Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“Apprentice brother, wait!”
The four stopped Jiang Chen when they saw him start to leave.
“Apprentice brother.”
One of the girls walked up to him and said gently, “We’ve consumed much of our energy and need to recover immediately, but we cannot take in the spirit of universe here. Could you protect us for a while?”
In the Realm of Beasts, it was fatal if one used up all of their energy.
Although the four had only consumed one third of theirs, they still panicked.
The girl blinked at him, as if afraid he would refuse. She expected his answer hopefully.
“Okay.”
Jiang Chen glanced at the other girl who had warned him. He was willing to help for her sake.
“That’s great!”
The girl who had asked for his help thought he had agreed for her sake. She shouted in surprise.
The five found a place to take a rest where there weren’t many monsters.
Jiang Chen learned their names. Xu Tao and Han Qianye were the two men’s names.
The girl who had warned him was called Shui Sheng. She was a small, cute girl. After the danger was gone, she was quite quiet.
Tan Yun was the opposite. She was good at making friends, very talkative and warmhearted to Jiang Chen, but Jiang Chen didn’t tell them too much about him. They had only met by chance. He didn’t want to expose too much about himself and bring trouble to them.
He had killed Mo Qing. There was a high chance her clansmen would seek revenge against him.
However, the four thought he was trying to be mysterious. They assumed he had a great background since he had achieved the Mental Wander State at such a young age.
Jiang Chen took some dead bodies of the monsters he had killed out of the mustardseed ring when saw them trying to recover their genuine yuan with panaceas. He cooked some meat soup with them.
“Mustardseed ring?”
The four’s eyes lit up. The way Tan Yuan looked at Jiang Chen became more frenzied. She said, “Apprentice brother, you’re in the Mental Wander State at such a young age. You must be from a big school, right? Tell me about yourself.”
She approached Jiang Chen and started to act coquettishly.
“I’m from a mountain area,” Jiang Chen smiled helplessly.
“Mountain area?”
Tan Yun started to connect the dots and said, “The Water Flame Villa? The Eighteen Castles of Connected Clouds? The Sword Immortal Mountain?!”
She named three big groups in the Fire Field in a row, especially the last one, which was the best of best.
She was sure Jiang Chen was from a powerful group, as both his appearance and attainments were first-class, so she wanted to attach herself to him.
It would be best for her if they could become a couple.
Xu Tao and Han Qianye were unhappy to see Tan Yun behaving like this. They felt less grateful to Jiang Chen.
Shui Sheng had lowered her head, lost in her thoughts.
Suddenly, Jiang Chen stood up and looked ahead. He said, “Someone is coming.”
They heard footsteps soon.
“I was wondering who was flirting in the forest. It’s you. No wonder.”
A harsh woman’s voice was heard before she arrived.
Tan Yuan was the most irritated. She raised her eyebrows and stared at the woman who had spoken.
Soon, a group of people showed up, as many as twenty.
The woman walking at the front was the one who had spoken. She was pretty, wearing delicate makeup and soft armor that didn’t match each other.
“Li Xin, what do you mean?” Tan Yun shouted.
“Nothing, I’m just passing by. I’ve come to say hi since we’re old friends. Is this the guy you’re into? He doesn’t look so great.” The woman called Li Xin started to size up Jiang Chen from head to toe and then shook her head.
“Not holding any spiritual weapons and only wearing a robe. How miserable!” she said.
“Hum! Li Xin! You’re ignorant. This apprentice brother is already in the Mental Wander State. Of course he doesn’t need any protective clothing. He can kill a general-level monster with one attack.”
Tan Yun sneered and laughed at her ignorance.
“Mental Wander State?”
Li Xin was struck dumb. She hadn’t expected Jiang Chen to be in such a high state at such a young age.
As a Gathering Yuan State, she regretted what she had said, but then something occurred to her, and she shrugged her shoulders as if it was no big deal.
“A Mental Wander State in the beginning of the preliminary stage. He’s nothing comparing with Apprentice Brother Xiang.”
Behind her was an elegant youngster, watching the two women bicker with great interest. He smiled when the others looked over to him.
“Are you also a swordsman? You can kill a general-level monster with one attack? Sounds interesting. Do you want to have a fight with me so that we can learn from each other?” Apprentice Brother Xiang said.
“Not interested,” Jiang Chen replied.
That wasn’t the answer Apprentice Brother Xiang had expected. He squinted at Jiang Chen.
“Are you afraid? That’s normal. Apprentice Brother Xiang is senior disciple of the Sword Sect of Returning to Oneness. Anyone who fights him with a sword is asking for trouble,” Li Xin said.
“Sword Sect of Returning to Oneness? Senior disciple?”
Tan Yun was surprised. She had been trying to win credit for herself, but the new information was enough to explain the situation.
Tan Yun was unhappy, since she once again had to submit to Li Xin. She was secretly hoping Jiang Chen could do something great to show her up.
But to her surprise, Jiang Chen said, “You’ve more or less recovered. It’s time for me to leave.”
Then he turned around and left.
Tan Yun opened her eyes wide and stared. He would be laughed at if he left at this time. The others would think he was trying to escape.
Or, was he actually trying to escape?
“Did I say you could go?”
To everyone’s surprise, Apprentice Brother Xiang suddenly spoke in a low and sharp voice.
Two disciples of the Sword Sect of Returning to Oneness grinned and stopped in front of Jiang Chen.
“Don’t get in my way.” Jiang Chen frowned, unhappy.
“What’ll you do if we get in your way? Didn’t you hear what Apprentice Brother Xiang said?”
“Do you think you’re great just because you’re in the Mental Wander State? Apprentice Brother Xiang could give you a beating so good you won’t be able to recognize your own mother!”
The two disciples were in the Gathering Yuan State. They weren’t afraid of Jiang Chen at all.
“You can leave, but you have to recognize me and leave your sword here,” Apprentice Brother Xiang said.
He wasn’t coveting Jiang Chen’s sword; he couldn’t even see his sword.
It was the rule of the Sword Sect of Returning to Oneness. If two swordsmen fought, the one who lost had to leave his sword.
In Apprentice Brother Xiang’s eyes, Jiang Chen had lost. He had lost because he had tried to escape.
Tan Yun didn’t know what to do, since things were getting out of hand. She didn’t dare speak, afraid that she could say something wrong, but Shui Sheng said anxiously, “We don’t have any problems between us. Apprentices of the Sword Sect of Returning to Oneness, as disciples of one of the top ten sects and schools, you should be men of dignity—”
“Shui Sheng!” Tan Yun interrupted her nervously.
Li Xin was smirking.
“Do you mean I’m not showing you any dignity right now?”
Apprentice Brother Xiang’s voice sounded ice cold. He showed an aggressive energy.
“No… I didn’t mean that.” Shui Sheng was so frightened by him that she even started to tremble.
“Slap yourself until I say you can stop!” Apprentice Brother Xiang ordered.
Shui Sheng was dumbfounded. She raised her head with a lost and frightened expression.
“Didn’t you hear what Apprentice Brother Xiang said, b*tch?”
Li Xin was more than glad to seize the opportunity to give Tan Yun a blow, although she was aiming for her friend at the moment. She walked up to Shui Sheng and slapped her across her face.
Smack!
Shui Sheng closed her eyes in fear, but she didn’t feel the expected hot and painful tingling on her face.
She opened her eyes cautiously and saw Li Xin’s hand had been grasped by another big hand.
It was Jiang Chen’s hand.
“She was right. You don’t show any dignity. No, to be more precise, you’re a piece of crap bully. It’s ridiculous for you to even talk about dignity.”
Jiang Chen looked over to Apprentice Brother Xiang and said the words slowly for emphasis.
