Tai Ya cried out in pain, opening his eyes. Nie Kong's face immediately filled his vision, and he urgently asked, "Nie Kong, are you alright?"

Even as he spoke, he had already rolled over and gotten up, his eyes sweeping the area.

Seeing the dozen or so disciples of Lingyu City sprawled on the ground before him, Tai Ya couldn't help but show a flicker of confusion.

But in the next instant, Tai Hong's senses snapped back. His eyes widened, and he shouted, "Ah! My sister clearly told me that spiritual medicine could prevent any known stupefying drugs below the Third Grade!"

As he finished speaking, Tai Ya's expression became puzzled again.

"This... Brother Tai, who is your sister?" Seeing that the first thing this big fellow did upon waking was ask about his condition, Nie Kong felt a surge of gratitude.

"Her name is Tai Ji. She was with you at the Hall of Medicine. You should know her, right?" Tai Ya slapped his forehead.

"It's her?"

Nie Kong focused his gaze and indeed noticed the faint blue tint in Tai Hong's irises, though it wasn't nearly as intense as Tai Ji's. No wonder he didn't run upon seeing himself, but instead charged forward—it turned out he had been given spiritual medicine by his little sister, Tai Ji, a notoriously reckless alchemist!

Nodding slightly, Nie Kong smiled, "The stupefying drug I refined doesn't belong to any known stupefying drug below the Third Grade. It's normal that you passed out."

Tai Hong looked suspicious. "That's still not right. If you could clearly drug me, why did you fight me, let me injure your arm, and then let me chase you all this way?"

Nie Kong gestured to the disciples of Lingyu City on the ground, grinning broadly, "If I hadn't let you injure my arm and chase me this far, how could I have easily snatched twenty Identification Tokens?"

"Ah!"

Tai Hong smacked his head, suddenly enlightened. "I get it! You were feigning defeat and fleeing to lure them here yourself! Brilliant! I knew it. How could Nie Kong, who forced so many inner-city disciples into such a sorry state, be defeated so easily by me? You were pretending all along! That's great, Nie Kong! Let's spar again! That last round wasn't very satisfying. This time, you absolutely must use your full strength and give it your all..."

Nie Kong originally thought this fellow would show some shame after being used by him, but instead, he was beaming with excitement. It seemed this fellow was also a battle fanatic. In this regard, he was somewhat similar to that little girl, Bai Yuqing.

Under normal circumstances, sparring with him would be fine, but during the special assessment, spending time fighting was less valuable than figuring out how to grab more Identification Tokens!

Nie Kong felt somewhat speechless. He rubbed his head, coughed twice, and changed the subject. "Brother Tai, aren't you going to ask if I took your Identification Tokens?"

"No need to ask."

Tai Hong grinned, making no secret of it. "If you had taken my tokens, would you still be standing here chatting with me for so long? How about it, Brother Nie Kong, let's have a spar? It won't take long. How many more tokens do you need? I'll toss them over to you."

Seeing this fellow itching for a fight, Nie Kong rolled his eyes. "I need at least one hundred tokens. Can you help me gather them?"

Tai Ya suspected his ears had deceived him. Nie Kong originally had three points, plus thirteen tokens, and he just snatched twenty more, totaling thirty-six points. As long as they weren't taken by others, entering the inner city would be more than enough. Tai Hong had expected Nie Kong to perhaps grab ten more to secure the top rank, but he actually wanted sixty or seventy more! That would exhaust him to death!

Seeing Tai Ya gaping, Nie Kong chuckled inwardly. "Brother Tai, how many tokens do you have right now?"

"Four," Tai Ya replied subconsciously.

"So few!"

Nie Kong shook his head and said in a voice laced with extreme temptation, "Brother Tai, I happen to have a method. If the two of us cooperate, not only will my tokens exceed one hundred, but the number of tokens you acquire might even surpass fifty. Interested?"

Tai Hong's eyes lit up. "How do we cooperate?"

Nie Kong laughed, "We run ahead and use the same trick I just used. You get a thirty-seven percent cut of the tokens obtained. Isn't that much better than risking your life fighting for every single one? The more we grab, the bigger the fish. If luck is on our side, maybe we can wrap this up in four or five runs."

Upon hearing this, Tai Hong's face broke into a smile, but then he hesitated slightly. "This method is good, but would it count as forming a clique?"

"What clique is this?"

Nie Kong laughed dismissively. "Didn't Vice Hall Master Lingyan say in Lingxiao Hall that forming a group of five or more Lingyu City disciples to compete for tokens counts as forming a clique? There are only two of us; we haven't reached the standard mentioned by the Vice Hall Master at all, right?" When he said the last two words, Nie Kong suddenly turned his head to look at the large tree thirty meters away, as if asking the tree rather than Tai Ya.

Tai Hong clapped his hands and grinned broadly. "That settles it then! Let's spar!"

"The extra competition is over, spar however you like."

After taking out a token to check the direction, Nie Kong suddenly clutched his arm and staggered diagonally away, his face pale, covered in cold sweat, looking severely injured.

"Nie Kong, don't run! Hand over all thirty-three of your tokens!" Tai Hong was momentarily stunned, then roared immediately and strode after him with heavy steps...

"What a sneaky way to snatch tokens, sending the small fish away. If those Lingyu City disciples weren't greedy for his tokens, they would definitely be left with nothing!"

Nie Kong and Tai Ya fled, one chasing the other. Not long after they left, two cunning figures emerged from behind that large tree. Looking at the two shouting and roaring in the distance, they couldn't help but smile wryly. They had already learned through the Spiritual Tunnel about Nie Kong's method of using stupefying drugs to snatch tokens, so they had been watching quietly all along.

"Forget it. As long as it doesn't violate the rules of the extra competition, who cares what method he uses," one of the instructors nodded indifferently. "Right! Do you think Nie Kong noticed us just now? Otherwise, why did he suddenly look in our direction while talking?"

"Probably not. He's only at the Spirit Understanding stage, and we have both reached Spirit Transformation. He couldn't have discovered us..."

"Maybe we were just startled."

As they spoke, the two arrived in front of the collapsed Lingyu City disciples. They kicked each one over. "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!" Painful cries sounded incessantly.

"Get up and wear the red badge. Return to the Lingyu Compound. You don't need to participate in any future extra competitions," the two instructors said, then left briskly, leaving behind the dozen or so dismayed Lingyu City disciples.

"What did the instructors mean?"

"My tokens! Where are my tokens?"

"Ah, ah, ah! Both of my tokens are gone! Nie Kong and Tai Hong are gone too! We've been tricked! We've all been tricked!"

After sobering up, the dozen or so disciples looked miserable...

"Twenty!"

Watching the dejected disciple from Water Lily Hall leave, Yan Donglai was grinning from ear to ear. As he traveled, he encountered fewer and fewer Lingyu City disciples, but once he managed to strike and seize tokens, his gains grew larger and larger. Take the last time, for instance; he snatched six tokens in one go.

Twenty tokens, plus the initial three points, totaled twenty-three points. This score should be sufficient to comfortably enter the inner city. And it was only noon. If he could grab another ten or so tokens in the afternoon, he should achieve a decent ranking in this extra competition.

Yan Donglai pondered for a moment, then pulled out dry rations from his pouch and began devouring them in large mouthfuls.

"Boom!"

A fierce tremor echoed through the relatively open forest.

Yan Donglai was startled. With dry rations still in his mouth, he grabbed the tree trunk with both hands and scurried up to the treetop in a few swift movements, his action as light as a wild cat's, making almost no sound. Crouching on a branch, Yan Donglai's thin body curled into a ball, completely concealed by the dense foliage.

Suddenly, a thunderous roar echoed, causing the surrounding trees to tremble. "Nie Kong! Stop! If you don't hand over those fifty Identification Tokens, don't even think about leaving today!"

"Fifty Identification Tokens!"

These words boomed in his ears, causing Yan Donglai to almost tumble headfirst from the treetop.

Heavens! Fifty tokens! How did that fellow get so many?

Yan Donglai had heard the name Nie Kong whispered everywhere. Wasn't he the one who caused the inner-city disciples such great embarrassment in the Illusory Space? How come he was being chased now, judging by the sound? Yan Donglai's body relaxed slightly as he gently pushed aside the leaves blocking his view.

Sure enough, dozens of meters to the side, a dark shadow staggered through the woods, his legs weak and his steps unsteady, heading in this direction. Yan Donglai had seen Nie Kong's appearance many times in the Lingxiao Altar and Lingxiao Hall, and he immediately confirmed that the dark shadow was indeed Nie Kong.

However, Nie Kong's current appearance was extremely pathetic. Even from this distance, one could see the bloodstains smeared across his face. Perhaps due to the severe depletion of his spiritual power and the frantic pace of his run, Nie Kong was already gasping for breath, his face as pale as paper, and his entire outer garment soaked with sweat. A cluster of white light on his chest shone through his clothes, resembling a small sun partially obscured by faint clouds, intensely dazzling.

Behind Nie Kong was a young man with a sturdy and robust physique, also somewhat breathless, clearly exhausted. A white light also shone through the sweat-soaked garment on his chest, spreading out. Although not as dazzling as Nie Kong's, it was still very noticeable.

These two fellows were both fat and beautiful fish! Judging by the light emanating from their chests, the Identification Tokens hidden within probably added up to sixty or seventy!

Sixty or seventy tokens!

Yan Donglai gasped in a cool breath, his eyes blazing with heat. If he could snatch them all, who else could possibly take first place in this extra competition? But quickly, Yan Donglai noticed something was amiss. Behind Nie Kong and the big fellow, there were faint figures flickering in and out of sight!

Could they also be trying to snatch their tokens? Who could resist the temptation of so many tokens? Heh heh, if you think you can, brothers, I'll snatch yours too! Yan Donglai secretly sneered, narrowing his eyes as he watched the two figures running closer.

Postscript: First update. Brothers and sisters, you've been amazing! The votes are climbing so fast. Thank you all so much for your massive support... .0 .