As Wang Chen arrived in the area where some disciples had spawned, he noticed three individuals who were also from his own sect, the Red Lotus Sect. However, he refrained from approaching them right away, wanting to first determine which faction they belonged to.
"We were spawned near each other thanks to the great elder," one of them said.
"That's right, just like our three-person elite group, other disciples of our faction will also be grouped together," the one with a round object in his hand replied.
"With this, we can locate them and successfully complete the part of the plan given to us by the great elder," the muscular one added with a sneer as he looked at the round object in the other guy's hand.
"Poor Second Elder, he wouldn't have expected something like this to happen," they all laughed.
The group came to an abrupt stop, their ears perking up as they heard the sharp sound of a wooden branch snapping underfoot.
They exchanged wary glances, their senses on high alert as they tried to pinpoint the source of the noise.
"Who's there?" one of them called out, his voice low and cautious. They slowly turned towards the direction from which the sound had come, their eyes scanning the surrounding area for any sign of movement or disturbance.
Wang Chen stepped out from the bushes with a nonchalant expression on his face.
"Isn't this the guy who beat our junior brother, Yue Mingluan?" the man holding the round ball-like object asked.
"Yeah, it's him. What was his name again? Ah, I remember now. His name is Wang Chen," the first guy said.
"Hahaha, what good luck we have. If we kill him now and tell the great elder about it, we'll surely get a reward," the muscular guy with a scar on his face said.
"Hey, kowtow to us three times and we'll give you an easy death," the man with the ball added as they all laughed.
Wang Chen took a few steps back with a slightly anxious face and said, "I will pretend that I didn't hear anything. Can you leave me alone?"
"Are you scared now? It won't help you. Don't say that we didn't give you a chance to leave with your whole body in one piece, but you didn't appreciate it. Now we'll torture you by cutting off every limb of your body and give it to the beasts," the man with the ball in his hand said as he moved forward.
They showed no fear towards Wang Chen, considering themselves to be elite members of their faction with a cultivation base in the Innate realm, while Wang Chen's cultivation base was only at Enlightenment Realm.
"First, I will cut off your hand," the guy who had moved forward said as he summoned his sword from his storage bag and quickly lunged towards Wang Chen, preparing to attack.
As the guy summoned his sword and charged towards Wang Chen, the latter remained calm and composed. With a swift movement, Wang Chen dodged the attack and countered with a strike of his own. The man was taken aback by the sudden movement and was unable to defend himself.
"What the...my hand!" the man exclaimed as his severed limb flew through the air, blood spurting from the wound. He looked at Wang Chen in disbelief, pain etched on his face.
The other two men, who were laughing just moments before, were now frozen in shock. "What the hell just happened?!" one of them exclaimed.
"You...you cut off his hand with just one strike?!" the other one said in disbelief.
The injured man gritted his teeth in pain as he glared at Wang Chen. "You...you'll pay for this!" he growled.
They didn't believe it was possible, considering their cultivation base was at Innate realm while Wang Chen was only at Enlightenment Realm.
Wang Chen then swiftly grabbed the round object from the man's hand and said, "Finally got it! Now I don't have to search all over the secret realm."
Wang Chen had the ability to defeat them easily, but he had acted anxious earlier to fool them and when their guard was down, he snatched the ball successfully.
When they saw the ball was snatched, all three of them understood that Wang Chen was after the ball, and they attacked him together.
They thought they could escape Wang Chen's grasp easily, but if Wang Chen had the ball and knew about their plan, the plan would be completely destroyed.
If the great elder came to know about their failed plan, the first one he would kill is the three of them. So, they planned that if they could attack together and kill Wang Chen or destroy the ball, they would have a chance to stay alive.
As the three men attacked Wang Chen with all their might, he effortlessly dodged their attacks and countered with his own moves. "You underestimate me," he said calmly as he dodged a sword swipe and landed a kick on one of the men, sending him staggering back.
The other two looked at each other, realizing that they were in trouble. "We have to destroy that ball before he gets away with it," one of them said as they both lunged towards it.
But before they could even touch the ball, Wang Chen moved like lightning, striking the muscular guy with his sword technique. The man cried out in pain and stumbled back, clutching his wound. The other two froze in shock.
Wang Chen didn't waste any time and quickly used his cloud step technique to appear in front of one of them. With a quick strike, he killed him and turned his attention to the last one. "Your turn," he said, his voice cold and unforgiving.
The man tried to run, but Wang Chen was too quick. He caught up to him and killed him with a swift blow to the neck.
As the three men lay dead on the ground, Wang Chen walked over to each one and placed his palm on their chest. "Farewell" he said softly.
As he absorbed their energy, the three men's bodies started to slowly wither away until they were nothing but skeletons. Wang Chen's eyes glowed as he used his powerful devouring ability to consume all of their energy.
Wang Chen then looked at the round ball he had snatched earlier and said to himself, "It's time to destroy your plan, great elder."
