Mo Lihai heard Lin Tian’s bid. There was no way he was going any higher than 10 high-grade spirit stones for an Earth Flame.

Even so, not a trace of worry showed on his face. Mo Lihai smiled faintly and told his disciple to let the flame go to Lin Tian.

"Are you sure?" the disciple asked.

"He’s just a Foundation Establishment cultivator. We can kill him later," Mo Lihai replied.

"I’m not so sure. Something about him feels like more than that," the disciple said.

"Are you doubting me?" Mo Lihai asked.

The disciple flinched and immediately dropped to his knees, begging forgiveness for the doubt he had shown. Mo Lihai’s expression went cold. He rose from his seat and walked out to the balcony of his room.

"You’re carrying quite a bit of wealth for someone so young. Would you mind telling me which sect you’re from?" Mo Lihai asked.

"VIP Participant No. 20 has no intention of answering that question, Master Immortal."

"Arrogant little brat!"

"Do you even know who Master Mo Lihai is? He’s the Sect Master of Moiyi Sect, a Peak Nascent Soul Master."

"How dare you ignore our sect master!" another Moiyi disciple shouted.

Lin Tian didn’t react. He tapped his holding bag and pulled out a pouch containing 10 high-grade spirit stones. Yi Ling took it and handed it over to Ya Mei. In return, an auction attendant came to deliver the flame.

"Thank you all for joining the Zhu Clan Auction today. We hope to see you all again in the future," Ya Mei said, closing out the main auction session.

There was a knock at the door of room number 20. An attendant arrived carrying the glass jar with the Earth Flame inside, the Severing Azure Flame.

Yi Ling received the item and passed it to Lin Tian. He took it and looked at the flame, a satisfied smile spreading across his face.

He had gotten the Earth Flame that Luo Mei needed, and with it, a chance to repair things between himself and Wu Yue through her.

Without wasting any more time, Lin Tian turned and walked out.

Outside the pagoda, he could see other cultivators already making their way out of the Zhu Clan estate.

Some were leaving with friends, others with their sect groups. Lin Tian glanced to the side, and the corners of his eyes sharpened.

The groups from Moiyi Sect, Yunlan Sect, and Yanran Sect were still gathered in the front courtyard of the Zhu Clan estate. Every single one of them was focused on one person: Lin Tian.

"Look at him! Does he have any idea that three sects have him in their sights?"

"He’s an idiot. The moment he’s outside the city, he’s dead."

Lin Tian smiled to himself as he caught bits of their chatter. He summoned his qi sword and shot up into the air, flying quickly away from the Zhu Clan estate.

Mo Lihai watched the cultivator leave. He decided to send his core disciples, all of them at the Core Formation stage, to go after Lin Tian.

"Junior... you’ve picked the wrong enemy."

They summoned their qi swords and took off in pursuit. Han Xin didn’t want to miss the opportunity either, and did the same as Mo Lihai.

Yanran Sect wasn’t interested. Yunlan Sect and Moiyi Sect were already racing each other to take the Earth Flame from Lin Tian, and they had no desire to get tangled up in that mess.

They left the city and headed back to their sect, while Mo Lihai and Han Xin stepped inside the Zhu Clan estate building. Inside, Li Qingxue was having a conversation with the head of the Zhu Clan, Zhu Wei.

Elsewhere, Lin Tian flew fast and put distance between himself and the city. He activated his qi aura and sensed 12 Core Formation cultivators closing in on him: five from Yunlan Sect and seven from Moiyi Sect.

They wouldn’t have made a move on me inside the city. But staying there wasn’t an option.

My only choice now is to kill them and go.

Lin Tian cleared the boundaries of Zhu City. The moment the Moiyi Sect disciples realized their target was outside the city limits, they moved in without hesitation.

One of them formed a technique seal, and a black rune flared to life behind his back. "Junior! Hand over that flame!"

"I figured you’d come take it by force," Lin Tian said, glancing back.

"You arrogant little punk! You have no idea who you’re dealing with!" a Yunlan Sect disciple snapped.

A Moiyi Sect disciple thrust his hand forward, launching a black skull attack drenched in dark aura straight at Lin Tian.

Lin Tian spun around, drew his sword, and swung it hard, shattering the black skull. The force of the collision sent him skidding back through the air.

He came to a stop, and they all closed in around him. They hovered in front of him, every one of them ready to rip the flame right out of his hands.

"Hand it over before I kill you!" they shouted.

He was quiet for a moment, looking them over one by one. Fighting them while showing only his Peak Foundation Establishment cultivation base wasn’t ideal.

But he was far enough from Zhu City now. There was no reason left to keep hiding.

"I’m actually impressed. They chose to send you lot instead of a Nascent Soul Master," Lin Tian said.

He stepped off his qi sword and planted his feet on the floor of the sky. That alone was more than enough to rattle them.

"You?! A Nascent Soul Master?!" they cried out in a panic.

Lin Tian raised his hand, gathering spiritual qi light, then swept his arm to the side and let his appearance shift, the robe in particular.

The mysterious black robe gave way to a white-gray one. The color was immediately familiar to the Yunlan Sect disciples.

"That white-gray robe?! Could you be..."

THUMP!

Before the words even finished leaving their mouths, all 12 cultivators dropped straight to the ground and fell to their knees. Every single one of them coughed up blood, their chests tight and burning, their souls wounded.

"A P-Perfect Nascent Soul Master?!" a Moiyi Sect disciple gasped.

"Master... Lin Tian?!" a Yunlan Sect disciple choked out.

"I needed the Earth Flame for my disciple. No one is taking it from me," Lin Tian said, his voice cold and flat.

Both of his hands formed technique seals, and a massive white rune blazed into existence behind his back, accompanied by thousands of manifested qi swords.

"It’s time someone taught you people some manners."

He swept his hand forward, unleashing a wave of qi light and sending all those thousands of swords crashing down onto the 12 cultivators.

The Yunlan Sect disciples tried to form qi defense shields, but the force behind the Jiuxu Mountain Sword Wind technique was more than enough to tear through all of them.

Slowly, their qi walls cracked and gave way. Their bodies were shredded by thousands of swords, leaving them badly wounded and dead.

Not willing to go down without doing something, each disciple from both sects pulled out a teleportation token and crushed it.

"Sect Master! Help us!"

CRUSH!

The teleportation tokens shattered and sent qi distress signals to two different people at once: Mo Lihai of Moiyi Sect and Li Qingxue of Yunlan Sect.

Both of them were startled when the distress signal hit. They quickly excused themselves from Zhu Wei and flew out of Zhu City.

"Calling your sect masters won’t save your lives!" Lin Tian said firmly.

He pushed his power up a notch and finished off 10 of the cultivators. His hand shot forward and clamped down, catching one disciple from each sect inside a massive qi hand.

Straight ahead, Lin Tian’s eyes caught two separate qi lights streaking toward his location. Mo Lihai’s was black. Li Qingxue’s was blue.

They arrived and slammed down their spiritual qi, trying to rattle Lin Tian. Mo Lihai intended exactly that. Li Qingxue did not.

Her face was blank and still, her eyes locked straight ahead on Lin Tian.

"Lin Tian?" Li Qingxue said.

"What? Lin Tian? The Sect Master of Lingxian Sect?!" Mo Lihai shouted.

Han Xin had come along with Li Qingxue. Lin Tian reacted immediately, raising his hand and triggering the restriction he had placed on Han Xin’s soul.

Lightning cracked down and tore through Han Xin’s body. The man collapsed to the ground, head bowed, begging for mercy.

"With my ability, I could destroy your cultivation in a single flick of my finger, Han Xin."

"You... were far too careless."