“Did you see how they were shopping at the guild earlier? They didn’t even ask for the price, just bought whatever they wanted.”

Five shadowy figures, cloaked in black robes, their voices hoarse and indistinguishable in terms of gender and age, were darting through the dense forest. Their agile movements went unnoticed by Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou.

“Their skin is fair, and their clothes don’t look like they’re from around here. They must be disciples from some sect or noble family, out to see the world.”

Another one sneered, his voice like a venomous snake lurking in the shadows, “Out to see the world, huh? Let’s show them how cruel the world can be.”

“Did you hear what that pretty boy said earlier? They claimed to be at the mid-stage of Foundation Establishment. Considering their background, their combat power could match those at the late stage of Foundation Establishment.”

“So what if they’re at the late stage of Foundation Establishment? There are five of us, all at the late stage of Foundation Establishment, seasoned and experienced. How could these two youngsters possibly be a match for us?”

“We should still be cautious.”

“Do you remember the sect disciples we encountered last time? We took a break for three months after that job. If we pull this off today, we can rest for another three months!”

“Not just that, I think they have more spirit stones than we imagined. They’re fat sheep.”

“We’re almost there. Not many people come here usually.”

“Attack!”

At the leader’s command, the five figures dispersed, swiftly surrounding the two men.

They positioned themselves at pre-determined locations, ensuring that the two could not escape in any direction.

Their practiced movements indicated that they had done this countless times before.

“Halt!” The leader shouted, his voice imbued with a sonic spell that could intimidate the mind.

“Who are you!” Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou were clearly startled. Although they adopted a defensive stance, the fear in their eyes was not well concealed.

“Newbies indeed. They dare to wander in the forest without even knowing the name of us, the Five Heroes of Eagle Mountain.” The leader lifted his hood, revealing a thin, sharp face with a hooked nose and cold eyes.

As he spoke, the five released the aura of late-stage Foundation Establishment, warning the two not to resist futilely.

“You’re so naive, not even realizing what we do. I wonder which noble family or sect raised you.” Another man, his voice terrifying and gloomy, lifted his hood to reveal a missing eye.

“In this forest, we five have you surrounded. What do you think is going to happen?”

“We saw you buying a lot at the guild earlier. You two seem quite wealthy.”

“Tell us, how many spirit stones do you have? If the price is right, we can negotiate.”

“If you don’t have enough spirit stones, don’t blame us, the Five Heroes of Eagle Mountain, for being ruthless!” His voice turned icy cold at the end, revealing a hint of cruelty.

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou exchanged a smile and shrugged helplessly.

Who would have thought that the first enemy they would encounter in the forest would not be a beast, but humans.

“Attack, let them know our strength!”

At the leader’s command, the five attacked in unison. Their coordination was impeccable, and they had never met a match in the Foundation Establishment stage. They were about to capture Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou when the two suddenly made their move, their speed astonishing.

“Draw a prison on the ground!”

“Draw a ground prison!”

Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou quickly drew circles, casting similar spells. An invisible barrier appeared around the five, blocking their escape routes, and then they were pulled into a prison.

“What kind of technique is this!”

“The legendary ground prison?”

“No, we’re in a prison. This is a spatial technique!”

“It’s the Drawing Dao, it must be!”

The five were discussing in a flurry. They were trapped in the prison and the invisible barrier, completely at a loss due to the sudden turn of events.

“Robbing the head of my sect, are you tired of living?” Meng Jingzhou sneered.

“Robbing the founder of my sect, you’ve got guts!” Lu Yang sneered.

Meng Jingzhou turned to him in surprise, “I’m just a sect head, when did you promote yourself?”

The Immortal Sect had gone bankrupt due to poor management and bad company, and this kid could still get promoted?

“What do you mean I promoted myself? This was specially approved by an immortal.” Lu Yang said confidently.

Meng Jingzhou remembered that there was an immortal soul residing in Lu Yang’s body and understood.

He was quite envious of Lu Yang. Having an immortal soul in his body meant that he could ask the immortal for advice and guidance at any time. This was a great opportunity.

“Tell me, how many times have you robbed people? Have you killed anyone?”

“Why are you wasting your breath? They must have killed before. Look at his face, does he look like he hasn’t killed anyone?”

“Just hand them over to the authorities. Whether they’re killed or imprisoned, let them decide.”

“Wait, wait, wait, young heroes, there’s been a misunderstanding!” The leader with the hooked nose quickly said, “I can’t control what I look like, and we’re not robbers.”

Meng Jingzhou didn’t believe a word of the leader’s lies, “What misunderstanding? You’ve been following us since we left the guild, deliberately staying out of our divine sense range in the forest, and then followed us all the way to this godforsaken place, even surrounding us! If this isn’t robbery, what is?”

Lu Yang added, “You even said you wanted to show us how cruel the world is, and mentioned that you had encountered sect disciples before, and that you could rest for three months after one job.”

The five were shocked. They hadn’t expected their tracks to be exposed from the beginning.

They should have been outside the range of the divine sense of the Foundation Establishment stage.

Where did these two come from, to be so sharp?

What they didn’t know was that Lu Yang’s divine sense had long been comparable to the Golden Elixir stage, and he had heard their conversation clearly.

“We’re really not robbers, we’re bodyguards, bodyguards!”

“What the hell?” Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou didn’t quite catch on.”We noticed that you two didn’t even ask about the prices at the trade association, so we assumed you must be disciples from a noble family here for training, never having to worry about spirit stones. We feared you might be unfamiliar with this place and suffer a great loss, so we came to offer our services as bodyguards!”

“What do you mean by letting us experience the harsh realities of the world?”

The hawk-nosed leader hemmed and hawed: “It means that since you have money, we can charge a bit more. If we earn a lot this time, we can rest for a few months after the job is done.”

“Why did you ask us how many spirit stones we have?”

“So we can set the price.”

“What did you mean when you said if we don’t have enough spirit stones, don’t blame the Five Heroes of Eagle Mountain for being ruthless?”

“If you continue forward, you’ll enter the territory of a half-step Golden Elixir beast. If you don’t have enough spirit stones, we won’t warn you and let you keep going.”

“What about the part where you mentioned fighting?”

“When we saw you shrug, we thought you were going to refuse our offer to be your bodyguards. We were prepared to lure out the half-step Golden Elixir beast ahead and fight it to show off our strength.”

Another one muttered quietly: “But looking at you now, you probably don’t need us as bodyguards.”

“Why did you insist on discussing the bodyguard matter in the dense forest?”

“To avoid paying taxes.”

Lu Yang: “……”

So you’re treating the dense forest as a tax-free zone, huh?

(End of Chapter)