I can help, but I have one condition

The instant the silvery-white gate of light closed behind him, Ye Zhiqiu's feet landed on entirely different ground.

In the virtual landscape of the Star Dou Great Forest, tall, thick trees spread layer upon layer of crowns overhead, blocking most of the daylight.

Ye Zhiqiu swept his gaze around and quickly located his target.

About three meters ahead, beneath an enormous ancient tree, Lan Xuanyu leaned against the trunk, her chest heaving.

She really did look in bad shape. Her long black hair clung messily to her forehead and cheeks, flecked with dirt and shredded leaves.

Her uniform was torn in several places. A huge rip ran down her left sleeve from shoulder to elbow, exposing skin burned by electricity, with threads of blood seeping through the charred patches.

Her face was deathly pale, her lips pressed into a thin line. Her right hand rested against her chest, its fingers trembling slightly.

Different-colored Blue Silver Grass wound around each of her hands. Gold-patterned and silver-patterned vines extended from her palms up her arms, still glowing faintly where they touched the soil. But that glow was much dimmer than normal, as though it might go out at any moment.

Seeing Lan Xuanyu in this state, Ye Zhiqiu couldn't help chuckling.

"What happened to you? How did you end up looking so miserable?"

At the sound of his voice, Lan Xuanyu paused, then snapped her head up. Her gaze landed on Ye Zhiqiu's face, and she froze completely.

She had thought Dong Qianqiu would be the one to arrive. After all, Qian Lei's Summoning Gate had always brought Dong Qianqiu before, and she had worked with her several times.

Yet the person who had come was actually Ye Zhiqiu.

Lan Xuanyu's eyes lit up at once, and her tense shoulders visibly relaxed.

"Ye Zhiqiu! What are you doing here?"

"Qianqiu's busy, so I came in her place," Ye Zhiqiu said, his hands in his pockets. He strolled over, glanced at Lan Xuanyu's injuries, then toward the distant battlefield, and continued, "Looks like things aren't going too well for you."

"Well? Like hell they are!" Lan Xuanyu's voice was hoarse, but her tone carried the unmistakable relief of someone who had escaped death. "Bing Tianliang, a Four-Ring Soul Ancestor, Lightning God Demon Puppet. We can't beat him. Liu Feng got chased off, and I told Qian Lei to hide. I'm about to get eliminated."

"Only four rings. Nothing special," Ye Zhiqiu said casually.

Lan Xuanyu opened her mouth, wanting to ask how many rings he had to dare talk so big, but swallowed the words before they came out.

She thought about Ye Zhiqiu's records at Heaven Dou Academy, about the sharpness of his long white blade, and about those utterly hellish Soul Skills of his. Suddenly, she felt that coming from Ye Zhiqiu, "only four rings" really might not amount to much.

"How are your injuries? Can you still move?" Ye Zhiqiu crouched down to look at her chest.

"I can. My Soul Power's just about drained," Lan Xuanyu said. Her Silver-Patterned Blue Silver Grass had been boosting the Golden-Furred Demon Ape all this time, consuming far too much.

Ye Zhiqiu nodded, in no hurry to act.

He tilted his head, and Gravity Wave spread out silently. Everything within several hundred meters appeared clearly in his perception.

About sixty meters away, five Soul Power fluctuations were approaching fast. One was powerful and sharp, with an unmistakable lightning attribute. That should be Bing Tianliang.

The other four were somewhat weaker, but still stronger than Lan Xuanyu.

The Golden-Furred Demon Ape was still locked in combat with them, but from what Ye Zhiqiu could sense, his Soul Power was rapidly dwindling, and his movements were growing increasingly sluggish. He wouldn't last much longer.

Ye Zhiqiu withdrew Gravity Wave and looked at Lan Xuanyu.

"I can help, but I have one condition."

In the original story, Dong Qianqiu demanded three conditions. I'm only asking for one. Pretty fair, right?

At that, Lan Xuanyu paused, then smiled bitterly. "Come on, man. I'm already like this, and you're still bargaining with me? What could I possibly have that's worth anything? It's not like you don't know what I've got."

"I don't want your things." Ye Zhiqiu smiled faintly, but Lan Xuanyu had known him for years. One look told her he was scheming something.

"Then what do you want?" Lan Xuanyu asked.

"You can owe me for now. We'll talk about it later."

Lan Xuanyu's expression immediately turned strange.

Owe him for now?

From what she knew of Ye Zhiqiu, he might look all smiles most of the time, but when it came to collecting on that condition, only the devil knew what outrageous demand he might make.

Last time in the Douluo World, Ye Zhiqiu had done her a small favor. His condition had been for her to praise him in front of Dong Qianqiu and Lan Mengqin, saying, "Ye Zhiqiu is the most handsome guy in the entire universe," ten whole times. By the end, even Dong Qianqiu had rolled her eyes.

But in her current predicament, she really had no room to bargain.

The Golden-Furred Demon Ape's roar came from the distance, noticeably weaker than before.

Lan Xuanyu glanced in that direction, then looked at Ye Zhiqiu and took a deep breath.

"Fine. I agree."

"Then we're good." Ye Zhiqiu stood, loosened his wrists and neck with a couple of cracks from his joints, then headed toward the battlefield.

Lan Xuanyu called after him, "Be careful! Bing Tianliang really is strong."

"Got it."

Over on the battlefield, the fight was nearing its end.

The Golden-Furred Demon Ape had been forced back against the roots of an ancient tree. Several more wounds marred his massive body, and one eye, burned by electricity, was half closed and wouldn't open.

Bing Tianliang stood about five meters in front of him. Four Purple Soul Rings revolved slowly around his body, his oppressive aura weighing down on the entire battlefield.

His face was expressionless, his cold gaze fixed on the Golden-Furred Demon Ape. A purple ball of lightning condensed in his right palm, arcs crackling between his fingers.

Behind him, four students from Sky-Rending Academy had spread out in a fan, cutting off the Golden-Furred Demon Ape's last escape route.

In the distance, Liu Feng, who had been chased away, moved swiftly through the shadows of the trees. He gripped the White Dragon Spear, its tip trembling slightly.

He was searching for an opportunity, but Bing Tianliang's team formation was too tight. He couldn't find an opening.

Just then, a white ribbon of light swept silently into the battlefield from the side.

It came astonishingly fast and quietly, without the slightest warning.

It passed beneath the Golden-Furred Demon Ape's arm and precisely deflected a long saber slashing toward his chest.

Clang! Metal crashed against metal. The Sky-Rending Academy student felt the web of his hand go numb, and his saber nearly flew from his grip.

Before he could react, the white light swept upward, leaving a deep, bloody gash from his right shoulder to his left ribs.

The student glanced down at the bleeding wound across his chest, and his body began dissolving into motes of light.

Eliminated.

One slash!

Bing Tianliang's pupils contracted. He turned toward the source of the white light.

A black-haired, black-eyed boy emerged from the shadows of the trees at an unhurried pace. A pure-white, translucent long blade hovered by his right hand, the faintest silver light flowing along its length.

There were no Soul Rings around the boy.

Not a single one!

Bing Tianliang froze for a moment. That slash had been blindingly fast, its angle vicious and its force precise. It was absolutely beyond what an ordinary person could accomplish.

Yet this boy didn't even have a single Soul Ring?

Impossible!

How could someone without a Soul Ring kill a two-ring Soul Master in one slash?

"Who are you?" Bing Tianliang asked in a low voice. The lightning ball in his right palm brightened further.

Ye Zhiqiu didn't answer right away. He turned to glance at the Golden-Furred Demon Ape, who had already collapsed beside the tree roots, panting heavily, his golden fur covered in blackened wounds.

He glanced at Liu Feng moving through the distant tree shadows and gave a slight nod before turning his gaze back to Bing Tianliang.

With a smile, he said:

"Take a guess."