"Cough, cough."

As Qi Lao fell, a warm and viscous liquid surged up his throat, and a scarlet spittle trickled from the corner of his mouth.

"Qi Lao!"

Seeing Qi Lao in such a state, the guard squad shouted in unison, a faint aura rising from their bodies, forming a weak protective shield, trying to help Qi Lao up.

"Haven’t you had enough of a lesson?" Wang Shan’s icy words, mixed with raindrops, reached everyone’s ears, instantly recalling the encounter at the village entrance, where the sudden increase in pressure made it impossible for them to resist a second time with their current strength.

If it happened again, their fate wouldn’t be any better than Qi Lao’s.

Immediately, they retracted their auras, standing in place with guilt-ridden eyes, fists clenched, shaking their heads helplessly.

No choice.

In the current situation, they could only ensure their own safety. No one knew what this nearly two-meter-tall humanoid Demon Beast might do next!

"What are you doing, why are you treating Qi Lao like this, let him go immediately!"

Lian Ji, seeing Qi Lao’s miserable state, reprimanded Wang Shan, and then scolded the guard squad.

"How did Qi Lao teach you? When someone in the village is in trouble, everyone must help, never abandon anyone. Now that Qi Lao is in trouble, is this how you repay him?"

Lian Ji was extremely angry, looking at the indifferent guard squad with great disappointment.

Unexpectedly, the guard squad of the Great Wilderness Border Village, which her husband painstakingly taught, turned out to be such people.

"Haha, pretty lady," Wang Shan said, "You can’t blame them. They understand the great gap between the two sides’ strengths. Rescuing would only increase casualties. Isn’t protecting oneself the best choice?"

"If you truly despise these people, when I join the Wang family, you can use them as you wish."

With that, Wang Shan, drenched in rain, walked step by step toward Lian Ji, eyes filled with endless desire, as if she was already his possession.

"Get lost!"

As Wang Shan approached Lian Ji, a tender voice rang out amid the torrential rain.

"Who?" Wang Shan suddenly froze, letting the raindrops fall on his face as he searched for the source of the voice.

"This voice, it sounds like a child?" After a while, Wang Shan realized and looked at a baby beside Lian Ji.

"Was it you just now?" Wang Shan asked.

Xu Ran, questioned, showed no expression, nor did he speak, merely looking silently at Wang Shan as if he were observing a dead man.

Obviously, there was no one else around who could make such a childish voice except for Xu Ran, the little kid.

Just as Wang Shan was about to speak, he noticed the Peregrine Falcon beside Xu Ran, understanding dawned on him.

"It seems your reliance is this Spirit Pet you’ve reared?"

The Peregrine Falcon’s aura was indeed extraordinary, but Wang Shan had absorbed the Beast Blood of an Ancient Great Demon, with an essence of an ancient ape within. Even though the Peregrine Falcon was a raptor, a dream Spirit Pet for Hunter, it was insignificant before an ancient ape.

Little White, being called out, had sharp eyes and a taut body, an aura ready to burst forth, but seeing its master Xu Ran silent, it remained motionless.

From its understanding of Xu Ran, it had never seen its master like this. This person probably wouldn’t make it out of the Xu Family alive.

Seeing himself blatantly ignored, Wang Shan’s already cold face turned even chillier, as if the surrounding temperature dropped a few degrees, making the torrential rain from the sky slow down.

Xu Ran’s expression reminded him of himself before he practiced Body Refining—though he was a village thug, everyone looked at him with extreme disdain, as if he were a lower-class person.

Unable to bear such looks, his inner darkness erupted completely after Body Refining, turning him into a thorough villain.

A skinny monkey following Wang Shan saw Xu Ran’s expression, and his face instantly turned fearful, recalling Wang Shan’s past deeds, taking a trembled step back.

The other clueless henchmen were completely unaware of the gravity of the situation.

...

The oppressive dark clouds covered the sky, blocking the sun, pressing on everyone’s heart like a lead plate. From the originally hot weather, bodies started to shiver as the temperature dropped several degrees.

The raindrops as big as beans fell like sharp swords from the sky, fiercely hitting the ground, with the pitter-patter echoing throughout the Great Wilderness Border Village.

In the Xu Family courtyard.

Bean-sized raindrops halted mid-air, as if time had paused, forming a curved barrier above Wang Shan’s head.

Then the curved barrier suddenly descended, a mountain-like pressure suddenly appearing in the Xu Family courtyard.

"Boom!"

In an instant, the courtyard’s ground formed a huge depression, dust compressed into nothingness, and faint traces of blood on the ground.

This was Wang Shan deploying his Gravity Suppression.

"Why does a pampered child like you dare look at me with such eyes? Who do you think you are?"

Gripping his fists tightly, Wang Shan reached upward as if grabbing the barrier and ruthlessly hurled it toward Xu Ran.

At once, the air before Xu Ran rapidly collapsed, almost instantly reaching him.

The guard squad watching Xu Ran held their breath in this moment, their faces covered in fear impossible to hide. They had felt gravity suppression before.

Yet what they had experienced wasn’t even a tenth of the barrier Wang Shan now threw, which had been compressed to the extreme.

If this pressure were placed beside them, they would become a pool of blood in an instant.

At this time, the pressure on Qi Lao had dissipated, and the guard squad used the chance to help him up. Yet before they even had time to catch their breath, an overwhelming pressure surged from not far away.

With a glance, they saw a gravity suppression dozens of times stronger than before being thrown to Xu Ran.

"This gravity suppression’s power might be over tenfold stronger than before. How could Wang Shan’s Divine Techniques be this terrifyin’? Such feats, the whole village standing in front couldn’t withstand it!"

Gasping for breath, Qi Lao, clutching his chest, didn’t even bother to hide the fear in his voice.

Wang Shan’s strength was too formidable! So formidable they didn’t even have the thought to resist!

They knew Xu Ran’s strength in the same village. They hadn’t witnessed it, but Xu Binghu’s strength was known—even Xu Binghu couldn’t hold his ground against Wang Shan.

The skinny monkey chimed in, "Brother Wang’s methods are terrifying."

As someone always near Wang Shan, he knew well the past displays of Wang Shan’s strength, which couldn’t compare to now, revealing how deeply Wang Shan concealed his strength.

At the same time, the skinny monkey was extremely excited. "With Brother Wang’s protection, enjoying a life of indulgence isn’t a problem. Even marrying several beautiful maidens isn’t impossible!"

Grinning widely, baring yellow teeth, the skinny monkey said.

...

Just when everyone thought the immense pressure would tear Xu Ran, Little White, and Lian Ji to shreds, Xu Ran’s expression remained calm as if nothing could perturb him.

Suddenly, Little White stepped forth, displaying the [Divine Eagle Skill], its one-meter form instantly expanding to three meters.

Unfolding its wings, a gentle flap sent a huge gust of wind carrying the descending raindrops toward the Gravity Suppression.

"Whoosh—" 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Instantly, at the contact of wind and Gravity Suppression, the pressure reversed direction, flying backward and crashing onto a distant open space.

"Boom—"

Amid the torrential rain, dust billowed, scattered by the rain, covering the ground.