Great Kindness Is Like Great Enmity!

On the side, the three "freelance martial artists" from the Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall clapped and cheered in perfect coordination, incessantly praising Cuihua's innate talent.

Dai Mubai stepped forward, feigning a look of gratification.

However, taking advantage of the moment Cuihua was intoxicated by the thrill of her first monster kill, he exchanged a subtle glance with the three undercover agents.

Over the next few hours.

Dai Mubai and the three others sang in harmony, constantly using their words to provoke Cuihua's competitive spirit, deliberately guiding the squad away from the relatively safe outer perimeter and step by step toward the more dangerous depths of the Wilderness Zone.

The surrounding buildings grew increasingly dense, and the light became dim, obstructed by the towering ruins.

The stench of blood in the air was thick enough to make one retch.

Suddenly.

Dai Mubai stopped in his tracks, his brows knitting together sharply.

The ground began to vibrate slightly; at first, it was like a breeze brushing over the surface of water, but immediately after, the tremor transformed into a violent shaking, like the thundering of ten thousand horses.

The dilapidated buildings nearby emitted ear-piercing cracking sounds.

"What's going on?"

Cuihua pulled back her smile, clenching her fists nervously.

Before Dai Mubai could answer, he saw a dark, oppressive tide of beasts at the intersection ahead, surging out from the streets in all directions without warning, like a dam bursting!

Thousands of Iron-Haired Wild Boars, Shadow Cats, and Giant Canine Beasts were mixed together, their eyes bloodshot, emitting deafening roars as they lunged madly toward their position.

"A beast tide?! How could a beast tide suddenly break out here!"

The scar-faced man was terrified, his voice cracking.

This was not part of their plan!

They had originally only intended to lure out a few powerful monsters to push Cuihua into a desperate situation, then have the War General Class expert following from the Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall step in to save her. They hoped to use this little trick to make Cuihua feel a sense of gratitude toward their hall.

Then, they would have their instructors step forward to entice Cuihua with more cultivation resources!

But a beast tide of this scale—let alone acting—was enough to overwhelm them completely; they weren't even enough to fill the gaps between the monsters' teeth.

"Run!"

Dai Mubai felt his scalp tingle, let out a roar, and turned to flee.

However, monsters were everywhere. The leading pack of Shadow Cats had already leaped into the air, their sharp claws flashing with cold light as they dove directly at Cuihua in the center of the formation.

Cuihua widened her eyes in terror, hastily channeling her mental energy to control the few defective throwing knives that had been swapped out to intercept them.

"Clang!"

The throwing knives struck the hard skulls of the Shadow Cats and actually snapped into two pieces!

In a real battle, the defective goods could finally hold up no longer!

"How is this possible?!"

Cuihua was struck with panic.

How could a throwing knife made of high-strength alloy material snap so easily?

In this moment of life-and-death crisis, the three men from the Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall could no longer afford to hide; they abandoned all restraint, desperately revealing their trump cards as they prepared to force a breakout!

However, just at this moment!

"BOOM—!!!"

A thunderous sonic boom suddenly erupted from the sky!

A blinding stream of light, like a falling meteorite, streaked past Cuihua and instantly blasted the Shadow Cat intending to attack her into a mist of blood!

The light did not stop, carrying a terrifying, world-shattering aura as it slammed into the center of the beast tide!

The violent shockwave instantly reduced the monsters within a radius of several dozen meters into a rain of blood.

As the smoke and dust cleared.

A middle-aged man wearing dark-gold battle armor stood tall in the center of the carnage like a god of war.

It was Jiang Nian!

Jiang Nian landed and swept his sharp gaze across the remaining herd. Those monsters, which had been roaring madly just moments ago, tucked their tails and fled in a frenzy as if they had encountered their natural predator, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

A single War General Class expert, relying solely on his presence, had dispersed a small beast tide!

After briefly dealing with the tide, Jiang Nian turned slowly and casually tossed three round objects from his hand.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

Three bloody heads rolled far along the dilapidated asphalt road, coming to a stop right at Dai Mubai's feet.

Dai Mubai looked down, and his legs went weak instantly.

Those three heads were the very same three contacts from the Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall who had made the deal with him at the coffee shop that day!

"Teacher..."

Cuihua was still shaken, her voice trembling.

Jiang Nian ignored Cuihua and raised his right hand, tapping a few times on the communicator on his wrist.

A holographic screen unfolded in mid-air.

The footage clearly displayed surveillance recordings of Dai Mubai conspiring with the Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall inside a café.

The scene then shifted to a close-up of Dai Mubai in the lounge, diluting high-level Gene Serum with water, followed by the transaction records of him bribing the martial arts hall administrator to swap out throwing knives.

Colluding with a rival martial arts hall, withholding cultivation resources, replacing weapons with defective ones, deliberately leading people into danger, and even tampering with Gene Serum.

Every single charge and every action was laid out before everyone as ironclad evidence.

Dai Mubai's face turned increasingly pale.

Cuihua's complexion shifted from pale to livid; she trembled violently, looking at Dai Mubai in disbelief.

He was the only fellow countryman she had in this strange world.

"Why?"

Beside Cuihua, the broken throwing knife hovered in the air, pointed directly at Dai Mubai, while she herself glared at him, her voice shrill with rage.

"Your status, your position, the food you eat, the things you use—which of these didn't I beg the martial arts hall to secure for you by swallowing my pride?"

"Why would you do this to me?!"

Dai Mubai's face was deathly pale, large beads of sweat rolling down his forehead; naturally, he had no words to defend himself.

Watching Cuihua, Jiang Nian couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"Cuihua, you are too naive."

Jiang Nian's voice was low and weathered, carrying the clarity of one who had seen the coldness of the world. "You don't understand the principle that a great favor can become a great grudge."

"In this world, the hardest thing to repay is a debt of gratitude."

"When a person owes you too much kindness—so much that they can never repay it in their lifetime—they start to feel that you are looking down on them, and that they can never hold their head up in front of you."

The teacher glanced at Dai Mubai, who was slumped on the ground, a flash of disdain in his eyes.

"There is only one way to completely settle a debt of gratitude that cannot be repaid: the benefactor must die. As long as you are dead, the debt he owes you will naturally vanish into thin air."

Back then, he had been very surprised when Cuihua asked him for a spot in the martial arts hall for an unknown kid like Dai Mubai.

Because at that time, Cuihua was sensitive, suspicious, and insecure.

Yet, even so, when faced with his cold refusal, she had been incredibly firm, insisting that Dai Mubai must enter the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, or else she would forfeit her status as his disciple and voluntarily leave the hall.

Therefore, he had agreed, treating it as doing a favor for his own disciple by pulling some strings.

Afterward, seeing Cuihua and Dai Mubai inseparable, he assumed it was Cuihua's first love and that she liked this golden-haired, blue-eyed boy, which was why she fought so hard to secure resources for him. He had turned a blind eye, effectively giving Dai Mubai a chance to pursue her.

But in reality, he had never once lowered his guard against Dai Mubai.

"I lectured you repeatedly, warning you that you must always be on your guard against others, but you never listened."

Jiang Nian sighed, "That is why, when I discovered this kid was secretly contacting people from the Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall, I didn't expose him. Even if I had, you might not have believed me. Today was meant for you to see it with your own eyes."

"Only by letting you suffer a painful loss, and only by letting you witness the betrayal firsthand, can you completely sever those naive fantasies and truly grow into a powerhouse capable of surviving in the Wilderness Zone."

Jiang Nian turned his gaze toward Dai Mubai, the killing intent in his eyes no longer concealed.