Chapter 96

Hearing Xiao Wu's reminder, Hu Gao subconsciously looked towards the pond, but found it quiet below. He then scanned the surroundings and soon spotted four strangers not far away.

"Someone actually approached us!" Hu Gao's expression turned grim. From Xiao Wu's perception, these four were all Body Realm martial artists, which was quite troublesome.

Especially the two older ones, one had reached the peak of the First Stage of the Body Realm, while the other was even stronger, like a dormant dragon, a Second Stage Body Realm martial artist. He could only deal with him using the Wind and Thunder Pearl; even the Fire Poison Bomb would find it hard to kill him.

Since a direct confrontation wouldn't work, Hu Gao had to use his wits. His mind raced, and he suddenly noticed the pond beside him. His eyes lit up, and a faint smile appeared on his lips. Without hesitation, he put all the black fire lotus pods at his feet into his spatial ring.

"Old Stone, take a look." Seeing Hu Gao put the black fire lotus pods into his spatial ring, the young man couldn't hold back and called out to the old man beside him, rushing out first.

The Second Stage Body Realm martial artist called Old Stone, upon hearing this, slowly walked over.

"Rude! Brat, leave the black fire lotus pods behind!" The young man, who was in charge, shouted loudly, "You even have a spatial ring. Considering your age, leave the treasure and scram!"

This young man was named Shi Dong, an 18-year-old mid-First Stage Body Realm martial artist, a genius. Seeing that the few in front of him were of average strength, he naturally didn't take them seriously.

"You're the one being rude! Want to take our black fire lotus pods? Ask my sword first!"

Han Chong suddenly roared, his body radiating an intimidating aura like a vast forest. He raised his weapon, the clear Shadowless Sword, which, though shorter than his silver Tiger Soul Spear, was no less impressive.

"These two are definitely not ordinary people!" Unlike Shi Dong's rudeness, the old man with the sword behind him felt the aura emanating from Yun Feng and Han Chong and had a serious expression.

Although the two young men's essence energy cultivation was not high, just breaking through to the Body Realm, the killing intent and authority they exuded made even veteran Body Realm martial artists feel a strange pressure. This could only mean one thing: they were not ordinary martial artists.

"Master Shi, Miss Shi, those two are not simple, and their identities are unknown. Don't easily make enemies with them."

This old man was surnamed Yu. In his youth, he had adventured widely and was well-informed. Now, he served as a guard for the Shi family. Considering this, he thought it was not advisable to make enemies with these two young men whose identities were still unclear, so he quickly stepped forward to stop the Shi siblings.

"What's there to fear!" Miss Shi, Shi Yuan, turned back and scolded, then said, "The molten pool is so hot. Kill them and throw them in; who would know!"

"Such a ruthless woman! Do you really think that with your numbers, we are easy to bully?!" Yun Feng heard the woman's words, spat on the ground, and said fiercely. At this moment, Yun Feng, abandoning his steel sword, held the Green Wind Sword with both hands, his aura like a vast ocean and a hurricane, not inferior to Han Chong, and charged towards the intimidating Shi siblings.

"Unbelievable!" Shi Dong spat out, signaling Shi Yuan not to say more. His yellow essence energy burst forth, and he charged towards the more powerful Han Chong.

"Have a problem with me? Save it for the ghosts after you die!" Shi Yuan, with her sharp tongue, also burst forth with yellow essence energy, targeting Yun Feng.

Shi Dong and Shi Yuan, with similar cultivation, both with yellow essence energy, worked together like a sandstorm, sweeping towards Yun Feng and Han Chong.

"Two mid-First Stage Body Realm martial artists, I wonder how long they can hold out against Yun Feng and Han Chong."

Feeling the intense killing intent from Yun Feng and Han Chong, who seemed ready to use deadly moves to quickly eliminate the two, Hu Gao quickly said in a low voice, "Defeat them, but don't make enemies!"

These eight words made Yun Feng and Han Chong frown, puzzled, but they nodded slightly. Hu Gao must have his reasons, and they just needed to wait quietly. They didn't think Hu Gao was a coward who would back down just because the other side had a Second Stage Body Realm martial artist.

They were now curious about what methods Hu Gao would use to deal with the situation.

"Whoosh!"

At this moment, Shi Dong and Shi Yuan's attacks were already close. The two quickly focused and launched their full attacks.

Although they had just broken through to the Body Realm, their combat strength was far beyond that of their peers. Even at the peak of the Ninth Stage Condensation Shadow Realm, they could face off against early First Stage Body Realm martial artists. How much more so now.

"Bang!"

The fight didn't last long. The strong and weak were quickly apparent. Shi Dong and Shi Yuan were completely overpowered, showing signs of imminent defeat.

This made their faces turn quite ugly, feeling very aggrieved and embarrassed. Their cultivation was a level higher than Yun Feng and Han Chong, yet they fell into a disadvantage so quickly, which was a joke.

"Sixth Sister, don't hold back. Show your trump card!"

Shi Dong suddenly shouted, unable to tolerate it any longer.

"Stop!"

At this moment, the previously silent Old Stone, Shi Qianqiu, suddenly roared, a vast pressure surging forth like a tidal wave, instantly hitting the four.

Shi Dong and Shi Yuan were unharmed under his pressure, but Yun Feng and Han Chong felt like being hit by a wave, cursing in their hearts. They were almost in the coffin and still playing sneak attacks, how shameless!

"Boom!"

A sharp aura burst forth from the two, directly dispelling his pressure. But remembering Hu Gao's words, they didn't act too high-profile. Although they resisted Shi Qianqiu's pressure, their faces still showed a hint of paleness, as if they had been injured.

"Old man, you actually play sneak attacks? Have you no shame?" Yun Feng and Han Chong looked angry, glaring at Shi Qianqiu.

"Sneak attack? If I wanted to eliminate you, would I need to sneak attack? What a joke."

Shi Qianqiu sneered, indifferent. From the previous fight, he felt that Yun Feng and Han Chong, though extraordinary, were only slightly stronger than ordinary First Stage Body Realm martial artists. Even if he or Old Yu acted, they could easily subdue them, so there was no need to worry about them escaping.

"Old Stone, don't waste time with them. Eliminate them directly. Today, I will throw their bodies into the red molten pool." Shi Dong said angrily.

"These two bastards must be killed!" Shi Yuan's face was full of frost, gritting her teeth, she wanted to eliminate Yun Feng and Han Chong immediately.

"Are you really going to fight to the death with us?" Hu Gao handed the Tiger Soul Spear back to Han Chong, glaring at the four, and shouted.

"Fight to the death? You, a mere Ninth Stage Condensation Shadow Realm, dare to talk about fighting to the death with us? What a ridiculous joke!"

Shi Yuan sneered, looking at Hu Gao with disdain. She had seen that his essence energy was only red, clearly the lowest level of the First Stage Totem talent, which she considered a useless thing.

"Senior, we all entered the Fire Beast Forest to compete for benefits, not to create enmity, right?"

Hu Gao calmed his thoughts and continued, "Senior, our gains are already sufficient. We know we can't handle the benefits here anymore, or we would be courting death. But you are different. You are a powerful expert, and you have several Body Realm experts around you. If you take all the remaining black fire lotus pods, no one would dare to challenge you. So, I hope you let us leave. As for the black fire lotus pods in the red molten pool, they are all yours. What do you say?"

"Black fire lotus pods in the red molten pool?" Shi Qianqiu's eyes lit up.

"If I didn't sense it wrong, the entire red molten pool is full of black fire lotus pods. However, my strength is weak, and I can only get about ten at a time. But you are different. I believe you can get all the black fire lotus pods in a few moves. As for the exact number..."

Hu Gao pondered for a moment, as if calculating the exact number.

"How many exactly? Speak quickly." Shi Qianqiu, impatient, shouted.

Shi Dong and Shi Yuan's eyes turned red. Heaven, the entire pool is full of black fire lotus pods. How many could there be?

"Senior, with my weak cultivation, how could I sense the exact number? I just made a rough estimate. Even if there aren't ten thousand, there must be at least several thousand." Hu Gao shrugged, looking helpless, but quickly realized his mistake and adopted a weak demeanor.

"Several thousand?" Shi Qianqiu and his group almost exclaimed. Several thousand black fire lotus pods, heaven, how many gold coins would that be?

Only now did Yun Feng and Han Chong understand Hu Gao's plan. He must be planning to trick them into picking the black fire lotus pods from the red molten pool, thus attracting the Fire Beast King from below.

"Old Stone, we can't be careless. This kid might be tricking us. What if there's danger in the red molten pool?" Old Yu quickly held back Shi Qianqiu, reminding him.

It was fortunate that he could still maintain some clarity. This was mainly because he had seen Yun Feng and Han Chong protecting Hu Gao, confirming that Hu Gao was not an ordinary person. Now, he was acting so weak, which was unreasonable.

"Hmm? A trick?" Shi Qianqiu's eyes narrowed, realizing he had been impulsive. Cold sweat broke out on his back. It was terrible, almost falling for this kid's trick. If there was real danger in the red molten pool, and he went there, what would happen?

"Trick you? Do you think there's danger in the red molten pool? Do you think I'm tricking you to make you trigger the danger below? Then I can sit back and benefit? If you're afraid, why don't I go and get the black fire lotus pods for you and hand them over?"

Shi Qianqiu sneered, somewhat disdainfully.

"You go and get the black fire lotus pods and hand them over to us?"

"Of course. I promise to hand over every single one to you. What do you say?" Hu Gao tried to make his face look sincere, appearing somewhat foolish.