Zhao Kongcheng and the Ghost Face King were locked in a fierce battle. The injured Ghost Face King, completely suppressed, let out a furious, jagged roar: "Rooar—!"
Centering on the Ghost Face King, a massive, hideous ghost face gradually surfaced on the ground.Forbidden Ruins Sequence 176, [Ghost Face Physiognomy]."
"Damn it, isn't he already wounded?How can he still use a Forbidden Ruin!" Zhao Kongcheng cursed.
The effect of [Ghost Face Physiognomy] was to thoroughly scramble the sensory perception of any living being within a certain range whose realm was equal to or lower than the caster's, while also scrambling spatial concepts.
Front, back, left, right, up, down... everything dissolved into utter chaos.
Lin Qiye's eyes flashed with a golden light. Out of nowhere, Yun Hexian produced a Cyan Jade Sword and tossed it to him. "Take it.It can channel the power of a Forbidden ruin. You're the Seraph Agent; you can channel divine power into it."
"What? Where did this come from? Never mind..."
The most urgent task was to help Zhao Kongcheng. Lin Qiye caught the Cyan Jade Sword, infused a wisp of Seraph divine power into it, and charged at the Ghost Face King.
Bolstered by the detection of his [Mortal Dust Divine Realm] and the buff of [Starlight Dancer], Lin Qiye darted about like a butterfly, striking the Ghost Face King in the gaps between its clashes with Zhao Kongcheng.
[Ghost Face Physiognomy] seemed to him like nothing at all, and every single one of his strikes drove deeper into the Ghost Face King's wounds.
Enduring a sword strike from Lin Qiye across its back, the Ghost Face King slammed a brutal fist into the more experienced Zhao Kongcheng.
"Ugh... cough, cough..."
The blow shattered four of Zhao Kongcheng's ribs on impact and heavily battered his internal organs.
Niohuru Kongcheng was defeated.
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Zhao Kongcheng fell backward onto the ground. After struggling for a long time, he drew the Night Watchers insignia from his chest pocket. "Damn, that hurts. If I'd known, I would've used this earlier."
"What?" asked Yun Hexian.
Zhao Kongcheng's fingers fumbled over the insignia, then pressed down, prompting a slender needle to slide out. "Since you're here anyway, I've been wanting to try this out for a long time.It can force an ordinary person to awaken a Forbidden Ruin..."
"Zhao Kongcheng! Brother Yun, take that away from him! I can still fight!" Lin Qiye called out in panic. Ever since he agreed to become a Night Watcher, Zhao Kongcheng had explained the function of this insignia to him at his home.
Demon God Summoning—a method of mutual destruction, and a final resort in desperate circumstances!
But right now, they were nowhere near a desperate situation!
A burst of divine power erupted from Lin Qiye's eyes. The Ghost Face King, abruptly suppressed by the Seraph's divine might, found itself unable to move and let out a low screech: "Skree—!"
"Die—!"
Lin Qiye swung the Cyan Jade Sword, hacking viciously at the Ghost Face King.
"Rooar—!"
With a distorted, pale grimace, the Ghost Face King fixed its eyes on Lin Qiye and once more forcibly burned its own origin source, shooting away from the attack like an arrow released from a bowstring.
Not only that, but it charged directly at Yun Hexian and Zhao Kongcheng with even greater speed!
Lin Qiye's vision darkened, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.
Having used [Starlight Dancer] for so long, his mental energy had reached its absolute limit.
Not to mention he had just unleashed a sliver of the Seraph's divine power yet again!
Seeing the Ghost Face King close in, Yun Hexian—who had just snatched the insignia away from Zhao Kongcheng—instantly activated his [Birds and Fish] ability. Expanding it to infinite distance, he turned the Ghost Face King back into a blur of black shadow.This time, as a massive amount of mental energy poured out of him, Yun Hexian's complexion grew increasingly pale, and there were no longer any golden clouds left within his Forbidden Ruins to replenish him.
[Birds and Fish] couldn't hold out much longer. He looked at Zhao Kongcheng, who was severely injured but still breathing, and then at Lin Qiye, who was leaning on the Cyan Jade Sword just to keep from dropping to his knees.
Yun Hexian silently calculated. It was just about time.
"Yun Hexian! Give me the insignia!" Zhao Kongcheng scrambled up into a sitting position, enduring the agony of his ruptured internal organs, and roared in a low voice.
Yun Hexian tossed the insignia far away, flashing Zhao Kongcheng a pale, sheepish smile. "Sorry, Uncle, my hand slipped. Who knows, maybe we'll even have reinforcements show up?"
Lin Qiye closed his eyes, fighting to recover his stamina and snatch a couple of deep breaths.
"Hongying and the others are still a while away. Yun Hexian, I can't let it get to the old town district!" Zhao Kongcheng wobbily hoisted himself to his feet.
"Boom—!"
Suddenly, a wave of heat so scorching it nearly vaporized the rain pierced through the [Lawless Void Domain] and slammed heavily into the Ghost Face King.
The heat was scorching, explosive, and brimming with the urge to fight.
"If you're tired, take a break. Why push yourself so hard? What, do you think you're the only person left in this world?"
An arrogant voice echoed from the shattered opening of the [Lawless Void Domain]. Immediately following it, a black-robed figure wielding a Cyan Jade Sword appeared, seemingly draped in flames, radiating an overbearing, manic presence.
His speed was blistering.
A scarf resembling a long red ribbon fluttered past them. Lin Qiye noticed the man wore a white jade mask that covered only the upper half of his face, leaving his rugged jawline vaguely visible.
Yet with the observational range of his [Mortal Dust Divine Realm], he couldn't see the face beneath that mask at all.
"Finally, I can have a decent fight!"
Flames billowed up around the black-robed man, swirling and gathering upon the Cyan Jade Sword. The intense heat instantly vaporized the surrounding air, leaving not a single drop of rain behind.Robbed of his Forbidden Ruins, the Ghost Face King shrieked and charged at the black-robed man.
The black-robed man's Cyan Jade Sword burned a brilliant red with flames, and with a single sweep, he cleaved half of the Ghost Face King's body clean off.
"Where are you going? Big man here will play something fun with you!"
When the Ghost Face King tried its old trick of bypassing the black-robed man to charge at Zhao Kongcheng, the black-robed man sneered, his dark red semi-long hair whipping through the air as he lashed out with wave after wave of fire blades.
Every single fire blade exploded. The Ghost Face King, already thoroughly exhausted, couldn't dodge a single one, and the smell of charred flesh began rising from its wounds.
Lin Qiye staggered step by step toward Yun Hexian. At that moment, Yun Hexian was helping Zhao Kongcheng into a sitting position. All three of them shared the exact same pale complexion, especially Zhao Kongcheng, who still had a streak of blood at the corner of his mouth.
"Who the hell is this now? Cangnan City is just a tiny little speck of a place, are divine ruins and forbidden ruins just taking turns showing up or what? Cough, cough, cough..."
Zhao Kongcheng cursed, staring for a moment before realizing that this black-robed man was at least at the Pool Realm Peak, capable of beating down a severely injured Ghost Face King that had burned its origin source.
Especially his flames—their temperature was so high that a small patch of rain was burned dry before it could even fall, not even forming steam.Without a doubt, it was an ultra-high-risk Forbidden Ruin.
A flash of envy crossed his eyes. Zhao Kongcheng looked over at Lin Qiye, catching his breath. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine." Lin Qiye handed the Cyan Jade Sword back to Yun Hexian and sat down beside him. "Who is he? Why do you have the exact same weapon as him?"
"They gave me this as a greeting gift. They invited me to join their team earlier and told me to think about it for a few days, but since I've already joined the Night Watchers with you, I'll just return it to him in a bit.Yun Hexian's mental energy was practically drained dry, but he kept his Forbidden Ruins running; the clouds vanished, but the immortal crane continued to fly.
Zhao Kongcheng was severely injured, but not on the verge of death, meaning the crane phantom wouldn't enter his body to heal him.
"This thing feels like a Forbidden Artifact, but it has no special abilities. It can only—cough, cough, cough..."
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Zhao Kongcheng looked at the Cyan Jade Sword and continued, "It can only channel energy, but Qiye has used it for so long without it breaking, even withstanding divine might—it's pretty rare. I've never heard of a faction like this in Cangnan City, cough, cough, cough..."
"Injured this badly? Uncle, are you afraid of pain?" Yun Hexian changed the subject.
Zhao Kongcheng blinked. "Not at all. Why?"
"The crane can instantly heal someone on the verge of death. Let me stab you with another sword." Yun Hexian said earnestly.
Zhao Kongcheng: "..."
Lin Qiye tugged at Yun Hexian's sleeve. "Brother Yun, stop messing around." Who hurts someone before healing them? "We can just have Pang Xin heal him when we get back."
Yet Zhao Kongcheng smiled and said, "Sure! Kid, come on!"
He trusted Yun Hexian and Lin Qiye, and he was willing to be the guinea pig to test their abilities. If they hadn't come down, he'd undoubtedly be dead right now.
"Brother Yun! Zhao Kongcheng!" Lin Qiye frowned.
Zhao Kongcheng waved a hand. "Qiye, you're not as polite as Ah He. Call me Uncle Zhao."
Lin Qiye: "..." Is this really the time for this?"
"Rip—"
Taking advantage of their bickering, Yun Hexian thrust his sword straight through Zhao Kongcheng's heart, then yanked it back out.
Zhao Kongcheng felt a sharp pain in his chest, but before he could even react, the immortal crane transformed into a white-gold shadow and dove straight into his body.
"Ah~"
A wave of warmth, wonderfully comfortable to the body, rapidly coursed through him. The pain he had felt moments before vanished as if it had never existed, and his injuries healed instantly.
[ "...provides a massive amount of vitality and soul power to heal the target, nearly capable of bringing the dead back to life and regenerating flesh from bones..." ]
Almost simultaneously, Zhao Kongcheng and Lin Qiye recalled what Yun Hexian had said earlier about this "blood-locking" ability.
Watching Zhao Kongcheng spring up and start hopping in place the next second, they couldn't help a shock through their hearts. This wasn't blood-locking at all; this was a bottom-out rebound recovery fountain!
At the same time, the black-robed man playing with the Ghost Face King unleashed his final attack: "Bursting Flame!"
A massive crescent-shaped red fire blade was hurled from his hands, cleaving the Ghost Face King straight down the middle from head to toe. Its internal organs spilled everywhere, roasted to a crisp.
Of course, the smell was revolting.
"I have a feeling he came to steal our kill," Yun Hexian remarked. "We drained the Ghost Face King's mana and skills, and he just waltzed in to last-hit it."
"Killing a Mysterious is all that matters, there's no such thing as kill-stealing," Zhao Kongcheng shook his head, saying in a low voice, "What's this organization called?"
"Oh, the person who recruited me said it's called—The Boys," Yun Hexian replied, watching as a wisp of black smoke gathered from the Ghost Face King's corpse and burrowed straight into his own body.
Neither Zhao Kongcheng nor Lin Qiye noticed it.
As Yun Hexian panicked inwardly, the voice of the BKing System rang out: [Ghost Face King essence received.]
Yun Hexian: "???"
That was it? Just a single line about receiving it? What is that even supposed to mean?