Chapter 553 - 552: Practicing Swords? How About I Practice With You?

Chapter 553: Chapter 552: Practicing Swords? How About I Practice With You?

A surging wave of energy instantly enveloped the entire room, sealing every exit and making escape impossible. With their cultivation levels, the three of them were completely trapped; there was no way they could break through this array in a short amount of time.

It was obvious this array had been secretly set up well in advance; otherwise, it wouldn’t have just appeared now. Someone had snuck in to deploy it while they were away, all without their knowledge.

The appearance of two Void Spirit experts immediately made them realize they had walked into a trap.

"You’re finally back. You really kept us waiting," the first Void Spirit expert said as he stepped forward. His cultivation wasn’t particularly high—only the Third Layer of the Void Spirit Realm—but for the three of them, he was more than powerful enough.

Forget two Void Spirit experts. A single one was enough to crush them.

"That’s right. Waiting for you to get back was a real waste of time. Good thing you finally showed up, or I would have set up this grand array for nothing," the other Void Spirit expert sneered, his expression terrifying.

Neither of them looked very old, perhaps in their forties. To possess such formidable cultivation at that age, they surely had a promising future. But who would have thought they would come after them? Ren Liangchen and the others’ faces darkened. This was not a good sign.

"So it’s Fellow Daoist Jin. I wonder what the meaning of this is?" Ren Liangchen remained calm, his sharp gaze fixed on the man before him.

They had seen both men before. One was Jin Feng, and the other was Zhao Quan. They had assumed they were just powerful cultivators passing through. They never expected them to come knocking, especially since they had exchanged pleasantries earlier.

Jin Feng was also a decent Fifth-Grade Divine Rune Master. He had dabbled in the art but hadn’t achieved true Mastery. Still, a Divine Rune Array laid by a Fifth-Grade Divine Rune Master was more than enough to trap them for the time being.

Even without the Divine Rune Array, they could have killed them easily. The disparity in their cultivation levels was obvious; it would be effortless to deal with them.

The problem was the risk of them escaping, which would make things extremely difficult. Guangyun City had rules: private duels were forbidden. If caught, one would be banned from ever entering Guangyun City again!

That’s why they set up the array—to seal off the area from all sight and sound. This way, they could deal with them without worrying about being discovered.

"No special meaning. Just hand over the Sacred Artifacts you’re holding. We’d like to ’borrow’ them for a bit." Jin Feng chuckled slyly, his eyes filled with greed as he stared at the Sacred Artifact in Yang Zhiwen’s hand.

Ren Liangchen and the others’ faces fell. As they suspected, the men were after their Sacred Artifacts. They must have been spotted when they were out hunting Demon Beasts earlier, and now they had come for them.

This so-called "borrowing" was clearly permanent.

"As for the Sacred Artifacts, we can lend one to Fellow Daoist Jin to play with." After a moment of contemplation, Ren Liangchen could only choose to compromise.

They couldn’t escape, and they certainly couldn’t withstand their attacks. If it were just one opponent, they might have stood a chance. But they were facing two! Two Void Spirit experts... this was more than they could handle.

"No, we want all three. We’re short three Sacred Artifacts." They chuckled, completely unafraid that Ren Liangchen would refuse. Refusal meant death!

"Surely you two don’t need that many? We can offer two at most. We need to keep one for ourselves," Ren Liangchen tried to bargain.

"What’s wrong with me holding one in each hand?" Jin Feng sneered. "Not one less. Otherwise, none of you are walking out that door!"

Their expressions darkened instantly. They had hoped to compromise, figuring that giving up two artifacts to save their lives was a far better deal than keeping them. After all, what good were Sacred Artifacts to a dead man?

But now they were demanding every last Sacred Artifact. It was obvious now that they had planned to take everything from the start, without leaving a single one.

The three of them exchanged glances, seeing the decision reflected in each other’s eyes.

Ren Liangchen nodded, then said to the two men, "Fine. All three of our Sacred Artifacts are yours!"

Though it broke their hearts, they had to do it to survive. Sacred Artifacts were merely worldly possessions. This was the tragic fate of the weak—to be bullied and robbed at will, with no choice but to accept it.

With that said, they tossed their Sacred Artifacts forward. All three landed in front of Jin Feng and his partner. These artifacts were by far their most valuable possessions; nothing else they owned came close.

They had been ecstatic for some time after Yi Tianyun gifted them the Sacred Artifacts. They never imagined that failing to conceal their wealth would lead to them being targeted by Jin Feng and his partner.

They had only been hunting Demon Beasts and were well aware of the principle of not flaunting one’s wealth. They only ever took out the artifacts to hunt when they were sure no one else was around.

But as luck would have it, Jin Feng and his partner had seen them. They were immediately drawn by the sight, so much so that they set up an array in their victims’ own room, waiting for them to fall into the trap.

Jin Feng and his partner’s eyes lit up. They snatched up the three Sacred Artifacts and began caressing them.

"Such fine treasures, such fine Sacred Artifacts..." Their eyes filled with ecstasy. While their cultivation levels were high, they were relatively poor.

In the Mortal Realm, most Void Spirit experts could acquire at least one Sacred Artifact. Here, however, it was a different story. While Void Spirit experts weren’t exactly walking on every street, they weren’t the lofty, untouchable figures they were back in the Mortal Realm.

"Can you let us go now?" Ren Liangchen’s gaze was ice-cold. He found their expressions disgusting, but he had no other choice.

"Heh heh... what do you think?" Jin Feng picked up one of the stolen Holy Swords and slapped it against his palm, his eyes glinting with malice. "The weapons are in hand, but I’d still like to test this Holy Sword on you... to see just how sharp it really is."

"You’re going back on your word!" Ren Liangchen’s group’s faces turned cold. As expected, their word couldn’t be trusted. And yet, they had still chosen to take that chance, since resisting would have meant certain death.

To think that even without resisting, they would still face certain death!

"’Going back on my word?’ Don’t be so dramatic. I just want to test out this sword on you, see if you can dodge my attacks," Jin Feng said with a sinister laugh.

"That’s right. We’re just practicing our swordplay. All you have to do is dodge. We won’t hurt you," Zhao Quan added with a matching sinister smile. There was no way they were letting them go. Even with the items handed over, they were still going to silence them for good!

No one would believe such bullshit. It was obvious they planned to kill them; they were just sugarcoating it.

"Formation!" Ren Liangchen and his friends’ faces grew cold as they quickly fell into a defensive posture, preparing to block the attack. It might be futile, but at least they could struggle a little instead of just letting themselves be captured.

"Looks like we won’t be able to wait for the Boss to return..."

"Yeah, it seems we’re going to have to break our promise..."

Sorrow filled their eyes. They never imagined that after Yi Tianyun left, they would die before he returned.

"Practicing your swordplay? How about I practice with you?"

At that moment, an ethereal voice echoed through the room. A young man then emerged from a corner, a Divine Sword clutched tightly in his hand!