The crossbow bolt was extremely fast. Most people would have had no chance to react.

Seeing Xu Lai standing there dumbfounded, a smug smile appeared on Dai Yong's face. What a useless fool!

But then, something shocking happened.

The three crossbow bolts halted just a meter from Xu Lai, shattering inch by inch as if they had struck a terrifying barrier.

BOOM!

Dai Yong felt as if his scalp had exploded.

The crossbow had been custom-made from Meteoric Iron and infused with his inner strength. Even a Seventh-Grade Martial Ancestor would be wounded if caught unawares.

But the bolts… they actually exploded in front of Xu Lai! How is that possible!

With no time to think, Dai Yong fired another volley of three.

Yet, just as before, the bolts burst apart, still unable to get within a meter of Xu Lai. A sense of crisis bloomed in Dai Yong's heart.

"As expected of the Flower Fairy's illegitimate son."

Dai Yong's expression darkened. "So he's a Martial Ancestor too!"

That's right. Only a martial artist at the Third Grade Boundary or higher could block his attacks so effortlessly.

He had indeed considered the possibility that Xu Lai was a Martial Ancestor.

But according to the plan, Xu Lai should have been worried about Zhao Xixi's safety and taking her home. He hadn't expected this.

"Flower Fairy…"

Xu Lai frowned slightly. This wasn't the first time he'd heard that name. He had heard it twice from Tan Chang already.

And now this bizarre martial artist was muttering it too…

Could it be that the Flower Fairy was behind everything?

"Good acting."

Dai Yong sneered. To think Xu Lai was pretending not to know about the Flower Fairy. Everyone in the Martial Dao World knew Mount Haitang was hers.

Xu Lai's frown deepened. He found the man's words increasingly bizarre.

He decided not to bother with him any longer. With a casual wave of his hand, Xu Lai turned Dai Yong into specks of ash that scattered on the wind, leaving no trace of his existence in the world.

Xu Lai raised his head, his calm gaze fixed on the empty space before him. "Do you want to die too?"

But there was no one in front of him.

Xu Lai seemed to be talking to the air.

Ruan Lan, absorbed in her book with her headphones on, was oblivious to the battle behind her. She was completely unaware that a person had just evaporated into nothingness.

Head down, listening to music and reading her book, she returned to the classroom.

Xu Lai found Zhao Xixi and escorted her home. "You should be safe for now."

For now?

Zhao Xixi was a bit confused, then she asked softly, "Sister Ruan Lan said you're a magician, brother-in-law."

Before Xu Lai could reply, she scratched her head. "The way you disappeared suddenly at school, was that magic too? It's amazing."

Xu Lai smiled. "Want to learn?"

"No."

"..."

Then why did you waste my time chattering about it!

Xu Lai rolled his eyes and left after completing his mission.

「...」

Far away, at the foot of the Nameless Mountain over a hundred kilometers away, stood a lush bamboo forest. Within it was a bamboo house.

Inside the bamboo house.

An old man stared in horror, staggering back several steps. On the table before him, the Spirit Mirror exploded into fragments the moment Xu Lai uttered the words, "Do you want to die too?"

"Th-this…"

The old man gasped, a cold chill seeping into his bones.

Through the Spirit Mirror, he had witnessed the entire process of his disciple Dai Yong's death, including Xu Lai's indifferent gaze just before the mirror shattered.

Even from hundreds of kilometers away, the old man felt as if he were being targeted by a primordial beast.

He was in mortal danger!

"Flower Fairy! All I wanted was half of your Mount Haitang! You wouldn't even grant me that!?"

The old man slammed the table in anger. "Today, Xu Lai killed my disciple and destroyed my Spirit Mirror! I will remember this grudge!"

"Master, is Senior Brother Dai Yong... dead?" Inside the bamboo house, a pale-faced woman with a fine figure asked.

"Mm."

The old man's expression was grim. "Xu Lai is a Martial Ancestor. Dai Yong was no match for him."

"Master, let's give up on contending for Mount Haitang," the woman said nervously. From the very beginning, she had felt the plan was unreliable.

That was the Flower Fairy! Not to mention she had now broken through to the Divine Gate, even when she was at the peak of Ninth Grade, she had established a fearsome reputation inside and outside Hua Country. How could any human possibly be a match for the Flower Fairy!

"Hm?"

The old man shot her a cold, questioning look.

Although the woman was afraid, she still mustered her courage. "Master, we cannot defeat the Flower Fairy."

BANG!

With a gesture from the old man, the woman's body floated toward him uncontrollably.

He squeezed his disciple's neck, hissing out each word, "Do you also think I will lose?"

"Master, I-I didn't..."

The woman's face flushed red. The hands around her neck were like iron tongs, leaving her unable to struggle free as her dangling feet kicked wildly.

"That's exactly what you meant!"

The old man's face was contorted with fury. "Even you look down on me! All of you look down on me! Die! Just die!"

SWOOSH!

As he clenched his hand, the woman's pupils dilated. Her arms dropped, and her body went still.

"Disciple! My disciple!"

The old man seemed to awaken from a dream. He suddenly clutched his disciple's body and began to weep bitterly. "Why did you have to leave me too…"

As the old man wept, a strange light flickered in his eyes. His mouth split open into a grotesque gash, and he swallowed his disciple's body in a single gulp.

The old man licked his lips, still unsated. "What a pity," he said with regret. "If I had eaten Dai Yong as well, my Boundary would have advanced even further."

He stamped his foot lightly.

With the bamboo house at its center, the bamboo forest in a ten-mile radius collapsed with a thunderous roar, all the bamboo turning to powder.

"Dai Yong, Chen Qing, you died such tragic deaths, not even leaving corpses behind. But rest assured, your master will avenge you…"

The old man spoke words of heartbreaking grief, yet he was smiling—a chilling, unnerving smile.

If anyone else had been there, they would have been scared witless by this deranged old man.

"I lost countless companions, but I finally made it through Chang'an City to Earth with three others. Just give me one month, and I will devour all the Dragon Veins and recover my peak Boundary."

"The Divine Gate… is nothing!"

The old man looked toward East Sea City, murmuring to himself as a strange green light glinted in his eyes. He stomped his foot violently and vanished on the spot.

「An hour later.」

Two figures appeared in the clearing: a robust, middle-aged man and a young woman in a red dress.

"Ji Zhao, why did the higher-ups have us search for some old man? We've been looking for so long and haven't found a single clue," the woman in the red dress spoke flirtatiously, her voice tinged with complaint.

The man named Ji Zhao didn't reply, his gaze swiftly sweeping across the surroundings.

The bamboo forest within a ten-mile radius had been pulverized, creating a vast, conspicuous clearing in the middle of the enormous woods.

"Otherworlder," he said gravely.

Ji Jing's flirtatious demeanor faded, her expression growing somber. "Ji Zhao, be careful with your words. No one from the Outside can cross Chang'an City!"

It was nine in the morning, yet the moon could still be seen hanging in the sky.

Ji Zhao looked up.

Glancing at the moon, he said indifferently, "Wasn't the lesson from three hundred years ago enough?"

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