Chapter 72: A World That Devours
As the wild energy dissipated, the sky gradually returned to a calm blue.
From the center of the explosion, a figure plummeted like a broken doll. Its aura was incredibly weak, one arm clearly broken, and it had fallen unconscious amidst the fading smoke, crashing hard into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Cai Die watched the scene unfold and realized she may have gone too far. But remembering Yao Yan's earlier warning, she quickly flew over to confirm whether the elder had truly lost the ability to act—she was too smart to fall for the same trick twice.
Meanwhile, Yao Yan had entered a full-on rampage mode, completely overpowering the two Dou Wangs.
Now that he had the Purple Cloud Wings, his final weakness had been patched. His flight agility had drastically increased. His speed was now so high that the Dou Wangs couldn't keep up, and since his attacks didn't rely on Dou Qi but brute force, they didn't give the opponents any chance to cast techniques.
Each time their Dou Qi began to gather, Yao Yan would land a punch and interrupt them, forcing the two to defend endlessly without ever countering.
Boom!
With a thunderous impact, Nalan Jie and Xiao Lin were knocked down again, slamming hard into the ground.
Nalan Jie couldn't endure it anymore—he coughed up blood, his right arm hanging limp and clearly broken. He looked up at the youth in the sky with a pale face—this youth, who only had the Dou Qi of a Da Dou Shi, had the physical body of a Tier 6 magical beast and strength beyond reason.
Most terrifying was how this boy seemed to know exactly when he was about to use a technique. Every time he tried, a punch would interrupt him perfectly.
And his speed was untouchable. All Nalan Jie could do was take the hits. Even basic techniques couldn't break his defense.
Xiao Lin wasn't doing much better. His only advantage was a tougher physique—his arms hadn't broken, and he had even managed to swallow his own blood. Feeling the numbness spreading through his limbs, he looked up at the youth and gave a bitter smile. He cupped his fists and admitted defeat, "I surrender. Do with me as you wish."
He knew if the fight continued, both of them would be dead. If Yao Yan had wanted to kill them from the start, they'd already be corpses.
"Xiao brother?!"
Nalan Jie was stunned by Xiao Lin's surrender. He hadn't expected it. How could he surrender? Even if we die…
Xiao Lin shook his head and looked up at Yao Yan, saying solemnly, "You're clearly not from the Jia Ma Empire. This must have been a misunderstanding."
Given Yao Yan's strength and youth, there was no way he belonged to the empire. And if that serpent-woman really was Queen Medusa, would she willingly follow a human man like that? It was all just their arrogant assumptions.
Now that they'd been beaten within an inch of their lives, the truth had become clearer.
Xiao brother, huh…
Yao Yan's smile grew wider as he stared at Xiao Lin and teased, "When I tried reasoning, you wanted violence. Now that you've lost, you want to reason again. You people from the Jia Ma Empire are really something."
Nalan Jie's face turned red with shame and frustration.
Xiao Lin sighed and didn't argue. He simply waited in silence, accepting whatever fate had in store. From the start, Yao Yan had treated them like mice in a cat's game—never with any killing intent.
After a moment's thought, Yao Yan raised a hand and smiled, "I could kill you—or not. But since this happened, you'll need to pay your way out of it. Hand over your storage rings."
Without hesitation, Xiao Lin removed his ring and tossed it to him.
Nalan Jie hesitated but eventually gritted his teeth and did the same.
Yao Yan swept his soul force over them, then entered the rings. Neither had high-level storage rings, so they weren't soul-bound. A quick Dou Qi sweep was all it took to open them—and what he found left him speechless. They were truly broke. Even a Dou Ling mercenary from the Shennong Mountains had more than this.
Gold cards and money? He wasn't interested. Real powerhouses didn't care for currency—only exchanges of real value mattered.
And the item he wanted most wasn't among them.
Xiao Lin hadn't brought the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor's Jade with him. Yao Yan was disappointed… but also relieved. If the jade had been on him, stealing it would've been a problem—especially since he couldn't let it disappear here.
Still, that meant… the two of them no longer had any value alive.
"You're kind of poor."
He spoke plainly and stored the rings away. Then he looked down at the two men and sighed, "What's inside your rings doesn't seem worth your lives."
"…!"
Xiao Lin was stunned, and before he could respond, Yao Yan charged forward.
Both Nalan Jie and Xiao Lin tried to resist, but they were too outmatched. Yao Yan's entire body glowed with bronze light, silver specks swirling around him. He shattered Xiao Lin's Dou Qi defense with a single slap and drove his palm into the man's chest, sending him flying.
Nalan Jie struck Yao Yan's back with all his strength—but it didn't even budge him. In return, Yao Yan responded with a golden flame-infused blade-hand strike. In the elder's horrified eyes, the flaming blade expanded until it was all he could see. His vision went black, and in his final moment, he seemed to glimpse his own feet.
Yao Yan summoned the Illusory Gold Flame and burned Nalan Jie's body to ash. With his soul force, there was no chance a trace of the man's spirit could escape.
Then, he turned and did the same to Xiao Lin.
Moments later, Cai Die arrived, dragging the limp body of the old Dou Wang. Her eyes widened when she saw Yao Yan finishing the job. She hesitated, unsure whether to stop him—but it was already too late.
"If I don't kill them, your true identity will be exposed. It'll bring endless trouble. You saw how they treated us," Yao Yan explained, motioning for her to hand over the elder.
Cai Die whispered, "…Can we not kill him? We could just leave the Jia Ma Empire."
She didn't hand over the barely-breathing elder, clinging to her inner kindness.
Yao Yan understood her gentle, compassionate nature. But those traits had no place in a world like this. He approached, ignoring her expression, and incinerated the old man with the golden flame. As the flames consumed him, Yao Yan spoke softly:
"This is a world that devours people. It's the same everywhere. If the Serpent Tribe were weak, the Jia Ma Empire would have devoured you all long ago. If we had been weaker today, you would've become their prisoner, humiliated. I'd be dead. They wouldn't have listened to begging."
Cai Die had thought that leaving the Serpent Tribe meant escaping her cage. But she hadn't realized… she'd only stepped from a safe cage into a dangerous one.
Of course, Yao Yan hadn't told her the other reason—Xiao Lin had to die. Without his death, there was no way to obtain the Tuoshe Ancient Emperor's Jade. The jade contained a wisp of his soul to confirm his identity and trace its location.
Now that he was dead, the Xiao Clan would fall into chaos. Yao Yan would have the chance to claim both the jade… and Yao Lao's storage ring.
That was the real reason for killing them. Otherwise, he couldn't care less about two Dou Wangs from the Jia Ma Empire.
Cai Die's heart, however, grew heavy. She had suddenly realized—the outside world wasn't as beautiful as she had imagined.
(END CHAPTER)
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