Nine Heavens Martial Emperor

Lin Hao didn’t seem to care at all about the people trying to kill him. The moment he stepped through the main gate, the sight before him left him stunned.

A stone path, only a few dozen meters long, ended in a shroud of clouds and mist.

Farther off was a vast expanse of fog where countless treetops were faintly visible, hidden within the haze. Mountains that didn’t seem particularly high also stood tall in the distance.

Even farther away was a continuous mountain range, but only the lower halves of the peaks were visible, for a sprawling complex of palaces sat atop them.

Needless to say, that sprawling palace complex was the symbol of the Cangnan Empire’s power.

Upon entering the Imperial City, Lin Hao had seen rows upon rows of houses stretching as far as the eye could see.

Then, the Saint Institute, nestled in the mountains.

And only then, the majestic palace complex.

Back then, it had seemed the three locations weren’t far apart. But now that he was actually here, Lin Hao realized that eyes could indeed be deceiving.

After a moment’s pause, Lin Hao stepped forward.

Reaching the end of the stone path, Lin Hao glanced down and leaped.

When Lin Hao landed steadily on the ground, he found himself in a primeval jungle.

This was the Saint Institute’s Trial Forest.

A smile touched the corners of Lin Hao’s lips as he surveyed the jungle.

’A primeval jungle like this is the perfect battleground for me.’

Back when he was only at the Third Layer of the Blood Coagulation Realm, Lin Hao had used the terrain of the Celestial Break Mountain Range to his advantage, killing several Zhengyang Sect disciples of a higher realm. Though the hunters he faced now were a completely different breed, the same advantage applied.

A smile played on Lin Hao’s lips. The next instant, he shot forward like an ancient, divine leopard.

The Martial Artists from the Lin and Hu families who were out to kill him would soon be on his tail. Lin Hao had to gather Tokens as fast as possible.

ROAR!

Lin Hao had barely darted forward when a massive Devil Beast charged at him.

BOOM!

Lin Hao didn’t dodge or evade. He formed a giant hand of True Essence and slammed it down.

The Devil Beast was instantly obliterated, its body torn to shreds.

SPLAT! SPLAT! SPLAT!

Countless chunks of flesh rained down, splatting against the thick layer of fallen leaves on the ground.

Just then, Lin Hao’s gaze sharpened, and he snatched at the air with lightning speed.

He felt something cold and hard. Looking down, Lin Hao saw he had caught a blood-red Token.

Although the Token was blood-red, Lin Hao could tell at a glance that it was made from an extraordinary material.

"A Token made from Blood-Vein Crystal Stone. Looks like the Saint Institute is ridiculously wealthy." Lin Hao’s eyes darted about, his mind clearly scheming.

But Lin Hao quickly snapped out of it. Pocketing the Token, he glanced back over his shoulder, a derisive sneer on his lips. "Realm isn’t everything. There are many ways to kill."

With that, Lin Hao shot off again.

’They haven’t arrived yet. I should use this time to collect more Tokens.’

Like a dragon returning to the sea or a tiger to the mountain, Lin Hao was in his element. He advanced deeper into the jungle, and it wasn’t long before he had five Tokens in his possession.

He killed every vicious beast he encountered with a single strike.

Along the way, Lin Hao saw several other contestants locked in fierce battles with beasts.

He didn’t bother trying to steal their kills, and simply continued deeper into the forest.

ROAR!

Up ahead, a roar shook the forest, sending leaves fluttering down.

Lin Hao froze, preparing to change his course.

The reason was simple: his Spiritual Sense detected at least a few other people in the direction of the roar.

"Help... help me!" But just as Lin Hao was about to leave, a contestant covered head to toe in blood stumbled out from the trees ahead.

The contestant’s face was a mask of terror. Seeing Lin Hao, he looked as though he’d just found his last hope of survival.

When Lin Hao turned, he immediately saw two more contestants burst from the foliage, also covered in blood. One of them was even missing an arm.

Behind them, a gargantuan beast was in hot pursuit.

It was a black bear, over ten meters tall. Its cavernous, bloody maw was wide open, revealing fangs that were nearly a meter long!

A chunk of raw flesh was even hanging from one of its fangs.

"Young Master Lin... help us! This black bear is terrifying! It devoured two Martial Artists at the Fifth Layer of the Elemental Realm in a single pass!"

The two who ran up behind clutched their mangled arms, screaming in terror as they ran toward Lin Hao.

ROAR!

Just then, the black bear let out another furious roar. The force of the sound wave made the two men stumble.

Then, the black bear launched itself forward with astonishing speed.

CRUNCH!

With a sickening crunch, the two men were suddenly reduced to bisected torsos.

The black bear’s ferocity was so extreme it even stunned Lin Hao for a moment.

’To be able to participate in the Saint Institute’s trial, they must all be elites from their respective factions,’ Lin Hao thought. ’Hunting Devil Beasts should be second nature to them.’

’But for this black bear to slaughter them like dogs... that was beyond his expectations.’

"Senior Brothers!" the first contestant to escape cried out in anguish.

The sound made the black bear raise its head.

Its massive, lantern-like eyes were blood-red. It fixed its gaze on Lin Hao, let out a furious roar, and leaped into the air.

Behind Lin Hao, the sole survivor saw this and his legs gave out. He collapsed to the ground, scrambling backward in terror.

He looked up. The bear’s enormous body was crashing down like a mountain, yet the man in front of him, Lin Hao, just stood there, motionless. He was completely dumbfounded.

But just then, Lin Hao stomped his foot and shot forward to meet the beast.

RUMBLE!

Lin Hao’s explosive power was terrifying. That one stomp made the entire area rumble.

The next moment, Lin Hao’s body slammed into the black bear.

The massive black bear’s body was sent flying upward like a cannonball.

As Lin Hao landed back on the ground, he looked up and narrowed his eyes.

Behind him, the survivor snapped back to reality, his mouth agape in a perfect ’O’.

The black bear was enormous, weighing at least several thousand pounds, yet it had just been sent flying into the sky by the force of Lin Hao’s body.

He looked up, but couldn’t even see a tiny black dot in the sky.

’How many thousands of meters high is that?’

’This Lin Hao is hundreds, no, thousands of times more violent than that bear!’

A full several seconds passed before the Martial Artist finally saw a black dot reappear in the sky.

Then, the dot grew larger and larger.

RUMBLE!

The force of the impact was so great that a colossal tree—one that would take several men to encircle with their arms—shattered from top to bottom as if it were a dry twig.

In the end, the giant tree, which had been at least a hundred meters tall, was reduced to a mere ten-meter stump by the force of the bear’s fall.

The bear’s body, meanwhile, had been torn to pieces, exploding upon impact.

A Token tumbled down from above.

Lin Hao leaped into the air and snatched it from its fall. Then, without even looking, he tossed it backward over his shoulder. "Here," he said.

The Martial Artist on the ground caught it. When he saw it was a Token, he looked up to give his thanks, but Lin Hao was already gone.

’Lin Hao clearly earned this Token. Why would he give it to me?’ he wondered.

Just then, several figures appeared beside him. Without a word of explanation, one of them snatched the Token from his hand while another demanded, "Did you see Lin Hao?!"

"He... he went that way." The newcomers radiated a palpable killing intent, an oppressive aura that made the Martial Artist’s heart pound in fear. He was furious that they had stolen his Token, but he didn’t dare say a word. Trembling, he pointed in a random direction.

Without another word, the group gave chase.

Just as the Martial Artist got to his feet, another group arrived and asked the very same question.

"He... he went that way." The Martial Artist raised a trembling hand, pointing in a completely different direction this time.

This group, too, chased off in the indicated direction without another word.

Phew...

Even though neither group of Martial Artists had deliberately released their auras, the moment they were gone, the lone contestant felt his legs go weak.

"Young Master Lin, I hope you make it out of this in one piece," the Martial Artist murmured worriedly, his gaze fixed on the depths of the jungle.

With that, he began to retreat. This jungle was simply too dangerous.

Meanwhile, Lin Hao had just killed another vicious beast and obtained a Token.

But just as he pocketed this latest Token, Lin Hao’s body abruptly dodged to the side.

RUMBLE!

The next instant, a massive tree right where he had been standing was blasted to splinters!

"This is the Trial Forest. Where do you think you can run?" a mocking voice called out.

As the voice faded, four figures appeared, surrounding Lin Hao.

Lin Hao glanced at them. Neither Lin Jue nor Lin Zhan were among them.

"Is this it? Just the four of you?" Lin Hao looked at them with an expression of pure disappointment. "The Lin family really doesn’t take me seriously, do they?"

The four men exchanged a glance, anger flaring in their eyes.

’This Lin Hao has no respect for us at all.’

"Hmph! As if the Lin family is worthy of ordering us around. If it weren’t for Lin Wu, they’d be nothing!" one of them sneered, his tone dripping with contempt.

"Shut up!" another one snapped. "Lin Hao, stop trying to fish for information. Today, you die!" He then gave a sharp glance, and all four of them attacked at once.

Each of the four took a cardinal direction, their initial attack weaving an invisible net around him.

Clearly, this wasn’t their first time doing something like this; their coordination was flawless.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The four struck in unison. For several miles around, massive trees that would take several people to encircle and boulders weighing thousands of pounds exploded into dust!

The oppressive might was heaven-shattering!

Just moments before, their auras had seemed weak, but as they attacked, even Lin Hao felt the pressure.

Evidently, the four cultivated some kind of joint attack technique that multiplied their power when they struck together!

Lin Hao was trapped in the center as the four men on the periphery began to spin like a vortex, their speed increasing with every rotation.

And as their speed increased, the destructive force of their technique grew even more terrifying.

For more than ten miles in every direction, both giant trees and massive boulders were like tissue paper, disintegrating into dust under the terrifying pressure!

"Lin Hao! Hand over the Imperial Art, and we’ll leave your body intact!" one of the four shouted.

His only response was a roar that surged like a mighty river.

A sound that came from within Lin Hao’s own body!

Under this immense pressure, Lin Hao activated the Imperial Art, frantically absorbing the surrounding True Essence.

Not only that, but the True Self Divine Soul within his Dantian also began to stir, absorbing even more True Essence.

Under the immense pressure, even his True Self felt threatened!

The area boomed continuously as powerful shockwaves shot toward the heavens.

The Saint Institute’s Trial Forest was divided into four vast areas, one for each of its four gates. Lin Hao and his pursuers were in the fourth area.

"What’s happening?!" Thousands of Martial Artists had entered the fourth area, and at this moment, they all stopped what they were doing and looked in the direction of the commotion.

"Someone’s found Lin Hao!" a young man in the same area exclaimed. He looked up, waved his hand, and led a group of four toward the source of the disturbance.

Elsewhere in the same area, Lin Jue looked up, raw killing intent flashing in his eyes, and he too set off in that direction.

Seven Martial Artists followed close behind him!