Unaware of his best friend's predicament, Shura and Zeshi continued deeper into the desert ruin.
Although they didn't chat much, due to the earlier fight with the Scorpion, where Zeshi made herself bait, their relationship improved considerably.
The deeper they went, the denser the Astral Essence in the air became, and it somewhat disturbed Shura, but he didn't dwell on it because at that moment he heard some movement and raised his hand, stopping Zeshi before putting a finger on her rosy lips.
"Shhh…"
Noticing Zeshi obediently shut up, Shura focused, and soon he heard the sound of dull impacts, muffled curses, and the burst of someone striking some sort of barrier.
The two exchanged a look before slipping behind a collapsed stone wall.
Slowly moving toward the source of the sound, they found a rocky slope, half-buried by sand, and at its base was a hidden cave entrance.
It was not a natural cave, but something clearly man-made with old carved stone, though the details had been worn away by time.
Covering the mouth of the cave was a thin energy barrier, flickering with dim yellow light.
Two cultivators were attacking it with all their strength.
Each time the barrier was struck, ripples would spread across it, widening the cracks on the surface.
One was a burly young man with a saber in hand at the Initial Stage of the Tier 2 Blood Furnace Realm, while the other was thinner, at the Late Stage of the Iron Body Realm.
Both were sweating heavily, and it was obvious they had been battering the barrier for quite some time.
"That barrier is close to breaking." Zeshi's expression changed slightly.
Shura narrowed his eyes and did not answer immediately.
His first instinct was to abandon the idea of the cave entirely.
After all, a Blood Furnace cultivator was not the same as a scorpion beast.
Even if his physical strength had already reached an abnormal level, facing an Initial Stage Blood Furnace cultivator head-on while that person still had help beside him was not something he wanted to gamble on recklessly.
But just as he was about to signal Zeshi to retreat, his senses caught something, and he turned his head slightly toward the right.
At first glance, there was nothing but a long dune, but he faintly sensed two suppressed auras, both at the Peak Stage of the Iron Body Realm, hiding themselves carefully behind the dune.
Shura's eyes flickered, and, very slowly, a smile appeared on his face.
Noticing it, Zeshi asked in a low voice.
"What is it?"
"There are two more, hiding over there."
"Another ambush?" Her eyes widened.
"Not yet. But they're waiting for the same thing we are."
Zeshi was no fool. She immediately understood what he meant, and her expression became strange.
"You want to work with them?"
"Temporarily... Listen closely..."
With that, Shura leaned close and whispered his plan to Zeshi. At first, Zeshi was a bit flustered due to the close proximity, but when she heard his plan, a strange look appeared in her eyes.
Once he told her everything, she couldn't help but look at Shura in a new light, wondering how someone could be so devious and scheming, especially an Asura.
"So do you have poison like that?" Shura asked.
Coming back to her senses, Zeshi nodded immediately.
"I do."
"Good, then coat it on your dagger later. Let's go."
With that, the two quietly circled right, using broken ruins and low dunes as cover until they reached the hidden pair.
As Shura expected, the two people hiding there immediately reacted. One of them stepped forward with his weapon half-raised, while the other shifted to flank their side.
"I come in peace," Shura said calmly before they could speak. "We both want the same cave. I have a proposal."
The pair did not lower their guard. Both were men in their late teens, broad-shouldered and dressed in travel-worn robes.
One carried a hooked blade, while the other held a short iron staff, and they were not fools.
"Why should we listen to you?" The one with the hooked blade frowned.
"Then don't. Go ahead and attack those two alone. See if you can win and get the opportunity in the cave for yourself."
Shura sneered and pointed toward the cave entrance, which made the two turn silent and also somewhat fuming at those blunt words.
But Shura completely ignored their feelings and continued to speak.
"Of course, if we join hands, we can defeat them easily and then share what's inside equally… Here's my plan."
With that, he started explaining the plan to them, and as he explained, the look of rejection in the eyes of the two hidden cultivators slowly receded, replaced by consideration and greed.
The two hidden cultivators exchanged glances and understood each other's intentions.
After a brief silence, the one with the staff said, "Fine. We agree. The cave loot is split afterward."
In fact, the two hidden cultivators were hooked not only because Shura's plan was feasible and the risk to them was negligible, but also because if it failed, they could simply abandon them and run.
To them, Shura was only at the early stage of the Iron Body realm, while Zeshi was at the mid-stage of the Iron Body realm, and defeating them was simply effortless.
Even if they had some trump cards, the two guys weren't afraid, as they also had some of their own.
They didn't care about Shura and Zeshi turning against them after the fight.
On the contrary, they themselves had decided that once they were done with the two guys at the entrance, they would immediately attack Shura and capture Zeshi to have some fun with her.
As for her being the City Lord's daughter? Heh, how could one know what happened in the ruins? They weren't from Bluewind City anyway and were there only for the ruins.
"Agreed."
Shura nodded after seeing them accept his proposal.
The four of them formed a temporary team, and according to the plan, Shura instantly tore Zeshi's sleeves and disheveled her clothes.
Naturally, he also noticed the two guys who were almost drooling, looking at Zeshi's fair arms, but he didn't say anything and only sneered in his heart.
How could the little calculation of these guys be hidden from him? He was simply pretending to be clueless.
After all, these two guys still had some value.
His plan was simple: have Zeshi, who was the City Lord's daughter, pretend to be a damsel in distress chased by bad men in front of those two, and then give them a big surprise.
Once the preparations were over, the four of them waited until the cultivators who were hitting the barrier shattered it.
"Now," Shura signaled.
Right away, Zeshi burst from cover, running in a disheveled state towards the two cultivators at the cave's entrance, waving her hands and calling for help.
"Help! Help me!"
The two cultivators at the entrance didn't even have time to enter before they saw the crying Zeshi running towards them with the City Lord's Token in her hand.
Following her were the two Peak Stage Iron Body realm cultivators and Shura at the Initial Stage Iron Body realm.
Noticing that the two cultivators looked at her, Zeshi pretended to have seen a ray of hope, and she shouted.
"Help! I am the city lord's daughter, Zeshi. Please help me!"
The two cultivators at the entrance exchanged a glance, and undisguised greed flashed in their eyes.
"A City Lord's daughter…" The late-stage Tier 1 licked his lips. "What good luck."
Being someone from the outskirts of the Bluewind City, although they hadn't seen Zeshi, they had heard about her and knew that she could be sold for a good price, whether to her sisters or to those lecherous Slave Traders.
Moreover, she was a beauty, and they could sell after having some fun time with her, which was another bonus.
Considering this, the Initial Tier 2 cultivator stepped forward, placing himself protectively in front of Zeshi, who had at some point arrived behind him.
"Don't be afraid, Miss Zeshi. As long as we're here, no one will harm you." His tone was full of righteousness.
Behind him, Zeshi lowered her head slightly, hiding the cold glint in her eyes.
On the other side, Shura and the other two slowed their steps, playing their roles perfectly.
"Hand her over," one of the peak Tier 1 cultivators shouted impatiently. "This has nothing to do with you."
The Tier 2 cultivator sneered. "Get lost while you still can."
"Stubborn fools," Shura muttered, as if annoyed.
Right away, the situation tensed up, and the two at the entrance fully stepped forward, shielding Zeshi behind them.
"You dare chase the City Lord's daughter? You must have a death wish."
The Initial Stage Blood Furnace cultivator had barely said this when Zeshi's fingers tightened around the poisoned pink dagger hidden in her sleeve, and then in that single moment when their attention was fixed ahead—
Swoosh!
She moved like a flash of pink lightning and drove her dagger straight into the back of the Initial Stage Tier 2 cultivator.
"Y-You—!"
The man's eyes bulged with disbelief, but before he could fully process what had happened, leaving her dagger embedded in his flesh, Zeshi had already rushed towards Shura.
"You treacherous bitch!" the cultivator roared, wrenching the dagger from his back as he staggered with dark venom already spreading like ink through his veins.
The realization dawned too late upon him that it had all been an elaborate scheme by these four guys to sneakily attack him.
"Now!"
Seizing the moment, Shura shouted, and the two peak Tier 1 cultivators didn't hesitate for a second.
They rushed toward the wounded and poisoned Tier 2 cultivator like wolves scenting blood. Already being stabbed in the back and also weakened by the poison coursing through his system, he struggled to muster his strength and maintain focus on the battle.
Meanwhile, Shura and Zeshi engaged the late-stage Tier 1 cultivator.
Their movements appeared strained, as if they were barely holding their ground. In reality, it was all a carefully choreographed performance.
"Pathetic trash!"
This display of weakness bolstered the late-stage cultivator's confidence.
Seeing his partner poisoned earlier, he had already thought about retreating and planning to return later for vengeance.
So for the moment, his sole focus was on pushing Shura and Zeshi back, creating enough space to make his escape.
Clang!
Zeshi barely parried his strike, stumbling backward, while Shura's punch forced the man to retreat half a step.
They appeared to be struggling, but their eyes remained unnervingly calm and calculating, not allowing the cultivator to leave.
Behind them, the battle between the others reached its climax.
With a furious roar, the two peak Tier 1 cultivators finally brought down the poisoned Tier 2 cultivator after a brutal exchange. Both were panting heavily, their bodies covered in wounds.
"He's dead."
As the words left their mouths, they believed it was time to abandon the pretense and capture Zeshi.
Unfortunately for them, Shura was faster. He dropped all pretense and unleashed his full strength.
His fist hit the late-stage Iron Body cultivator's chest before the man could react.
"What—?!"
The late-stage Iron Body cultivator's expression froze, but he didn't even have the luxury to understand what happened as Zeshi, too, dropped the pretense and stabbed him without hesitation.
Straight through his heart.
His body stiffened, eyes wide with shock, before collapsing lifelessly to the blood-stained sand.
At the same time, Shura had already turned toward the two peak Tier 1 cultivators who had just realized something was terribly wrong.
"You—"
Before the word could fully escape his lips, Shura was already upon them.
They could defeat the Tier 2 cultivator earlier only because of the poisoned dagger, which completely crippled his strength.
Even then, bringing down a single crippled opponent from a higher realm had left them battered and exhausted, with their bodies covered in wounds, clearly demonstrating the chasm in power between the Iron Body and Blood Furnace realms.
So now facing Shura, who was not weakened, in their current winded and injured state, their guard was completely shattered, and they were like sheep before a wolf.
There was no chance at all.
Without hesitation or mercy, with terrifying force, Shura drove his fist into the temple of the nearest man, who didn't even have time to fully react before his skull caved in with a crunch.
The other tried to retreat but was far too slow.
Shura closed the distance in a blur of motion and struck again.
Bang!
In an instant, four corpses lay scattered on the ground like discarded dolls.
For a moment, only the sound of heavy breathing and the gentle whisper of desert wind remained.
Then, as if nothing had happened, Shura calmly began stripping the bodies of rings, weapons, and valuables, leaving them completely naked without the slightest trace of shame or hesitation.
He also retrieved Zeshi's dagger and the iron club of the fallen Tier 2 cultivator, weighing the latter briefly before nodding in satisfaction and then tossing Zeshi's dagger back to her.
"Let's go."
Catching her dagger subconsciously, Zeshi's gaze alternated between the four naked corpses and Shura.
Her eyebrows twitched slightly.
"...You really don't leave anything behind, do you?"
"Dead men don't need possessions," Shura replied nonchalantly and stepped into the dark cave, leaving behind four naked corpses.