Try Touching Him Again!

Ding!

A soft chime rang out.

The silver sword in the White-Clad Youth's hand was firmly pinched between Lin Feng's two fingers, unable to move even a fraction farther.

The color drained from the youth's handsome face in an instant.

He put every ounce of strength into trying to pull his sword back, but those two fingers were like iron pincers, utterly unmoving.

How was this possible?

The sword had been bestowed upon him by an elder of his Lineage. It was a C-Rank weapon, sharp enough to cut through iron as though it were mud.

He hadn't put all his strength into that strike, but it still carried a force of a thousand jin.

And this man had stopped it with just two fingers?

What kind of monster was he?

"Your swordsmanship is pretty good. Too bad you're too weak."

Lin Feng offered a casual assessment, drew Mountain Splitter, and slashed.

Crack!

A sharp snap rang out.

The silver C-Rank sword broke cleanly at the tip.

Clutching the broken half, the White-Clad Youth stumbled back seven or eight steps before barely managing to steady himself.

He looked down at the smooth break in the blade, then up at the cloaked man, his eyes filled with shock and fear.

"Y-you... who are you?"

"Just a passing opportunist."

Lin Feng casually tossed aside the broken sword tip between his fingers and dusted off his hands.

He could now be fairly sure that the kid had no protector watching over him.

Otherwise, that person would have shown up the moment Lin Feng broke the sword.

A genius without a bodyguard was just a fat lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

Lin Feng's gaze began to turn unfriendly.

Just as he was about to step forward, strip the kid bare, and see what other treasures he had on him—

A cold voice suddenly rang out behind him.

"Try touching him again!"

Lin Feng's body stiffened.

A powerful sense of danger surged from behind.

Without a second thought, he immediately used Lost Trace Step, his body turning into a blur as he darted several meters to the side.

Almost the instant he left his spot—

An invisible blast of force skimmed past his clothes and slammed into the ground where he had just been standing.

Boom!

A dull thud rang out.

The hard rock ground was blasted into a pit half a meter deep, sending fragments flying everywhere.

Lin Feng looked back, his pupils narrowing slightly.

A short distance behind him stood a black-clad, middle-aged man who hadn't been there a moment ago.

The man was tall, with an ordinary-looking face, but his eyes brimmed with killing intent.

A vast, weighty aura radiated from him.

A Martial Master!

Lin Feng's heart sank.

He hadn't sensed the man's presence at all.

It was as if the other man had appeared out of thin air.

What kind of concealment technique was this?

"Uncle Fu!"

When the White-Clad Youth saw the black-clad man, surprise and delight filled his face. He hurried over and hid behind him like a child who had been wronged, pointing at Lin Feng as he complained.

"Uncle Fu, it was him! He stole my Magic Core and broke my sword!"

The middle-aged man known as Uncle Fu kept his gaze fixed on Lin Feng, his eyes cold.

"Who are you, sir? Why did you attack my young master?"

His voice was hoarse, without a trace of emotion.

Lin Feng tightened his grip on Mountain Splitter's hilt.

This was bad.

A Martial Master—and one who was skilled at concealment, no less.

Even though Lin Feng was now a fourth-stage Martial Artist and had an A-Rank War Blade, it was hard to say whether he could win against an opponent like this.

What's more, there was also the White-Clad Youth glaring at him from the side.

That kid's swordsmanship was strange. His cultivation might be low, but if they really fought, he could still cause plenty of trouble.

"A misunderstanding."

Lin Feng promptly decided to swallow his pride.

A wise man didn't pick a fight he couldn't win.

If he couldn't beat them, he should run. If he couldn't run, he should admit defeat. That was the first rule of survival he'd learned in the Northern Territory.

He raised both hands to show that he meant no harm.

"I saw this young brother surrounded by Exotic Beasts, in grave danger, so I stepped in to help. I didn't manage to do him any good and only caused a misunderstanding. I'm truly sorry."

As he spoke, he took the Phantom Demon Fox's Magic Core from his pocket and tossed it over.

"This is the young brother's spoils. I'm returning it to its rightful owner."

The White-Clad Youth reflexively caught the Magic Core, then froze.

How could this guy change his tune so quickly?

Uncle Fu looked at Lin Feng, the killing intent in his eyes not diminishing in the slightest.

"Helping him? The way I see it, you were robbing him."

"It was absolutely a misunderstanding." Lin Feng's tone was utterly sincere. "I'm just a warmhearted fellow. When I see someone in trouble, I can't help but lend a hand. Maybe my way of helping was a little unusual, and that gave the young brother the wrong idea."

Seeing that the other man still didn't believe him, Lin Feng gritted his teeth and pulled every last one of the dozens of E-Rank Magic Cores he'd stolen along the way from his pocket, piling them on the ground with a clatter.

"Take these as an apology to the young brother. It's not easy for any of us out here. Let's be friends, so we can look out for each other in the future."

Staring at the pile of Magic Cores glowing in every color, the White-Clad Youth and Uncle Fu both froze.

J-just how many people had this guy robbed?

Seeing their shocked expressions, Lin Feng felt his heart bleed.

He'd worked so hard to play the opportunist, risking getting mobbed, to steal those cores one by one.

Now he'd handed them all over just to stay alive.

What a loss!

"Well? That's sincere enough, right?" Lin Feng forced a smile. "If there's nothing else, I'll be on my way."

With that, he turned and tried to make a getaway.

"Stop."

Uncle Fu spoke coldly.

Lin Feng's feet halted where he stood, and his heart gave a thump.

Was even that not enough?

Did he really have to force Lin Feng to fight them to the death?

Uncle Fu slowly said, "Leave the Magic Cores. And the blade you're carrying, too."