Rescuing a beauty? —No, wait!

The wind serpents might not have posed a threat to him, but Su Xiaobai knew better than to grow complacent.

Wild beasts were one thing, but deeper in the mountains lurked 'demonic beasts', creatures warped by 'Spirit Qi Deviations', whose cores were ripe for refining.

If any of those showed up, this place would quickly turn into a nightmare.

Still, the thought only excited him. 'Now those could be worth the trouble.'

Demonic beasts had qi-rich cores that could help him break through to 'Core emergence realm!'.

The tension in his meridians had been building for days, his cultivation begging to break through the bottleneck.

A very strong demonic beast's core could be just the boost he needed.

But Su Xiaobai's real focus wasn't on beasts.

Those beasts are usually too strong, and he wouldn't be able to take one down by himself anyway.

He wanted the treasures hidden within the Xiantian Sect. From what he'd learned, the sects here were divided into Righteous and Heretic factions, and the fact that they openly competed with one another made him laugh.

Righteous and Heretic coexisting? In his world, that'd be a bloodbath by now.

Here, though, the Heretic sects thrived on chaos and bloodshed, while the Righteous ones pretended to uphold some grand moral order.

But Su Xiaobai didn't care about their philosophies.

He cared about power.

His experiences told him that being weak meant a life of suffering.

He was already tired of it.

And right now, that power lay somewhere inside the Xiantian Sect.

The further he went into the mountains, the thicker the spiritual energy became. The wind serpents grew larger, and the air crackled with qi.

The Xiantian Sect was close, but so were their defenses. If he wasn't careful, he'd trigger one of their 'Spirit-Siphoning Arrays' or, worse, a 'Heaven-Binding Seal'.

Either would trap him long enough for the sect elders to notice.

'Better not let it come to that. As much fun as it'd be to toy with a few elders, they would turn me into meat paste'

Suddenly, another gust of wind blew through the mountains, and more serpents appeared.

These ones were larger, crackling with arcs of 'Lightning Essence'.

Su Xiaobai's face darkened as he effortlessly weaved through them. "These things again?"

"Wait... Lightning Essence?" Su Xiaobai's brow furrowed as he watched the serpents writhing in the air.

This was the Serpent Wind Mountains, a place dominated by Wind Essence.

Yet, these serpents crackled with faint arcs of lightning. Something was off.

"... They're dead." Su Xiaobai crouched down and inspected the creatures more closely. Their bodies twitched weakly, pitifully, their mouths open wide as if frozen in the throes of agony.

Their tongues lolled out, and they were clearly no longer natural manifestations.

No, they had been — 'assulted!'

Before he could figure it out, a shrill, high-pitched scream pierced the air.

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Su Xiaobai winced. "Not in the fucking heavens again..." he muttered, already sensing the incoming disaster.

He turned, expecting some foolish scene, and wasn't disappointed.

A figure—delicate, slender—ran into view, chased by something large and furious. The first thing that struck Su Xiaobai wasn't the massive wild boar charging through the trees, but the man himself.

At first glance, Su Xiaobai mistook him for a woman.

His skin was flawless, pale like porcelain, and his features were so finely sculpted, it seemed the heavens had taken extra care in crafting him.

His long, flowing hair framed a face that would've had most men drooling.

His full lips parted as he gasped, and his wide, almost sparkling eyes were filled with panic.

If not for his flat chest, anyone would mistake him for a woman, especially as his light blue robe clung to his lithe frame, flowing behind him like a goddess descending from the heavens.

Even his voice, high-pitched and breathless, sent goosebumps down Su Xiaobai's spine—but not in a good way.

"Little brother, save me!" the man shrieked as the ground trembled beneath him.

THUD! THUD! THUD!

The boar charging behind him was no ordinary wild beast. Its muscular body was covered in a thick, toughened hide, dirt and mud crusted along its armor-like skin. Blood-red eyes glowed with rage, and its tusks, long and gleaming, looked like they could tear through iron.

The creature's breath was ragged, snorting with each step as it stormed through the forest like a battering ram, uprooting anything in its path.

"GRRUUNFF! GRRRRR!..."

Its hooves pounded the ground like war drums, sending vibrations through the air as it barreled toward its prey.

The man—his robe now slightly torn at the edges—ran in circles around Su Xiaobai, his breath coming in shallow, desperate gasps. "Please! Little brother, save me! I'll pay you! Spirit crystals, treasures! Just stop this beast!"

Su Xiaobai raised an eyebrow, watching the scene with a mixture of amusement and disbelief.

'This was not how today was supposed to go.'

His daydreams of heroically saving a beautiful damsel vanished.

Instead, here was this... 'guy,' running for his life from a glorified pig.

And he wasn't just running—he was darting around Su Xiaobai like a panicked rabbit, his body moving in ways that made the robe cling even tighter.

Su Xiaobai couldn't help but feel a little disturbed by how unnervingly... attractive this guy was.

'Great,' he thought. 'I've got a pretty boy acting like a fragile maiden.'

The wild boar wasn't about to let the man off either.

Its eyes locked onto its target, fury blazing as it snorted and slammed its hooves down, charging once more.

Su Xiaobai could almost feel the boar's frustration at not being able to skewer the slender figure in front of it.

The beast's sheer mass was impressive—it was nearly twice the size of a normal boar, with skin tough enough to fend off weak spirit beasts, and its tusks… They could turn most cultivators into shish kebabs.

"GRUUUNNNNNNNFFFF!"

The boar lunged, tusks gleaming, as Su Xiaobai sighed in annoyance. The situation had quickly devolved into farce.

The man was practically clinging to him now, using him as a human shield.

"Little brother, help me!" the man cried again, his voice breaking, somehow managing to sound both terrified and strangely seductive at the same time.

"Nope," Su Xiaobai thought grimly. 'Not falling for that.'

This guy wasn't just helpless—he was a magnet for trouble, and Su Xiaobai wasn't in the mood for playing the hero.

He noted the man's robe—clearly fine silk, embroidered with intricate patterns. Definitely someone from a wealthy family.

"No need for rewards," Su Xiaobai said, grinning evily. "Once you're dead, I'll just collect the spirit crystals from your corpse."

"..."

The man's beautiful, delicate face twisted into disbelief.

If only his life-saving treasures weren't already spent, he wouldn't be pleading with this lunatic!

"Brother!" the man—Wei Jun—called out again, desperation seeping into his voice. "My sadistic grandpa sealed my cultivation! Help me, and I swear I'll repay you! Spirit crystals, treasures! I'll even introduce you to the best brothel in the city! All on me!"

Su Xiaobai rolled his eyes, giving a half-hearted nod. "Uh-huh..." he muttered, pretending to consider the offer, before shaking his head. "Nope."

Wei Jun nearly collapsed on the spot, dodging yet another swipe from the boar's tusks, which sliced through the air with a terrifying movement.

'This guy's worse than any tantrum-throwing woman I've ever met!' he thought, gritting his teeth as his robe snagged on a thorny branch.

Whoosh!

He barely avoided the boar's tusk as it grazed his side, tearing a chunk of fabric.

Running out of options, Wei Jun clenched his teeth and threw out his last lifeline. "Brother, my little sister is nearby. How about I introduce her to you?"

Ding!

Su Xiaobai's eyes practically sparkled at those words — like a predator catching the scent of prey.

Booooom!

Before Wei Jun could react, Su Xiaobai's fist slammed into the wild boar's head with the force of a thunderclap.

Puchi!

The beast's skull shattered on impact, its entire body exploding into a fine mist of blood and flesh.

Splurt! Splurt!

The forest floor shook from the force of the punch, and the remains of the boar sprayed out in all directions, painting the trees red.

"Deal!" Su Xiaobai declared with a grin, standing over the disintegrated remains of the beast, his knuckles still crackling with energy.

Wei Jun, panting and clutching his chest, stared at Su Xiaobai in disbelief, his perfect features twitching in exhaustion. 'What a powerful punch...'