Coercion

Not long after, the grassy ground beside the pool fell completely still. "Except for a few ordinary Thunder Sound Leopards, we've wiped out the vast majority of this pack." Bai Chen stood his spear upright beside him and gasped for breath. Multiple battles unleashing Dark Force within a single day had taken a tremendous toll on his stamina. Yet at this moment, he was thrilled. Successfully hunting down a beast pack like this yielded an enormous harvest. "Fang Yu, you, Xiong Meng, and I will butcher the spoils," Bai Chen instructed. "Qin Yang, go search the surrounding area with Xia Yao to see if there are any Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures." "Understood," everyone responded one after another, jumping into action. "Brother Fang, why does your Life Level feel higher than Level 21 to me?" Xiong Meng chuckled as he worked on butchering. "Daring to clash head-on with that Thunder Sound Leopard leader—you're truly ferocious." After spending these past few days together, he had come to admire Fang Yu more and more, even switching to calling him "Brother Fang." "I've improved a bit," Fang Yu replied with a chuckle. "Big Bear, stop prying into other people's business when you've got nothing better to do. The stronger Fang Yu is, the better it is for us," Bai Chen scolded with a grin as he sliced rapidly. "Hurry up and don't waste time. If we take too long, other dire beasts might catch scent of the blood and rush over." "Don't worry, Captain, my butchering skills are no joke," Xiong Meng said with a hearty laugh. In truth, all three felt quite relaxed. They were no longer very far from the space base. For a beast pack of this scale to occupy such prime territory, they were undoubtedly the reigning tyrants around here, meaning there were certainly no powerful rivals nearby. Before long. The three of them had harvested all the pelts and sharp claws from more than twenty Thunder Sound Leopards. Some were relatively intact, while others were torn or incomplete. Just then, Qin Yang and Xia Yao came sprinting back. "Captain, Crimson Star Grass! Twenty stalks of Crimson Star Grass!" Xia Yao dashed over clutching a small bundle, looking thoroughly delighted. "Great!" "That much Crimson Star Grass?" Bai Chen, Fang Yu, and the others beamed with joy as well. They had anticipated a good harvest, but none of them expected it to be this bountiful. These dire beast materials, combined with the Crimson Star Grass, were easily worth three hundred thousand Star Coins. Adding in their earlier gains, they had amassed enough to reach five hundred thousand Star Coins. Right at that moment. "Bai Chen!" "You dare look so pleased after killing my beasts?" A furious shout detonated like rolling thunder. Six figures sprang down from a cliff dozens of meters high, shrouded by the nearby woods. "Hmm?" "Not good, it's Xia Tao from Earth Academy." Bai Chen's expression shifted drastically. He instantly recognized the black-robed youth closing in with lightning speed. "They're the Black Ice Squad." "The Black Ice Squad? Xia Tao?" Even Qin Yang's face tightened slightly; he had clearly heard of the man's reputation. "Fan Xing?" Fang Yu likewise recognized the figure trailing at the very rear, moving at the slowest pace, who happened to be his fellow freshman, Fan Xing. Connecting Bai Chen's and Qin Yang's remarks, Fang Yu realized at once who this youth with a touch of feminine elegance was—Xia Tao, a fourth-year senior in Earth Academy. Fang Yu recalled seeing his name when glancing over the overall rankings; he was somewhere in the top twenty. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! All six members of the Black Ice Squad moved with astonishing speed. In just five or six seconds, they fanned out into a loose encirclement, trapping Fang Yu, Bai Chen, and the others in one spot. "Gu Ming." Bai Chen put on a smile that carried a hint of deference. "This must be your squad leader, Xia Tao. Back at the university, I've only seen him a few times and never had the chance to speak with him properly. I never expected to have the honor of running into you today." Fang Yu, Xiong Meng, and the others remained silent. From the opening words Xia Tao had shouted, it was glaringly obvious that these newcomers harbored hostile intentions. "Captain," a burly man carrying a battle-ax whispered, "I know Bai Chen as well. What do you think about...?" "I know," Xia Tao frowned. The burly man immediately held his tongue. He and Bai Chen were merely nodding acquaintances, and Xia Tao clearly had no intention of letting them off easily. "You're Bai Chen? I believe I've seen you in the public martial arts classes. I have a bit of an impression of you," Xia Tao said slowly. "The honor is mine," Bai Chen replied, keeping his posture exceedingly humble. When under another's roof, one had no choice but to bow. "Do you know," Xia Tao said, fixing his gaze on Bai Chen with heavy pressure in his voice, "that I discovered this Thunder Sound Leopard pack long ago and planned to hunt them down on my way back to the base?" At these words, the expressions on Xia Yao, Xiong Meng, and Fang Yu's faces darkened slightly. How shameless. In the Wilderness Zone, since when did wild beast packs belong to anyone? A barely perceptible flicker of anger flashed across Bai Chen's eyes as well. Stealing kills was one thing, but adopting such a self-righteous posture on top of it? "It was our mistake." Bai Chen kept the smile plastered on his face. "How about this: we'll yield all these spoils and the Crimson Star Grass to the Black Ice Squad as an apology. Would that be acceptable?" The disparity in strength between the two sides was painfully obvious. Even the weakest member of their squad, Fan Xing, possessed frontal combat capability roughly on par with Bai Chen's, let alone the rest of them. If they truly came to blows, his side would not stand the slightest chance. Therefore, even if it meant surrendering every bit of their spoils, Bai Chen was willing to endure it as long as they could walk away safely. As the captain, his foremost duty was to bring his teammates back to base in one piece. Safety came first. "An apology?" "You slaughtered my beasts and took my Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. Those things belonged to me to begin with! How can they count as an apology?" Xia Tao shook his head. "I am a generous person, so I won't hold your trespass against you. "However! By killing the beasts, you took Primordial Points that rightfully belonged to me. You must compensate me for that." Xia Tao's gaze swept over Qin Yang, Fang Yu, and the rest. Finally, his eyes settled on Qin Yang's bow and the black battlesuit Fang Yu wore. "Hand over that bow and that complete battlesuit set as compensation." The moment those words were spoken, Fang Yu, Qin Yang, and Xia Yao could no longer contain themselves, their faces flushing with unmistakable rage. This went far beyond reason. Meanwhile, several martial artists of the Black Ice Squad wore mocking smirks. They had witnessed scenes like this more than once. The only difference was that their targets this time were university peers rather than civilian martial artists. "Xia Tao." Bai Chen drew a deep breath. The fawning smile vanished from his face, replaced by a low, somber voice. "You are a student of Earth Academy, and I respect you for that... However, we are not civilian martial artists. "If you push us too far and force a fight to the death, even if you kill all of us, can paper wrap up a fire?" Bai Chen glared straight at him. Gu Ming, Fan Xing, and the other members of the Black Ice Squad stared at Bai Chen in surprise. None of them seemed to expect Bai Chen to dare speak like that. Fang Yu and Qin Yang had already steeled themselves for battle. "Are you threatening me?" Xia Tao narrowed his eyes slightly. "If I kill every last one of you, who would ever know?" "I wouldn't dare threaten you." Bai Chen shook his head. "Unless backed into a corner, none of us wants to offend you. But can you guarantee that none of the teammates behind you will ever leak a word? "Stealing kills is a minor matter. "Indiscriminately slaughtering fellow students, including three elite students, is not. Even if your uncle moves heaven and earth to protect you, I doubt you'll come out unscathed." Bai Chen looked at him calmly. "If you kill us, your Primordial Points will plummet instantly. The university logs every bit of that, and it will serve as hard evidence. "We are very close to the base, where foot traffic is heavy. "For all you know, someone might be watching us from the shadows right now." Xia Tao said nothing, deep in thought. "Taking your prey this time was our mistake," Bai Chen said, cupping his fists. "Still, I hope that for the sake of our shared school, you will remember to leave a way out when you can." Xia Tao stared intently at Bai Chen. Suddenly, he burst out laughing. "Hahaha! Student Bai Chen, I was only joking just now. While Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures in the Wilderness Zone might belong to whoever finds them first, how could wild beast packs belong to anyone in particular? Since you killed them, they are naturally yours. "Keep your spoils," Xia Tao said, shaking his head. "I would never rob a fellow student of their harvest." "Much appreciated." The smile returned to Bai Chen's face. "However..." Xia Tao's gaze landed squarely on Xia Yao. "Xia Yao, hurry and bring over that Crimson Star Grass!" Bai Chen quickly turned his head and barked. "Captain!" Xia Yao gritted her teeth. "Hurry up!" Bai Chen frowned. "If not for the Black Ice Squad's help in searching, how could we have ever found this Crimson Star Grass?" Gritting her teeth, Xia Yao brought forward the small bundle of freshly harvested Crimson Star Grass. Bai Chen presented it to him. "You are quite sensible." Xia Tao accepted the Crimson Star Grass with a faint smile. "I'll take my leave now. "Let's go!" With a wave of Xia Tao's hand, the Black Ice Squad swiftly followed him toward the cliff wall, vanishing from the Scarlet Flame Squad's sight in moments. Only then did Bai Chen and Qin Yang breathe a collective sigh of relief. "Captain, I..." Xia Yao started to speak. "Don't say anything," Bai Chen rebuked in a low voice. "They might not have gone far. Whatever it is can wait... Pack up all the spoils now. We're retreating immediately." "Understood." The group dared not linger. They folded the beast pelts and bundled the claws, hoisted them onto their shoulders, and made haste toward the mountain forest in the opposite direction. ... Deep within the cliffside woods. "It seems there really wasn't anything else to harvest," Xia Tao murmured to himself. "Captain, we're just letting them off like that?" the tall, thin youth asked in confusion. "If it were some priceless treasure, that would be one thing, but it's just some Crimson Star Grass," Xia Tao said, shaking his head. "Besides, that Bai Chen made a valid point... Bullying civilian martial artists is fine. Those older Intermediate Martial Artists have no backing and mediocre strength; they pose no threat to me. "They don't even know our names, so they wouldn't know whom to seek vengeance on. "However, "when dealing with fellow students from our university, we still need to exercise restraint. It's not like we could actually murder them." Xia Tao spoke calmly. "Let's move. We've gained enough from this run. Back to the base!" Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The six members of the Black Ice Squad vanished rapidly into the mountain forest. ... On the other side, Bai Chen, Fang Yu, and the rest had returned to the cache where they had stashed their backpacks, sitting on the ground to rest. "That piece of shit!" Xiong Meng ground his teeth furiously. "Give me the chance, and I'll smash that bastard's head in!" "I'd heard long ago that Xia Tao employs unscrupulously dirty methods," Qin Yang frowned. "This time, we took a heavy loss—over two hundred thousand Star Coins gone." It was rare for Qin Yang to say so much at once. "Fang Yu," Bai Chen turned toward him, "you don't blame me for acting on my own, do you?" "Not at all." Fang Yu shook his head. "Captain, you did the right thing... If a fight had broken out, we wouldn't have stood a chance. We would have been lucky to take down one or two of them. "Still, Captain, you seem quite familiar with that Xia Tao?" Fang Yu asked with mild curiosity. "Yeah." "He's an Earth Academy student," Bai Chen nodded. "His Life Level is likely at Level 29. His natural talent isn't actually that high, but his family background is formidable. Not only are they wealthy, but his uncle is an Earth Martial Artist. He's notoriously tyrannical and shameless among our year... I never expected we'd run into him out here." Fang Yu came to an understanding. "Right, Xia Yao," Bai Chen looked at her, "what were you going to say earlier?" "Actually, I didn't just harvest twenty stalks of Crimson Star Grass," Xia Yao could not help blurting out. "I also gathered four stalks of Dragonform Grass! I just wanted to give everyone a huge surprise, which was why I didn't pull them out right away." In an instant, everyone went dead silent!