Chapter 484 482: Increased Rewards

"Are you going to surrender, or are you going to fight us?" Chen Xiang strode forward, his steps heavy. He didn't care who Lin Xuan and his companion were. As long as they weren't on his side, that was all that mattered.

They were from the Alliance Empire, a fact they were all aware of, so they weren't afraid of targeting the wrong people. Of course, they would have attacked even another team from the Alliance Empire. This was about Tokens, after all! When a team secured a high rank, the glory went to their Empire, not to them personally. For that reason, teams rarely cooperated.

The Soaring Dragon Empire only had two members, and with their low Cultivation, they were obvious prey.

"That's what we should be asking you," Lin Xuan replied, his expression unchanging. "Are you going to surrender, or fight?"

Chen Xiang had the highest Cultivation, having reached the Spirit Pill Stage, though his level was relatively low—only the second or third layer. Nearing thirty, he had just barely qualified to participate in this Empire War. The rest of his team were at the Second Layer of the Spirit Pill Stage. Relying on their group of five, they felt their victory was assured.

"Die!" Provoked, Chen Xiang let out a roar and charged, swinging the greatsword in his hand down at them.

Lin Xuan glanced at the greatsword. 'As expected of the most outstanding prodigy they sent,' he mused. 'His weapon is a Divine Artifact.' The others wielded Top-Level Spiritual Artifacts, which were even less significant. But to Lin Xuan, even a Divine Artifact was meaningless!

"Brother Lin, let me take this one!" Zi Yanyun's aura surged as he drew a longsword that was also a Divine Artifact, eager for a good fight.

"No need. I'll go first..." A blue light already suffused Lin Xuan's eyes.

"Yulan's Ultimate Skill, Second Style: Dark Blue Cage!"

The Yulan Sacred Fire flared up on Lin Xuan's arm. A frigid aura instantly shot forward, enveloping the charging Chen Xiang. Lin Xuan then sharply clenched his fist.

A palm several times larger than before rose into the air. A terrifying Palm Seal, radiating a bone-chilling aura, erupted from the ground. The entire world grew cold as a blizzard was instantly whipped up!

Chen Xiang couldn't even react to the terrifying, suffocating attack before he was completely engulfed.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

With a deafening boom, the blizzard intensified. Then, there was no trace of Chen Xiang to be seen. His body had been reduced to a pile of ice shards, merging indistinguishably with the snow and ice on the ground.

A one-hit kill. He offered no resistance whatsoever.

In the blink of an eye, Chen Xiang was dead, killed without any chance to resist. And Chen Xiang's Cultivation was at the Third Layer of the Spirit Pill Stage, exactly the same as Lin Xuan's! There was no difference, yet he was easily killed in a single blow.

This truly shocked everyone, Zi Yanqian included. The power was simply too immense. He had seen Chen Xiang clearly try to resist, but it had been meaningless. In the end, he was reduced to a pile of ice shards!

"I-Is this the power of the Soaring Dragon Empire? Our leader was killed just like that, with no power to resist at all..."

"S-so what do we do now?"

...

The remaining four people's legs felt as if they were filled with molten lead. They didn't dare take another step. To move forward was to step into that chilling mist. And stepping into the mist meant entering the range of Lin Xuan's Dark Blue Cage, where they would die before they even knew what hit them.

Zi Yanqian had only ever heard of Lin Xuan's exploits; he had never witnessed his power firsthand. Now, he finally saw it. 'Strong' was an understatement. He felt that even he wouldn't last a single move against Lin Xuan! He would end up just like Chen Xiang, his resistance useless as he was crushed into nothing.

'So this is his power…' Zi Yanqian's eyes were wide, his heart pounding in his chest. 'He's simply too strong. To be this formidable at such a young age… what will he become with a little more time!'

Seeing Lin Xuan in action, he felt more and more certain that the Ten Thousand Treasures Pavilion had made a wise decision not to make an enemy of Qingcheng Mansion. In a short time, Lin Xuan would become a Core Formation Stage expert. If he continued on this path, he would very likely join a Super Race. Once he joined a Super Race, his status would rise rapidly, and Qingcheng Mansion's position would become unassailable.

Lin Xuan walked over, picked up the Storage Ring from the ground, and retrieved the Token from within. With two Tokens in his possession, he had now successfully qualified to advance, and with no difficulty at all.

"So, do you still want to fight?" Lin Xuan looked up at the four people before him, a faint smile on his face. In their eyes, however, that smile was utterly chilling.

They swallowed hard. How could they possibly dare to fight? Their own leader had been defeated with ease. If they charged in, they would just be more cannon fodder.

One of them hurriedly shouted, "S-Sir, you've already collected two Tokens, haven't you? Please, let us live! We can give you our other Token, that way your... your companion can qualify to advance too. We just hope you'll spare us!" The speaker's Cultivation wasn't low—he was at the First Layer Spirit Pill Stage—but he seemed pathetically weak in front of Lin Xuan.

'That makes sense,' Lin Xuan thought. 'All we need to do is qualify. There's no point in collecting any more Tokens.'

Just as Lin Xuan was about to stop, a solemn voice echoed from the sky, every word ringing in their ears and resonating deep in their hearts.

"Those who rank in the top one hundred for Token collection will receive a Celestial Level Martial Technique and one Coiling Dragon Pill... Those who rank in the top three will advance directly to the final round, and their rewards will be doubled!" The disembodied voice startled Lin Xuan, but it made the man before him despair.

He had just been thinking that collecting more Tokens was useless, and now the organizers had thrown out an incredibly tempting reward! A Celestial Level Martial Technique and a Coiling Dragon Pill would absolutely provide a major boost to one's strength, granting a huge advantage in the next round of the competition.

Coiling Dragon Pills were refined from Coiling Dragon Ginseng. Lin Xuan himself had absorbed the energy of a Coiling Dragon Ginseng before, and the benefits had been substantial. The reward was therefore quite tempting, providing a powerful incentive to collect more Tokens.

So now there was a reason to collect more Tokens. Lin Xuan looked at his opponent, shrugged, and said, "I was actually going to spare you, but now, you see..."

"Then you can just die!"

The man roared, lunging at Lin Xuan with his sword. His tyrannical Golden Elemental Power condensed into a brilliant golden beam that shot toward Lin Xuan, carving a deep trench in the ground where it passed!

A cornered beast will lash out, to say nothing of a man. Back in his home Empire, he was a renowned, peerless genius. Now, to be sent home without even passing the preliminary round... he would never accept it. This was the greatest humiliation! Even if it meant death, he would fight to the very last moment!

Faced with this terrifying attack, Lin Xuan showed no intention of countering. Instead, he charged right into it.

BOOM!

The golden beam viciously pierced through Lin Xuan's body, enveloping him completely.

"Haha, you idiot! My attack isn't so simple—it devours whatever it touches!" the young man laughed, feeling immensely satisfied. He hadn't expected his attack to hit so easily.

"Where are you looking?" Lin Xuan's ghostly voice echoed from behind him.

Only then did everyone realize in horror that there were two Lin Xuans. This was his Ultimate Skill, the Cyan Robe Step.