Great Kindness Breeds Great Hatred!

Nearby, the three "independent Martial Artists" from Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall cooperatively applauded and cheered, constantly praising Cuihua's extraordinary talent.

Dai Mubai stepped forward, putting on a pleased expression.

But while Cuihua was overwhelmed by the excitement of killing a monster for the first time, he exchanged a subtle glance with the three infiltrators.

Over the next few hours,

Dai Mubai and the three men played off each other, constantly using words to provoke Cuihua's competitive spirit and deliberately guiding the team away from the relatively safe outskirts, step by step into the more dangerous depths of the Wilderness Zone.

The buildings around them grew denser, and the towering ruins blocked out the light, making the surroundings dim.

The stench of blood in the air was strong enough to make one vomit.

Suddenly.

Dai Mubai stopped, his brow furrowing sharply.

The ground began to tremble faintly. At first, it was like a breeze rippling across water, but then it became a violent quake like the thunder of ten thousand galloping horses.

Several crumbling buildings nearby let out teeth-grinding cracks.

"What's going on?"

Cuihua's smile vanished as she nervously clenched her fists.

Before Dai Mubai could answer, a black mass of Beast Tide suddenly surged out from the streets in every direction at the intersection ahead, like floodwaters bursting through a broken dam!

Thousands of Iron-Haired Wild Boars, Shadow Cats, and Giant Canine Beasts were mixed together, their eyes red as they let out deafening roars and charged madly toward them.

"A Beast Tide?! How could a Beast Tide suddenly break out here?!"

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

This had not been part of their plan!

They had only intended to lure out a few stronger monsters, put Cuihua in a desperate situation, then have the War General Class expert who had followed them from Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall step in and save her. With this little trick, they hoped to make Cuihua feel some goodwill toward Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall.

Then they would have a Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall instructor come forward and tempt Cuihua with even more cultivation resources!

But with a Beast Tide of this scale before them, forget acting—they were not even enough to fill its teeth.

"Run!"

Dai Mubai's scalp went numb. He shouted and turned to flee.

But monsters surrounded them on all sides. The leading group of Shadow Cats had already leaped into the air, their sharp claws flashing with cold light as they pounced directly at Cuihua in the center of the team.

Cuihua's eyes widened in terror. In her haste, she mobilized her spiritual power and controlled the few defective throwing knives that had been swapped in to intercept them.

Clang!

The throwing knives struck the Shadow Cats' hard skulls and immediately snapped in two!

The defective goods could no longer hold up in a real battle!

"How is that possible?!"

Cuihua was stunned.

How could throwing knives made of high-strength alloy break so easily?

At this life-or-death moment, the three people from Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall no longer had time to hide anything. They were prepared to reveal their trump card and force their way out at all costs!

However, just then!

Boom—rumble!!!

A thunderous sonic boom suddenly erupted from the sky!

A dazzling streak of light shot past Cuihua like a falling meteor, directly blasting the Shadow Cat that had been about to attack her into a bloody mist!

The streak did not stop. Carrying an apocalyptic aura, it crashed straight into the center of the Beast Tide!

The violent shockwave instantly pulverized the monsters within dozens of meters into a rain of blood.

As the dust settled,

a middle-aged man clad in dark golden armor stood like a god of slaughter amid the scattered flesh.

It was Jiang Nian!

After landing, Jiang Nian's sharp gaze swept over the remaining beasts. The monsters that had just been roaring madly seemed to have encountered their natural predator, tucking their tails and fleeing in panic until they vanished in an instant.

A War General had dispersed a small Beast Tide through sheer presence alone!

After dealing with the Beast Tide, Jiang Nian slowly turned around and casually tossed down three round objects from his hand.

"Gurururu..."

Three bloody heads rolled a long way across the cracked asphalt road before stopping right at Dai Mubai's feet.

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

Those three heads belonged to the three Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall contacts who had made a deal with him at the café that day!

"Teacher..."

Cuihua had yet to recover from the shock, and her voice still trembled.

Jiang Nian ignored Cuihua. Instead, he raised his right hand and tapped his wrist communicator a few times.

A holographic screen unfolded in midair.

The footage clearly showed surveillance footage of Dai Mubai conspiring with Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall in the café.

Then the scene changed to a close-up of Dai Mubai diluting the high-grade Gene Serum with water in the lounge. Finally, it showed the record of his deal with the martial arts hall administrator to swap the 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 the Gene Serum.

Every debt and every action was displayed before everyone as irrefutable evidence.

Dai Mubai's face grew increasingly pale.

Cuihua's face went from pale to livid. Her entire body trembled violently as she stared at Dai Mubai in disbelief.

The only fellow villager she had in this strange world.

The broken throwing knives beside Cuihua floated in the air, aimed directly at Dai Mubai, while Cuihua herself glared at him with a shrill voice.

"Why?"

"Your status, the food you eat, the things you use—was there a single one that I did not shamelessly beg the martial arts hall to secure for you?"

"Why would you do this to me?!"

Dai Mubai's face was deathly pale, and large beads of sweat rolled down his face. Naturally, he had no answer.

Jiang Nian looked at Cuihua and could not help letting out a long sigh.

"Cuihua, you are too naive."

Jiang Nian's voice was low and weathered, carrying the insight of someone who had seen all the warmth and coldness of the world. "You do not understand that great kindness breeds great hatred."

"In this world, favors are the hardest debts to repay."

"When someone owes you too much, so much that he cannot repay it in his entire life, he will feel that you stand high above him, that he will never be able to hold his head up before you."

Jiang Nian glanced at Dai Mubai, who was slumped on the ground, a trace of disdain flashing through his eyes.

"There is only one way to settle an unpayable favor completely: the benefactor dies. As long as you die, the debt he owes you will naturally vanish into thin air."

Back then, he had been quite surprised when he saw Cuihua ask him for a martial arts hall slot for an unknown kid like Dai Mubai.

Because Cuihua had been sensitive, suspicious, and insecure at the time.

Yet when he coldly told her no, Cuihua had been incomparably resolute. She insisted that Dai Mubai enter the Extreme Martial Arts Hall, or she would give up her chance to become his disciple and voluntarily leave the martial arts hall.

Therefore, he agreed. For the sake of his disciple, he had pulled strings once and made an exception.

After that, seeing Cuihua and Dai Mubai inseparable, he had assumed Cuihua was experiencing her first stirrings of love and had fallen for the blond, blue-eyed youth. That was why she had fought so desperately for so many resources for him. So Jiang Nian had turned a blind eye, indirectly giving Dai Mubai a chance to pursue her.

But in truth, he had never let down his guard against Dai Mubai.

"I repeatedly warned you that you must always be wary of others, but you never listened," Jiang Nian sighed. "So after discovering that this kid had secretly contacted people from Thunderbolt Martial Arts Hall, I did not expose him. Because even if I had exposed him, you might not have believed it. Today was meant to let you see it with your own eyes."

"Only by letting you suffer a devastating loss, only by letting you witness betrayal with your own eyes, can you completely sever those naive fantasies and truly grow into a strong person capable of surviving in the Wilderness Zone."

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