Chapter 8: Han Hao

Ye Xiao halted in his tracks and turned to look back. Not far behind him stood two men and a woman, their eyes glinting with a hint of mockery.

Leading them was a burly man in his thirties, with a formidable build and a scar running from his right eye down to the left side of his jaw, giving him a fierce appearance.

“Kid, hand over all your Snake Eyes!” the man barked.

Ye Xiao frowned, his expression growing serious. Among the three, the leader was an eighth-level Mystic, while the other two were seventh-level Mystics. If it were a one-on-one fight, Ye Xiao was confident he could hold his own for a few moves. Even against the eighth-level leader, though he wouldn’t win, he could still maneuver skillfully. But facing all three at once was another matter.

“Are you not afraid the powerful from the Yin-Yang Academy will intervene if you act like this?” Ye Xiao asked, aware that experts from the academy must be watching in the Dark Jiao Forest.

“Afraid?” The burly man laughed heartily. “Kid, do you know why the Yin-Yang Academy set up this trial? Sometimes, humans are scarier than beasts.”

Ye Xiao was silent. Judging by the man’s words, it seemed the Yin-Yang Academy tacitly allowed such behavior. After all, if it were only about killing beasts, there’d be no need to choose such a place.

“What if I refuse?” Ye Xiao challenged.

The burly man sneered, “Refuse? Then… die!”

With that, the man’s two companions suddenly lunged forward from either side.

Ye Xiao gripped his broken sword tightly without daring to underestimate them.

The man attacked first, wielding a nine-ring broadsword that whistled through the air, aiming directly at Ye Xiao’s face. It came at incredible speed, forcing Ye Xiao to raise his sword horizontally in defense.

Clang!

The sharp clash rang out with sparks flying. A tremendous force shook Ye Xiao’s body, sending him staggering backward nearly ten steps before he could steady himself.

As Ye Xiao regained his footing, the woman was already upon him. Her dagger, glowing with a faint green light, slashed toward his throat.

Ye Xiao’s face changed. The dagger was likely coated with poison—he needed to be careful. Fortunately, the woman’s cultivation was only slightly higher than his, and the short dagger, though dangerous, was manageable.

Ye Xiao bent his knees swiftly and crouched low.

The woman’s heart skipped a beat—she hadn’t expected this!

Her dagger grazed Ye Xiao’s scalp, cutting through a few strands of hair, but Ye Xiao was already crouched and suddenly countered with a backhand strike.

The broken sword rose from below, aiming straight at the woman’s face.

She leaned back to dodge the sword, but Ye Xiao seized the moment to leap up, twisting his sword blade to strike down fiercely.

The woman’s expression shifted dramatically; she seemed unable to evade in time.

At that instant, another man arrived, raising his nine-ring broadsword sharply and pulling the woman back, narrowly averting the danger.

All this happened in a flash. When the three ceased their assault, they exchanged serious glances.

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