BOOM!
Ren Fan slammed heavily against the mine tunnel wall, immediately spitting out a mouthful of black blood.
However, before he could get back up, the Demon Bear slapped him again.
Ren Fan cried out in pain, wailing, "Aiyah! Grandpa Demon Bear, please stop hitting me! I’m willing to mine for you, okay? That should be enough, right?"
He could see it clearly now—these Demon Beasts wouldn’t let him off easily.
Not unless he was willing to mine for them.
Otherwise, he’d be beaten to death.
The Demon Bear said coldly, "So you chose the hard way. Did you think I was some pushover with no temper? Get your ass up and start mining for me."
"Everyone, get the hell up! Follow me and help Grandpa Demon Bear with the mining."
Ren Fan commanded.
His followers, their faces long with misery, each picked up a bamboo basket from the side and went off to mine.
The skinny one said obsequiously, "Young Master Ren Fan, let me help you."
"Get lost! I don’t want to see you for the rest of my life! If you hadn’t said they were cripples, I would’ve been long gone! Would I be stuck here mining otherwise?" Ren Fan roared, his heart burning with rage.
He had come to participate in the Holy Spirit Competition in good faith, only to have the Treasures he carried stolen and be imprisoned as a mine slave.
What the hell was this supposed to be?
In a mountain forest, a girl in green happily cradled several stalks of purple grass. ’I can’t believe I’d have such an explosive stroke of luck! I picked seven stalks of Purple Spirit Grass in one go! As long as I can sell them, I’ll have enough money for Mom’s treatment.’
Originally, she hadn’t planned on participating in this Holy Spirit Assembly.
Her strength just wasn’t enough.
The participants in the Holy Spirit Assembly were all geniuses from the Northern Profound Domain. A mere Early Stage Martial Artist like her stood no chance of winning any rewards.
’Who would have thought I’d gain so much this time?’
’How lucky.’
Just as the green-clad girl was marveling at her luck, a figure suddenly flew over from the distance and crashed heavily onto the ground in front of her.
BOOM!
A deafening crash echoed as a massive crater was blasted into the earth.
The green-clad girl looked at the young man in the crater and said in surprise, "Aren’t you Wang Xuan? How did you get beaten up this badly?"
Wang Xuan warned her, "Run! The robbers are coming! If you don’t run now, it’ll be too late!"
"Robbers?"
The green-clad girl was filled with confusion.
’What kind of robbers could beat Wang Xuan into this state?’
The green-clad girl said kindly, "Wang Xuan, let me help you heal first. Once you’ve recovered, you can go beat those robbers to death."
"Impossible. I can’t beat those guys."
Wang Xuan’s face was filled with bitterness.
The green-clad girl puffed out her cheeks and said, "What are you afraid of? With your famous ability to fight anyone to a 50/50 standstill, you’re scared of a few robbers?"
"50/50 my ass!"
Wang Xuan looked utterly aggrieved.
With his strength, he was confident he could easily handle even top-tier geniuses like Bai Luoxue, Hua Tianmen, and Xiao Fan.
But this time, he had run into a real monster.
Wang Xuan said in a low voice, "Don’t worry about me, just run! The robbers this time are Demon Beasts, not humans! They came in a group! If they catch you, they’ll tear you to shreds!"
"What? Demon Beasts that rob people? And in a group?"
The green-clad girl’s eyes widened in disbelief.
Just then, the voice of a Demon Beast came from the distance, "Old Turtle Demon King, I see the kid! He’s right up ahead!"
"Go get him!"
the Old Turtle commanded.
Watching the Demon Beasts swarm over the hills and plains, both Wang Xuan and the green-clad girl felt their hearts sink.
’How the hell are we supposed to fight this?’
There were over a hundred Tier Three Demon Beasts, led by a Tier Four Demon King. The two of them stood no chance.
"Kid, we finally caught you."
The Old Turtle stared at Wang Xuan excitedly.
Wang Xuan gritted his teeth. "Kill me or cut me up, do as you please. But if you want me to surrender, it’s never going to happen. Give up on that idea."
"Who said we were going to kill you?"
The Old Turtle said nonchalantly, "We already told you, we just want those few Demon Blood Fruits you’re carrying. We never said we wanted to kill you."
Wang Xuan said fiercely, "Hmph, you think I’d believe you? You beasts! Every time you catch one of us humans, don’t you always dismember us, torture us to death, and then barbecue the remains?"
"That was indeed the case before, but this time is different. As long as you hand over the Blood Demon Fruits, we guarantee we won’t give you any trouble," the Old Turtle said casually.
Wang Xuan frowned. "Are you serious?"
"Hand over the Blood Demon Fruits and see for yourself. Won’t you know then if it’s true or not?"
The Old Turtle said patiently, "With your injuries, it’s impossible for you to escape from us. Even if we captured you, we’d still take the Blood Demon Fruits from you. So why bother struggling?"
"Fine. I’ll give you the Blood Demon Fruits."
Wang Xuan took out a few Blood Demon Fruits and threw them over, then stared intently at the Old Turtle.
If the Old Turtle showed even the slightest hint of killing intent, he was ready to fight to the death.
However, to his surprise, after taking the Blood Demon Fruits, the Old Turtle truly had no intention of killing him.
"This..."
Wang Xuan was completely dumbfounded.
’Since when did Demon Beasts become so trustworthy?’
At this moment, the Old Turtle’s gaze fell upon the Purple Spirit Grass in the green-clad girl’s hands. "Little one, give this king the Purple Spirit Grass in your hands."
"I won’t!"
The green-clad girl subconsciously hid the Purple Spirit Grass behind her back.
She had gone through great trouble to pick this Purple Spirit Grass. It was meant to be sold for money to treat her mother. There was no way she could give it to someone else.
The Old Turtle frowned. "If you don’t hand it over, we’ll have to get rough with you."
"With your level of strength, you can’t protect that Purple Spirit Grass. Just give it to them," Wang Xuan advised helplessly.
The green-clad girl said stubbornly, "Even so, I can’t give it to them."
「Two minutes later.」
The green-clad girl sat on the ground, tears streaming down her face as she yelled helplessly, "Bandits! You’re all bandits! WAAAAH! How could I be so unlucky?!"
"You’re lucky you even kept your life," Wang Xuan consoled her.
Just then, a white figure with disheveled hair and a grimy face landed before them, causing the temperature to instantly drop to freezing.
Wang Xuan asked in surprise, "Bai Luoxue, what are you doing here?"
Bai Luoxue replied, "I heard someone shouting about robbers over here, so I came to take a look. Where are they?"
"Gone!"
Wang Xuan answered dejectedly, then suddenly looked up and asked, "Wait, Bai Luoxue, don’t tell me you got robbed by those guys too?"
Bai Luoxue said awkwardly, "I had just found two stalks of Mystic Pearl Grass when those guys surrounded me and stole them."
At first, she thought she was a dead woman.
She was being besieged by not only over a hundred Tier Three Demon Beasts but also two Tier Four Demon Kings.
But just when she had lost all hope, the Demon Beasts turned around and left.
’It’s so infuriating!’
Those two stalks of Mystic Pearl Grass were enough for her to advance to the Grand Martial Artist realm.
’And in the end, they were stolen.’
Wang Xuan said bitterly, "I don’t even need to describe my situation. You saw it for yourself."
"Mhm!"
Bai Luoxue nodded, then suddenly said in a low voice, "I heard that Hua Tianmen was also robbed by a group of Demon Beasts."
What?
’Hua Tianmen was robbed too?’
Wang Xuan asked with a stunned expression, "He wasn’t killed, was he?"