The Demon Extermination Division was the strongest organization of extraordinary individuals on the entire East European continent, across all nations and regions.
Wherever the crimson official robes appeared, evil spirits would flee, and people would offer due respect.
Nan Feng stood in place, covering his face in embarrassment.
The others in the stone cave were also somewhat dazed.
They had all heard what Duan Qingcheng said, and thus fell into shock and confusion.
"Demon Extermination Division, Master Xu," a burly man holding a mace scratched his head and mumbled in confusion, "When did this Changsun family change its surname to Xu?"
His words attracted countless gazes.
"Who is this genius?"
Hearing someone praise him, the man grinned foolishly, drool escaping his lips.
This scene almost made Changsun Wuji unable to catch his breath.
Golden light still flowed through him, though it had dimmed considerably.
Blood trickled from his lips; in less than five minutes of being surrounded, he had already sustained some injuries.
In fact, if not for the narrowness of the stone cave, which prevented the dozens of people from attacking simultaneously, he might have already perished. He had almost been defeated by the simple-minded cultivator alone!
The man lowered his head and looked at his shoulder.
Around his shoulder blade, more than a dozen layers of bandages were wrapped. To stop the bleeding, they were also meant to prevent the bone from separating from his body.
Just moments ago, the mace had almost smashed his head.
Fortunately, he had reacted slightly faster and dodged the fatal blow.
And the person who had almost killed him was an idiot?!
"Hurry up and shut up, I don't know how your brain managed to survive this long!"
A brother beside him cursed and quickly pulled him back into the crowd, not wanting anyone to hear him.
Having such a brother was truly embarrassing.
Ignoring the petty drama, Nan Feng was consumed by fear.
"City Lord Duan, it was only the two brothers, Yun Che and Yun Jin, who attacked Master Xu."
"And you have already killed them, Master."
Nan Feng looked up with fear. Yun Jing and Yun Che were considered outstanding among those at the fourth stage, yet they still had no power to resist and were crushed to death.
Although he had secret contact with Duan Qingcheng, it was not impossible for the latter to kill him for Xu Mu!
"You didn't make a move, does that mean you weren't planning to?"
Duan Qingcheng snorted coldly, then looked up and said sternly:
"Instead of hunting demons and seeking treasures, you are here forming teams to rob. Do you think there is no law here? Don't forget, even the Western Mountains are within the territory of our Great Xia!"
"I was wrong, small one!"
Nan Feng's heart rejoiced at this, sensing an intention to downplay the matter. He quickly clasped his hands and bowed his head.
"Nan Feng, you will be responsible for this."
"The extraordinary individuals who engaged in robbery will return all their points."
"Furthermore, each of you will have to give half of your points as compensation to Master Xu!"
Rumble!
The man's words instantly caused a commotion among the assembled individuals. They looked at the person beside Duan Qingcheng with shocked expressions. Who was this person?
Then, everyone clenched their fists in secret.
These points were hard-earned, and some of them had only received less than a hundred. The majority was in Nan Feng's hands. Regardless of who this Master Xu was, why should they have to pay compensation?
"If he wants my points, I'm afraid he won't live to spend them. I don't believe Lord Duan can stay by his side forever!"
An extraordinary individual muttered darkly. His mind had not yet caught up; he still regarded Xu Mu as an ordinary individual.
"City Lord Duan, this may not be appropriate. I also put in effort and risked my life to obtain so much..." Nan Feng's bowing face stiffened.
Returning the robbed points and then deducting half for Xu Mu would leave him with less than a few thousand.
This was not as good as being killed, but it was more unbearable than being killed!
Although there were still over a hundred days until the assessment ended, if he could no longer rob, where would he find another hundred thousand points!
"Do you not understand what I'm saying!"
Duan Qingcheng took a step forward fiercely. The robes behind him billowed, and the pressure of a Domain Lord filled the entire area.
Thump!
Everyone's heart trembled simultaneously.
Recalling the fate of Yun Jing and Yun Che, their faces turned pale.
They exchanged glances, wondering if they truly had to hand over their points.
"I told you long ago that you would pay the price," Changsun Wuji said from behind, taking a pill and sneering.
Although Xu Mu had not made a move, someone had acted for him, and a Domain Lord at that.
"Who is this person?"
Behind him, an elderly man with poor eyesight couldn't help but ask.
"His surname is Xu, from the Demon Extermination Division, and he uses a sword. Who do you think it could be?"
Changsun Wuji remained silent as someone excitedly answered for him.
"Demon Extermination Division, an extraordinary individual with the surname Xu who uses a sword—there's only one!"
"It's Xu Mu!"
Upon hearing this, everyone immediately guessed the identity of the person at the cave entrance, causing a great uproar.
Their expressions were shocked, their gazes fixed. Even the other three of the Northwest Four Fiends were stunned.
Xi Du's face turned pale as he looked at Xu Mu, and then at Changsun Wuji. So, the savage at the cave entrance was Xu Mu, who had passed the test of hundreds of thousands of times gravity!
Changsun Wuji had some acquaintance with him. If that was the case, his Soul Devouring Ants had died in vain!
"No wonder he was so confident," Xi Du sighed in anger and surprise. Although Xu Mu was of the same level as them, judging by what he had done in the first level, they were no longer on the same level.
Now, forget about revenge; they had to see if the other party would be willing to spare them!
"Fortunately, we didn't attack him just now. Otherwise, even if Lord Duan hadn't come, our fate wouldn't have been much better than Yun Jing and Yun Che's."
A moment later, the crowd gradually accepted that the savage was Xu Mu and patted their chests with lingering fear.
Everyone had witnessed Xu Mu's strength in the first level, and even the Old Ancestor of the Wang family couldn't do anything to him.
Fighting in such a confined space could have led to them being annihilated!
"Idiot, you can choose not to return their points, but you must give Xu Mu's!"
At this moment, seeing Nan Feng still hesitating, Duan Qingcheng transmitted his voice with a roar.
"Do you not know his strength?"
"If that sword were to be drawn, even I would have to weigh the consequences!"
"At the furthest extreme, even if you truly fear him, what if he finds Master Yaohuo? Would you still not fear him!"
Duan Qingcheng reprimanded him with exasperation.
He couldn't understand why these idiots had provoked Xu Mu.
This was someone he had received orders from Yaohuo in the fourth stone cave to search for across mountains and rivers, traveling day and night.
And upon arrival, he discovered that his subordinates wanted to rob Xu Mu's points?
What kind of idiots were they!
"Alright!"
Upon hearing this, Nan Feng no longer hesitated. He immediately clasped his hands and said:
"Master Xu, I was in the wrong before."
"I, Nan Feng, on behalf of the Northwest Four Fiends, apologize to you."
"Consider these ten thousand points as compensation for your mental distress. I hope, Master, you will not hold a grudge!"
After the胖子 finished speaking, a stream of orange flowed from above his head and was injected into Xu Mu's point bar.
Xu Mu, who stood silently behind Duan Qingcheng, did not resist this spiritual energy. Thus, the points above his head surged to eleven thousand, turning a vibrant orange.
Correspondingly, Nan Feng's over twenty thousand points were reduced to just over ten thousand.
"What are you waiting for? Hurry up!"
Duan Qingcheng swept his gaze sternly. After a two-second silence, the others also transferred half of their points to Xu Mu.
In the sky, several small streams of points flowed, then converged above Xu Mu's head.
Thus, the youth's points rapidly increased, breaking through the twenty-thousand mark in a short time.
The final number stopped at "27643."
The orange became even more vibrant, and Nan Feng looked at Xu Mu with envy.
He had accumulated over twenty thousand through life-and-death struggles and scheming for so long, while Xu had almost reached thirty thousand in less than half an hour.
Indeed, there was a gap between people!
"Master Xu, are you satisfied with this arrangement?"
Duan Qingcheng saw that no one was trying to cheat or shortchange, nodded, and then turned to ask Xu Mu.
How he handled it was secondary; the primary concern was to appease Xu Mu, as Yaohuo was his direct superior!
"Mm."
Xu Mu narrowed his eyes and nodded, doing his best to imitate the poker face of someone with grey-white pupils.
He was actually less nervous now because his "identity" had been exposed.
"Alright, then let's leave now," Duan Qingcheng nodded and said.
"Go where?" Xu Mu raised an eyebrow. He had only just arrived, and where was the other party taking him?
"Oh, I forgot to mention, Master Yaohuo specifically sent me here to find you. He said there were too many demons outside and he was somewhat worried, so he asked me to escort you directly to the previous stone caves."
Duan Qingcheng's tone was slightly unnatural as he said this.
"Master said that even though you are at the fourth realm, the starting point should be at least the seventh cave dwelling."
"But I searched for four days along the way and couldn't find you. I thought I had missed you, but I didn't expect you to be in the ninth stone cave."
Xu Mu nodded upon hearing this. He wondered why he didn't recognize this person; it turned out Yaohuo had sent him.
"Outside... is very dangerous?"
Xu Mu noticed the rhythm of Duan Qingcheng's breathing was somewhat unusual, as if he had been injured, and thus asked.
"Mm," the man nodded, his expression grave. "It's alright here, but once you pass the territory of the sixth stone cave, Domain Lord realm great demons are truly everywhere. When I was looking for you before, I was chased by a demon of an unknown species for a long time, and I accidentally got injured."
"So dangerous, why should I go there?" Xu Mu raised an eyebrow. If even a Domain Lord was chased and injured, wouldn't he be walking into a death trap?
Duan Qingcheng was stunned. He hadn't expected Xu Mu to reply like this and quickly said:
"This..."
"Master Xu is joking. We all know your strength. Moreover, if you are by Master Yaohuo's side, how could there be any danger?"
"But isn't it safer for me here?" Xu Mu turned his head and pointed at a second-stage eagle demon flying in the sky.
Even before he had learned the Eight Trigrams of Heaven, he could have easily dealt with these creatures with his physical body, except for the roaring third-stage great demons at the bottom of the valley.
Duan Qingcheng smiled and persuaded:
"But with your strength, you can't always stay here, right?"
"Furthermore, you know the rules here. It's too slow to gain points here, and even if you accumulate a lot, the items you can exchange them for are very limited."
"By Master Yaohuo's side, you can obtain top-tier treasures. I've always envied the opportunities on the battlefield, but I have no right to enter. However, you certainly can!"
Upon hearing this, Xu Mu quickly shook his head. Battlefield opportunities? If he went, he would likely be fodder for others.
"I'm not going."
"It's too dangerous outside."
"I want to be alone here and quiet."
...