Escape from Death

At the same time, Old Hei endured the pain in both arms and gathered spiritual power once more, slamming both palms onto the ground. "Quicksand Technique!"

The ground beneath Li Chengjie instantly turned soft and muddy. A pulling force rose up, restricting his movements.

The dizziness in his head had yet to fully subside when the pincer attack was already upon him!

A flicker of despair crossed Li Chengjie's eyes, but Survival Instinct drove him to unleash the last of his strength. No longer trying to completely evade the Spirit Binding Rope, he abruptly tipped his body to one side while hurling the Azure Edge Sword at Viper's face with all his might, trying to besiege Wei to rescue Zhao. "Take this!"

Viper had not expected Li Chengjie to still have the strength to counterattack. He instinctively tilted his head aside to dodge the flying sword, and his control over the Spirit Binding Rope slackened slightly. "Hmph!"

"Smack!"

The Spirit Binding Rope failed to coil around his neck, but tightly bound Li Chengjie's right arm—the very arm that had just thrown the sword. A restraining effect that sealed spiritual power instantly spread through him.

Old Hei was overjoyed at the sight. Maintaining the Quicksand Technique, he strode forward and smashed his left fist, trailing a vicious gust, toward Li Chengjie, whose right arm was temporarily bound and whose body was trapped in the quicksand. "Let's see where you can run now! Get down!"

With his right arm bound and his movements restricted, Li Chengjie saw Old Hei's heavy fist coming for him. A fierce glint flashed through his eyes as his left hand formed a Cultivation Technique at an unbelievable speed. "Shield Technique!"

A small spiritual-power shield covered in blood-red patterns instantly appeared before him.

"Bang!"

Old Hei's fist smashed brutally into the shield. The shield shook violently, its light swiftly dimming, but it ultimately blocked that Fatal Blow.

Li Chengjie, however, was sent reeling by the recoil and spat out another mouthful of Fresh Blood. His face was as white as paper, and half his body had sunk into the quicksand.

Viper dodged the flying sword. Seeing that Li Chengjie was already at the End of the Strong Bow, he sneered darkly. "Struggling on the brink of death! Old Hei, cripple him!"

Old Hei grinned viciously and raised his fist again. "Kid, making it this far means you've got some skill! But it ends here!"

Feeling the spiritual power in his body nearly drained dry and the growing numbness, Li Chengjie knew he could no longer fight head-on. He suddenly raised his head and fixed Old Hei with a deathly stare, his voice hoarse yet carrying a chilling coldness. "You... really think you've got me cornered?"

Old Hei's heart gave a jolt at that look, and his movement slowed despite himself. "At death's door, and you still want to bluff?"

A strange smile tugged at Li Chengjie's lips. The muscles in his bound right arm suddenly tensed, as though he intended to forcibly break free of the Spirit Binding Rope. "Come... to hell with me!"

Viper was extremely alert. Seeing this, he immediately shouted, "Old Hei, watch out! He's going to self-detonate his Dantian!"

Old Hei's expression changed drastically. He instinctively moved to retreat. If a Qi Refining Level 5 cultivator self-detonated his Dantian, the force would be enough to badly wound them—or even drag both of them down in Mutual Destruction!

However, Li Chengjie did not self-detonate.

It had merely been a feint!

At the instant Old Hei retreated and Viper's attention was drawn away, a crumpled, utterly unremarkable yellow Talisman had somehow appeared between the fingertips of Li Chengjie's bound right hand—it was the only low-grade "Sharp Metal Talisman" of uncertain effect that he had found in a corner while sorting through his Storage Bag earlier!

Li Chengjie poured the last wisp of his weak spiritual power into the Talisman and barked, "Sharp Metal Talisman, activate!"

"Whoosh!"

The Talisman instantly turned into a faint yet incomparably sharp golden thread, shooting precisely toward the Spirit Binding Rope around his right arm!

"Rip!"

The Spirit Binding Rope, whose quality had never been especially high, snapped at once beneath the Sharp Metal energy that specialized in breaking restraints!

Neither Old Hei nor Viper had expected Li Chengjie to have such a move left. Both froze. "What?!"

Freed from his restraints, Li Chengjie did not hesitate for even a moment. He did not even spare the time to retrieve the Azure Edge Sword, instead using the last of his strength to yank his body free of the quicksand and scramble toward the dark-red pill furnace in the corner of the quiet room!

This was Li Chengjie's final chance!

Viper was the first to react, raging furiously. "Trying to hide? Dream on! Wind Blade!"

Several Wind Blades shot toward Li Chengjie's back once more.

Li Chengjie did not look back at all. Drawing upon Old Man Li's rich experience in evasion, his body twisted through several evasive motions. Though two Wind Blades still slashed him, leaving Fresh Blood streaming from his wounds, he finally lunged behind the pill furnace. "Cough, cough... pfft..."

Old Hei was beside himself with rage as he strode after him. "Let's see how long you can hide! I'll smash this damn furnace to pieces!"

Just as Old Hei raised his fist, preparing to smash both man and furnace together, Li Chengjie pressed his back against the slightly cool furnace wall and rapidly tapped a certain inconspicuous depression at the base of the pill furnace several times with his bloodstained fingers—this was a simple mechanism he had accidentally discovered while cleaning the pill furnace once. It seemed to be connected to the Earth Fire Array, though its exact function was unknown. But now, he could only gamble!

"Hummm..."

The pill furnace gave a deep hum. The dim runes on its body abruptly lit up with a faint glow. Then, a scorching current of air far hotter than during normal pill refinement surged violently from the Earth Fire Vent. It was not flame, yet it carried a searing heatwave that spread forward in a fan-shaped burst!

Old Hei bore the brunt of it and was blasted head-on by the scorching current. Though he was not burned, the instantaneous high heat choked his breath and stabbed at his eyes, immediately halting his forward charge. "Ah! My eyes!"

Viper was also struck by the heatwave. His sleeve instantly scorched black as he recoiled in shock and fury. "Careful! There's something strange about this pill furnace!"

Seizing the opportunity, Li Chengjie curled up in the shadows behind the pill furnace, gasping violently as he circulated his Cultivation Technique with every second he could seize, trying to neutralize the poison in his body and recover even a trace of spiritual power.

Li Chengjie was covered in blood. His right arm had been strangled purple-black by the Spirit Binding Rope, the numbness from the Poison Needle wound in his left shoulder was spreading, his spiritual power was nearly exhausted, and even his consciousness was beginning to blur.

Old Hei rubbed his stinging eyes, his fury soaring to the heavens. "Damn it! Today, I'll grind your bones to dust and scatter your ashes!"

Viper's eyes flickered as he looked at the pill furnace still radiating residual heat, then at Li Chengjie behind it, barely clinging to life but still glaring fiercely. An inexplicable unease rose in his heart. "This kid has one trump card after another. We can't drag this out any longer! Use our strongest methods and bombard him to death from a distance!"

Old Hei nodded. He and Viper simultaneously retreated several steps, widening the distance between them. "Fine! We strike together!"

Old Hei formed hand seals with both hands. Earth-yellow spiritual power gathered madly, condensing before him into a washbasin-sized boulder covered in spikes. "Flying Rock Technique! Go!"

Viper took out a Black Gourd and pulled its stopper. Thick black smoke carrying a pungent stench and the shrill howls of ghosts poured forth. "Hundred Ghosts Soul Devouring Smoke! Swallow him!"

The enormous boulder and the churning ghost smoke, both carrying an aura of destruction, blasted toward Li Chengjie behind the pill furnace at the same time!

Li Chengjie watched the fatal attacks approach, and a trace of helplessness and unwillingness flashed through his eyes.

Li Chengjie had exhausted every means at his disposal. His physical strength, spiritual power, and divine sense had all reached their limits.

Seeing the massive rock and the Soul Devouring Ghost Smoke about to swallow both him and the pill furnace, a flicker of despair passed through Li Chengjie's eyes.

Li Chengjie fiercely bit through the tip of his tongue, using the sharp pain to jolt his nearly numb nerves awake. With the last shred of his strength, he rolled toward a crack in the wall behind and to the side, one that had been blasted open by the aftershocks of the earlier battle!

"BOOM!!"

The Flying Rock Technique smashed viciously into the pill furnace with an earth-shaking crash. The furnace shuddered violently, cracks spreading across its body as its lid was blown away.

Meanwhile, the Hundred Ghosts Soul Devouring Smoke spread like a living thing, shrouding the area around the pill furnace with tooth-grating corrosion sounds and the howls of ghosts.

Old Hei stared fixedly at the area blanketed in black smoke and sneered, "Let's see if you can survive this!"

Viper swept his divine sense through the black smoke, but his brow faintly furrowed. "Hm? His aura... disappeared?"

Just as the two were uncertain, Li Chengjie's blood-drenched, staggering figure tumbled out from that crack in the wall like a torn sack, crashing onto the icy ground of the shop's back alley.

Li Chengjie did not even have the strength to look back. Driven by his tenacious will to survive, he clawed his way toward the mouth of the alley with both hands and feet.

Old Hei spotted Li Chengjie fleeing through the damaged wall, and his face twisted with shock and fury. "Damn it! He's still alive! Get him!"

Viper's expression darkened. "He's already at the end of his tether. He can't run far!"

The two swiftly circled around the wrecked shop, rushed out its back door, and gave chase in the direction Li Chengjie had fled.

Li Chengjie felt his consciousness repeatedly lurching between clarity and haze. The agony and numbness flooding his body were nearly enough to consume him.

The footsteps and angry curses behind him drew closer and closer, while the shadow of death pressed over him as though it had substance.

Li Chengjie had no idea where he could run. He merely struggled on instinct toward the light, toward a direction that seemed safer.

At last, Li Chengjie crawled out of that dark back alley and turned into a branching stretch of main road that was somewhat wider, where patrol squads occasionally passed by.

Just as his strength gave out and he collapsed, on the verge of abandoning all hope, a familiar figure came patrolling from the other end of the street with several Flowing Cloud Sect Disciples.

It was none other than Steward Zhou, Zhou Wenwu!

As though he had seized his final lifeline, Li Chengjie used every ounce of strength in his body to let out a hoarse, feeble cry. "Steward... Steward Zhou... save... save me!"

Zhou Wenwu looked over at the sound. When he saw Li Chengjie lying on the ground, drenched in blood and resembling a bloody corpse, his expression changed abruptly. With a flash, he was already at Li Chengjie's side. "Alchemist Li?! What happened?!"

Zhou Wenwu quickly crouched and examined Li Chengjie's injuries, his brows drawing tightly together. "Such severe injuries! And he's been poisoned!"

At that moment, Old Hei and Viper also chased out of the alley. Upon seeing Zhou Wenwu and the Flowing Cloud Sect Disciples behind him, both men's faces turned deathly pale, and they immediately tried to retreat back into the alley.

Zhou Wenwu abruptly raised his head, his gaze like lightning as it locked onto the pair. His voice was cold enough to pierce bone. "Stop!"

The two disciples behind Zhou Wenwu immediately flashed forward, blocking the alley entrance.

Zhou Wenwu slowly rose to his feet, releasing the formidable pressure of the late Qi Refining stage without reservation as it bore down on Old Hei and Viper. "Who are you? What colossal nerve! You dare openly ambush and kill an External Alchemist of my Flowing Cloud Sect within the inner district! Speak! Who sent you?!"

Old Hei and Viper trembled beneath Zhou Wenwu's pressure, their faces drained of all color and their lips quivering. How could they retain even a trace of their earlier arrogance?

Old Hei said in a trembling voice, "Steward... Steward Zhou... this is a misunderstanding... a misunderstanding..."

Viper dropped to his knees outright. "Mercy, Lord Steward! We... we were only acting under orders..."

Zhou Wenwu's eyes were icy, devoid of the slightest emotion. "Under orders? Whose orders?! Tell me the truth! If a single word is false, you will die on the spot!"