Luo Yuan's mind was blank.
Looking at Su Yu's calm face, as if nothing had happened, and then at the vast, desolate Thunder Marsh, she felt her throat go dry.
"I just got new gear, so I need to find some targets to test it out."
Is this human language?
Those demons that struck fear into the hearts of even the most powerful beings in the Heaven Realm were, in his words, merely "targets" for testing equipment performance?
Luo Yuan had given up trying to understand Su Yu's thought process.
All she knows now is that, following this man, the martial arts knowledge she has built up over the past decade is crumbling and shattering inch by inch.
Night began to fall.
The night in the God-Burial Land is devoid of stars, only thick, impenetrable gray fog and eerie blue electric lights that occasionally flash from the depths of the swamp, representing terror and death.
"Rest tonight, we'll take action tomorrow."
Su Yu glanced at the sky and made a decision in a calm tone.
In this environment, demons at night are more than 30% more ferocious than during the day.
He was confident, but not arrogant.
Upon hearing this, Luo Yuan felt as if she had been granted a pardon and nodded quickly.
Her nerves, which had been tense all day, could finally relax a little. Just as she was about to find a clean place to sit cross-legged and regulate her breathing, her movements suddenly froze.
She raised her head and stared intently into the darkness a hundred feet ahead.
Su Yu's gaze also fell on them at almost the same time, his expression shifting from calm to a hint of amusement.
"Rustle..."
A heavy, dragging footstep was slowly approaching from the shadows of the swamp.
The owner of the footsteps seemed to be severely injured, each step was extremely difficult, and his tall body swayed precariously in the dim light.
As they drew closer, the figure finally came into view.
His muscles were bulging, his hair was bluish-black, and his forehead had a single, now dull and cracked spiral horn.
It's Lei Yan!
Luo Yuan's pupils suddenly contracted, and she subconsciously gripped the spear tighter, her protective spiritual energy activating once more.
Why is he back again? Seeking revenge?
But looking at his miserable state, with his right arm hanging limply and his body covered in wounds, it was questionable whether he could even stand up, let alone seek revenge.
Su Yu did not move.
He simply watched Lei Yan, the opponent with whom he had fought to the death not long ago, slowly and laboriously move towards him.
Then, under Luo Yuan's astonished gaze, a gaze wide enough to swallow a demon core.
"Thump!"
Lei Yan, with his towering, mountain-like frame, knelt down on one knee, his proud head bowed.
His hoarse, dry, yet incredibly clear voice rang out above the deathly silent swamp.
" Lei Yan greets... Master."
boom!
Luo Yuan felt as if a bolt of lightning had exploded in her mind, shattering the last vestiges of her reason.
Master... Master?
A native race at the Heaven Realm Fifth Level Peak, with noble blood, kneels down and calls a human who just crippled him "master"?
Is the world crazy, or am I crazy?
However, Su Yu showed no surprise whatsoever.
The moment Lei Yan knelt down, an invisible chain of contracts originating from the soul quietly emerged in his mind.
One end of the chain was connected to his own Purple-Gold Divine Embryo.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the core of Lei Yan's soul was Dead Land locked in front of him.
He could clearly feel that with just a thought, he could activate the chains, instantly crushing Lei Yan's soul and annihilating him completely.
"So that's how it is, the Thunder-Subduing King's final gift..."
Su Yu understood.
"A Heaven Realm Fifth Level Peak fighter, with lightning attributes, and familiar with the terrain... is indeed more useful than a corpse and hundreds of thousands of Slaughter Points."
Su Yu quickly made a value assessment in his mind.
He looked at Lei Yan, who was kneeling on the ground, his body trembling slightly with humiliation and fear, and spoke calmly, his voice devoid of any emotion.
"Raise your head."
Lei Yan's body trembled, and he stiffly raised his head.
The arrogance and fighting spirit that had filled those deep blue beast eyes were gone, replaced by a deathly stillness of resignation and a trace of undisguised fear.
He saw Su Yu's calm eyes, eyes that held no joy of victory, no pride in subduing a powerful opponent, only an indifference as if he were looking at a mere tool.
This indifference chilled him to the bone more than any humiliation.
"From this day forward, your life belongs to me," Su Yu said calmly. "I can decide whether you live or die. Understand?"
"... clear."
Lei Yan squeezed out two words through gritted teeth.
"Very good."
Su Yu nodded, as if he had only accomplished a trivial task.
He turned to Luo Yuan, who was completely petrified beside him.
"Let's find a place to rest."
After saying that, he walked to the side, sat down cross-legged, and closed his eyes to rest.
Only Luo Yuan and Lei Yan, kneeling on one knee, were left, disheveled in the night wind.
Luo Yuan looked at Su Yu's back, then at the "god" on the ground, opened her mouth, but ultimately didn't ask a single question.
What's the question?
When asked why he could make Heaven Realm Fifth Level kneel and call him master, he replied...
She feared that the answer she would receive would shame her, a "genius" at the Heaven Realm Second Level, to the point of committing suicide on the spot.
The night passed unusually peacefully.
Perhaps it was because of Lei Yan, this guardian deity, that no foolish demon dared to approach.
The next day, as dawn broke.
Su Yu opened his eyes. After a night of recuperation, he had fully recovered from the exhaustion caused by activating the Great Accomplishment Wisdom King Body, and his energy and spirit had returned to their peak.
He stood up and looked at Lei Yan, who had been keeping watch all night.
"Where do the demons and monsters at the Heaven Realm Fourth Level or above reside in this Thunder Marsh?"
Su Yu ignored his shock and asked directly.
Lei Yan dared not be negligent and hurriedly replied respectfully, "Reporting to Master, Thunder Marsh is divided into three domains. We are currently in the outer domain, where most of the demons are at the first to third level of the Heaven Realm. Three hundred miles to the east is the central domain, ' Ten Thousand Thunder Valley,' the place where lightning is most concentrated. It is inhabited by two major races, the ' Thunderlight Demon Bat ' and the ' Purple Lightning Giant Eel,' and there are quite a few demon kings at the Heaven Realm Fourth Level."
What happens further in?
"Further in lies the core of Thunder Marsh, the ' Heart of the Thunder Prison.'" A deep sense of dread flashed in Lei Yan's eyes. "There... it's rumored that a Half-Step King Realm ' Thunder Jiao Emperor ' slumbers there, the true ruler of this Thunder Marsh. Even our Thunderhorn Rhinoceros clan dares not set foot there lightly."
"Very good."
Su Yu nodded, already having a plan in mind.
He looked at Lei Yan, then glanced at Luo Yuan was trying to make herself inconspicuous, and gave his first order.
"You stay and protect her."
Luo Yuan was taken aback.
Lei Yan was also taken aback, and subconsciously asked, "Master, are you going to...?"
"You have no right to worry about my safety." Su Yu interrupted him, his tone calm yet carrying an undeniable authority. "Your mission is to ensure her survival. If I return with not a single hair missing from her head, prepare to be annihilated."
The cold words made Lei Yan tremble, and he quickly lowered his head.
"Yes... yes!"
Su Yu said no more.
He determined the direction, and a flash of lightning appeared beneath his feet.
Without activating any movement techniques, but merely unleashing his physical strength, he transformed into a blur, hurtling straight eastward.
That place is the " Ten Thousand Thunder Valley " that Lei Yan mentioned.
It's time to reap some rewards and replenish those depleted Slaughter Points.
Watching Su Yu's figure disappear into the horizon in an instant, Luo Yuan opened her mouth, but could only let out a complicated sigh.
She turned her head to look at the mountain-like "bodyguard" beside her, and forced a smile that looked more like a grimace.
"Um... Senior Lei Yan, how about we find a place to sit for a while?"
Lei Yan glanced at her silently, his eyes filled with complex emotions—resentment, frustration, but mostly bewilderment at something incomprehensible.
In the end, he simply grunted an "Mmm," found a huge rock, and stood like a statue, faithfully guarding Luo Yuan a hundred feet away.
Luo Yuan was left alone, continuing to question the meaning of life in the wind.