Han Feiyu's face darkened, his eyes glinting coldly. A mocking smile crept across his lips as he stared at Ye Fan and Pang Bo like they were already dead. He said nothing more.
The four young men beside him, hearing his near-command, stepped forward with mocking smiles. They slowly surrounded Ye Fan and Pang Bo.
One of them lowered his voice, as if not wanting others to hear: "Ignorant fools. In Desolate Spirit Grotto-Heaven, there are people you simply can't offend. You two really don't know your place, saying what you just did, reckless and stupid."
Another youth took a step closer, smirking as he sneered, "Truly impressive. Just joined the sect and already acting like big shots. You don't even know how to spell 'death.' But I doubt you'll die. No, what awaits you is worse, endless suffering. You'll wish you were dead."
"There's actually a way you could spare yourselves a bit of pain," a third man chimed in casually, as if Ye Fan and Pang Bo were nothing more than ants, easily crushed. "You can break your own legs, kneel, beg for forgiveness, and then crawl into the lotus pond and stick your heads in the mud, headfirst."
"If I were you, I'd just go bash my head in and end it now. Why suffer?"
The four spoke as if it were all a game. They didn't take Ye Fan or Pang Bo seriously at all, mocking them relentlessly as they blocked every possible exit.
But Ye Fan and Pang Bo were never ones to swallow their pride. Although the insults were outrageous, neither of them got angry. Instead, they responded with utter nonchalance.
"What are these four dumbasses doing?"
"Probably got their heads slammed in a door on the way here. Explains why they're mumbling like a bunch of idiots."
They acted like detached spectators, casually commenting on the scene before them, as if the insults weren't even directed at them. Their dismissive attitude infuriated the four cultivators, whose sneering expressions quickly turned into dark scowls.
"You're courting death!" one of them shouted, but none dared attack immediately. They'd seen the raw power Ye Fan and Pang Bo wielded and didn't want to suffer a humiliating defeat.
"Zzzzt!"
Suddenly, light shimmered below one man's navel, and a god rune like a shimmering iron chain shot out, racing toward Ye Fan and Pang Bo.
"A god rune summoned from the Bitter Sea!"
"The teaching elders said you can only manifest mystical arts after reaching a certain level. This guy's a real cultivator!"
The crowd burst into cries of surprise. Most of them were new disciples who had never seen a true mystical technique in action. Tension filled the air.
Ye Fan and Pang Bo reacted instantly, dodging to either side. The chain-like rune missed by inches, but quickly twisted in the air and pursued them again.
This was their first time facing an opponent who could wield a mystical art, and they didn't know how powerful the rune was. They dared not take it head-on and dodged again. But the rune was relentless, glowing with a metallic sheen, glimmering and wrapping around like a living creature.
"Bang!"
Ye Fan suddenly grabbed a massive boulder and swung it at the rune. When they collided, the impact was deafening. A deep gouge was carved into the thousand-pound rock, like it had been slashed by a blade.
Ye Fan and Pang Bo both turned serious. A cultivator capable of using mystical arts was truly formidable, an ordinary person wouldn't stand a chance.
"Zzzzt."
Though the rune left a deep mark on the stone, its glow dimmed afterward. It turned translucent and swiftly shot back into the man's Bitter Sea. His body trembled, and he stumbled back two steps.
"These two punks are stronger than they look. Be careful, getting hurt by them would be humiliating." one of the four whispered.
Zzzzt... zzzzt... zzzzt... zzzzt...
Four different colored lights shimmered from the four cultivators' Seas of Bitterness. Four chain-like divine runes shot out from all directions toward Ye Fan and Pang Bo.
At the same time, Ye Fan and Pang Bo launched a fierce counterattack. There was no shortage of rocks near the cliff. They hurled massive stones, each weighing over a thousand pounds, into the air.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Rock after rock flew, slamming into the god runes midair. Some even fell toward the cultivators themselves.
Although the four had begun to grasp mystical arts and condensed runes of divine power, they lacked control and speed. Their runes couldn't evade the heavy stones, nor could they deal effective damage.
After developing their Seas of Bitterness, their bodies were stronger, but in terms of brute strength, they were no match for Ye Fan and Pang Bo. The massive stones forced them into retreat.
"Whoosh!"
Suddenly, Ye Fan charged forward with incredible speed, leaving a faint afterimage behind.
"Bang!"
In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of one of the cultivators and landed a clean, powerful punch square on the man's nose and mouth, sending him flying over ten meters.
It was a punch of brutal elegance. Ye Fan moved with a graceful, natural rhythm, his right arm swinging like a dancer's, but the moment his fist landed, it became raw violence. Blood burst from the man's face like a blooming flower, teeth scattering across the ground.
On the other side, Pang Bo couldn't hold back anymore. He slammed a massive rock into another man's body, snapping bones on impact and sending him flying.
"Bang! Bang!"
Two more heavy blows landed. The remaining two were also knocked flat. Ye Fan and Pang Bo embodied raw, devastating power. Their fists were like sledgehammers, smashing the men into blood-spitting heaps.
The four glowing runes faded and quickly retreated back into their Seas of Bitterness. Ye Fan and Pang Bo lined the defeated cultivators up in a row and stood over them.
"What were you saying earlier? That we're ignorant? That we don't know our place? Tell me, do you know your place now?" Pang Bo spat, kicking each man like a ragdoll.
"Thought we were ants you could crush?"
"Told us to break our own legs, kneel, and crawl into the mud?"
"Said you'd torture us until we begged for death? Pathetic!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
Ye Fan and Pang Bo stomped on them without mercy, treating them like vermin. By the end, the four lay limp like piles of mud, groaning and broken.
"Enough!" came a cold voice. Han Feiyu, who had been watching silently from afar, was now furious, his expression darker than ever.
Pang Bo glanced at him and scoffed, "You think you can call the shots? Who the hell do you think you are?"
"Let them go!" Han Feiyu's voice was bone-chilling. Though only around fifteen, his aura and presence were unnervingly sinister.
"Why should we listen to you?" Pang Bo said defiantly.
Ye Fan didn't even acknowledge him. Calmly, he squatted down, grabbed two of the men, and with graceful ease, hurled them like javelins.
Two bodies sailed through the air and plunged headfirst into the lotus pond's mud, legs twitching above the surface.
"You're dead!" Han Feiyu finally snapped, his anger exploding as a cold aura surged around him.
Ye Fan ignored him again, picked up the other two, and threw them as well.
"Plop, plop!"
Two more bodies flew through the air and stuck in the mud like spears. The crowd was stunned into silence.
"Zzzzt!"
From beneath Han Feiyu's navel, dazzling light erupted. A small, square wooden seal, less than an inch long, shot out from his Bitter Sea. It glowed with jade-green light and began to expand rapidly as it flew toward Ye Fan and Pang Bo.
Gasps erupted from the crowd. This was no ordinary divine rune, this was a real object, a Greenwood Seal, not just god-energy made manifest. It was on a completely different level.
As the Greenwood Seal emerged, dense green mist spiraled out from it, emanating a heavy, oppressive pressure.