Miao He gave a bitter smile. What else could she do? Anyone who made it this far was no ordinary person — every one of them was a top expert.
To seize their bracelets? That was nothing but a dream.
Still, she had another plan — wait until nightfall.
If the guardian turned out to be powerful enough, she could simply collect the bracelets from the corpses of those who died.
She believed she had enough strength to at least survive.
Boom!
The guardian's figure once again descended from the sky, smashing his giant axe down toward the crowd.
Whoosh!
The sand and dust around exploded into a deep crater as everyone scattered in all directions.
Ren Sangsang, the Intermediate Cleaner, drew a dagger from her waist, turning into a blur of black as she dashed toward the guardian.
Swish!
She deftly dodged the giant axe and thrust her dagger straight into the guardian's neck before leaping back with precise, efficient movement.
But the guardian didn't even flinch — still gripping the axe tightly as he swept it sideways toward her.
"What the—?"
Ren Sangsang's eyes widened in disbelief. The guardian's neck slowly turned pitch black, and her dagger slid out, falling to the ground. Within moments, the wound had completely healed.
The others immediately fled in all directions, rushing into nearby buildings for cover.
One of the black-robed figures entered the same structure where Xu Mu was hiding.
"Hello there."
Xu Mu greeted the person with a calm smile.
Swish!
Suddenly, the black-robed figure lunged toward him with murderous intent.
Chen Xuan, standing nearby, swung his hatchet in response.
The attacker caught Chen Xuan's blade with one hand — a pale, delicate hand emerging from beneath the robe.
Judging by the slender fingers, it was definitely a woman.
Her hand shimmered faintly with a blue aura.
"I have other things to do. Excuse me!"
Wang Fugui immediately bolted from the building, unwilling to get involved in a fight that didn't concern him.
The black-robed woman, realizing something, glanced around nervously and suddenly leapt backward.
Even so, her hood was sliced open — not enough to reveal her face, but exposing a red earring, or more precisely, a sword tassel.
Xu Mu appeared beside her in a flash.
"Liang Yi! You've got some nerve — you dare attack me?!"
The woman before him was Liang Yi, from the Immortal Research Institute.
Liang Yi turned sharply toward Xu Mu, eyes wide with shock. She had nearly fallen for his trick — she hadn't expected him to possess an invisibility technique.
"Fang Chu! I've already investigated — there's no such person as you in our Institute!"
She yanked off her hood, revealing a delicate, oval face — beautiful, yet her cold eyes gleamed like those of a predator stalking its prey.
"Who the hell are you? Why do you know so much about our Institute?"
"Because I used to be one of you," Xu Mu replied calmly.
"Bullshit! People like you are a threat to us — you must die!"
A short sword appeared in Liang Yi's hand as she lunged toward him.
Chen Xuan couldn't just stand by — Xu Mu had gotten into trouble because of him.
He had fought Liang Yi before and knew her strength was unfathomable.
Even so, he couldn't back down. If he did, his master would probably crawl out of his coffin just to scold him.
"Firewood Chop, First Form — Split the Mountain!"
Chen Xuan rushed forward, gripping his hatchet in both hands, and swung down in a straight, powerful arc.
Liang Yi retreated slightly, dodging easily — but her eyes suddenly widened.
Golden lightning began crackling along Chen Xuan's blade.
As he brought it down, a half-meter-wide golden arc erupted, blasting forward with unstoppable force.
Crack!!
The building before them shattered apart, and Liang Yi's body was hurled dozens of meters away, crashing through another structure.
Stone walls collapsed, and she tumbled into the debris.
"Holy shit, Old Chen — that was insane!" Xu Mu gasped.
"Just average," Chen Xuan said with a grin. "That's just the wood-chopping technique my master taught me."
"Wood-chopping, huh? Pretty average indeed,"
came Liang Yi's voice as she emerged from the rubble, her hair disheveled, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth — yet she still looked stunning.
Blue light began flickering across her body, growing stronger and more intense until it glowed like a living flame.
Boom!
The ground beneath her feet trembled violently. In an instant, she flashed right before Chen Xuan.
"Firewood Chop, Second Form — Trim the Tree!"
Chen Xuan gripped his hatchet with one hand and darted to her side, moving so fast his figure blurred.
Liang Yi raised her sword to strike, but before she could, he was already behind her — slashing repeatedly, the blade moving so fast it left trails of afterimages.
He treated her like a tree, hacking at her weak points without mercy.
Liang Yi blocked with her short sword, but she couldn't keep up with his relentless assault.
Suddenly, she gasped and leapt backward — a long tear splitting open her robe at the waist.
When she touched it, her hand came away slick with blood.
"Shameless!" Liang Yi snarled, glaring at Xu Mu.
"You cowardly bastard, only know how to sneak attack!"
"Learned it from you — especially your fondness for poison," Xu Mu said, twirling his dagger with a grin.
He remembered how Jiang Huihui had once fallen victim to Liang Yi's poison.
Liang Yi's face turned pale with horror; she spun around and fled into the distance.
"Brother Mu, your dagger's poisoned?" Chen Xuan asked with a grin.
"Not yet. But it will be soon."
Xu Mu still had one of the enhanced Spring Night Grass pills he'd crafted to deal with Yun Wu.
While Chen Xuan and Miao He kept watch outside, Xu Mu opened his storage space, dropped the pill into a bottle of mineral water, and waited a few seconds until it fully dissolved.
Then he dipped his dagger into the bottle before sealing it away.
Now the blade was terrifyingly potent.
Just then, Xu Mu noticed the sky suddenly darken.
He stepped outside and saw that it wasn't clouds covering the sun — the light itself was vanishing.
"Wait… is it already night?"
He checked the time on his phone.
"This is a formation. How could it follow the outside world's time?"
Miao He looked at him solemnly.
"It's night now — the real slaughter is about to begin."
Within minutes, darkness engulfed everything — pitch-black to the point where they couldn't even see their hands.
"Brother Mu, you still there?"
Chen Xuan switched on his phone flashlight.
"I'm here."
Though blinded, Xu Mu could clearly sense both of them with his spiritual perception.
"Holy crap, Brother Mu — your face!" Chen Xuan shouted.
"What's wrong with it?"
Xu Mu touched his face, feeling nothing unusual.
"You look like a ghost — horns on your head, fangs in your mouth!"
Chen Xuan turned the light toward Miao He.
"You too!"
Xu Mu withdrew his perception and used the light to glance at Chen Xuan.
"You look the same," he said with a chuckle. "This formation sure is interesting."
Miao He's voice turned grim.
"Xu Mu… something's wrong. We might all die here."