Chapter 1653: Chapter 1653

Ransom? Ye Guan glanced at the little girl next to the silver-haired man. She wore a horned hat and looked delicate and fragile, but the words she spoke were anything but soft.

Ye Guan chuckled, saying, "You little thing, what a petty way to run a kidnapping. A hundred thousand Ancestral Spiritual Crystals... don't you think that's too little?"

The little girl sternly replied, "You have to leave room when doing things. Don't go overboard."

Ye Guan was speechless.

"What kidnapping? Xingchen, don't say nonsense," the silver-haired man scolded his sister, then turned to Ye Guan with a grin. "Let me explain our rules. In the Stellar Civilization's cultivation tower, the victor is entitled to take the defeated party's belongings as spoils of war. Everyone knows this!"

Ye Guan said, "There's no sign about that outside."

The silver-haired man laughed, "Aren't I telling you now?"

Ye Guan was lost for words.

The little girl tugged at his sleeve and seriously said, "Brother, this guy seems honest. Leave him some pocket money to travel back home."

The silver-haired man smiled. "Don't worry. I know how to act in moderation."

Ye Guan was surprised. He hadn't expected the people of the Stellar Civilization to be like... bandits. What a group of people!

The silver-haired man grinned. "Brother, just hand over your stuff, and you can leave. We only want money, not lives. Once you're out here, we're still buddies."

Ye Guan replied, "I want a duel."

"Against me?" The silver-haired man pointed at himself.

Ye Guan nodded. "A one-on-one. If you beat me, I'll give you all my treasures."

The silver-haired man looked at Ye Guan for a moment. Then, he laughed. "Brother, are you pretending to be weak to fool us?"

Ye Guan was speechless.

The silver-haired man shook his head repeatedly. "No way. I won't give you that chance. I want a group fight. If you don't hand it over, over a thousand of us are going to gang up on you."

Ye Guan's face darkened. "Aren't you afraid your civilization will be mocked for this?"

The silver-haired man laughed, "Not at all!"

Ye Guan frowned. "Why not?"

The silver-haired man said seriously, "Because we are shameless."

Ye Guan's face froze. Well, checkmate.

Just as the silver-haired man was about to speak again, Ye Guan suddenly leapt into the air. He was about three hundred meters from the man. Before anyone could react, Ye Guan's sword was already slashing down toward him.

At that very moment, a sharp glint flashed in the silver-haired man's eyes. From his right side, a terrifying aura suddenly rushed forward; it was incredibly fast.

Ye Guan abandoned his attack and pivoted in mid-air, slashing toward the side.

A beam of starlight shattered with a deafening noise.

Ye Guan looked over and saw the silver-haired man's sister. A giant bow—in stark contrast—to her size was in her hands. The bow was taller than her, and its body was crystalline blue as if it were forged from starlight. The string shimmered golden, rippling like flowing water.

Upon closer inspection, Ye Guan realized that the bowstring was woven using time itself.

A bow of stars for the body and the Dao of Time for the string.

Seeing Ye Guan look her way, the little girl drew the bowstring and said, "Surrender, and you won't die."

"A swordsman!" the silver-haired man shouted in shock, "Y-you're actually a swordsman!"

Ye Guan turned to him. The man quickly shouted, "Everyone! All together!"

His shout was followed by the entire group breaking out into a song. At first, their voices were gentle, like a stream flowing over pebbles, soft and delicate. Before long, their song echoed like fierce tidal waves, crashing and swelling in unison.

Ye Guan frowned. The stars in the vast expanse began to spin violently.

He dared not underestimate them. He was facing not just one, but the top young elites of an entire Divine Civilization.

Still, Ye Guan didn't strike. He was genuinely intrigued by this civilization.

The silver-haired man shouted, "Meteors! Destroy!"

When his voice fell, countless stars exploded with dazzling brilliance, piercing space and time to descend upon Ye Guan from all directions.

In an instant, he was engulfed in starlight.

The cultivators of the Stellar Civilization stared nervously at the area.

The silver-haired man muttered, "He's not... dead, is he?"

Despite being shameless, they still had a moral baseline. Over the years, they'd only robbed people, never taken lives.

Robbery was for survival; murder was a step too far.

A sword cry suddenly echoed. The sea of stars was split apart in a single slash!

"Holy shit!" someone screamed.

Before they could react, a sword came hurtling toward the silver-haired man.

In the blink of an eye, it appeared before his forehead.

Just as Ye Guan's sword was about to pierce his brows, he sensed a powerful aura behind him. He turned and slashed out. Follow current ɴᴏᴠᴇʟs on NoveI~Fire.net

A star arrow slammed into his blade and shattered.

It was the little girl again.

She stood with her bow drawn, another arrow nocked. This arrow was condensed from countless strands of starlight. Around her, a massive vortex of cosmic power surged, terrifying in scale and pressure.

Ye Guan looked her over and smiled. "Interesting."

He vanished into thin air.

The little girl instantly released the arrow.

The arrow shot through the air, and as it flew, countless stars began to spin. Waves of star power surged into the arrow like rivers joining a sea.

Its power skyrocketed.

Ye Guan smiled lightly and thrust his sword.

The arrow exploded, showering star fragments.

Far off, the little girl's expression changed. She was about to shoot again, but her pupils shrank.

A sword hovered right at her brow.

Her eyes held unwillingness and stubborn defiance. She gripped her bow tightly. Ye Guan thought she would resist again. Instead, she raised the bow high and declared, "I surrender."

Ye Guan was speechless.

Everyone in the Stellar Civilization was stunned.

"The fuck?!" The silver-haired man's expression changed as he yelled, "You're a Circle Breaker! Are you insane? Why did you come here for a trial?!"

Upon hearing this, all the Stellar Civilization geniuses and prodigies were stunned. Their eyes widened like lanterns. Their entire civilization had only one Circle Breaker, and it was their leader.

But this guy was one, too? A Circle Breaker actually came here... Wasn't that bullying?!

Little Pagoda suddenly said, "Now I get it. You didn't go see your Mother first because you wanted to come here and show off. Makes sense...what's the point of being rich if no one knows about it? Gotta flex on these noobs... I get it."

Ye Guan ignored Little Pagoda. He grabbed the little girl's bow.

However, she held on tight, and tears brimmed in her eyes as she stared at him with fierce resistance.

Ye Guan said, "By your rules, this is mine now."

The little girl looked wronged. Tears streamed down her face.

Ye Guan snatched the bow anyway, and not just that, he took her storage ring, too.

She cried even harder.

Ye Guan then turned to the silver-haired man.

The silver-haired man stammered, "Big bro... you're a Circle Breaker!"

Ye Guan nodded. "Mhm."

The silver-haired gulped. "Why are you even here? Aren't you just bullying us?"

Ye Guan repliedd, "I thought you were all Circle Breakers. Tsk, had I known, I wouldn't have come here."

Everyone was speechless.

The silver-haired man's face darkened. He's not just robbing us, he's wounding our souls, too!

Ye Guan said, "Since I won, hand over your rings!"

"I refuse!" someone shouted.

A male disciple stepped forward, glaring. "I don't have money. You'll have to take my life—"

Before he could finish, a sword was already pressed to his forehead.

Ye Guan said nothing and pressed the sword a bit; blood quickly trickled down as a result.

The man quickly pulled off his storage ring and placed it on Ye Guan's sword.

Ye Guan pocketed the ring, and then he turned to the others.

Many wanted to resist, but Ye Guan was a Circle Breaker, so they eventually gave up.

Money was just material, after all!

One by one, they handed over their rings.

Ye Guan collected them all, then looked at the silver-haired man.

The man hesitated, then asked, "Bro... if I give you my ring, can you return the bow to my sister?"

Ye Guan firmly replied, "No."

The man pleaded, "That's her life! Without the Star God Bow, how can she live? She's our civilization's last hope. I swear I'll earn money to pay you back."

Ye Guan shook his head again. "No."

The silver-haired man suddenly hugged Ye Guan's leg and wailed, "Brother, please! Have mercy on me and my little sister! That bow is everything to her! Without it, she's finished! She's our civilization's final hope!

"Please! I'll even call you Daddy!"

The little girl walked over and pulled him back. Though she was crying, she held her brother tightly, not wanting him to beg.

However, the silver-haired man clung to Ye Guan's leg and refused to let go.

Ye Guan thought for a moment and said, "I'm kinda broke."

"Broke?" The silver-haired man looked up, eyes pitiful. "You're a Circle Breaker, but you're broke? Want to know the definition of broke? It's our Stellar Civilization! We are drowning in debt! We borrowed from the Immortal Treasure Pavilion, and they were all high-interest loans!

"We still owe them millions of Ancestral Spiritual Crystals! If we weren't at the end of our rope, we wouldn't be robbing people!"

Ye Guan was at a loss for words.