"Hmph." With a single attack, Li Lin directly countered Jing Wenkun, which surprised Jing Wenkun and made it increasingly hard for him to maintain his composure. Without thinking too much, his gaze suddenly turned icy, and his burning qi burst forth explosively. With a push of his foot, his body appeared in front of Li Lin in the blink of an eye. His fist, wrapped in tangible flames, brought a hissing sound that burned the air, and he ferociously slammed it towards Li Lin.

  A chill passed through Li Lin's eyes again, and a cyclone surged under his feet. Instantly, his body left an afterimage and disappeared from its original spot, moving as swiftly as a ghost.

  "Chi!" Jing Wenkun's fist, enveloped in flames, flew diagonally past Li Lin's figure amid the astonishment of the onlookers, creating a ripple in the space that resonated with a whistling sound.

  Failing to hit Li Lin again, Jing Wenkun's expression grew even darker. His fists circled back, and with the flames roaring, he suddenly felt Li Lin's presence behind him and smashed his fist without hesitation. The space inside rippled instantly, opening up like a vortex. The strike of a sixth-tier martial general was indeed terrifying.

  As everyone was once again astonished, Li Lin's figure had just appeared behind Jing Wenkun when a fist mark came crashing down, landing squarely on Li Lin with incredible speed.

  "Bang!" A loud noise erupted in the air, and Li Lin was smashed to pieces.

  Many were shocked, expecting a scene of bones scattered and blood splattered everywhere. However, at that moment, there was no such scene as anticipated. Li Lin's figure exploded and then vanished.

  "It was an afterimage." Jing Wenkun had just sneered, only to realize at that moment that he had only hit an afterimage. The opponent's speed was too fast, and in an instant, Jing Wenkun felt the air behind him solidify, sending a chill down his spine.

  "Acting recklessly in my Flying Spirit Gate, seeking death." As a voice filled with killing intent spread, everyone's gaze saw Li Lin's figure appearing behind Jing Wenkun just as he smashed his fist on the afterimage.

  "Shoo!"

  Unknown when, Li Lin's hands were clad in white jade silk gloves. With true qi infused, the sharp gloves were enveloped by dense fire attribute qi, with flames dancing seductively like ghostly claws.

  Suddenly, the extremely sharp claw mark, with a fiercely hot momentum, tore through the air, leaving a blurred crimson claw mark afterimage in mid-air.

  In that instant, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the claw mark plunged directly into Jing Wenkun's head with the speed of lightning.

  "Crack, crack!"

  A bone-chilling sound of bones breaking echoed instantly. In that moment, Jing Wenkun's skull completely shattered, and the contents of his head spurted out.

  Jing Wenkun didn't even have the chance to scream before he fell dead.

  Li Lin retracted the white jade silk gloves, his figure landing in the arena, without giving the corpse another glance, said, "Jing Wenkun of Tian Yi Sect dared to strike at me, within three days, my Flying Spirit Gate will annihilate Tian Yi Sect."

  "Who's causing trouble here?" The crowd stirred, and only then a large group from Flying Spirit Gate arrived, led by Huang Boran and Zhang Mingtao.

  "Disciples pay respects to the Sect Master." Upon seeing the Sect Master, Huang Boran and Zhang Mingtao immediately greeted him with a salute, followed by a respectful salute from dozens of Flying Spirit Gate disciples.

  "Zhang Mingtao, Huang Boran, notify the elders and protectors in the sect, Tian Yi Sect dared to provoke our Flying Spirit Gate, immediately lead people to annihilate Tian Yi Sect," Li Lin ordered.

  "Yes, Sect Master," Zhang Mingtao and Huang Boran responded.

  All this left the surrounding crowd in surprise, not yet recovered from their astonishment. Even the martial generals from various martial halls were stunned. Ordinary disciples did not know that the martial halls were established by Flying Spirit Gate, and only a few people within each hall knew about the relationship between the halls and Flying Spirit Gate, for secrecy.

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  Ghost Martial Sect's Dai Daozi and others' expressions changed drastically at this moment. Li Lin's instant killing of Jing Wenkun, and his intent to annihilate Tian Yi Sect, was done right in front of Ghost Martial Sect's Sect Master, clearly showing no regard for Ghost Martial Sect.

  Dai Daozi had a chance to save Jing Wenkun but was shocked by Li Lin's strength and wanted to see if Li Lin really dared to kill Jing Wenkun and disregard Ghost Martial Sect.

  With Jing Wenkun dead, Dai Daozi realized that Flying Spirit Gate truly no longer saw Ghost Martial Sect as a concern.

  "Brother, are you alright? This person dared to attack Brother; dying like this is too easy for him." Li Xin Tong approached Li Lin, her bright eyes glaring at Jing Wenkun's corpse on the ground, without any discomfort. Having practiced poison arts and witnessed Li Lin's killings three years ago, Li Xin Tong, though only thirteen, had a tempered will; such bloodshed naturally did not affect her, unlike Yan Qi and Bai Shasha, who could hardly bear to look.

  "Sect Master Dai, the auction has started, let's go." Li Lin could feel Dai Daozi's mood, probably feeling uncomfortable, which was exactly what he wanted, or else why would he find an excuse to act against the forces around him?

  As Li Lin finished speaking, he led Li Xin Tong, Li Xiao Bai, and others towards the interior of Ling Fei Sect.

  "So, it's the Sect Master of Flying Spirit Gate, we've reserved seats for everyone." The eighth-tier martial general greeted Li Lin, instantly killing the Sect Master of Tian Yi Sect and directly threatening to annihilate Tian Yi Sect, showcasing a terrifying aura that even unsettled several martial generals.

  "Lead the way," Li Lin said lightly, ignoring Ghost Martial Sect and others, and followed the black-clothed martial general into the auction.

  "Sect Master, Flying Spirit Gate is too presumptuous." Watching Li Lin's back as he entered Ling Fei Sect, a Ghost Martial Sect elder coldly said.

  "Let's go," Dai Daozi lightly said, his gaze slightly sighing, signaling the Ghost Martial Sect elder not to say more. His expression had become serious. Everything Li Lin had done made him realize the worst-case scenario; Flying Spirit Gate was clearly provoking Ghost Martial Sect, and even if he acted now, it would likely only complicate matters further without absolute strength, how could Flying Spirit Gate provoke them in front of him?

  The remaining Tian Yi Sect members had already disappeared without a trace amidst the chaos. Among the onlookers, some were familiar with Tian Yi Sect and were shocked by the turn of events.

  "If you want to enter the auction, hurry up; it's about to start. The entry fee is forty gold coins. Those who don't want to enter, please leave early. Those who cause trouble will be killed without mercy," a black-clothed person announced loudly. The square suddenly became unusually quiet for a few seconds. With even martial generals being killed, who would dare to cause trouble?

  "Is that young man in the green robe the Sect Master of Flying Spirit Gate?"

  "His strength is formidable. Jing Wenkun was a powerful figure in his own right, yet he was killed in a single move."

  "He had it coming. Three years ago, Flying Spirit Gate annihilated both the Luo Sha Sect and the Jiu Hua Sect. Now that Tian Yi Sect has provoked them, it's time for Tian Yi Sect to be wiped out."

  Amidst the crowd's discussions, Li Lin had already been led by the eighth-tier martial general into the auction. A spacious auction hall appeared before Li Lin, massive in size and spanning two floors.

  The first floor was ten meters high, surrounding a large stone platform that stretched and wound around thirty rows of seats, extending to the second floor like a spiral staircase. Just the first floor alone, Li Lin estimated, could seat fifteen to sixteen thousand people.

  "Sect Master Li, your seats are on the second floor." The eighth-tier martial general led Li Lin to the second floor, which could accommodate four to five thousand people. The very front was reserved for some powerful sects, each area fixed and capable of accommodating about twenty people.

  "Sect Master Li, these front boxes are prepared for some powerful sects, each costing fifty thousand gold coins." The eighth-tier martial general led Li Lin to one of the front boxes and, with a meaningful bow, then left.

  "Fifty thousand gold coins." Li Lin was stunned for a moment. He had asked Huangfu Qisong to charge one thousand gold coins per seat the night before, not expecting Huangfu Qisong to charge so much. That was a box of twenty seats, originally twenty thousand gold coins, now increased to fifty thousand, more than doubling. The entry fee outside, originally stated as twenty, was now forty, significantly more expensive than before.

  Li Lin smiled wryly, realizing he really wasn't ruthless enough.

  By this time, Li Lin's gaze surveying the surroundings, the second floor was already filled with no fewer than three thousand people, with more people still making their way up.

  Looking down at the hall below, the vast hall was gradually filled to the brim, a sea of people, their noisy chatter merging together, making the auction lively with voices.

  "Lin'er, you've acted a bit early with your intimidation. The Ghost Martial Sect might start paying attention to Flying Spirit Gate ahead of time." As Li Lin, Li Xin Tong, and Li Xiao Bai settled down, a voice transmission from Ghost Fairy reached Li Lin's ears.

  Li Lin looked around but did not see Ghost Fairy Bai Ying's figure.

  "Kid, stop looking. I'm on the second floor. You've attracted quite a few powerful old ghosts here today. Looks like there will be some excitement to watch," the voice transmission from Poison Handsome Dong WuMing reached Li Lin's ears.