Chapter 50: Restless Blood

In the Heavens Trading Zone, Xiao Yang met Red Beard once again at their usual spot, though this time he almost failed to recognize his older brother figure.

Instead of his usual bare-chested dwarf blacksmith attire from their previous encounters, Red Beard was now clad in a full suit of dragon-scale armor. A significant portion of the armor was twisted and deformed, as if it had just survived a brutal, all-out war.

The closer one got to Red Beard, the stronger the pungent smell of sulfur became.

When Xiao Yang walked up to Red Beard, he involuntarily came to a halt, feeling as though some ferocious primordial beast stood right before him. It was only when Red Beard voluntarily removed his helmet and cheerfully waved at Xiao Yang that the oppressive tension finally broke.

"Brother! Over here! Brother Xiao Yang!"

At that moment, the silent, terrifying pressure instantly dissipated. Xiao Yang let out a sigh of relief and quickly stepped forward to stand before Red Beard.

His gaze was immediately drawn to a grotesquely oversized decapitation blade resting beside Red Beard's foot.

[Guler's Wrath]
[Quality: Epic]
[Flame Divinity: 1]
[Requirement: Greater Balor]
[Damage: 200]
[Weapon Domain: Magma Inferno]
[Effect: Flame Affinity, Flame Dominion, Flame Healing]
[Description: A weapon meticulously forged by a powerful Greater Balor striving to break through to become an Abyss Lord.]

This weapon was utterly absurd. What on earth had Red Beard been up to in the Abyss lately?

Amidst Xiao Yang's expression of utter astonishment, Red Beard cracked a grin and involuntarily held his head a little higher. He simply loved seeing this expression on his younger brother.

"Pretty impressive, right? This decapitation blade! It took a tremendous amount of effort. I fought my way right across an Abyssal Blood War battlefield, stormed into a boundless, magnificent demon fortress, and personally cut down its master—a powerful Greater Balor named Guler the Furious Roar! I took this right from his hands!"

Xiao Yang listened to the tale with wide-eyed innocence. As Red Beard began boasting about his glorious exploits, Xiao Yang nodded and praised him at all the right moments, delivering the most fitting words of admiration for the occasion.

"Big Brother Red Beard, you are incredible!"

As for how much of this story Xiao Yang actually believed—well, he believed a part of it, but that was just the way social etiquette worked!

Hearing this, Red Beard puffed out his chest, immensely satisfied with the praise, completely failing to notice the corners of Xiao Yang's mouth slowly curling upward.

His dwarf big brother was still remarkably easy to coax.

***

Shortly after, before Xiao Yang could even bring up the matter of tier advancement, Red Beard suddenly seemed to recall something and sent him a request.

[Your friend Red Beard has sent you a group chat invitation. Do you wish to join the group chat: Justice Squad?]

"Brother Xiao Yang, it's a bit embarrassing to bring this up, but I have a favor to ask of you recently. A friend of mine has been in a terrible mood lately, and I was wondering if you could go comfort her?"

This was the first time Xiao Yang had ever seen such a sheepish expression on Red Beard's face—a complex mix of guilt and awkward hesitation that was hard to put into words.

Without much hesitation, Xiao Yang chose to accept. Since he had chosen to trust and acknowledge this older brother figure, he wouldn't waver or hesitate.

An unfamiliar interface appeared before Xiao Yang, resembling a standard group chat interface. However, the members within this Justice Squad were surprisingly few—only seven in total, making eight including Xiao Yang, and one of the member's names was dimmed out.

Xiao Yang scanned the names listed inside:

*I Am A Little Flower*, *Daoist Practitioner*, *Crucible Blacksmith* (this one was likely Red Beard), *Hates the Dark*, *Mage's Hand is Really Useful*, *Messenger of Holy Light*, and *Little Qing Who Saves the World!*

After Xiao Yang successfully joined the Justice Squad group chat, Red Beard didn't look relieved at all. Instead, he grew even more anxious, getting so nervous that he started pulling at his own beard.

What now? Xiao Yang shifted his gaze back to Red Beard, a series of questions forming in his mind. But looking at Red Beard's current reaction, he certainly couldn't count on him; his big brother had completely dropped the ball.

After a moment of thought, Xiao Yang decided to proceed according to the standard procedure for joining a new group.

First, he gave himself a new nickname in the chat, avoiding both his gaming handle and his real name in favor of something more fitting: "An Actual Absolute Novice!"

*[An Actual Absolute Novice]: Greetings, seniors!*

Xiao Yang sent his very first message into the group.

Shortly after, a name responded to him.

*[I Am A Little Flower]: Hello there!*

Following that message, a flurry of various greetings instantly popped up in quick succession.

*[Daoist Practitioner]: Greetings, little friend!*
*[Hates the Dark]: Hello.*
*[Mage's Hand is Really Useful]: [A sticker of a translucent giant hand waving hello.]*
*[Messenger of Holy Light]: Hello to you too!*
*[Crucible Blacksmith (Red Beard): Good to see you, little brother!]*

After the round of pleasantries, Red Beard immediately followed up by uploading an image into the group chat—a Balor's head with its skull smashed completely inward.

*[Crucible Blacksmith]: I've avenged Little Qing! Sofia! The coordinates were provided by the Daoist, Shadow opened the Nether Realm rift, the Mage provided the spatial anchor, Holy Light supplied the sacred radiance, and I delivered the final blow!*

Sensing the mood, Xiao Yang wisely chose to remain silent and lurk, observing the conversation in the chat with curious eyes.

In response to Red Beard's words, the group owner, *I Am A Little Flower*, replied: *[I know. I don't blame any of you, I'm just... really sad.]*

Seeing this, Xiao Yang noticed that Red Beard finally let out a complete sigh of relief. The group chat temporarily quieted down, giving Xiao Yang the long-awaited opportunity to voice his own lingering questions to the dwarf before him.

"So, Big Brother Red Beard, what exactly happened here?"

Instead of answering Xiao Yang's question immediately, Red Beard reached out and produced a bottle of liquor.

[Guler's Sharp Horn]
[Grade: Epic]
[Description: A fiery liquor brewed using the sharpest and most concentrated tip of a powerful Greater Balor's horn.]

Daring not to pour too much for Xiao Yang, he filled only a tiny cup. Judging purely by its description, *Guler's Sharp Horn* was vastly more potent than the giant root from Red Logan last time.

However, Red Beard underestimated Xiao Yang—or rather, he underestimated the Flask of Greed.

Xiao Yang took the cup and downed it in a single gulp. An instant surge of intense heat flared up, only to be completely intercepted and absorbed by the Flask of Greed. Xiao Yang's Strength attribute began to climb, surging upward until it reached twenty points.

At the same time, *Guler's Sharp Horn* granted Xiao Yang a Balor-affiliated trait.

[Blood of Turmoil: Strength +5, attacks have a chance to ignite enemies.]
[Strength: 25]

Now, Xiao Yang's Strength attribute stood at twenty-five. He couldn't help but notice that all of his recent strength gains seemed to come entirely from drinking Red Beard's strange brews.

The harvest from *Guler's Sharp Horn* was immense.

The ignition effect granted by *Blood of Turmoil* alone was perfectly suited for the Skeleton Dungeon Xiao Yang was currently clearing. He should have been thrilled, yet he sat there with an utterly solemn and serious expression.

Right now, Xiao Yang's full attention was focused entirely on Red Beard before him, waiting for the story that was about to unfold.