"Ow..."
Lin Xue landed on her backside, feeling as though it had nearly shattered into eight pieces.
She struggled to her feet, rubbing the painful spot as she looked resentfully at Ye Xuan. "Junior brother, why didn't you save me?"
Ye Xuan blinked. "Senior sister, aren't you at the eighth level of Meridian Opening? It wasn't that high. You should be fine, right?"
Lin Xue nearly cried at his words.
This rotten junior brother wasn't so nice after all. How infuriating.
She glared at Ye Xuan angrily. For a moment, this handsome, powerful junior brother didn't seem the least bit adorable anymore.
Seeing Lin Xue's expression, Ye Xuan chuckled and walked over to her with the Violent Ape's demon core. "Senior sister, that was my fault. Here, this demon core is yours."
"Huh?" Lin Xue covered her mouth in shock, instantly forgetting her pain and embarrassment.
After all, the price of a Meridian Opening Realm demon beast's core could hardly be mentioned in the same breath as that of an Essence Condensation Realm demon beast.
At least for an outer disciple like her, this Violent Ape's demon core was already quite precious.
If other outer disciples learned she possessed a demon core like this, they might grow greedy and snatch it outright.
"What's there to 'huh' about? Take it." Ye Xuan didn't care in the slightest and firmly pressed it into Lin Xue's hand.
Still dazed, Lin Xue put it away.
Then Ye Xuan glanced at her backside with a smile. "Senior sister, does it still hurt? Shall I rub it for you?"
"Ah, pfft!" Lin Xue's pretty face instantly flushed scarlet. She jumped twenty feet into the air, her face red all over.
Only then did she remember just how embarrassing a thing she had done in front of Ye Xuan.
So awkward!
This was social death, okay!
Ye Xuan stopped teasing Lin Xue. He was about to take her deeper in to hunt a few more Essence Condensation Realm demon beasts when his gaze suddenly sharpened toward the path ahead.
A group of more than a dozen disciples emerged.
"Xue'er, thank goodness you're all right."
"Xue'er, you have no idea how worried we were about you."
"Xue'er, come over here. What are you doing over there?"
The moment those disciples appeared, several of them greeted Lin Xue warmly.
When Lin Xue saw them, the lingering shyness on her face instantly turned to ice.
A trace of disgust welled up in her eyes.
These were none other than Xue Yong and the others who had abandoned her and fled earlier.
Besides Xue Yong's group, there were three more people.
One was Xue Yao, a prominent figure among the outer disciples. The other two were inner disciples whom Lin Xue didn't recognize.
Xue Yao stared at Ye Xuan, his eyes practically spitting fire.
This brat actually dared to touch the woman he liked. He was courting death!
But remembering Ye Xuan's strength, and how he had single-handedly killed a Violent Ape equivalent to the Origin Condensation Third Layer, he suppressed his anger.
The two inner disciples leading the group were named Zhao Hong and Zhang Shan. Both were at the Origin Condensation Fifth Layer.
They knew Xue Yao, so when they encountered him along the way, they had joined him.
With his chin held high, Zhao Hong first swept his arrogant gaze over Lin Xue, a trace of greed surfacing in his eyes.
Only then did he look at Ye Xuan and ask indifferently, "You look unfamiliar. Which elder is your master?"
Since he didn't recognize him, he naturally had to ask about his identity. He didn't dare offend him lightly.
The sharpness faded from Ye Xuan's eyes. He cupped his fists toward Zhao Hong and said earnestly, "I'm Ye Xuan, a disciple of Holy Master Han Bingning. What guidance do you have for me, senior brother?"
The moment he said that-
Whoosh!
Dead silence fell over the scene.
Everyone froze.
A disciple of Han Bingning?
Their lofty, breathtakingly beautiful Holy Master, whose cultivation reached the heavens, whose dominance was unrivaled, and whose peerless talent dazzled the world?
Holy shit!
How absurd and ridiculous was that?
He really dared to brag! How could someone so shameless exist?
For a moment, Zhao Hong and the others couldn't help their mouths twitching.
They looked at Ye Xuan as though he were an idiot.
Lin Xue's pretty face flushed red as well. She couldn't help clutching the hem of Ye Xuan's clothes tightly, seemingly reminding him not to boast.
Was he kidding? Was this the sort of boast he could throw around? If the Holy Master found out, did he still want to live?
"Pfft."
After a long while, Zhao Hong finally couldn't hold back and was the first to snicker.
He gave Ye Xuan a flippant, sidelong look and said disdainfully, "You? A disciple of our great Holy Master? Are you worthy?"
Zhang Shan also burst out laughing, nearly laughing himself to tears. "Kid, are you fucking insane? Is something wrong with your head? Who do you think you are?"
Xue Yao and the others chimed in. "Exactly. Don't tell me you think you're that legendary Chaos Sacred Body who's about to be named Holy Son?"
"Fuck, there are lunatics every year, but this year has more than its share. Now I've seen everything."
"Fucking you, a disciple of our great Holy Master? What a joke!"
"You really don't know whether you're courting life or death. Do you know how sect rules say we should punish you for sullying our Holy Master's name like this?"
They all talked over one another, verbally tearing Ye Xuan to shreds.
Ye Xuan: "..."
He really was Han Bingning's disciple. He really was the Holy Son about to be formally appointed. Why did no one ever believe him when he told the truth?
Since no one believed him, Ye Xuan couldn't be bothered to say more. He took Lin Xue's hand and prepared to leave.
As the saying went, when words found no common ground, even half a sentence was too much. Since they didn't believe him, why should he stay?
"Stop!"
But Ye Xuan had only taken two steps with Lin Xue before Zhao Hong's group blocked their way.
Ye Xuan stopped and looked at Zhao Hong, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Something you need?"
Zhao Hong sneered. "Leave your spatial treasure and Lin Xue behind, then get lost! Otherwise, don't blame me for showing no mercy!"
Since Ye Xuan didn't dare say who his master was, Zhao Hong no longer believed he had any powerful backing.
He might as well go all the way!
"Hmm?"
A sharp light suddenly flashed in Ye Xuan's eyes. "You want to rob me?"
Lin Xue, however, was horrified. "What are you trying to do? The sect forbids disciples from killing one another. If you're discovered, you'll be executed!"
She also turned toward Xue Yong's group. "Xue Yong, Zhang Tao, I must have been blind to associate with trash like you."
"Junior Brother Ye saved you, yet you repay his kindness with enmity. You're worse than pigs and dogs!"
Lin Xue was truly furious.
Though she was a little adorably clueless and innocent, she wasn't stupid.
How could she not know that all of this was Xue Yong's group's doing?
Since these people had followed them from the outskirts, they must have seen those demon beast corpses.
At the very least, they knew Ye Xuan had killed more than one demon beast.
Yet Ye Xuan now had no pack on him to hold the demon cores. Clearly, he had put them into a spatial treasure.
The observant Lin Xue had noticed this long ago as well. She simply hadn't asked or mentioned it, to avoid giving Ye Xuan the wrong impression.
At Lin Xue's words, Xue Yong and the others instantly flushed crimson, but their expressions soon turned greedy and vicious.
Zhao Hong, meanwhile, looked coldly at Lin Xue and snapped:
"Shut up! This is the back mountain. There isn't a soul around. If you dare spout any more nonsense, believe me, I'll fuck you first, then toss you to the demon beasts!"
At those words, Lin Xue's heart instantly turned ice-cold.
Ye Xuan, however, smiled when he heard them. His smile was dazzling, looking utterly harmless.
There was no grievance or feud between them, yet these people wanted to attack him and humiliate a girl like this.
He had saved Xue Yong and his group. Yet not only did they fail to repay him, they actually wanted to repay his kindness with enmity!
Ye Xuan forcibly suppressed the killing intent churning like overturned rivers and seas in his heart, but his face was full of excitement. "Robbery? Murder? Stealing treasures?"
"Hahaha, this is my favorite kind of show! Come on, all of you at once. Let's see if there are enough of you for me to kill!"