"Brother Li, go help my Brother Xiao'an!"

When Su Yu saw that yelling at Yu Zitong wasn't working, he could only order his black-clad bodyguard to go to the rescue. The situation Tu Xiao'an faced was utterly devastating.

If he didn't run, he would be completely submerged.

"Boss, my duty is to protect you."

Even though they were constantly retreating, that didn't mean they were out of danger. Rats would still leap out from some high place, seemingly from nowhere.

"Brother Xiao'an, run!"

Su Yu was baffled. 'Why isn't he moving? Did I overestimate him? Is he scared stiff?'

"Boss Su, is this the Martial Cultivator you hired to help? From what I can see, he's worse than an ordinary person. Look at him, he's terrified."

At that moment, Tu Xiao'an stood all alone at the very front. He watched the tide of rats surging toward him with a calm expression, his chin slightly raised. The confidence in his every move showed that he didn't see these rats as a threat at all.

But in Yu Zitong's eyes, this posture meant he was too scared to even move.

Just as Tu Xiao'an was about to be engulfed by the army of rats, the people behind him were stunned to find that the swarm swept right past him, heading straight for them.

Huh? 'Why aren't the rats attacking him?'

Not only did the rat army not attack Tu Xiao'an, but they also gave him a wide berth, as if the ground he stood on was forbidden.

The three men behind him were dumbfounded. Su Yu let out a heavy sigh of relief, but now the crisis was his. The rat army charged toward the three of them, their sheer numbers terrifying, their squeaking making one's skin crawl.

The bodyguard and Yu Zitong frantically cut down rats, but there were simply too many. They were incredibly vicious, constantly leaping at them and biting.

Their feet were already swarming with chittering rats. There was no way to fight back.

"Master Yu, you can't even handle these little rats. How could you possibly deal with the Rat Spirit hiding in the shadows, who hasn't even shown itself yet?"

Tu Xiao'an's voice drifted over coolly.

"Kid, what trick did you use? Why aren't these rats attacking you?"

Stung by the slight taunt, Yu Zitong became furious and demanded an answer.

'Could Tu Xiao'an tell him he was a Snake Spirit? Just releasing a hint of the Snake Race's aura was enough to terrify these rats. How could they possibly attack him?'

It had to be said, Su Yu inviting Tu Xiao'an over today was the greatest stroke of luck in his life.

Because with Tu Xiao'an here, it didn't matter how many rats there were. Otherwise, the three of them, trapped at the construction site, would likely all die.

"Ice Seal..."

Suddenly, a cold voice came from Tu Xiao'an's lips as a deep blue Qi flared around his body.

Abruptly, the temperature at the construction site plummeted as if it were the dead of winter. A layer of frost condensed at Tu Xiao'an's feet and then, at a speed visible to the naked eye, spread out in all directions, freezing the rats.

The instant each rat touched the frost, it was turned into a lifelike ice sculpture.

"This is..."

Su Yu and Yu Zitong stared, dumbfounded. It was as if their brains had suddenly lost the ability to command their bodies. They stood rooted to the spot like wooden statues, their eyes glazed over as they watched rat after rat being rapidly frozen in a layer of ice. Wherever the ice spread, it completely sealed the dense mass of gray rats within it.

The rats that had been relentlessly attacking their feet were all turned into ice sculptures in an instant.

Not a single one was spared.

Silence. Suddenly, everything became deathly still. It was unbelievable.

"My God... an Elemental Martial Cultivator!"

The black-clad bodyguard protecting Su Yu cried out in utter astonishment, looking at Tu Xiao'an as if he were a god.

This bodyguard had a calm and steady personality. Even when surrounded by the rat army, even on the brink of life and death, he had never lost his composure. But now, he was anything but calm.

As for Yu Zitong, he was so shocked that the longsword in his hand fell to the ground, and he didn't even notice.

'This kid is an Elemental Martial Cultivator? How is that possible?'

Elemental Martial Cultivators were all geniuses with extraordinary Talent. People like that were top-tier experts, beings who could flip their hands to summon clouds and rain—in other words, they could change the world with a whim.

'Did I just offend him?' Yu Zitong was so full of regret he wanted to bang his head against a wall.

"SQUEAK... SQUEAK... SQUEAK...!"

At that moment, the rats in the distance that hadn't yet been frozen let out terrified squeals. Seeing their companions sealed in a layer of ice, they panicked. Realizing something was terribly wrong, they all turned to flee, but the ice spread so fast it completely encased them in an instant.

ROAR...

The ice had already spread to the area where Golden Pupils was fighting. With a tiger's roar, Golden Pupils intelligently leaped into the air, dodging the icy cataclysm.

As the frost swept through, a bleak and murderous chill filled the air.

Thousands upon thousands of rats were sealed within the ice, unable to move.

They would slowly freeze to death.

The once chaotic scene became as quiet as a tomb, without a single sound.

The corner of Tu Xiao'an's mouth curled up. He smiled faintly, very satisfied with his masterpiece. 'This is what you call a bloodless slaughter. Perfect.'

"Brother Xiao'an, I never thought you were so incredible! To think you're a legendary Elemental Martial Cultivator!"

Su Yu looked at Tu Xiao'an with excitement. His heart was pounding—THUMP, THUMP—and his face flushed red.

Beside them, Yu Zitong gave a forced, awkward laugh, not knowing what to say.

"Brother Su, what I am isn't important," Tu Xiao'an said with a small smile. "What's important is that I promised to help you solve the problem at this construction site."

Su Yu's eyes lit up. "With Brother Xiao'an here, what's a little rat plague?"

'He never imagined that by some stroke of fate, he'd actually met an Elemental Martial Cultivator. Had his ancestors' graves started emitting green smoke?'

"Quite the Elemental Martial Cultivator. You finished off my rat army in a single move. Truly impressive."

Suddenly, an unfamiliar and chilling voice echoed across the construction site.

Tu Xiao'an immediately looked in a certain direction, his brow furrowing.

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK...!

SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK SQUEAK...!

As the chilling voice appeared, the silent site was once again filled with the dense sound of rats. A man in a black robe emerged, moving strangely with his arms crossed over his chest.

He was constantly surrounded by a dense, chaotic cacophony of "SQUEAK SQUEAK," a sound that made one's scalp tingle and goosebumps break out all over.

A stranger had appeared at the site. The others stared at the black-robed man in horror, astonished to find that he was standing on a swarm of fat rats.

Beneath his feet, dense rows of rats were packed tightly together. Every single one was enormous. At a glance, there were at least a hundred of them forming a square platform, allowing the black-robed man to stand calmly on top as they carried his hundred-plus-pound body forward.

Hundreds of rats carrying a grown man—the scene was nothing short of astonishing. It was utterly unheard of, simply inconceivable.

This entrance was truly bizarre. Not only was it wildly imaginative, but it was also completely staggering.