Chapter 70: A Good Older Brother

As the crowd dispersed, the rat squatted in front of Xiao Fan, motionless.

After a while, as if receiving some command, it suddenly darted into a nearby alley.

Only after the rat vanished from view did Xiao Fan turn and walk back.

He planned to return, otherwise his brother and parents would grow suspicious.

'Mu Ling Yang Wu…'

The rat's spirit had been seized by him, which was why it obeyed his commands without question.

'Mu Ling' was just that.

What, then, was the sensation of 'Yang Wu'?

That sensation was hard to describe in words.

It felt as if a vital part of himself had been replenished, or rather, strengthened by the infusion of spirit.

After absorbing a trace of the rat's spirit, he felt his Qi flow more smoothly, and its nature underwent an extremely subtle change.

Unfortunately, that trace of spirit was far too weak; the changes he perceived were minimal.

Suddenly, a mosquito flew past before his eyes.

Xiao Fan's mind shifted, and in an instant he seized its spirit—the resistance was negligible.

But the spirit he gained was also extremely faint, nearly imperceptible, perhaps only one ten-millionth of what the rat had offered?

'…'

Sigh~ If he only seized such weak spirits from snakes, rats, insects, and ants, when would he ever see noticeable change? He idly crushed the mosquito, then continued thinking.

'Looks like I need to find larger beasts—preferably primates.'

In truth, if judged purely by spirit abundance, human Qi Condensation cultivators would be ideal.

He did deeply revere the Cang race, and his perception had been somewhat warped, but he hadn't grown bold enough to kill.

To lose all spirit and have one's life and fortune entirely in another's hands was worse than death.

'For larger beasts, I could go outside Tai Xuan City, or to the exotic beast observation park where I used to work?'

The spirit of exotic beasts might even be stronger than that of ordinary animals.

As he pondered this,

Boom—! A sword streaked into his vision, glowing with cheap light effects, its aura and thunderous blade energy visibly damaged.

Looking up, he saw a youth with dyed yellow hair and a nose ring riding the sword, followed by several thin youths with hair dyed in various colors.

'If you don't want your bonded beast hurt, come with us.'

The gang leader, standing on the shoddy sword, dangled a gray rat he had seized.

Bonded beast? Xiao Fan's eyebrow twitched; he coldly said, 'Get lost. I'm not in the mood to deal with you.'

This stunned the gang leader—was this some disguised powerhouse? 'I've seen him before—he's a student from No. 3 High School,' one thug suddenly said.

A student! The yellow-haired leader's courage surged instantly.

He'd heard this year's No. 3 High School had produced a pseudo-Foundation Establishment cultivator, but that was no match for him—he'd undergone true Foundation Establishment using Foundation Spirit Elixir.

'Hand over your beast-taming technique, or you won't leave alive!'

Right there in broad daylight, someone was this brazen.

Yet passersby acted as if they saw nothing—walking past, not a single glance toward Xiao Fan.

He'd actually stumbled upon such a clichéd scene.

Xiao Fan touched the black ring on his hand.

With this, paired with the Tai Xuan Battle Art, he should be able to fight back—after all, these petty thugs couldn't possibly have real combat strength.

At the same time, an uncontrollable thought surfaced in his mind.

'If I seize their spirit, isn't that what they brought upon themselves?'

Once the thought arose, it could not be stopped.

He was already imagining how human spirit compared to that of rats.

Both sides, like fools, ignored one crucial fact.

Fighting here, in plain sight? Could he bear the consequences? 'You want trouble?' The yellow-haired thug grew impatient, lunging to grab Xiao Fan.

Just as Xiao Fan mobilized his Qi to act, a powerful hand moved faster—snatching the yellow-haired thug by the collar.

A towering figure stood like a wall before Xiao Fan.

'You want to steal from my brother?'

In that instant, as if a veil had been lifted, passersby finally noticed the scene.

Huh? These thugs lost their minds? Robbing someone in broad daylight? The yellow-haired thug, seeing the fury in the man's eyes and the unmasked, overwhelming aura, nearly wet himself.

Was he really that stupid? Robbing someone on the street? Behind Xiao Ming, Xiao Fan was also dazed.

'I just… actually wanted to seize their spirit?'

…

…

Across the street, Huo watched the farce.

If Xiao Ming hadn't intervened just now, what would the outcome have been? With Xiao Fan's current methods, those thugs stood no chance—even if one was Foundation Establishment.

Would he have seized all their spirits? Then the matter would have plunged into an irreversible abyss.

Once certain things begin, they can never be stopped.

But because Xiao Ming had been watching his brother's condition, none of this happened.

What a good older brother.

Yet… that old Cang creature's methods are becoming increasingly unhidden.

"Are you really that confident you can handle me?"

Huo seemed to recall something, smiled, then suddenly vanished.

…………

【The building damaged in the cultivation battle has now been fully repaired. The reporter will take you to meet the construction team behind this project…】

News was playing on television.

Chi Jiuyu lay on the right-hand high-back sofa, her head resting on one armrest, her legs dangling over the other, swaying gently.

In her hand was her phone, and she occasionally chuckled softly.

She wasn't browsing the Spirit Net for interesting posts as usual; instead, she was eagerly rereading the messages her senior sister had sent last night.

Ye Shijie Who Didn't Give Me the Book: "Our Master went shopping with you at the night market?"

Ye Shijie Who Didn't Give Me the Book: "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Ye Shijie Who Didn't Give Me the Book: "Did you leave the sect just now to fetch Our Master out of seclusion?"

Ye Shijie Who Didn't Give Me the Book: "I just did a divination—I couldn't even trace you. I'll suppose you're not lying to me."

Ye Shijie Who Didn't Give Me the Book: "But I still don't believe you. Unless you send me a photo as proof."

Such a crude provocation—even if I saw it, I wouldn't reply.

Scrolling further down, it was clear the other side was growing furious.

Ye Shijie Who Didn't Give Me the Book: "Answer me!"

Ye Shijie Who Didn't Give Me the Book: "Stop playing dead fish!"

Ye Shijie Who Didn't Give Me the Book: "/Angry"

Then came a voice message lasting dozens of seconds.

Laughable—you think I'd actually listen? Even without listening, Chi Jiuyu could imagine exactly what it contained.

After another ten minutes, a new message arrived—again a voice message, but much shorter.

"I just asked my Senior Uncle—your claim is true. You really went to fetch Our Master out of seclusion." Her tone grew increasingly agitated, "She even told me to focus on the rotation duty and forbade me from going to find you! You two are in cahoots, partners in crime—ah—!"

The voice cut off abruptly, and no further messages arrived.

Please collect and follow!! (End of Chapter)