Chapter 393: Chapter 393

Although the masked Elder was only one grade higher than Nalan Xiong, Nalan Xiong dared not challenge him.

Cultivation was just one standard to measure strength, but actual combat power was different from cultivation.

Take the Myriad Ghosts Holy Monarch, for instance, his cultivation was merely that of an Earth Level Fifth Grade, but his combat power was extremely formidable; even Earth Level peak Martial Artists took great care around the Myriad Ghosts Holy Monarch.

The reason was that what made the Myriad Ghosts Holy Monarch formidable was his Ghost Soldiers Formation.

Therefore, Nalan Xiong also didn't dare to offend the masked Elder. Hadn't people from the Donghe Sect said so during the auction event? The notorious Qi Yuanzheng fell into their hands.

Qi Yuanzheng, who had slain five Earth Level Experts at the same time, was a formidable person. If the Donghe Sect could handle such a mighty individual, others were even less of a concern to him.

"Miss Fang Ruo, let's go. We shouldn't disturb the Donghe Sect elders in their affairs," Nalan Xiong said as he approached Fang Ruo.

Fang Ruo glanced at Nalan Xiong.

After Nalan Xiong saw the masked Elder, he acted like a servile flatterer, which she found quite contemptible, even nauseating.

She looked over at Ding Fan, hesitated for a moment, and then walked away without turning back.

Watching Fang Ruo leave, Ding Fan breathed a sigh of relief. He had been genuinely worried that Fang Ruo might stay to help him out of a sense of gratitude for saving her life; if that had happened, it would have been a hindrance to Ding Fan.

When Nalan Xiong saw Fang Ruo leave, he hurriedly led his men to follow her. After Fang Ruo and Nalan Xiong left, only Ding Fan and the masked Elder's parties remained.

"Mu Zi, this has nothing to do with you. You should go back," Ding Fan told Mu Zi, who stood nearby.

A battle with the Donghe Sect was bound to be fierce. If anything happened to Mu Zi, he really wouldn't know how to explain to Elder Mu.

"Brother Fan, I'll just stand aside and watch how you take care of these disgraceful fellows..." Mu Zi spoke nonchalantly by his side.

Ding Fan looked at Mu Zi and could tell that he had made up his mind. He was definitely not going to leave.

Ding Fan turned his head to look at Cheng Bufan standing beside him.

"I have been itching for some action these past two days, and this will be a good chance to stretch my muscles!" Cheng Bufan stood with his hands clasped behind him, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.

"I'll stay as well!" At that moment, Qi Luomei also stepped forward to speak.

Seeing everyone's readiness to stand with him warmed Ding Fan's heart. Having people willing to stand by him in times of danger was a kind of happiness...

"Let's deal with them together then."

The masked Elder suddenly didn't know what to say.

After all, it was his group blocking their way. Normally, people surrounded by so many of his men would have been begging for mercy by now.

Yet, these people were each more pretentious than the last, as if his men had come just to get beaten up by Ding Fan and his friends.

"Boy, you are certainly arrogant. I hope you can maintain that arrogance later!" the masked Elder said to Ding Fan.

"I have always been this arrogant. What can you do about it?!" Ding Fan confidently responded.

"Alright, alright... this isn't the place to fight. Let's go up the mountain ahead to settle this," the masked Elder suggested.

Ding Fan had no objections. "Fine."

Immediately, the seven or eight members of the Donghe Sect, along with the four people on Ding Fan's side, went up the mountain together.

Ding Fan once saved a woman named Su Qi here. Now, just three days later, they had returned to the same clearing.

After both sides took their positions, a familiar aura suddenly appeared.

Ding Fan quickly used his Divine Sense to scan the area, and to his surprise, Fang Ruo had followed them. However, she didn't show herself; she was hiding far behind a huge rock. Since Fang Ruo's cultivation was strong, her presence had gone unnoticed by the others.

And behind that huge rock, it wasn't just Fang Ruo hiding—Nalan Xiong had followed as well. Read full story at 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝·𝘧𝙞𝙧𝙚·𝔫𝔢𝔱

It seemed Fang Ruo was still intent on repaying Ding Fan for saving her life, so she had stealthily followed them and was waiting for the right moment to reciprocate the life-saving favor.

At this point, behind the rock...

"Miss Fang Ruo, that kid offended your Peach Blossom Female Sect and now has rashly offended the Donghe Sect too. This time, he's surely doomed," Nalan Xiong said beside Fang Ruo.

Fang Ruo gave Nalan Xiong a cold glance. "Please keep your distance from me..."

Nalan Xiong was taken aback by Fang Ruo's icy demeanor toward him. He felt annoyed since he was widely recognized as a top figure with many women dreaming of being with him. Yet Fang Ruo was brushing him off!

Though annoyed, Nalan Xiong didn't show his feelings. "Fang Ruo, the people from the Donghe Sect are all quite formidable, and I was just concerned about your safety."

Fang Ruo glanced over at Nalan Xiong beside her. "So, you're saying you followed me because you were worried about me?"

Nalan Xiong nodded. "Miss Fang Ruo, aren't you aware of my feelings for you? For you, there's nothing I wouldn't do!"

Nalan Xiong took the opportunity to confess his affection for Fang Ruo.

However, Fang Ruo was far from appreciative. She snorted coldly at Nalan Xiong. "Well, since that's the case, why don't you go and teach those people from the Donghe Sect a lesson? Ding Fan once saved my life, and now I'm about to repay that debt of gratitude."

Fang Ruo finished speaking and stared directly at Nalan Xiong beside her.

"What? Take on the people from Donghe Sect?" Nalan Xiong coughed twice. "Fang Ruo... the Donghe Sect... you may not realize, but those people are trouble, Qi Yuanzheng might have gotten killed by them, and if I go, wouldn't I be tossing my life away for nothing?"

Fang Ruo, seeing Nalan Xiong's reaction, felt even more disdain for him. After another cold snort, she stopped paying attention to Nalan Xiong and turned her gaze towards the arena.

By now, Nalan Xiong didn't dare to say another word. He truly feared that Fang Ruo would make him deal with the people from Donghe Sect, so he just squatted silently to one side, not making a peep.

"Kid, don't say I didn't give you a chance. Call out the Primordial Stone, then kneel and beg for mercy. Perhaps, I will appreciate your sincerity and spare your life!" the masked elder taunted Ding Fan.

"Old man, leave the Refining God Pill behind, then kneel before us and beg for mercy. Perhaps we will appreciate your sincerity and then spare your life!" At this point, Mu Zi stepped forward, mocking the masked elder.

The masked elder trembled with rage, and although his expression was hidden behind the mask, Ding Fan could imagine that the elder must have been close to spitting blood in anger because of this little fairy.

"Young fool, courting death!" Just then, a figure shot towards them with lethal intent, closing in on Mu Zi in the blink of an eye.

Whoosh... a remarkably potent burst of Inner Strength surged forth.

Mu Zi had not yet reached a high level of cultivation. By the time she realized what was happening, it was too late for her to escape.

Mu Zi let out a frightened gasp and shut her eyes tight.

Just when Mu Zi thought she would surely be struck with a crippling blow, she felt her body suddenly lighten...

Boom... The spot where Mu Zi had been standing was obliterated into a crater by the Inner Strength.

Mu Zi hastily opened her eyes and saw that she was now being held in Ding Fan's arms. It must have been Ding Fan who saved her from injury at that critical moment.

Turning back to look at the place where she had just been standing, and seeing the crater created by the Inner Strength, her heart skipped a beat. If she had been hit by that attack, she might have been crushed to the point of breaking bones and tearing tendons!

"You're shameless, an old geezer attacking a young girl like that!" In that moment, Mu Zi clearly saw who had tried to attack her and began to curse loudly at him.

The man who had tried to ambush Mu Zi was a short-statured elder, one of the two highest-cultivated individuals among the Donghe Sect's group.

This short elder was around sixty years old and an Earth Level Fourth Grade Martial Artist.

At this moment, the short elder looked at Ding Fan, his face filled with shock.

He took great pride in his movement technique. In his eyes, ambushing Mu Zi was a surefire thing because she had been disrespectful to the masked elder. He had intended to strike her down with a single palm.

What he had not expected was for his attack to fail, and for Mu Zi to be rescued from the path of his palm strike. Few could escape from his swift attacks, and the person who saved Mu Zi was a mere twenty-something-year-old youth.

How could this not astonish the short elder?

"Mu Zi, step aside and watch..." Ding Fan gently set Mu Zi down on the ground.

Realizing that Ding Fan was about to confront the elder, Mu Zi wisely stopped talking and took cover.

Mu Zi was intelligent. She knew staying there wouldn't help much; not being a nuisance was good enough.

"You people from the Donghe Sect really have no shame. Not only do you deceive the world and steal fame, but now you're ambushing a young girl... You truly qualify as the most shameless Sect in the world!" Ding Fan's words were utterly unreserved.

The ambusher, the short elder, flushed red at Ding Fan's remarks.

Ding Fan was right; for an elder to attack a junior was already highly inappropriate, but to do so with a sneak attack would indeed look terrible if word got out.

"Boy! I'll send you to your death right now!"

The short elder, with a flicker, lunged directly at Ding Fan.

"Rage from embarrassment, huh?" Ding Fan snorted coldly and strode forward, heading straight towards the short elder's direction of attack.