I Have A Trillion Protagonist Halos

The little girl was stunned by the scene. She took a few steps back and fell on the ground. Then, she saw Su Zhan.

‘Is it that brother who saved me? There's no one else around, so it must be him… But that brother doesn't look much older than me. How can he be so powerful? How did he do it?'

The little girl was full of doubts. She got up from the ground and ran to Su Zhan. She respectfully bowed and expressed her gratitude, "Ling'er thanks big brother for saving my life!"

"It was just a small effort." Su Zhan smiled and asked, "How old are you and what's your name? Why did you come here alone? Don't you know it's dangerous here?"

"I'm called Zhang Ling, I'm ten years old. I came here to earn money!" Zhang Ling replied seriously.

"To earn money?" Su Zhan was taken aback for a moment and sensed a bit.

Zhang Ling's cultivation was at the 9th level of the Meridian Opening Realm, just a step away from the Qi Sea Realm.

Even though the spiritual energy outside was more abundant, making cultivation easier than in the eastern region region, reaching the Qi Sea Realm at the age of ten should still be considered a genius in a small place, right?

According to reason, she should have been nurtured with concentrated resources by her family. So why would she come to this dangerous place to earn money?

Seeming to notice Su Zhan's confusion, Zhang Ling looked a bit disheartened and said, "If we don't earn money, we won't have enough to pay the Sole Sword Sect. Then our Zhang family will be driven out of Xia'an Town, and everything my parents worked hard for most of their lives will be lost…"

"Why do you have to pay the Sole Sword Sect?"

"Because everyone has to pay! Even if you're an ordinary person and can't afford spirit stones, you still have to pay with gold coins! There are four seasons in a year, and we have to pay four times. If we can't pay, they will take everything away and drive us out of their jurisdiction!"

"Isn't that outrageous?"

Su Zhan frowned slightly, "I remember this place is within the territory of the Tianxuan Empire. How can a sect be so overbearing here?"

"The Tianxuan Empire has always been like this! The government officials don't care much as long as the sects share their benefits with them. Even if they do care, they won't bother with insignificant people like us…" There was some resentment in Zhang Ling's tone as she lowered her head.

Just as Su Zhan was about to say something, he suddenly turned his head in a certain direction and looked over. He sensed that someone was approaching.

After a few seconds, a rugged man appeared in his sight, followed by a dozen warriors.

"Dad!" Zhang Ling saw the middle-aged man and called out in surprise, rushing towards him.

The middle-aged man was also excited and met her halfway.

After checking Zhang Ling's body and confirming she was unharmed, he frowned, "I told you not to come, but you insisted! Fine, you came anyway. But then you got lost! What if you encountered a powerful monster? What would you have done then?"

"Dad, I did encounter one. It was a Qi Sea Realm tiger!" Zhang Ling felt a bit wronged, but then her eyes lit up, pointing at Su Zhan, "Thanks to this big brother here who saved me!"

The middle-aged man glanced at the body of the monster that had been split in half, feeling slightly surprised. He respectfully clasped his hands towards Su Zhan, "Thank you, young sir, for saving my daughter. My name is Zhang Yun. May I ask for your name?"

"Su Zhan."

"So, it's Brother Su. To slay a Qi Sea Realm monster with just a sword, truly a young hero!"

"Dad, Su brother didn't even draw his sword!" Zhang Ling murmured, "He just stood there, and the monster suddenly died!"

Killing a Qi Sea Realm monster without even drawing his sword? Zhang Yun was even more shocked.

At this moment, Su Zhan spoke, "Master Zhang, it's not appropriate to let a ten-year-old girl hunt monsters to earn money. If I hadn't coincidentally passed by, you might have lost your daughter."

"I admit my mistake, Brother Su. But I'm really at my wit's end…" Zhang Yun said with a bitter face, "In three days, it will be the deadline to submit the seasonal payment. We need a total of five thousand spirit stones. So far, our Zhang family has only managed to gather fourteen hundred spirit stones. Even if we sell all the weapons in the hands of our family members, we can only get around two thousand spirit stones at most."

"Moreover, I'm not really afraid of being expelled. But you might not know, Brother Su, my Zhang family has some entanglements with the Mo family, another family in Xia'an Town. The head of the Mo family has proposed a marriage alliance to me several times, but at that time, my daughter was only eight years old! How could I agree to it? They held a grudge, and this year, they used a scheme to destroy our spirit fields, resulting in us being unable to pay the seasonal payment. If we were expelled and not under the protection of the Sole Sword Sect, they wouldn't spare my daughter!"

"So that's how it is… Do you know where the Sole Sword Sect's main hall is?" Su Zhan asked.

"Of course, we know!" Su Zhan's words piqued Zhang Yun's interest. He smiled and said, "Well, I can help you with that."

"Really…? Brother Su, are you planning to lend money to our Zhang family?" Zhang Yun asked with surprise.

"Lend money? Are you kidding me?" Su Zhan was a bit speechless and waved his hand, "Don't worry about that. Tomorrow, take me to the Sole Sword Sect, and you'll know."

"Thank you so much, Brother Su!" Zhang Yun was overjoyed and immediately knelt down, kowtowing in gratitude.

"Thank you, Su brother! With your help, I don't need to earn money anymore!" Zhang Ling cheered.

Su Zhan patted the little girl's head, smiling, "Alright, take me to your Zhang family to rest for the night, and tomorrow we'll go to the Sole Sword Sect together."

"Yes, Su brother!" Zhang Ling happily ran ahead.

…

The next day.

At the Sole Sword Sect, on a small mountain peak where a Martial Master Realm expert resided.

As they walked, Zhang Ling introduced the Sole Sword Sect to Su Zhan.

"Su brother, the one in charge of collecting the seasonal payment in Xia'an Town is stationed on this mountain! Don't be fooled by its small size; it's less than a hundred meters tall and doesn't look impressive, but there are Martial Master Realm experts up there! Martial Master Realm experts can fly in the air! Can you fly, Su brother?"

"Yes," Su Zhan nodded slightly.

"Wow! So you must be a Martial Master Realm expert too?" The little girl exclaimed in excitement, drawing the attention of Zhang Yun, who was nearby.

If Su Zhan was truly a Martial Master Realm expert, it would make him feel more at ease. But he was disappointed when Su Zhan shook his head, indicating that he wasn't.

"Not a Martial Master Realm expert? Then how can Su brother fly?" Zhang Ling looked puzzled.

"Cough, cough!" Zhang Yun was afraid that this question would embarrass Su Zhan, so he quickly said, "Ling'er, don't ask so many questions. Maybe Brother Su has mastered some special body technique that allows short-distance flight. As for the Martial Master Realm, with Brother Su's talent, it's just a matter of time before he reaches it, let alone the Origin Elixir Realm!"

"Oh, I see," Zhang Ling nodded obediently.

However, she felt a little disappointed inside. She had thought that Su brother was a Martial Master Realm expert, but now it seemed that she was expecting too much. While Su brother was undoubtedly powerful, being a Martial Master Realm expert was truly exceptional. Nevertheless, she tugged at the corner of Su Zhan's clothes and encouraged him, "Su brother, you're very strong. I'm sure in the future, you'll be even stronger than Martial Master Realm, Origin Elixir Realm, and even the Fish-Dragon Realm!"

Su Zhan: "…"