"But… what if I break your dantian?"
He suddenly asked with a faint smile resembling that of a demon, extending his arm toward Wu Kang and scaring the shit out of him.
"What? You DARE…"
Seeing Zhiran's extended arm drawing closer like the scythe of a grim reaper, Wu Kang was so terrified that he momentarily forgot that breaking someone's dantian was an even more heinous crime than outright killing within the sect.
But his state was too bad after all, and if this crazy guy really did that, his cultivation journey would come to an end.
How could he not be scared?
"Don't… fuck!"
No matter what he shouted, Zhiran didn't stop; his hand was already closing in on Wu Kang's dantian.
Unfortunately, after the talisman's explosion, Wu Kang had exhausted all his spiritual energy just to defend himself.
Now, even if he wanted to resist, he could do nothing. He could only watch with dread-filled eyes as Zhiran did whatever he pleased.
A warm liquid had already leaked from him as a result of fear, which Zhiran obviously noticed.
"Tch, tch… for someone who talked so big, you sure are scared shitless."
Fortunately, at the last moment, Zhiran shifted his hand away from Wu Kang's abdomen and snatched the storage pouch at his waist instead.
He then smiled mockingly at Wu Kang, eyes gleaming with full ridicule.
In his previous life, these guys had beaten him quite badly because his realm was lower than theirs.
Now that he was doing what he had wanted in his previous life, Zhiran felt extremely fulfilled.
'This is just the beginning… Tianyu, wait for me. Everything you've done to me, I'll return tenfold.'
Zhiran thought with murderous intent, remembering the betrayal he had suffered before his death.
Yet he knew that if he truly wanted to act, he first had to grow stronger, and fast.
After all, even though he disliked his clan brother, he had to admit he was a beast.
For Tianyu, breakthroughs and enlightenment came as naturally as breathing… so if Zhiran acted recklessly, he would still be trampled and remain a mere side character once again.
Fortunately, this time, he had the wealth of knowledge from his past life, knowledge he could use to his advantage.
"20 low-grade spiritual stones and a Yellow Grade Sword. Nice."
Zhiran looked inside the storage bag, only to be met with a pleasant surprise. He never expected that Wu Kang would even have a Yellow Grade weapon.
In this world, weapons and artifacts were ranked:
Mortal Grade, Yellow Grade, Xuan Grade, Earth Grade, Heaven Grade, Saint Grade, Divine Grade, and Immortal Grade.
Although Yellow Grade weapons were the lowest rank a cultivator could use, not every beginner had one.
For instance, Zhiran himself had nothing but three spirit stones. His savings had already gone into buying that trump card talisman, which he had already used.
Fortunately, Wu Kang seemed a bit wealthier than him.
'Let's not waste others… too,' Zhiran thought, and quickly searched the body of the young man who had been knocked unconscious by the blast.
However, after going through his storage bag, he unfortunately found only five spiritual stones and some miscellaneous items.
"Well, better than nothing."
Zhiran wasn't too disappointed, though, and happily stashed everything into his own storage bag, tossing the remainder aside.
Then he turned, walked to the corner, and searched the storage bag of the youth who had first attacked him.
'Crimson Burst Talisman?'
Zhiran wasn't expecting much when searching, but unexpectedly, he actually found the low-grade talisman he had just used to blast Wu Kang.
'This guy is quite smart.'
He couldn't help but look at the young man again, clearly appreciating his thoughtfulness.
In this world of cultivation, one or two trump cards were extremely necessary.
Otherwise, your situation might become like Wu Kang's.
'Well, this completely covers my loss, haha…'
Zhiran was happy to get another trump card and carefully stuffed it inside his storage bag before standing up and walking outside.
He could already sense a large number of disciples gathering outside due to the noise.
So, after collecting the spoils, he directly left his broken cottage, intending to leave the sect.
After all, he already knew what day it was.
And if he remembered correctly, today was the day when his clan brother Tianyu saved an elder of the Divine Cauldron Sect, who was running away from demons and was heavily injured.
'Crimson Bamboo Forest, inside the cave behind the huge waterfall.'
Zhiran recalled the location where the elder had been hiding and healing his wounds.
He remembered it so clearly because, in his previous life, the elder had mentioned it himself during the Inner Sect competition a month later.
That elder had even taken Tianyu under his wing at his peak, making Tianyu's journey easier after he became first in the Inner Sect trial.
'Better to cut that guy's wing before he can fly.'
Zhiran thought coldly as he made his way out.
Though he had been reborn, the cards in his hands were still too few.
If he didn't use the knowledge from his previous life to seize every advantage early on, then no matter what he did later, he might never escape his destined fate.
He had not forgotten how Heaven's mysterious ways had always favored Tianyu.
So, in this life, his enemy was not only Tianyu, but Heaven itself.
How could he dare slack off?
"Cough… cough… bastard… my middle-grade Yellow Rank sword… give it back…"
Seeing Zhiran leave right after looting them, Wu Kang grew so furious that he coughed up blood nonstop.
But unfortunately for him, Zhiran was already far away. The only people around were other outer sect members who had come running after hearing the explosion.
"What… what happened here?"
But once they arrived, they were completely dumbfounded at the scene, as all they could see was the rubble of the broken cottage and three men sprawled embarrassingly in blood.
While two seemed unconscious, another one, for some reason, kept coughing up blood nonstop.
"Who did this?"