153: I didn't expect the other party to be so weak.

After refining the pangu essence blood, Lin Fan meditated in the cave for another half day.

When he opened his eyes again, his blood Qi was boiling like a furnace, and the dark gold Pangu Battle Markingss flickered beneath his skin. With just a casual clench of his fist, the air exploded with a series of crackling pops.

"Entry-level Law of Strength, Physical Body strength has more than tripled..."

Feeling the surging power within him, Lin Fan's lips curled into a satisfied arc. "Now, relying solely on this Physical Body, even if I let a Peak Martial King hit me, his own hand would probably fracture while I wouldn't even lose a layer of skin."

He stood up and stretched his limbs, his joints making crisp sounds like popping beans.

Li Yan's cautious voice came from outside the cave: "City Lord, have you finished your seclusion?"

"Mhm." Lin Fan pushed aside the vines at the cave entrance and stepped out.

Sunlight fell upon him, making him look as if he were coated in a faint layer of golden light.

Li Yan only took one look before reflexively lowering his head—that invisible sense of pressure was too strong, as if he were facing not a person, but a dormant prehistoric Vicious Beast!

"What's been happening outside these past few days?" Lin Fan asked.

Li Yan hurriedly reported: "After the battle at Burial God Valley, your reputation has spread completely. Now, rumors are everywhere in the Secret Realm, saying you are the biggest dark horse of this Prodigy Battle. There are even rumors... that you already have the qualifications to challenge the true monsters of the Central District."

"Oh?" Lin Fan raised an eyebrow. "Those so-called monsters in the Central District haven't shown themselves yet?"

"No." Li Yan shook his head. "It's said they are being restrained by the Battlefield Enforcers and will only take action in the final days of the qualifiers to directly harvest the Prodigies with high Merit Points."

"Harvest?" Lin Fan smiled. "Interesting. Let's see who harvests whom."

He looked at the System panel.

Merit Points: 28,500, still at the top of the leaderboard.

Second place is currently at 17,500 points; the gap is still significant.

prestige value: 20,000 points—still 80,000 short of purchasing the "Devouring Heaven Demonic Art (Middle Volume) (Pseudo)".

"I need to speed up the point grinding." A glint flashed in Lin Fan's eyes. "Li Yan, let's go find some buffets."

"B-Buffet?" Li Yan was stunned.

"The ones... who are blind enough to deliver themselves to my door." Lin Fan grinned, revealing stark white teeth.

Less than ten miles after leaving the cave, they encountered their first "buffet."

It was three Prodigies from the West District, two men and one woman, all with cultivation at the Late-stage Martial King level.

They seemed to be hunting an injured "Iron-armored Dragon Rhino." Seeing Lin Fan and Li Yan appear, their eyes immediately became guarded.

"It's Lin Fan from the East District!" one of the men in red exclaimed in a low voice.

"That ruthless guy who's first on the Merit Points leaderboard?" another young man in black narrowed his eyes. "He doesn't look like he's in good condition... Is he injured?"

"Who cares if he's injured? There are three of us, and he only has one Early-stage Martial King follower. What's there to be afraid of?"

The last one, a woman in a green dress, licked her lips, greed flashing in her eyes. "If we can take him down... the top spot's Merit Points will be ours!"

The three exchanged glances and instantly reached an understanding.

The man in red stepped forward, cupped his hands, and smiled: "So it's Brother Lin. I've heard much about you. I am Huo Lie of the Red Fire Sect from the West District, and these two are my Junior Brother and Junior Sister. We are currently hunting this Dragon Rhino. I wonder if Brother Lin could do us a favor and take a detour?"

He spoke politely, but the three had already vaguely formed a triangular formation, blocking Lin Fan and Li Yan's retreat.

Lin Fan looked at them with a half-smile: "A detour? Sure."

Huo Lie's eyes lit up with joy.

But Lin Fan's next words caused his face to instantly darken:

"The three of you, break one of your own arms, hand over all your spoils of war, and then get lost."

"I'll give you three breaths of time to consider."

[Ding! Directly demanding road money in front of three Late-stage Martial Kings, Arrogance Value +3000!]

[Current prestige value: 23,000 points!]

"Lin Fan! Don't push people too far!" the young man in black roared. "Our Red Fire Sect is not to be trifled with!"

"Exactly! You think you're invincible just because you're first on the leaderboard?" the woman in the green dress sneered. "If the three of us join forces, we might not necessarily be afraid of you!"

Huo Lie also dropped his fake smile, cold light flickering in his eyes: "Brother Lin, leave a path for others so we can meet again in the future."

"Being stupid isn't scary," Lin Fan shook his head. "What's scariest is having no self-awareness."

"You see me and don't think of running, but actually want to kill me. You really think you're Emperor Ye..."

After saying that.

His figure suddenly vanished!

"Watch out!" Huo Lie's expression changed drastically as the fire Protective Aura around him erupted!

But it was too late.

Lin Fan appeared behind the young man in black like a ghost, his right hand pointing like a sword, lightly tapping the back of his neck.

Pfft.

The Primal Sword Intent pierced through his body. The young man in black's eyes widened, and without even letting out a scream, he collapsed to the ground, his life force extinguished.

"The first one." Lin Fan's voice was as calm as water.

"Junior Brother!!!" the woman in the green dress shrieked, her long whip lashing out at Lin Fan like a venomous snake!

Lin Fan didn't even look. With a casual grab of his left hand, he caught the whip and gave it a violent yank!

"Ah!" the woman in the green dress cried out in surprise as she was pulled into the air, flying toward Lin Fan!

What greeted her was a fist covered in dark gold patterns.

Bang!!!

The woman's Protective Aura shattered like paper. Her chest collapsed, and she was sent flying, snapping three large trees before landing as a corpse.

"The second one." Lin Fan shook the blood off his fist.

Huo Lie was now terrified to his core!

Two Late-stage Martial King Junior Brothers and Sisters couldn't even take a single move?!

Just how strong... is this Lin Fan?!

"I'll kill you!!!" Huo Lie's eyes were blood-red as he formed hand seals, all the Protective Aura in his body burning frantically!

"Red Fire True Intent—Burning the Heavens and Boiling the Seas!!!"

Boom!!!

Monstrous flames surged from his body, turning into a sea of fire covering a hundred-foot radius, sweeping toward Lin Fan!

The temperature of the flames was extremely high; everywhere they passed, rocks melted, the ground turned charred black, and even the air distorted!

This was Huo Lie's desperate strike, its power already touching the threshold of a Peak Martial King!

However.

Lin Fan just lifted his eyelids.

"Fire?"

"Just right, I'll try out my new toy."

With a thought, the Pangu Battle Markingss beneath his skin suddenly lit up!

The dark gold patterns seemed to come alive, flowing and intertwining on his body, forming a layer of faint golden light film.

The next moment.

The sea of fire completely swallowed him.

"Hahahaha! Lin Fan! No matter how strong you are, being hit head-on by my Red Fire True Intent, you're doomed!" Huo Lie laughed maniacally.

But the laughter only lasted for three breaths.

Because in the center of the sea of fire, a figure... slowly walked out.

Lin Fan was surrounded by blazing flames, but those flames couldn't harm him in the slightest—the dark gold Pangu Battle Markingss were like the sturdiest armor, insulating him from all the fire!

Even the corners of his clothes weren't singed!

"How is this possible?!" Huo Lie's eyes almost popped out. "My Red Fire True Intent... can even melt Heaven-tier Battle Armor (bragging isn't a crime)! You..."

"Your fire is too weak." Lin Fan shook his head and walked toward Huo Lie step by step. "It's like a child playing with matches—it looks intimidating, but in reality... it's a struggle even to light a cigarette."

He walked up to Huo Lie and patted the other's stiff shoulder:

"In your next life, remember to learn some real skills."

"Don't always bring out this kind of... fireworks display to embarrass yourself."

The words fell.

Lin Fan gave a gentle push.

Pfft.

Huo Lie was sent flying dozens of feet as if struck by a giant hammer. His chest collapsed, and he slammed into a boulder, coughing up blood as his aura rapidly withered.

Then, with a snap, he died.

Actually... Lin Fan didn't really want to kill him.

He had planned to let him find more people who had lost their minds to come and help him grind prestige value.

He just didn't expect the opponent to be so fragile.