Tang Ya stared blankly at the youth who had suddenly appeared behind the two, unable to react for a moment.
Meanwhile, Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi had simultaneously felt the weight of the hand resting on their shoulders; it wasn’t heavy, yet it caused their Soul Power circulation to stutter for an instant.
Lu Ren stood between them, an arm around each, smiling like a child who had just successfully pulled off a prank.
Then, the force in his hands began to intensify.
“Crack, crack.”
The sound of bones being compressed was clearly audible.
The expressions of both Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi changed simultaneously.
Without using a Spirit, relying solely on Physical Body strength, he could actually suppress them to this extent?
Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi were instantly drenched in sweat.
This guy was actually this strong?
“Why aren’t you talking?”
Lu Ren tilted his head, eyeing them.
“You were discussing me so enthusiastically just a moment ago, did you leave your vocal cords at home now?”
Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi exchanged a glance.
There was no need for communication; they both nodded simultaneously, and their Spirits were released instantly.
Blue-purple electric light exploded; Bei Bei’s right arm rapidly expanded, covered in scales, as his Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Spirit awakened.
Two yellow and one purple, three spirit rings rose from beneath his feet.
Xu Sanshi was not to be outdone; his body suddenly expanded, stretching his school uniform taut.
In his right hand, that massive tortoise shell shield appeared with a boom—the Mystic Turtle Spirit.
At the same time, behind them, Tang Ya let out a sharp cry, her Blue Silver Grass Spirit appeared, and two yellow spirit rings lit up.
“First Spirit Ability, Binding!”
Several long blue vines coiled toward Lu Ren like living snakes.
Lu Ren didn’t even move.
He just glanced up at those long vines.
“Slash, release!”
The next second, an invisible blade appeared, slicing through the air.
“Puchi, puchi, puchi.”
All the long vines were cut into fragments in mid-air, the cuts so smooth it looked like they had been measured with a ruler.
The momentum of the slash remained undiminished, striking Tang Ya directly, sending her flying and rolling several times on the ground.
“Xiao Ya!”
Bei Bei’s expression changed drastically.
A low roar exploded from his body.
Intense blue-purple electric light surged wildly, and the scales on his right arm rapidly spread across his body, covering his right chest as well.
The purple third spirit ring erupted with dazzling brilliance.
Third Spirit Ability, Thunder Fury.
His lightning attribute doubled, and his Soul Power attack effectiveness increased by over fifty percent.
At this moment, Bei Bei had the strength to fight even against an average Four-Ring Soul Ancestor.
A punch enveloped in violent lightning slammed into Lu Ren’s chest.
The result: nothing happened.
The lightning exploded on Lu Ren’s body, blue-purple electric light crackling and dazzling.
But when the light dissipated, Lu Ren was still standing in the same spot, his clothes not even wrinkled.
He even looked down at his own chest, then looked up at Bei Bei, his eyes filled with “Is that all?”
Bei Bei’s pupils contracted violently.
How is this possible?
On the other side, Xu Sanshi attacked simultaneously.
Third Spirit Ability, Mystic Turtle Power, also an augmentation-type Spirit Ability.
Immediately following was his First Spirit Ability, Mystic Turtle Shock, an area-of-effect knockback with a stun effect.
The tortoise shell shield slammed into the ground, and a visible shockwave erupted and expanded.
Then it hit Lu Ren.
Lu Ren remained completely motionless.
He even yawned.
“Are you finished?
Then it’s my turn to say a few words.”
The next second, the hands Lu Ren had resting on their shoulders suddenly exerted force.
“Crack!”
The crisp sound of breaking bones rang out simultaneously.
Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi screamed out at the same time, cold sweat instantly breaking out on their foreheads.
This guy was ridiculously strong!
One of them was the Outer Court’s strongest attacker, the other the Outer Court’s strongest defender; hitting him was like tickling him?
“I’ve always been straightforward, so I’ll get straight to the point.”
Lu Ren spoke casually, his tone very relaxed, not taking them seriously at all.
“Hand over everything valuable you have on you, and I’ll let you go.”
He paused and added:
“Then you go hunt your Spirit Beast, and I’ll pack up and leave immediately.
This way, it’s a win-win for both of us, how about it?”
Bei Bei gritted his teeth: “Dream on!”
His second spirit ring suddenly lit up.
Second Spirit Ability, Thunderous Might!
Countless thick snake-like bolts of electricity exploded outward from the center of Bei Bei’s body, the dense lightning weaving into an electric net that covered Lu Ren from head to toe.
Lu Ren finally let go.
But he didn’t retreat; instead, he clasped his hands behind his head, invisible slashes condensing under his feet, as if he were standing on a skateboard, carrying him sliding backward.
His posture was as leisurely as if he were ice skating.
The lightning missed, crackling and dissipating in the air.
“Honestly.”
Lu Ren stopped after sliding a distance, sighed, and muttered to himself:
“I’m really short on money; after all, I’m heading to the Sun Moon Empire, and on the road, I have no connections and no channels—it costs a lot of money, you know.
Why do you have to make things so troublesome?”
He looked at the two panting figures, smiling faintly, and raised his voice:
“I don’t want to kill anyone.
Presumably, you don’t want to lose your lives for nothing, right?”
Bei Bei didn’t have time to reply; he turned and rushed to Tang Ya’s side, crouching down to frantically check her injuries.
“Xiao Ya!
Are you okay?”
Tang Ya struggled to climb up, blood at the corner of her mouth, but she still shook her head:
“I’m fine…
Look out!”
Seeing it was only a superficial wound, Bei Bei couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, but upon hearing Tang Ya say that, he quickly turned back, just in time to see Xu Sanshi charging toward Lu Ren with his tortoise shell shield raised.
“You idiot, don’t go in alone!”
Bei Bei shouted, his body already instinctively rushing out.
Lu Ren watched the two charging at him, one after the other, and raised a hand to brush back the stray hair on his forehead.
In that instant, a thick slash cut through the air.
This slash wasn’t aimed at the people, but swept horizontally over their heads.
Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi instinctively dove to the ground.
The slash passed over their heads and crashed directly into the forest behind them.
“Rumblings…”
A series of loud crashes followed as seven or eight large trees were sliced in half at the waist, their crowns crashing to the ground and kicking up clouds of dust.
Bei Bei lay on the ground, looking at the cleanly cut tree stumps, his Adam’s apple bobbing.
This power…
it was definitely no less than the full-strength blow of a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor!
And looking at that guy’s nonchalant demeanor, it was clearly just a casual wave of his hand.
In the moment he was stunned, Lu Ren had already flashed in front of them.
He raised his hand, two fingers pressed together, and made a light swipe toward Xu Sanshi.
Xu Sanshi’s face changed dramatically; he instinctively held the tortoise shell shield horizontally in front of him.
“Crack!”
The slash landed on the shield, and the Mystic Turtle shield, known for its unparalleled defense, shattered directly into four or five pieces.
Xu Sanshi was sent flying backward, spitting out a mouthful of blood while still in mid-air, landing heavily on the ground, struggling twice before failing to get up.
Bei Bei froze in place.
He looked at the shield fragments scattered all over the ground, then looked at Xu Sanshi, who couldn’t get up in the distance, and then at the nonchalant youth in front of him.
Then, he slowly raised both hands.
“I surrender.”
The voice was crisp and decisive.
“I agree with you; I’m willing to hand over everything valuable I have on me.”
Are you kidding?
He knew Xu Sanshi’s defensive power better than anyone; when serious, even an average Spirit Ancestor couldn’t break through it.
This guy had shattered Xu Sanshi’s shield with a casual strike, so what was the point of fighting?
Was he supposed to fight the guy alone?
For real?
Lu Ren raised an eyebrow, seemingly a bit surprised.
“So straightforward?”
“What else?”
Bei Bei smiled bitterly, “I don’t do things that are seeking my own death.”
Lu Ren laughed, withdrew his hand, and patted Bei Bei’s shoulder.
Naturally, he patted the other side that wasn’t broken.
“I like people like you who know the times; it saves everyone time.”
He turned to look at Tang Ya, who had just climbed up from the ground, then looked at Xu Sanshi, who was wailing in the distance while clutching his shoulder, and finally let his gaze fall back onto Bei Bei.
“So, can you pay the protection fee now?”
Bei Bei took a deep breath and resignedly went to touch the storage spirit tool on his waist.
“Here, this is all the property I have on me.”
In the distance, Xu Sanshi was still wailing:
“Bei Bei, you traitor…”
Bei Bei didn’t even turn his head:
“Traitor to what?
If you have the ability, go fight him again.
If you win, I’ll call you Daddy.”
Xu Sanshi: “…”
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