The sudden fist strike, like an invincible battle axe, shattered the all-consuming iron ring sabers with a roar.
Crack!
With a crisp sound, the fist landed on Feng Xiu’s chest.
Thump!
Feng Xiu’s body, like a kite with a broken string, flew dozens of meters before crashing to the ground. He writhed in pain, letting out continuous groans.
“Ah—”
“Someone save me, my bones are broken!”
Feng Xiu cried out in agony, his features contorted into a mask of suffering. He was a pathetic sight, a far cry from his earlier arrogance.
Yet, despite his pleas, none of his allies dared to step forward. The dark golden energy of the Dao Source still lingered on Feng Xiu’s chest.
The black-brown devouring force attempted to consume the dark golden Dao Source, but in the end, it was vaporized by the Dao Source itself, turning into white mist.
Witnessing this, everyone’s hearts pounded. Feng Xiu’s devouring force had been evaporated by another energy, as swiftly as it absorbed other energies, without any resistance.
What kind of energy could achieve such a feat, capable of countering the domain lord’s technique? And who was wielding this energy?
The answer was before them.
The young man who had thrown the punch stood motionless.
He didn’t move, so no one else dared to move, leaving Feng Xiu to lie in misery on the ground.
“Brother Mu Xu, you’re alive!” Jiang Sheng exclaimed with joy, then broke free from Qi Lan and ran towards Xu Mu, intending to give him a bear hug. However, Xu Mu repelled him with his right hand, looking disgusted and preventing the embrace.
“A fortune teller once told me my fate was strong, not so easy to die,” Xu Mu chuckled lightly, then turned to the other psychics in the arena. He asked Jiang Sheng, “Tell me, what’s going on?”
“We were robbed,” Qi Lan said, dispelling his water element abilities and walking over with relief. He added, “No, it should be robbed twice.”
“Jiang Sheng’s condition was poor due to worry for your safety, so those teammates robbed him of his points. It’s that group of people over there.” Qi Lan tilted his chin towards Liu Hao and the others. Xu Mu glanced over, and the six of them hastily averted their gazes, not daring to meet his eyes.
“Then, before we could leave, these guys showed up. They not only wanted to take ours, but mine as well…”
Qi Lan recounted the events in a few simple sentences. As Xu Mu listened to how Jiang Sheng was willing to die for these matters, he felt an inexplicable surge of emotion.
“Although this kid is a bit foolish and quick-tempered, he’s a decent person,” Xu Mu patted Jiang Sheng’s shoulder, hesitating for a moment before turning his gaze back to the others in the arena.
“I don’t need to tell you what to do. You robbed others, so be prepared to be robbed.”
“That’s right, don’t even think about running!” Qi Lan sneered, having already quietly circled behind them, creating a pincer movement with Xu Mu.
Two people, encircling over twenty.
“You bunch of losers, are you stupid enough to be intimidated by two brats?” Feng Xiu gritted his teeth and sat up, his body wracked with pain. He looked at Xu Mu with a pained expression and said in a low voice, “He just launched a sneak attack. His real strength might not be that great. Besides, we have so many people; are we really going to be scared by just him?”
“Moreover, if he’s strong, he must have a lot of points. Whoever kills him gets all the points!”
At these words, the psychics who had felt fear and were contemplating escape found a flicker of courage. But before this courage could surge into their limbs, a dull impact echoed through the arena.
Bang!
Xu Mu flashed forward and stomped Yu Xiu’s head into the dirt. The reverberation echoed through the forest like an exploding cannonball.
“So much nonsense.”
Xu Mu’s eyes were cold as he pinned Feng Xiu under his foot. He then surveyed the crowd and said, “Three seconds. Hand over all your points. Those who don’t, or try to escape, I can’t guarantee your safety!”
“Three!”
Xu Mu began counting down. Everyone’s eyes widened as they looked for help, secretly communicating to plan a resistance or escape, but no one moved first. Xu Mu’s invincible punch and his lightning-fast speed were still vivid in their minds.
Fighting seemed impossible, and running away was even more so. Moreover, the consequences of failure after attempting to escape or resist could be death.
What were points compared to life?
“Two.”
As Xu Mu counted down to two, the psychics in the arena began to surrender their points, which were instantly transferred into their jade slips.
Swish!
Xu Mu watched his score and ranking climb rapidly. The final number settled at sixty-seven hundred and twenty, placing him sixty-second overall.
“So many, and only sixty-second?” Xu Mu was surprised. He had been worried about being too conspicuous if he shot to first place with so many points, but he hadn’t expected to be only sixty-second.
He glanced at the leaderboard and saw that the top-ranked players all had at least tens of thousands of points. The highest even surpassed a hundred thousand, with just the decimal points exceeding his total.
“Ye Gong.”
Xu Mu read out the name of the first-ranked player and fell silent. It seemed this person had some serious skills to accumulate so many points in such a short time, leaving the other contestants far behind.
“Are all the points accounted for? No one’s holding back, right? I’ll check them one by one later, don’t try any tricks!” Qi Lan said, sternly inspecting the jade slips of each psychic. Anyone who met his glare with defiance was met with a barrage of kicks and blows.
“Ora ora ora!”
“Ah, that feels good.”
After the beating, Qi Lan felt his muscles loosen and the air become fresher.
He had been on the receiving end of beatings all this time, and now he finally had the chance to dish them out. It was truly exhilarating.
“Since there are no missing points, let them go then,” Xu Mu nodded and said.
“Wait a moment, everyone!”
Just as everyone breathed a sigh of relief and prepared to flee, Qi Lan suddenly shouted, startling everyone.
“Letting them go now seems a bit unreasonable,” Qi Lan frowned, feeling that something was still undone, though he couldn’t recall what.
“I remember now, these six people must stay,” Qi Lan suddenly slapped his thigh and pointed at Liu Hao and the other five.
“Although this is a competition and points are earned through strength, and being robbed is just a sign of being inferior, Jiang Sheng was your brother.” Qi Lan spat at the six and said disdainfully, “When your brother was in trouble, you stood by and watched, and even took advantage of his misfortune to steal his points.”
“People like you disgust me just looking at you, so you must pay the price!”
At these words, the faces of the six turned ashen.
Xu Mu also looked at the six.
It was getting dark, but he could still recognize their faces. He remembered when he first met them earlier, the scene of them dragging Jiang Sheng away. He remembered the hopeful faces they turned towards him when he rushed forward.
At that time, he thought Jiang Sheng was the one being helped. He didn’t realize that Jiang Sheng’s injuries were actually caused by these people.
“How do you want to deal with them?” Xu Mu asked Jiang Sheng.
Jiang Sheng leaned against a large rock, looking at everyone with a complex expression. He pursed his lips, wanting to say something, but ultimately said nothing.
Despite his fiery temper, he was inherently kind and cared deeply for his brothers. So, even though they had betrayed him, he couldn’t bring himself to punish them severely, at most severing ties.
“Brother Jiang Sheng, please forgive us. We’ll never dare to do it again!” the slender girl pleaded tearfully, her cries so convincing that one might think she was the victim.
“Yes, Brother Jiang, we were forced to. Please be magnanimous and spare us,” Liu Hao and the others echoed, bowing and scraping, all the while watching Xu Mu’s expression, their hearts filled with extreme anxiety.
“I didn’t mean to…” the youngest among them, Mu Bei, also spoke, his eyes red.
“Sigh, forget it,” Jiang Sheng finally spoke. He closed his eyes and said weakly, “Let them go. I don’t want to dwell on it anymore.”
Hearing this, Xu Mu nodded silently. He and Qi Lan exchanged a glance, and both men instantly appeared before the six, slapping each of them three times.
Slap, slap, slap, slap, slap!
Front and back, three times each. After Xu Mu slapped the last girl, his anger finally subsided.
“Jiang Sheng is my brother. He might let it go, but I, as his brother, cannot.”
“You can all go now. Don’t let me see you again,” Xu Mu said, waving his hand dismissively. He was tired today and needed to rest.
The many psychics, who had been on edge, felt a wave of relief. Two young men helped Feng Xiu up, and they followed the crowd in a hasty retreat into the forest. But just then, someone called out those two words again.
“Wait.”