The large man was getting closer one step at a time, forcing Quinlan to take a few steps back. Although he wasn't an expert combatant, he could still fight well enough. If he wanted to, then Benno's punches wouldn't even land on him at all back in his world.
'This man has no openings!' Quinlan cursed, staring at his enemy, looking like a tank slowly moving and forcing him into a corner.
A fist flew without warning, from a distance that should still be far out of range. Still, Quinlan instinctively dodged and was thankful that he did. The fist grazed his face, causing a small cut from the air pressure alone.
"Oh! You managed to dodge that? Are you also a cultivator, perhaps?!" The large man grinned viciously as if finding a new toy.
Quinlan didn't pay attention to his words but rather was analyzing what just happened. 'Did he just take an extra step forward while his fist was flying?'
Although he was unsure, he had no choice but to confront them. There's nowhere to run to, after all.
"Then, how about this?" The large man jumped up, reaching over three meters high.
He looked like a meteor falling on top of Quinlan, causing him to have cold sweat rolling down his back. To dodge, he took three full steps to the side, but even that wasn't enough.
*BOOOOM!*
The ground exploded upon impact; rocks and fragments flew around, with a few hitting Quinlan all over his body. "Kuh!"
The damage wasn't too severe, but after that attack, he realized how outmatched he was. "This guy's a cultivator with a higher stage than me!" That was the conclusion he came to in the end.
He can't even approach carelessly, since if he gets caught by those burly hands, then who knows what will happen to him?
{Quinlan, I have something to ask...? Wait, what's going on?}
As luck would have it, Meng Yinuo's telepathy came at that moment. Quinlan lost focus for an instant, giving the giant man an opening to take advantage of.
*THUD!*
A solid punch connected to Quinlan's stomach, sending him flying a few meters back until he crashed against a house's dilapidated wall.
"*Cough!* Damn... Wrong timing, Yinuo...!" he cursed as he stood up with difficulty. "I have no time to chat!"
{Those guys... They're the serial kidnappers' group in the city... So you're out in the city? Where's Xiyadie...?}
As Yinuo analyzed what she was seeing through the telepathic connection, her voice became colder and colder with each word she said. {Did these bastards kidnap Xiyadie?!}
'... Shit!'
Quinlan's premonition came true. Given how angry Yinuo sounded, he just hoped that she wouldn't decide to commit suicide, therefore killing both her and Quinlan at once.
However, Yinuo had a different plan.
She was still on the bed, talking with Melody by then, but she disregarded her completely and decided to cultivate forcefully. Qi gathered around her like a storm, filling her lower Dantian with enough Qi that it was unbelievable. In just an instant, her level jumped from no cultivation to the second stage of Qi Refinement!
*Cough!*
Still, forcefully raising her cultivation came with a price. Blood spilled from her mouth, a backlash of suddenly increasing her cultivation without stabilizing the Qi inside her body. Still, she didn't give a single fuck, nor did she pay attention to the teary-eyed Melody, who was almost panicking beside her.
"SYSTEM! I'LL CLAIM THE REWARD NOW!"
With a loud voice, she called the Revenger's System. It's a mystery if it responded to her voice or was just appearing because she completed the prerequisites, but the familiar blue window appeared before her.
[You have gathered a total of 100 drops of Qi.]
[Congratulations! You have reached the Qi Refinement 1st Stage!]
[You have gathered a total of 500 drops of Qi.]
[Congratulations! You have reached the Qi Refinement 2nd Stage!]
[Warning! Your body is suffering from the backlash of rapid cultivation! You are not able to cultivate for a total of 48 hours.]
[Warning! Claiming the rewards early would not grant you the bonus from the end assessment. Are you sure?]
"Yes!" Yinuo roared, her blue eyes turning bloodshot from a mix of anger and impatience. "Hurry up and give me the reward!"
"Quinlan, are you alright?!" Melody asked, panicking.
She had already pressed the emergency button near the bed, calling for nurses and doctors ASAP. However, as she listened to the incomprehensible words that Yinuo was muttering to herself, she started to worry that something had happened to "Quinlan's" head.
[Reward Received: Switch Card (10 min) x 1]
The system popped up once again, showing that she had successfully claimed the quest reward. A translucent card appeared in her hand, looking like hardened air or almost completely transparent glass. Yinuo, without even asking, knew how to use the card and injected her Qi into it.
A colorful blast of light covered her body, causing a surge of air pressure that pushed everyone and everything around her toward the walls.
"Kyaaah!"
Melody, who was worriedly watching over her, was flung against the wall, hitting her head and fainting in agony.
Yinuo opened her eyes, but now the scene of the room was changed into a smelly, dirty slum. Before her, a fat man was grinning victoriously, grabbing Yinuo by the head. His fingers were reaching for her chest, about to rip her clothes away.
"You insect. How dare you touch me?"
A soft voice, quiet enough that it shouldn't even reach the large man's ears. However, as if by magic, everyone around her heard her clearly.
"Kahahah! Still going strong, eh? Let's remove that shell of yours and see how you'll fare!"
The large man, however, disregarded the warning. His hand didn't stop, still approaching Yinuo's clothes. At that instant, an unbelievable thing happened.
*CRACK!* *CRACK!* *CRACK!*
The hand reaching for her got bent out of shape, going zigzag as the bones peeked outside.
"... Eh?"
Even the large man was completely baffled. He didn't see any movements at all, but his entire arm suddenly became like that. "AAAARGH! M-MY ARM!"
He cried in pain.
However, the same series of cracking sounds echoed, this time turning his other hand holding Meng Yinuo's head into a jagged, modern piece of art.
"You dare call yourself a cultivator? You disgust me."
Freed from his clutch, Yinuo stood before him, who was kneeling in pain, like a goddess. Her cold gaze was unforgiving.
"P-Please don't kill—"
*SLAP!*
Just as the man was about to beg for his life, a slap landed on his cheeks. His head turned a complete 360 before stopping. Just like that, the man whom Quinlan was having difficulty fighting against died like a chicken on top of a chopping board.
Meng Yinuo didn't bother to look at his corpse, turning toward a certain direction with her eyes flickering with worry and killing intent. "Xiyadie, wait for me! I'll definitely save you!"
That was the start of the worst ten minutes the kidnappers' organization had.