The Magic Conveyance sped along a wide road, its enchanted chassis eliminating any bumps. Zhang Luan sat there, sipping delicious porridge cooked from rice and water in a spicy pot.
The seven-member Guardian squad assigned to protect him, including Yanat, sat quietly chatting among themselves.
But with Zhang Luan present, they dared not discuss much else, sticking to boring small talk. This made his journey incredibly dull; he even found himself wishing for some heroes—no, bandits—to attack them.
Perhaps by sheer luck—or misfortune—just as he thought that, a massive explosion erupted before the Magic Conveyance. A towering pillar of fire stood right in its path.
The veteran driver slammed the brakes, bringing the vehicle to a halt.
This custom Magic Conveyance could reach speeds up to 500 kilometers per hour. Had it not been for the driver's excellent skills, they would have crashed straight into the fire pillar.
Yanat frowned and led the others out. Zhang Luan stayed inside, watching the fire pillar with a peculiar expression.
With his Stellar Flame, he could clearly sense it was fake—a mere illusion meant to block their path.
Yanat, who had just jumped out, also sensed this. Just then—*whoosh whoosh whoosh*—a shower of arrows rained down from above.
Yanat stomped his foot hard. Instantly, the Hypergravity Net deployed. The arrows lost direction and plummeted straight to the ground.
Rustling sounds came from the forests on both sides. A barrage of low-level spells flew toward Yanat, but their power was too weak. Before touching him, the Hypergravity Net suppressed them into nothingness.
“Charge! Capture those bastards!”
Gripping his battle-axe, he roared. His tower shield merged with his body as he charged left with hypergravity force, slamming into the attackers.
The others moved to the opposite side. The assault came from both flanks.
Yanat quickly spotted bandits clad in shoddy leather armor. Seeing his gleaming armor, their eyes filled with greed as they charged forward, weapons swinging.
Watching them clash, Zhang Luan blinked to a tree branch overhead to enjoy the show. These bandits were no ordinary thieves; they were well-prepared.
Their gear wasn't top-notch but standardized, clearly from one workshop. Surprisingly, some mages and psychics were among them.
In the Divine Spirit World, magical and psychic professions were far rarer than physical ones, which almost anyone could become.
Developing them consumed far more resources. Even players preferred physical professions, with their cringy, awesome-sounding skill names.
Before world fusion, infinite respawns made players reckless. Many charged into monster hordes to die on purpose. Only severe death penalties and a daily limit of ten respawns stopped them from boldly challenging high-level NPCs.
But those maniacs sometimes ignored the rules. They loved nothing more than charging headfirst.
So, most factions developed abilities to deal with them—banishment, sealing, petrification were common tactics.
Getting back on track, seeing the Guardians struggling, Zhang Luan drew the Ends Bow. He formed an energy arrow and shot it into the bandit crowd.
With a crackle of crimson electricity, a fierce explosion erupted. Then, surrounding bandits not caught in the blast found beautiful Stellar Flames igniting on their bodies. They desperately tried to pat out the flames but could only watch in despair as the fire grew, consuming everything.
This terrifying display sent fear through the others. The bandits, already low on morale, scattered in panic.
Joking aside, their fire pillar was just an illusion with no real damage. But that beautiful flame was real—and unquenchable. If it touched you, death was inevitable.
Watching them flee, Zhang Luan didn't pursue. These guys couldn't even trigger the lowest-level quest; they were just spice for his boring journey.
Besides, maybe they'd bring back stronger bandits later to trigger a real quest.
“Your subordinate failed you, forcing the Holy Son to intervene,” Yanat said, bowing his head in apology as if he'd committed a grave error.
“It's fine, it's fine. Let's get moving. Judging by this, we'll face more attacks. This just got interesting.”
Zhang Luan waved his hand, and the fire pillar vanished instantly. The illusion worked by amplifying a small flame; finding its source was easy with his Stellar Flame.
The Magic Conveyance resumed its journey and soon reached the first rest stop—a riverside. They'd traveled nearly three hours; it was time to stretch their legs.
Zhang Luan sat by a riverside rock, tying a thin line to an arrow shaft to fish.
A young Guardian accompanying Yanat stole glances at him, hesitated, then walked straight over.
“Holy Son…”
Hearing the voice, Zhang Luan turned back with a bored expression. The Guardian removed his mask, revealing a youthful face.
“Sen Luo?”
Zhang Luan was surprised. This young man was Sen Luo, whom he'd met before. He hadn't expected him in this Guardian squad.
Yanat noticed too and walked over, frowning.
“What are you doing here? I told you not to come! Where's the person who should be in your position?”
“Uh… I… I have something to say to the Holy Son.”
“What could you possibly say? Go back on your own! You're the worst Guardian I've ever trained.”
Sen Luo tried to explain, but Zhang Luan waved his hand.
“Let him speak.”
Hearing this, Sen Luo looked at him gratefully. Yanat nodded and said nothing more. He hadn't intended to punish Sen Luo anyway. Since joining the Guardians, the boy had shown talent rivaling Lin Jiu's, and his hard work pleased Yanat greatly.
He just hadn't expected Sen Luo to sneak out. It seemed he needed to strengthen the boy's ideological training.
