Bang!
Dark clouds blanketed the sky, and cold air soared.
Water splashed several zhang high in the dark, damp, frigid depths of the swamp.
Lu Xuan landed in Yinwater Ravine with the female warrior clutched under his arm.
This place had once been a vast lake, a lake of life sustaining several second- and third-tier cities before the Cataclysm.
Now, it had become a gathering ground for monsters.
Rumor had it that a Calamity Level savage beast even lurked in the depths of the lake.
At the lake's edge.
That was where Lu Xuan had landed, and even there, Awakened Level monsters roamed.
Only Martial Masters could fight them.
Even the many high-level Tier 7 and Tier 8 martial artists chasing from behind stopped in their tracks.
"Ghostface, take another step forward, and you'll truly die without a burial place!"
someone shouted.
Roar!
Along with it came wave after wave of snarls echoing across the Wilderness.
The monsters were roaring.
"Huff~ huff!"
Lu Xuan gasped heavily. His throat had gone parched from being deprived of water for so long, and every breath felt like a blade scraping his flesh, the pain almost unbearable.
The blood on his arm had already clotted, resembling scales embedded in his flesh.
He was a sorry sight indeed.
"Huff~ If I trigger a beast tide in this condition, I'll die too."
Lu Xuan broke the female warrior's leg and laid her flat on the ground. Her eyes were vacant, as though she had already died, but the faint rise and fall of her chest proved that she was still alive.
"Ghost...face, you won't die a good death..."
The woman forced out those words in an almost inaudible voice.
With Lu Xuan's Mental Power covering the area, he heard her clearly. He reached out and gently stroked the woman's face, then sneered viciously. "If I die, I'll haunt you even in hell and make sure you never get reincarnated... Cough, cough!"
As soon as he finished speaking, he broke into violent coughing and spat a mouthful of blood onto the woman's face.
Endless resentment burst from the woman's eyes.
"Don't blame me. Who told you to incite others to come after me?"
Lu Xuan hurriedly gathered his mind, sat cross-legged, and regulated his breathing, stabilizing his injuries.
In the distance, the people who had pursued him stopped one after another. They sensed an untouchable presence deep within the lake, like a taboo that prevented them from taking another step forward.
"Tai Xuan Lake expanded several times over after the Cataclysm. The lake bottom plunges a hundred zhang, and there are rumors of a Calamity Level savage beast within. We mustn't set foot there lightly."
"Ghostface stopped here. At least he has some brains."
"Even a mayfly knows that the sky is high and the earth is vast, let alone a clever man like Ghostface. Luckily, it was us who encountered him today. Otherwise, all the martial artists in Satellite City No. 6 would have to live in fear."
"Exactly. We are men of justice. We must eliminate this scourge!"
The group spoke without holding back at all.
Every slanderous word reached Lu Xuan's ears.
"Gentlemen."
Lu Xuan slowly rose to his feet and took a step forward, only to lose his balance and fall into the pool.
He simply stopped trying to stand. Sitting on a bluestone, he smiled and said, "We're all just trying to scrape together enough food to survive in this apocalypse. Why force each other into a corner?"
"Ghostface, you couldn't be more right!"
The group murmured a few words, expressing great sympathy. Then they abruptly changed tack and lamented, "But the food we're scraping together happens to be you!"
The two sides sounded completely different from before.
They no longer seemed like enemies, but a group of wretched souls exchanging tales of the hardships they had endured along the way.
"Heh heh hahahaha!"
Lu Xuan threw his head back and laughed loudly. He scooped up a handful of clear water to wipe the blood from his face, then said:
"You really think you've got me cornered?"
"Ever since I entered this world, I've never suffered a defeat. If you hadn't joined forces today, how could you have forced me into such a sorry state... Leave a little leeway in everything, and we can meet again someday. I still have a trump card."
How could anyone survive in the Wilderness without keeping one card up their sleeve?
Lu Xuan still had several methods he had yet to use.
For example, the Earth-level Martial Skills I Have One Slash and My Golden Spear Never Falls... Or the Psychic Power Martial Skill he had created himself, Soul Capture.
It was just that these techniques consumed too much energy and were ill-suited for fighting a group.
Right now, his only trump card was the beast tide.
According to Future Mail,
this place was precisely the core area where the beast tide would erupt. It was just that no one knew why the beast tide would erupt.
"Of course we believe you still have a trump card. But there's a monster lair ahead, and you're not even a Martial Master. What good can your trump card do?"
The group sneered. "As for that crap about leaving a little leeway, do you even believe it yourself?"
Everyone glanced at the female warrior lying in the water, already at death's door, and their lips twitched.
Lu Xuan was indeed powerful enough to escape unscathed from the siege of dozens of them.
But if he wanted to talk about leaving a little leeway, that was complete bullshit.
If they let him go today,
they would be waiting to have their entire families wiped out tomorrow.
They didn't dare to gamble.
At this moment,
there was a monster lair ahead and their blockade behind.
No matter how heaven-defying Lu Xuan's abilities were, he was doomed.
Neither side spoke again, and neither made a move.
Time passed bit by bit.
One second.
Two minutes.
Seeing no sign of an ambush, the group began to grow restless.
"Monsters often appear here, and this is the outskirts of the Core Zone. We'd better capture him quickly. If we delay, things may change!"
"Good!"
With that,
the group erupted with blood qi. Several people clad in mechanical battle armor even used their armor to fly into the air.
Lu Xuan exhaled, letting the pain from his various wounds wash over him, then staggered to his feet.
"The Bronze Gourd hasn't produced any new spiritual liquid yet. Looks like I can only tough this calamity out."
The only proof Lu Xuan had that he would not die was that he had yet to receive a future death mail.
That proved it.
This battle was not enough to kill him.
"If that's the case, why should I be afraid!?"
Lu Xuan roared. My Golden Spear Never Falls activated, and a surging force of blood qi welled up within him, drawing in all the blood qi within a radius of several dozen zhang.
In an instant, his aura soared once more.
"An arrow at the end of its flight!"
The group was completely unafraid and attacked at the same time.
Almost the instant they moved, the water's surface suddenly trembled.
Wave after wave of ripples spread from the depths of the lake.
Along with them came an invisible pressure that made their bodies stiffen.
Whether it was the group or Lu Xuan,
the moment they sensed this fluctuation, they all turned toward the depths of the lake.
At some unknown point, water had begun splashing a hundred zhang into the air there. What terrified them even more was that a colossal creature whose form they could not make out was leaping from the water and plunging back in, thrashing and sending waves surging toward them.
Moreover,
as the giant beast swam, it let out a peculiar cry that made every living creature within a hundred li shudder mentally.
"Not good!"
Even Lu Xuan
in that instant
had his Mental Power completely overwhelmed, and his thoughts went blank for a moment.
Lu Xuan abruptly came to his senses. Ignoring the people blocking him from behind, he unleashed unprecedented blood qi, pushed his Psychic Power to its limit, and sprinted toward the distant sky.
Only after the astral wind raised by his passing swept over them did they regain consciousness.
"We're done for!"
Someone stared at the several-dozen-zhang beast and shouted with a torn throat:
"It's using sound waves to disrupt the other monsters' perception! It's going to trigger a beast tide!!!"
The shout pulled everyone back to reality.
Those who reacted first circulated their blood qi and Spiritual Energy, fleeing hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye. As for the several martial artists who reacted more slowly, by the time they tried to run, the giant beast's bloody maw had already emerged from the water.
Roar!
Even a Tier 7 or Tier 8 martial artist was reduced to nothing the moment they entered its mouth!
Ice-cold, bone-piercing lake water shot hundreds of meters through the air and splashed onto Lu Xuan and the others, making their entire bodies tremble uncontrollably.
"An Awakened Level monster..."
They finally saw the monster's true form.
Its bloody maw was an abyss, its body broad and fat, its skin gleaming with a cold sheen like steel plates. It towered like a mountain, and the barbed fins on its back were razor-sharp, leaving fierce astral winds in the void.
Its roar echoed across the Wilderness.
Everyone felt the heavens and earth shake.
When they turned their heads, they saw billowing dust rising along the horizon. Looking carefully, they realized it was countless monsters charging in from every direction.
The beast tide had arrived!
At this moment,
no one had the time to care about Lu Xuan. They had only one thought:
Run!
"Damn... cough, cough, cough!"
Having overdrawn himself, Lu Xuan coughed up mouthful after mouthful of blood.
Looking at the billowing dust rising along the horizon, panic surged in his heart. He hurriedly reached for a martial artist passing beside him.
"Buddy, give me a ride!"
"Ghostface, you bastard, you really are despicable! Even if you're going to die, you have to drag me down with you!"
The martial artist flung out his arm, tossed Lu Xuan aside, and shot away.
"Hey, hey!"
"Weren't you bastards going to capture me and claim the reward?"
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