The cold glint flashed before Ye Zhongming and Jie Kui's eyes. Had they not simultaneously leaped backward, it would have struck them.
Behind them, an ancient tree thicker than two meters in diameter was sheared clean through.
Both men felt their hearts tighten.
These weren't Earth's ordinary treesâtheir trunks were monstrously dense, requiring tremendous force to fell. Even for a Nine-Star evolved, such a feat shouldn't be effortless.
Ye Zhongming's sharp eyes noted something unsettlingâthe tree hadn't been cut. It had been smashed apart by sheer kinetic force.
A quick mental calculation left him grim. While he could replicate this with his fists, tossing something out with such force? Nearly impossible.
His wariness toward their pursuers spiked.
The taunting voice heralded a new attackerâa fist wreathed in thunderous wind, laced with a pungent, metallic tang.
This meant that even if it wasnât poisonous, it had a certain effect.
Jie Kui nearly cursed aloud. Of course, they'd target the injured one.
Instead of retreating, the embattled Nine-Star lunged toward the punch.
The first to catch up was the bulging-eyed little girl. The cold glint earlier had been the long-handled blade in her hand.
As a LĂŒ Zhu person, she had inherited her raceâs warlike genes while also awakening a legendary top-tier ability that compensated for her peopleâs lack of skills beyond brute strength.
Now chosen by her race to participate in the Novice Battlefield, she was determined to achieve an outstanding result.
However, due to certain special circumstances, she had no choice but to cooperate with those two Earthlings for revenge. But as someone whose ambition was to claim first place in the Novice Battlefield, she wouldnât pass up any opportunity to earn points.
Yes, this LĂŒ Zhu girl, named Ya Ka, intended to kill Jie Kui.
She had promised the Earthling she wouldnât kill Ye Zhongming, but slaying this one would still earn her points.
Her strongest attack was naturally with her long-handled blade, but this punch was nothing to scoff at eitherâit was an ability unlocked when she evolved to level nine, part of her top-tier awakening.
Wind and thunder attributes, combined with Illusory Breath!
Few could survive a punch that first induced hallucinations before delivering the killing blow.
Jie Kuiâs vision blurred into a white haze, the scene eerily familiar, accompanied by strange soundsâlike⊠the first time heâd been intimate with a woman.
His heart raced, excitement surging as his mind began filling in more details from that moment.
A dazed person was easy to spot.
Right now, Jie Kui was clearly under some kind of influence.
Ye Zhongmingâs shock and concern, the little girlâs vicious grin and triumphâtogether, they painted a picture of impending murder.
Jie Kuiâs sudden counterattack left Ye Zhongming helpless. Had he stayed close, Ye Zhongming couldâve intervened at any moment. But now, the guy had actively closed the distance with the little girl, instantly putting himself out of Ye Zhongmingâs reach.
The Cloud Peak King couldnât help even if he wanted to.
The creature Ye Zhongming had sent flying earlierâits fate unknownâwas nowhere to be seen, but the one that had been fighting Jie Kui charged again, clearly intending to tie Ye Zhongming down. At the very least, it would prevent him from aiding Jie Kui.
Their plan workedâYe Zhongming truly had no way to help Jie Kui at this moment.
Even Ye Zhongming himself thought Jie Kui was done for.
But in reality, not only was Jie Kui not finished, he even sent the once-dazzling little girl flying.
Watching this, Ye Zhongming recalled one of the Star-Eye Clanâs abilitiesâArc Shadow Shift.
Originally an escape skill, it was designed for the Star-Eye Clanâs unique traits. When an assassination or ambush failedâor when preparing for a second strikeâthey needed to create distance. This ability allowed the user to disengage in a short time quickly.
Ye Zhongming, with the Mountain King Crownâs Body Swap and Earthâs teleportation equipment, naturally looked down on such an ability.
But he never expected Jie Kui to have learned itâand even modified it into an offensive skill.
The defining features of Arc Shadow Shift were its speed and unpredictable arcing movement. To achieve this, users had to forgo all other abilities, dedicating all their energy and physical functions purely to speed and distance.
Yet Jie Kui had altered itâminimizing the arc just enough to evade the little girlâs fist while turning his body into a weapon instead of fleeing.
Ye Zhongming was impressed. The modification seemed simple, but it required exceptional control over oneâs energy and body to pull off. After all, much like Twin Poison Shadows, the original purpose of this ability was entirely different from its modified form.
The little girlâs hallucinatory punch did take effectâbut by then, Jie Kui had already executed his move. Essentially, even though he was affected, it didnât matter. The illusion vanished the moment the two collided.
Ye Zhongming threw a punch and a kick, forcing the hunched, long-armed creature back before grabbing Jie Kui and bolting in a chosen direction.
He could no longer afford to hesitateâall pursuers had arrived on the battlefield. If they didnât leave now, theyâd be facing eight level-nine beings at once.
No matter how confident Ye Zhongming was, he never believed he could take on eight alone!
Jie Kui was half-crippledâfor now, he didnât count.
Three blindingly white bolts of lightning shot from behind. Ye Zhongming, dragging Jie Kui along, continuously shifted directions, barely avoiding them.
The floating energy-being sighed. Without any visible movement, an earthen wall suddenly erupted in front of Ye Zhongming.
The hunched, long-armed creature and the little girl rejoined the chase, speeding up at the sight of the wall.
The tracking Tearhound Ghost tribesman, however, simply sat cross-legged on the ground. He placed five bone-like objects in front of him, then traced lines between them with his withered fingers. The viscous fluid coating his body seeped into the ground, filling the grooves between the bones.
Muttering incantations, his face flushed red before he suddenly shouted, raising his hands. The bones and fluid lines lifted from the ground, hovering above his head. With a push of his hands, they shot toward Ye Zhongming, expanding as they closed in.
By the time they reached their target, they had transformed into a massive hollow structure, enveloping a hundred-meter radius around Ye Zhongming.
The viscous fluid spread rapidly, forming a membranous layer that wove into a solid cageâcompletely trapping the Cloud Peak King and Jie Kui inside!