Chapter Twenty-Five: Brother Has Made a Payment

Qian Qianxue was filled with exasperation. That damned nickname—he actually called it out in front of everyone!

A little annoyed, she decided to vent her anger on the blonde girl before her, whom she already found disagreeable. The other side was completely unreasonable. Their group, following Song Yue’s advice, hadn’t strayed far and had camped nearby. Not long ago, someone in their party had discovered a supreme-grade spirit herb at the Qi-nourishing level and was about to dig it up, only to be ambushed by this group right in front of them.

Meng Xudong had stepped forward to stop them and was knocked down, while the other side shamelessly claimed they had found it first.

Luckily, Song Yue had returned at just the right moment!

Qian Qianxue was both a martial artist and spellcaster, focusing primarily on wind-based spells. Facing the blonde girl, who specialized in fire attacks, Qian Qianxue was a bit anxious, but not afraid.

She first cast a wind attribute spell on herself, making her body as light and agile as a wisp, and with her martial arts foundation, her movements became so swift they were difficult to follow. In the blink of an eye, she had suppressed the blonde girl, leaving her almost powerless to retaliate.

Every time the blonde managed to summon a flame, it was instantly snuffed out by Qian Qianxue’s wind. If not for Qian Qianxue’s reluctance to strike hard—and unlike Song Yue, she avoided attacking vulnerable spots—the blonde likely would have been finished already.

There were over a dozen students on the western side. Seeing their companion overwhelmed, they shouted and surged forward, ready to attack Qian Qianxue. On the cultivation academy’s side, the high-level students could no longer tolerate this and charged in, each forming hand seals and unleashing their own spells in counterattack.

Meanwhile, the red-haired man had been cornered by Song Yue. He repeatedly activated a magical device on his wrist, trying to disrupt Song Yue, but each attempt was blocked by the invisible protective aura around Song Yue.

The red-haired man had some martial skill, but before Song Yue he was clearly outclassed, not even having reached the master’s level.

But then, the red-haired man flashed a strange smile at Song Yue. In the next instant, the trees around him began to grow madly, spawning thick vines that snaked toward Song Yue like serpents.

He was a nature-based practitioner from the western camp! When fighting Meng Xudong, he had only used magical devices, never revealing his real abilities. Now, pressed to the brink, he finally brought out his true strengths.

Song Yue swept his alloy spear in a wide arc, sending out waves of spear energy. The vines writhing toward him were shredded before they could even get close, their fragments scattering and filling the air with a fresh, verdant scent.

Now the red-haired man began to panic. Behind him stood a dense, wild forest. Though there weren’t many animals near the altar, some dangerous insects and poisonous creatures lurked in the undergrowth. Unless absolutely necessary, he didn’t want to charge blindly into the wilderness like a reckless brute.

Song Yue had already closed in. His alloy spear radiated a lethal aura, over a meter long, enough to make anyone’s heart quiver. The red-haired man, unable to contain himself, shouted, “I give up—!”

Crack!

Song Yue struck him across the face with the flat of his spear tip.

The red-haired man was sent flying.

Many of his companions thought Song Yue had killed him and screamed in panic, immediately ceasing all attacks.

The next moment, the red-haired man crawled out of a nearby thicket, half his face grotesquely swollen, glaring at Song Yue with a murderous look. He spat, his voice slurred with pain and fury: “I already said I give up!”

Song Yue suddenly felt like laughing.

It seemed not only the naïve students from the cultivation academy were like this—even the young people from the western side weren’t much better!

What did they think this was? Child’s play?

Yet it was often such seemingly naïve and ignorant people who caused the greatest damage—beyond anyone’s expectations. Don’t be fooled by their willingness to beg for mercy when they’re losing; if the tables were turned, especially in this remote and lawless secret realm, who knows what they’d do?

Fortunately, the academy hadn’t suffered much—only poor little Meng had been knocked down, but he seemed to be alright.

Song Yue had no desire to become a ruthless killer or appear to be a bloodthirsty butcher, so he didn’t go too hard on the red-haired man.

The red-haired man clutched his face, blood trickling from his mouth. Though Song Yue hadn’t used his full strength, the strike was still heavy—a few teeth had been knocked out, and he could barely speak. Yet the man was tough, discreetly spitting out his teeth without complaining publicly.

At this point, only the fight between Qian Qianxue and the blonde girl continued. The two were so engrossed in their battle, and a little distant from the others, that they hadn’t noticed the conflict was over.

Qian Qianxue was especially immersed. She rarely fought like this, and through the duel she realized it was nothing like sparring with classmates—she could never predict what her opponent would do next. She had to adapt on the fly.

Fortunately, she was clearly much stronger and could keep her opponent on the defensive. As the fight went on, Qian Qianxue found herself growing more fluent, gaining new insights into her own spells.

She couldn’t help but think: No wonder Song Yue likes fighting so much. It really does enrich your combat experience.

With the wind howling, the blonde girl looked utterly disheveled. Her close-fitting outfit was nearly shredded by Qian Qianxue’s razor-sharp wind spells, exposing quite a bit of skin.

Song Yue ignored the red-haired man’s furious glare and strolled over toward Qian Qianxue, spear in hand. When he saw the blonde’s sorry state, he burst out laughing and shouted, “Qian—tear her clothes off!”

Qian Qianxue: “…”

Only then did she realize the battle was over. She formed another hand seal, sending a gust of wind that lifted the blonde and slammed her to the ground several meters away.

At the last moment, she held back. Otherwise, not only would her opponent have been severely injured, she wouldn’t have a shred of clothing left. Qian Qianxue was a young lady, not a shameless rascal like Song Yue, who seemed obsessed with seeing others’ clothes torn off.

The blonde girl struggled to her feet. Though uninjured, shame burned within her. She shot Qian Qianxue and Song Yue a venomous glare and, without a word to her companions, turned and walked away.

The whole fight left her feeling utterly humiliated. Who would have thought that the pretty eastern girl, who had previously tried so hard to reason with them, would transform into someone so fierce and display such terrifying mastery of magic once that scoundrel arrived? If she’d known, she never would have tried to snatch the herb.

The rest of the western group also turned to leave.

“Wait,” Song Yue called out. “You’re just going to walk away?”

The blonde at the front spun around, glaring. “Don’t get cocky! This isn’t over!”

Song Yue grinned. “You’re right. It’s not over.”

Her eyes were icy. “What do you want?”

By now, the westerners had noticed their red-haired companion’s teeth had been knocked out. They were furious, but too intimidated to say much. Who would have expected two martial artists to sneak into a group of cultivation students? The previous one—a so-called world martial arts champion—wasn’t a big deal, but this newcomer was a real menace.

Even their strongest—the red-haired youth—had been beaten, his teeth knocked out, left miserable and defeated.

Song Yue said, “What do I want? You think you can just walk away after what you’ve done without even an apology? Where in the world does that happen?”

The blonde girl gritted her teeth, staring coldly at Song Yue. “Sorry!” she spat.

“I don’t forgive you,” Song Yue replied.

She was stunned, then furious.

“If ‘sorry’ fixed everything, why would we need enforcers?” Song Yue looked at her. “When you do something wrong, it’s not enough to just say sorry. Didn’t your elders teach you that if you hurt someone, you have to make amends?”

Injure little Meng and expect to just walk away? Not likely!

Song Yue decided to teach Meng the protective aura technique later. After a few encounters, he’d found Meng to be a decent person, at least responsible. Martial artists were at a huge disadvantage against those who specialized in mental attacks—one psychic blow and they’d be finished.

The blonde was dumbstruck, then burst out angrily, “Our people got hurt too. Are you going to compensate us?”

Song Yue looked at her as if she were crazy. “Why would I compensate you?”

The blonde, who had been so self-righteous, was suddenly speechless. How could he be like this? Sure, they had been in the wrong, trying to steal the herb. But the herb was still there, their people had already been punished, her companion’s teeth knocked out, and she herself left in tatters—how could he still not let it go?

Song Yue grew impatient. “What, still not satisfied? How about we keep fighting until you’re all knocked out, then toss you into the deep forest and leave you to fend for yourselves!”

The westerners thought Song Yue would threaten to rob them, but this was even worse—he wanted to toss them all into the wilderness…

At this, one of the westerners couldn’t help but say, “Friends from the cultivation academy, always leave a way out for others…”

Song Yue sneered. “Did you think to leave a way out earlier?” He pointed at Meng Xudong, still lying on the ground. “Did you spare him?”

The red-haired man thought, If I hadn’t, would he still be lying there watching the show? But he kept this to himself. Facing this eastern youth, not as tall or handsome as himself, he was filled with fear. The other was simply too strong!

In the end, the westerners reluctantly took some spirit herbs from their packs and piled them up, forming a small hill. Clearly, they had each kept the best for themselves, but Song Yue couldn’t be bothered to argue and waved them off.

Once the western group had left, Meng Xudong scrambled to his feet and rushed over to Song Yue, examining him from head to toe. He was shocked—he’d expected Song Yue to return alive, but to see him completely unscathed was astonishing. Did Song Yue actually avoid confronting Zhang Zixing’s group and just circle through the woods?

But what shocked him more was Song Yue’s newfound strength! Previously, Meng hadn’t been a match for Song Yue, but the gap hadn’t felt so wide. In just a few days, Song Yue’s power had exploded. Even attacks that once disturbed his spirit sea didn’t affect him—did he possess some magical artifact?

No wonder he dared to take on Zhang Zixing’s group.

“Song Yue, how did you get so strong?” Meng Xudong couldn’t help but ask.

Song Yue grinned. “I paid to win!”

Meng Xudong was speechless, a look of utter disbelief on his face.

Song Yue then approached Qian Qianxue, beaming with approval. “Qian—”

Her autumn-water eyes glared at him. “Call me that again and see what happens!”

“Little sister, you’re amazing!” Song Yue praised her with a smile.

———

Third update delivered! I’ll try to post as much as I can, so don’t just keep this novel on your shelf—read along and join the discussion! Let’s get fired up!