"Brother Qiu, That Was Presumptuous of You."

"If that isn't enough, I'll give you another ten."

A young man standing behind Ma Yinxue likewise took ten porcelain bottles from the storage ring in his robes and tossed them onto the ground, sneering. "Sister Xue told us about you. You worked yourself to the bone doing hard labor for over ten days just to save up for one dose of medicine. Did you move yourself to tears?"

"Well? How does it feel?"

Ma Yinxue folded her arms and looked at Fat Dragon with a half-smile. "Is there a fire burning in your heart right now? Does it hurt? Are you angry? That's right, that feeling. Every time I asked you for money to buy a bag, I felt just as stifled as you do now."

"But then what? Do you have the nerve to lose your temper?"

"Here."

Ma Yinxue took another storage pouch from her robes and tossed it at Fat Dragon's feet, mocking him. "There are some intimate garments I've worn inside. Consider them a reward, and a keepsake for you."

"...Huff."

Only after taking a deep breath did Fat Dragon slowly look toward the few furious young men behind Ma Yinxue, then suddenly laugh. "You're all pursuing Ma Yinxue?"

"Want me to tell you what kind of games Ma Yinxue likes best? So that if you win her over someday, you won't be clueless about how to play?"

"Things I've already played until I got sick of them."

"You treat her like some priceless treasure, cradling her in your hands."

"That's honestly pretty funny."

"Hey—"

"She really isn't obedient!"

"You're fucking courting death!"

As soon as the words fell—

The five young men behind Ma Yinxue could no longer endure it. Spiritual energy surged around them as they drew their spirit weapons and charged at Fat Dragon, their faces twisted as they roared.

"I didn't want to waste spiritual energy before entering the secret realm, but since you insist on seeking death, you can't blame me!"

"Today, no one can save you!"

Fat Dragon grinned, took a small step back to stand behind Chen Qiu, then tilted his head and shrugged. "Here, let me introduce you. This is my boss, Brother Qiu."

"Ah."

Chen Qiu sighed helplessly. The first time he had met Fat Dragon, he had known the man's mouth was filthy, but he seemed not to have been this filthy back then. This was far too vicious.

It truly cut straight to the heart.

Still, Ma Yinxue was no less vicious herself. The two of you had actually been quite a match back then.

He stepped forward, shielding Fat Dragon, and casually flung out five defensive talismans—Golden Bell Talismans. Five golden shields instantly enveloped him. When those men's spirit weapons struck the golden light, metallic clangs rang out one after another.

Only two layers of golden light shattered.

Then he looked at the men before him, whose eyes had already gone red, and sighed softly. "Since ancient times, heroes have died for beautiful women. The saying that beauty brings disaster—perhaps you'll understand it in your next lives."

The next instant—

The Heavenly Dao Foundation above his dantian began to spin at high speed.

Seventy or eighty bolts of lightning, each as thick as seven feet across, appeared out of thin air around Chen Qiu. Countless arcs of lightning surged around him, blooming into flowers of thunder as they engulfed those men!

The entire process took only an instant!

Spells in the Foundation Establishment Realm could generally manifest the moment one's thoughts stirred, requiring neither incantations nor hand seals.

How could these men have ever seen such a spectacle? Their faces changed drastically as they forcibly halted, activating every defensive talisman and spirit treasure on their bodies before rapidly retreating. But Chen Qiu's Lightning-Channeling Art was an enhanced version.

Not only was it immensely powerful, there were also too many bolts.

There was simply nowhere to dodge.

"Boom!!!"

After a deafening series of explosions, crackling like firecrackers, the ground within several yards of Chen Qiu had been scorched black. Scattered blackened human bones now littered the ground.

There were no clothes, no flesh.

Everything was clean.

Those men were dead beyond doubt. Only Ma Yinxue remained, sitting collapsed on the ground with terror written across her face. Her body had clearly gone weak, and she had frozen in place, having even forgotten to run.

"Looks like I used too much."

Chen Qiu looked thoughtfully at the Heavenly Dao Foundation within him, where roughly one-tenth or two-tenths of his spiritual energy had been depleted, and nodded. This was his first time formally using the Lightning-Channeling Art against enemies, so he had not been sure how many bolts it took to kill someone. To be safe, he had used a few extra.

Now, it seemed the damage had overflowed.

He estimated that thirty or forty bolts would probably have been enough.

He still had too little combat experience.

He needed to kill more people and build up some combat experience.

The crowd that had originally stepped aside to make room and watch the show now gradually stiffened. They could sense from the spiritual energy around this man that he was merely a Foundation Establishment First Layer cultivator.

He had only just broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm.

Yet the power of that Lightning-Channeling Art was clearly not something a Foundation Establishment First Layer cultivator should possess. It already carried the power of the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer!

And a Foundation Establishment First Layer cultivator could use a spell like Lightning-Channeling Art three or four times at most before exhausting all the spiritual energy in their body. Yet this man had cast it seventy or eighty times in one go?

Were you kidding?

Did your dantian have enough spiritual energy for you to play like that? How could a Foundation Establishment First Layer cultivator possibly store that much spiritual energy in their dantian?

Another freak capable of fighting above his realm.

Quite a few people took several more steps back, that thought flashing through their minds.

Among the crowd, Zhao Yishi stood like a crane among chickens, dozens of yards tall. Looking down at the scene before him, the corner of his mouth twitched wildly. He could not help backing up a few steps before taking a Voice-Transmission Talisman from the crack of his enormous fingernail. He carefully poured spiritual energy into the sesame-sized talisman before him and rumbled in a muffled voice.

"Sect Master, can I skip this Heavenly Dao Secret Realm? There's a monster in this Heavenly Dao Secret Realm. I can't beat him. I might die."

"Bullshit!!!"

An enraged roar quickly came from the Voice-Transmission Talisman. "Even if the sky falls this time, you're going in! The sect spent enormous resources to raise you, and you're fucking huge, yet you're timid as a mouse and avoid battle every single time!"

"The sect has already sent five veteran Inner Disciples at the Foundation Establishment Sixth Layer to protect you, and you're still fucking scared!"

"You must enter this time! The fact that you possess the Pink Trait Sky-Piercing Giant proves that you are a person of great fortune. Only you can seek out the opportunities meant for you. The sect can only assist you—we can't fucking do everything for you, can we?"

"This time, not only must you find the opportunity that belongs to you, you must also fight disciples from other sects as much as possible. You have too little combat experience. If you keep lying flat like this, then don't fucking dream of eating your fill anymore!"

"If I'd known that your appetite would grow along with your body, I never would have fucking poured the entire sect's resources into raising you!"

"Have you fucking calculated how many Spirit Stones you consume in a single meal?"

"You're about to fucking eat me into bankruptcy!"

"Oh."

Zhao Yishi dejectedly crushed the Voice-Transmission Talisman in his hand. Lying flat and bankruptcy were new words that had recently spread from the Capital City. In recent years, new terms often popped up out of nowhere.

What kind of rotten sect was this? They would not even let their disciples eat their fill. No wonder their ranking on the Sect Rankings fell every year.

If he had known, he would have switched sects long ago.

"Here."

Fat Dragon took the Dragon Slayer saber from his robes with a sentimental expression and walked over to Ma Yinxue, who was sitting collapsed on the ground. "See? Isn't my backer more badass?"

"The Heavenly Dao only said I can't use force to make you fall for me or offer yourself up. It never said I can't kill you, right?"

"Oh, right—"

"In your next life, don't slander me like that again. I've never smelled your stinking feet."

Just as Fat Dragon was about to bring down his blade—

Chen Qiu suddenly realized something and asked with an odd expression, "Fat Dragon, did she just call you Fat Dragon?"

"Yeah. What's wrong, Brother Qiu?"

"Didn't you say Fat Dragon was a name you changed to later? Something about wanting to be a hidden dragon lying low or whatever."

"..."

The corner of Fat Dragon's mouth suddenly twitched. The sharp blade in his hand came slashing down, and only after a streak of blood tore through the air did he turn, sheathe the saber in his robes, and look at Chen Qiu with a serious expression. "That isn't important, Brother Qiu."

"If you insist on knowing, I can only say that I was actually called Fat Dragon before too."

"You look like you have a lot of stories written all over your face."

"You can tell that?"

"Yes. Also, that strike didn't kill her. She's still breathing."

"Oh, oh. It's been a long time since I killed anyone. My hand's a little rusty. Let me give her a few more cuts."

Fat Dragon hurriedly turned around and swung his sharp blade again. Only afterward did he gasp for breath a few times. "That did it. Fuck, slandering me—my fucking innocence was almost ruined by a bitch like you."

"Fat Dragon."

"Yeah?"

"After you split up with her, did you ever hide in a corner at night and imagine those scenes from when you fucked her, like she said?"

"Brother Qiu, that was presumptuous of you."

"Was I presumptuous again?"

"Mhm."