Dead

No sooner had Jia Youcai's words fallen than a chaotic jumble of footsteps approached from afar.

Then, the group that had killed the boy earlier returned. Wielding all manner of weapons, their faces vicious, they swiftly surrounded Qian Renxue and Jia Youcai.

The burly man at the front held a massive axe, the flesh on his face jiggling as he moved. He roared viciously, "Well, well, there are two little brats here too!"

Qian Renxue tightly gripped Jia Youcai's hand, her eyes full of vigilance. "We don't have anything valuable on us."

The burly man sneered disdainfully. "Little girl, I've never tasted angel blood before. I really want to give it a try!"

At the word "angel," Qian Renxue jolted, and her little hand clenched Jia Youcai's even tighter.

As soon as he finished speaking, the group charged at Qian Renxue and Jia Youcai, brandishing their weapons.

Qian Renxue took a deep breath. Although she possessed Innate Full Spirit Power Level 20, she was only six years old and had no combat experience at all.

Though she did not know how they had discovered her identity, she had no time to worry about that now. She quickly summoned her martial spirit—the Six-Winged Angel. In an instant, golden light enveloped her body, and a pair of illusory wings faintly appeared behind her.

Jia Youcai did not back down either. Though he only had Spirit Power Level 10, he tightly gripped his Cleaver Spirit, ready to fight to the death. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Xuexue, don't be afraid! I'm here!"

When the burly man saw Qian Renxue summon her martial spirit, greed flashed through his eyes. He shouted, "This little girl's martial spirit doesn't look ordinary. Catch her, and she'll definitely fetch a good price!"

With that, he swung his massive axe and viciously chopped at Qian Renxue.

Qian Renxue twisted aside, barely dodging the blow. But the man's attacks were incredibly fierce, and another axe sweep followed immediately.

Qian Renxue hurriedly raised both hands to block. Though her Soul Power protected her from serious injury, the strike still numbed her arms and made her body sway.

"Xuexue, watch out!" Jia Youcai shouted when he saw this, charging at the burly man while swinging his Cleaver Spirit.

The burly man looked at the charging Jia Youcai and laughed contemptuously. "With that scrawny body of yours, you think you can fight me?"

With an easy block of his axe handle, he knocked Jia Youcai's Cleaver Spirit aside. Then he followed up with a kick to Jia Youcai's stomach. Jia Youcai felt an immense force strike him, and he was sent flying before crashing heavily to the ground.

Seeing Jia Youcai hurt, Qian Renxue was both anxious and furious. She gathered her Soul Power again and launched an attack at the burly man. With a wave of her hands, a beam of golden light shot toward him. The man remained calm, sidestepping it before seizing the chance to slash at Qian Renxue again.

Qian Renxue was already struggling to keep up. She reluctantly raised her hands to block once more, but this time, she could no longer withstand his attack. The massive axe struck her arm heavily, and blood immediately flowed.

Qian Renxue cried out in pain, her body swaying unsteadily.

"Xuexue!" Jia Youcai climbed up from the ground. Seeing Qian Renxue injured, he was overcome with anxiety. Yet he did not hesitate in the slightest and charged forward again.

He ran to Qian Renxue's side and used his frail body to block the massive axe that was about to fall, shouting, "Xuexue, run!"

Qian Renxue's eyes widened as tears welled in them. She desperately shook her head. "No! I won't leave you behind!"

The burly man looked at Jia Youcai standing in front of Qian Renxue and sneered. "What a pair of loyal little brats. Then I'll grant your wish and send you both on your way!" With that, he raised his massive axe high and viciously chopped it down at Jia Youcai.

Qian Renxue exerted all her strength, trying to push Jia Youcai away, but it was already too late. The massive axe whistled through the air and slammed heavily into Jia Youcai's body.

Jia Youcai felt an agonizing pain tear through him, as though his body had been ripped apart.

He looked down and saw a deep gash cleaved across his chest by the massive axe. Blood gushed out like a spring. He wanted to speak, but when he opened his mouth, all that came out was a mouthful of blood.

"Jia Youcai!" Qian Renxue cried out in unbearable grief. She wanted to hold Jia Youcai, but the burly man kicked her away. Qian Renxue fell to the ground, watching Jia Youcai's body slowly collapse as tears burst from her eyes.

Jia Youcai's body slowly fell to the ground. His eyes remained wide open as he looked at Qian Renxue, as though he wanted to say something.

Qian Renxue crawled to Jia Youcai's side and held him tightly, sobbing uncontrollably. "Jia Youcai, don't die. Don't leave me..."

The burly man watched the scene impatiently. "What are you crying for? You're all going to die today!" With that, he raised his massive axe again and swung it at Qian Renxue.

Time froze at that moment.

Because Jia Youcai had "died," an interface popped up in the void. The button on the left was Game Initialization, while the one on the right was the option to purchase Revival Coins.

"Fuck, I died that fast? This game is way too hard," Jia Youcai cursed.

What else could he do? Game Initialization was absolutely out of the question. After hesitating for a long while, Jia Youcai could only choose to purchase Revival Coins.

After entering his bank card password, a transaction successful notification appeared, followed by a prompt asking whether he wished to revive.

Jia Youcai selected "Yes" without hesitation.

In an instant, an option asking whether to unfreeze time popped up in the void.

If he rashly unfroze time now, then even if he revived by sheer luck, he would probably be hacked to death in a matter of moments.

At that critical moment, Jia Youcai's gaze urgently shifted to the recharge option in the upper-right corner.

He quickly opened the first top-up screen.

Three gift packs were displayed. A first top-up of 6 yuan would grant him the Great Saber martial spirit, upgrading the originally R-quality Cleaver Spirit directly to an SR-grade Great Saber. Next was a first top-up of 100 yuan, which granted the Blue Silver Grass martial spirit. A first top-up of 1,000 yuan granted the Six-Winged Angel martial spirit.

He then opened the cumulative top-up screen.

The earlier recharge tiers—6 yuan, 30 yuan, 68 yuan, and 128 yuan—offered utterly unremarkable rewards, nothing but Gold Soul Coins, Hundred-Year Spirit Rings, Soul Power, and the like. They held no appeal whatsoever. Only upon reaching a cumulative top-up of 2,000 yuan did the reward become somewhat tempting, because that tier directly granted a five-thousand-year spirit ring.