CHAPTER 37: : ARE YOU DESPERATE?

Yue Cai’s father groaned as his daughter carefully applied care to his injured face. Xuan was standing at the door, leaning against the wall.

He tried countless times to rewind time or even pause it but couldn’t.

"It’s no use, boy, the whole village is under the Muay Thai spell," the man said again.

Xuan had never heard of a Muay Thai sect. He was now beginning to wonder where this place is on the map.

It was an infamous sect where you couldn’t use cultivating powers. Rather, all the cultivations were assessed through Muay Thai.

The spell was cast by the current sect leader. A demon was the one leading this sect.

"Then why haven’t any of you left?" Xuan asked. "If the empire knew about a demon’s existence, they’d have him dead by now."

The man sighed, telling Yue Cai to stop toweling his face. He stared down as if recalling a tragic past.

"We once did, but you see, even the empire’s soldiers are no match for the legend of Muay Thai. He’s a demon god. It doesn’t matter the numbers, no one could touch him."

And eventually, the empire was unable to save this sect, leaving them with a choice of staying or running for their lives.

But they couldn’t do the former. It was like giving a prisoner the cell’s key, and instead, he threw it away, saying he had come to like this cell.

Xuan sighed. That was undoubtedly categorized as madness.

But come to think of it, Xuan’s problem had been him depending on his abilities, and he didn’t know much about how a punch is thrown.

He used speed and tactics thanks to stopping and rewinding time. And this sect practiced the art of physical attacks.

"I see, even a charm wouldn’t work on him because his attacks are physical," Xuan muttered.

The man stood up and placed his hand on Xuan’s shoulder, a smile on his bandaged face. "Yes, I’m glad you understand."

"Understand? No, I don’t... Why wouldn’t you run? Why would anyone still live here? And most of all, why does rent get paid by having sex with each family?"

While they were talking, the man started walking down the stairs to arrange the scattered areas, and Xuan was just a step behind him.

"Because he isn’t having typical sex, he is cultivating, a reason no one can stand up to him, not even a martial realm eight."

The words "not even" were directed at Xuan. Now he was curious to know the village demon lord’s stage, and unfortunately—

"He is at Divine Combustion Stage 01," the man said, lifting up his table and chair. "My daughter will leave tomorrow morning. Once you’re ready, you could leave before getting involved."

This was why the man needed his daughter to escape. When a demon cultivates with a human, the absorbed yin is not pure.

It destroys the female’s meridians and could render them useless for life, unable to absorb or satisfy any other man.

But she was only fifteen, and from the casualties in the village, the man couldn’t risk his only daughter—someone his wife died protecting.

Xuan didn’t ask anything else and walked back up. He was still bandaged up, but when coming down, he already wore his dark robe to cover it up.

Xuan was leaving. This place was meant for psychopaths, and on top of that, he needed to find his self-claimed wife, Zhao Lan.

Just thinking about her, he remembered how Sang Woo toyed with him during their fight. Xuan was just a step away from the broken door Yue Cai’s father was slammed through earlier.

Then he stopped. "What if someone challenges the sect head? What if you teach me Muay Thai?"

Hearing that, the man stopped arranging the broken home. He paused, then continued, and not getting an answer, Xuan turned to face him.

"I cannot teach Muay Thai to outsiders. It is our secret strength in case war against all sects happens again."

"I promise it will be a secret. Your clan needs help. If you teach me, I could help you by challenging the sect head."

In truth, Xuan had no intention of helping them. He knew he couldn’t reach Divine Stage Four like Sang Woo within a short time.

And since his abilities were worthless against Sang Woo, Muay Thai just happened to be an option. If he got close enough, he could leave a poisonous cut.

"No, I cannot help you," said the man. He didn’t say that facing Xuan, and he had his eyes closed.

"You just need to be desperate," was what Xuan said before he left the house. And coming outside, he saw some people looking at him.

No, they were monitoring the man’s house—who goes in and who goes out—and they didn’t mind Xuan.

---

"Yue Cai, Yue Cai, wake up."

The girl heard her father whispering her name so early in the morning, she almost forgot this was the time he planned her escape.

Without wasting time, she packed her things and followed her father through the back.

Just by digging his fingers inside the wall and adding brutal force, the wall squeezed at his command, and he quietly pulled it out.

Quietly, they both made it halfway inside the woods. "Don’t worry, we’re safe now," he said.

Yue Cai smiled with a nod and hugged her dad tight. Then, all of a sudden, the gush of wind was unsteady.

And a clap was heard before the appearance of a four-armed red demon with a horn resembling that of Loki.

"Wow, so she’s this beautiful."

"What?" The man’s heart beat fast, and he got his daughter behind him as if he could protect her.

However, two men came from the bushes behind them and dragged her away from his arms. "Father!" she yelled.

"Let her gooooo!!!" Veins erupted from his descending fist encased with a purple aura. However, the demon lord jumped in front of him and effortlessly stopped the punch.

"So what was your plan? Run miles on foot?" the demon lord mocked, and the next thing the man knew—

Bam’

Demonic Exalted Palm was slammed against his chest, sending him skidding meters away and tremendously coughing out blood when he hit against the tree.

The man groaned and coughed out blood as he kneeled, clenching his fist.

"Now, I’ll leave with my bride... Hahaha."

"No... no... no... no, please," he cried out, begging. Especially when his daughter was screaming for his help, he tried standing up but fell back, coughing out blood again.

By this time, they had walked far away, and that’s when someone else walked in.

It was Xuan. He walked towards the man, staring at him without blinking. Xuan looked at the bloodied man from where he stood and asked.

"Now tell me, are you desperate?"

"What?"