Chapter 21: Upright in Character

The next day, Zhao Dabao went to find Zhao Weimin. No sooner had he entered the house than he pulled Zhao Weimin outside, where a sturdy man was waiting. The man wore a dog-skin hat and a thick cotton-padded coat. His face, weathered by the elements, was flushed red from the cold, and his hands were tucked deep into the pockets of his military overcoat. "Weimin, let me introduce you. This is from the mountain patrol team..."

Chen San and his companions raced toward the Taiji Sect. Dealing with a Golden Core puppet was far beyond their authority; such a grave matter had to be reported to the sect elders. Just as Ji An turned his head, a blood-red geyser, identical to the one before, erupted from the back of the Heavenly Demon Heavenly Dog.

Dongcang Xingzu clenched his fists so tightly that his lower lip bled; he longed to turn back right then and strike the Saint Buddha Child. The Ma family had been soundly defeated by the Yang family in this conflict. If they could not secure some tangible benefits for their disciples, the Ma family’s standing among the Qi-refining cultivators would surely vanish. Yet, Xu Han’s promise to help the Ma family’s disciples survive the initial phase was enough to catch up to, or even surpass, the Yang family.

As for how K1 would explain it to them, that was not a concern for the two of them; it was better to let them stay inside for now to build rapport, as a larger group would only attract more attention. There was no other explanation that could account for what was happening at this moment.

Beside Gongsun Luyi, Chen Yun watched the two arrogant and insolent figures opposite them with a calm expression. His composure was far greater than Luyi’s—a mindset he had cultivated through countless brushes with death. It is no exaggeration to say that the military might of the High Elf Kingdom relied heavily on its ranger corps.

"Might as well try to cure the dead horse as if it were alive," he thought. At the very least, the primordial energy here was seven or eight times denser than in the outside world. If this really was the seed of some exotic plant, who knows what might happen?

***

Night deepened. The young man let Li Yu sleep, then retrieved a straw mat from outside, laid it on the floor, extinguished the pine torch, and lay down on the mat to rest.

"I have a vendetta for my country and family; I must kill the Jin dogs to avenge Master Gao." Guan Lin felt this reason was a bit forced, and even she sensed something was off. Although her eldest brother had sworn brotherhood with Gao Chong, her own connection was quite distant. At this thought, Guan Lin’s face turned bright red.

Chu Feng looked at Wu Ruirui, who had suddenly fallen silent, and feeling quite curious about her state, he asked what was wrong. In a moment of panic, Zhu Yu signaled to Chu Feng. Chu Feng lunged forward, striking down the remnants of the enemy with lightning speed.

Had it not been for the golden-armored giants holding off the immensely powerful gods and demons, the mortal front line would have collapsed long ago. Of course, the aerial puppets crafted by mortals were also formidable, spewing lethal tongues of flame during the fierce battle and providing some suppression against the gods and demons.

The broken blade in his hand emitted a low, continuous hum, vibrating incessantly. This blade often produced strange phenomena before a battle or a kill—sometimes it was a warning, other times it seemed eager and ravenous. The young man would invariably be overcome by a monstrous bloodlust; he knew he was being severely influenced by the blade, yet he could rarely control it.

"You want to block me? You aren't qualified!" Although Old Man Mo Bai was a peak profound emperor, he was not even half as strong as Xie Muyun. He was defeated within two rounds and fell, spitting blood.

Ding Li ordered the ballista to be pushed out, aimed it at Turtle Mountain, loaded an extended-range rocket, and fired. Grandmaster Leijuan ignored the crowd’s chatter; she was completely stunned by the words of Grandmaster Huangxu and Ni Yue.

"Click, click, click!" Gradually, the Earth-Tailed Scorpion turned its head to face Tie Muyun and Liu Yuxuan, its massive mouth dripping with saliva as if it viewed them as its next meal.

Luo Juan nodded obediently; there was no trace on her face of a great demon who had cultivated for a hundred years. Of course, they did not believe for a second that Su Chen hadn't anticipated this. After all, no one could overlook Su Chen's achievements in the online sphere. Witnessing this, the man who had originally intended to demand medical expenses quietly pulled Li Lingling away from the scene.

Mo Zhaoxue was the eldest legitimate son of Mo Shuihan from the Mo Family Sword Tomb. Together with the Southern Palace Sword Tomb of Xizhou and the Wu family, they formed a triumvirate of martial arts clans in Jianzhou, sharing the same state as the Daoist ancestral home, Longhu Mountain, and were collectively known as the "Dragon and Tiger of Jiangxi."

***

If everything Su Xiao and the others said was true, did it not imply that their future plans to smear Su Chen would be very difficult? Upon hearing that Su Chen was actually going to take wedding photos, her face turned dark.

A young and beautiful maid walked over to the doorway and, through a crack in the door, saw that Ji Yan had finished her cultivation. Liu Si felt a sense of bewilderment; this was nothing like the parents she knew—it was as if everything had been completely inverted from reality.

Under normal circumstances, employees accepted the weekly self-inspection health check system, but if an employee had been mistreated at home, they might suddenly lash out during the examination.

"Tch, he’s just afraid of scaring you and worrying about your heart condition!" Li Le said while driving.

In the center of the West Market shop district, in the open space surrounded by numerous stores and right in front of the gate to the Blue Fantasy Land, sat a table that looked ordinary. However, the person behind that table was anything but ordinary.

At this moment, they were all forming the same hand seals, with streaks of spiritual light flickering and connecting to trap Xuan Yuan inside. The beam of light from the monster’s mouth shot toward the strongest middle-aged cultivator at the fourth level of Qi-refining. Sensing the immense power of the beam, the nearby cultivators scattered, and the middle-aged man also narrowly escaped the spot just in time.

One must know that the experts who rushed toward that mountain range first, led by Ganyu, were all top-tier powerhouses. Before entering this space, they were likely experts from a mid-level world. That such powerful attacks against the light had no effect at all—the implications were self-evident.

"Hmph, ignorant fool. To dare attack the Demon Sect... does he really think he can take on the entire sect by himself?" A young man spoke with sharp, biting sarcasm, his tone filled with utter disdain.