Daniel Rivera, with his Spirit Creek Fourth Layer cultivation, clearly had much more combat experience than Leaf Gray. With two blades in hand, his movements were a dazzling blur. Just as Leaf Gray raised his longsword horizontally to block one attack, the curved blade in Daniel Rivera's other hand was already thrusting diagonally at incredible speed.

It was clearly too late to withdraw the sword and block again. Just as Daniel Rivera thought he was about to succeed, a triangular object, resembling a miniature shield, suddenly appeared on Leaf Gray's body surface.

Clang! The curved blade stabbed against the Guarding Spirit Pattern, blocking this vicious strike.

Leaf Gray shifted his center of gravity, sidestepped, and slashed diagonally with his longsword!

The sharp blade sliced a long wound on Daniel Rivera's arm, flesh curling outward.

The big tiger also took the opportunity to pounce, its roar shaking the heavens. Evie's figure drifted erratically like a ghost nearby, diverting Daniel Rivera's attention.

Three against one!

A moment later, Leaf Gray was panting heavily, his longsword once again piercing Daniel Rivera's chest, but this time it was aimed at the heart. Daniel Rivera's head slumped, devoid of life, his arms hanging limply at his sides, his weapons dropping to the ground.

This arduous battle ultimately ended with Leaf Gray's victory.

However, he had paid a significant price. Not only was most of his spiritual power depleted, but he also bore four deep wounds visible to the bone. Blood had almost completely dyed his clothes red, and the thick smell of blood permeated the air.

The Guarding Spirit Pattern could indeed block the opponent's attacks, but several times Leaf Gray hadn't had time to activate it at all – the opponent's attacks were too fast. This was a gap caused by differences in cultivation level and combat experience. Fortunately, the wounds weren't in vital areas.

Fighting a Fourth Layer cultivator while only at the Spirit Creek Second Layer, and even after severely wounding the opponent first and holding a great advantage, he still had to pay such a heavy price to defeat them, made Leaf Gray deeply aware of his own shortcomings.

Not only was he quite injured, but neither the big tiger nor Evie were unscathed. Half of the big tiger's body was stained blood-red, and Evie's form had become much dimmer.

Quickly gathering the spoils from the battlefield, he collected the storage pouches of the several individuals, and didn't forget the young master's Mysterious Spirit Bell either. Leaf Gray flipped onto the tiger's back and commanded in a low voice, "Let's go, quickly!"

The big tiger leaped out, charging straight towards the Rift Sky Gorge.

Halfway there, Leaf Gray's vision began to blur, and his body felt almost completely drained. He felt he probably couldn't hold on much longer, and only had time to instruct Evie and the big tiger: "If you encounter forks in the path, don't wander randomly. Find a place to hide. We'll deal with everything else after I wake up."

Before Evie could even react, Leaf Gray's body tilted sideways, nearly falling off the tiger's back. She hurried forward to support Leaf Gray.

******

About half an hour after the big tiger carried Leaf Gray away, a figure suddenly appeared at the previous battlefield. That person looked over the traces left on the battlefield, looked up, and called out loudly, "Found it!"

Instantly, two more figures rushed over from nearby.

The three looked at the chaotic battlefield and knew something terrible had happened.

"What should we do?"

"Notify Shixiong Brian Kelly."

One of them said this, sighed, and activated his own war imprint to send a message.

After waiting a while longer, a burly figure landed, surrounded by intense spiritual light. His aura seemed even stronger than the Spirit Creek Fifth Layer cultivator Leaf Gray had once seen.

"Shixiong Kelly!" The three saluted.

Brian Kelly stepped forward, examined the corpses of the four fellow disciples, and his face gradually darkened.

From the remnants at the battlefield, Shidi Gagnon had his throat slit, dying from blood loss in a short time. Shimei Darcy was decapitated. The young master had wounds on his thigh, shoulder blade, the side of his neck, a severed arm, and the fatal wound was on his chest. As for Daniel Rivera, he had many injuries on his body, clearly having experienced a fierce battle, with the fatal wound also in the heart.

"Trash!" Brian Kelly gritted his teeth and cursed angrily.

He truly couldn't understand how the young master, protected by the Mysterious Spirit Bell, had died! Although the Mysterious Spirit Bell was only a lower-grade spiritual tool, its defensive power was quite strong. In danger, just activating the Mysterious Spirit Bell for protection could withstand even a Spirit Creek Seventh Layer cultivator for a moment; those below the Seventh Layer would find it hard to break through its defense quickly.

And in this outermost area of the battlefield, let alone Seventh Layer, even Sixth Layer was rarely seen. Cultivators at the Spirit Creek Sixth or Seventh Layer were like overlords here. Cultivators of that level usually stayed stationed at their sect's base and rarely ventured out. If he hadn't received Daniel Rivera's message this time, he wouldn't have come here either.

With the Mysterious Spirit Bell for protection and Daniel Rivera, a Fourth Layer cultivator, accompanying him, this was why he and Donald Jimenez felt assured letting the young master wander outside.

Moreover, this location was still within the sphere of influence of The Ennead Star Sect's base...

Yet the young master was killed right on their own sect's turf!

How was he supposed to explain this to the Sect Leader? One could say The Ennead Star Sect's face was utterly lost in one day. Brian Kelly could almost imagine how furious the old men in the sect would be when this news got back.

"Send word back. Seal off a hundred-mile radius. Find a youth with a white tiger. The target's cultivation is around Spirit Creek Third or Fourth Layer, uses a blade-type spiritual tool. Regardless of faction or origin, reward thirty spirit stones for providing a lead, five hundred for killing him, one thousand for capturing him alive!" Brian Kelly's low, deep voice sounded.

The three cultivators' spirits lifted, and they quickly accepted the orders.

Although Daniel Rivera only managed to send back a simple piece of information before his death – a youth with a white tiger, Spirit Creek Second Layer – Brian Kelly had clearly discerned more from his investigation.

Daniel Rivera had engaged in a battle with the murderer and was then killed. Therefore, Brian Kelly inferred the opponent's cultivation was not just Second Layer, but most likely Third or Fourth Layer; otherwise, it would be impossible for them to kill Daniel Rivera. As for using a blade, that was even simpler – the wounds on the young master and Daniel Rivera clearly indicated that.

The opponent probably possessed a quite good spiritual tool; otherwise, it wouldn't make sense for them to defeat the stronger Daniel Rivera.

While deep in thought, Brian Kelly suddenly turned to look somewhere, shouting sharply, "Who's there?"

As his words fell, a handsome man in a blue robe, elegant and poised, stepped out from the darkness. The man wore a longsword at his waist, one hand resting casually on the hilt as he walked out calmly and effortlessly, like a king inspecting his own domain.

The moment he saw this man, Brian Kelly reacted as if facing a great enemy, quickly circulating his spiritual power, and gritted his teeth to exclaim, "Andrew Scott!"

No wonder he was so tense. Although he was at the Spirit Creek Sixth Layer, the other party was at the Spirit Creek Seventh Layer. Don't be fooled by the difference of just one layer; in the Spirit Creek Realm, the gap between the Fourth and Seventh Layers is a watershed. Crossing this layer brings a huge leap in strength.

In past encounters, Brian Kelly had suffered many losses at the hands of this fellow. So, as soon as he saw this guy appear, Brian Kelly felt a headache coming on.

He was confident he could escape, being a body cultivator with thick skin and rough flesh – if he couldn't beat Andrew Scott, he could still run. But the three fellow disciples beside him didn't have that ability.

Why had this damned bastard, who should be properly stationed at The Arcaneum Gate's base, also come out here? Brian Kelly cursed inwardly, realizing that their own commotion must have been too loud, attracting the attention of The Arcaneum Gate.