YIN-YANG DEVOURER

Before Ruvan could even realize what had happened, he found himself standing in the middle of his mercenaries completely intact and without a scratch. A faint scent of jasmine briefly invaded him before it finally dissipated into the air alongside the person who had saved him.

"What the hell?" Ruvan muttered in surprise as he looked at the place where he was being held by Wiltord before. In it alone remained a crater of considerable size while the grass around it had been completely charred.

"Apparently I was saved but my savior refuses to show himself"

"BIG BROTHER"

"MASTER JAKOB" The worried cries of Su Lingxi and Xin reached his ears as both of them rushed straight into his arms, rigorously checking that his body was free of injuries.

The two minors were too worried after all the explosion had undoubtedly been extremely powerful.

"Calm! I'm fine" Ruvan said with a soft smile as he patted the two minors on the heads a couple of times.

"Captain" At that moment a dusty Lira limped over while she had tears in her eyes. For a moment she felt like she was going to lose Ruvan forever.

"Come here… How many times have I told you that I don't like it when you cry" Ruvan said as he hugged her, wiping away the tears that formed in the corners of her eyes.

"Sniff" "Sniff" "But how are you? Are you okay?" Lira asked as she wiped her teary eyes.

"I'm not sure about that either… But it seems that I have a protector who watches over me in the shadows" said Ruvan as he looked around trying to find the person who had saved him. That smell of jasmine and the soft feeling of her body continued to haunt his head.

'Could it be possible that the old man sent someone to protect me secretly? Naa. Forget it. Knowing that old man, I highly doubt it' Ruvan thought while remembering his grandfather's ruthless attitude during training.

'But if it wasn't someone sending for grandpa then who would it have been?'

'This continent is too poor in Spiritual Qi to have such a powerful cultivator… Could this be related to Nina?' Ahh it's too confusing to know…' Ruvan muttered internally.

"Captain Jakob" One of his mercenaries rushed over with his body completely dusted from the explosion. It was evident that he had run alongside Lira to try to stop the grenade.

"It's a relief," The mercenary murmured as he shed crocodile tears.

Ruvan became a little uncomfortable with the man's attitude and simply patted him on the shoulder a few times while thanking him for his concern.

"Hey guys, that bastard Jason wanted the Captain to wipe his tears like Lieutenant Lira hahahaha"

"Jason wants the captain to kiss him to heal his wounds."

"FUCK OF BASTARDS!!!" The soldier complained, visibly embarrassed, causing the rest of the group to laugh. The atmosphere had lightened again.

"Captain, what do we do with these three?" One of the soldiers asked while pointing at the three wandering cultivators who had surrendered.

"Mmm" Ruvan took a look at them and realized that none of them had promising talent. Their cultivation was mediocre and their ages were advanced, meaning they would be of little use to their group.

"Kill them and then cut off their heads. I'm sure there will be rewards for them on the City boards," Ruvan said indifferently.

"Please have mercy."

"If you forgive me, I will serve you all my life, boy." All kinds of laments could be heard, however, none of them managed to move Ruvan, much less his mercenaries.

"Do it behind the carriage so the children don't see it."

Su Meiyao nodded with a forced smile on her face, after all this was not something she wanted her little daughter to witness.

"Don't forget to take off their space rings," Ruvan said with a smile as he inspected the rest of his soldiers who were lying injured. Many of them had been seriously injured and would need medical attention when they reached the City.

"Hey good job" After giving a few words of comfort to his soldiers Ruvan went to pat the soldier who had betrayed Wiltord on the shoulder.

"Thank you Captain"

"Now I was wondering if it would be possible for me to join your squad?" The mercenary asked with a hopeful voice.

"Don't get me wrong... I appreciate you doing your job well but this doesn't mean I want traitors among my men."

"After all, if you betrayed Wiltord, you will end up betraying me one day," Ruvan said decisively.

"But Captain!! You don't compare to Captain Wiltord"

"You do take care of your men" The mercenary complained pitifully.

"Hahaha, a true loyal soldier does not question the orders of his superior… Or do you think that I am a better man than Wiltord? If that is how you think then let me tell you that you are quite naive" Ruvan said with a smile before walking away.

"And by the way remember that your deal with me ends until you have handed over Wiltord's treasure to me" Ruvan said with a sinister smile.

'Well at least with the part of the money that Captain Jakob promised me I can live a good life' the deserting mercenary consoled himself.

"Lira, make sure that the wounded are cared for and loaded into the carriages."

"We will camp here tonight and continue our march tomorrow," Said Ruvan as he patted the head of a gluttonous Viridis who seemed to have feasted on the bodies of the wandering cultivators.

"Good job my little glutton"

"Feeding you that expensive meat doesn't seem to have been such a bad investment after all," Ruvan joked as he rubbed the head of the snake that simply stuck out its tongue in response.

 _________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"It seems that in the end my nerves got the better of me and I ended up intervening," The Matriarch murmured with an amused voice as she watched Ruvan organizing his men.

"From his reaction it seems like he had a way to deal with that guy's grenade…"

"However, I like his character… He is ruthless when he has to be and at the same time he is gentle with his people"

"Something rarely seen in the world of cultivation," 

"I'll continue watching him for a while longer before deciding what to do with him" The Matriach murmured before completely disappearing from where she was standing a few moments ago.