61: Yes, host, yes!

His right hand rose, and his index finger extended.

He pointed lightly at the Ruin Beast charging the fastest.

"First finger..."

"Imprison Heaven."

Buzz!

The Void Realm solidified!

The Rotting Corpse Ruin Beast charging at the very front was frozen in mid-air as if grabbed by an invisible giant hand!

It struggled frantically, rotting flesh and pus splashing everywhere, yet it couldn't break free even an inch!

Seeing this, the other two Ruin Beasts roared and changed direction, pouncing toward Lin Fan from the left and right!

Lin Fan didn't even look.

His left hand rose, and his thumb and middle finger pointed out simultaneously.

"Second finger..."

"Shatter Mountains and Rivers."

Boom!!!

Two streaks of pale golden finger energy shot through the air, accurately hitting the chests of the two Ruin Beasts!

The moment the finger energy entered their bodies, it exploded violently!

Bang! Bang!

The two Rotting Corpse Ruin Beasts didn't even let out a scream before they were blown into a mess of shredded meat and green pus!

The Ruin Beast trapped by "Imprison Heaven" seemed to sense the threat of death and struggled even more frantically.

Lin Fan glanced at it.

His right index finger pressed down slightly.

"Exterminate."

Crack!

The Void Realm shattered like glass!

The Ruin Beast's body, along with the space within three meters around it, was crushed into powder by an invisible force!

It was reduced to ashes.

Not even a drop of pus remained.

After finishing all this, Lin Fan withdrew his hand and shook his wrist.

"Not bad, just a warm-up."

He turned to look behind him.

Everyone, including Su Muyu and Qin Yue, stood there with their mouths open, staring at him blankly.

Their gazes were like they were looking at an immortal.

Three Middle Stage Martial Ancestor Ruin Beasts... just like that... gone?

One move for each?

No, it was three moves... wait, it was three fingers, killing three of them?

What kind of monster is this?!

These are Ruin Beasts!

They are very hard to kill!

Much harder to kill than a normal Middle Stage Martial Ancestor Martial Artist!

[Ding! Instantly killed three Middle Stage Martial Ancestor Ruin Beasts, shocking everyone, prestige value +3,000!]

[Ding! Executing the "Great Desolation Heaven Imprisoning Finger" with effortless cool, prestige value +1,000!]

[Current prestige value: 32,070 points!]

Lin Fan nodded with satisfaction.

This wave wasn't a loss.

"Continue the night watch," he turned and walked back to the team. "I'm on duty tonight; you all rest."

"God Fan, how can we let you do that!" Wang Xiaoming hurriedly said, "You've also been tired all day, let us handle the night watch..."

"Cut the crap," Lin Fan interrupted. "Rest when I tell you to rest. There's a tough battle tomorrow."

He paused and looked into the depths of the darkness.

There, more roars could be faintly heard.

"The Ruin Beasts... seem to be increasing in number."

[Ding! The boss keeping watch for his subordinates has moved everyone, prestige value +1,000!]

[Current prestige value: 33,070 points!]

...Meanwhile.

In another area of the ruins, by a broken altar.

A dozen figures wearing silver Holy Templar standard armor stood in a circle.

In the center was the Red-haired Youth whose Dantian had been crippled and who looked soul-shaken.

"...That's how it happened," the Red-haired Youth knelt on the ground, tears and snot flowing. "Captain John... and the others... were all killed by that Easterner named Lin Fan... He only left me alive to bring back the message..."

"He also said... said for the Holy Templar to send more people... so he can bury them all together..."

Dead silence.

The temperature around the altar suddenly dropped to the freezing point.

Leading them was a tall man with shoulder-length blonde hair and a face as cold as a sculpture.

He wore silver heavy armor with a cross-sword badge engraved on his chest, and a greatsword as wide as a door was strapped to his back.

At this moment, he had his eyes closed, and the veins on his forehead were pulsing slightly.

"Lin Fan..." He slowly opened his eyes, revealing rare silver-white pupils. "The East's... number one in the Martial Arts Examination?"

"Yes... yes, Lord Lancelot!" the Red-haired Youth said tremblingly. "It's him! The number one in the National Examination, who reportedly defeated three hundred geniuses of his age alone on the arena!"

"Heh," beside Lancelot, a red-haired female knight sneered. "An Eastern Genius? Just a flower in a greenhouse."

"That waste John actually died at the hands of someone like that. What a disgrace."

"Elena, do not underestimate the enemy." Another elegant knight wearing glasses pushed up his frames. "To be able to instantly kill John's squad, his strength is at least at the Late Stage Martial Ancestor level."

"The East has produced quite a remarkable figure in this generation."

Lancelot raised his hand, stopping the argument.

He looked at the Red-haired Youth, his voice cold as iron: "Which direction did he go?"

"West... West! Toward the Palace Ruins area!"

"Very well." Lancelot stood up, lifting the greatsword with one hand and resting it on his shoulder.

His silver-white pupils looked toward the west.

"Pass down my order."

"The Third Knight Order of The Sanctuary, all members assemble."

"Target: Palace Ruins area."

"Mission..."

He paused, saying each word with soaring killing intent:

"Execute Lin Fan."

"Blood debts..."

"Must be paid in blood."

...Late at night.

Lin Fan sat on a broken pillar high in the ruins, a blade of grass in his mouth, looking at the dark red sky.

Below, the students took turns keeping watch and resting, with snoring sounds rising and falling.

Su Muyu and Qin Yue sat not far away, eyes closed as they regulated their breathing, but they clearly weren't sleeping deeply.

"God Fan." Wang Xiaoming quietly approached, lowering his voice. "Just now... killing those three foreigners, was it a bit... too impulsive?"

Lin Fan glanced at him: "What, are you scared?"

"It's not that I'm scared!" Wang Xiaoming hurriedly shook his head. "It's just... the Holy Templar is, after all, North America's strongest organization, and they are known for their vindictiveness."

"We killed their people and even left someone to go back and provoke them. They will definitely send experts for revenge..."

"I want them to come!" Lin Fan spat out the grass blade. "I didn't kill John just for the thrill."

"Ah?" Wang Xiaoming was stunned.

"The ruins are so big; searching for opportunities everywhere is too slow." Lin Fan grinned. "It's better to let them deliver themselves to my door."

"The Holy Templar people must have plenty of good things on them."

"Kill one, rob a wave."

"Kill ten, make a fortune."

"How cost-effective."

Wang Xiaoming was dumbfounded.

Treating the Holy Templar Knights... as treasure-delivering boys?

This line of thinking... is way too unconventional!

"But... what if they send a Martial King..." Wang Xiaoming was still worried.

"A Martial King can't enter." Lin Fan shook his head. "The ruins are restricted to those under twenty. A twenty-year-old Martial King? Do you think Martial Kings are as common as cabbages?"

Wang Xiaoming thought about it; that was true.

A twenty-year-old Martial Ancestor was already a peerless Genius; a Martial King... that would be a legendary figure.

"Don't worry," Lin Fan patted his shoulder. "No matter how many come, I'll kill them all."

"You just focus on leading the others to loot the corpses and divide the money."

Wang Xiaoming swallowed hard and nodded heavily: "Understood!"

After Wang Xiaoming retreated, Lin Fan looked back at the night sky.

In his mind, a System prompt surfaced again:

[Warning: Intense malicious lock detected! Source: Holy Templar Knights!]

[Danger Rank: High (May include Peak Martial Ancestors or even Half-step Martial Kings)]

[Suggestion: Temporarily avoid their edge or set traps]

Lin Fan smiled.

Avoid?

Avoid my ass!

"System," he asked in his heart, "how much longer until the Qiongqi Egg hatches?"

[Report to Host: The Qiongqi Egg has absorbed the remaining Energy Crystals. It is exactly 1 hour away from hatching.]

"Are there any items in the mall to speed up incubation?"

[Yes, Host, there are!]

...At dawn.

Thirty miles west of the ruins.

Fifty Holy Templar Knights in silver armor stood in a neat formation.

Their aura was solemn, and their vital energy merged into one, resembling a slumbering giant beast.

Lancelot stood at the head of the team, his silver-white pupils glinting coldly in the night.

"Lord, the Palace Ruins area is just ahead." Elena pointed at the map. "According to intelligence, Lin Fan's team should be camped in this vicinity."

Lancelot nodded: "Spread out and search in groups of three. If you find the target, signal immediately; do not engage alone."

"Yes!"

The knights quickly dispersed, seeping into the ruins like silver streams.

Lancelot led Elena and the elegant knight toward the center of the ruins, toward the most prominent broken main palace.

"Lancelot," the elegant knight suddenly frowned, "don't you think... there are particularly many Ruin Beasts tonight?"

Indeed.

Along the way, they had encountered no fewer than ten waves of Ruin Beasts.

Although they were all Early-stage Martial Ancestors that could be easily destroyed, this density... was clearly abnormal.

"It might be an anomaly in the ruins," Elena said dismissively. "Just as well, we can kill a few more and exchange them for merit points when we return."

Lancelot didn't speak.

He felt... something was wrong.

It was too quiet.

Except for the roars of the Ruin Beasts, the entire ruins were terrifyingly silent.

It was as if something was waiting for them... in the darkness.

Suddenly!

From a corner of the ruins ahead came a shrill scream!

"Ah!!!"

It was the voice of a Holy Templar Knight!

"Something's happened!" Lancelot's face changed, and his body instantly turned into a silver streak of light as he rushed over!

Elena and the elegant knight followed closely behind.

They rounded the corner.

The three of them stopped abruptly.

Their pupils suddenly contracted.

In front of them was an open space.

The space was densely packed... with Ruin Beasts!

Rotting Corpse Ruin Beasts, Bone-Spike Ruin Beasts, Shadow-Hiding Ruin Beasts... at least a hundred of them!

They were like a tide, besieging three Holy Templar Knights in the middle.

The three knights were back-to-back, frantically swinging their swords as Holy Light flashed, yet they couldn't break through the encirclement at all.

On the ground around them lay seven or eight shredded corpses of Ruin Beasts.

But more Ruin Beasts charged forward one after another!

"How is this possible?!" Elena lost her voice. "So many Ruin Beasts gathered together?! Don't they lack intelligence?!"

The elegant knight's face turned pale: "Unless... someone is guiding them!"

Just as he finished speaking.

High up in the ruins, on a broken crossbeam.

A massive figure of a Vicious Beast appeared, and on its back, a human figure sat lazily, swinging his legs.

It was Lin Fan and the recently hatched Qiongqi.

With the help of the Energy Crystals, its Bloodline was no longer one in ten thousand, but had reached one in a thousand!

Just after hatching, it had already reached the Fourth-Stage Peak of this world!

At the same time, it had awakened an Innate Secret Technique.

Enslavement!

At the fourth stage, it could enslave one Vicious Beast with a Rank lower than its own.

With every stage it increased, the number it could enslave would also grow by one.

And among these Ruin Beasts, the strongest one was the one enslaved by the Qiongqi.

When it came to creating a Beast Tide, Lin Fan was a professional!

A Ruin Beast Tide is still a Beast Tide!!!

He looked down at the Holy Templar Knights being besieged by the Ruin Beasts and then at the arriving trio of Lancelot.

He grinned and smiled.

"Yo, you're here?"

"I've been waiting for you for a long time."

"Do you like it?"

"This..."

"Greeting gift."

[Ding! Orchestrating an ambush to kill Holy Templar Knights, coolness exploding, prestige value +5,000!]

[Current prestige value: 38,070 points!]

Lin Fan smiled even more happily.

"Oho, System, why so generous all of a sudden? Is the lucky draw business short on performance again?"