The Shangbiyu Night Market was meticulous in its design. Multiple exits branched out like veins, each carefully arranged to prevent thieves or stalkers from tailing customers. With so many paths to vanish into, even the most cautious hunters found it difficult to pursue their prey.
And yet, Meng Xuan's expression darkened seeing the man in front of him.
How did someone track me here?
The man had a stern expression, a deep slash scar cutting across his right cheek.
"Young lad, drop your spatial storage ring and I'll allow you to leave," the man demanded coldly.
Meng Xuan had already removed his mask. Since he was outside, anyone could see he was just a teenager. Leaving the mask on would only make him suspicious.
But the moment his eyes met the man's figure, his killing intent surged violently. A savage urge rose from the depths of his soul, whispering for him to kill. This was his greatest flaw—his hidden bloodthirst.
Still, he suppressed it for now and put on a conflicted expression, as though he was afraid.
"Senior, please don't kill me! I'll give you anything you want!" Meng Xuan cried, pretending to beg as his eyes widened in fear. His expression was that of someone desperately pleading for his life.
The man, seeing Meng Xuan's pitiful state, grew even more confident.
As expected of a pampered young master, he thought. He had seen Meng Xuan in Shangbiyu's underground market and assumed he came from a wealthy clan—especially since he possessed a VIP member status card.
He had planned the robbery with his master, and with the help of his essence art, he was able to corner Meng Xuan here.
"You sure you won't kill me if I give you my storage ring?" Meng Xuan asked in a trembling voice, his tone laced with fear.
The man nodded smugly. "If you pass your storage ring here, I'll allow you to leave in peace."
Meng Xuan hesitated, then slowly removed his ring as he walked toward the man.
The robber wasn't suspicious at all—he simply thought Meng Xuan was a naïve boy. After all, who would expect someone so young to have already awakened his Holy Force at the age of seventeen?
Just as Meng Xuan was about to hand over the ring, his eyes turned cold. He suddenly gripped the man's hand tightly, twisting it.
"You—!" the robber gasped, but before he could react, a ball of dark flame erupted from Meng Xuan's palm, swallowing him whole.
The man screamed as the fire engulfed his body. Within moments, nothing remained.
Meng Xuan stood in silence, his expression dark.
"A trifling disciple stage cultivator dares to rob my master…" Fiend monk sneered coldly.
Meng xuan looked around for a while warily, thankfully they were in a secluded alley with no single person in sight.
sigh~Killing to him now look like a natural thing due to the flaw;blood thirstiness.
_ All those who cross my path will fall under my wrath. He let a dry laugh before vanishing into the shadows.
"Master don't forget to be the master of your flaw..."
....
In the academy's weekly tournament, two figures could be seen on the battle arena.
One was a handsome youth with golden hair. His expression was solemn, and he stood like a gentleman with his hands clasped behind his back. His every action carried an air of calm elegance, making the girls present blush beet-red just from looking at his composed demeanor.
This was Di Tang, the prodigy from a noble aristocratic clan—one of the top big three in the academy.
His opponent was also a youth, but with long black hair and less striking features. Yet, his confident smile carried a charm of its own, as though nothing in the world could faze him. This was Meng Xuan.
According to the rules of the academy's weekly tournament, the winner of the last match would return to the arena and await new challengers.
Di Tang was a formidable martial artist, having fought countless opponents. Many students once challenged him, but most ended up surrendering halfway. They didn't want to fight him anymore—because he was a lightning-element cultivator. Though holy force was forbidden within the tournament, everyone assumed he had lightning based techniques that increased his overall physical stats_most especially his speed.
He was so fast that most of them couldn't even see his attacks coming.
The formation in the arena also didn't sense any use of holy force. One could say he was fighting the same, yet not.
While the students were acting cowardly, not wanting to fight or challenge Di Tang, at this point Meng Xuan stood up and challenged him.
Meng Xuan, the cursed child who didn't have holy power, but his actions in the past few weeks had already made him the talk of the academy.
He had defeated Jiao San with just three moves, leaving no chance for Jiao San to counter. It was unbelievable, but they had seen it with their own eyes.
Though they had assumed it was just a coincidence, and that Jiao San had simply underestimated his opponent, the truth was clear. There was no excuse for failure—Jiao San had fallen into the hands of a "wastrel."
But now that they saw him challenging Di Tang, they could only mock him. He might have been lucky in his fight with Jiao San, but there was really no way out here. Di Tang was naturally stronger than Jiao San, and most of them couldn't help but give up fighting him.
How could Meng Xuan dare to challenge him so boldly? Everyone was stunned.
"Did he think he is the god of luck and can just beat whoever he wants?" a guy scoffed.
"Haven't you seen him workout? He might have a chance…" another whispered.
"Tch!"
"An elephant will still be an elephant that won't fly even if it grew two feathers. If he has no power, a cursed brat will always be a wastrel."
"This Meng Xuan guy is really stupid to challenge Di Tang. But I can't wait to see the outcome."
"You must be the guy who defeated Jiao San with three moves. Sounds pretty interesting," Di Tang spoke up, staring at Meng Xuan with battle-hungry eyes.
"I hope our fight won't be as boring as the rest."
"Try me out then," Meng Xuan replied with a smile.