Just then.
Shen Huaiyue seemed to have made up her mind.
"Su Luo, can you take us out of the city to hunt Beasts?"
"Us? Who?" Shen Huaiyu looked around in confusion.
"Do you want to gain some real combat experience?" Su Luo asked.
"That's right. Actual combat is the fastest way to improve one's strength." Shen Huaiyue nodded.
"Fine. Meet at the city gate at seven on Saturday morning," Su Luo agreed.
"Sis, I don't have to go, right? I can only heal. I don't have any combat ability at all. I'd just hold you back if I went, wouldn't I?" Shen Huaiyu looked at Shen Huaiyue hopefully.
At that, Shen Huaiyue swept her cold gaze over her.
"In your dreams. You have to go! There's no room for discussion!"
Upon hearing this, Shen Huaiyu wilted like an eggplant struck by frost.
She lifted a pleading gaze toward Su Luo.
Su Luo's eyes darted away, pretending not to see.
Seeing this.
Shen Huaiyu pouted.
Her unwilling gaze shifted back and forth between Su Luo and Shen Huaiyue.
"The wife sings, and the husband follows," she muttered.
Shen Huaiyue was standing close to Shen Huaiyu, so naturally she heard her mutter.
She raised her hand and smacked Shen Huaiyu on the back of the head.
"Little brat, don't talk nonsense."
"Hm? What did she say?" Su Luo asked, utterly baffled.
Shen Huaiyue hurriedly covered Shen Huaiyu's loose lips in a panic.
She smiled at Su Luo.
"Ah... nothing."
"Su Luo, if there's nothing else, you should head out first."
Su Luo frowned and glanced over the suspicious pair of sisters.
They were definitely hiding something from him, but if they did not want to say it, so be it.
"Alright. I'll head off first. See you tomorrow."
Seeing Su Luo leave, Shen Huaiyue let out a sigh of relief.
Then she turned toward Shen Huaiyu with a murderous look in her eyes.
Sensing that things had taken a bad turn, Shen Huaiyu immediately took off running.
She rushed back to her own room and promptly locked the door.
Seeing that her younger sister at least knew fear.
Shen Huaiyue snorted coldly.
Then she turned and returned to her own room.
Inside Tianshui City Hospital.
Su Xiong sat quietly beside Su Ming's hospital bed.
His eyes were lifeless, his hair disheveled, and his beard unkempt.
He did not know how many days it had been since he had changed his clothes, and they carried a sour odor.
A nearly burned-out cigarette was pinched between the fingers of his right hand.
His entire appearance was one of utter exhaustion.
It reflected just how terribly he had been living these past few days.
His pride and joy, Su Ming.
Had been reduced to this state by his other son, the one he had never thought highly of.
Paralyzed in bed all day, he remained in a semi-conscious state.
Sometimes awake, sometimes unconscious.
And his wife, Pan Yun.
Thinking him useless, had gone behind his back to find Su Luo at school.
She had intended to make Su Luo pay compensation.
Only for Su Luo to shatter the bones in her face with a single slap.
Her face had swollen up like a pig's head.
Though it was not a fatal injury.
For a woman, being disfigured was the cruelest punishment.
She would need a huge sum of money for reconstructive facial surgery before she could recover.
At the company where Su Xiong worked.
For some unknown reason, upper management had suddenly issued an order.
They urgently needed to lay off an employee.
Su Xiong became the unlucky one who drew the short straw.
No reason, no explanation.
They simply wanted to fire Su Xiong.
Su Xiong had been so enraged that he made a scene at the company on the spot, smashing plenty of expensive equipment.
Originally, they were supposed to pay Su Xiong severance.
But after that, there was no need to pay him anything.
To make up for the losses Su Xiong had caused the company.
His severance pay was taken as compensation instead.
Everything that had happened these past few days.
Had directly plunged his entire family into an abyss, leaving them unable to turn things around.
It even made Su Xiong wonder whether he had offended the Grand Duke of Jupiter.
Otherwise, why would he be this unlucky?
Just then.
A young nurse walked in.
"Family of Bed 95, Su Xiong."
"You've already been behind on the medical bills for a week."
"If you still don't pay, we can only stop the medication."
"You have two days to pay the full amount."
After saying that, the nurse left the ward.
Leaving Su Xiong sitting beside the bed with a blank look on his face.
What was going on?
He had clearly given Pan Yun the money and told her to pay the bills.
Why was the nurse saying they had not paid?
He immediately took out his phone.
He called Pan Yun, intending to ask what exactly had happened.
Beep—click.
The call connected.
"Hello, Pan Yun. The money I gave you to pay the medical bills—did you pay them?"
Pan Yun was caught off guard by Su Xiong's sudden question.
She seemed somewhat flustered.
After pondering for a moment.
She said calmly, "I paid it a long time ago. The hospital must have made a mistake. Tell them to check again."
"Oh, alright. Then the hospital must have made a mistake." Su Xiong hung up after saying that.
Then he stood up and left the ward.
He went to find the nurses and ask them to check again.
In the blink of an eye, it was Saturday morning.
The Shen sisters had both advanced to Transcendent Tier 1.
The two followed Su Luo into the Tiger Roar Mountain Range.
Su Luo had already begun to look down on Tier 1 Beasts.
He could kill them in one move. There was no challenge at all.
But for the Shen sisters, Tier 1 Beasts were excellent opponents for practice.
Without real combat experience.
Even someone with the strength of Transcendent Tier 1 could be killed in return by a Beast.
Whenever they encountered a Beast along the way.
Shen Huaiyue took the offensive, while Shen Huaiyu provided healing support for her sister.
The two worked together.
Achieving an effect where one plus one was greater than two.
They had agreed beforehand.
Su Luo would be responsible for protecting the two of them.
The Crystal Cores they hunted would be split eighty-twenty with Su Luo.
Naturally, Su Luo got eighty, while the two of them got twenty.
Su Luo stood on high ground, observing the sisters' battle.
At the same time, he kept an eye on the surroundings for any Tier 2 Beasts.
At present, he still needed two Tier 2 Crystal Cores to upgrade the Devil Fruit Tree into a D-rank ability.
Once it became a D-rank ability, he could continue obtaining Devil Fruits.
The three Devil Fruits he currently possessed were all Paramecia-type Devil Fruits.
It would be great if a Logia-type Devil Fruit appeared someday.
Lightning, Glint-Glint, Ice-Ice, Magma-Magma, Flame-Flame, Venom-Venom, Storm—any of them would do. He was not picky.
As long as it was not the Smoke-Smoke Fruit.
While Su Luo was lost in thought, the battle below was already drawing to a close.
Shen Huaiyue stared at the several Beasts before her.
Panting heavily, she shouted:
"Huaiyu! Restore me!"
Shen Huaiyu raised her hand, sending out a wave of healing that restored Shen Huaiyue greatly.
Shen Huaiyue's breathing immediately steadied considerably.
The exhaustion in her body was swept away in an instant.
Storm Dance!
Several violent tornadoes instantly surrounded the Beasts.
Countless wind blades swirled within the tornadoes.
This made the tornadoes like meat grinders.
They shredded the Beasts until blood covered their bodies, and the creatures collapsed helplessly.
Shen Huaiyue stepped forward and dug out the spoils of this hunt.
They had obtained three Level 1 Crystal Cores in total.
Just then.
A series of deafening booms suddenly rang out.
Rumble! Rumble!
The Shen sisters looked toward the source of the sound without understanding what was happening.
Su Luo, standing on a tree branch, narrowed his eyes.
He watched the trees in the distance gradually collapse.
Clearly, some enormous creature was charging this way.
Su Luo jumped down from the tree and looked at the sisters.
"Huaiyue, Huaiyu, the two of you fall back! I'll deal with it!"
The sisters exchanged a glance.
They chose to heed Su Luo's advice.
They also wanted to see just how strong Su Luo truly was.
With a light leap, they jumped onto the tree behind them.
Rumble! Rumble!
Before you continue