Chapter 377 - 378: The Sneak-Attacking Bastard

"They’re from our Zhao Family."

A middle-aged man replied, "Young man, could you please toss out the bodies of our Zhao Family members? We would be eternally grateful."

"The Zhao Family? You don’t mean *the* Zhao Family from Meteor City?"

"No way. The Patriarch of Meteor City’s Zhao Family is a Martial Emperor. How could their people freeze to death in the Emperor’s Abyss?"

"Their top experts must not have come."

The crowd all turned to look at the middle-aged man.

The man was dressed in a simple linen tunic, suggesting he wasn’t of very high status.

"I am Zhao Chengru, and I am indeed from the Zhao Family of Meteor City. I’m one of the family’s Stewards, and I was ordered to bring some disciples here to Emperor Heaven Valley for training. I never expected our clansmen to die in the Emperor’s Abyss... sigh..."

The middle-aged man sighed.

Given the Zhao Family’s power and prestige, most people would never dare to cause them trouble. That was why they had only dispatched a few Stewards to lead the group.

They never imagined they would perish in the Emperor’s Abyss.

This left Zhao Chengru and the others looking dejected and downcast.

Su Mo frowned. "The Zhao Family of Meteor City? Sorry, I’ve never heard of them."

"Never heard of them?"

Everyone present was stunned.

Even Zhao Chengru’s own expression turned a bit stiff.

Their Zhao Family was a paramount existence in Xingyun City, and their Patriarch was a powerful Martial Emperor. Even the Sacred Lands had to show them a degree of respect.

And yet, Su Mo claimed he’d never heard of them.

It was hard not to suspect that Su Mo was deliberately looking down on the Zhao Family.

Just then, Su Mo abruptly changed the subject. "However, I can help you move the bodies out so you can take them back for a proper burial."

WHOOSH!

With a casual lift of his hand, a gentle force erupted from Su Mo’s palm, tossing the Zhao Family’s bodies out and setting them down steadily on the ground.

In addition, Su Mo also tossed out the other bodies.

’Might as well do a good deed.’

’It’s a trivial effort anyway and won’t take much time.’

Zhao Chengru said gratefully, "Thank you, young man. If you’re ever free, please come visit us in Xingyun City. My Zhao Family will be sure to host you well."

At these words, everyone around looked at Su Mo with envy.

Being invited as a guest by the Zhao Family was a tremendous honor. It meant he had secured a powerful backer.

With the Zhao Family’s protection, who would dare to mess with Su Mo in the future?

However, Su Mo waved his hand dismissively. "I have no plans to visit Xingyun City for now, so a visit won’t be necessary."

"What?"

Everyone present was dumbfounded.

Su Mo had rejected what they saw as a golden opportunity without a second thought.

’Has he lost his mind?’

Zhao Chengru thought for a moment before saying, "Rest assured, young man. I will report this to the Patriarch and have him personally host you."

"We’ll see if the opportunity arises!"

Su Mo turned and walked deeper into the abyss.

Seeing this, the members of the Zhao Family all frowned.

At first, they thought Su Mo had rejected them because their offer wasn’t sincere enough, which was why they had brought up their Patriarch.

But to their surprise, Su Mo had still refused, not even giving their Patriarch any face.

One must understand, their Patriarch was a Martial Emperor!

One of the Zhao Family disciples immediately said with displeasure, "Clan Uncle, this guy is too arrogant. Shouldn’t we teach him a lesson?"

"Not just teach him a lesson, we should make him return the Stewards’ Storage Rings."

Another disciple chimed in.

The rest of the Zhao Family disciples were also seething with anger.

Zhao Chengru thought for a moment. "No. This person helped us recover the bodies, which makes him a benefactor of our Zhao Family. We cannot act against him. To do so would be to repay kindness with enmity."

"As for the Stewards’ Storage Rings, consider them a token of our gratitude. That way, the Zhao Family will be even with him, and we will no longer owe him a debt of gratitude."

"Besides, we are no match for this person."

A Zhao Family disciple retorted unconvinced, "So what if we’re no match for him? Don’t tell me he’d dare to attack our Zhao Family? Our Patriarch is..."

Zhao Chengru objected, "That’s not an option. Distant water can’t put out a nearby fire. If he’s brazen enough, we’ll all die here."

The disciples were still unconvinced in their hearts, but they could only drop the matter for now and turn to look back at Su Mo.

By now, Su Mo had reached a point one hundred meters into the abyss.

Ahead of him, a dozen or so people stood frozen in place, their faces covered in frost, not daring to move an inch.

"Are you all right?"

Su Mo asked.

Among the group were two Early Stage Martial Venerable elders, three Martial Emperors, and seven or eight disciples at the Martial Monarch and Martial King Realms.

At that moment, the two Martial Venerable elders were burning their Spiritual Qi, struggling to hold on and do their best to protect the three Martial Emperors and all the disciples.

It looked as though they could be frozen to death by the icy aura at any moment.

One of them, a gray-robed elder, exclaimed in surprise, "Huh? You’re clearly only at the Early Stage Grand Martial Artist Realm. Why are you unaffected by the icy aura?"

"You mean this icy aura? I don’t feel like it’s that cold. Here, I’ll show you."

Su Mo reached a hand toward the bottom of the abyss, pulling up a large mass of cold qi. He compressed it into a small, fist-sized ball and casually tossed it around in his hand.

The small ball released a substantial, visible cold qi.

But the moment this cold qi touched Su Mo’s skin, it shattered instantly.

"This..."

The dozen or so people stared at each other in shock.

The same icy aura that was about to freeze them to death, Su Mo had blocked with his bare skin. What kind of heaven-defying ability was this?

CRACKLE... CRACKLE...

The frigid aura released by the small ball of cold qi caused the surrounding temperature to plummet by several hundred degrees.

The gray-robed elder hurriedly said, "Young man, throw that ball away, quick! Or we’re all going to freeze to death!"

"Ah..."

Su Mo quickly tossed the ball into the bottom of the abyss.

The gray-robed elder pleaded, "Young man, could you please get us out of here? If this goes on any longer, we’ll freeze to death."

"Alright!"

With a casual lift of his hand, Su Mo sent the gray-robed elder and his group out of the chasm.

"’Saving a life is more meritorious than building a seven-story pagoda.’ I’ve saved so many people; I wonder how many pagodas that’s worth."

Su Mo muttered to himself as he continued toward the bottom of the Emperor’s Abyss.

Before long, Su Mo came across another group of people.

This time, they were all experts at the Martial Venerable Level. With no disciples to protect, they should have been able to withstand the cold qi here.

But they were all pale-faced, sitting slumped on the ground, weakly gasping for breath as they tried to regulate their energy.

"Were you attacked by a Demon Beast?"

Su Mo asked, puzzled.

A Mid Stage Martial Venerable, a middle-aged man, replied furiously, "Not a Demon Beast! Some bastard ambushed us in secret."

"Ambushed?"

Su Mo was completely bewildered.

’Most people would be lucky just to survive here. Who would have the extra strength to ambush others?’

’Could it be that the attacker is a Martial Venerable Perfection or even a Martial Venerable Great Perfection expert?’

The middle-aged man said angrily, "We were exploring for opportunities here, minding our own business, when some bastard drew out the cold qi, condensed it into a fist-sized ball of ice, and smashed it down on us. The sneak attack left us all severely injured."

"This..."

Su Mo’s eyelid twitched violently.

’The ball that ambushed them was, in all likelihood, the one he had just thrown down. He was the bastard who had ambushed them.’

The middle-aged man’s eyes were bloodshot as he growled, "I swear, I will find the bastard who ambushed us and tear him to pieces!"