By the time Dera was done listing the compensation she wanted, Esveath"s face had turned darker than black.

She looked humiliated and ready to explode. It was really too much! Too much! Rather than getting the listed things for Dera, wasn’t it simpler to just turn into her slave? Or better, turn into her dog and get sold for a good price.

’This brat...’

Her whole body trembled in anger. Reaching her ears were the mocking whispers of those watching the confrontation, their laughter grating to get ears.

Realizing that she might have genuinely crossed a line, Dera sighed and said, "Sigh, seeing you like this, I can’t help but feel pity for you."

Esveath froze. Pity? What pity? Why pity? What nonsense was this black-haired brat saying?

Unperturbed, Dera continued, "Since I pity you, I shouldn’t be too harsh. I can understand that it’s troublesome being in charge of someone as rotten as this Old Gu. That said, I still can’t let the grievance be gone. How about this? You give me a thousand gold spirit crystals, and I’ll let you guys go."

Esveath’s expression eased slightly, but she still felt offended. In fact, she shouldn’t be eased at all! How could she pau for something so ridiculous?

A thousand gold spirit crystals for something as unreal as mental damage?

It was completely outrageous!

"Brat... I have no time to joke with you. Scram out of my way now, or I’ll make sure you regret it for the rest of your life," She said, her voice dangerously low.

Dera sighed and muttered, "I see."

Then, she turned to her sister and put on a pitiful expression.

"S-She... bully..."

Sera almost laughed at her acting, but restrained herself. Her expression was ice-cold, and she stepped forward with Ariana.

"If you aren’t going to comply with my sister’s demands, then leave that man behind and get lost."

Snorting, Esveath took out a sword from her storage ring.

"Do you bandit girls take me for a fool? You’re not getting a dime from me!"

Sera’s eyes flashed at the word ’bandit’, and she growled, "You dare... call us bandits?"

Without hesitation, she dashed at the older woman, an ice spear forming in her right hand.

Esveath was stunned by the unexpected aggressiveness, as she was actually expecting the girls to cower. Unknown to her, one word she said had triggered Sera’s fury.

Even Dera had completely dropped her act. Like a venomous snake, she charged at Esveath with a sickle in her hand.

"I’ll kill you!"

Ariana and Tamar were surprised and confused by the reaction of the twins, but they weren’t disturbed. Instead, they silently joined the battle.

Unleashing their full power, they joined the battle against the green-haired woman, quickly forcing her into the defensive.

Although they were one level below her, their combined battle power was enough to compete with her.

The battle immediately forced the surrounding ruin explorers to scatter, as they couldn’t stand close to a place where deadly techniques were being thrown around like stones.

Esveath was swift and evasive, her sword weighing tons despite the fact that it looked thin.

Each strike from her weapon cracked the ground and turned the collapsed walls into dust.

Dera grunted as she blocked an attack and staggered back, her gaze firm.

"Bitch, I’m going to kill you."

Esveath felt a flicker of confusion. Why were the twins so angry? It felt like this was no longer about Old Gu, but completely personal. Did she look like one of their sworn enemies?

Still, she knew she couldn’t afford to entertain her current confusion. That silent silver-haired girl and the other twin were incredibly dangerous. Their affinity was so high that they were capable of inflicting injuries on her.

It was unexpected and partially unbelievable. But she was forced to believe it anyway. Her own injuries were a proof of that.

"Damned brats! What the hell is wrong with you? Are you mad or what?!"

She shouted in frustration, realizing she couldn’t actually injure any of them. They were perfectly in sync, covering up for each other.

On the other hand, she was getting injured. Even if they were only small, negligible cuts, they were still injuries.

And these proved that she was losing in the confrontation.

’If it wasn’t because of that Old Gu bastard...!’

She cursed in her heart, her eyes red with anger.

Unfortunately, cursing in her heart turned out to be a mistake. Seizing that brief moment where she was overwhelmed with anger, Tamar suddenly appeared behind her and smacked her shoulder blades with a heavy slap of stone.

Esveath grunted from the impact, feeling her arm go numb. What kind of sneaky technique was that?

She turned aroused to catch the girl responsible, only for an ice spear to strike her exposed back.

’Cursed brats!’

Wincing at the chill, she turned around and spotted Sera stepping back while Ariana took her place.

"Frozen Lotus."

Four ice lotuses bloomed around them, releasing a burst of cold air. Esveath already inhaled before she realized her mistake.

Bone-chilling cold assaulted her lungs, and she felt her nostrils itch annoyingly.

’Argh.’

Grunting, she glared at the silver-haired girl, then dodged another attack from Tamar. Without giving her time to rest, Dera lunged at her with a battle-axe in hand.

It seemed the girl had enough weapons in her storage ring.

Bang!

Esveath blocked with her sword, easily repelling the black-haired girl. However, she hisssed in pain when her shoulder blades throbbed in remembrance of the attack that had connected earlier.

’Can I really win this?’

Doubt began to creep into her heart as she considered every factor. Ariana’s lotuses were still spreading cold mist which she couldn’t evade.

If she inhaled too much, then her lungs might get frozen. And that would be completely fatal. So, she only had one choice which she didn’t like.

"I surrender," She said, stunning them all.

The battle paused, and they glared at her with caution, as if trying to see her true intentions.

"You want a thousand gold spirit crystals, right? I’ll give you."

Snorting, Dera interrupted. "After wasting our energy this much? I want two thousand!"

Esveath’s eyes blazed with anger, but she didn’t retaliate. After all, she knew they were right. Gritting her teeth, she called the other two guys who were merely Advanced Stage cultivators and asked them to bring out all their gold spirit crystals.

Although they were hesitant, they eventually conceded under her fierce gaze.

After counting everything, Esveath put it into a sack and handed it over to Dera.

"There you go. Two thousand."

Dera snorted and counted it, then smiled after confirming.

"Good. I’m completely healed of your friend’s mental assault. Thank you for cooperating."

Esveath’s face darkened again, but she didn’t bother saying a word. Instead, she scoffed, turned around, and left with the battered Old Gu and her remaining two attendants.

"Hehe, look what we got."

Dera chuckled as she held up the sack before her sister and friends, extremely pleased.

Sera looked away with a small smile. Meanwhile, Ariana’s eyes narrowed as she spotted someone else coming towards them.

’Hah? Beginner Stage cultivator?’

This person was of no threat, so she simply waited until the person came close. The other girls had also noticed him, so they were paying attention to the man.

When he got close, they could finally distinguish his features. He was completely unremarkable and unworthy of remembering. However, the purple marks on his cheeks seemed to tell a tale of his recent abuse by someone or a group of people.

Stopping a few meters before the beautiful ladies, he got on his knees and bowed.

"Young fairies! I heard that you’re looking for a young man with white hair and rainbow eyes. I know where exactly to find him!"

Hearing this, the four girls were stunned. They glanced at each other, then watched as Ariana stepped forward with a serious expression.

"Where did you see him, and how?"

The man trembled under the weight of her gaze, them started speaking.

"I... I and my friends were visiting one of our old friend’s house. Because we were chatting loudly, this person you’re looking for asked us to scram! When we didn’t, he made us slap ourselves until our entire faces were ruined! How can a human be so cruel, right? This man was simply a demon with white hair! Beautiful fairies, you must avenge us!"

He began to cry as he finished his tale, looking truly pitiful. There were no words of comfort offered to him, so his cries took a while before he stopped.

Then, he heard a soft sound.

"Pfft."

’Huh?’

Looking up, he realized that the silver-haired fairy whom he had fallen for at first sight was actually laughing. The other fairies also had amused expressions on their faces, as if his story was nothing but fiction.

’Wha...?’

Shocked, his mouth could only hang open without words escaping his lips.

After a full minute of laughing, Ariana smiled beautifully and asked, "Where is this white-haired demon you speak of?"