21: Chapter 21 School Beauty, Shall We Do It?

A dull explosion, like the tolling of an ancient bell, erupted in the forest clearing.

A foul wind hit their faces, and dust filled the air.

Su Qingxue instinctively curled her body, but the sharp pain of claws tearing her throat didn't come as expected. Her eyelashes trembled as she slowly opened her eyes.

In her field of vision was a back that wasn't particularly broad, yet it stood as imposing as a mountain.

That tattered second-hand protective suit flapped loudly in the fierce wind, and at the damaged cuff, what was revealed wasn't a mangled arm, but a section of skin shimmering with a dark-gold metallic luster.

It was a pure, indestructible gold.

"Crack."

The tooth-aching sound of bone fracturing rang out.

The Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf's fangs, strong enough to crush E-rank alloy, were currently clamped firmly onto the youth's forearm. However, it wasn't the arm that snapped, but the wolf's fangs.

Several broken teeth stained with blood flew out, landing at Su Qingxue's feet.

In the demonic wolf's cruel vertical pupils, there was now a look of human-like shock and confusion. It couldn't understand why this seemingly fragile human tasted a hundred times harder than granite.

"You beast, you've got quite the bite."

Lin Fan looked down at the giant beast hanging from his arm, his lips curling into a 'kind' smile. "Too bad, trying to taste my saltiness without my permission comes with a price."

B-Rank Talent [Vajra Skin], fully activated.

The blood within his body surged like liquid mercury, making a rushing sound.

Lin Fan didn't give the demonic wolf any chance to react. His left arm muscles suddenly bulged, and the dark-gold light intensified. Like a pair of iron pincers, he reached back and clamped onto the wolf's upper and lower jaws.

"Open... up!"

He let out a sharp roar.

Immense power exploded instantly, forcing the demonic wolf's mouth wide open.

The demonic wolf let out a painful whimper, its limbs scratching frantically, creating sparks on Lin Fan's chest plate, yet it couldn't even scratch a layer of skin.

Immediately after, Lin Fan pulled back his right fist.

His entire body was like a fully drawn bow, and his spine popped and crackled like a dragon's roar.

There were no fancy combat techniques.

Only pure power and precise control over weaknesses.

Target: The third eye in the center of the wolf's forehead.

That was its strongest weapon, and also its most fatal weak point.

"This punch will send you to your next life."

Boom!

The punch shot out like a cannonball.

The air was compressed to the extreme, letting out a piercing sonic boom.

The golden fist, carrying unrivaled kinetic energy, slammed heavily into that blood-red vertical eye.

Splat.

It was like an iron hammer smashing a tomato.

Red and white matter exploded instantly.

The force penetrated through its body, instantly shattering the demonic wolf's brain and even blowing off the skull at the back of its head.

The massive wolf corpse twitched violently once, then, as if its spine had been removed, it slumped into a pile of mush.

The entire area went silent.

The wind stopped.

The surrounding Rot Wolves, which had been ready to pounce, now looked as if they had seen some terrifying demon king. They tucked their tails, let out low whimpers, and retreated step by step.

The members of Su Qingxue's team all had their mouths wide open, their jaws nearly hitting the ground.

The boy with the severed arm even forgot his pain, staring blankly at the scene.

This was a D-rank Elite!

Even if a formal martial artist came, they wouldn't dare use their physical body to tank the demonic wolf's bite. This boy wearing cheap street-stall clothes had actually one-shot it?

Where did this monster come from?

"Phew..."

Lin Fan exhaled a breath of turbid air and shook the blood and brains off his hand.

On the system interface, the pleasant notification sound arrived as scheduled.

[Successfully killed D-rank Elite Three-Eyed Demonic Wolf.]

[Obtained Intact Corpse*1. Rating: Perfect.]

[Core material "Eye of Insight" is well-preserved. Estimated recycling price: 50,000.]

"Fifty thousand..."

The killing intent in Lin Fan's eyes vanished instantly, replaced by two golden currency symbols.

This punch was worth it.

He turned around and looked at the girl behind him who was still in a state of shock.

Su Qingxue was in a sorry state, her beautiful face stained with dirt, but her cold eyes were fixed on Lin Fan, seemingly trying to see through his disguise.

"It's you..."

Su Qingxue finally recognized this face.

The Shrewd Merchant who set up a stall at the night market and talked nonsense?

The F-Rank Trash Lin Fan that the whole school knew about?

The intense cognitive dissonance almost fried her brain. She couldn't connect the fierce man before her, who was like an ancient beast, with the rumored vendor who haggled over a few hundred bucks.

"What, School Beauty Su doesn't recognize an old classmate?"

Lin Fan smiled, but there wasn't a hint of the 'hero saving the damsel' in that smile; instead, it held the shrewdness of a hunter looking at prey.

He didn't dwell on the question.

To him, the current Su Qingxue wasn't a school beauty or a goddess, but a super fat sheep who had just survived a life-or-death crisis and was in desperate need of supplies and comfort.

He had to strike while the iron was hot.

Lin Fan crouched down, his movements practiced to a terrifying degree.

He pulled out a massive specialized airtight bag from his backpack. It was a "freshness bag" he had spent a lot of money on, specifically for packaging high-value prey.

Zip.

The bag opened.

Lin Fan lifted the several-hundred-pound wolf corpse with one hand and stuffed it into the bag like he was stuffing cotton.

Hum.

A flash of blue light.

The originally bloody corpse bag instantly turned into a perfectly square, large blind box emitting a faint blue glow.

He even used a marker to draw a large question mark on it.

The whole sequence of actions was smooth and fluid, taking less than ten seconds from start to finish.

Su Qingxue was dumbfounded.

What is he doing?

Packaging on the spot?

Lin Fan clapped his hands, stood up, and gave the bewildered Su Qingxue his signature professional fake smile.

He rubbed his hands together and pointed at the blue blind box on the ground. "Classmate, a fresh-out-of-the-oven D-rank Elite blind box. It's absolutely fresh, still warm."

"Inside is a perfectly intact Eye of Insight and D-rank blood essence. You know as well as I do that these elites are hard to come by."

Lin Fan held up five fingers, his tone as sincere as if he were doing charity. "Since we're classmates and I just saved your life, I won't charge you an appearance fee."

"Friendship price: fifty thousand."

"Want to take a shot? Take a gamble, turn your bicycle into a motorcycle. If you pull a Mental-type Combat Technique, your Frost Mastery could reach the next level."

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

Su Qingxue's team members felt like they were hallucinating.

Is this something a human would say?

After saving someone, shouldn't there be a moment of deep eye contact or a cool departure?

What kind of move is selling the corpse on the spot?

And... fifty thousand?

If this wolf were sold to a collection station, it would fetch thirty or forty thousand at most. This guy opens his mouth and asks for fifty thousand, then calls it a friendship price?

Shrewd Merchant!

A blatant Shrewd Merchant!

"You..."

Su Qingxue was so angry she laughed.

The heartbeat and gratitude she had felt a moment ago vanished instantly at the mention of fifty thousand.

Does this bastard have anything in his head besides money?

But she had to admit, Lin Fan was right.

That Eye of Insight was truly important to her. Although her Frost Talent was strong, mental perception had always been her weak point. If she could pull a mental-type treasure...

"I'll buy it."

Su Qingxue took a deep breath, forcing down the urge to hit him.

She pulled an anonymous black card from the inner pocket of her tactical vest, her fingers gripping it so hard her knuckles turned white.

"Swipe it."

"Alright! Boss Su is generous! I wish Boss Su a legendary pull in one shot!"

Lin Fan instantly beamed like a flower.

He quickly pulled out a portable POS machine—he carried this thing with him just to handle these kinds of sudden situations.

...

Jianghai City, Wang Family Villa.

Wang Teng was lying on a leather sofa, enjoying a massage from a maid.

"Young Master, there's no news from Black Snake yet."

The butler lowered his head, reporting cautiously.

"No news is good news."

Wang Teng closed his eyes, looking relaxed. "That trash has probably been eaten until not even scraps are left. I trust Black Snake to get the job done."

Right then.

Ding-dong.

His phone rang.

It was a city-wide news push notification.

[Shocking! Mysterious F-rank student kills D-rank demonic wolf with a punch! Sells blind boxes on the spot, School Beauty Su Qingxue splurges 50,000 to buy on the spot!]

The accompanying image was a blurry photo.

In the photo, a figure from behind was holding a massive wolf corpse, making a "peace" sign at the camera.

Although the face couldn't be seen clearly.

Wang Teng would recognize that tattered second-hand protective suit even if it were turned to ash.

"Lin! Fan!"

Wang Teng sat up abruptly, the wine glass in his hand crushed to pieces.

Red wine spilled all over the floor, looking very much like blood.

"Not dead? And he's gotten together with Su Qingxue?"