Volume 1, Chapter 26: Either Accept the Gift or Give Yourself in Return

Xiao Jin'an offered a faint smile and, looking toward the pavilion in the heart of the lake, called out, "Come on out!"

Following his clear, resonant laughter, a scarlet figure emerged from the bamboo pavilion with its upturned eaves. Under the gaze of the crowd, he walked over with a graceful and composed air, waving an ivory fan in his hand.

The youth appeared to be around twenty years old, clad in a robe of bright red cloud-brocade, fastened with a four-finger-wide gold-threaded belt inlaid with multicolored gems that shimmered with a rainbow-like brilliance. His hair was gathered in a golden crown, though a single lock escaped by his right ear, braided with five-colored silk threads. On his feet were short black boots embroidered with cloud patterns in gold and silver thread. He was draped in gold and silver to the point of vulgarity, looking exactly like a pauper who had suddenly struck it rich.

With a wave of his hand, several Haotian Sect disciples and the Seventh Elder were instantly crushed as if flattened by a giant boulder, turning into a heap of gore. After collecting the soul bones that dropped, he grabbed the wide-eyed, furious Third Elder and stepped into a spatial rift.

Before entering the palace today, he had sent people to ransack Dai Qiu’s living quarters in the back courtyard of the Xi estate, but they had failed to find the roster. Without lingering, he opened a spatial rift and stepped through. Deprived of his oppressive aura, the surrounding wolf-bandits still had not recovered from their recent terror.

"Your nephew? Which one? Do I know him?" Gu Xuan asked, feeling rather puzzled; he truly could not recall such a matter.

The only issue was that the Supreme Elder was already over two hundred years old, looking as though he might pass away at any moment. He was, of course, aware that Suzhou held partial administrative authority over the city, but since he was the city designer and responsible for daily maintenance, he had not forced him to relinquish it.

Su Tian opened the map he had brought from the academy, deciding he would first search the outskirts of the forest where the mysterious turtles were likely to appear.

As he spoke, he started the engine. His handsome face, filled with emotion, left Meng Duo feeling somewhat flustered. Still, in broad daylight like this, he surely wouldn't dare to do anything, would he?

"I was worried about what to do with so many black crystals, but it seems I was overthinking it," Lin Cheng laughed.

The others nodded. To such prodigies as them, it was hardly inconceivable for one in the Derivation Stage to contend with a low-grade Golden Core cultivator.

A thousand people? This figure startled Boss An and the others. Did a mere thousand people dare to come to Dragon-Slaying Island to seek death?

"Where is Qingcheng? Why am I here?" Lan Qing acted as if possessed, trying to pull out the IV needle, but Ye Chen slapped him into submission.

Shi Zhengchang was completely unguarded against her odd behavior; it was only after a few bites that he realized his sister had drugged his meal.

Lin Fan nodded, his expression serious and earnest, though his eyes were like a deep pool of water; whenever ripples stirred, a more mysterious side of him was revealed.

He wrapped his arms around her waist, giving her still-slender waist a gentle pinch after her childbirth, savoring the feeling.

"No, I meant that the one-year agreement can be called off." Since she had already found a good man, what was the point?

Mo Yanxin touched her forehead and realized it was burning up. However, being pregnant, she could not take medicine; the only way was to use ice to break the fever.

Yet, toward the wailing, screaming, and desperate pleas, the old patriarch merely kept his eyes closed, turning a blind eye. To him, the screams of people facing the threat of death—even those of his so-called family—were a delightful pleasure. These weak, incompetent wastes all deserved to die.

Quintus Scipio, seeing that the cavalry had failed, immediately ordered the infantry to launch an all-out assault, leaving the left flank of the infantry to protect the cavalry.

Turning it over in his mind, he decided it was better to change the subject; that was the only way to move past this awkward situation. But just standing there was already embarrassing enough, let alone trying to settle down for a conversation. He didn't know what to do.

Suddenly, a coughing sound broke the silence. Lu Min slipped, accidentally nicking Liu Donghua’s ear with the scissors. Liu Donghua cradled his ear, moaning softly. When he pulled his hand away, there wasn't much blood; Lu Min burned a hemostatic talisman and applied it to the wound.

"This is the power of bloodlines!" Yang Tian’s expression turned grim. In his current state, he could have put up a fight against Yang Ba and Yang Xiao, but now, he had no chance at all.

Jian Ning froze. What Gu Jingchen was reciting was the text message she had sent to Shen Lu using his phone... Did he already know?

Jian Ning had already settled her mother into the sanitarium, and those coming to meet them were waiting outside. Suddenly, she received a call from Fu Tianze. Looking at her mother’s nervous expression, Jian Ning suppressed her racing heartbeat and answered the phone.

Suddenly, he looked back. Not far ahead of him, a man in yellow robes stood with a somber face, though the greed in his eyes had not diminished in the slightest.

Ning Chen had been keeping an eye on his movements. Seeing this, he instinctively channeled his spiritual energy, forming a shield around himself to fend off the sneak attack.

Hearing the woman’s words, Long Tian felt a sense of disappointment. Given his current strength, while this Eastern Emperor Bell would increase his power by a level, for him, it was merely the icing on the cake, offering little real utility.

In the days that followed, Luo En’s life became more structured. After obtaining permission from Instructor Catherine, he temporarily set aside combat training to focus wholeheartedly on learning swordsmanship from Joey.

Fu Tianze panicked slightly, unable to guess what had happened to her. Shen Lu had finished her prenatal checkup and, with no major issues, was cleared to leave the hospital. After handling the paperwork, Shen Lu affectionately linked her arm through his, her face full of happiness.

Facing so many people expressing hostility toward him, Luo Hao was at a loss for words.

It was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old youth, a fifth-tier evolver wearing the Lu Army’s special uniform. He clutched a lethal purple-light cannon in his arms and carried a large saber on his back, blocking the six of them with a murderous aura.

The fourth-tier zombies were also severely affected, their movements becoming sluggish; even the fifth-tier zombies felt fear in the wake of that aura.

On the blue side, Liu Yu’s Hua Mulan seized the opportunity of the red side’s Hua Mulan being overeager to clear minions, taking the initiative to launch a decisive attack.

To Lin Xiaoxiao’s surprise, the Demon Hunter Group that Lu Fan had once casually assembled had now grown into a formidable force. Though they were all only second-tier, their strengths were balanced, and with their varied enhancement abilities, their coordinated efforts were bound to unleash tremendous lethality.