"Little girl, you are truly interesting."
Yuan Meng Zhenren no longer concealed his intentions and said directly, "You mentioned the demon silk in Yan Ruxue's hand earlier. I can tell you clearly, I don't know Yan Ruxue. However, the demon silk did come from me. The other party was resentful because their plan failed, so they contacted me proactively, asking me to help resolve the issue. As the person just mentioned, I take money to do things. So, do you understand me now?"
The disciples of Ge Nan Academy were almost angered to the point of attacking.
Understand? Understand what? Understand that this person bullies others with his power, and because he is strong, he doesn't put anyone else in his eyes, and can kill innocent people for some money?
Although the Boundless Continent indeed respects strength, someone like Yuan Meng Zhenren was perhaps too unreasonable!
"Zhenren, this is going too far. If you are merely taking money to do things, then we have many good things in our hands now. If we give them to you, would you be willing to let us go?"
There were many rules on the Boundless Continent. The Heavenly Dao imposed constraints on cultivators. While the vows they made might not always result in backlash, they would usually form a significant or minor inner demon, affecting their cultivation, and even potentially causing their cultivation to regress or their inner core to shatter.
Generally, no one would make a vow with the burden of restraint unless they were truly innocent and upright to the extreme.
Moreover, not every vow would result in backlash, so with such a small chance, whether to take a vow or not made little difference.
However, Jiang Yiling was stubborn. He even took out many treasures they had obtained in the Phantom Secret Realm, trying to awaken Yuan Meng Zhenren's last shred of conscience. "These are treasures we just acquired. If you want them, you can take them directly. We still have to travel, so please let us leave first, Senior."
In fact, Yuan Meng Zhenren had not initially intended to waste time with these people.
Although he proposed a competition, he only wanted to end it quickly.
He had long seen that among them, only Yan Jiaojiao was somewhat intelligent and a decent fighter, perhaps someone he could spar with. The others were not very capable.
That was why he came up with the idea of a competition, thinking that as soon as Yan Jiaojiao lost, the others would surely die, saving him the trouble of dealing with them.
He never expected these people to possess so many treasures.
Suddenly, his eyes went wide, and his pupils began to spin.
When Yan Jiaojiao heard Jiang Yiling speak, she vaguely sensed something was wrong. She didn't expect him to be not only quick-witted but also quick-handed, directly producing some valuable items. Yan Jiaojiao quickly observed Yuan Meng Zhenren's reaction and indeed saw his eyes widen with greed, clearly contemplating murder and theft.
"Senior Brother!"
Wen Jinshu was not foolish either and immediately rushed forward, snatching the items from Jiang Yiling's hands and putting them away. "Haven't you heard of not showing off your wealth? This person is wicked and acts like a hooligan. Once he latches onto us, he'll never let us go. What he said earlier was all lies!"
Yuan Meng Zhenren was just contemplating how to go berserk and eliminate these people to seize their treasures when Wen Jinshu directly provided him with the excuse. Hearing this, he immediately turned hostile and said with a sneer, "Hmph, since you all think of me this way, then I don't need to give you juniors any face!"
He then said righteously, "Originally, I saw that you were all from the First Academy, so I gave you some respect and let this little girl compete with me. Who would have thought you didn't cherish it? Then what should I cherish? Come on, attack me all at once. But I'll say this upfront: if you can't beat me, your treasures belong to me!"
These simple words completely exposed his greed and ambition.
Jiang Yiling also knew he had caused trouble. He looked remorseful, his eyes filled with shame towards the other disciples of Ge Nan Academy.
He hadn't expected things to turn out this way. He had only meant well, thinking to quickly get rid of this person and leave, but he had inadvertently made the situation worse.
Yan Jiaojiao sighed but did not blame Jiang Yiling. She was merely worried.
Although the disciples of Ge Nan Academy were all powerful, this was also their weakness.
Because spiritual energy was the purest among natural forces, like the water element she held in her hand, it was extremely powerful as it was the purest thing nurtured by heaven and earth.
Although there were internal conflicts among the disciples of Ge Nan Academy, most of them, like Jiang Yiling and Wen Jinshu, had simple minds, were pure in their pursuit of power, and lacked complex schemes.
It was precisely because of this that their cultivation had progressed so rapidly.
Yan Jiaojiao also realized that she was a person with a pure heart.
Perhaps it was due to the water element, or perhaps because she was starting anew this time, not as unrestrained as before, understanding many difficulties and the ways of the world, maintaining the purest cultivation heart, and taking one step at a time, hence her rapid progress.
Yan Jiaojiao used to think this was a good thing, but now, the more she looked at it, the more she felt that Ge Nan Academy needed an experienced schemer to lead them.
Otherwise, if someone like Jiang Yiling were to become the sect leader or even the dean in the future, he might be bullied in all sorts of ways.
He might even sell off Ge Nan Academy and still help count the money for the perpetrators.
"You wish!"
Although the disciples of Ge Nan Academy were simple, they had backbone. Being unreasonably provoked by Yuan Meng Zhenren, they all mustered the spirit of the First Academy disciples. "These treasures were hard-earned by our academy's disciples. How can you say you'll just snatch them away? Are we afraid of you?"
Yan Jiaojiao heard this and directly pressed her forehead.
Sometimes, backbone shouldn't be used like this...
If only these disciples were slightly more powerful, they would have a chance to fight back.
But Yuan Meng Zhenren was at least at the Great Perfection of the Blue Rank. Crossing realms was like crossing a vast ocean. Even if these people piled up their cultivation like a human pyramid, they would not necessarily be his match.
"Alright, you all retreat."
Yan Jiaojiao quickly stepped in front of the disciple, raised her head, and stared at Yuan Meng Zhenren fearlessly. "Tell us what you truly want, give us a straight answer. You must have seen that we also have our trump cards, otherwise, I wouldn't dare to speak with you so confidently. If we were to fight to the death, I'll say this: you won't die, but you'll definitely lose a layer of skin."
"Yuan Meng Zhenren, if you don't believe me, you can try."
Perhaps it was because Yan Jiaojiao was too confident, Yuan Meng Zhenren actually hesitated for a moment.
"Hmph, do you think you can fool me with this?"
Yuan Meng Zhenren suddenly swung out a palm. His hesitation was ultimately suppressed by his desire. He wanted those treasures, and these people must die!