Mu Yuan was absolutely the most terrifying monster Liu Wan'er had ever seen, bar none.
Gulp.
Liu Wan'er pressed her lips together hard, then walked over to Mu Yuan and massaged his shoulders.
"Comfortable!"
Mu Yuan closed his eyes and said softly, "If it weren't for enjoyment, why would I take on a female lackey?"
Li Lang's eyes widened as he stared at the scene before him, one that shattered everything he thought he knew.
He stood frozen for over ten seconds.
"Not bad technique."
"Liu Wan'er, what does he do?"
As Mu Yuan enjoyed the massage, he casually glanced at Li Lang and asked.
"Mu Yuan, he is..."
But before Liu Wan'er could finish, Mu Yuan interrupted her.
"Liu Wan'er, you are my lackey now. You may not address me by name."
"Yes, Young Master Mu!"
Liu Wan'er quickly corrected herself.
"At least you know what's good for you."
Mu Yuan was quite satisfied with Liu Wan'er's response. He nodded. "Continue answering my question."
"Young Master Mu, Li Lang is my cousin. He is a genius from the Eastern Spiritual Territory and one of the helpers I invited."
Having finally recovered his senses, Li Lang was left utterly bewildered.
"Liu Wan'er, you..."
Liu Wan'er was the spoiled little princess of the Liu family, a mercenary clan in the Mercenary Realm. She herself possessed peak early Spirit Wheel Realm strength and had never thought highly of any man her age.
Yet now, before Mu Yuan, who was merely at the middle stage of the Spiritual Movement Realm, she was acting so obedient and docile.
Was this really the Liu Wan'er he knew?
Liu Wan'er hurriedly explained,
"Cousin, you misunderstand. Young Master Mu is very strong. Earlier, Zhang Long provoked Young Master Mu and was casually crippled by him. Even I am no match for Young Master Mu."
"This time, when we seize the Earth Spirit Fruit, Young Master Mu will help me obtain half an Earth Spirit Fruit."
"Cousin, you understand now just how powerful Young Master Mu is, don't you?"
Liu Wan'er was also worried that her cousin would let his mouth run wild and provoke Mu Yuan again.
Sigh!
Li Lang sighed, silently musing,
"They say beauty lies in the eye of the beholder. The same goes for girls."
"For Mu Yuan's sake, Liu Wan'er has gone so far as to put herself down just to make him seem powerful."
At that moment, Mu Yuan looked at Li Lang and asked,
"What are the strengths of the Eastern Spiritual Territory's geniuses?"
As a genius of the Eastern Spiritual Territory, Li Lang was surely familiar with the several geniuses who had come from there to compete for the Earth Spirit Fruit.
"Heh... This guy actually dared deceive Liu Wan'er into believing he can definitely obtain the Earth Spirit Fruit. Then I'll let the other geniuses crush him and expose his true face right in front of her."
Li Lang's eyes shifted, a trace of mockery flashing through them. He smiled and said,
"Young Master Mu, since you are so strong, there is no need for you to know their strength. You can crush them all and seize the Earth Spirit Fruit anyway, can't you?"
Liu Wan'er became anxious, but Mu Yuan remained utterly calm as he said,
"That's true. If one sword strike isn't enough, I'll use two, or even three. There really is no need to know their strength."
Arrogant!
Conceited!
Ignorant!
That was Li Lang's assessment of Mu Yuan.
After that, Li Lang said nothing more, and the three focused on their journey.
They passed through dense forests and encountered some spirit beasts blocking their way, all of which Li Lang cleared away.
Whenever Mu Yuan did not make a move, he would order Liu Wan'er to do so.
Li Lang did not want his cousin to tire herself out, so helplessly, he took on the miserable task.
About an hour later, there were fewer and fewer traces of people around them, though they occasionally came across the corpses of one or two spirit beasts along the way.
Those spirit beasts were clearly intermediate spirit beasts.
Mu Yuan knew these were the spirit beasts cleared out when the Earth Spirit Valley's restriction had been opened. He also knew they were nearing their destination.
Sure enough, after the three passed through another forest, their view suddenly opened up. A stream flowed through a field of broken stones, and on the other side stood a small valley.
The valley entrance before them was narrow. Dense branches extended from both sides of the entrance, and amid the piled rocks, the valley was hidden in a hazy, indistinct manner.
"Let's go."
Mu Yuan took out the Earth Spirit Token, and a gap immediately appeared at the valley entrance. The three then darted forward with agile movements, passing directly through the gap and rushing into the valley.
At the very center of the valley stood a tree.
A huge tree, like a flower in full bloom.
Amid its lush green branches and leaves were hints of jade-like color. They were round fruits, and even from so far away, they could smell their faint fragrance, which refreshed the mind and spirit.
That tree was naturally the Earth Spirit Tree.
Yet not a single blade of grass grew around the Earth Spirit Tree. Only that one Earth Spirit Tree stood there.
"Hehe... It seems everyone arrived early!"
At that moment, a light laugh rippled through the air, carrying a feeling as gentle as a spring breeze.
"Didn't you arrive right on time as well?"
A voice filled with violence rang out.
Then several figures came whistling over.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Twelve figures appeared before Mu Yuan and the other two.
Without exception, every one of them possessed cultivation at or above the half-step Spirit Wheel Realm.
Six were from the Eastern Spiritual Territory, and six from the Western Spiritual Territory.
Among them, the strongest four had all reached peak early Spirit Wheel Realm cultivation.
They were the two great geniuses from each of the Eastern Spiritual Territory and Western Spiritual Territory.
Nie Daoqun and Liu Tairong of the Eastern Spiritual Territory.
Wang Kangping and Yuan Xueyang of the Western Spiritual Territory.
The other eight were the helpers they had brought, all possessing cultivation at the half-step Spirit Wheel Realm or early Spirit Wheel Realm.
Nie Daoqun spoke first. Looking at Liu Wan'er, he said with great displeasure,
"Liu Wan'er, our two territories only gave your Mercenary Realm a slot out of respect for that old bastard of yours!"
His dissatisfaction carried intense hostility.
Because the slot given to the Mercenary Realm had originally belonged to their Eastern Spiritual Territory.
"Still, you should have come prepared. If I'm not mistaken, this fellow beside you is only at the middle stage of the Spiritual Movement Realm, right?"
Nie Daoqun pointed at Mu Yuan, who stood beside Liu Wan'er, and his voice suddenly turned cold.
"Brat, do you know that your presence here is an insult to us?"
Mu Yuan said nothing.
To put it bluntly, he simply could not be bothered to waste words.
But his silence only made Nie Daoqun even angrier.
Liu Wan'er taking one of the Eastern Spiritual Territory's slots had already displeased him.
And now, he was being ignored by a little ant at the middle stage of the Spiritual Movement Realm.
Especially in front of the geniuses from both the Eastern Spiritual Territory and Western Spiritual Territory, he, a genius ranked among the top three of the Eastern Spiritual Territory, was being ignored by an ant.
Afterward, this might well become a joke people laughed about over meals.
Damn it!
The next moment, Nie Daoqun indeed made his move.
Without the slightest hesitation.
Mighty spiritual power swept forth, transforming into a long spiritual-power blade before him.
Whoosh!
The instant the long blade formed, it shot out violently. Its sharp Blade Qi easily pierced through the air, moving at an extreme speed.
Everyone had only just reacted, yet not a single person felt any sympathy for Mu Yuan.
In fact, the many geniuses present had coldness in their eyes, even a sense that he deserved to be killed.
In their eyes, the appearance of an ant like Mu Yuan here was already an offense to their sight.
Death was already too good for him!
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