Holy shit! Boss, you're awesome!!

[Ding! Tang San detected with intense negative emotions, mixed with a trace of another emotion. Reward: Myriad-Poison-Immune Body.]

[Myriad-Poison-Immune Body: exactly what it says.]

Hmm?

Not bad.

Buddha Tang, this reward is barely passable.

Looks like Buddha Tang must have had quite the inner drama going on after seeing this Godly Zhuge Crossbow.

Upon hearing the system notification,

Yang Jian felt a surge of delight.

He had deliberately stirred up everyone's emotions and brought out the Godly Zhuge Crossbow for more than just getting some vicious payback against Ning Rongrong.

He also wanted to test Tang San's reaction.

After all, for now, aside from Yu Xiaogang, Tang San was the easiest person to trigger rewards from, and the rewards he gave were pretty good.

As for the others, even when they reached the moment of life and death, their drops weren't anything special.

Take Dragon Duke Meng Shu, for instance, who supposedly could unleash power comparable to a Titled Douluo through a joint Soul Skill.

Even after being tortured to death, he had only dropped a Persona Mask.

It was certainly a good item, but ultimately, it was an external aid with a time limit. Compared to the rewards from Yu Xiaogang and Tang San that could strengthen Yang Jian himself, it fell short by more than a notch.

That went doubly for those who weren't strong and were more or less dispensable to this world.

He couldn't squeeze even a scrap of a reward out of them.

Yang Jian had tested that long ago. Back when he was a Soul Elder, he had gone out to deal with thugs and hoodlums at his own level.

Thugs with blood on their hands, whose everyday deeds provoked the wrath of heaven and men alike, were ridiculously easy to find.

Unfortunately, after dealing with a dozen or so of them, including five Soul Ancestors, Yang Jian still hadn't obtained a single emotion reward.

During that process, he had used every trick he had seen from Number 76 in his previous life, along with those he had learned from Yu Nong's people.

Even after personally killing every last one of them, he hadn't received the slightest emotion reward.

Instead, because the process had been so bloody, yet involved punishing evil and promoting good, he had earned the empty title of Nameless Hero. Once people secretly spread word of it, quite a few Fallen Soul Masters no longer dared enter Suotuo City.

That had given Suotuo City a period of peace.

After that, Yang Jian had stopped setting his sights on people who had little influence on this world.

He had simply stayed at Shrek Academy, shearing his sheep in peace.

Now that another "sheep"-and a "good sheep" at that-had finally entered his sights, how could he possibly let her slip away so easily?

"Big brother, big brother, how do you use this?"

"Why does it look like it isn't..."

"Ahem!" Before Ning Rongrong could finish, Yang Jian cut her off. "Less talking. Put your finger here, then just squeeze when the time comes."

With that,

Yang Jian took another Godly Zhuge Crossbow out of the Thirty-Six Heavenly Stems Jade Belt and tossed it to Ma Hongjun.

"B-Boss, is-is this for me?!"

Ma Hongjun asked excitedly.

Seeing his reaction, Yang Jian immediately sensed an opportunity and nodded. "That's right. Take good care of it. You know what this thing's worth-a million Gold Soul Coins."

"Thank you, Boss!"

"I'll charge through boiling water and raging fire for you, and never flinch even if it means dying ten thousand times!"

Ma Hongjun immediately declared his loyalty in excitement.

Yang Jian, too, eagerly awaited the system notification.

His sudden silence caused the atmosphere to go cold.

After roughly half a minute,

Yang Jian immediately put on a cold expression. "Who said I was giving it to you? It's just for self-defense, so Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang doesn't come charging out and gobble you up. Remember to return it when you're done!"

"Oh, oh..."

"I knew it... but that's still pretty good. At least you care about me, Boss!"

Ma Hongjun said, patting his chest.

The smile on his face barely faded.

Seeing that, Yang Jian was left rather speechless. He had suddenly realized that this trick no longer worked on these people at all.

No wonder...

I was so erratic when I was cursing Oscar earlier, yet none of these guys reacted. So they've already gotten used to it?!

Unbelievable...

Won't that make farming emotion rewards even harder next time?

Day N of hating "drug resistance"!

"All right, Yang, shouldn't we deal with Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang now?"

Flender spoke up at just the right moment.

"Yes. Keep your distance."

Yang Jian didn't dwell on the matter for long. With a wave of his hand, everyone from Shrek obediently retreated more than twenty meters away.

Even Yu Xiaogang withdrew with Tang San and Xiao Wu, going several meters farther than the others.

Yang Jian couldn't be bothered with that. After briefly sensing his surroundings, he glanced at Flender and Zhao Wuji, the only two still beside him.

Once both immediately gave him looks indicating they were ready,

he acted with a thought, raising his right hand, palm upward.

The Leifeng Pagoda, which had been so tall that everyone had to crane their necks to see its top, abruptly shrank. Within moments, it rested securely in Yang Jian's palm.

Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang was revealed in the clearing, seemingly unconscious.

"Yang Jian!"

"Go to hell!!"

However,

just as everyone's gazes fell on Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang, she abruptly sprang up from where she had been playing dead, raised her Serpent Cane, and charged toward Yang Jian.

"Perfect timing."

Yang Jian smiled faintly. With a thought, the Soul Power inside him instantly circulated and gathered in his palms.

His slender fingers, along with his entire hands, became covered in a thin layer of heavenly mystic jade.

This was the Heavenly Mystic Jade Hand, far superior to Tang San's Mysterious Jade Hand.

At that moment, Yang Jian's soft, delicate hands had become incredibly hard, resistant to fire and poison, and capable of catching attacks far more powerful than his own with his bare hands.

Although his body had already undergone all sorts of tempering, and he had long since ceased to fear sneak attacks of this strength,

he still used this martial art to be on the safe side.

Of course,

he also hoped to farm an emotion reward from Tang San.

Although the Heavenly Mystic Jade Hand was several grades above the Mysterious Jade Hand, it was hard to tell from appearance alone.

Unless someone knew their stuff, they could easily mistake heavenly mystic jade for mysterious jade.

Yang Jian figured that whether Tang San could tell the difference or not, it would pique his curiosity.

Given Buddha Tang's temperament, he might really stir up some intense emotions.

Then wouldn't the reward be in the bag?

"Hmph!"

"You're asking for death!!"

However, something Yang Jian hadn't expected happened.

Not only did he fail to hear the system notification, he instead heard Flender's furious shout nearby.

BANG-!!!

The next instant,

Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang, who had been charging toward Yang Jian, was sent flying dozens of meters by a single punch from Flender.

Several old trees were blasted apart along with her.

"Didn't expect that, did you, Yang? You thought this old thing was coming to kill you?"

Noticing something off about Yang Jian's gaze, Flender immediately smiled and said, "Actually, there's a major flaw in that thinking."

"Chao Tianxiang is an old hand. If she really wanted to attack you, she would never shout your name. After all, wouldn't that give you an opening?"

"So, since she shouted your name, she must have wanted to distract me and Zhao Wuji, then-hmm?"

"Yang Jian, what are you doing?!"

Before Flender could finish, Yang Jian shifted his feet and leaped toward the direction in which Snake Granny Chao Tianxiang had been sent flying.

He was so fast that even Flender, an Agility Attack System Soul Saint, felt outclassed.

At the very least, without using a Soul Skill, he absolutely couldn't match Yang Jian's speed.

"Holy shit!"

"Boss, you're awesome!!"

As though something had occurred to him, Fatty Ma Hongjun immediately threw up his arm and cheered toward the direction Yang Jian had leaped.

"Fuck!"

"Yang Jian! You're seriously going for it?"

"Don't tell me you really like old grannies with one foot in the grave?!"

"What the fuck kind of kink is that-!"

"You've pissed this old lady off!!!"