Li Feng and his band of cronies stood frozen in place, doubting their own ears. They wondered if they had hallucinated from over-cultivating recently. That slow-moving snail with mud clinging to its shell… could cultivate into an immortal?
Had the threshold for immortality dropped that low? Or was it that in this desolate wilderness, any random crawling creature you picked up could be linked to "eternal life"? They clearly remembered that they had just plucked this thing off a piece of rotten wood in the forest a moment ago.
In the world of the Seven-Star Ascension Realm, an Immortal was a supreme existence standing atop all living beings—a terrifying powerhouse who could shatter stars with a wave of a hand. Yet here was this peak narcissist pointing at a snail and claiming it was a future sovereign.
"You haven't realized the gravity of the situation yet, have you?"
Xu Xing stood with one hand behind his back, while the other pointed mysteriously at Li Feng. His tone was as profound as a hidden grandmaster enlightening the juniors. His eyes held a sense of compassion and world-weariness, as if he had seen through the eternal cycles of reincarnation.
"You have no idea. In its previous life, this snail was an ancient divine beast capable of swallowing the sun and moon. The only reason it reincarnated as a snail in this life is because, over the vast eons, it realized that no matter how hard it worked, it could never reach the level of walking side by side with me. It was reborn carrying regret and an inferiority complex! Now, do you understand who you are standing before?"
Li Feng opened his mouth, but not a single word came out. He had spent years in the cultivation world robbing the honest and bullying the timid, but he had truly never seen someone whose brain was so thoroughly broken. He even felt a spark of absurd sympathy, thinking that maybe he should just let this lunatic go; arguing with a fool might lower his own IQ.
However, the burly man behind him clearly didn't share this "compassion." This man had a violent temper and hated being played for a fool more than anything.
"You're looking for death! You injured my brother's 'mount,' refused to pay up, and now you're here talking utter nonsense! I'll teach you the meaning of reality today!"
The brute roared, and the ground beneath his feet cracked from the eruption of spiritual energy. He charged at Xu Xing like a wild bull, his huge fist whistling through the air as it aimed straight for Xu Xing's face. If this punch connected, even an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator would end up with shattered bones.
However, in Xu Xing's eyes, the speed of this punch was slow. Every inch of its trajectory was crystal clear.
Xu Xing even found the leisure to sigh. He simply raised his right hand and casually extended a single finger, pointing it directly at the incoming heavy fist.
Clang!
A dull thud echoed, but the expected scene of splattering brains didn't happen. That punch came to a dead stop right in front of that finger.
The brute's eyes nearly popped out of his head. While he didn't consider himself a peerless genius, he was definitely among the strong ones among Foundation Establishment cultivators. He had used eighty percent of his strength in that punch, yet it felt like hitting a ten-thousand-foot-tall mountain. It didn't budge an inch.
A chill raced through his spine. He realized he hadn't just kicked a steel plate—he had kicked the gates of the Southern Heaven. He tried to pull back, only to find with horror that his body was locked in place by an invisible force.
"Heavens above, why is the world always producing trash like you?"
Xu Xing shook his head helplessly, his expression full of disappointment at the world's lack of quality. With a slight flick of his finger, an unremarkable force instantly exploded forward.
The brute felt a weight like a collapsing mountain crash down on him. His body felt like it had been tossed into a giant grinding stone. In that instant, he heard his own bones creaking and groaning, as if he would be turned into a puddle of meat in the next second.
"Senior, spare me! Senior, have mercy!"
The once-mighty brute was now slumped on the ground, snot and tears flowing together. The sheer terror of facing death broke him completely; he could only shriek and beg for his life.
Xu Xing didn't actually intend to kill anyone. He retracted his finger, and the suffocating pressure dissipated instantly.
"Get lost, and try to remember this lesson."
"Thank you, Senior! Thank you for sparing my life!"
The brute scrambled to his feet and vanished into the depths of the jungle as a blurred afterimage, moving at least three times faster than when he had charged in.
Li Feng and the others remained frozen, neither daring to leave nor stay. Seeing their companion run faster than a rabbit, they also wanted to slip away, their feet inching backward bit by bit.
But this was clearly a dream. In the face of such overwhelming power, any attempt to escape was laughable. With a mere shimmer of his body, Xu Xing appeared in front of Li Feng with a harmless-looking smile on his face.
"I say... did you guys forget something? You haven't compensated me yet."
Li Feng was scared out of his wits, his legs shaking violently. After witnessing Xu Xing's inhuman strength, how could he possibly harbor any thought of resistance?
"Senior... we'll pay! We'll give you everything! Please, show mercy!"
The lackeys tremblingly stripped the storage rings from their fingers and presented them with both hands. Li Feng's heart was bleeding, but he knew that staying alive was the priority.
Xu Xing took the rings, swept them with his divine sense, and raised an eyebrow. He unceremoniously dumped everything out. Most of it was low-grade spirit stones and cheap herbs, but among the clutter, one plant emitting a faint earthy-yellow glow stood out.
It was an Earth-grade herb: the Earth Spirit Lingzhi.
Li Feng felt like his heart was being squeezed. He had gone through great pains to steal—ahem! I mean "borrow"—this herb from someone else, intending to sell it for a high price to break through to the next level, but that was a dream now. He definitely should have checked the lunar calendar before leaving the house today.
"I suppose this will barely suffice," Xu Xing commented flatly.
What he did next, however, turned Li Feng and his group nearly faint.
They expected Xu Xing to pocket the treasure or consume it on the spot to boost his cultivation. Instead, Xu Xing slowly picked up the snail from the ground, crushed the incredibly precious Earth Spirit Lingzhi, and fed it bit by bit to the snail.
"Since you were injured because of me, I, Xu Xing—as the most noble person in this world—will naturally not commit such an act of injustice. Since I hurt it, I will heal it."
Xu Xing looked holy, as if he were performing a great deed. His "matter-of-fact" expression almost made Li Feng cough up a mouthful of blood.
The snail, however, wasn't polite at all and ate with great gusto. Once the entire Earth Spirit Lingzhi was in its stomach, it even let out a loud burp before affectionately rubbing against Xu Xing's finger.
The system's grip on Xu Xing vanished at this moment. Looking at the bandits whose faces were livid but who dared not speak, Xu Xing felt a slight awkwardness. Originally, he was just going to teach them a minor lesson, but because of the system he hadn't been able to help himself and ended up pulling a "reverse robbery."
Seeing the group looking like they were about to cry, Xu Xing waved them off and lectured them earnestly: "Remember today's lesson."
Li Feng and the others felt as if they had received a royal pardon. They didn't dare stay for a second longer, wishing they had extra legs as they vanished over the horizon in the blink of an eye.
As Li Feng ran, tears of emotion actually streaked down his face—thank heavens, though his fortune was gone, his life was saved.
Xu Xing casually placed the well-fed snail back on a nearby tree trunk. The snail seemed reluctant to leave, retreating into its shell to watch him for a long time before slowly crawling upward.
Having sent those "plagues" away, Xu Xing clapped his hands. Just as he was about to leave, his peripheral vision caught a patch of loose soil nearby. The spot looked like it had been recently dug; the soil was still fresh.
"Hmm? Could there be buried treasure here?"
Driven by curiosity, Xu Xing crouched down and began to dig. The pit was very shallow. In just three seconds, a finely crafted silk pouch appeared in his sight.
He opened the bag, and a fresh medicinal fragrance wafted out. Inside lay three round medicinal pills, their color full and vibrant, looking extremely extraordinary.
"Who buried treasure so sloppily?"
Xu Xing picked up a pill to examine it closely. Initially, he was pleasantly surprised, but as he looked deeper, his brow gradually furrowed. He quickly spotted the problem.
While these pills smelled fragrant and looked great, the internal ratio of spiritual energy was completely unbalanced. To put it simply: these were three failed "poison" pills.
If someone consumed them, they would indeed feel a surge in cultivation and a refreshing sensation for the first few minutes. But after that, the terrifying side effects would overwhelm them like a tide. As for whether they'd get diarrhea or explode and die, that would depend on the user's luck.
No wonder they were buried here. This was clearly the work of some unlucky alchemist who had secretly snuck out to toss them away.
"What bad luck. I thought I found treasure, but it's just trash."
Xu Xing originally intended to throw them away, but his hand stopped halfway. He suddenly remembered that his sect contribution points in this world were already in the negatives—he was penniless.
And these three pills... He could hand them over to Treasure Pavilion and maybe get some points, even if they were a waste.
Just as he was plotting how to market these "expired products," a clear voice suddenly rang out from behind him.
"Junior Brother, what are you doing over there in the dirt?"