"Go on, are you leaving or not?! If you don't, I'll beat you to death!"

Yu Zitong kicked Golden Pupils repeatedly, but even as it started to bleed, the cat stubbornly refused to leave. The man and the cat were locked in a stalemate.

Suddenly, Su Yu spoke up. "Master Yu, there's no need for that. If your cat can catch that Rat Spirit, I'll consider the order completed, and I won't say a single bad word about you."

Hearing this, a flash of joy appeared in Yu Zitong's eyes. He pointed at the black-robed man. "Then what about him...?"

Tu Xiao'an stepped forward and said in a calm, indifferent voice, "Master Yu, just sit back and watch the show. There's no need for you to get involved."

Watching Golden Pupils get kicked again and again, he saw how it stood proudly, unwilling to yield, unwilling to leave.

The cat had its own principles and dignity, but its master's command put it in a difficult position.

Tu Xiao'an couldn't bear to watch any longer and had to give Yu Zitong a way to back down gracefully, just to stop the cat from being abused.

'What a great cat.' Tu Xiao'an was almost tempted to just take it for himself.

However, he couldn't forcibly tame this kind of creature. Even if he could, he shouldn't; that would make him no different from a robber.

It was someone else's pet. You couldn't just force a sale.

Besides, he could see that although Yu Zitong was beating the cat, it was still extremely loyal.

Otherwise, how could a cat as fierce as a little tiger endure such humiliation?

'It has quite an explosive temper, after all.'

Yu Zitong's expression softened considerably. If he could complete the order without having to act himself and his reputation wouldn't be affected, it would be killing two birds with one stone.

"Go on, my precious. Go catch that rat," Yu Zitong said with a pleasant smile, always putting his own interests first.

"ROWR..."

Golden Pupils charged forward like a fierce tiger descending a mountain. The small white mouse turned into a streak of light and rushed to meet it.

The second round of the cat-and-mouse battle began.

"Brother Xiao'an, I'll leave the rest to you."

If Su Yu wanted to solve the construction site's problem, he had to deal with the man in the black robe. He couldn't count on Yu Zitong, a fraud who built his undeserved reputation entirely on the back of his cat.

At that, Tu Xiao'an took a step forward and looked at the black-robed man. "Let's have a fight. If you lose, you leave this construction site and are never to cause trouble here again. How about it?"

"They say Elemental Martial Cultivators are top-tier masters, born with a silver spoon in their mouths." A hint of pride flashed in Lin Fan's eyes. "I'd like to see if you're really all that powerful. Who says a Biological Controller is necessarily weaker than an Elemental Martial Cultivator?"

"If you win, I'll disappear immediately."

Lin Fan was also just doing a job for someone; he had no personal grudge against Su Yu.

This matter wasn't actually an impasse.

"Good. Straight to the point." Tu Xiao'an smiled nonchalantly.

Tu Xiao'an was already confident about handling Lin Fan. 'Level 21... honestly, that's a bit weak to be up against me.'

Even Leng Shuang, the group leader from the Demon Management Bureau and a Level 29 Elemental Martial Cultivator, was no match for Tu Xiao'an.

"You make the first move. If I do, you won't get a chance."

With every gesture, Tu Xiao'an exuded the air of a master.

Lin Fan grew furious at his words. Beneath his black hood, his brow seemed to freeze over with an unmeltable Frost. 'What arrogance! I'm a Rank Two Biological Controller; I can do whatever I want in Wencheng!'

"You'll pay the price for your insolent words."

As soon as Lin Fan finished speaking, he began to mutter an incantation.

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK...

Suddenly, the swarm of large rats at his feet erupted into a frenzy. One of them shot toward Tu Xiao'an like an arrow from a crossbow.

In mid-air, the rat bared a row of teeth that glinted like cold steel, sharp as knives, its aura menacing and fierce.

The first rat was merely the prelude. Immediately after, with a series of WHOOSHES, the rats at Lin Fan's feet leaped through the air at Tu Xiao'an.

From a distance, it looked like a volley of ten thousand arrows—a shocking and unbelievable sight.

Su Yu and Yu Zitong had long since retreated to the very back, their jaws agape.

Using a swarm of rats like hidden weapons... it had to be said that Biological Controllers possessed an extraordinary, innate control over animals.

However, while these methods seemed incredible to ordinary people, in Tu Xiao'an's eyes, they were utterly laughable.

His bewitching eyes narrowed slightly, and an immense, formless Consciousness Power suddenly projected outward. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

Before the charging rats could even get close to Tu Xiao'an, they were frozen in mid-air, as if time itself had stopped.

"Get back!"

Tu Xiao'an gave a soft cry, and the dozens of large rats in the air turned around, shooting back toward Lin Fan in perfect, uncontrollable unison.

Seeing this, Lin Fan was slightly startled. With a wave of his hand, dozens more rats shot out from his feet.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The two waves of rats slammed into each other. In an instant, flesh and blood flew everywhere, and the stench of gore filled the air.

"Stop using these petty tricks. It's pointless."

Tu Xiao'an watched the black-robed man in the distance, his expression cold and indifferent.

Lin Fan's gaze sharpened, and his expression grew solemn. His brow furrowed as a thought crossed his mind. He bit his tongue hard, closed his eyes, formed a hand seal, and his face turned blood-red.

Suddenly, the air seemed to boil, and the large rats at his feet grew restless and agitated.

Lin Fan chanted an incantation as Energy surged from his body. He suddenly snapped his eyes open, stomped heavily on the ground, and launched himself into the air.

"Explode!"

Abruptly, the construction site began to tremble violently. Then, with a deafening BOOM, the ground where Tu Xiao'an stood was torn up layer by layer in a massive explosion.

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK...

Smoke filled the air, shrouding Tu Xiao'an. A massive swarm of rats surged forward, wave after wave, as if rushing to devour the world's greatest delicacy.

"Oh no, Brother Xiao'an is in danger!"

Seeing this from a distance, Su Yu was horrified. A cold dread washed over him, and the hair on his body stood on end.

Yu Zitong, on the other hand, had a flash of excitement in his eyes. 'It'd be best if this kid got himself killed. What's he got to be so arrogant about?'

'He looked so harmless before, but who would have thought he'd turn out to be an Elemental Master? I'm so jealous it hurts.'

In the eyes of someone like him, awakening a Talent was something you could only hope for, never force.

The lowest-level Awakeners were just several times stronger than ordinary people, with greater strength and better physical fitness, but no special abilities.

They were considered third-rate.

Second-rate Awakeners were those who possessed Superpowers.

There were many types, such as Biological Controllers who controlled animals, and others who controlled plants and so on.

First-rate Awakeners with Talent gained an Elemental Attribute the moment they awakened. It was like a carp leaping over the Dragon Gate—a one-in-ten-thousand occurrence.

The only Elemental Awakened he knew of was the Young Master of the Bai Family, a terrifyingly talented genius who, at a young age, was already starting to break through to the level of Rank Three Creatures.

And then there was him. Over forty years old, only a Rank One Demon Hunter, and he only got by because of his cat.

Talent was an ethereal, intangible thing, but it was critically important. It was just like IQ; only people with high IQs could be truly successful and move through life like a fish in water.

They would succeed at anything they tried.