After traveling for several miles, Lin Yun and his group had yet to encounter any Demon Beasts or humans. But then, Lin Yun suddenly sensed the fluctuation of human Elemental Power not far ahead.

"There are people up ahead," Lin Yun said to the other three.

"Oh, that’s great! Let’s go take a look. It would be wonderful if they’re students from the Academy," Chen Xin said happily.

Hearing Chen Xin’s words, Wangcai and Li Ji had no objections. The three of them were quite naive, believing that running into other people in the mountains was a good thing.

Of the four, only Lin Yun knew that people could sometimes be more terrifying and dangerous than Demon Beasts. The human heart was the most complex of all; robbery, murder, and killing for profit were things Lin Yun had seen many times before.

"Hold on. Don’t rush over," Lin Yun warned them. "We don’t know who they are, and out here in the Imperial City Mountain Range, if you get killed, there’s nowhere to even plead your case."

"Who goes there?" Just as the words left Lin Yun’s mouth, the other party noticed their presence. They had already approached and were shouting at them from a short distance away.

As the two groups met, Lin Yun sized them up. There were eight of them in total, all Academy students. Three wore white robes, and five wore blue.

In other words, three of the eight were junior students, and five were senior students.

"You’re students from the Academy?" Chen Xin recognized their uniforms and asked with a smile.

Hearing her question, the three junior students turned to look at Chen Xin. The moment they laid eyes on her, a flash of lust flickered in their gazes. Although Chen Xin couldn’t compare to Lu Bingning or Lan Xi, she was still quite a beauty.

Sensing the shift in their gazes, Lin Yun thought, ’This is bad. These three are probably up to no good.’

However, while Lin Yun was secretly on guard, Chen Xin and the other two let their defenses down completely. In fact, they even started walking toward the group of eight.

Watching them, Lin Yun cursed in his heart. ’What the hell... how did these three make it this far in life? Don’t they have any common sense?’ He wanted to stop them but didn’t know how. All eight of these students were at the Late Stage of the Qi Sea Realm. Their talent might not be high, but their Cultivation level was the real deal.

Forget fighting all eight of them; right now, Lin Yun couldn’t even defeat a single person at the Late Stage of the Qi Sea Realm on his own.

With no other choice, Lin Yun could only remain secretly on guard, looking for any possible chance to escape.

"Little lady, what are you doing all the way out here in the Core Zone?" one of the three junior students asked Chen Xin. He had a smile on his face, but it was a sleazy, unsettling one.

Chen Xin’s answer to his question nearly made Lin Yun spit up blood in frustration. She replied earnestly, "We’re looking for Anti-Aging Grass. We were wondering if you could help us. We’ll be sure to thank you properly!"

’What an idiot! This is infuriating,’ Lin Yun cursed inwardly. As expected, upon hearing Chen Xin’s words, the smiles on the eight Academy students’ faces grew wider and colder.

The three junior students continued to make small talk with Chen Xin and the others, while the remaining five senior students silently surrounded Lin Yun’s group. All escape routes were now cut off, making a getaway nearly impossible.

Once the encirclement was complete, the three junior students, who had been all smiles, instantly dropped their act. The only exception was when they looked at Chen Xin, their faces still holding lecherous grins. When they looked at Wangcai and Li Ji, however, their expressions were nothing but ice-cold.

"Talk. Where’s the Anti-Aging Grass?" one of the junior students demanded of Wangcai.

Only then did Wangcai and the other two realize something was wrong, but it was too late. They were already tightly encircled by the five senior students.

’Three absolute morons. Oh well, so be it. Guess I’ll have to fight,’ Lin Yun thought, his face calm despite having cursed them a thousand times in his heart. The trio had completely ignored his warnings; they were naive to an extreme, just three clueless innocents.

There was no longer any need for pretense. The three junior students showed their true colors. Their eyes held undisguised lust as they stared at Chen Xin, while their gazes toward Wangcai and Li Ji were filled with nothing but cold killing intent.

"Not talking, huh?" Wangcai was too stunned to answer. The student instantly kicked him to the ground and began to beat him with a flurry of punches and kicks.

"Brat, spit out the location of the Anti-Aging Grass, or I’ll cripple you today!" the student roared as he beat him.

"Stop! Stop hitting him! Aren’t you students from the Academy? How can you just beat someone up like this in public?" Chen Xin cried out when she saw Wangcai being assaulted.

"Haha, Academy students? Little lady, I didn’t realize you were so innocent. Looks like it’s our lucky day. So pure... you must still be a virgin, right? Brothers, tie them up! We’re going to have some real fun tonight," one of the junior students said with a laugh, stepping closer. A fire of raw desire burned in his eyes as he stared at Chen Xin.

At his words, all eight students burst into laughter. The thought of having their way with a beauty like Chen Xin made them antsy with anticipation, like an itch they couldn’t scratch. They wished they could strip her bare right then and there.

They were no longer in a hurry to ask about the Anti-Aging Grass; all their minds were now focused on Chen Xin. As for Lin Yun and the other two men, the plan was simple: tie them up for now, and after they found the grass, just kill them.

After all, deep in these mountains, who would ever know how they died? It was doubtful their bodies would ever even be found.

The five senior students closed in on Lin Yun and the other two men. Just as one of them reached Lin Yun, he suddenly exploded into action, smashing a fist directly into the man’s face.

"AH—!" With a miserable cry, the man staggered back. Even though he was a Martial Artist at the Late Stage of the Qi Sea Realm, he had been caught completely off guard by Lin Yun’s punch. Blood sprayed from his nose.

"RUN!" Lin Yun roared at his three stunned companions. He rushed to Chen Xin, who was closest, grabbed her hand, and without another word, bolted into the distance.

No one had expected Lin Yun’s sudden move. The eight students were thrown into chaos for a moment, and by the time they got their bearings, Lin Yun and his group were already dozens of meters away. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

"You five, go get those other two! The kid and the beauty are ours," one of the junior students ordered.

The five senior students immediately split up, heading off in pursuit of Li Ji and Wangcai. That left the three junior students to chase after Lin Yun and Chen Xin.

"Lin Yun... *sob*... it’s all my fault. I never thought they’d be like that," Chen Xin said, her voice choked with sobs as he pulled her along.

Their pursuers were getting closer, and Lin Yun was growing anxious. He couldn’t believe Chen Xin still had the luxury to cry at a time like this. Overcome with irritation, for the first time in his life, Lin Yun roared at a woman.

"Enough! Stop crying! We need to figure out how to get out of this!"

Lin Yun’s roar stunned Chen Xin into silence, and her crying stopped instantly.