"Killed three professionals of the same tier in a single, fleeting exchangeā"
From beneath that deeply profound crack, a figure gradually floated out. Like a ghost, withered white hair practically covered half of his face. It sounded as if gravel was grinding within his throat, his voice hoarse and unpleasant to hear:
"And this is only right after having just advanced. Truly worthy of being a Core Seed with an Ink Jade talent."
Standing at the edge of the crack, Yang Yan was startled and swiftly assumed a combat stance.
Wu Yang's expression was grave, staring closely at him with tightly knit brows. Instead, it was Zhang Yunqing beside Su Chen whose pretty eyes rippled with a flash of alarm and doubt. "You are... the Pang Family's Third Master, Pang Yongliang!?"
"Oh?" The withered white hair in front of the old man's face swept aside, revealing a pair of crimson eyes deeply sunken into their sockets. His facial skin was thoroughly wrinkled and folded together like a dried mummy, revealing a sickly, morbid smile. "To think there is actually still someone who recognizes me even after I've become this sick..."
Seeing the other party looking so ferocious and terrifying, Zhang Yunqing's heart palpitated, and she couldn't help but retreat two steps backward.
"You're that remnant of the Pang Family who has been constantly fleeing?" Su Chen looked at the old man. A few days ago when they were drinking heavily, he had heard Ming Lin mention him.
This guy had always been outside in charge of the Pang Family's business operations. On the day of their annihilation, he wasn't in Yingfeng. Only later did he secretly flee back, and the Adjudication Court had constantly been searching for him.
"Remnant..." Pang Yongliang's withered facial skin trembled, his eyes staring deadly fixed on Su Chen. "For generations, my Pang Family worked conscientiously and painstakingly for the Adjudication Court. Even if we didn't have merits, we had hard work to show for it."
"Only Pang Hui alone colluded with the Evil God Cults; the rest of us didn't even know about the matter! Yet the Adjudication Court wanted to slaughter every last one of us, not even giving us a single opportunity to defend ourselves. Wiping the memories of the children in the clan wasn't enough; they even sent them to lower-tier cities to live as refugees!"
"The Adjudication Court is truly harsh, unkind, and devoid of gratitude!"
Su Chen truly didn't know the supplementary details of the aftermath of their extermination, but upon hearing Pang Yongliang say this, he couldn't help but ask:
"Since previously only Pang Hui alone colluded with the Evil God Cults, then what exactly is the situation with you right now? Let alone this place, which is merely your old lair."
Pang Yongliang's expression froze slightly, and he said in a heavy voice, "I did this for revenge."
Su Chen shrugged his shoulders, "What if other members of the Pang Family also want revenge and emulate your actions of contacting the Evil God Cults?"
"You're using lame arguments to distort the truth!" Pang Yongliang shouted ferociously. "I had originally planned to lie dormant within Yingfeng to give you all a massive surprise. Unfortunately, I was actually discovered by you people. Today, I can only collect a little bit of interest."
"A Core Seed, and Xia Hanshi's student to boot. Good, this is truly too wonderful!"
"Ignorant and foolish!" Wu Yang stood in front of Pang Yongliang, placing one hand behind his back to make gestures, signaling the surrounding inquisitors to retreat.
Simultaneously, he sharply shouted, "The Adjudication Court exterminated the Pang Family not merely to hold them accountable, but even more so to warn everyone else: this is the ending you will face!"
"Even if your relatives and friends do not know, they will still be incriminated, even unto death, because of your collusion with the Evil God Cults!"
Merely executing the chief culprit was far too civilized. Since the family enjoyed the benefits brought by colluding with Evil Gods, they naturally had to pay the price as well.
Su Chen was also following the numerous inquisitors in retreating toward the main entrance.
"Hand over your life!" Pang Yongliang's facial features twisted and became ferocious, grayish-white fog spewing out from his seven orifices.
His spine arched, and his figure transformed into a blurred afterimage wrapped within the fog. Explosive popping sounds violently blasted through the air, and his loose, wide robes were torn into strips of cloth amidst his rapid charge, revealing the grayish-white skin underneath.
The grayish-white fog swirling around his entire body condensed into fang-like cyclones during his advance. The fingernails on both of his hands explosively grew into ten bone blades, aiming straight for Wu Yang's throat with a shrill, air-tearing shriek.
Wu Yang's reaction wasn't slow. Ripples of crimson flames instantly burst open all around him, with fire dragons swirling about, further condensing into a massive maw of crimson flames that sought to swallow the grayish-white cyclones whole.
However, in the instant the two crossed paths, Wu Yang's expression drastically changed. He saw those fang-like fog cyclones, which seemed to possess such menacing and aggressive momentum, abruptly collapse, brushing past both sides of his body as if lacking any lethal power whatsoever.
"Not good!"
His expression changed drastically, premonishing something, and he abruptly turned his head in the span of a flashing spark.
As expected, the fog had reassembled behind his back, its momentum completely undiminished, its target pointed directly at Su Chen!
"Kill!"
Pang Yongliang's face was filled entirely with the thrill of revenge. Xia Hanshi was one of the leading figures in the extermination of the Pang Family. Therefore, killing Su Chen would not only make the Adjudication Court grieve bitterly, but more importantly, it would fill Xia Hanshi with boundless regret!
Killing this one person was far more impactful than killing a hundred or even a thousand inquisitors.
Crackle! Crackle!
Blazing arcs of electricity had already burst open around Su Chen, the dazzling lightning submerging him completely. The furious, violent momentum of wind and thunder even sent the numerous inquisitors standing close by flying backward.
"Useless! It's useless!" Amidst his high-speed movement, Pang Yongliang's withered facial skin looked as terrifying as squirming earthworms.
In the instant the ten bone-blade fingers were about to strike his body, the floor beneath Su Chen's feet shattered. An arc of light darted into the distance at a speed practically invisible to the naked eye.
Boom!
The ball of lightning before his eyes exploded, scattering in all directions. Pang Yongliang struck empty air. Casting a hair-raising gaze toward the direction the arc of light shot off, a flash of utter disbelief swept through his eyes: "How could it be... so fast!?"
In a mere instant, Su Chen's figure was no longer there.
"What the hell kind of speed is this?" Wu Yang was also completely dumbfounded, gazing toward the direction the arc of light had vanished. "There isn't even a trajectory of movement left behind; I can't even see his shadow. Is this guy really just a 3rd-tier!?"
Zhang Yunqing, who had been sent flying, finally landed on the ground at this moment. Without even caring about the pain on her body, her gaze was blank as she thought, 'He ran away so fast...!'
"How could he be fast to this degree!? Damn it, damn it all!" Pang Yongliang looked almost maddened. He abruptly turned around, sweeping a sinister, vicious gaze over the other inquisitors nearby, especially locking onto Zhang Yunqing.
"Little girl, you were the one who recognized me just now, right?"
Zhang Yunqing's expression was one of shock, and Wu Yang's face turned ugly. Pang Yongliang's class was special and highly adept at sudden ambushes. If he locked his targets onto these inquisitors present here, Wu Yang feared he genuinely wouldn't be able to stop him in time.
To think that a blind cat would actually stumble upon a dead rat this time. Unfortunately, they hadn't brought more people along.
But right at this moment, the spot between Pang Yongliang's eyebrows twitched, and a chill spread through his body. He actually sensed a feeling of threat! Subconsciously, the grayish-white fog permeated outwards to disperse him.
Yet abruptly, his brain felt as if it had been pierced by a needle, putting him in a trance for a split second.
And it was exactly in this split second that violent thunder exploded directly behind him!
Rumble! Rumble!
Su Chen's figure materialized like a bursting clap of thunder. Wielding a dark-cyan giant hammer, he smashed it down with roaring, berserk lightning. There was absolutely no sign of power accumulation; he just appeared abruptly out of nowhere, as if he had been preparing for a long time elsewhere.
The blue-and-red electric serpents on the surface of the hammer's body frantically darted about. The popping sonic booms of tearing air intertwined with rolling claps of thunder.
Before the hammer head even arrived, the violent lightning pressure had already torn apart the surrounding air. Chains of lightning wrapping around the handle twisted and writhed like living creatures, and the bursting plasma illuminated the surroundings in a ghastly white glow.
The position he appeared in was exceedingly tricky, practically sticking flush against Pang Yongliang's body. All of his abilities had been compressed and transformed into the giant hammer in his hands.
This strike was his current downright strongest attack!
Boom!
The instant the hammer head made contact with Pang Yongliang's back, the accumulated power cascaded out like a bursting flood. Amidst the blinding flash of light, an explosion akin to collapsing mountains roared out.
A majestic, boundless shockwave expanded outwards in a ring shape. Pang Yongliang's cheeks contorted. This guy hadn't run away at all! He had been hiding nearby this entire time, and he actually hadn't noticed him!
Furthermore, the terrifying power transmitted from his back left him even more shocked. Was this truly a professional who had just advanced to the 3rd tier!?
Bang!
Like a struck ball, Pang Yongliang's body shot out abruptly.
"Wu Yang!" Su Chen shouted sternly.
Wu Yang, who was currently astonished by Su Chen's sudden appearance, jolted awake abruptly. His bodily reactions were faster than his thoughts. Years of actual combat experience allowed him to make the optimal choice.
Thrusting both arms forward, the billowing crimson flames on both sides condensed into fire dragons and roared outward!
One front, one backāthe connection of their attacks was coordinated flawlessly!
Boom!
The fire dragons exploded, transforming into a sky full of fiery rain that splashed out in all directions.
Thud!
Accompanying the fallout was a near-charred body. It was none other than Pang Yongliang.
"Cough, cough..." Pang Yongliang still wasn't dead. His skin had turned a burnt brown color, and arcs of electricity occasionally sparked from his wounds.
"And he's still not dead from that. His vitality is truly tenacious." Su Chen shook his arms, his figure swaying slightly. That extreme burst of output left him feeling a sense of emptiness at this moment as well.
Just now, when Pang Yongliang launched his ambush, Su Chen hadn't fled far away. He had merely slipped into the spatial interstitial layer for an instant, simultaneously shooting out a spark of electricity to create the illusion of fleeing. Then, when Pang Yongliang shifted targets, he charged his attack from within the spatial layer, launched a close-quarters sneak attack, and forcefully used the [Gaze of Black Buddha] to create a brief opening.
However, the other party was a 4th-tier professional after all. He still needed to coordinate with Wu Yang to heavily injure him, which was why he used a heavy weapon like the hammer to blast him toward Wu Yang.
If he had used a piercing weapon, it likely would have been very difficult to achieve a meritorious result.
Wu Yang stared at him as if looking at a ghost. 'And you call this hard to kill!?'
If he didn't have Su Chen's assistance, just catching the other party would have been a massive problem. The areas the two of them specialized in were diametrically opposed; Wu Yang's comprehensive strength might not necessarily matching Pang Yongliang's.
But precisely because of this, an ambush specialist like Pang Yongliang was instantly heavily crippled after suffering a head-on bombardment.
"Good heavens..." Yang Yan gulped, his throat bobbing. How had Su Chen become perverted to this degree?
"Youā" Pang Yongliang forcefully propped himself up and rolled over. His charred, shell-like skin cracked open inch by inch, revealing the bloody red muscles underneath.
"āHowāis this possibleā" Only a few syllables managed to squeeze out of his throat.
"Take him outside," Wu Yang raised a hand. Nearby inquisitors rapidly stepped forward. Only after administering just enough first aid to hang onto his last breath did they carry him outside.
Zhang Yunqing and the others also limped outside, leaving only a few 3rd-tier inquisitors remaining behind.
"I didn't expect him to be hiding right here." Walking up to the crater, Wu Yang said coldly, "To actually dig out such a massive hole."
"This place used to be a shopping mall, but it was later bought by the Zhou Family and renovated. Don't tell me the Zhou Family is colluding with the Evil God Cultists too?" Yang Yan couldn't help but say.
"Mind your wordsā" Wu Yang frowned. "Perhaps the Zhou Family doesn't know either. The time this place was built might have been even longer ago."
The 'Zhou' of the Zhou Family and the 'Zhou' of the Security Bureau Director Zhou Yanwu were the exact same 'Zhou'.
"Is there anything else down below?" Realizing his slip of the tongue, Yang Yan changed the subject to ask.
"I don't know, it's best if thereā" Before Wu Yang could even finish speaking, he was equally uncertain. "For Pang Yongliang to hide here is already shocking enough. If there's something elseā"
Su Chen's eyes flickered. The Pang Yongliang from just now was clearly not a Believer of Black Buddha.
What he sensed should primarily be things similar to Evil God Artifacts. The Believers of Black Buddha couldn't possibly let an outsider guard that thing, right?
"How about we wait firstā" Before Wu Yang's voice could fully drop, a wisp of black fog drifted up from within the crater. His heart felt as if it had been seized by a giant hand, and his pupils contracted as he immediately shouted loudly:
"RUN!!!"
Su Chen's eyelids jumped. His movements were the fastest. This time it was a genuine escape. Electric light exploded beneath his feet, the Azure Thunder Divine Movement augmenting his wind boots. Amidst the bursting crackle of lightning, his entire person shot out like an arrow leaving a bowstring.
This was actually Su Chen's first time testing his speed at full power. His vision merely blurred, the skin on his face aching from the wind. An explosive boom echoed behind him; the walls had already been smashed through.
"What the hell just ran out?" Wu Yang was utterly dumbfounded. Before he could even charge out of the main hall, Su Chen was already gone without a trace.
Although it wasn't an eerie disappearance like before, this time it was veritable, tangible extreme speed.
Practically none of the classes on his advancement path specialized in speed. His speed could only be considered standard, but he was at least a 4th-tier professional.
'He can run, he can fight; this is way too all-rounded. So this is the intensity of a top-tier class...' Even at a critical life-and-death moment of fleeing for his life, Wu Yang couldn't help but think this, a feeling of envy rising within his heart.
"Since you've found us, then all of you stay behind!"
A ghastly voice echoed from behind. Su Chen only felt a chill beneath his feet. The black fog spreading from from who knows where was actually faster than his sprinting speed.
'A big fry, even more formidable than Pang Yongliang! A Priest of Black Buddha!?' Su Chen realized this point. Although his speed was incredibly fast, at this moment, the building was actually getting closer and closer instead.
This surrounding region seemed to have sunk into a quagmire.
'You use us to fish, so where the hell are the people supposed to protect us!?' Su Chen knitted his brows tightly. He could transform into the Priest of Black Buddha himself, so he could always save his own life at the very final moment.
But if anyone discovered clues regarding that, it would be extremely troublesome.
Far away, Zhu Peng and the other Supervision Guards, who had noticed the commotion and rushed back, wore expressions of absolute horror. Watching the 'Among the Clouds' building completely enveloped by black fog, their expressions turned dazed as they muttered in low voices:
"It's over, it's overā"
"A Priest, a Priest of Black Buddha! To think there's actually an esteemed Priest here!?"
Yang Yan, who was running the slowest, couldn't help but turn his head to look at the figure rising from the crater. The figure's pitch-black pupils swallowed all surrounding light. Yang Yan's liver and gallbladder felt as if they would tear apart. "What kind of rotten luck is this!?"
Up until now, he still believed that it was his report that led Su Chen to decide to investigate this place.
"To think there genuinely is a big ghost hereā"
Voices of surprise and doubt suddenly echoed from all around. Yang Yan's entire body trembled. This voice sounded familiar!
Countless threads of light surfaced from the void. As if drawn by an invisible force, they rapidly intertwined around the Priest of Black Buddha.
These lights were not gentle streams of light, but carried a certain icy, cold power of rules and laws, shuttling and sketching out oval-shaped contours. Every single trajectory precisely embedded itself into the other trajectories.
The entire spell formation slowly rotated like a living creature. The ghastly, dark power emitted by the Priest of Black Buddha caused fine sparks to continuously erupt at the edges.
"Saint Sigil MasterāSecond Chief Inquisitorā" the Priest of Black Buddha's expression turned gloomy.
He simply couldn't figure it out. They had already restrained their external activities for over a month; how could the Adjudication Court still inexplicably find this place?
He had not given up resisting, but everything was in vain. When the final rune completed its connection, the spell formation abruptly solidified into a tangible entity.
The light transitioned from a flowing state to a hard, crystalline texture. Faint, imperceptible patterns floated on its surface, forming a hexagonal prism centered around the Priest of Black Buddha.
The surrounding darkness seemed to lose its guiding control, gradually retracting and eventually vanishing completely.
"Chief Inquisitor..." Yang Yan slumped onto the ground, looking at the woman who had appeared before him wearing a white-gold magic robe.
It was exactly You Shan.
(End of this chapter)