Liang Chen stood amidst the charred remains of the Flame Leopard, its fiery red fur still smoldering. The fierce battle had left him exhilarated but weary. He wiped the sweat from his brow as he observed the creature's lifeless body and the fiery red core in his hand still wondering what it was, proud of his victory over such a formidable opponent.
As he prepared to retrieve his well-deserved spoils, it was at this moment that he heard a voice
"Hand it over"
The voice was very authoritative and left no room for debate. Liang Chen turned around in shock only to see three young men walking out of the nearby forest, The one in the lead was the youngest, and from their positioning, it could be seen that he was the leader of this party and from his demeanor and the two cultivator guards beside him Liang Chen could tell that he was a cultivator and surely the young master of one of those cultivation clans he had heard so much about.
Liang Chen turned around and thought for a while before asking
" Why?"
" why? Because it rightfully belongs to me" said the young man.
'That is impossible ' thought Liang Chen then he asked "Who are you"
When the young man heard this question he sneered in his heart as he knew Liang Chen must surely be weary of his identity. In this world sometimes strength does not come from an individual and some people cannot afford to offend others otherwise the consequences might be too severe to bear. The organization behind them may lead an extermination mission on you for offending such individuals.
"This young master is Xue Ming of the Xue clan" the young man introduces proudly.
He expected Lang Chen to be afraid and hurriedly hand over the core and in truth, Liang Chen's expression changed the moment he heard this and the change did not escape the gaze of the three individuals. Xue Ming was smiling when he heard a voice
"Impossible"
"What's impossible, Are you insulting me by telling me I don't know my own identity or have you become stupid just from hearing my great name? "
"It's impossible that this thing belongs to you, although I don't know the use of this beast core I don't think it is little so why did you not kill it and only come out after it's dead?"
"hehe, you country bumpkin do you think if I did not weaken this leopard you will be able to kill it? You just reaped the rewards of my sweat" said Xue Ming
Liang Chen looked at him in shock and saw the look of derogation in Xu Ming's eyes and understood the shamelessness in this cultivator's mind and Liang Chen knew he could not retreat today. If he bows his head here today he will never be able to lift it again.
"Then why was it not injured when I saw it… trying to rob others of their belongings, shameless"
Liang Chen had touched a nerve as the looks in the party of three eyes shone with killing intent.
"Will you hand it over or not?" Xue Ming asked and Liang Chen could tell that this was his last chance to give up on the core but Liang Chen was resolute in his response
"I will not"
"Then die"
Boom
One of the guards attacked and a punch came hurling in Liang Chen's direction but he did not delay and responded with a punch of his own. As they clashed there was a blast of wind from their point of impact. The man understood at this moment that Liang Chen too was not weak. They exchanged blows for a few rounds with neither having the upper hand.
This man was a powerful cultivator and the 3rd stage of the qi condensation realm and was very surprised by the strength displayed by Liang Chen.
"Not bad young man, You are stronger than I expected "
"It's not that I am strong, just that you are too weak"
"Arrogance, you don't know when to take a step back," said the man
He immediately invited the other guard to join and things turned bad for liang chen the very next moment. With their joint attacks coming from all directions Liang Chen started receiving injuries and it only got worse when Xue Ming joined. Xue Ming had a flying sword given to him by his clan and with this, his strength increased by several magnitudes as he started using a flying sword battle technique.
The injuries on Liang Chen gradually accumulated but he had also injured the first guard well and on his chest you could see lines that looked like a claw slash. This was caused by the aura encompassing Liang Chen's hand.
As time passed Liang Chen started coming to terms with the fact that he might die here today
'Am I really going to die here today, all my struggles gone to waste just like that? At least I died standing like a man and not on my knees like a slave and I don't regret it
'Senior am sorry I couldn't let your legacy be known 'Liang Chen thought about the skeleton from the cave and was very sad.
He received a direct hit on his chest and fell to the ground and as he looked up he saw the tip of a sword gradually growing larger in his eyes.
Buzz buzz buzz
It was at this moment that he heard a buzzing sound and as he looked up he saw a turtle shell floating in the air emitting waves of energy.
The energy waves blasted into Xue Ming and the others turning them into dust, Everything 1km around Liang Chen was blown to Smithers but shockingly Liang Chen who was under the shell was not hurt in the slightest. The shell hung in the air with green light around it looking very mysterious.
Liang Chen was in deep shock at this moment and didn't know what was going on.