Shun Long was running through the forest as he headed towards the source of the fight.
Around 500 meters away from him, he could see trees being cut down one after the other, as the people who were fighting, headed towards the opposite direction of him.
Hastening his speed, Shun Long circulated the 'Monarch's Hourglass', before he activated the 'Gale steps'.
Once the Mystic high-grade martial skill was activated, his feet turned blurry while his speed turned twice as fast as before.
Barely 30 breaths of time later, Shun Long had climbed on top of a tree, as the scene of the fighting appeared in his eyes.
Inside the forest, trees and large rocks were destroyed one by one, as a young man in blue robes was being chased by a young woman who seemed to be in her middle 20s.
The young man was actually at the early rank 3 in the Spirit realm, while the young woman had already reached the middle of rank 3.
Waving her green sword in the air, she repeatedly slashed at the young man, chasing after him without giving him a moment to rest.
And yet, the young woman seemed to have been toying with the young man, as her sword missed him by a single hair's breadth every time.
It seemed as if the young woman wasn't trying to win, but was trying to play around with the blue-robed man, the same way that a cat would play with a mouse.
Shun Long watched, as a look of hatred appeared in the young man's eyes, as he looked at the young woman in front of him, before he waved his hand and a golden medallion appeared on it.
The woman's eyes narrowed when she saw that the blue-robed young man wanted to escape, and her feet hurriedly kicked the ground, while her sword was stabbing towards his chest.
The young man however, had enough time to inject his qi inside the golden medallion of the 'House of Rankings', as a golden light covered his body.
His body turned illusory and disappeared on the spot, leaving the young woman staring at his disappearing silhouette with a dumbfounded expression.
A golden light had appeared from the man's medallion before he had escaped, as it headed towards the young woman's small chest.
The young woman had no time to dodge, as the light landed on her body.
Her robes on her chest started to lit up, as the medallion that she was carrying in her bosom started to glow with a bright light.
Her left hand reached inside her robes, entering between her breasts, as she took out her golden medallion from there, that was now shining with the number 2.
Shun Long smiled when he saw the 2 ranking points in the woman's medallion, before he jumped from the tree, swiftly landing on the ground in front of the young woman.
''Who is it?''
The young woman asked almost reflexively, when she saw that someone had appeared in front of her, without her even noticing it.
Even more surprising to her, was that she couldn't sense Shun Long's cultivation.
Unless it was an early rank 4 Spirit realm expert whom she was facing, the woman should have been able to sense her opponent's cultivation.
Of course, since Shun Long had retracted his aura earlier, the young woman and the blue-robed young man had no chance of detecting him... unless they had developed their soul sense of course.
Seeing the woman take a step back, Shun Long had a smile on his face, before he once again circulated the 'Monarch's Hourglass' and activated the 'Monarch's Domain'.
The invisible figure of an hourglass expanded from his body, while at the same time, a blue-colored light had also covered him.
Since this was a competition where one could win, only as long as they defeated their opponents or sent them to retreat, Shun Long wasn't planning on wasting any time with this woman.
A scornful look appeared on the young woman's face when she finally sensed Shun Long's cultivation, before she exhaled a sigh of relief
''Just an early rank 1 Spirit realm.''
At the same time, anger had also appeared on her face, when she realized that she had been duped by the young man in front of her
''I was actually afraid of an early rank 1 Spirit realm kid?''
The woman then ran towards Shun Long, hacking her green sword at him with a twisted smile on her face.
Shun Long didn't seem to have paid any attention to the woman's expression however, as he simply pointed forward with his right hand.
His qi started gathering in his forefinger, as sparks of lightning started to appear on it at the same time.
A mocking smile was formed on the young woman's lips, as her sword aimed to pierce through Shun Long's chest.
Before her sword could connect with Shun Long however, a sudden bolt of thunder exploded from Shun Long's finger.
The sound of thunder booming sounded in the sky, while a powerful lightning bolt headed towards the young woman's head.
Horror had filled the woman's eyes, as she hurriedly retracted her sword to defend from Shun Long's 'thunderbolt finger'.
She barely had enough time to retract her hand and defend her head, as her green sword lit up with a bright blue light, before it collided with Shun Long's bolt of thunder.
BOOOM
The young woman felt a numbing pain on her hand, barely being able to hold on to her sword, as the web of her hand between her thumb and her forefinger split apart, while lightning invaded her body.
The terrifying bolt of thunder sent the woman flying backwards for more than 100 meters, destroying many tree branches in the process, until her body collided with a large tree.
The look of horror in the young woman's eyes deepened as she stared at the handsome young man in the distance, who was now walking towards her.
She hurriedly grabbed her golden medallion from her chest, and injecting her qi inside it, her body immediately disappeared from the forest.
A golden light appeared from her medallion before the woman disappeared, as it flew towards Shun Long's.
Holding his medallion in his hand, Shun Long saw the golden light merging in his medallion, as the number 3 appeared on it.
Seeing that there was no one else around him, Shun Long continued deeper inside the forest.
At the same time, next to a vast lake near the edge of the forest, a burly young man who was holding a red saber in his hand, was walking towards the white-veiled Liu Mei with a light smile on his face.