"Today, I'll give you some face! Brothers, retreat!"
The man in the black robe waved his hand decisively, and his group left without even looking back.
At this moment, Li Si felt as if a herd of alpacas was stampeding through his heart, roaring in frustration.
These guys clearly just wanted an excuse to retreat and conveniently pinned it on him!
Forced reduction of intelligence, is it?!
The girl stepped forward. "I am Zhu Zhuqing. Many thanks to my savior for rescuing me!"
She cupped her hands towards Li Si, her expression filled with gratitude.
Li Si: "..."
Fine, believe what you want. Sure, it was me, Li Si, who saved you.
He rolled his eyes but decided not to correct her perception.
Xiao Wu opened her mouth as if to say something but hesitated.
What exactly had Li Si done? She had no idea.
Why was this big-breasted woman claiming Li Si saved her?
On the side, Ning Rongrong was equally puzzled.
Li Si didn't do anything! How had he suddenly become this woman's savior?
Li Si waved his hand dismissively, looking unbothered.
"This so-called savior nonsense—I really don't deserve it."
"Alright then, the mountains are high, and the roads are long. Until we meet again," he said to Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing before turning to Xiao Wu.
"Let's go, Xiao Wu."
Xiao Wu snapped out of her daze at his words.
"Oh, oh…" She nodded quickly and caught up with him.
Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong: "???"
The two girls exchanged confused glances.
Why did it feel like this guy was deliberately avoiding them?
"Hello, my name is Zhu Zhuqing. You were traveling with my savior, weren't you?" Zhu Zhuqing asked Ning Rongrong.
She still didn't know the name of her supposed savior, nor was she sure if she'd have the chance to repay this life-saving grace.
Ning Rongrong's eye twitched. "Savior, my foot! That guy's nothing more than a selfish jerk who wouldn't lift a finger to help!"
"I'm Ning Rongrong, and I'm not close to him," she denied immediately.
Suddenly, something clicked in her mind, and she added, "Zhu Zhuqing, right? That man is not your savior. He didn't even think about saving you."
Ning Rongrong repeated the earlier conversation between Xiao Wu and Li Si verbatim.
Before she could finish, Zhu Zhuqing coldly interrupted her with a frosty glare.
"Don't you dare speak ill of my savior!"
Ning Rongrong opened her mouth to retort but found herself speechless.
Her wide, innocent eyes filled with disbelief.
Wasn't I doing her a favor by exposing the truth about Li Si? Instead of thanking me, she's yelling at me?
When had Ning Rongrong ever suffered such grievances?
Zhu Zhuqing shot her another icy glance, then turned and walked in the direction where Li Si and Xiao Wu had gone, leaving Ning Rongrong standing there in a daze.
"Unbelievable!" Ning Rongrong fumed. "This young lady was being kind, showing compassion by revealing the truth, and yet she gets glared at for her trouble!"
"Hmph, no wonder big-breasted women are said to have no brains! How terrifying!"
She glanced down at herself and felt a wave of melancholy wash over her.
But…if trading intelligence for this is the cost…is it worth it?
"Bah, bah, bah…being too big isn't even pretty! Hmph!" she muttered, grumbling under her breath.
After venting her frustration, she pulled out a map from her storage soul guide. After carefully studying it, she put it away and started heading in the same direction as Li Si and Xiao Wu.
Still, something felt off. She had clearly been following the map—how did she end up thousands of kilometers off course?
Wait, did I hold the map upside down?!
On Li Si's side.
"Li Si, what just happened back there?" Xiao Wu asked, shaking his arm with a confused look.
She didn't mean anything by it; she was just genuinely curious.
"Nothing much," Li Si replied. "Those people weren't seriously trying to kill Zhu Zhuqing. They just wanted an excuse to leave."
"Think about it—those guys didn't even use their martial spirits. Instead, they were waving around ordinary weapons. Isn't that ridiculous?"
Li Si sighed, exasperated.
"Oh~"
Hearing his explanation, Xiao Wu finally understood. Upon reflection, it did make sense.
How could ordinary swords and blades compare to martial spirits? The higher a soul master's level, the stronger their martial spirit became. Even a simple wooden stick, cultivated to the rank of Soul Elder, would surpass ordinary weapons in strength.
Of course, special weapons and divine artifacts were exceptions.
Suddenly, Li Si's vision went black, and the scene froze.
When he opened his eyes again, everything around him was shrouded in white mist.
There was no need to think—he already knew where he was.
A smirk crept across his face. He wanted to sing out loud:
"I've been waiting so long, and finally, the day has come!"
Lin Fan, oh Lin Fan, you've finally fallen into my hands again!
"Greetings, Li Si," a divine voice said.
"Greetings, God," Li Si responded calmly. This was an unfathomably powerful being, and proper respect was necessary. Even if the deity didn't care, he couldn't show a lack of manners.
"My good brother Lin Fan—is he alright? Did something happen to him?" Li Si asked, barely able to suppress his grin.
He was beyond excited. Not even obtaining the inheritance of the Water and Fire Dragon Kings had made him this happy.
The deity paused, clearly puzzled by Li Si's joyful expression.
"Your good brother Lin Fan is perfectly fine."
Li Si's smile froze, and his expression darkened.
If nothing was wrong with Lin Fan, then why was he here?
The deity seemed to sense his thoughts and continued.
"Your good brother Lin Fan has broken the record for the fastest breakthrough to rank seventy in the history of Douluo Continent. His martial spirit is extraordinarily powerful, and his combat strength unparalleled. This has drawn the attention of the gods in the Divine Realm, as well as the focus of an ancient deity."
Li Si: "???"
What? He had just left Nuoding City—practically the novice village—while his bro Lin Fan was already taking on the final boss?
Li Si took a deep breath, feeling a bit lightheaded.
Lin Fan's life is way too smooth sailing!
"Can you tell me which gods are paying attention to him?" Li Si asked, his voice tinged with dejection.
The deity explained:
"From the Divine Realm, there is the God of Asura, one of the divine enforcers. He sees Lin Fan's White Tiger Sacred King Spirit as the perfect successor for his inheritance.""The God of Destruction, also a divine enforcer, admires Lin Fan's potential but dislikes his overly sentimental nature. This doesn't align with the god's singular focus on destruction, so he may create some challenges during the divine trials to test Lin Fan.""The War God, a second-tier deity, believes that Lin Fan could potentially elevate his second-tier god position to a first-tier one."
(End of Chapter)