Lu Ren hooked the storage spirit tool handed over by Bei Bei with his fingertip and scanned its contents with his Soul Power.
Good heavens, there was a small pile of neatly stacked gold coins, at least three or four thousand.
Plus other miscellaneous items, pills, materials…
It was enough starting capital for him to go to the Sun Moon Empire.
The smile on Lu Ren’s lips deepened slightly.
As expected of Shrek’s disciples, they’re really rich.
If he robbed a few more “fat sheep” like Bei Bei, he might even achieve financial freedom early.
Unfortunately, this business couldn’t last long.
After robbing Bei Bei this time, Shrek would definitely take major action.
Future teams would likely have a teacher sent to the Star Dou Great Forest to escort them.
Time to stop.
Just as Lu Ren was about to put the spirit tool away, his gaze suddenly paused.
He pulled out several items: a few oddly shaped darts, some needles and the like, as well as a yellowed blueprint and a few booklets.
The words “Tang Sect” were faintly visible on the covers.
Lu Ren raised an eyebrow.
He casually threw these things back into Bei Bei’s arms.
Bei Bei instinctively caught them, looked down, and was stunned.
“These are all Tang Sect items,” Lu Ren said casually.
“Tsk, I’m not interested in this junk.
I can’t even sell them for a good price; they’re just trash.
Returning them to you.”
Tang Ya’s expression changed.
She took a step forward, her tone already carrying anger:
“What do you mean by that?”
Lu Ren glanced at her, ignored her, and turned to walk towards Xu Sanshi.
“Stop right there!”
Tang Ya’s voice rose.
“Make yourself clear!
What do you mean they won’t sell for a good price?
Tang Sect’s Hidden Weapons are unrivaled in the world, you…”
“Xiao Ya.”
Bei Bei quickly pulled her back and lowered his voice.
“Calm down, don’t cause trouble.”
Tang Ya struggled but couldn’t break free, only able to watch helplessly as Lu Ren crouched in front of Xu Sanshi.
Lu Ren didn’t look back, but his mouth wasn’t idle:
“Unrivaled in the world?
Heh.”
He laughed, the mockery in his laughter completely undisguised.
“The ten-thousand-year Tang Sect, and now all that’s left is a little girl like you as the Sect Master?”
“What, are you imitating Tang San from ten thousand years ago, insisting that a successor with the Blue Silver Grass Spirit must be the Sect Master?”
Tang Ya’s body stiffened.
“What was Tang San’s background?
The son of a hundred-thousand-year Spirit Beast, with twin spirits.”
“His Blue Silver Grass was the Blue Silver Emperor, with tenacious vitality, but even then, it was just okay.
Aside from being able to take a beating, what damn use does it have?”
As Lu Ren spoke, he ripped the storage spirit tool from Xu Sanshi’s waist, completely ignoring Xu Sanshi’s teeth-gritting expression.
“And what about your Tang Sect?
Spirits have degenerated, cultivation methods are lost, and the Hidden Weapons you’re so proud of are being crushed by spirit tools.”
“What is the most important thing for humanity?
It’s creativity and technological development.”
“You’re clutching onto ancient relics as if they’re treasures, yet you still expect to return to the Tang Sect’s peak?”
He turned his head and finally looked Tang Ya in the eye, a half-smile on his lips:
“Wake up, little girl.
The Tang Sect’s sinking ship should have gone down long ago.”
“You!”
Tang Ya’s eyes instantly turned red, her Soul Power fluctuated violently, and her Blue Silver Grass Spirit almost burst out of her body.
“Xiao Ya!” Bei Bei held her tightly, his voice low and urgent, “Don’t be impulsive, we can’t beat him.”
Tang Ya trembled all over, her fists clenching with a cracking sound, but she was ultimately held down by Bei Bei.
She could only stare fixedly at Lu Ren, the anger in her eyes almost solidifying.
Watching this scene, Lu Ren suddenly burst out laughing.
“Oh, this is hilarious.
I just love seeing that expression where you want to hit me but can’t do a thing about it.
Give me more of that; I actually quite enjoy watching it.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the three fell into silence again, their trembling bodies showing they were barely suppressing their emotions.
Seeing they had stopped talking, Lu Ren felt it was no longer interesting.
He turned back and began to check Xu Sanshi’s storage spirit tool.
Another few thousand gold coins, plus some bottles and jars.
Lu Ren picked up one of the bottles, opened it to sniff, and his eyes lit up:
“Is this a Mysterious Water Pill?
So many?
As expected of the Young Sect Master of the Xuan Ming Sect, you certainly didn’t disappoint me.”
Xu Sanshi clutched his chest, grimacing in pain, but he still forced himself to glare:
“You know I’m the Young Sect Master of the Xuan Ming Sect, yet you still dare to rob me?”
“Haha, don’t give me that.”
Lu Ren tucked the storage spirit tool into his robe.
“Who are you trying to scare?
No matter how powerful your Xuan Ming Sect is, can it be more powerful than Shrek?”
“I rob Shrek people without hesitation, so why would I care about a Young Sect Master of the Xuan Ming Sect?”
Hearing this, Xu Sanshi’s face turned pale with rage, but he couldn’t squeeze out a single word.
Lu Ren stood up, patted off non-existent dust, and waved his hand with his back to the three:
“I’m a man of my word.
I’ve received your protection fees, so I’m off.”
He took a few steps, then suddenly stopped and turned back to add:
“Next time you run into me, remember to bring more valuables.
Otherwise, it’s no fun robbing you.”
After speaking, he put his hands in his pockets and sauntered off toward the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest, his back looking as relaxed as if he were strolling through his own backyard.
As for Tang Ya’s things, he decided not to touch them.
They were likely filled with Tang Sect items anyway, which he found unlucky.
Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi were truly wealthy; taking their two storage spirit tools was more than enough.
Xu Sanshi panted heavily with rage, wanting to curse but not daring to, only able to watch the figure disappear into the dense forest.
“Bei Bei, we’re just going to let him go like that?” Tang Ya’s voice was full of resentment.
Bei Bei stared in the direction Lu Ren had vanished, his brow furrowed:
“What else can we do?
We’re simply no match for him.
If he truly intended to kill us, we wouldn’t last a single round.
We should be glad we’re all Shrek Academy disciples; what he fears is Shrek Academy, not us.”
He bent down to pick up a fragment of the Xuan Ming Tortoise Shield, his fingertip tracing the smooth break:
“And did you notice?
He didn’t activate his Spirit from beginning to end.
We don’t even know how many rings he has.”
Xu Sanshi struggled to stand up, limping over, and said indignantly:
“This can’t just be forgotten!
That guy robbed my things and severely damaged my Spirit!
I’m going to find Xuan Zi when we get back and have him deal with this bastard!”
“Telling on him won’t help,” Bei Bei shook his head.
“He’s so fast that by the time Xuan Zi arrives, he’ll be long gone.
No matter how strong Xuan Zi is, we don’t have any information on him; finding him would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.”
“Let’s help Xiao Ya hunt for her spirit ring first, then immediately report back to the academy and have them stay alert.”
Tang Ya nodded, her gaze fixed on the distant forest, her pretty face so dark it looked like it could drip water:
“I hope we don’t run into him again.
Otherwise…
I’ll show him the power of Tang Sect’s Hidden Weapons!”
The three said no more and turned to walk toward their intended location.
But in each of their hearts, the image of that black-haired youth was deeply etched.
…
Deep in the forest, far from the three.
As Lu Ren walked, he narrowed his eyes, feeling the surge of Cursed Energy within his body.
Those negative emotions—Tang Ya’s anger and resentment, Bei Bei’s restraint and wariness, Xu Sanshi’s frustration and hatred—were continuously being converted into Cursed Energy and absorbed by him.
“Comfortable.”
Lu Ren stretched.
The stronger the negative emotions, the more Cursed Energy was born.
He had deliberately provoked Tang Ya and insulted the Tang Sect so harshly not just to be a jerk.
Not only did he harvest a wave of Cursed Energy, but he could also slightly increase his Soul Power—truly killing two birds with one stone.
Sweet.
As he walked, Lu Ren planned his next moves.
Just then.
The sky, which had been clear a moment ago, suddenly darkened.
A thunderous boom echoed high in the sky, and the sunlight was instantly obscured by some invisible force, plunging the world into a strange gloom.
A suffocating pressure descended from the heavens.
Lu Ren’s footsteps paused, his pupils shrinking slightly.
He looked up.
In the next moment, a stream of gray air, as if pulled by a massive suction, fell vertically from the high heavens with incredible speed, drilling directly into the back of Lu Ren’s head.
Lu Ren froze in place.
Deep in his mind, an old voice slowly resonated, carrying an indescribable majesty and weariness:
“With the sun and moon in hand, I pluck the stars; there is no one like me in this world…
I didn’t expect that a fragment of my soul could still remain.”
The gray stream fell into his Sea of Consciousness, instantly condensing into a pea-sized gray bead before settling into silence.
Lu Ren was stunned for three seconds.
Then he smiled.
He smiled like he had just found a hundred million.
“Good things come in pairs.”
He raised a hand to touch the back of his head and murmured to himself:
“Was it because the energy fluctuations while I was absorbing Cursed Energy attracted Electrolux?”
Cursed Energy is the aggregation of negative emotions.
And Electrolux, the Holy Necromancer, controlled the power of death and souls.
To some extent, these two powers did have a very high degree of similarity.
Lu Ren took a deep breath, his consciousness sinking into his Sea of Consciousness, attempting to touch that gray bead.
The bead didn’t budge, but a faint connection had already been established.
“Electrolux…” Lu Ren murmured, “This is one of the greatest opportunities in the original story.”
He looked up at the sky, which was gradually clearing, then at the silent forest around him.
Today’s haul was a massive profit.
The money from the robbery was enough for him to go to the Sun Moon Empire.
And Electrolux’s soul fragment would benefit him for a lifetime.
As for the Tianmeng Iceworm, Lu Ren believed that while the opportunity of a million-year Spirit Beast was enticing, if he took it, he might be watched by Tang San from then on.
Although a day in the Divine Realm is a year in the mortal world, Lu Ren feared Tang San had set some keywords; taking the Tianmeng Iceworm might mean bearing Tang San’s gaze.
After all, being the Child of Destiny isn’t that easy.
Thinking of this, Lu Ren felt a chill.
He only needed to master his own abilities.
Electrolux was his ultimate trump card.
“Next step…
go to Shrek to cause some trouble and disrupt the original plot.”
“Do you think I’ll let your cross-dressing succeed?
Wang Donger, since I’m here, I’ll naturally create a different plot direction.”
Lu Ren withdrew his thoughts, turned, and continued walking out.
Only this time, his steps were even lighter.
*******************************
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