“…What?” Xia Lu was speechless, instinctively, a gust of disgust welled up inside her and it wasn’t long before her expression relayed that feeling as well.

“Huhuhu,” Tao Min laughed, his creepy laughter disgusting even those around them and making them regret seeing such a sight. Many even averted their gaze, too late, but still not being able to bear seeing it anymore.

Tao Min moved forward, his hand reaching for Xia Lu, who instinctively jumped back. Her Qi rushed at her intent and she emitted a shockwave from her that pushed Tao Min away.

“So you were a cultivator?” Tao Min said as he stabilized after stumbling back a little before he added, “But it would make sense seeing your beauty. Only a cultivator could be that beautiful.”

Saying so, Tao Min rushed in again but this time, as Xia Lu once again used her power to move back but she couldn’t put in her power this time. This time, her Qi wasn’t responding.

Flabbergasted, she turned her attention to why her Qi wasn’t responding when Tao Min, using the opportunity, grabbed her by her hand. A creepy smile on his face as he said, “Huhuhu. You’re mine now.”

Xia Lu didn’t understand what that meant but she felt her power leaving her body. She wasn’t able to reach out to it let alone feel it at all.

“What are you doing, you pervert?!” Both Tao Min and Xia Lu heard an unfamiliar and familiar voice, respectively, and turned to look at a heel heading for Tao Min’s face.

As the bottom of the heel dug into the fat cheek of Tao Min, it dug quite deep before it reached his bones. That was how obese he was.

Yan Rong, who had just arrived at the scene after feeling a chilling cold Qi that resembled hers quite a lot, saw a fat disgusting man reaching for Xia Lu. Even though Xia Lu was her competition, she couldn’t just let someone who was valued by Wei Jun get hurt. She was afraid of what the consequences would be.

She was too late when the fat man managed to grab Xia Lu, but before even a few seconds passed, she managed to save Xia Lu.

Tao Min flew back and slammed into a car parked just outside the building on the road. As his body slammed into the car, Yan Rong was about to follow when she heard Xia Lu’s yell. She turned to see Xia Lu on her knees, her hands clutching her head strongly as if someone was drilling holes inside her head.

Yan Rong didn’t pay any more attention to the fat man and ran to Xia Lu to see what the issue with her was. Just before she arrived, she felt her power leave her body as well. She was as powerless as one could be. Her Qi wasn’t responding to her.

“Huhuhu,” she heard a creepy chuckle from behind. She turned to see Tao Min standing, his face and body bloodied but what could have been said to be the most disgusting smile was on his face.

“You’re a beauty too. I will be your master as well.” Tao Min said, his creepiness on another level.

Yan Rong, on the other hand, felt chills run down her entire being, chills she never felt even in the presence of a Qi grandmaster.

She was so disgusted that she couldn’t even say something in return. Tao Min moved, at a speed that could only be called superhuman, his hand extended as he said, “Be my slave!”

“Guh!” Yan Rong drove her foot down Tao Min’s face, stopping his charge and throwing him down.

Read new adventures at empire

“Eh?” A whimper of confusion escaped Tao Min’s mouth as he was confused at the fact that Yan Rong was still stronger than him even though her Qi was locked.

“What is this fat pi*sfart saying?” Yan Rong picked Tao Min from the back of his collar, his giant body effortlessly carried up and Yan Rong punched him in the middle of his face, once again throwing him across the street into the car that was already smashed.

‘What happened?’ Even in pain, Tao Min couldn’t help but question himself. The power that always worked on every human wasn’t working on Yan Rong right now. Either she was an anomaly, or she was affected but she was just a monster in terms of physical characteristics.

Yan Rong didn’t hesitate even more for a second and pulled out her gun. Seeing the gun in Yan Rong’s hand, Tao Min panicked. No matter how powerful he was, he still wouldn’t survive a bullet.

His power allowed him to nullify the Qi of others but he himself couldn’t wield Qi. He was also granted physical attributes he gained every time thanks to the unique power he had, but it wasn’t to the point he would be invulnerable to guns.

Before he could lose all hope, however, a notification appeared on the watch on his wrist….

[The target has been partially bound to the host]

[To complete the bond between the host and the target Xia Lu, please kill her previous owner]

‘What is this?’ A type of message that had never shown up before. He was confused about what to do about it when Yan Rong brought his attention back to her, “Any last words, pervert of the century?”

Before Tao Min could once again panic, a hand grabbed Yan Rong’s wrist and yanked her, causing her to be distracted for a moment.

“What are you doing?” Yan Rong confusedly asked. The one stopping her was none other than Xia Lu, who had a confused expression on her face. However, her eyes were determined and even with the confused expression on her face, she said with great resolution in her voice, “I will not let you hurt my master.”

“What?” Yan Rong confusedly asked.

Xia Lu, however, didn’t reply. She pushed Yan Rong with all her might. Of course, without her Qi, all her might was like an ant pushing a mountain. Yan Rong didn’t even budge from her spot but she was distracted, which was enough time for Tao Min to escape.

She saw him going and was about to chase him when someone beat her to it. Xia Lu yelled, “Master! Please don’t leave me!!!”

As if Tao Min was her lifeline, Xia Lu deranged, chased after him. Seeing her like this, Yan Rong couldn’t waste her time focusing on Tao Min and grabbed her.

“NO!!! NO!!! LET ME GO!!! LET ME GOOOO!!!!” Xia Lu thrashed and tried her best to let Yan Rong let go of her who was confused at what was happening. Tao Min had only managed to touch Xia Lu for a couple of seconds. What had happened to her in that short time span?

Soon enough, Tao Min was out of range and both of their Qi returned. Xia Lu hurriedly pushed Yan Rong with all of her might but with her cultivation rank, she still couldn’t push Yan Rong but it wasn’t as ineffective as before.

“What the…” Yan Rong hurriedly locked Xia Lu, her neck between her arms. She cut off the flow of oxygen for just long enough to make Xia Lu pass out.

“How do I explain this now?” Yan Rong asked herself while looking at the passed-out Xia Lu on the road. She sighed and picked her up, heading back to the building.

All she could do now was to wait for Wei Jun. He was the only one who could guide her about the situation now.

~~

“Let me go!!! Why have you kept me here?!!! Let me go!!! LET ME GO!!! I NEED TO SEE MY MASTER!!!”

Wei Jun saw a tied-up Xia Lu, trashing around the room, her throat croaked due to her yelling nonstop. He had just arrived at the scene after being delayed for ten hours. While he was being observed by the commander from the CSF, he received a few disturbing notifications.

[Seal of corruption has been used on the party member Xia Lu]

[Her state of mind will be slowly corrupted over time]

[Once the time is up, her bond to the system will be broken]

[To undo the ‘Seal of corruption’, have the caster reverse the seal or kill him\her to free your party member from the seal]

[The host is warned]

[If the bond with the system is broken, the party member would be considered dead]

[In such a case, the incurring penalty would be the same as in the case of a dead party member]

Wei Jun wanted to rush to the scene but he couldn’t. For all he did, he couldn’t just throw it all down the drain. All he could do was hope for the better and it was better. He didn’t feel the impulse to save Xia Lu as he felt with Natasha when he was fighting the Direhound.

It meant Xia Lu wasn’t in serious danger. The rest could only be left to Yan Rong who was nearby and he wasn’t disappointed when he saw that Yan Rong prioritized Xia Lu rather than chasing after the fat man.

Upon hearing the description of the fat man, Wei Jun knew who he was.

‘The protagonist.’

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep