? That way, we can just share the spot together," the hairy man's gaze started to roam all over Ruan Ling's body.

"The likes of you actually dares to even dream of having a chance with me? Perhaps you would have some luck with the female monkeys on the mountain instead!" Ruan Ling snorted in disdain.

"What are you trying to say?" the hairy man narrowed his eyes as his tone turned cold.

"Don't you think you look like one of them with all that overgrown hair?" Ruan Ling smirked.

"Bitch, you'd better watch what you say!" the hairy man pointed at her face with a hand that was trembling with rage. "Guys, come help me!"

It appeared that Ruan Ling's words had touched a nerve.

Ten men appeared almost immediately, all of them martial artists with cultivation levels ranging from the Second to Sixth Cycle Origin Core realm.

They stood beside the hairy man, watching Ruan Ling with menacing eyes.

"Calling all your friends over... is it because you know you will lose to me alone?" Ruan Ling spoke with a frown. "You call yourself a man?"

"Bitch, you are asking for it!" the hairy man shouted.

With that, he and his ten companions stepped forward and prepared to strike.

"Damn it!" Ruan Ling braced herself.

Even though she had put on a brave front, Ruan Ling understood that she was far from a match for this many opponents.

"Please wait!" Young Master Xuan Hao dashed forward to put himself between them and Ruan Ling.

"Brother Xua... Hao Xuan!" Ruan Ling's face lit up in joy. "Teach those guys a lesson for me!"

"You are her companion?" a bearded man stepped forward to face Young Master Xuan Hao with a solemn expression.

As the only Sixth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist, he was the leader of the hairy man's group.

But right now, he was slightly regretting allowing his junior to challenge Ruan Ling earlier.

Things would have been simple if they only had to face Ruan Ling, but she just so happened to have a companion who was at the same cultivation level as him.

The bearded man was confident in his own strength, but he would still have to expend a big part of his energy to defeat someone at the same cultivation level.

And even if they defeated these two, there were still other groups that they had to beat in order to obtain the coveted spot below the cliff wall.

He could already foresee a difficult road ahead.

So as far as possible, he would prefer to conserve his strength instead of fighting Young Master Xuan Hao.

"If my friend offended the few good sirs here, I hereby apologise on her behalf," Young Master Xuan Hao clasped his fists towards the hairy man's group.

"Wait, Brother Hao Xuan! He is the one who attacked me first!" Ruan Ling exclaimed in indignation.

"Stop it!" Young Master Xuan Hao shot her a glare. This caused Ruan Ling to quieten down immediately, albeit with extreme reluctance.

On the other hand, the bearded man suddenly felt a lot more confident after seeing that Young Master Xuan Hao was taking a submissive stance.

In his opinion, Young Master Xuan Hao must be rather weak among his peers.

Why else would he not take this chance to impress his beautiful female companion?

"But she insulted my junior. How are you going to compensate him for that?" the bearded man crossed his arms as he spoke with a tone of superiority.

"What do you mean insult? Is there anything untrue about what I said?" Ruan Ling snapped back.

"You...!" the hairy man gritted his teeth in anger. "Big brother, let's stop being nice and just teach them a lesson!"

"We are here to cultivate, not to fight," the bearded man shook his head. "If possible, I don't want to dirty my hands with some useless trash's blood."

Useless trash?

Young Master Xuan Hao frowned upon hearing that. "What do you want from us?"

He did not want to create trouble on his travels. But if the other party went too far, he was not going to keep holding back either.

"Let your friend take three of my junior's strikes, and we will treat it as this never happened," the bearded man said.

"Three strikes?" Young Master Xuan Hao was rather surprised by the request. "All right then!"

Ruan Ling had already exchanged moves with the hairy man earlier, and they had come out rather even. Considering that, receiving three strikes should not be a problem at all.

"Brother Hao Xuan..." Ruan Ling was extremely reluctant.

In her eyes, receiving three strikes from the hairy man was nothing difficult.

What she was unhappy about was the fact that she had to do as the other party said.

"This shouldn't be a problem for you. Please bear with it for my sake," Young Master Xuan Hao sent his voice straight to Ruan Ling's head. "Once we get back, I will make it up to you."

"You better!" Ruan Ling sulked before stepping forward.

But just as she was doing so, Young Master Xuan Hao and Ruan Ling saw that another Fifth Cycle Origin Core realm martial artist had stepped forward instead of the hairy man from before.

This short plump man grinned maliciously, emitting an aura that was much stronger than that of the hairy man.

"What is the meaning of this?" Young Master Xuan Hao turned towards the bearded man.

"What's wrong?" the bearded man smirked. "You agreed to have your friend receive three of my junior's strikes, and he is my junior. Is there a problem? Or are you going to go back on your word in front of all the witnesses present?"

"Tch!" Young Master Xuan Hao clenched his fists in irritation.

Just like how Young Master Xuan Hao had seen the hairy man's strength, the bald man must have seen Ruan Ling's capabilities.

For the bearded man to specifically choose this short plump man, it was highly likely that Ruan Ling would not be able to handle her opponent this time.

"Isn't your friend very arrogant just now, even wanting to compete with us for the spot under the cliff wall?" the hairy man mocked. "If your friend is feeling scared, then why don't you guys just leave this place? At least you won't have to keep throwing your face in front of everyone here!"

"Who are you saying is scared?" Ruan Ling retorted immediately. "It's just three strikes, isn't it?"

"Don't do it!" Young Master Xuan Hao hurriedly stopped her.

"Don't worry, I will be fine!" Ruan Ling forced a smile.

Young Master Xuan Hao sighed after looking at Ruan Ling.

She had always been this reckless, but it was true that they might not have any better solution now.

Technically, the other party had not gone against their word.

If Young Master Xuan Hao and Ruan Ling refused to follow through on their side, they would become the laughingstock of the day.

At that point, how would they still be in the right mood to stay and cultivate?

But right at this moment, a familiar voice sounded out from behind them.

"Yes, Sister Ruan Ling. You will be fine for sure," Lu Tianzi patted her on the shoulder while stepping in front of her. "Because I will be the one receiving those three strikes."

"Brother Tianzi?" Young Master Xuan Hao's face immediately lit up in surprise. "Are you feeling better already?"

He had seen Lu Tianzi's strength for himself back at the Canal of Misery, and he could not be happier if Lu Tianzi was willing to take Ruan Ling's place!

"Yeah, I am fine now. Sorry for worrying you," Lu Tianzi nodded.

"And who the hell are you?" the bearded man was obviously displeased with Lu Tianzi's sudden appearance. "Just a mere Second Cycle Origin Core realm has no right to talk here."

"Wait, Big Brother. I recognise him," the hairy man said. "I remember seeing him lose unconsciousness while cultivating just now!"

"What? He lost consciousness...? Hahahaha!" the bearded man was stunned for a moment before bursting into laughter.

"A weakling like you dare to act tough in front of me? Get lost before I smash your face in!" the short plump man mocked.

His leader had told him to teach Ruan Ling a lesson, so he just wanted to get this over and done with before returning to cultivating.

"Overestimating yourself!"

"Just get out of the here before you lose consciousness again!"

The entire group started laughing and insulting Lu Tianzi.

In fact, even the other martial artists around who were watching the show started snickering to themselves.

For someone who could not even retain his consciousness under the pressure of the War Intent Cliff, coming out like this was simply asking to be ridiculed!