We're Trapped in a Secret Realm, Who's Still Going to Coddle These Fairies?

Only eight gates of life remained in the Returning Realm Formation, yet nine people stood before it. Facing the tide of demons, the eight saintesses from top sects finally turned their eyes to Lu Chen. “Protector Lu, we bear the legacies of our sects, while your path to cultivation has already ended.” “So please stay behind and hold them off.” Lu Chen was an outsider protector recruited by the Tianyan Sect. At the peak of the Deity Transformation Realm, he was far stronger than any of them. But with only ordinary talent and three failed attempts to break through to the Void Refining Realm, they had always treated him as a high-level hired fighter with no future. He did not argue. He faced the demon tide alone, completing the final act of protection required by the Protector's Contract. But the Returning Realm Formation's transmission failed, and the secret realm was sealed off completely. Seeing Lu Chen return alive, the eight saintesses naturally ordered him to keep exploring, stand watch, and search for an exit. Instead, Lu Chen burned the Protector's Contract in front of them. “Seven days have passed. The contract is over.” “From now on, your lives and deaths have nothing to do with me.” In the past, they could use their status as saintesses, their sects' connections, and promises of a future reward to make countless cultivators risk their lives for them. Now, whether they wanted a sip of the immortal estate's spirit spring, shelter from the cold fiendish energy, or Lu Chen to slay a demon king, they had to pay the price on his terms. “Don't talk about who you are.” “First, tell me what you can do for me.”