"Why are you up?"
Just then, a startled voice came from beside Lin Chen.
He turned and saw a little girl with bright eyes and pearly teeth, looking at him anxiously.
Lin Chen's starry eyes flickered. "Did you save me?"
"Those beasts are coming. You'd better hurry and leave!" The little girl didn't answer him, but urged, "If you wait any longer, it'll be too late."
"Leave?"
Lin Chen smiled faintly. "You didn't take advantage of me when I was down, so how could I abandon you now? Take me to your leader. Tell him I can put an end to this crisis."
The little girl froze, eyeing Lin Chen suspiciously. "But you..."
"I'm already fine." Lin Chen held out his hand, and with a soft pop, red flames appeared in his palm.
In the darkness of night, they shone brilliantly.
The little girl saw this, and the suspicion in her eyes instantly vanished, replaced by delight.
She grabbed Lin Chen by the arm and ran forward. "Come on, I'll take you to the leader."
The two of them jogged all the way to the edge of the valley.
Layer upon layer of defenses had already been erected there.
A watchtower more than ten meters tall stood amid the defenses.
A burly, rugged-looking man was directing people as they formed a human wall.
"Leader, I found someone to help us!" The little girl dragged Lin Chen over and shouted.
The rugged man merely paused and glanced at her before barking, "Get back to the cellar!"
"Leader, I'm serious! He's a cultivator. He can help us!" The little girl persisted, shouting again.
At last, the rugged man looked up at Lin Chen, then grew furious. "What kind of cultivator? He can barely stand!"
"Xiao Lan, he's a bad omen. Maybe those beasts came because of him," someone nearby scolded.
The rugged man snorted. "Xiao Lan, I haven't driven him away only out of respect for your father. Before I change my mind, get back there. Now."
"You..." Xiao Lan's eyes brimmed with tears, her face full of hurt.
Lin Chen stepped forward and shielded Xiao Lan behind him, smiling. "Which of your eyes saw that I'm a bad omen? And which one saw me draw the Demon Beasts here?"
"Do I need to see it? You showed up, and then the Demon Beasts came. If you didn't bring them, who did?"
Hearing this, Lin Chen found himself unable to argue.
He simply rode a streak of light into the air. With a sword art gesture, two Flying Swords circled him.
From a distance, he looked like a bright moon shining in the sky.
The people who had just been slandering him fell silent at once.
The vicious, hostile looks in their eyes turned to fear.
Gulp...
Strange sounds came from their throats as beads of sweat rolled down their foreheads.
The rugged man was especially stunned, his eyes wide as copper bells.
If he'd known Lin Chen was this powerful, he would have politely begged him for help.
But now, he'd offended him in just a few words.
If Lin Chen simply left, the man would be the one to blame.
"Watch closely."
Just then, Lin Chen shouted from midair and shot forward like lightning.
All they saw was a bolt of lightning darting across the surrounding mountains.
Streaks of sword light sketched out a web of blades, weaving through the forest.
They couldn't see into the depths of the woods.
But they could hear the Demon Beasts' wails.
They could even smell the faint scent of blood drifting over.
Awooo...
In just a quarter of an hour, Lin Chen had driven back the beast pack with overwhelming force.
At that moment, Demon Beast corpses covered the mountainside and valley floor.
The rest had tucked their tails between their legs and fled.
But Lin Chen didn't stop there. Turning into a streak of light, he chased after the Demon Beast leader.
Only then did the people in the valley come to their senses.
The scene fell deathly quiet.
They could even hear the Demon Beasts' blood gathering into rivulets and gurgling down the slope.
"X-Xiao Lan, did he... did he say anything?" the rugged man asked with a swallow, stammering.
A powerful cultivator like that could wipe them all out in the blink of an eye.
He'd just offended Lin Chen terribly.
The thought made him a little afraid.
Xiao Lan looked up at the distant sky, her little face full of pride.
The hurt she'd felt moments ago had vanished completely.
"My dear little ancestor, will you say something already?" the rugged man pleaded.
Only then did Xiao Lan look back at him. "He said he was going to deal with the threat for us and would be back soon."
She hadn't made it up. Those were Lin Chen's exact words, sent to her through Spiritual Sense as he left.
Thump!
When they heard Lin Chen was coming back, the people who had just scolded and falsely accused him all sank to the ground, their faces as pale as paper.
By then, Lin Chen had already chased them dozens of miles.
The Demon Beast leader ahead was only a Great Azure Wolf at the peak of the first rank.
Lin Chen thought the creature might really have attacked the valley because it had sensed his aura.
Did it want to devour him and use his power to advance to the second rank?
Lin Chen thought that seemed unlikely.
He didn't kill the Great Azure Wolf right away.
Instead, he followed it from behind.
After crossing two mountains, the Demon Beast pack scattered.
The Great Azure Wolf ran to a cave and, like a human, knelt there with its head touching the ground.
"What's it bowing to? Is there something inside the cave?"
Lin Chen concealed his aura, landed in a distant tree, and looked toward the cave.
Tap, tap, tap...
After a while, footsteps came from within.
A slender figure slowly emerged from the shadows.
When Lin Chen made out the person's face, his heart jolted.
It was Huang Mingyuan.
The man who had failed to frame Lin Chen during the disciple test, then fought him one-on-one and been kicked into becoming a eunuch.
"Little Azure, who bullied you?"
As Lin Chen stared in shock, Huang Mingyuan spoke.
His voice had begun to sound feminine, giving Lin Chen goosebumps.
"This guy's already at the peak of Qi Condensation Layer 9?"
After probing him with Spiritual Sense, Lin Chen was even more shocked.
Huang Mingyuan had a dual-attribute High-Grade Spirit Root. Even with abundant resources, he shouldn't have advanced this quickly.
Unless he'd had some fortuitous encounter—or trained through slaughter, like the Devil Race.
"Senior Brother Huang, why aren't you resting yet?"
Lin Chen was about to climb down when he heard another voice, lazy and alluring.
Right after that, another enchanting figure emerged from the cave.
"Liu Ruyan?"
Lin Chen stared in shock.
He hadn't expected the two of them to end up together.
Back then, Liu Ruyan had already cut ties with Huang Mingyuan.
Now they were together again. Something must have happened between them.
He probed her with Spiritual Sense and found that she, too, had advanced to the peak of the ninth layer of the Qi Condensation Realm.
Lin Chen drew a deep breath and forced down his shock.
He continued watching from the tree.
"Junior Sister Liu, advancing through normal means in the Beast Taming Sect is too difficult."
Huang Mingyuan sounded puzzled. "There are no cultivators in that valley. How could Little Azure have failed?"
"Senior Brother Huang, I don't want you to work so hard. Every time I see you like this, my heart aches."
Tears shimmered in Liu Ruyan's eyes, and her voice trembled, tugging at the heartstrings.
Though Huang Mingyuan no longer had his manhood, he still couldn't resist such temptation.
He immediately stepped forward and took Liu Ruyan's hand.
"Junior Sister Liu, I'd do anything for you. Don't worry. Once I've killed everyone in that valley, I can perform the Blood Refining Art and help you break through to the Return to Origin Realm."
Liu Ruyan pretended to wipe away a tear, but when she lowered her head, the corners of her mouth kept turning up.
"These two scoundrels are practicing the Devil Race's Blood Refining Art. They deserve to die!"
Killing intent rose in Lin Chen's heart. He formed a sword art, and his Flying Sword slowly rose into the air.
"Senior Brother Huang, Master is calling us inside." Just then, Liu Ruyan spoke.
Lin Chen thought, This is bad! He hurriedly recalled his Flying Sword.
But he was a step too late.
An old voice rang out from the cave. "Which fellow Daoist is there? Since you've arrived, why hide in the shadows?"
Before you continue