The quiet, deserted street in the slums took on a grim and murderous air due to the standoff between the few men present.

The leader of the group, a man with inverted triangular eyes, stood relaxed, a long blade held loosely in his hand. His gaze was fierce as he stared at Qin Lu and barked sharply:

“Hey kid, are you coming with me willingly, or do I have to cripple you first and then drag you away?”

Qin Lu’s heart pounded with tension. He knew Fang Hu would send people for revenge, but he had guessed wrong about the time and place.

He had assumed Fang Hu would sneak into his house at night to smash things up, not that this group would dare to attack him on the street in broad daylight.

And they had come with five men at once. They really overestimated his strength.

“Three in front, two behind…”

Qin Lu’s thoughts raced. He kept recalling the combat methods he had envisioned over the past few days, his entire body tensing, ready for battle.

“Big Brother, no need to waste words on this little runt. Just kill him and be done with it!” Fang Hu laughed cruelly.

“Good!”

The inverted-triangle-eyed man narrowed his eyes, raised his right hand, and swung it forward sharply, shouting, “Cripple this brat for me!”

“Kill!”

As soon as the word was spoken, the two men behind Qin Lu immediately drew their blades and charged.

The speed of a cultivator was incredibly fast. A casual sprint matched the top sprinting speed of the world’s best athletes from his past life.

The distance of twenty meters was covered in less than a breath. The two men were upon Qin Lu.

They were now only a few meters apart.

And at that moment…

“Pfft!”

A soft sound.

A fireball the size of a soccer ball immediately burst forth from Qin Lu’s finger!

[Ignition Technique]!

Qin Lu, already prepared, seized the moment. He flung the flame from his fingertip, hurling it at the two charging men.

The sudden appearance of the fireball made the two men pause their steps slightly, their faces filled with shock.

“Bang!”

One of them, unable to dodge in time, was struck directly by the fireball. His forward-charging form came to an abrupt halt, and under the powerful impact of the fireball, he was sent flying backward.

The fireball’s attack power was enough to shatter a protective shield. After taking this attack head-on, the man crashed to the ground, vomiting large mouthfuls of blood, his body scorched black.

It seemed he was already severely injured.

This move caused the other man, who had been charging alongside him, to freeze in shock on the spot.

“Fireball technique?!”

“How does he know…”

Before that man could finish his surprise, the inverted-triangle-eyed man immediately roared:

“This kid is a tough one! Attack with me!”

His voice instantly snapped everyone back to attention. Except for the fallen, severely injured loose cultivator, the remaining four men swarmed toward Qin Lu once more to continue their assault!

This scene sent Qin Lu’s heartbeat racing to its limit, adrenaline surging to his brain.

As a good citizen of the modern era, the last time he had been in a fight might have been traced back to a broom battle with a kid from the next class in elementary school.

Situations like this, with blades drawn and fighting in the street, he had only seen in gangster movies.

Now, seeing people charging at him from both front and back, even though he had mentally prepared for combat over the past two days, he still couldn’t react immediately.

Sensing the man closest behind him, Qin Lu even felt the aura of death.

Without further thought, he abruptly straightened both arms, one in front and one behind, forming a straight line. He curled his fingers and directly activated the skill.

“Pfft!”

“Pfft!”

His fingers flicked in rapid succession. Two strange, powerful gusts of wind shot out from between his fingers.

[Finger Flick Technique]!

“Bang!”

One fierce gust of wind struck the man behind him directly. The [Finger Flick Technique], powerful enough to crack the stone slabs of the market, instantly blasted a circular wound in his abdomen in a single moment.

Blood spurted from the wound, which was extremely deep. One could even see the white bone and internal organs within.

“This…”

That loose cultivator wore an expression of utter disbelief. He looked down at his stomach, then collapsed weakly to the ground, breathing heavily.

In two exchanges, the two men who had been following behind him were both severely wounded.

The three men who had been charging forward immediately froze in place.

“Old Seventh!”

The inverted-triangle-eyed man roared in fury, staring at the two fallen loose cultivators behind Qin Lu, his eyes filled with disbelief.

“You’re just a measly Qi Refinement Layer Two! How can you have such powerful moves?!”

At that moment, the loose cultivator beside the inverted-triangle-eyed man suddenly said nervously, “Big Brother! This kid isn’t right. Let’s retreat for now!”

He had suddenly felt the gust of wind attack coming and immediately blocked it with the flat of his blade, narrowly avoiding disaster.

He never expected Old Seventh opposite him to be severely wounded on the spot by that attack.

This level of strength was simply impossible for a Qi Refinement Layer Two!

Seeing the three men in front no longer daring to approach, Qin Lu gritted his teeth and activated another fireball.

“Whoosh—!”

With a forceful throw, he hurled it directly at the three men!

The soccer-ball-sized fireball shot forth swiftly and fiercely, startling the three men into scattering to avoid it, terrified of being hit.

This time, they were prepared. The fireball crashed to the ground with a boom, failing to harm them in the slightest.

“Big Brother! I don’t want to die here. I’m leaving first!”

That loose cultivator suddenly shouted, his body hastily retreating. Then, at an extremely fast speed, he fled directly backward without even looking back.

“You bastard, get back here!”

Fang Hu shouted anxiously at the man’s retreating figure.

Fang Hu’s voice had no effect. In less than a few breaths, the man disappeared around the street corner, out of sight.

Seeing only two opponents left on the field, Qin Lu’s heart immediately relaxed a little, though his expression remained tense as he stared at Fang Hu and the inverted-triangle-eyed man.

The inverted-triangle-eyed man suddenly barked, “Why do you know the fireball technique?!”

Qin Lu retorted angrily, “None of your business!”

With that, he immediately curled the fingers of both hands, aimed at the two men standing before him, and unleashed the [Finger Flick Technique] again!

Two swift and fierce gusts of wind shot from his fingertips, frightening the two men into scrambling away, using their weapons to disperse the gusts.

Their panicked movements showed they were in a sorry state.

No one would believe it if told: two mid-stage Qi Refinement cultivators being forced into such an embarrassing situation by a mere Qi Refinement Layer Two loose cultivator.

Suddenly, Fang Hu had a flash of insight, his eyes widening in shock.

“Big Brother! That move of his… it seems like the Finger Flick Technique!”

“Nonsense! You think I don’t know the Finger Flick Technique?! It’s a struggle to flick a bug with that! How can this be the Finger Flick Technique?!”

The inverted-triangle-eyed man roared angrily.

“But…”

“Shut the hell up! This kid is trouble! Let’s go!”

The inverted-triangle-eyed man waved his hand, turned directly, and fled.

Fang Hu cast a fearful glance at Qin Lu and hurriedly followed his big brother’s steps. The two of them, one after the other, quickly vanished around the street corner.

Watching their fleeing backs, Qin Lu’s entire body suddenly relaxed.

“Good thing they didn’t fight to the death…”

His spiritual energy was scarce, only enough to cast skills a little over ten times. In just that short half-minute, he had already used six skills.

If they had kept hounding him, by the time he had no spiritual energy left to cast skills, he would have become a lamb waiting for slaughter, his life and death at the mercy of others.

“Hah!”

Qin Lu let out a heavy sigh and turned to look at the two loose cultivators lying on the ground.

To his surprise, the two men were now motionless, their eyes wide open, faces contorted in pain. They were already dead.

Seeing this, Qin Lu’s body stiffened, his expression grim.

“I killed someone?!”

“I… actually killed two people?!”

“How did this happen…”

His heart was filled with panic. A wave of fear instantly swallowed him. He nervously looked around and found the area was still deserted.

“No one saw me kill them… No, I have to leave quickly!”

Qin Lu turned and strode away from the spot, leaving the two corpses behind, and ran all the way toward his home.

His speed was even faster than when he had been fleeing earlier.

Like a startled bird, he rushed back home without stopping.

Only after closing the door did he weakly squat on the ground, burying his head in his hands, his face full of panic…

==========