Ye Qinghan

“Boom!”

A loud explosion rang out not far away. Luo Qingyu snapped her eyes open, her sleepiness instantly vanishing.

She pressed herself cautiously against the tree trunk and peered forward through the dense branches.

In a clearing ahead, five disciples wearing white sect robes were locked in a fierce battle with seven or eight Foundation Establishment Realm demon beasts.

Although the five of them seemed reasonably powerful, they were clearly struggling.

Before long, several of them were injured. Their robes were torn, blood seeped from their wounds, and they had depleted most of their spiritual energy. They were clearly on the verge of collapse.

“Senior Brother, what do we do? There are so many demon beasts. They're going to wear us down to death!” Chu Xingzhi shouted to Ye Qinghan beside him while dealing with the demon beast in front of him.

The leader, Ye Qinghan, had his white sect robes mostly dyed red with demon beast blood. Yet, his posture remained straight, the long sword in his hand as steady as a rock, and his eyes were veiled with a layer of cold detachment.

He calmly swept his gaze over the surrounding demon beasts. “Hold on for a moment. We'll find an opportunity to break out in a bit.”

Zhu You watched as more and more demon beasts gathered, her hand shaking so much she could barely hold her sword. “It's no use, Senior Brother! There are too many of them. We can't get out!”

Up in the tree, Luo Qingyu, who had been watching the entire show, couldn't help but marvel, “These guys are impressive! To think they've managed to hold out for so long under the siege of so many demon beasts.”

Driven by curiosity, she slowly spread her divine sense to probe the area, but in the next second, her heart suddenly leaped.

“Wait, a Golden Core Realm demon beast?”

“Isn't this the outer perimeter of the secret realm? Why would a Golden Core Realm demon beast appear here?”

Refusing to believe her eyes, Luo Qingyu swept her divine sense over the area around them again. She discovered a Golden Core demon beast lurking in the bushes behind the five disciples, planning to launch a sneak attack when they were off guard.

“No way. Are demon beasts playing this dirty nowadays?”

Luo Qingyu was truly baffled.

Just as she was about to withdraw her divine sense, Ye Qinghan, who was still fighting the demon beasts, keenly caught an extremely faint ripple of divine sense in the air. His gaze locked directly onto the tree where Luo Qingyu was hiding, and he raised his hand, unleashing a fierce gust of sword qi toward her location.

“Who's there? Come out!”

Luo Qingyu, who was just minding her own business watching the show from the tree, was almost injured by Ye Qinghan's sword qi.

“Wait, who did I provoke just by watching? If you want to talk, just talk. Why do you have to get violent? Watch out, or you'll never find a wife in the future!” Luo Qingyu couldn't help but mutter under her breath.

Seeing that she had been discovered, she decided to stop hiding and leaped down from the tree.

She waved at Ye Qinghan and spoke with a beaming smile, “Hi there, fellow Daoist. Do you need a hand?”

Ye Qinghan's grip on his hilt tightened, his eyelid twitching violently. He replied in a chilly tone, “What do you think?”

Only then did Chu Xingzhi, who was still fighting the demon beasts, belatedly realize that while he and his fellow disciples were fighting for their lives, this person had been hiding in the tree watching the whole show.

Instantly, he flew into a rage and barked, “How dare you! We're down here fighting for our lives against these demon beasts, and you're up there enjoying the show!”

Luo Qingyu was someone who held grudges. She had recognized the white-robed disciple who attacked her—Ye Qinghan—at first glance, and she was still feeling a bit disgruntled.

Hearing Chu Xingzhi's words, she feigned weakness, spread her hands, and said airily, “I'm just a weak, helpless artifact cultivator. How could I possibly have the ability to help you?”

“I've already done my best by not causing trouble for you. Could you really be expecting me to fight?”

Hearing this, Chu Xingzhi immediately countered, “You artifact cultivators have so many life-saving magical artifacts on you. Just throwing down a few would count as helping us!”

Luo Qingyu rolled her eyes hard and said with a touch of impatience, “Who do you think you are? Why on earth should I lend you my artifacts?”

Beside him, Zhu You quickly pulled the impulsive Chu Xingzhi back and urged in a low voice, “Second Senior Brother, stop arguing! If we keep wasting time like this, we're all going to end up in the bellies of these demon beasts!”

Ye Qinghan looked at his juniors, who were covered in wounds and nearly depleted of spiritual energy, and gritted his teeth.

“Fellow Daoist, it was wrong of me to attack you just now. We are Personal Disciples of the Wenjian Sect. Our situation is critical, so we ask for your assistance. Afterward, the Wenjian Sect will owe you a favor.”

Hearing the words “Personal Disciples of the Wenjian Sect,” Luo Qingyu's eyes instantly lit up.

“Oho, isn't this the cultivation version of a power-fantasy protagonist, Ye Qinghan? No wonder he's so handsome.”

The youth before her wore a white, tight-fitting outfit, his hand gripping a long sword tightly, and his aura was cold and detached. Even though he was covered in wounds from fighting the demon beasts, he remained steady and calm, showing not a hint of panic.

Luo Qingyu sighed inwardly.

“Indeed, reality is the opposite of fiction. When I read novels, I always felt these power-fantasy protagonists were so pretentious.”

“But seeing him up close with my own eyes, I have to admit that the way he fights the demon beasts while covered in blood is breathtakingly handsome.”

“It has that battle-damaged aesthetic.”