Wang Ai Takes Action

Ye Chen harbored a special kind of affection for Xiao Ran. Years ago, when he was still an unknown assassin abroad, he had crossed paths with her.

Xiao Ran was severely injured at the time, and he saved her life.

Only later did he learn that she was a top-tier assassin.

Ye Chen's cultivation talent was exceptionally high, and in a short time, he caught up to her realm.

Later, he brought Xiao Ran along, tracked down the enemies who had nearly killed her, and annihilated them completely.

From then on, Xiao Ran stayed by his side.

Back then, Ye Chen still had nothing, and they frequently encountered powerful foes.

Xiao Ran always charged at the very front. If it weren't for her, he felt he would have died several times over.

His feelings for Xiao Ran didn't exactly feel like love, but he always considered her his person, his woman.

Yet, someone like her had been defiled by Fang Chu.

That day, while fighting the experts hired by the Dai family, he noticed something was off the moment he saw Xiao Ran running over.

She had almost no injuries, but she had changed clothes, and her stride was somewhat unnatural around her thighs.

Later, after leaving with Huang Qu and Xiao Ran, he observed her carefully and became even more certain of his suspicions.

It felt as if a beloved treasure he couldn't bear to part with had been trampled and ruined by a stray dog by the roadside.

Recently, whenever he looked at Xiao Ran, he would picture the scene of her being humiliated by another man.

This made him feel somewhat sickened, as though he had been cuckolded.

He knew he shouldn't treat her this way, but psychologically, he just couldn't get past it.

Because of this, he wanted to kill Xu Mu, and he wanted to kill Fang Chu. This ruin presented the perfect opportunity.

"Willing to trade an eighth-grade Fetal Earth Lingzhi for Xu Mu's life... you really must despise him."

Fang Chu smiled as he looked at Ye Chen. "There were three women who went in with Xu Mu just now. By your account, one is your person. What about the other two?"

Ye Chen shook his head slightly. "I don't know them. Barring any surprises, they should be disciples of Xu Mu's sect."

"For all we know, those two might be experts."

Fang Chu glanced at Ye Chen. "I need you to give me the Fetal Earth Lingzhi first. Like you said, it only provides a massive boost to earth-attribute Qi. Since yours is metal-attribute, it's completely useless to you."

Ye Chen gave Fang Chu an indifferent look. "What if you take it and run?"

"I'm not as strong as you. Since we're going in together, are you really afraid I'll run?"

Fang Chu asked with a smile. "Besides, I want Xu Mu dead just as badly as you do."

Ye Chen hesitated for a brief moment before taking a flat wooden box out from his clothes.

He opened it to reveal a piece of Lingzhi, its color resembling yellow earth.

Upon taking it, Fang Chu could clearly feel the spiritual energy radiating from the herb.

He pulled it out, stuffed it directly into his mouth, chewed vigorously, and swallowed it down.

Seeing this, Ye Chen's eyes instantly narrowed. He had originally planned to snatch the item back after killing Fang Chu.

He hadn't expected him to eat it right then and there.

"You really are squandering a precious treasure. With an eighth-grade heavenly treasure like this, even a random alchemist could increase its medicinal efficacy by another ten or twenty percent. Yet you just ate it raw."

Ye Chen said flatly.

"It's only truly yours once it's in your stomach. Who knows what might happen later?"

Fang Chu chuckled and tossed the wooden box onto the ground. Feeling the surging flow of Qi within his body, a smile crept onto his face. "Let's go!"

He was no fool. Once Xu Mu was dead, Ye Chen wouldn't let him off the hook either.

At least now, he had consumed an eighth-grade heavenly treasure—a precious item capable of enhancing the strength of his own Qi.

If plans went south later, he could just run away. After all, the treasure was already in his belly.

...

Xu Mu and the others had already ventured inside. They were surrounded by stone, with only a long, narrow path ahead.

They could clearly feel a chilly, gloomy aura lingering in the air.

"Look, the space ahead seems to be opening up."

Xu Mu said, pointing into the distance.

As the group ventured deeper, they suddenly felt the ground beneath their feet give way.

The next moment, the world before their eyes drastically changed.

They now found themselves in a world made entirely of stone.

The ground beneath their feet was stone, and in the distance stood stone pyramids of varying sizes.

However, just like the architecture outside, the tops of these pyramids were flat rather than pointed.

Stepping into this formation, the group looked back and, sure enough, found that the path behind them had vanished.

There was no grass and no trees. Aside from the sky high above, giant stones were all that met the eye.

Just then, a dense horde of stone golems poured out from the various pyramids in the distance.

These stone golems were roughly two meters tall. Gripping spears, they swarmed toward Xu Mu and the group.

Seeing this, Meng Wanyue immediately stepped in front of Xu Mu. "Brother Mu, careful."

"Yeah."

Xu Mu replied, though he was using his perception to carefully observe Wang Ai.

Within their current group dynamic, two people warranted close attention.

One was Wang Ai, and the other was Hongyu.

However, Hongyu's target was Fu Jinyu, so Xu Mu didn't need to worry too much about her.

Wang Ai, on the other hand, was coming for him.

"Looks like we have to fight!"

Wang Ai pulled out a pair of brass knuckles and slipped them onto his hands, then drew a dagger and gripped it tightly.

His figure shot forward in an instant, smashing a punch right into the head of a stone golem.

Bang!

The powerful force instantly shattered the stone golem's head to pieces.

"Good heavens, they really are just like solid rock."

Wang Ai shook his wrist and continued to weave through the horde of golems.

Seeing this, Miao He raised her hands, and eight butterflies fluttered out from her body.

Swish, swish, swish...

The butterflies darted among the stone golems, slicing the stone bodies apart.

Fu Jinyu looked up in mild surprise. A Gu cultivator.

Upon closer observation, the shattered stone fragments were merging and reassembling into brand-new stone golems.

Xu Mu glanced around. To say that Ye Chen had gone to such great lengths just to prepare this ruin to deal with him...

Xu Mu didn't believe that for a second.

He didn't even have to think about it to know this was just an appetizer meant to drain everyone's Qi. The real killing blow was still to come.

"Brother Mu, what should we do? These stone golems just won't die."

Severing a stone golem with her short sword, Meng Wanyue immediately retreated to Xu Mu's side.

"This formation should be similar to the ones we've encountered before. Let me give it a try."

As Xu Mu spoke, he pressed both hands to the ground, rapidly tracing lines using his externally released Qi.

Within moments, a massive binding formation materialized.

Seeing this, Fu Jinyu and the others widened their eyes in disbelief. This Xu Mu actually knew how to use formations, too.

By now, all the stone golems had stepped into the formation. Bound tightly by the glowing light rising from the array, they were rendered completely immobile.

"Amazing! Bro, you're incredible!"

Wang Ai immediately shouted to Miao He, "Stop fighting! Your friend here knows formations."

Hearing this, Miao He also made her way over to Xu Mu's side.

[Favorability +10]

"Xu Mu, you're so amazing..."

Before Miao He could even finish her sentence, Wang Ai, who was standing right behind Xu Mu, suddenly raised his hand and thrust his dagger straight at Xu Mu's neck.

The strike was as fast as lightning.