Chapter 52: A bunch of useless trash, you dare to touch my woman?

Zhu Chen beat his wings and rushed to the location indicated by the villager at maximum speed.

Looking down at the forest from the air, he happened to see a young girl with twin tails wearing a red dress fighting against a dozen or so stout, muscular men.

The girl's movements were light and agile; her petite frame darted back and forth through the trees, occasionally condensing fireballs to strike at the men.

Although the men held the advantage in numbers, they were unable to do anything to the girl in the red dress for the time being.

That girl in the red dress was none other than Huo Ling'er.

On the other side of the forest, several people were lying on the ground; judging by their clothing, they appeared to be the hunting team from Stone Village.

They were not dead, but they were heavily injured, and their hands and feet were tightly bound with ropes.

Zhu Chen withdrew his gaze, turned direction, and dove with a flap of his wings. His body, like a sharp arrow, landed directly behind Huo Ling'er, startling all the bandits who had been chasing her.

"Zhu Chen? Why are you here?"

Seeing that familiar silhouette, Huo Ling'er turned around and ran back excitedly.

However, she was currently drenched in sweat, her small, pink mouth slightly agape as she gasped for breath.

Zhu Chen glanced at the pursuing bandits before looking at Huo Ling'er: "These guys can't fly, so why didn't you run?"

Huo Ling'er crossed her arms over her chest and looked at the bandits indignantly. "You have no idea how despicable these guys are. They want to capture the hunting team to use as hostages to coerce the Old Village Chief into handing over everything in the village. If I left, what would happen to the hunting team?"

During her two months in Stone Village, Huo Ling'er had long since integrated with these simple and kind villagers.

Now that Stone Village was in trouble, how could she possibly abandon them and flee alone?

Seeing that the newcomer was merely a brat, the pursuing bandits all wore playful, mocking smiles.

After that villager had escaped earlier, they thought he might call for some powerful helper.

They didn't expect him to bring a little kid who hadn't even grown his hair in properly.

It seemed Stone Village truly had no one worth mentioning.

At that moment, a fierce-looking bandit approached, swinging a mace. He looked at Huo Ling'er with a grin and said, "Little girl, stop struggling. Our boss thinks you're quite pretty, and he just wants to..."

"Noisy!"

Zhu Chen waved his hand, and a bolt of red Extreme Consciousness lightning instantly leaped out, piercing directly through the man's head.

Before the others could even react, they saw the man fall to the ground with wide eyes and a face full of shock.

"Not good, this brat has a treasure tool in his hands..."

"Damn it, kill him!"

"Yes, kill him! The treasure tool in his hands will be ours!"

Once the bandits reacted, they immediately raised their weapons and charged at Zhu Chen.

Zhu Chen was not polite to them. With a flick of his finger, the red Extreme Consciousness lightning leaped out again. Wherever the Extreme Lightning passed, the heads of all the bandits were instantly pierced through.

In an instant, the dozen or so pursuing bandits fell to the ground, lifeless.

These bandits were all at the Blood Moving Realm; Zhu Chen had no interest in even contending with them and simply used his Extreme Mirror Divine Sense to one-shot them.

"A bunch of trash, daring to touch my woman?"

Zhu Chen withdrew his hand, unable to help but mutter the words.

However, this casual remark caused Huo Ling'er, standing behind him, to blush instantly.

"You rogue... what did you just say? Whose woman am I? This Palace has never said I am your woman!"

Huo Ling'er gave a soft huff and raised her jade-like arm, making a gesture as if to strike him.

Zhu Chen did not dodge; instead, he allowed her light punch to land on him. He then curled his lips and smiled. "It's going to happen sooner or later anyway. You've been out with me for over two months now; I reckon your Imperial Father probably thinks you've eloped with me by now."

Hearing Zhu Chen mention her Imperial Father, the expression on Huo Ling'er's face froze for a moment.

She hesitated for a while before suddenly saying seriously, "Zhu Chen, we've been out for so long, shouldn't we go back? Otherwise, my father really will be worried."

Zhu Chen shrugged nonchalantly. "Fine. Once things here are settled, we'll return to the Fire Kingdom."

Stone Village was good, but it wasn't his home after all.

Now that he had obtained the Original True Interpretation, and had unexpectedly gained the inheritance of the Supreme Hall and the True Phoenix Divine Technique gifted by the Willow Deity, the gains from this trip had far exceeded his expectations.

It was time to return to the Fire Kingdom.

The Fire Kingdom was the place where the Primordial Vermilion Bird had fallen; it was filled with the densest fire spiritual energy of the lower realms. For cultivators like them who specialized in fire-attribute techniques, practicing there would be more beneficial.

"Brat, you dare kill my men? It seems you're tired of living."

Just then, a burly man wearing an eye patch suddenly emerged from the nearby dense forest.

"Finally willing to show yourself? I thought you were going to hide until we left."

Zhu Chen turned to look at the one-eyed brute, a faint smile playing on his lips.

He had known this guy was hiding nearby for a while.

The reason he hadn't exposed him was that he wanted to see how long the fellow intended to hide.

"Zhu Chen, this man is the leader of these bandits. His cultivation is already at the Cave Heaven Realm. You must be careful," Huo Ling'er leaned in and whispered a warning.

Zhu Chen smiled faintly. "What's there to fear about the Cave Heaven Realm? Am I not in the Cave Heaven Realm now?"

"Hahaha!"

The bandit leader suddenly burst into loud laughter. "Such arrogance! A green brat like you dares to claim he is in the Cave Heaven Realm? Don't think that just because you have a remarkable treasure tool, you can contend with a Cave Heaven Realm cultivator."

"I'll show you right now what the Cave Heaven Realm is..."

As he spoke, the bandit leader clenched his fists and, without hesitation, manifested the Cave Heaven within his body.

A powerful Cave Heaven aura instantly spread out.

A Cave Heaven Realm cultivator can not only directly absorb the essence of heaven and earth to comprehend the true meaning of life and Dao talismans, but can also nurture their treasure tools and runes within the Cave Heaven, making the power of their tools and divine techniques even stronger.

Their strength was by no means comparable to a Blood Moving Realm cultivator.

For example, Huo Ling'er's current cultivation was already at the late stage of the Blood Moving Realm, and she practiced both the Vermilion Bird and Suanni Divine Techniques, making her nearly peerless among those of the same rank.

However, when facing a Cave Heaven Realm cultivator, she would still struggle, even if the opponent was a cultivator who had only just opened a single Cave Heaven.

Fighting across realms sounds easy, but those who can truly achieve it are as rare as phoenix feathers even in the entire Nine Heavens and Ten Lands.

After all, not everyone in this world is the Desolate Heaven Emperor!

If the people coming to support were other villagers from Stone Village, the bandit leader could have dealt with them all by himself.

Unfortunately, he had encountered Zhu Chen this time.

"Normally, I could just wipe out a minor character like you, but since you want to show off so badly, I'll let you see what a real Cave Heaven looks like..."

Zhu Chen looked at the bandit leader with calm eyes, and a dazzling divine radiance gradually emanated from his body.

Immediately following, one after another, Cave Heavens accompanied by blood-colored divine rings manifested behind him.

With Cave Heaven divine rings upon his back, he was shrouded in endless brilliance!

"One... two... five? You... you have actually opened five Cave Heavens?"

The bandit leader's eyes bulged, the smile on his face was gradually replaced by terror, his body trembled slightly, and even his speech began to stutter.

He had never dreamed that this young brat before him was actually a cultivator who had opened five Cave Heavens.

Furthermore, the Cave Heavens on the opponent were currently shrouded in endless divine radiance, with blood-colored light shimmering, appearing many times more powerful than his own Cave Heaven.

...

(End of Chapter)