"Brother, I’ve seen them!"

In the Dali Realm’s Realm Capital, at the temporary residence of the Law Enforcement Officers, someone hurried into a room and spoke at once. The man inside withdrew his gaze from the busy crowd outside the window, his eyes flashing with murderous intent! He immediately asked, "And the people I sent you to find?"

"They’ve been in position for a while now!"

"Good. Later tonight, proceed with the plan!"

"Understood!"

These two were, naturally, the other Law Enforcement Officers whose comrade had been erased by Ning Xuan. The strongest was named Su Quan, and the other was Ye Ting. After leaving their threatening message, they had rushed to the Realm Capital without a moment’s rest. After several days of preparation, they had laid an inescapable trap, just waiting for Ning Xuan and his companion to appear.

With the contest set for the next day, Su Quan appeared calm, but in reality, he could barely contain his eagerness. Thankfully, those two bastards had finally shown up at the last moment.

Because Ning Xuan and Leng Yi were the last to arrive, they were naturally assigned to the most remote location. Of course, this ’remoteness’ was relative. In fact, they were closest to the duel site. The duel site in the Dali Realm’s Realm Capital was also a kind of Beast Arena, surrounded by high walls. The Law Enforcement Officer residences were situated outside the arena, expanding outward in concentric circles. The closest were right beneath the high walls, giving off an oppressive feeling. Conversely, the farther out one was, the farther they were from the high walls, and the more open the view became. From the outermost ring where Su Quan and Ye Ting resided, one could even gaze directly upon the duel site!

Time flew, and soon it was deep in the night. Tomorrow was the first day of the contest, and countless Law Enforcement Officers, wanting to be in peak condition, had already activated the Arrays isolating their rooms from the outside world.

At this time, in a room beneath the high walls closest to the duel site, Leng Yi was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan. Seeing Ning Xuan open his eyes from meditation, he immediately said, "Brother Ning, this room has an Array! They can’t get in!"

"You think they haven’t thought of that?" Ning Xuan retorted.

Leng Yi’s worry had thrown him into a panic. Reminded by Ning Xuan, he couldn’t help but feel ashamed. But a moment later, he looked at Ning Xuan in shock. "Knowing full well that we don’t have the protection of an Array, how can you still be so relaxed?!"

If it were me, I’d probably be scared out of my wits by now!

"There’s plenty of time. If it were you, would you choose to strike in the first half of the night?"

Leng Yi scratched his head and fell silent.

Compared to Ning Xuan, I feel like a complete fool. How embarrassing!

After thinking it through, I believe I’ve found the reason. Ning Xuan is too clever, and I’ve unconsciously grown dependent on him. That’s why my own intelligence has regressed! Yes. From now on, I’ll just follow him and do as I’m told without thinking! That actually sounds pretty great!

This guy wasn’t thinking of striving for more but was actually starting to embrace slacking off.

Looking at Leng Yi sitting cross-legged beside him, Ning Xuan instantly guessed his thoughts and couldn’t help but shake his head.

Hopeless.

"They’re here!" After an unknown amount of time had passed, Ning Xuan sent a mental transmission to Leng Yi.

However, Leng Yi seemed completely deflated. Having come to his decision, he was now committed to slacking off. Not long ago, he had even handed his own Token to Ning Xuan for safekeeping, keeping only Zhang Hu’s Token on his person.

If they want tokens, fine, let them have them!

A moment later, Leng Yi heard voices. It wasn’t a transmission; the sounds were coming from inside the room.

"Are the two of you satisfied?" one of them asked, tossing two Tokens to the floor with a crisp clatter.

Immediately after, Leng Yi heard Ning Xuan’s shocked voice. "It’s you?!"

This was the signal. Leng Yi’s eyes flew open, his face also a mask of shock. Standing before him were not only Su Quan and Ye Ting but two other men as well.

"Hahaha, Zhao Long, Zhang Hu, you never saw this coming, did you!" one of them crowed. "They were bought by us a long time ago. When they greeted you and told you about the Array, it was all to make you lower your guard!"

"The Jianghu isn’t about fighting and killing; it’s about connections and strategy. Sometimes, using your brain is more effective than using your fists!"

"Your Tokens are in our hands. So, tell us, should we throw them away, or...?"

Hearing this, Leng Yi was the first to feign submission. "No, no, no! It was all his idea, I had nothing to do with it! Just let me go, and I promise I’ll do whatever you say."

"As you wish." As Su Quan spoke, Ye Ting had already moved, releasing the Prohibition on Leng Yi’s limbs.

"Kneel and kowtow until we’re satisfied!"

Leng Yi hesitated. "This..."

Ning Xuan’s voice immediately cut in, "Zhang Hu, don’t fall for it! This is the Realm Capital; they wouldn’t dare kill us here!"

Su Quan and Ye Ting’s faces filled with mockery. They were about to sneer when "Zhang Hu" replied, "Oh. Forget it, just throw it away then."

They had never expected "Zhang Hu" to be so compliant. They were all dumbfounded.

Su Quan was so frustrated he could spit. "Your name is Zhang Hu! You’re a tiger, not a sick kitten!"

"But he’s never been wrong before. So if you want to throw it, go ahead!" Zhang Hu was resolute.

"You think I won’t dare?!" Ye Ting barked. The Token in his hand turned into a streak of light and vanished into the sky.

At the same time, all four of them backed away to avoid being sprayed with blood. But after a long wait, the other man was still unharmed.

All four of them were stunned.

"Ah, my apologies. You must have taken the wrong one," Ning Xuan’s voice rang out at the perfect moment. "His Token is right here with me."

As the four of them turned to look at him, Leng Yi made his move. He didn’t attack them. Instead, he suddenly struck a fire-starter.

They were confused, not understanding what he was doing. 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

BOOM!

A wave of fire erupted.

"Holy shit, this guy’s insane!" Su Quan and Ye Ting were aghast. The residences here were all connected; this fire would burn everything to the ground!

Just as the two were about to suppress the flames, a sharp sound echoed.

CRACK!

They looked over to see that Ning Xuan had snapped the necks of the two men they had bribed.

"You weren’t restrained?!" Su Quan felt a chill crawl down his spine.

"Run!" The next moment, remembering the fate of his other comrades, he lost all courage to fight and scrambled out of the room. Ye Ting reacted just as quickly, following right behind him.

Leng Yi burst out of the room, shouting, "Help, assassins!" Then, his voice grew frantic, "Fire! Fire!"

While shouting, he began clumsily trying to put out the fire. His efforts only served to spread the sparks, which flew everywhere and ignited more of the surrounding houses. Before long, the entire area descended into chaos.

「Atop a tall tower」

Several powerful Cultivators watched the inferno rage below, completely dumbstruck.

"Gentlemen, can you release him now?" Zang Peng asked helplessly. He, too, had been waiting for Ning Xuan.

As it turned out, Ning Xuan never appeared. Instead, several extremely powerful Cultivators had arrived. Without a word of explanation, they had abducted him and brought him here. He had thought he might get to see Ning Xuan, but instead, he was now witnessing this chaotic scene unfold.