Chapter 171: The Group's Battle and Yang Dongqing's Instant Defeat

"They're over here!" a paperman suddenly roared. The shout pierced the night sky, instantly drawing the attention of nearby soldiers and citizens.

Chaotic, dense footsteps echoed from the darkened streets as a massive crowd surged toward them like a tide.

Mu Qing and the others grew frantic. "Mr. Su, what do we do now?"

Su Mu's expression remained calm. Taking a step forward to shield the group behind him, he said, "You guys go first. I'll cover the rear."

At that exact moment, a faint voice suddenly whispered in their ears: "Wait for me at the seaside."

The group knew this was no time to hesitate. They gave heavy nods, and the three of them scattered, breaking out in different directions.

Quite a few people chased after the three of them, but even more stayed behind to encircle Su Mu.

They all knew perfectly well that Su Mu was the backbone of this team. Once they killed him, the remaining few wouldn't be able to make any waves.

Sprinting away, the three looked back at Su Mu, who was already deeply besieged. While anxious, they were also faintly moved. After all, not just anyone would stay behind alone to cover the rear for companions they had met only days ago.

However, that touched feeling lasted for exactly one second.

Because Su Mu died.

His head was chopped off in a single strike by one of Hu Jie's papermen. The severed head fell to the ground, revealing a dark-skinned, wooden face—clearly some unknown native of the Sea Kingdom.

Seeing this, Yang Dongqing—whose eyes were already slightly red from being moved—turned completely red-eyed with rage. He was so angry he wanted to curse out loud. This is what the fuck you call covering the rear?!

With the fall of "Su Mu," all the pressure instantly shifted onto the three of them.

"Trying to leave? It's not that easy!" a Nightmare Apostle rushed over at high speed. For his own safety, he charged straight for the weakest link: Yang Dongqing.

Naturally, one picks the softest persimmon to squeeze. Yang Dongqing was only at Bronze Tier 2; if he didn't target him, who else would he choose?

The man leaped into the air, his figure cutting across the night sky as he plummeted toward Yang Dongqing like a cannonball.

Feeling the fierce wind striking from behind, Yang Dongqing's expression drastically changed. Acting on pure instinct, he executed an ugly roll to dodge the blow. Covered in dirt, he fixed his gaze and his heart clenched—the spot he had just been standing on had been smashed into a deep crater!

A man wearing a denim jacket stepped out of the crater with a savage grin, staring at Yang Dongqing with playful mockery.

"It's you!" Yang Dongqing grimaced. "You're a Nightmare Apostle who entered in the same batch as Mu Qing and the others. Why are you helping Hu Jie?"

The denim-clad man sneered. "Judging by your tone, it sounds like you want to blame me? Bah! I've been annoyed with you lot for a long time. Just because you guys had the courage to set sail, that makes the rest of us cowards, right? Fine, I admit I'm a coward. But if you wanted to set sail, you should've just left! Why the hell did you have to anger the Sea God?"

"How are those of us who decided to stay supposed to survive now?"

"We didn't anger him! That was all Hu Jie's lie! The truth is, he's the one who—" Yang Dongqing began urgently, but the denim-clad man cut him off.

"Cut the crap! You have the guts to do it, but no guts to admit it? Go to hell!" A burst of brilliant metallic light suddenly erupted from the denim-clad man's body. The radiance was so intense it almost turned him into a man of metal.

Yang Dongqing was horrified. "Follower of Strength!?"

He recognized this as the Silver Law, Follower of Strength. It was his superior law path—a Silver Law that could only be attained after gathering Heart of Steel, Ceaseless Recovery, and Great Force Bombardment Punch!

He couldn't win. He couldn't beat this man at all.

Boom!

The fist, flashing with metallic light, struck with terrifying force.

Feeling the sheer pressure of the incoming punch, Yang Dongqing clenched his jaw and threw up both hands to block. In the very next second, the dull ring of clashing metal echoed out, sickeningly mixed with the sound of snapping bones.

Bang!

Yang Dongqing's arms were instantly broken. Even his chest partially caved in as his entire body was sent flying backward, crashing violently into a row of residential houses.

"Hmph! Weakling." The denim-clad man sneered, walking toward the ruined houses. "If the King hadn't ordered us to keep you alive to breed, I would've taken your life in a single move!"

Plunging a hand gleaming with cold metallic luster into the rubble, he dragged the heavily injured Yang Dongqing out like a dead dog.

The white light of Ceaseless Recovery flickered over Yang Dongqing's body as his injuries continuously healed themselves.

The denim-clad man immediately threw a flurry of punches, snapping all four of Yang Dongqing's limbs.

"Ah!" Yang Dongqing screamed miserably. Yet, there was no fear on his face. Instead, his eyes turned bloodshot as he lunged and viciously bit into the denim-clad man's body.

Crack!

Several of his teeth snapped off, yet he only managed to leave a row of shallow white marks on the man's skin.

The defense of Follower of Strength was simply too formidable. As Yang Dongqing's superior law, it wasn't something he could ever break through.

"Go to sleep for a bit, weakling."

Bang!

The denim-clad man delivered a heavy knife-hand strike to the back of Yang Dongqing's neck. Yang Dongqing's eyes instantly rolled back, and he completely lost consciousness.

Battles had erupted in other locations as well. Lü Dongliang was completely surrounded by several Transcendents who had rushed over to intercept him. Entering a state of complete Berserk, his entire body turned crimson. Like a red-haired demon crawling out of Hell, he frantically attacked every living creature around him.

This was the disadvantage of being a warrior. Because they only relied on physical attacks, it was far too easy for them to become hopelessly bogged down when encountering enemies who were stronger and outnumbered them.

In contrast, Mu Qing had it much easier.

Reaching out her fair little hands, she forcefully slapped the ground. Vibrant green light surged from her body, channeling through her palms and into the earth. The very next moment, countless vines and trees erupted toward the sky, trapping her pursuers within.

Some ordinary soldiers were impaled by branches on the spot, their corpses continually lifted by the growing trees until they hung suspended in the canopy.

As she continued to channel her power, the trees kept growing wildly. In the blink of an eye, a dense forest rose up, concealing her figure. Relying on the woodland cover, she fled frantically. Perhaps it was just an illusion, but within the woods, Mu Qing's speed actually seemed to increase.

Unfortunately, while the trees could hold back ordinary people, they could hardly stop a Transcendent. A dark silhouette flashed through the woods like a phantom. The Mithril Dagger in his hand gleamed with silver under the moonlight as he caught up to the fleeing Mu Qing, clinging to her like a shadow following its form.

He slashed out with the dagger, instantly carving a deep, bone-deep bloody gash across Mu Qing's back.

Mu Qing let out a muffled groan. Forcing herself to endure the pain, she spun around and threw a handful of black powder. The man's gaze tightened; not knowing what the powder was, he didn't dare take it head-on and was forced to temporarily retreat.

He wasn't anxious. The Sequence ranking of Mu Qing's Silver Law, Call of Nature, was very low. While it was somewhat effective against ordinary people, it was woefully inadequate against a Transcendent. Moreover, she was already injured; her speed would undoubtedly drop.

Just as he thought this, he saw that Mu Qing seemed unable to hold on any longer. She stumbled, diving headlong into a patch of shrubbery.