"The person you're after is right here. Hurry up and take her away, and stop bothering me." Holding the green-clad girl as she struggled incessantly, despair written across her face, Xiao Yan sighed helplessly. He truly wanted nothing to do with these people, especially the one who looked like some sort of Young Gate Master.
Sometimes, Xiao Yan wondered whether the young masters and Young Gate Masters of the Dou Qi Continent were missing a screw. They always came to provoke him for no apparent reason. If he exchanged a few extra words with a woman, for instance, one of them would assume she had feelings for him and immediately treat him as a romantic rival.
Then the idiotic young master would devise every possible way to target him. When he went shopping, for example, the fool would pay far more than his offer to snatch something he had no use for whatsoever... Though there had originally been no enmity between them, the fool would insist on turning it into a fight to the death. Killing such brainless idiots was hardly difficult for Xiao Yan, but finding them everywhere he went truly left him mentally and emotionally exhausted...
It was not really because of anything else. Honestly, there was just nothing new about it...
Xiao Yan's decisiveness left the members of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect momentarily stunned. Seeing the impatience on his face, they exchanged uncertain looks. Before coming over, they had prepared to resort to force. They had never expected this child to be so cooperative. Or... was he doing this deliberately?
Even the effeminate young man who had been so overbearing earlier hesitated. He glanced at the hemp-robed elder beside him and was startled to find an extremely grave expression on his face. The elder stepped forward and said slowly, "The item this girl carries is a precious treasure of our Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect. Please return it to us as well."
"Didn't I already tell you? She has the thing. I haven't laid a hand on her. Whatever you want, just ask her for it. None of this has anything to do with me." Xiao Yan shook the green-clad girl in his grasp, signaling for them to take her away. Meanwhile, his irritation grew increasingly intense. Were these people hard of hearing? Why did they insist on making him repeat himself?
"Do you truly take us for fools? We aren't so easily deceived. You had best hand that item over obediently. Otherwise, once our Gate Master arrives, he won't be as accommodating as we are." The hemp-robed elder snorted coldly, his words making it clear that he had already decided the treasure was in Xiao Yan's possession.
The hemp-robed elder could sense that this child was no weaker than he was. Though he did not know how someone so young could possess such cultivation, the boy was clearly an exceptionally rare genius.
And a genius was certain to possess a genius's pride. How could someone like that voluntarily hand over a fugitive the moment her pursuers arrived? The only explanation was that he had already taken the item she carried. That was why he was so eager to hand her over-to send them away so he could seize the opportunity to escape.
"..." Xiao Yan was utterly speechless. Could these bastards not use their brains? All they had to do was search her to find out whether she had the thing. Did they really have to stand here arguing with him?
"Exactly. I suggest you show some sense and obediently hand that thing over. We might still let you off. Otherwise..."
"Bam!" Before the gray-robed young man could finish speaking, a punch sent him flying. Before any of the elders could even react, Xiao Yan had already struck. He grabbed the gray-robed young man's head and smashed him straight into the ground, then hammered his body with one vicious punch after another.
"Do you fucking not understand human speech? I already told you I don't have the thing, yet you insist on pinning it on me?" Xiao Yan cursed. For once, he had wanted to settle things peacefully, but these brainless idiots had insisted on provoking him. Even if he had possessed a good temper, he could not have tolerated this-much less when his temper had never been good to begin with.
Moreover, fusing two Heavenly Flames produced an extremely powerful side effect, equivalent to a certain highly potent drug. Xiao Yan was still young, however, and his willpower was exceptionally firm, so he had not succumbed to that influence. Still, that Evil Flame had made his temperament somewhat irritable.
This side effect lasted only for a while and caused little harm to Xiao Yan himself. Simply put, it was like premature menopause: he became more prone to agitation and anger. Initially, Xiao Yan had planned to find a secluded place deep in the mountains and forests to ride out this period in peace. Later, however, he had abandoned that plan for the seventh-rank Heavenly Scorpion Poison Dragon Beast's magic core.
Even so, Xiao Yan had wanted to cultivate his character and soothe his temper. To that end, he had specifically searched his memories of his previous life for a supplementary secret art that could calm his mind. He had practiced it for only a few days before encountering this mess, and the temper he had been suppressing erupted just like that... This Young Gate Master had the misfortune of running straight into it.
In his fury, Xiao Yan had no intention of showing mercy. Though he used no Dou Techniques, nor even any Dou Qi, the Young Gate Master still felt the bones throughout his body breaking, his internal organs showing signs of rupturing. By then, the elders who had accompanied him finally reacted and shouted sternly, "Release our young master at once! Otherwise, don't blame us for showing no mercy!"
"Oh, really? I'd like to see just how merciless you can be." Xiao Yan snorted coldly and planted a foot on the Young Gate Master's chest, immediately activating Burst Step. An explosion of energy rang out, and its tremendous force surged straight into the Young Gate Master of the Ten Thousand Scorpion Sect, blasting his chest into a complete collapse.
Using the suddenly erupting force, Xiao Yan instantly shot toward the hemp-robed elder. Startled by Xiao Yan's speed, the elder hurriedly condensed a suit of Dou Qi Armor around himself. Yet the armor had only just taken shape when a stream of red energy penetrated it and sank into his body.
As a lion's roar resounded, the hemp-robed elder's body suddenly burst apart. Amid the blood mist filling the air, a lion formed from crimson energy could vaguely be seen roaring within it. This was the Xiao Clan's strongest Dou Technique, Lion Mountain Split!
Having reached his current level, Xiao Yan had finally cultivated the several Black Tier Dou Techniques he possessed to their respective pinnacles. The move he had just used was precisely the highest realm of Lion Mountain Split: driving force into an enemy's body to produce a special tearing effect within. Once it erupted, it was as though a lion were ripping the victim apart alive. This was the true power of Lion Mountain Split!
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