Gao Wu: I became the minor villain that the protagonist was about to destroy.

"You!!" Xu Fu's sore spot was hit, and his old face turned a deep purplish-red. His talent was only at the B-level, and he had only managed to climb to his current level by relying on the resources of a powerful family. The Provincial Earthquake Realm was practically an unattainable dream for him. Now that Ye Ming had exposed his wounds in public, he was so angry that he trembled all over.

"Very well! I, Xu Fu, have lived my entire life, and this is the first time I've been so humiliated by a junior like you! Today! I will kill you! Even if it costs me my old life, I will tear you to pieces!!"

Ye Ming picked at his ear and casually flicked his fingers: "Alright, alright, anyone can say tough words. Just use them to bolster your courage and show off. We'll see when you can actually do it."

Xu Fu's lips curled into a slight smile: "Very good!"

"Inherent Ability: Flame Body!" (Flame Body: Ignites the user, increases the power of fire-based moves by 30%, and boosts the user's constitution by 6 times.)

"Whoosh—!!"

Xu Fu's entire body was instantly engulfed in a raging fire.

The scorching heat rushed straight to Ye Ming's face.

"Is this all the temperature you've reached? You've already reached the 9th level of the City Departure Realm. You're just one step away from breaking through to the peak. With another opportunity, you might be able to break through to the Provincial Earthquake Realm."

"It seems that all the energy you've put into nurturing your weapon during your ninth rank has been used, and you haven't really focused on refining your own growth potential."

(Inherent characteristics are divided into growth-type and fixed type. Growth-type characteristics are elemental, such as fire, water, and lightning. After reaching the realm of the Immortal Realm, one can enhance one's own characteristics, such as making the temperature of fire higher or the voltage of lightning stronger.)

"Arrogant brat, so what if what you say is true!"

"As your cultivation level increases, your inherent growth potential will continue to be enhanced. Combined with this staff that I have refined to its fullest extent, it will be more than enough to deal with a brat like you who only has brute strength and spiritual energy."

"The sun is rising!"

Xu Fu quickly condensed crimson spiritual energy in his palm, and with a wave of his hand, flames shot out in a fan shape towards the front.

Ye Ming bent his lower body slightly and swung his spiked club fiercely.

"Diamond-shaped Dagger!"

"Whoosh—!!"

A pillar-shaped beam of energy suddenly shot forward, directly shattering Xu Fu's fan-shaped flames.

In an instant, the two charged at each other, their spiked clubs and canes clashing violently. Faced with the more powerful spiked clubs, even with his enhanced strength, Xu Fu was utterly powerless against Ye Ming's absolute power.

The moment Xu Fu touched the spiked club, his figure shot out backward. Just then, a fiery slash flew rapidly from in front of Ye Ming.

"Whoosh—!!"

"Sizzle—!!"

Ye Ming raised his spiked club to block the incoming fiery sword energy, sliding several meters backward before forcefully shattering the sword energy with his right hand. He then looked ahead with a puzzled expression.

"A sword aura of flames? That old man really knows how to hide it."

Just then, the thick smoke in front suddenly burst open, revealing an old man engulfed in flames, wielding a sword in one hand and a scabbard in the other, rushing towards them at high speed.

Xu Fu suddenly flung the scabbard, which transformed into a streak of red light and rushed rapidly toward Ye Ming.

Seeing this, Ye Ming swung his spiked club and swept the scabbard away. At this moment, Xu Fu leaped up and firmly grasped the flying scabbard in his hand, put the cane sword back into the scabbard, and then suddenly pulled it out.

"Instant Flame Serpent Dance!"

A phantom of a green snake appeared behind Xu Fu, who swung his cane sword dozens of times in a short span of time. In an instant, the sky was illuminated by fire, and dozens of fiery slashes formed fire snakes that rushed towards Ye Ming.

"Boom boom boom...!" Thick smoke billowed up, obscuring the view below.

Xu Fu is suspended in the air (flying is permitted when leaving the city).

Using his divine sense to perceive his surroundings, he suddenly turned around, and Ye Ming appeared behind him in a flash.

"Thunderous Eight Trigrams!!"

Ye Ming quickly gathered Armament Haki on his spiked club and then swung it fiercely at Xu Fu.

"Bang--!"

"Ugh!"

"call out--!!"

"boom--!!!"

Xu Fu's body was suddenly sent flying backward, landing heavily on the ground.

Ye Yang concentrated his spiritual energy and Armament Haki onto the spiked club, and his figure quickly fell towards the ground.

"Wrathful devotion subdues demons, compassionate compassion breaks down obstacles!!"

"call out!"

"boom--!!!"

Suddenly, the earth began to shake violently, and a mushroom cloud slowly rose from the ground.

Watching from a distance, Chu Yuntian couldn't help but swallow hard: "That's my brother! See that?! That's my brother!"

"Damn, he's gotten even stronger again! That's incredible!!"

"I should never have become sworn brothers with him in the first place! I regret it so much!!"

At that moment, a voice rang out: "So you mean you want a divorce?"

Chu Yuntian turned his head and saw his beautiful wife.

"Oh, Madam, you've come! What brings you here?"

"Huh?!" Wang Yanzhi cast a cold glance at Chu Yuntian, who immediately stopped uttering a sound.

"How did things go?"

Chu Yuntian's face lit up with a fawning expression: "This...does that even need to be said? With my brother on the field, how could we possibly lose?"

"That's about it, that's about it."

Wang Yanzhi sensed the energy fluctuations emanating from ahead.

("This kid's strength has increased again. He truly deserves to be called an SSS-level sea vein-type peerless genius.")

"Wang Bin, go and clean up that area. I want to see which guy dares to cause trouble in my Luoxia City."

"Yes, Director Wang."

Wang Bin moved swiftly and vanished from his spot in an instant.

As he approached, a spiked club suddenly swung horizontally. Wang Bin quickly crossed his arms, and a shield materialized in front of him.

"Duang—!!"

"Sizzle—!!"

"it's me."

Upon hearing the familiar voice, Ye Ming put away his spiked club.

"Oh, it's Captain Wang. Sorry I was a little overwhelmed."

Wang Bin dusted himself off, pretending nothing was wrong.

("Damn it, what did this kid eat to grow up like this? How can he have such strength? If he hadn't held back, I might not have been able to withstand this attack.")

Wang Bin glanced at the old man who still resembled a human at Ye Ming's feet and said calmly, "He's still alive, isn't he?"

"Of course, I need to know who is hostile towards me."

"The rest is up to you."

"Um."

Then Ye Ming slowly walked towards the headquarters. As soon as he arrived at the door, he saw Chu Yuntian fawning over his wife, asking her when she was coming home because their daughter missed her.

However, Wang Yanzhi did not give him a kind look at all.

"Hey, isn't this your sister-in-law?"

Upon seeing his brother arrive, Chu Yuntian immediately dropped his fawning demeanor.

"Ahem, how's it going, bro? Got it all sorted out?"

Ye Ming nodded: "Yeah, not bad, pretty tough."

Chu Yuntian immediately put on an expression that said, "See what I just said?"

Wang Yanzhi rolled her eyes at her.