Lin Xianhuo took Little Dingdong by the hand and rushed out of the alley, her face trembling beneath her black robe.
At that moment, she felt a tightness in her chest, and even her breathing grew ragged.
She was a genius, a genius from the imperial capital!
And what of it?
Now she could only watch as someone at a lower cultivation level than her stood in front of her, shielding her from two opponents they had no chance of defeating!
Her pride had been shattered to pieces.
When Xiao Fan activated elemental overlap like a madman, she knew that compared to him, what kind of genius was she? She wasn't worth shit.
She was nothing but a useless deserter!
She suddenly began to hate herself. Why had she left so decisively back then, without keeping even a single trump card? Otherwise, she could have called her family here and solved every problem in an instant.
All she could do was run, run like mad. Only then could she feel a little better.
As for Xiao Fan?
He wasn't panicking in the slightest. He had over a hundred cultivation techniques in his body, all working at once. They were like lubricating oil: one drop was fuck-all use, but a hundred drops worked pretty well.
The three kinds of power weren't actually fully compatible; a thin barrier kept them apart.
Xiao Fan wasn't the kind of person who would throw his life away to save someone.
He was as steady as an old dog.
But on the surface?
"Come on!" Xiao Fan roared furiously, chasing the two men like a madman.
Pang Hu couldn't take it anymore. Veins bulged on his forehead as he turned and threw a punch.
Bang!
Their fists collided, and both men staggered back more than ten steps.
Pang Hu roared, "You think a little brat like you can fucking scare me off?"
"I'll take your surname if you do!"
Huang Meng hurriedly said from the side, "Don't do it! There's no need to go that far!"
"Boss, don't worry about me. I'm going all out today! At worst, we'll die together!" A fierce glint flared in Pang Hu's eyes.
His talent was ordinary too, only six stars, but he was ruthless enough and reckless enough with his life to get where he was today.
Xiao Fan's heart skipped a beat. This is bad.
He'd thought driving the two men off would be enough.
If they fought, the influx of outside power could very well throw the power inside him into chaos and make him explode.
Pang Hu charged at him like a madman. Xiao Fan suddenly raised a hand and shouted, "Wait!"
Pang Hu stopped in his tracks and frowned. "What?"
"I'm telling you, don't touch me!" Xiao Fan took a deep breath. "As long as you don't touch me, I can keep it under control. If you do, I might really explode!"
"What do you mean? Are you threatening me?!" Pang Hu grew even angrier.
He raised a fist to smash it into Xiao Fan's face.
Xiao Fan hurriedly looked at Huang Meng and shouted, "If you don't stop him, we'll all die!"
Huang Meng wasn't nearly as reckless with his life as Pang Hu. He hurried forward and grabbed him. "No, no, no!"
"Ahu, it really doesn't have to come to this!"
"My son's hand can still be reattached!"
"We can talk this out. Dying over it isn't worth it!"
Pang Hu was furious. "So, boss, we're just going to bow our heads to a little brat?"
"Look at the fucking scars on this guy! He looks young, but could he really be some ordinary character?!" Huang Meng shouted.
"He's ruthless too, just like you were when you were young! But we're not young anymore!"
"You've got a wife and a kid now. You can't keep doing things without regard for your life. If you die, what happens to your wife and kid?!"
This time, Pang Hu was persuaded.
On the empty street, all three stood perfectly still, watching one another and keeping a safe distance.
Huang Meng pulled Pang Hu behind him and said coldly, "You're smart. I really can't touch you!"
"Fine, we'll just stay here like this!"
"But I want to know why you chopped off my son's hand!"
Xiao Fan said coldly, "A little girl who didn't know any better came to the black market to buy cancer medicine for her grandma. Your son wanted to fuck her, and I didn't like it, so I fucked him up! Got a problem with that?"
Huang Meng sneered. "Stupid kindness!"
"Fuck, what if the one with cancer were your grandma?" Xiao Fan shouted.
Huang Meng took a deep breath and shot back without giving an inch, "I got where I am today precisely so I wouldn't be that powerless in the future!"
"As far as I'm concerned, there are no what-ifs!"
Xiao Fan grinned. "I like enemies like you!"
"Oh, and while we're at it, I beat your right-hand man, Black Butcher, to death!"
"Fuck!" Huang Meng roared. "I'm telling you, even if you survive today, sooner or later I'll dig you out! I'll fuck you to death!"
"What the fuck, are you gay?!" Xiao Fan cursed.
"You're the fucking gay one! I meant I'll beat you to death!" Huang Meng cursed back.
Xiao Fan sneered. "From now on, I'll stay with that girl who uses fire every day, like we're conjoined twins. The moment I see you, I'll use elemental overlap. Go on, do me!"
"How can you be such a bastard?!" Huang Meng was beside himself with anger.
The two sides remained at a stalemate.
Xiao Fan went straight to the system! He glanced over the three cultivation techniques he could choose from and was a little disappointed.
He'd thought he could choose any cultivation technique he wanted, but the system had only given him three to pick from!
A surprise!
One was an enhancement technique that increased strength-Iron Arm!
After selecting it, he immediately started cultivating!
"Ding, Iron Arm cultivation progress: 1%."
Just then!
Xiao Fan noticed that his lubricating oil had nearly evaporated. He couldn't hold on anymore, but the girls should have gotten far enough away by now.
So...
"Goodbye!" Xiao Fan snorted, turned around, and ran.
Huang Meng shouted, "After him!"
"He can't hold on much longer!"
The two hurried after him, but as soon as Xiao Fan disappeared into the sewer, they lost him.
Huang Meng covered his nose and cursed.
"What kind of piece of shit runs into a sewer?"
"That's fucking disgusting!"
"Forget it. We'll find him tomorrow!"
"Come on, Ahu, let's go home!"
The biggest leader of Green Leaf City's underworld flew into a thunderous rage that night.
He had actually been tricked by a little brat!
It was an utterly humiliating disgrace.
Fortunately, he had a good memory. He immediately began drawing a portrait and sent all his underlings out to find where Xiao Fan lived!
Xiao Fan had already released all his power by then, and he felt deeply uneasy.
Fuck.
He'd gone too far!
That guy had so many underlings looking for him every day; they were bound to find him.
Ugh, what a pain!
Xiao Fan crouched in a dark alley on a street corner, sighed, took out his phone, and reluctantly made a call.
"Beep, beep, beep..."
The call was answered after three rings.
"Xiao Fan! You actually called me of your own accord!"
Shao Yan's bashful voice came from the other end.
Xiao Fan's face stiffened. "You haven't had too much to drink again, have you?"
"Don't worry, it's a goddesses-only gathering today. We're all girls, so you don't need to come take me home!" Shao Yan chuckled.
"Go on, you wouldn't visit a temple without a reason. What do you need my help with?"
Xiao Fan sighed. "I chopped off Huang Meng's son's hand-you know, the black market boss!"
"He saw my real face. Tomorrow he'll definitely be looking for me all over the place!"
"Oh, things got out of hand? Why?" Shao Yan asked curiously.
"To save a little girl."
"Who?"
"Is that the point?"
"Oh, come on, I'm curious."
"I think her name was Xiao Dingdang or something?"
"What?!" Shao Yan's heart jolted. "Is she the one who likes wearing a blue dress?"
"You know her?"
"I do!" Shao Yan hurriedly said. "Why did she go to the black market?"
"To buy cancer medicine," Xiao Fan said with a sigh.
"She's such a stubborn little girl. Sigh, I noticed her before and gave her money, but she absolutely refused to take it!" Shao Yan said helplessly.
"How do you know that little girl?" Xiao Fan was somewhat shocked too. Green Leaf City was that small?
Shao Yan lowered her voice. "This involves an enormous secret. You mustn't tell anyone!"
"Never mind, I don't want to hear it." Xiao Fan hurriedly shook his head.
"No, listen!"
"Come on, why would I want to hear this secret?" Xiao Fan said helplessly.
"Hehe, I'll just tell you. Little Dingdong... has a mythical-grade talent!"
"What?!" Xiao Fan shrieked. "Holy shit?"
"You're green with envy, aren't you?" Shao Yan chuckled, but then her voice grew downcast. "Her parents died in a war years ago, and she only has one elderly relative left at home."
"Some years ago, she took a talent test, and they found she had no talent. But her grandma had someone call me and say that Little Dingdong was amazing and could make plants grow quickly."
"So I went to take a look."
"It turned out her talent was so high that the test couldn't detect it."
"Mythical: All Things Grow."
"Holy crap..." Xiao Fan was both delighted and regretful. "Wait, with a talent like All Things Grow, shouldn't saving her grandma be easy?"
"Leaving the cancer aside, it's really just... the end of her natural lifespan." Shao Yan sighed repeatedly as well.
"If you hadn't stepped in today and her mythical talent had awakened and run wild, that would have been real trouble."
"I made an agreement with her before: once she'd finished taking care of her grandma, she'd come study at the academy instead of wasting her talent. She agreed."
"Now it looks like... that won't be long. At most, she'll be in the class after yours."
"All right, I'll go see Huang Meng now. I'll take care of this for you."
"Okay." Xiao Fan nodded. "Thanks."
"Hmph, I'm telling you, I don't help people easily."
Xiao Fan shot back without hesitation, "Then next time you drink too much, get home on your own."
"What a jerk!" Shao Yan hung up angrily.