Ever since Feng Buqing appeared, Li Gaojie had kept his Evolutionary Light inactive, hiding himself as he crept closer to Liu Wenyin.
But Li Gaojie had never expected Feng Buqing to be insane!
In his view, a Saint-level powerhouse should have had victory in the bag.
Feng Buqing's departure had left Li Gaojie completely passive. His only option now was to take a desperate gamble—seize Liu Wenyin hostage and make the others hold back out of fear of hurting her. Only then would he have the slightest chance of survival.
From what he had observed, Liu Wenyin had little combat ability, and Su Ze by her side was nothing more than a pretty boy who relied on Wonder Items. As long as Li Gaojie acted swiftly and either killed or drove back Su Ze, he could easily take control of Liu Wenyin.
The only thing he needed to watch out for was that skull-shaped mental attack Wonder Item.
Seeing Li Gaojie pounce at high speed, Su Ze reacted just as quickly, flashing in front of Liu Wenyin.
Using Rhino Charge, Su Ze rushed straight at Li Gaojie without retreating in the slightest.
At best, Li Gaojie was about as strong as Gao Long. Su Ze had been able to one-shot Gao Long before, and now that he had gained the Regenerative Body skill, his strength had advanced even further. He had even less reason to fear Li Gaojie.
Whether it was explosive power or recovery, Su Ze was confident that he had the upper hand.
"You're courting death!"
Li Gaojie shouted and immediately unleashed his strongest attack skill. His fingers curled into claws as he lunged for Su Ze's heart.
His hand seemed to transform into a wolf's head, opening a bloody maw to bite at Su Ze. Even the wind it stirred sounded like a wolf's howl.
Su Ze neither defended nor retreated. He likewise used his strongest attack: the combination of Ant Strength and Needle Strike, thrusting a finger toward Li Gaojie.
Needle Strike's piercing property allowed Su Ze's attack to instantly punch through Li Gaojie's body.
Su Ze had avoided Li Gaojie's vital heart area with this strike. Instead, he pierced in through his abdomen and shattered his spine.
Li Gaojie's attack was a step too slow. The excruciating pain of being pierced threw off his hand, and it struck Su Ze in the left side of his chest.
With a series of cracking sounds, intense pain shot through Su Ze's left chest. He could clearly feel that two of his ribs had broken, but it did not matter. He had wanted to test Regenerative Body's self-healing ability anyway.
Li Gaojie was in even worse shape. He staggered back several steps, unable to remain standing, before Su Ze kicked him to the ground.
In just one exchange, the victor had been decided.
The people who had witnessed the battle were all dumbfounded. The four Hunters reassessed Su Ze, and even the two Hunters at the Cocoon Breaking Stage had undisguised shock in their eyes.
Li Gaojie, with a commission of fifty thousand, had been one-shot by Su Ze, whose commission was only ten thousand?
Although Su Ze had performed remarkably during the Beast Swarm attack, they had believed that he had merely borrowed the power of Wonder Items. They had not recognized Su Ze's own strength.
But now, without relying on any external aid, Su Ze had crippled Li Gaojie with a single move through sheer personal strength. Such power absolutely qualified him as a strong fighter among those at the Pupal stage!
Moreover, as far as they knew, Su Ze had only just entered the Pupal stage, while Li Gaojie was already at its peak. He had absorbed three tubes of Tier 2 extract and could enter the Cocoon Breaking Stage at any time, yet he had still been one-shot by Su Ze.
If Su Ze reached the peak of the Pupal stage as well, how strong would he become?
Would he be able to defeat someone at the Cocoon Breaking Stage while fighting above his level?
Even Aunt Yun and Liu Wenyin, who had long known that Su Ze was no weakling, were shaken when they truly saw him fight.
The two women had seen much in their lives, and the strength Su Ze displayed was not enough to astonish them too greatly. But when they considered Su Ze's age... seventeen! That was terrifying!
It meant that Su Ze possessed immense potential, enough to stand shoulder to shoulder with the greatest geniuses of the Six Nations.
Su Ze himself did not think it was anything remarkable.
Strong?
I paid for it!
Just look at how much the extracts he had absorbed and the medicine he had taken were worth altogether.
The value of the Divine Grace of Evolution skill was even more incalculable.
Su Ze planted one foot on Li Gaojie's chest and said, "Talk. Who sent you?"
Anyone could see that Su Ze had clearly been able to kill Li Gaojie in one strike, yet had deliberately left him half alive in order to extract some information from him.
The others snapped out of their daze and gathered around. Aunt Yun's back was bent and her steps were unsteady, yet she still dutifully shielded Liu Wenyin behind her.
Everyone's gaze fell on Li Gaojie.
Li Gaojie coughed up blood as he sneered and asked, "Why... cough, why should I tell you?"
"Honestly, it doesn't really matter whether you tell us or not. We're safe now anyway."
Su Ze spread his hands, looking unconcerned. "I'm only asking to satisfy my curiosity. If you're willing to talk, I can give you a quick death in return."
Knowing that death was unavoidable, Li Gaojie did not put on any stubborn act. Spitting blood, he haltingly explained what had happened.
It turned out that shortly after Liu Wenyin posted the escort mission at the Black and White Bar, someone had approached Li Gaojie and Gao Long. It was the suited man who had previously incited the Beast Swarm to attack them.
The suited man wanted Li Gaojie and Gao Long to infiltrate Liu Wenyin's escort team and report their route and other information to him.
Unable to refuse the generous reward offered by the suited man, Li Gaojie and Gao Long discussed it and agreed that Gao Long would enter the escort team as a mole, while Li Gaojie secretly followed behind the team.
That way, even if the team kept a close watch and Gao Long could not conveniently pass along information, Li Gaojie would serve as a backup and could contact the suited man at any time.
To ensure that Li Gaojie could follow the team without being discovered, Gao Long agreed to lend him his Tier 1 Wonder Item, Traceless Walker.
They had agreed to meet at the Black and White Bar the following morning, where Gao Long would hand Traceless Walker over to Li Gaojie. But Li Gaojie had not expected Gao Long to stand him up.
Seeing that the escort team was about to depart and Gao Long still had not appeared, Li Gaojie panicked and could only join the escort team himself. He then took the opportunity to send the suited man a message while pretending to use the restroom.
"What about Feng Buqing? Did you bring him here too?" Su Ze asked with a frown.
"I... I don't know. After the Beast Swarm re... retreated, I wanted to leave, cough, but he sent me another message, telling me... telling me to stay with the team and keep passing him information. He said he would give me dou... double the reward... If I could capture..."
From Li Gaojie's halting account, Su Ze and the others learned that the suited man had promised Li Gaojie a tube of Tier 3 S-grade extract as payment if he could capture Liu Wenyin. For Li Gaojie, who was about to complete his second evolution and become a Cocoon Breaking Stage Evolver, it was an irresistible temptation.
On top of that, Feng Buqing had appeared. Li Gaojie did not know whether Feng Buqing and the suited man were working together. If they were not, then once Feng Buqing made a move, he likely would not leave anyone alive.
That was why he had resolved to act against Liu Wenyin. As long as he controlled her, he could use her to curry favor with Feng Buqing and seek to preserve his life.
He simply had not expected Feng Buqing to lose.
By the time he finished speaking, Li Gaojie's eyes were filled with regret. If he had known when to stop and had not been so greedy, he would not have ended up like this.
From Li Gaojie's words, there was no way to determine whether Feng Buqing had come on his own or had received information from the suited man.
Seeing that there was nothing else to ask, Su Ze gave him a quick death.
Having killed someone with his own hands for the second time, Su Ze had adapted much better. In this world, he had no choice but to adapt.
"Let's go. We'll try to get out of the Black Rock Mountain Range before dawn tomorrow."
After finding no worthwhile spoils on Li Gaojie, Su Ze urged everyone to set off quickly.
By then, his rib injuries had basically healed. Regenerative Body's self-healing ability was impressively effective.
He took the initiative to carry Aunt Yun, whose movement was inconvenient, on his back. He exchanged a glance with Liu Wenyin walking beside him, and their eyes conveyed a great deal.
Along the way, their trust in each other had deepened, but so had their doubts.
They needed an honest conversation.
But with other people still in the team, it was not yet the right time to lay everything bare.
Before you continue