Lu Ren hooked a finger around the Storage Soul Tool Bei Bei handed over and swept through its contents with his Soul Power.
Well, well. Gold Soul Coins were stacked neatly in a small pile-at least three or four thousand of them.
Together with the other odds and ends, pills, materials...
It was enough seed money for his trip to the Sun Moon Empire.
The smile on Lu Ren's lips deepened.
As expected of a Shrek disciple. He really was loaded.
If he robbed a few more fat sheep like Bei Bei, he might even achieve financial freedom ahead of schedule.
Unfortunately, this business couldn't last long.
After he robbed Bei Bei this time, Shrek would certainly make a major move.
Future parties would probably need a teacher to escort them through the Star Dou Great Forest.
It was time to quit.
Lu Ren was about to put away the Soul Tool when his gaze suddenly paused.
He pulled out several things: a few oddly shaped throwing darts and other things such as needles, along with a roll of yellowed blueprints and several booklets, with the words "Tang Sect" faintly visible on their covers.
Lu Ren raised an eyebrow.
He casually tossed them back into Bei Bei's arms.
Bei Bei caught them instinctively, looked down, and froze.
"These are all Tang Sect things," Lu Ren said casually. "Tsk, I'm not interested in this stuff. It wouldn't fetch a decent price anyway. It's all trash. You can have it back."
Tang Ya's expression changed.
She stepped forward, anger already entering her voice:
"What do you mean by that?"
Lu Ren glanced at her, ignored her, and turned toward Xu Sanshi.
"Stop!"
Tang Ya raised her voice.
"Explain yourself! What do you mean, it wouldn't fetch a decent price? The Tang Sect's hidden weapons are unrivaled under heaven! You..."
"Xiao Ya."
Bei Bei hurriedly held her back and lowered his voice.
"Calm down. Don't cause trouble."
Tang Ya struggled once but couldn't break free. She could only watch as Lu Ren crouched in front of Xu Sanshi.
Lu Ren didn't turn around, but his mouth didn't stop:
"Unrivaled under heaven? Heh."
He laughed, making no attempt to hide the mockery in it.
"Ten thousand years of Tang Sect history, and now all it has left is a little girl like you as its sect master?"
"What, are you copying Tang San from ten thousand years ago, insisting that the successor to the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul has to be sect master?"
Tang Ya stiffened.
"What kind of background did Tang San have? The son of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, with Twin Martial Souls."
"His Blue Silver Grass was the Blue Silver Emperor. It had tenacious vitality, but that was about it. Other than taking a beating, what the hell was it good for?"
As he spoke, Lu Ren pulled the Storage Soul Tool from Xu Sanshi's waist, completely ignoring his teeth-grinding expression.
"And your Tang Sect? Your Martial Soul has degenerated, your cultivation methods are lost, and the hidden weapons you're so proud of get beaten into the ground by Soul Tools."
"What matters most for humanity? Creativity and technological development."
"You cling to outdated junk like it's treasure, and you still expect to return the Tang Sect to its peak?"
He turned and finally looked Tang Ya straight in the eye, his lips curving into something between a smile and a smirk:
"Wake up, little girl. That rotten ship called the Tang Sect should have sunk long ago."
"You!"
Tang Ya's eyes instantly reddened. Her Soul Power fluctuations abruptly intensified, and her Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul nearly burst out of her body.
"Xiao Ya!" Bei Bei held her tightly and spoke urgently in a low voice. "Don't act rashly. We can't beat him."
Tang Ya trembled all over, her clenched fists cracking, but Bei Bei ultimately kept her restrained.
She could only glare at Lu Ren, the anger in her eyes almost taking physical form.
Watching this, Lu Ren suddenly burst out laughing.
"Oh, you're killing me. I just love those looks on your faces, wanting to beat me up but not being able to do a thing about me. Keep them coming. I really do enjoy watching."
At those words, the three fell silent again, their trembling bodies showing how hard they were suppressing their emotions.
Seeing that they had stopped talking, Lu Ren immediately lost interest. He turned back and began inspecting Xu Sanshi's Storage Soul Tool.
Another few thousand Gold Soul Coins, along with some bottles and jars.
Lu Ren picked up one bottle, opened it, and sniffed it. His eyes lit up:
"Mystic Water Pills? This many? As expected of the Xuanming Sect's young sect master. You really didn't disappoint me."
Xu Sanshi clutched his chest, grimacing in pain, but still forced himself to glare:
"You knew I was the Xuanming Sect's young sect master, and you still dared to rob me?"
"Haha, spare me that."
Lu Ren tucked the Storage Soul Tool into his clothes.
"Who are you trying to scare? However great your Xuanming Sect is, can it compare to Shrek?"
"I rob even Shrek people without hesitation. Why would I care about you being the Xuanming Sect's young sect master?"
At that, Xu Sanshi's face turned white with anger, but he couldn't squeeze out a single word.
Lu Ren stood up, brushed nonexistent dust off himself, and waved with his back to the three:
"I'm a man of my word. I've collected your protection money, so I'm off."
After a few steps, he suddenly stopped again and turned back to add:
"Remember to bring more valuables the next time you run into me. Otherwise, robbing you won't even be fun."
With that, he put both hands in his pockets and sauntered deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest, his retreating figure as casual as if he were strolling through his own back garden.
As for Tang Ya's belongings, he decided not to touch them. They were probably full of Tang Sect stuff anyway-nothing but bad luck.
Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi, on the other hand, really were rich. Taking their two Storage Soul Tools was more than enough.
Xu Sanshi panted with rage. He wanted to curse but didn't dare, and could only watch that figure disappear into the dense forest.
"Bei Bei, are we just letting him leave?" Tang Ya's voice was full of resentment.
Bei Bei stared in the direction Lu Ren had disappeared, his brows tightly furrowed:
"What else can we do? We're no match for him at all. If he truly wanted to kill us, we wouldn't last even one exchange. What we should be thankful for is that we're all Shrek Academy disciples. It's Shrek Academy he's wary of, not us."
He bent down and picked up a fragment of the Xuanming Turtle Shield, rubbing its smooth broken edge with his fingertips:
"Besides, did you notice? He never activated his Martial Soul from beginning to end. We don't even know how many rings he has."
Xu Sanshi struggled to his feet and limped over, saying indignantly:
"We still can't just let this go! That bastard robbed me and severely damaged my Martial Soul! When we get back, I'll find Xuan Zi and have him teach that bastard a lesson!"
"Reporting him won't help either." Bei Bei shook his head. "He's so fast that he'll be long gone by the time Xuan Zi arrives. No matter how powerful Xuan Zi is, we don't know anything about him. Wouldn't searching for him be like fishing a needle out of the sea?"
"Let's help Xiao Ya hunt for a Soul Ring first, then return to the academy immediately to report this and have the academy keep a closer watch."
Tang Ya nodded, her gaze falling on the distant forest, her pretty face so dark it seemed water might drip from it:
"I hope we never meet him again. Otherwise... I'll let him taste the power of Tang Sect Hidden Weapons!"
The three said nothing more and turned toward their planned destination.
But each of them had deeply engraved that black-haired youth's figure in their memory.
Deep in the dense forest, far from the three.
As Lu Ren walked, he narrowed his eyes, feeling the Cursed Energy surging within him.
Those negative emotions-Tang Ya's anger and resentment, Bei Bei's forbearance and wariness, Xu Sanshi's frustration and hatred-were continuously turning into Cursed Energy and being absorbed by him.
"That feels good."
Lu Ren stretched.
The stronger the negative emotions, the more Cursed Energy they produced.
He hadn't deliberately provoked Tang Ya and insulted the Tang Sect so viciously just to run his mouth.
Not only had he harvested a wave of Cursed Energy, but he could also raise his Soul Power a little. Two birds with one stone.
Sweet.
As Lu Ren walked, he considered his next plans.
Just then.
The sky, clear only a moment earlier, abruptly darkened.
A thunderous boom exploded high above. The sunlight was instantly obscured by some invisible force, plunging heaven and earth into an eerie gloom.
An oppressive pressure that made it hard to breathe descended from the sky.
Lu Ren stopped, his pupils contracting slightly.
He looked up.
The next moment, a gray stream of Qi, seemingly drawn by some tremendous suction, fell vertically from the highest heavens at an inconceivable speed and plunged straight into the back of Lu Ren's head.
Lu Ren froze in place.
Deep within his mind, an aged voice slowly rang out, carrying an indescribable majesty and the weight of countless years:
"With sun and moon in hand, I pluck the stars; none in this world compares to me... To think that a wisp of this old man's remnant soul could still survive."
The gray stream of Qi entered his Sea of Consciousness, instantly condensed into a gray bead the size of a soybean, and fell dormant.
Lu Ren stood stunned for three seconds.
Then he smiled.
He smiled as though he had found a hundred million.
"Good things come in pairs."
He raised a hand to rub the back of his head and muttered to himself:
"Was it the fluctuations from absorbing Cursed Energy just now that drew Electrolux here?"
Cursed Energy, an aggregation of negative emotions.
And Electrolux, the Undead Saint Mage God, wielded the power of death and souls.
To some extent, these two powers really were highly similar.
Lu Ren took a deep breath and sank his consciousness into his Sea of Consciousness, trying to touch the gray bead.
The bead didn't budge, but a faint connection had already formed.
"Electrolux..." Lu Ren murmured. "This is one of the greatest opportunities in the original story."
He looked up at the gradually clearing sky, then at the silent forest around him.
Today's haul had been a bloody fortune.
The money he had robbed was enough to get him to the Sun Moon Empire.
And Electrolux's remnant soul would benefit him for life.
As for the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, Lu Ren thought that although the opportunity offered by a million-year soul beast was very tempting, taking it would probably mean having Tang San watching him from then on.
Although one day in the Divine Realm was one year in the lower realm, Lu Ren feared that Tang San had set up some sort of keyword trigger. If he took the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, he would have to bear Tang San's scrutiny.
After all, being that child of destiny wasn't so easy.
At that thought, a chill ran through Lu Ren.
He only needed to make good use of his own abilities.
Electrolux was his fallback trump card.
"Next... it's time to go cause trouble at Shrek and derail the original plot."
"Do you think I'll let you successfully pass yourself off as a boy? Wang Dong'er, now that I'm here, of course I'll have to create a different course for the story."
Lu Ren gathered his thoughts, turned, and continued heading out.
Only this time, his steps were lighter.
Before you continue