The night hung heavy. Across the severed ridge of Flying Immortal Mountain, flames soared and battle cries shook the heavens.
"Chaos has gripped the mountains; wolves flee and boars scurry..." Qin Ming watched the mountains and plains filled with flight and slaughter, his eyelids twitching. Blade-light and sword shadows crisscrossed everywhere, and the stark splotches of blood were jarring to behold.
Bathed in divine fire, her black hair drifting and her eyes bright and clear, Li Qingyue looked ethereal and untainted by mortal dust even amidst the chaotic fray, resembling a banished immortal descending to the world. She reminded him, "We are fleeing too."
Her supple figure clad in armor, Jiang Ran swept her heavenly halberd and cleaved an ambushing demon cultivator in half at the waist. Resembling a mystical maiden descended to earth, she chimed in, "You're scolding us as well."
Qin Ming corrected her, "We are different. Ours is cranes dancing among the pines, clouds unfolding as sleeves billow—a leisurely retreat."
Behind them, within the Solar Secret Acupoint, flames surged like a tidal wave and expanded rapidly outward, with numerous shadowy creatures bathed in fire chasing after them.
Having just successfully broken through to the mid-stage of the Fourth Realm, Qin Ming was at the height of his confidence and high spirits. Unfortunately, he had run right into this sudden, massive upheaval.
"Moon God, Blood God, how did this happen to you?" Ahead, a black-robed youth caught sight of the one-armed Blood God and Moon God, whose physical body had been destroyed, leaving only her pure yang consciousness. Utterly startled, he glided near them like a ghost.
This black-clad young man was the core figure of the god-like beings expedition team—Night God.
"The saint of Yujing, 'One Sword,' gravely wounded us." Blood drenched half of Blood God's body, his right arm was gone, and his face was deathly pale. Had he not cast a blood escape art, he would have died already.
"Night God, you must avenge me," Moon God said, on the verge of tears. Having lost her physical body, without rare and precious heavenly treasures to reconstruct her form, it would be difficult for her to endure in the world for long.
Night God consoled her, "Don't fret. There are special constitutions in this world that are exceptionally suited to become new vessels for a pure yang consciousness. I will definitely find the body that fits you best."
He was the strongest of this team and had not entered the Solar Secret Acupoint, instead remaining outside as lookout and support.
Now, Night God's black robes fluttered. His eyes were like abysses as he swept his gaze across the surroundings. "Where is One Sword? Even a saint from a supreme land cannot suppress our God-Like organization!"
This organization was mysterious and mighty, its upper echelons composed of higher deities from the night mist world. Its reach spanned far and wide, and its depths were unfathomable.
It went by another name as well: the God-Like Society.
Even as far as Yezhou, traces of it could be found. For instance, the Three Eyes Cult that Qin Ming had encountered long ago at Black-White Mountain originated from a powerful deity of the extradimensional God-Like Society.
In truth, such a chaotic juncture was ill-suited for desperate bloodshed. Night God had only casually voiced his desire to find One Sword, mainly to pacify the two beside him.
Yet Blood God was exceedingly "blunt" and immediately pointed out the culprit: "Right there!"
Crucially, Qin Ming was very close to them, already charging in their direction.
Night God frowned. Blood and fire raged all around; lingering was the last thing they should do. Yet Blood God had already called out a challenge on his behalf, shouting across to the other side:
"One Sword, get your ass over here!"
Night God: "..."
Qin Ming looked up and spotted them immediately. Saber in hand, he charged straight at them. After his breakthrough, his spirits were surging sky-high, and he was eager to find opponents to test his blade.
If he encountered a suitable "whetstone" on the road now, he didn't mind making a move to hone his edge.
"Night God..." Tears glistened in Moon God's eyes, making her look pitiful and delicate. She truly harbored bone-deep hatred for "One Sword" and hoped the powerful Night God would avenge her.
At this point, the two sides were facing each other head-on. Reluctant as Night God was to invite unnecessary trouble, he had no choice but to step forward now that he had been put on the spot.
If he retreated without fighting, once word reached the God-Like organization, his prestige, reputation, and assessments would all plummet, which might adversely affect his future ascension to a higher divine rank.
"What level is he at?" Night God asked.
Blood God responded at once, "I overheard the two women beside him talking. He should be in the mid-stage of the Fourth Realm."
"Since we've crossed paths, then fine, I'll go kill him!" Night God said in a low voice.
Though chaos reigned all around, he strode against the flow, heading toward "One Sword," utterly unconcerned with whether his opponent was a saint of Yujing.
The God-Like Society feared no top civilization.
Night God was in the late-stage of the Fourth Realm, possessing formidable confidence and bedrock strength.
Seeing Li Qingyue and Jiang Ran, a strange look flickered across his face. "These two women are both so refined and transcendent, possessing extraordinary divine charm. Moon God, which one caught your eye? I'll seize her as your new vessel."
"They are both very strong," Moon God warned, urging him by no means to be careless.
"What did you say?" Qin Ming's sword-like brows shot up. For this black-clad man to utter such words right to his face, plotting against the two women, he was truly sick of living.
"As if you're worthy!" Jiang Ran countered sharply. She moved to step forward and battle Night God herself; though a woman, she exuded a transcendent demeanor that looked down upon the world.
Li Qingyue said nothing, but the divine fire enveloping her clearly grew more brilliant, resembling a sacred lotus in flames swaying with otherworldly immortal radiance.
"Hmm?" Night God drew near and inspected the two women. The more he looked, the more he felt they were transcendent—both in temperament and devastating beauty, they surpassed Moon God, causing even him to momentarily lose his train of thought.
"Ladies, would you be willing to join the God-Like Society?" He smiled, abandoning his former cold sternness.
"Lesser God Society, come over and accept your death!" Qin Ming barked. This man in black was acting far too arrogant. Speaking like that right in front of him—did he take him for air?
Night God said grimly, "Very well. Today I'll teach you that there is always someone greater, a heaven beyond the heavens. Strong as Yujing may be, it has no authority over our God-Like Society!"
The instant they met, they clashed directly.
The surrounding firelight seemed to snuff out, plunging Qin Ming's surroundings into pitch-black darkness. This was Night God's method: wherever he stood, not a single ray of light could exist.
Like a predator of the abyss, he melded into the darkness, baring his savage fangs as he launched his assault.
In an instant, the ringing of blades resounded continuously, energy violently churning. Qin Ming was like a Golden Crow tearing through the dark, and even the void around him seemed to cave in.
Night God stumbled back, shock written all over his face. Blood stained the side of his head, a lock of hair fell to the ground, and half of his left ear was gone—blown apart after being grazed by a blade light.
Qin Ming showed a grave expression. Just now, they had traded blows over fifty times in rapid succession. Among all the opponents he had encountered, this man was undeniably a powerhouse.
Night God was a seed cultivated with great care by the God-Like Society, a candidate who might attain a higher divine rank in the future—a prodigy selected from countless masses.
With a swoosh, his figure faded, and darkness enfolded the area once more. Qin Ming felt as though he had been locked inside a pitch-black box, severed from the outside world.
Yet, as his mind lamp ignited, illuminating the heavens and the earth, the so-called domain of darkness was instantly dispelled.
At the same time, Qin Ming used the Golden Crow Holding the Saber stance to leave a gash across Night God's chest. Bone was severed and flesh peeled back, revealing the beating heart within.
Night God staggered back several paces, his expression grave. Even though both were in the Fourth Realm, by a finer breakdown, he was at least three or four heavens higher than his foe.
And yet, he was the one at a disadvantage. What kind of monstrous opponent was this? Since stepping out into the world, he had never been bested by someone of a lower cultivation realm, yet today he tasted this bitter pill.
In a flash, he struck again. Pure yang blade-light blossomed across the mountain. He no longer released a dark domain; instead, like a phoenix reborn through nirvana, he burst forth from the abyss with the most dazzling light in the world.
He rode his blade, man and saber united as one, crisscrossing the night sky. Dozens of times he plunged toward his rival in ferocious combat, tearing through the canopy like lightning—swift, terrifying, a display of skill that would drive many top-tier experts of the Fourth Realm to despair.
Yet the youth before him remained exceedingly steady, swinging his blade unceasingly. Each slash was like a blazing sun ascending into the sky; he was as fearsome as an ancient fiendgod.
In the rear, Moon God's pure yang consciousness pulled back, her mind trembling. How could the mighty Night God, who possessed a higher cultivation realm, be falling behind?
"Still trying to flee?" Li Qingyue spoke.
Jiang Ran walked gracefully forward as well, smiling. "Your name violates a taboo. The true Moon God is right here."
As for the one-armed Blood God, the instant Night God's dark domain enveloped Qin Ming and the two young powerhouses began trading blows, he had triggered his blood escape art yet again and bolted.
Moon God had actually been cautious and wanted to retreat as well, but the spiritual secret arts unleashed by the two women struck in a hair's breadth, causing her to freeze briefly.
Without a physical body, her conscious spirit-light was like rootless duckweed; lacking the nourishment and shelter of the "flesh and blood soil," she was far more susceptible to such attacks.
Clang!
After tens upon hundreds of collisions and blade strikes, shifting from absolute darkness to ultimate radiance—two total extremes—Night God's pure yang blade-light finally shattered.
Even his physical body was covered in blood. Nearly cleaved in two, he tumbled down from midair.
At the crucial moment, he activated a special weapon on his person, cloaking himself in liquid armor, which spared him from being severed at the waist.
The Eight Trigrams battle garment on Qin Ming revived and activated as well. This time, it was his turn to ride his blade and charge at his opponent with overwhelming force.
Amidst ringing metallic clashes, Night God's face turned pale. In a duel like this, activating such a special weapon took an immense toll on one's stamina.
Most critically, nine-colored immortal light soared from Jiang Ran, while Eight Trigrams runes shone brightly around Li Qingyue. Both women took to the air in an intimidating display, cutting off his path of escape.
With a thud, as Qin Ming swung his saber, Night God's flesh and blood inside the special armor was nearly blasted apart by the shockwave!
Simultaneously, the black armor around Night God erupted with dark light, detached of its own accord, and transformed into a dagger, piercing through the night sky and fleeing into the distance.
Qin Ming tried his best to stop it, driving his Eight Trigrams battle garment to assist.
Jiang Ran and Li Qingyue pursued and intercepted as well. Alas, the black dagger was sentient, seemingly housing a fully formed weapon spirit. In a flash, it sank as if plunging into an abyss, vanishing from sight.
"That weapon was refined by a powerful deity. It's better off discarded, lest that god-like entity follows the trail straight to your doorstep," the Eight Trigrams Furnace's weapon spirit informed him.
"If this old man weren't broken, I would have crushed it flat!" The weapon spirit Six Desires inside the heavenly halberd sent out a wave of intent.
In truth, had the shattered Eight Trigrams Furnace not been reduced to faint remnants of a weapon spirit, it could have burned gods and devils to ash.
"Why?" Night God had been cleaved by Qin Ming into a bloody paste, his pure yang consciousness dimming. He knew he was in a desperate plight and could not survive; after all, even the divine weapon had abandoned him.
"Because your cultivation realm is too low," Qin Ming replied.
Night God's conscious spirit-light fluctuated violently, his emotions clearly surging. His opponent was merely in the mid-stage of the Fourth Realm, yet dared to say such a thing.
Qin Ming added, "If you were at the perfection stage of the Fourth Realm, or a grandmaster, you wouldn't end up this miserable."
"You..." Night God felt stifled, utterly mocked and humiliated.
Thud! Qin Ming swung his saber, blasting that mangled mass of blood and flesh apart. A black gale swept through, working in concert with the Golden Crow Night-Illuminating Saber to extinguish the last remnants of the man's vital essence and spirit.
"Night God..." Moon God's conscious spirit-light trembled, pale and bound to this spot, doomed beyond salvation. Regret consumed her. She had already escaped—why had she come back for revenge? She had truly thrown herself into the net.
"Why keep her around?" Qin Ming charged past, driving his blade straight through her pure yang consciousness. The blade intent vibrated continuously alongside the black astral wind.
"No!" In absolute despair, Moon God's pure yang consciousness was completely extinguished.
"After breaking through, I really am strong. Barely enough to be considered part of the Realm Faction, right?" Qin Ming mused. His cultivation realm shouldn't be lower than Cui Chonghe's now, right?
"What are you daydreaming about? Hurry up and move!" the two women urged.
Moments later, amid the fleeing host, they encountered the experts of the Odd Insect Alliance.
"Young Master, the Silver-Spotted Ladybug was slain by this person," a Ruby Spider spoke up. Had it not fled quickly, it would have died in that tunnel as well.
A young expert radiant as bright jade, clad in snow-white robes, looked over toward Qin Ming. Though stained with specks of blood from the rout, his scholarly air remained unmistakable.
The Odd Insect Alliance was powerful; part of their force had entered the frozen sea, while another contingent had turned into plunderers blocking the tunnel's exit.
"Enmities are better resolved than deepened," the white-robed young man stated.
Though he hadn't personally witnessed Qin Ming slay Night God, he had deduced what happened from the soaring blade-light. He chose forbearance, pressing on toward the exit of the mountain range.
Yet Qin Ming, Jiang Ran, and Li Qingyue all possessed keen divine perception and faintly caught the wisps of killing intent he had forcibly suppressed.
Qin Ming in particular could resonate with it, clearly detecting the other's malice. A grandmaster from the Odd Insect Alliance had already escaped the mountain range ahead of them; this white-robed youth intended to take revenge once they were outside.
Without a word, Qin Ming charged straight at him.
"You take the initiative to form an enmity with my Odd Insect Alliance? Do you desire an endless feud?" the white-robed youth berated, trying to pull away.
Yet having locked onto him, Qin Ming uttered not a syllable, simply swinging his blade continuously.
"Do you truly think I fear you?" The white-robed youth attacked bare-handed, swatting at Qin Ming's long saber condensed from heavenly light, truly exhibiting immense valor.
Before long, however, blood poured from both his hands, his skin and flesh split open, exposing bone.
This youth was indeed formidable; otherwise, the younger generation of this team would not have looked to him as their leader.
In an instant, he revealed his true form—a white, jade-like flying centipede. Roaring, he spat a toxic mist capable of corroding spiritual domains.
He possessed over a hundred pairs of jade-white arms, either forming hand seals, manifesting pure yang sabers, or wielding thunder hammers, attacking in a frenzy.
"If it's a battle you want, let's fight to our hearts' content!" Even after turning into a centipede, his head remained human. With his white hair flying and arms flailing, he was like a fiendgod born into the world.
Yet in the fierce clash, he gained no advantage.
Qin Ming's spirit field expanded, a terrifying amalgam of the Sumeru field, the Heavenly Demon force field, and more. It warped the night sky, rippling with layer upon layer of waves.
"Ah..." Several of the centipede spirit's arms were brutally torn away by the spirit field. Even with over a hundred pairs, it was far from enough.
His body shrank abruptly until it was merely a palm's length, fully assuming the shape of a White Jade Centipede. Glowing with divine radiance, crystalline and translucent, it shot toward Qin Ming.
At this moment, it seemed forged of divine gold, indestructible.
When one of Qin Ming's blade rays slashed it, it produced a ringing metallic clang, leaving only a faint white mark on its surface without cleaving it apart.
Clang!
In a flash, flames swirled around the saber in Qin Ming's grasp. Nanming Li Fire, Six Ding Divine Fire, and solar true fire merged into one as he unleashed the Samadhi True Fire Saber.
With a soft slice, the odd insect was cleaved in two, like a hot knife through butter. The cut was exceptionally smooth, and only then did blood gush out.
The White Jade Centipede screeched in agony, its hundred legs squirming as wings sprouted from its flanks, still trying to flee.
Yet with a single slash, Qin Ming knocked it back down, cutting off its retreat.
He knew that the Samadhi True Fire Saber, like the Longevity Sword Intent not recorded in text within the World-Abiding Scripture, was a supreme trump card in its specific domain.
"I was destined to become an insect king... how could I be so pathetic?" The White Jade Centipede in the late-stage of the Fourth Realm was overwhelmed with frustration.
"Your cultivation realm is too low," Qin Ming answered.
The White Jade Centipede felt stifled with rage, subjected to mockery even on the verge of death. Yet the fact that his foe could cut down an opponent of a higher realm was undeniable, leaving him feeling utterly powerless.
His dream of becoming an insect king had shattered; he would never stand among the supreme experts of the insect race.
The next moment, Qin Ming brought down a vertical cleave, splitting the White Jade Centipede in half, and channeled Samadhi True Fire to burn its conscious spirit-light to ash.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ran and Li Qingyue had already ended their battle, slaying the Ruby Spider and the Flying Scorpion.
Li Qingyue said, "The grandmaster-level shadowy creatures from the Solar Secret Acupoint seem to have weakened after coming out. It appears they cannot venture far from the land of extreme yang."
"Weren't there supposed to be great grandmaster shadows? I haven't seen any," Qin Ming asked, his hand firmly clutching the rotting fan in caution.
Jiang Ran said, "The great grandmaster shadows went off to hunt down the decaying deities."
Reportedly, it was those decaying deities nearing the end of their lifespans who had been the most proactive, attempting to fish for the flower of extreme yang.
Qin Ming's heart pounded wildly. That woman in the coffin held such a grudge—if she locked onto him, wouldn't the consequences be even more catastrophic?
In truth, deep within the Solar Secret Acupoint, that peerless phantom in the night sky stroked her face, then opened her slender hand toward the physical body inside the coffin, drawing forth a strand of aura.
Then, with a wave of her hand, several powerful shadowy creatures shrouded in solar true fire rapidly surged out of the abyss, traversed the frozen sea, and gave chase outward.
Today, within the severed ridge of Flying Immortal Mountain, bloody mist steamed from fissures in the ground, and even some demonic creatures ran amok. The entire ruin seemed to have spun out of control.
"A catastrophe is upon us! Flee, we can't stay in these mountains any longer!"
All the expedition teams fled from the mountainous terrain in every direction, scrambling over one another in utter chaos.
In the distance, a blond youth looked over. "One Sword, so you've fled here as well!"
It was Oleg of the Black Tower civilization, with Saintess Elena at his side. As they neared the edge of the severed ridge of Flying Immortal Mountain, they looked across at Qin Ming.
"He's a core saint of Yujing. Can we take him down?" Behind Oleg and Elena stood a crowd of people, all glancing back.
"One Sword, come! Let us continue the unfinished battle from above the Nine Heavens!" Oleg shouted.
"There's no avoiding it. Let's carve our way through!" Jiang Ran said. Graceful and poised, she showed unyielding resolve at the critical moment.
Qin Ming nodded. "Indeed. Right now, they're the ones who need to steer clear of us, not us who fear him!"
Divine fire surged around Li Qingyue, declaring war with her actions.
In a flash, the two sides collided.
Oleg was in the late-stage of the Fourth Realm and truly absurdly powerful. His long golden hair whipped about like dancing divine flames.
He dared to confront Qin Ming head-on, directly resuming their former clash on the New Board!
Blinding golden radiance rose from Oleg's flesh, as though the sun were rising anew, and numerous mysterious symbols branded the void, expanding outward.
Qin Ming was equally dazzling, like a great sun crossing the sky. With every move, rolling saber qi and brilliant blade rays erupted, sweeping toward his foe.
In an instant, they moved like two battling fiendgods, trading blow after blow.
He's in a lower realm than me—how could I fail to take him down immediately? Oleg's thoughts churned. For an arrogant man like him, fighting someone of a lower realm had always been an absolute sweep!
Yet today, this opponent was trading blows evenly with him, seeming not a whit inferior.
"Your cultivation realm isn't high enough!" Qin Ming remarked with utmost seriousness.
For a saint of the Black Tower civilization, such words dialed the taunt straight to the maximum.
Oleg's face darkened. The runes in his flesh grew denser, extending beyond his skin to weave into a golden tower before him.
This tower was quite imposing, resembling the black tower that had brought them to Yujing back then, only rendered in pure gold.
The gorgeous golden tower radiated immortal power, wrapped in phantom constellations, smashing forward with dread force.
Looking solemn, Qin Ming brought out the Inner Landscape Heaven-Opening Axe!
In an instant, the axe light seemed to cleave through eternity, splitting the pitch-black night and slamming into the radiant golden tower.
Air currents billowed, nearby cliffs collapsed, and glaring energy beams poured in all directions, as if the vault of heaven were about to be split wide open. The destructive power of the collision was astounding.
On the ground, black fissures several feet wide crisscrossed, spreading all the way beneath the distant mountain ridges.
As for the nearby precipice, it was blown to smithereens, flattened completely.
Gasping for breath, Oleg bled from the corner of his mouth, badly hurt. Yet he disregarded his own condition, instead looking anxiously toward his opponent.
Though Qin Ming looked disheveled with messy black hair, his body was unharmed, not shedding a drop of blood.
At the same time, he unleashed nine-colored sword fiend energy, the Hunyuan force churning throughout his body as his spirit field expanded, charging forward.
Boom!
With this collision, Oleg spat a mouthful of blood and stumbled back, his injuries worsening. He felt sword qi slashing through his interior, tearing his five viscera.
So strong? Qin Ming was astonished. This man was truly extraordinary, withstanding several of his formidable techniques in a row, significantly stronger than Night God or the White Jade Centipede.
"You..." Foreign words spilled from Oleg's lips, his expression agitated and indignant. Clearly enraged, he had lapsed into his native tongue, and it was certainly no polite phrase.
"Again!" Qin Ming called out.
Oleg gripped his scepter. In an instant, his flesh was encased in special armor, as if donning a golden divine garment that illuminated heaven and earth.
Activating such a weapon carried a massive toll, which was why neither had done so earlier; in these mountains, if one's spirit and essence ran dry prematurely, even with liquid armor, death would follow.
"As if I don't have divine armor of my own." Qin Ming's body began to glow as well.
Abruptly, Oleg retreated without striking, rushing into the distance to rescue Elena.
Several of the Black Tower civilization's experts had already been burned to ash by Li Qingyue.
Elena had been severely injured by Jiang Ran and was hiding behind the crowd.
Blood covered half her body, and a punch hole had been blasted through her right chest. She was shielded in the center of the group.
Oleg charged through, sweeping Elena up and fleeing into the distance.
Qin Ming and the two women punched right through the Black Tower group, pursuing the two saints.
"Grandmasters!"
A moment later, Oleg returned, accompanied by two prime-aged grandmasters, and he handed the golden scepter to one of them.
Evidently, the Black Tower civilization had grandmasters operating in the severed ridge of Flying Immortal Mountain, and the two groups had now converged.
"Go!" Qin Ming and his companions did not engage, quickly fleeing.
At the same time, from within the severed ridge, several terrifying shadowy creatures shrouded in fire—ranging from grandmasters to great grandmasters—burst out of the Solar Secret Acupoint, chasing in their direction.
"We're finally out of the mountains." Before Qin Ming could breathe a sigh of relief, he discovered that the survivors from the Black Tower civilization, the God-Like organization, and others had joined up with their grandmasters and were flanking toward them.
Li Qingyue said, "We can't stay in the lands of Shenyuan any longer. Let's pass through the Mist Gate and return to Yezhou first!"
"Hurry!" Jiang Ran urged as well.
Behind them, among the allied organizations, the expressions of numerous experts changed.
"What's going on? Those shadowy creatures carrying solar true fire are all grandmasters, and some even have the aura of great grandmasters! Why have they locked onto us? They've chased us the whole way!"
"We need to speed up and overtake that saint of Yujing so he takes the fall!" The crowd grew frantic.
Qin Ming looked back with intense unease, sensing those phantoms were gunning for him. Yet his gaze turned strange: weren't the Black Tower civilization and the God-Like Society inadvertently shielding him from the shadowy creatures by pursuing him?
"Oh, familiar faces up ahead!" Jiang Ran called out.
Tang Yushang and Bai Meng were sprinting in front, and evidently they had spotted the trio as well.
Jiang Ran and Li Qingyue waved to them; after all, they belonged to the same Yujing faction, and regrouping would be beneficial.
Bai Meng grumbled with boundless dejection, "What rotten luck! We just arrived at the severed ridge of Flying Immortal Mountain—not a bite of meat, but a whole stench clinging to us! How did a riot break out in the mountains?"
"There's the aura of a great grandmaster behind us!" At that moment, Tang Yushang's face changed drastically.
"Stop running! Wait till I give them a nasty surprise!" Qin Ming said, signaling them to close in around him.
Grasping the rotting fan, he turned to face the direction of the severed ridge.
The experts from the Black Tower civilization and the God-Like Society, grandmasters included, were beside themselves with anxiety; the shadowy creatures behind were right on their heels.
"Wait, did we misunderstand? Was that woman in the Solar Secret Acupoint enraged by One Sword rather than us, and all these creatures are chasing him?"
Right then, Qin Ming looked coldly at the people rushing toward him.
Suddenly, he was ambushed—inexplicably kicked in the rear. Though it wasn't heavy, it startled him quite a bit.
"Damn it!" Qin Ming whipped his head around and saw Tang Yushang glaring at him.
"It really is you!" Tang Yushang was certain. This guy masking his true appearance was the very youth who had kicked her in the butt back in the Great Thunder Sound.
"We're on the same side!" Li Qingyue and Jiang Ran hurried to stop them.
"Brother Ming, it really is you! Be magnanimous and let bygones be bygones," Bai Meng chimed in.
At this moment, Qin Ming truly had no time to squabble over this; the pursuers were right upon them.
With a rumble, he swung the rotting fan toward the opposite side. Instantly, a terrifying black storm swept forward.
He was certain that anyone in the Fourth Realm without special armor for protection was doomed, while those in the Fifth Realm were hard to say, as he didn't know the full extent of the fan's lethal power.
"Let's go!" Qin Ming and the others sped away without looking back, charging toward the Mist Gate.
Before long, the woman in the Solar Secret Acupoint bestowed a Wind-Calming Pearl and two sets of special ancient armor upon those shadowy creatures, dispatching them once more in pursuit.
Several days later, Qin Ming and the others were all heavily wounded. Had it not been for their liquid armor, they would certainly have perished.
Bai Meng was the most pitiful. If the others hadn't taken turns protecting him, he would have been burned to ash without a doubt.
Only after passing through five regions and traversing five Mist Gates did they finally shake off their pursuers.
"Qin Ming, those phantoms were gunning for you all along, weren't they?" Tang Yushang had keenly deduced the truth; they seemed to have been dragged into his mess.
"Stick with Brother Ming, get beaten nine times a day!" Bai Meng lamented mournfully. He was still young and had nearly met an untimely demise.
Still shaken, he sighed, "Thank goodness—once we cross this Mist Gate, we'll be back home. Brother Ming, farewell!"
"Allow me to see you off," Qin Ming said.
As they parted, watching Tang Yushang turn her back, he kicked out with a bang, sending her flying into the Mist Gate.
"Run!" He turned and bolted.
Jiang Ran and Li Qingyue were speechless, but had no choice but to flee alongside him.
"Sister, I want to go home, I don't want to go to Yezhou!" Bai Meng's miserable shriek echoed from behind.
Chapter 483