Opposite him stood Shen Qingzhu, covered in wounds and looking extremely disheveled. Behind him lay Li Liang, barely alive, and Deng Wei, who had a broken leg but was still gritting his teeth and trying to save Li Liang.
Shen Qingzhu's eyes blazed with fury, his gaze seeming to want to tear the man before him apart. His black military overcoat billowed in the swirling air, and sparks danced from the ring on his finger.
"However, for someone of your level, that's already quite impressive." The man thought for a moment, then continued, "By the way, do you know a twin named Lin Qiye and Lin Xi Chen?"
A glint flashed in Shen Qingzhu's eyes. He gritted his teeth and spoke, word by word:
"What nonsense about Qiye and Xi Chen? I don't know anything about that!"
"That's not right. Since you're here too, shouldn't you be together?" The man chuckled. "How about this: you help me catch that little kid, and I'll let you live."
"Spare our lives?" Shen Qingzhu sneered. "Kneel down and kowtow to me twice now, and I might consider leaving you a whole corpse!"
"Such a young age, yet so arrogant." The man slowly removed the large axe from his shoulder, a cruel smile appearing on his seemingly honest face, as he walked step by step towards Shen Qingzhu.
"Your head is so ripe, let me pick it for you."
Shen Qingzhu's pupils suddenly contracted, and he reached out his hand to grasp in the air. The air around the man was instantly sucked away, and the man's mouth twitched, his smile becoming even more ferocious.
He slammed his legs against the ground, launching himself out like a cannonball. Just as he was about to hit the air wall at the edge of the vacuum, he suddenly swung his great axe, easily breaking through the entire vacuum domain.
He landed heavily on the ground, sneering, "Little brat, the vacuum you created is too small and too fragile. It can't trap me at all. How about making an even bigger one to play with?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly realized and continued, "Oh... I get it, you're afraid of getting that dying little kid behind you involved. Tsk, after all, your kind of extremely high-risk forbidden area is a classic case of injuring ten thousand enemies while losing eight thousand of your own."
The man's figure swayed, and the great axe in his hand swung out with a whooshing sound. The sharp edge of the axe cut through the air and produced a piercing sonic boom!
Shen Qingzhu dodged the axe with lightning speed thanks to his extremely fast reflexes, but the raging blade still cut his arm, leaving a hideous gash.
Boom——!!
On the mountainside dozens of meters away from the two people, a narrow axe mark appeared out of nowhere, and rocks flew everywhere.
Shen Qingzhu's face was filled with solemnity. The opponent had only swung his axe once, but the aftershock had cleaved off a piece of the mountain from a distance. Anyone who was hit by the axe would definitely die instantly!
"My forbidden realm is different from your fancy ones. I'm just pure [Great Strength]! Ranked 356 in the sequence, but sometimes, the simpler it is, the more powerful it is!" the man laughed.
Shen Qingzhu seized the opportunity and instantly compressed the air around the man in proportion. A spark flew from the ring on his finger, and a violent explosion erupted right next to the man!
The raging flames swirled, and the man carrying the axe groaned as he took two steps back. His chest was covered in blood, but it only looked serious; the wounds were not actually deep. The simple explosion damage was unlikely to cause fatal injury to a "Chuan" realm expert.
"Not enough, not enough! This little injury is nothing at all." The man wiped blood from his chest and shook his head.
Shen Qingzhu gritted his teeth, staring intently into his eyes, without uttering a word.
Just then, a thunderclap suddenly rang out in the sky, and dense lightning mixed with strong winds descended from the sky like a raging beast, completely engulfing the man's figure!
Shen Qingzhu was taken aback and looked up at the sky. He saw a chubby figure standing on a golden sword shadow, holding a large broom, looking down arrogantly at the man who was engulfed by lightning.
"Hmph, you arrogant bastard, I'm here to save you!" Baili Pangpang hoisted the [Thunder Tornado] broom onto his shoulder and shouted with great momentum.
When Shen Qingzhu saw Baili Pangpang's figure, a hint of joy flashed in his eyes, but he quickly suppressed it, put on a stern face, and snorted coldly.
Thump—!
A deep, muffled thud resounded, and the dense lightning instantly dissipated into the air. The man, covered in small wounds, looked up at Baili Pangpang in the sky, his eyes narrowing slightly, and slowly raised the axe in his hand…
"Get out of the way!" Shen Qingzhu shouted, her eyes narrowing.
Before Shen Qingzhu could remind him, Baili Pangpang had already reacted, riding on [Yaoguang] and moving swiftly through the air. The next moment, a sharp axe slash swept across the sky, almost grazing Baili Pangpang's body.
The [Yao Guang] beneath Baili Pangpang's feet was shaken by the axe, and most of it dissipated instantly. Baili Pangpang's heart tightened, and he barely managed to land on the ground, but still fell on his butt.
"Are you alone?" Shen Qingzhu looked at Baili Pangpang.
Baili Pangpang nodded. "There's more than one enemy..."
Upon hearing this, Shen Qingzhu immediately understood something, and his expression became even more solemn.
"Did you bring the [Sealing Scroll]? The one we used to seal Cao Yuan before," Shen Qingzhu suddenly asked.
Baili Pangpang was taken aback. "I brought it. Why?"
"Let me borrow it for a moment."
"Oh alright…"
Baili Pangpang took out some tape, placed it in Shen Qingzhu's hand, and couldn't help but ask, "What are you going to do?"
"Never mind that, you can go now."
"...What?"
"Li Liang is beyond saving; without treatment, he will surely die. Deng Wei's leg will definitely need to be amputated if left untreated..."
Baili Pangpang turned to look at Li Liang, who was unconscious not far away, and Deng Wei, who was trembling with pain. His gaze was extremely solemn.
"By the way, where's Li Jia?" Baili Pangpang asked, remembering something.
Shen Qingzhu clenched his fists silently, without saying a word.
Baili Pangpang was taken aback.
"Take them with you."
"But then you'll be facing this all alone..."
"Bai Li Tu Ming!" Shen Qing Zhu suddenly roared, a madness flashing in his eyes, "In my life, I, Shen Qing Zhu, have never asked anyone for anything. Now... I beg you, go, go!"
"Take them both back for treatment! Today, I don't want to see any more people... sacrificed."
Looking at Shen Qingzhu, whose eyes were bloodshot, Baili Pangpang slowly clenched his fists. He didn't say anything more, but silently hoisted Deng Wei and Li Liang onto his shoulders and spoke in a hoarse voice:
"I promise... I'll be back soon! Brother Zhu, no matter what..."
"Don't worry." Shen Qingzhu took a deep breath, his eyes coldly calm. "I won't die. My journey isn't over yet; how could I possibly fall here?"
Baili Pangpang gave him a deep look, then carried Li Liang and Deng Wei on his back and ran quickly down the mountain...
This was the first time in his life that he had run so desperately!
Shen Qingzhu watched his departing figure, then slowly turned around, looked at the man before him, and calmly spoke:
"I want you... to pay for my brother's life."