Hearing Lin Yun’s words, the Fifth Prince stumbled back. He knew of Lin Yun’s strength and had heard of his Combat Power—this was the ruthless man who had slain two experts at the First Layer of Primordial Ocean Realm.

Although the Fifth Prince’s Cultivation was at the Ninth Layer of Qi Sea Realm, he didn’t believe for a second that he was a match for Lin Yun.

Seeing the Fifth Prince retreat step by step, Lin Yun wasn’t worried. In this dense fog, no one would hear the Fifth Prince even if he screamed his lungs out.

"Your Royal Family has persecuted me time and time again. You’ve imprisoned my parents, my teacher, and my friends. Your Highness the Fifth Prince, and you’re asking me to let you go? Is that even possible?" Lin Yun said, slowly advancing.

Hearing this, the retreating Fifth Prince lost his footing and collapsed to the ground. He looked up at Lin Yun and begged in terror, "Lin Yun—no, Young Master Lin! Spare me! I’ll plead with my Imperial Father to release your parents, teacher, and friends! What do you say?"

The Fifth Prince was utterly terrified. Running into Lin Yun here... his cries would fall on deaf ears. All he could do now was pray Lin Yun would let him go.

Seeing Lin Yun remain silent, still approaching with an icy expression, the Fifth Prince grew even more frantic. "Young Master Lin, you can’t kill me! If you kill me, my Imperial Father will never let you go! As long as you don’t kill me, I swear I’ll convince him to release your family and friends—"

The Fifth Prince continued to babble pleas for mercy, but by now Lin Yun was standing right in front of him. His eyes, as he looked down at the Prince, held nothing but frost. Lin Yun spoke with indifference.

"From the moment the Royal Family imprisoned my parents, this became a feud to the death. I, Lin Yun, will save my family and friends with my own two hands. As for you... you’re just the first installment of interest."

The words had barely left his lips when the Space Ring on Lin Yun’s hand flashed. The Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear materialized in his grasp, and amidst the Fifth Prince’s terrified scream, it pierced through his body. 𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

After felling the Fifth Prince with a single thrust, the killing intent radiating from Lin Yun didn’t diminish in the slightest. As he had said, this was just the first payment.

He retracted the Demon Bone Heaven-Dominating Spear, took the Space Ring from the Fifth Prince’s hand, then turned and vanished once more into the fog.

Thanks to Little Ape, Lin Yun had a significant advantage over the others. Even though Little Ape’s sensory range was extremely limited in the dense fog, it was still better than nothing.

After killing the Fifth Prince, Lin Yun resumed his hunt in the fog. Since the Crown Prince and the people from the Wind Forest Sect wanted him dead, he certainly wouldn’t go easy on them.

After wandering aimlessly for a time, Little Ape finally sensed a familiar aura. Following its directions, Lin Yun hurried toward the source of the presence.

The fog here was strange; you could only see someone when they were within three meters. As Lin Yun took another step, a figure abruptly appeared before him.

’Jin Ruhua...’ At the first sight of the two-meter-tall woman, Lin Yun didn’t hesitate for a second. He turned and fled.

"Lin Yun, are you a man or not? If you’ve got the guts, come fight me for three hundred rounds!" As Lin Yun saw Jin Ruhua, she naturally saw him too, and her booming voice echoed out.

However, Jin Ruhua’s challenge was met with silence. ’Are you kidding me? That woman is a humanoid tyrannosaurus.’ Lin Yun had no intention of clashing with her head-on right now.

His goal here was to pick off the weaker geniuses from the two opposing forces. He had no plans to go head-to-head with Primordial Ocean Realm experts like Xiang Ziyi, Jin Ruhua, or the Crown Prince just yet.

Watching helplessly as Lin Yun disappeared from view, Jin Ruhua flew into a rage. But there was nothing she could do; the dense fog completely blocked her senses, making it impossible to follow him.

After escaping Jin Ruhua’s sight, Lin Yun continued to roam. He wasn’t in a hurry to clear this stage; finding more people from Yanhuang Academy and the Wind Forest Sect came first.

After walking for a while, Little Ape once again sensed a familiar aura. He hurried over, and as he took the final step to close the distance, his expression soured before he could even say a word.

’Crap, it’s Chen Ming...’ This time, Little Ape had found Chen Ming. Without a word, Lin Yun turned to leave.

Watching Lin Yun turn and leave, Chen Ming didn’t say anything, merely muttering to himself with a lazy expression, ’This guy... can he sense my aura? Interesting.’

’Crap... Ziyi.’

"Lin Yun, don’t you run! If you have any guts, you’ll stand your ground and face this Prince!"

Following Little Ape’s lead, Lin Yun certainly found more people from the two factions. The problem was, they were all Primordial Ocean Realm experts like Ziyi or the Second Prince.

The moment he saw them, Lin Yun would, of course, turn and leave without a second thought.

"Can you please be a little more reliable?" Lin Yun said helplessly to Little Ape. ’Is this little guy doing this on purpose? He’s found four people in a row, and not a single one of them was in the Qi Sea Realm.’

As Lin Yun’s voice fell, Little Ape pointed directly ahead and let out a low growl, indicating it had found another person from either Yanhuang Academy or the Wind Forest Sect.

Following Little Ape’s directions, Lin Yun quickly located the person. It was a genius from the Wind Forest Sect, but not one of the big three—Ziyi, Chen Ming, or Jin Ruhua. Lin Yun didn’t recognize him, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that this man wanted him dead, and for that reason, Lin Yun could not spare him.

After a fierce battle, Lin Yun finally killed him. He took the man’s Space Ring, found a secluded spot to recover some of his Elemental Power, and then set out with Little Ape once more on their hunt.

It was hard to keep track of time in the fog, but by Lin Yun’s estimate, two or three days had likely passed since he’d first entered.

During this time, Lin Yun had killed the Fifth Prince and another genius from the Yanhuang List, as well as two members of the Wind Forest Sect.

In other words, the group hunting him—consisting of the Crown Prince’s faction and the Wind Forest Sect—were already down to just six people by the second stage of the trial: the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, the Third Prince, Ziyi, Chen Ming, and Jin Ruhua.

Since they were all scattered in the fog, the Crown Prince and the others probably didn’t know yet. If they did, they would surely be spitting blood with rage.

’It’s about time to leave,’ Lin Yun thought. After some consideration, he felt there was no point in staying. After all, killing Primordial Ocean Realm geniuses like the Crown Prince’s group was still extremely difficult.

Just as Lin Yun was contemplating how to leave, a heavily injured young genius burst out of the fog and collided with him.

The young man’s injuries were severe. He must have run into a genius from another faction in the fog and been beaten this badly after proving no match for his opponent.

Less than a breath after the young man appeared, a burly man wielding a large saber emerged from the fog. This must have been the one who injured him.

"Kid, give him to me," the burly man with the saber said, glancing at Lin Yun. "Then hand over your Space Ring, and I might consider letting you go." He sneered when he noticed Lin Yun’s Cultivation was only at the Seventh Layer of Qi Sea Realm.

It wasn’t just Lin Yun’s group of enemies in the fog; geniuses from all factions were present. When paths crossed, a desperate struggle was inevitable.

Lin Yun hadn’t wanted to get involved in others’ affairs, but now that the trouble had landed right in his lap, he felt compelled to help.

(This is the third Chapter update. Please subscribe, add to your library, vote with a Monthly Pass, donate, and recommend this novel!)