284 Settlement, Part 2

On vast stretches of wasteland far from the Citong.

To the right is the sea, and to the left is a dark mountain forest.

Ahead, the sky gradually brightened to a golden hue, with clouds merging with the mountains, and vast expanses of light slowly illuminating everything.

Zhu Wanguo, along with Han Jiaping'er and a dozen or so of the fastest-moving secret sect masters, headed towards another secret sect stronghold.

The group didn't look back, but ran frantically, fearing that someone would catch up with them from behind.

Suddenly, Zhu Wanguo stamped his foot and stopped in his tracks.

"Watch your step!" he shouted a warning.

But we were still a step too late.

With a whoosh, a large net suddenly rose from the ground, covering at least half of the people.

Those who weren't covered immediately drew their swords and slashed forward.

But the dense barrage of projectiles flying from all around interrupted their movements.

The group immediately began to parry the hidden weapons, leaving them no time to deal with the large net.

Zhang Yunqi slowly emerged from behind a reef, followed by Zhang Zhenhai and three other experts from the Rebel Sect.

This era has never lacked tragic victims whose families have been destroyed and whose lives were ruined by Spirit Person.

Therefore, the Rebel Sect never lacks new members; their only concern is the issue of trust among these new recruits.

At this time, one of the three experts was a newcomer.

"Let's finish this quickly." Zhang Yunqi said calmly, leaping forward to pounce on Zhu Wanguo.

To his surprise, Zhu Wanguo suddenly lunged to the right as soon as he set off.

The two women beside him, however, fearlessly confronted him head-on.

After exchanging more than ten blows, Ping'er and Han Jia both groaned in pain and flew backward, their legs staggering several steps back on the beach.

One person had a bloody gash on their face. The other person had a broken right wrist, which was healing rapidly.

"Three Voids Expert!! Where did all these masters of the Citong come from!?" The two were shocked.

But seeing that Zhang Yunqi was still going to chase after the young master, he immediately rushed forward again.

Both were Spirit Vein, and their fearless fighting style, exchanging blows for blows, forced Zhang Yunqi to fight a slow and difficult battle.

If it were a different location, where he were fighting only the two of them, he could completely eliminate them within thirty moves and then begin a cycle of encirclement and killing.

But now, this group of the Thousand Sect Alliance, which is also the Secret Teaching sect, is no less numerous than them.

Zhang Yunqi's skills, experience, and level of mastery far surpassed the two, but he hesitated slightly under this reckless fighting style. Zhu Wanguo seized the opportunity to break through the blockade and escape with the last two towards the wilderness and mountains.

Bang! One of the Rebel Sect tried to give chase, but Zhu Wanguo shot him in the chest with a backhand shot, killing him instantly.

A flash of anger crossed Zhang Yunqi's face, and he raised his hand to throw a dart.

Suddenly, a sense of foreboding arose in his mind, and he quickly retreated.

*Poof! Ping'er severed her own left arm with one hand, and from the wound, a large number of Silver Thread shot out, sweeping across all living things in the fan-shaped area in front of her.

Within a range of more than ten meters.

Regardless of whether it Thousand Sect Alliance or the Rebel Sect, more than ten skilled fighters were all pierced through their bodies by this sweeping attack.

The bodies of the living people trembled, and all those pierced by the Silver Thread began to rapidly dry out, like thousand-year-old mummies that had lost their moisture, turning black and withering as they collapsed to the ground.

But after doing this step, Ping'er's face turned deathly pale, and she collapsed to her knees with a thud.

Clearly, this kind of active Spirit Burst also takes a huge toll on her.

"You little brat, you're asking for death!!" Zhang Yunqi was furious. He leaped forward and struck the other man squarely on the head.

Thud! Ping'er's head split open, and she collapsed to the ground dead.

Han Jia screamed, held the knife in her hand with her back to her chest, and tried to do the same to herself.

But Zhang Zhenhai struck him in the back from behind, the force of which left him weak and causing him to stagger forward and fall to the ground.

"Kill everyone else! Take those who Worship God away and surround them! Avenge our fallen brothers and sisters!!" Zhang Zhenhai's beautiful eyes flashed with murderous intent as she stepped forward and severed Han Jia's neck with a single stroke.

Zhu Wanguo was running at full speed, he didn't even know how he lost.

Everything proceeded according to plan; he made no oversights or mistakes.

Why is this happening? In the early hours of the morning, a sliver of golden light appeared on the horizon.

White mist filled the mountains and forests. Some trees were gradually illuminated by the light, turning green. Others remained dark and shadowy. A mysterious and chaotic sense of yin and yang alternating, of the old and the new cycling, welled up in Zhu Wanguo's heart.

He didn't know why he felt this way.

But even at this moment, while still on the run, he was still drawn to the beautiful scenery.

Suddenly he stopped and raised his hand to stop two of his men who were still trying to rush forward.

"Young master?" The two men, swords in hand, nervously looked around, terrified by what had just happened.

At this moment, the white mist in the forest sank down, flowing like a stream with the wind, just enough to submerge the three people up to their waists.

Golden light dappled through the forest, and mist swirled beneath our feet.

Ahead lies a slender stream and a straight wooden bridge.

Beneath the wooden bridge, mist mingled and flowed from left to right, creating a dreamlike atmosphere that made it difficult to distinguish between reality and a dream.

But Zhu Wanguo was very clear-headed, his eyes fixed on the tall figure blocking the other side of the bridge.

The man wore a light blue Daoist robe with a cinched waist, a jade double- Daoist Crown on his head, and had long black hair. He exuded a majestic aura.

Most striking was the other person's belt, a bronze-colored belt so wide it almost appeared to be part of their armor. Inlaid on it was a Taiji Diagram made of amber.

Zhu Wanguo focused his gaze on the other person's face.

The face was, unsurprisingly, a Jet Black Mask. Aside from being male, nothing else could be discerned.

"Who are you?! Why are you blocking my way?" He didn't think the other party had come here by chance.

This place is a desolate wilderness, teeming with wild beasts. Normally, not even a herb gatherer would appear here, let alone someone blocking the bridge at this very moment.

"You don't even know who I am, yet you dare to make so many schemes?"

The person slowly moved forward and stepped onto the wooden bridge.

The two were more than ten meters apart, but as the other approached step by step, it gave people an extremely strong sense of oppression, as if there was no way to escape.

Even though Zhu Wanguo and his companions had unobstructed access in all other directions, this illusion still welled up from the depths of their hearts.

"Kill!!" In an instant, the two men behind Zhu Wanguo rushed forward, unleashing two streaks of sword light that struck the man's chest.

The two sides were only seven or eight meters apart at this time.

Seven or eight meters is a mere instant for a master, but at this moment, the blades swung by these two suddenly missed their mark.

They had clearly calculated the distance, certain that their blades would strike their opponent, but when the blades fell, they were strangely just a hair's breadth away from landing.

Swish! A large hand suddenly slashed across the throats of the two men.

There was no bloodshed; only the necks of the two people were completely crushed and severed.

With two thuds, the two men collapsed to the ground, struggling, and gradually lost consciousness. Their heads, completely lifeless, drooped from their necks like toys, connected only by a thin layer of skin.

"You want to kill me? No matter who you are, you're not qualified!!!"

Zhu Wanguo didn't look at the corpse on the ground, but stared intently at the person in front of him.

Whoosh! He leaped off the ground and vanished from his spot. He reappeared beside his opponent, silently thrusting his blade towards his waist.

This move is the core secret technique of the Demon Eagle Teaching, Breaking Limit Skill within the Eagle Mist Art.

They move swiftly with special agility, pouncing and striking, their short swords catching prey like Eagle Claw.

This move is quite simple; its only characteristic is its speed!

Extremely fast! The Demon Eagle lineage is known for its speed, agility, and ruthless techniques.

He unleashed his ultimate technique with his current Super Grade Internal Method cultivation level, further enhanced by the powerful Qiu Lin sword in his hand.

Caught off guard, no matter how the opponent blocks, they will inevitably suffer serious injury.

Because if someone tries to block, the sharpness of the Autumn Rain Blade can penetrate the blocking object and transmit the poison on the blade into the wound.

Even a tiny scratch could give him a chance! Zhu Wanguo was incredibly focused, his mind highly concentrated. He felt that the sword in his hand was flowing smoothly, reaching the peak of his martial arts skills.

Pity.

When!!

The blade of Autumn Rain Blade was slapped away by a palm strike from the side.

An immense power surged through Zhu Wanguo like a spring.

His pupils contracted, and he made a decision without hesitation.

'Limit State: The Bright Sky Dao!'

His entire body swelled up, and his back muscles bulged rapidly, as if wings were folded behind him.

'Breaking Limits: Ephemeral Tracelessness!'

Breaking Limits: Solidify Yang Suppress Qi!

Breaking Limits: Fierce Jade Finger!

In the blink of an eye, Zhu Wanguo's body became deformed, and his legs began to grow rapidly.

His skin was dark, with eerie blood-red lines appearing on it. His muscles rippled upwards from his legs like flowing water.

Next came his chest, abdomen, and back, where countless feather-like blood patterns appeared all over his body. His muscles swelled and converged, flowing like water into his right arm, right hand, and index finger! In that instant, all the power in his body gathered into one point, and he thrust forward with lightning speed.

BOOM!!!

Zhang Rongfang gripped his wrist with his right hand, fixing the finger firmly at a distance of several centimeters from his chest.

"That's really impressive."

Zhang Rongfang raised his head, and countless blood vessels rapidly converged along the whites of his eyes at the edges of his dark pupils.

"He was so close to killing me."

Zhu Wanguo felt a chill run down his spine, his body went cold, his heart clenched, and he tried his best to pull his hand away, but it was too late.

A strong sense of threat swept over him.

Boom!!

His left hand, which was blocking, was struck head-on by a fist, and his arm was deflected without power, leaving him wide open.

A black light, like a waterfall, burst into the void and landed right in the center of his chest.

A huge explosion rang out, and Zhu Wanguo's body flew backward like a cannonball, clearing the open space and crashing into the middle of a tree. Pfft! His back bent backward, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

His chest caved in deeply, revealing a clear fist mark.

The area around the fist mark suddenly turned red as blood from internal injuries surged in.

The leaves fluttered down as Zhang Rongfang slowly approached. He had only just entered his Limit State, and hadn't even used his Breaking Limit Skill; he was just making a normal move.

The result was that everything came to an end.

Standing in front of the other person, he felt somewhat disappointed.

"You have good potential; it might be even more interesting if you could Worship God."

"Pity."

He suddenly raised his hand and pointed a finger at the other person's brow.

Just then, Zhu Wanguo opened his mouth and spat out.

A flash of Silver Light burst from his mouth, piercing fiercely towards Zhang Rongfang's chest.

That Silver Light was a nail.

At this distance, the nail moved extremely fast and was incredibly well concealed, but with a crisp clang, it pierced through the Treasure Armor and, just as it was about to continue forward, it became firmly embedded in Zhang Rongfang robe. It advanced no further.

Puff.

Zhang Rongfang placed his fingers on the other person's brow, gently dispersing the blood and energy in their head. Then, his fingers moved in quick succession, lightly tracing across the joints of the other person's arms and hands.

After a series of cracking sounds, Zhu Wanguo's head lolled to the side, and he lost consciousness completely.

Carrying the person, Zhang Rongfang looked around one last time to make sure there were no other experts around.

In the end, he left in disappointment.