Strongest Menial

Su Shi'er swept his gaze over the leopard-eyed disciple. "Martial Brother, we should have no past grievances or present grudges, right? Besides, before the trial began, the Peak Master specifically ordered that fellow disciples on the same peak must not harm each other!"

He knew he was no match for the three of them together. If he could persuade the strongest one to leave, he wasn't afraid of the other two.

"Oh? Trying to scare us with the Peak Master, are you? Kid, do you know who this is? This is my own elder brother, Zhao Yan—the strongest among the menial disciples on Luofu Peak. You're finished today!"

Before Zhao Yan could speak, Zhao Yu glared and sneered viciously.

Own elder brother?! The strongest among Luofu Peak's menial disciples?!

Su Shi'er's heart sank heavily, and he immediately thought of retreat.

"Kid, if you know what's good for you, hand over the treasure you're carrying. Out of respect for being fellow disciples on the same peak, I'll let you walk away alive." Zhao Yan snorted coldly, calling out to Su Shi'er from a distance.

"Treasure? What do you mean by that?" Su Shi'er narrowed his eyes, keeping his expression calm on the surface, but silently pulling out a handful of talismans and gripping them in his hand.

"A waste with Mixed Spiritual Roots like you, reaching the fourth level of Qi Refining Stage in just five years—do you think anyone would believe you don't have some treasure on you?" Zhao Yu rolled his eyes, his tone utterly certain.

Zhao Yan let out a heavy snort, his eyes full of ill intent.

So that's it. My cultivation speed has drawn attention after all.

A cold glint flashed in Su Shi'er's eyes. He looked at Zhao Yan and asked calmly, "Fine, I do have a treasure that can boost cultivation. But are you sure that if I hand it over, you'll let me go?"

"Of course! I, Zhao Yan, always keep my word." Zhao Yan nodded calmly, putting on a magnanimous air.

"Big brother! This kid is cunning as hell—you can't let him go..." Zhao Yan quickly turned to Zhao Yan, complaining in dissatisfaction.

"Hmph, I have my own plans for this." Zhao Yan snorted coldly, rebuking him.

He really seemed to have made up his mind.

Heh, these guys sure can put on an act. But I'm afraid you won't act!

Su Shi'er sneered inwardly, but his face showed a conflicted expression. After hesitating for a moment, he pulled a porcelain bottle from his bosom and tossed it over.

"This bottle contains a spiritual medicine that can rapidly increase cultivation."

The medicine bottle flew through the air. Before it could even land, Zhao Yan suddenly raised his hand, and a long spear appeared in his grip.

With a sweep of the spear tip, the bottle shattered, and the talisman inside that was being activated broke into pieces as well.

Clearly, he had never trusted Su Shi'er's words.

"Kid, you dare pull such a cheap trick in front of me? Since you're asking for death, I'll just kill you first and search slowly!"

With a twitch at the corner of his mouth, Zhao Yan snorted coldly, and a powerful aura radiated from him.

He lifted his spear and charged straight at Su Shi'er.

Meanwhile, Zhao Yu and Fatty Huang weren't idle either. Zhao Yu produced a flying sword, raised his hand, and swept out a sword light.

Fatty Huang had no weapon, so he could only activate clumsy spells to attack.

"Hmph! Kill me? You're thinking too much!"

Su Shi'er shouted, raising his hand and throwing out thirty attack talismans, which transformed into a barrage of varied attacks surging toward the three in front of him.

"So many talismans?!"

"How is this kid so rich?!"

Seeing so many talisman attacks, the three were startled. This wasn't just throwing attack talismans—it was throwing money!

And such a dense volley of attacks was enough to pose a real threat to them.

Zhao Yu and Fatty Huang's faces changed instantly. They hurriedly defended, but were clearly overwhelmed.

Zhao Yan, however, remained expressionless. With his spear in hand and true essence surging, he clanged and banged his way through, sweeping away nearly half of the talisman attacks.

The various attacks struck the stone pillars, sending rubble flying and kicking up rolling clouds of dust.

Su Shi'er didn't care about any of that. Seizing the opportunity, he pulled out an Escape Talisman and immediately infused it with true essence.

The Escape Talisman ignited, glowing with a earthy yellow light that enveloped Su Shi'er.

Suddenly, a flash of cold light shot toward him. The spear thrust out like a dragon, and the moment its force appeared, it shattered the escape light around Su Shi'er.

"Kid, trying to run from me? You think it's that easy!"

Zhao Yan grinned savagely, the spear tip aimed straight at Su Shi'er's heart.

Su Shi'er's heart pounded violently, and a chill surged up from the soles of his feet.

Having his Escape Talisman interrupted was completely unexpected.

But he wasn't the type to just wait for death. True essence surged within him, and the Turtle Pattern Shield placed against his chest activated instantly.

The Turtle Pattern Shield shot out with a whoosh, expanding in the wind into a half-man-high shield that protected his front.

"Clang!"

A sharp, piercing sound rang out as Zhao Yan's spear struck the Turtle Pattern Shield, rattling it violently but failing to pierce through.

Still, the small crack that appeared on the shield made Su Shi'er wince with pain.

Given his cultivation level, he was far from able to fully unleash the defensive power of this top-grade magical artifact.

"What?! You actually have a Top-grade Defensive Magical Artifact!!!"

Zhao Yan even let out a startled cry, his voice trembling.

The next second, his breathing became exceptionally rapid, and an intensely scorching greed surged into his eyes.

Su Shi'er let out a cold snort, ignoring him, and hurriedly urged the Turtle Pattern Shield to protect his body.

Then he suddenly stomped off the stone forest, stepping into Shadowless Illusionary Steps, and began weaving through the rocks.

But he wasn't in a rush to leave the stone forest; instead, he kept glancing sidelong at Zhao Yu and Fatty Huang not far away.

With his lightness skill, moving through this stone forest was actually more convenient for dodging. If he lost the cover of the rocks, with the three of them joining forces, he had no chance of winning.

Only by taking out the two weakest first could he have an opportunity to escape.

"Even if that thing can protect you for a while, so what? With your strength, how much of that artifact's defense can you actually bring out?"

"Let's see where you can run today. That thing is mine!"

Zhao Yan's greed had taken hold, and the long spear in his hand released a terrifying aura.

He swept the spear, and under his attack, massive rocks shattered and fell in pieces.

His gaze locked firmly on Su Shi'er, he pursued relentlessly.

In the dust, Zhao Yu and Fatty Huang were covered in grime from the talisman explosions. As soon as they neutralized the attack, they too hurriedly searched for Su Shi'er's trail.

Zhao Yu's eyes swept over Fatty Huang not far away. He rolled his eyes and quietly stuck an Invisibility Talisman onto himself.

That kid didn't leave right away—could he be planning to ambush us?

Just then, Su Shi'er moved like a hawk striking a rabbit, suddenly appearing behind Fatty Huang.

His fist, wreathed in flames, slammed heavily into Fatty Huang's back.

"Ah! You..."

Fatty Huang only had time to let out a miserable scream before his internal organs were crushed to pieces under that punch.

Having killed Fatty Huang with one blow, Su Shi'er decisively retreated.

"Kid, I've been waiting for you!"

Suddenly, Zhao Yu revealed himself, raising his sword to slash at Su Shi'er's back.

This strike was both fast and vicious, pushing his strength at the fifth level of the Qi Refining Stage to its absolute limit.