"With his divine power and that forbidden artifact, his combat strength has far surpassed the 'Zhan' realm. He might even be able to take on all 240 of our new recruits single-handedly."
Mo Li's expression was somewhat grim.
"In this battle... we have absolutely no chance of winning."
"Not necessarily." Baili Pangpang patted his belly and said with a smile.Lin Qiye asked, "Do you have a way?"
"His [Yi Yuan] was a gift from our family, so naturally I have ways to control it." Baili Pangpang reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of tape.
"This is a forbidden item [Forbidden Scroll], sequence 343. As long as a section of it is attached to the blade of that sword, it will completely isolate the sword from its environment. In this way, the Time God Ruins of the King's Face cannot affect it, and its power will be about the same as that of an ordinary sword."
Lin Qiye took the tape and looked at Baili Pangpang's pocket in surprise.
"You still carry this with you? Did you know the Wang Mian was coming?"
Baili Pangpang chuckled, neither confirming nor denying.
Seeing that he didn't intend to answer, Lin Qiye didn't want to press the matter further. He looked down at the roll of film in his hand, his eyes flickering.
"As long as we can seal that sword, we still have hope..."
...
Boom—!
Boom—!!
Boom—!!!
Explosions echoed from the ruins, and dense figures rushed toward the Masked Squad from all directions, with blinding flashes of fire erupting one after another!
The dormitory building was destroyed, but not all the new recruits were forced out. Most of those who survived until now were geniuses from all over the country. It wasn't too difficult for them to keep themselves safe in the chaos.
"Brother Shen, Brother Shen! Are you alright?" A new recruit staggered up from the rubble and called out to the person next to him.
"I'm fine..." The next moment, the thick wall panel next to him exploded with a loud crash, and Shen Qingzhu, covered in dust and with a dark face, crawled out and coughed twice. "Hey you, nerd girl... you alright?"
"Cough... Cough... Cough... I think I hit my head somewhere..." Shen Qingzhu pulled Lin Xi Chen from the wreckage; blood was still trickling from her head, the result of a violent impact during the fall. She coughed repeatedly, hacking up the mouthful of dirt she had swallowed.
"What the hell was that? Could someone in the 'Zhan' realm really create such an attack?" Shen Qingzhu's gaze fell on the masked squad fighting the new recruits in the distance, his expression grave.
"Brother Shen, there are about thirty men left who can fight. Should we go in or...?"
"Go!" Shen Qingzhu spat, tossed aside the backwards military cap on his head, and a fierce look appeared on his face.
"The ambush is over, let's face them head-on! I refuse to believe they can't have much mental energy left after fighting for so long!"
"You hold back that 'Wang' mask guy. I will hold the others."
After he finished speaking, a whirlwind burst forth from beneath his feet, and he moved swiftly toward the chaotic battlefield.
"H-Huh? What the hell, dude!?" Before Lin Xi Chen could even collect her wits, Shen Qingzhu had already run off, leaving her with a head full of question marks.
"Vortex, that troublesome guy is here." Moon Demon knocked two recruits unconscious with the hilt of his short sword, and out of the corner of his eye, he caught sight of Shen Qingzhu rushing towards him, and shouted to Vortex.
"Why are you asking me to go?"
"My Forbidden Ruins aren't suitable for fighting him, you go instead."
"Tch, all he does is boss people around."
Vortex muttered something and turned to rush towards Shen Qingzhu, who was speeding towards him.
Two figures rapidly approached each other, and then a violent air explosion erupted, unleashing a series of magnificent purple vortexes as the two collided violently!
"Are you the agent of Lucifer?"
"Uh-oh..." Lin Xi Chen was wiping blood from her forehead when she heard footsteps stop near her, along with a calm voice.
You guys got to be kidding me!
She cursed under her breath, but outwardly she forced a smile and scratched her head. "Haha... I don't have enough strength to have Lucifer's Ruins!"
Wang Mian:... You sure?
Lin Xi Chen:...
Her smile froze as she suddenly realized her wig had fallen off when the dormitory building began to collapse, revealing her true form—with hair floating in the air and glowing eyes.
Click!
Just as Wang Mian made his move and attempted to draw his cheating sword, she instantly kicked the end of the hilt, forcing the blade back into its scabbard.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Lin Xi Chen summoned her invisible light sword to block Wang Mian's attack; the two exchanged fierce blows, neither willing to yield. Whenever Wang Mian attempted to draw his sword, she would instantly strike, kicking the blade back into its scabbard.
They launched a relentless assault, parrying blows and switching between swordplay and hand-to-hand combat, interspersed with kicks. Lin Xi Chen skillfully cycled through a variety of weapons—swords, bows, and spears—solely to stall for time.
Crack!
"Your attacks are very impressive, with a creativity I've only seen in movies... Are you sure you are in the "Zhan" realm?"
"Hm... I'm just your ordinary recruit. I'm not that strong...." Wang Mian's sheathed sword clashed with Lin Xi Chen's invisible blade, sending sparks flying. She pursed her lips, straining to focus, fully aware that Wang Mian was holding back simply because she was a woman; in reality, she was barely holding her ground against him.
Lin Xi Chen launched a knee strike, hoping to catch him off guard, but he countered with the exact same move to block her attack. Seizing the opportunity, she grabbed Wang Mian by the collar and executed a skillful throw.
Just as Wang Mian performed a roll to avoid being knocked down, he saw a small yellow portal appear beneath his feet, followed by several other yellow portals emerging around him. "Damn..."
"Chains Of Heaven!" With a flick of Lin Xi Chen's wrist, chains instantly appeared and locked Wang Mian in place, preventing him from even moving a single muscle. The chains tightened even further if he trying to breakthrough it with brute force.
His eye widened under the mask as he was caught off guard by this oldest trick in the book. "Y-You... Xiao Meimei...! W-wait! Can I have my last word....!?"
Lin Xi Chen coughed up blood as she stepped closer to Wang Mian, her hand reaching out toward his mask. "Heh! No bribe here..."
...
Tianping clapped his hands lightly, and the rubble in the surrounding ruins suddenly rose up, flying towards the charging recruits in the direction of his fingertips, quickly engulfing them completely.
Just as he was about to continue using the long-range turret, a head suddenly popped out from the ruins at his feet.
Tianping's expression changed, and without saying a word, he quickly retreated several steps.
With a slight flick of his fingertips, sharp pebbles completely surrounded the man.
"Interesting, they actually ambushed me here?" Libra narrowed his eyes slightly.
The man slowly crawled out of the ruins, brushed the dust off his face, revealing an overly young boyish face.He held the knife, calmly shaking his head. "I didn't ambush you. I was just resting in my room when the building collapsed... I had just climbed out when I saw you."
Libra:...
Cao Yuan looked around, lightly touched the pebbles beside him with his fingertip, and nodded. "Hmm, not bad, eliminate me."
Tianping was taken aback. "What did you say?"
"Eliminate me."
"You...don't you want to put up a fight?"
"It's pointless." Cao Yuan, holding his sword, shrugged. "Besides, I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it if I resist."
After saying that, he thought for a moment and added, "...None of you could take it."
"...Are you looking down on me?" Libra was amused and annoyed. "You're just a new recruit, yet you have such a big mouth...Do you think you can kill me?"
Cao Yuan stroked his chin, pondered carefully for a while, and nodded seriously.
"Maybe."
"Oh?" Libra's eyes narrowed into a dangerous arc. "Then you give it a try."
"No." Cao Yuan shook his head decisively. "Once I drew my sword, I couldn't control myself. I don't want to commit any more killings."
After saying this, Cao Yuan threw the sword in his arms to the ground, put his hands together, and bowed his head devoutly, saying "Amitabha."
"...No, you have to try!" Libra's curiosity was completely piqued when he saw this.
"I don't."
"Try it! What's the harm in trying? I promise you can't hurt me!"
"I can't take the risk."
"...No! Draw your sword! Come and cut me!"
"Amitabha."
"..."Just as Tianping was about to say something, his expression changed slightly, and his figure floated back several meters again.
A terrifying shockwave swept past, cracking the earth beneath their feet. The scattered bricks and stones were barely airborne when they were held in place by a strange force field.
Tianping frowned and looked to the right. With a slight flick of his finger, the suspended bricks shot out like sharp arrows!
Not far away, Molly gripped her katana and stomped her foot hard on the ground. An invisible shockwave exploded outwards from her, shattering all the bricks and stones in mid-air.
"Huh? It's that mature woman." Rose, who was swinging a sledgehammer, caught a glimpse of Molly, who was locked in a stalemate with the scales, and her eyes lit up.
She abandoned the few recruits in front of her, picked up the sledgehammer, and charged towards Molly!
"Tianping, leave this mature woman to me!"
Rose's eyes were sharp, and she looked at Molly as if she were looking at a rare treasure. The hammer in her hand rapidly enlarged and smashed towards Molly with a gust of wind!
Molly's eyes flashed with murderous intent as she gripped her katana and charged headlong into the hammer!
Dong—!!
At the same time, Lin Qiye suddenly appeared, rushed straight to Cao Yuan's back, grabbed his collar, and quickly pulled him away from Tianping.
Cao Yuan snapped out of his daze, grabbed Lin Qiye's wrist with his other hand, and the two stopped abruptly.
"What are you doing?" Cao Yuan asked, frowning.
"Of course, I'll take you away," Lin Qiye said calmly. "Do you think you can beat him?"
"I didn't want to win, I just wanted to be eliminated as soon as possible."
"..."
Lin Qiye rolled his eyes. He had finally managed to rush into the arena and saved the first person, only to find out that the person was a pessimistic oddball who was eager to be eliminated...
"Oh, whatever you want then," Lin Qiye said coldly.Lin Qiye didn't want to waste any more time on this kind of lazy bum, and turned to head to other battlefields.
"Qiye! Qiye!! There's someone here, and I can't pull him out by myself!" Baili Pangpang shouted to Lin Qiye, dragging a recruit whose body was half stuck in the rubble.
Upon hearing this, Cao Yuan, who was about to turn around to look for Tianping, was startled!
"Qiye, Qiye...?" He muttered to himself, head down.