Supreme Heaven Splitting Slash, Zhu Zhuqing's Kindness

Zhao Linchuan's skin split open inch by inch, his capillaries bursting one after another until he was instantly covered in blood!

The meridians inside his body felt as though they were being scoured by countless bolts of lightning, bringing tearing pain!

This power that exceeded his limits was simply not something he could perfectly control at his current level!

"Supreme Heaven—Open the Heavens—

—Slash!!!"

Blood streamed from his eyes as he gripped the Thunder Tyrant Prison Breaking Sword tightly with both hands, fighting to keep it from breaking free of his control. With all his strength, he swung it fiercely forward!

An incomparably condensed, terrifying hundred-meter Lightning Light sword qi burst into existence!

Wherever the sword qi passed, the air was completely evacuated, creating a brief vacuum. Space shuddered violently under the unbearable strain, as if it were about to be split apart by this strike!

Faced with this desperate attack that contained most of Zhao Linchuan's Soul Power and the strength of six clones, Gu Rong revealed an unprecedentedly grave expression for the first time!

He no longer dared to underestimate his opponent in the slightest!

"Ninth Soul Skill—Bone Transformation Divine Dragon!!"

Accompanied by his hoarse roar, the Ninth Soul Ring circling his body suddenly lit up!

An enormous, solidified dragon over a hundred meters long appeared out of thin air, letting out a soundless roar.

Massive dragon bones wound around one another in layers and closed together, ultimately enveloping Gu Rong completely and forming an airtight, indestructible cocoon of dragon bones!

The hundred-meter lightning qi and the bone dragon cocoon collided like two meteors!

"BOOM—!!!!!"

At that moment, heaven and earth fell silent, and all things lost their color!

Blinding radiance swallowed everything, as though the sun had fallen at this very instant!

The terrifying shockwave spread outward in a sphere. The land below seemed to have been savagely plowed by an invisible giant hand. The great river was severed, mountains crumbled, and trees instantly vaporized into ash, leaving behind a horrifying charred crater over a hundred meters wide!

"Pfft—!"

Almost the instant the collision occurred, Zhao Linchuan spat out a mouthful of blood. The excessive expenditure and backlash left him weakened.

Without stopping to see the result, Zhao Linchuan relied on his last shred of clarity and strength to forcibly activate the Thunder Tyrant Prison Breaking Sword. Transforming into a dim streak of Lightning Light, he fled into the distance without looking back!

His condition was terrible. His Soul Power was nearly depleted, his body was on the verge of collapse, and he had to find somewhere safe to recover immediately!

To him, he would rather face Sword Douluo Chen Xin than encounter an opponent with absurd defenses like Gu Rong.

If it had been Chen Xin, the earlier sneak attack would have severely reduced his combat strength even if it failed to heavily injure him. It would never have ended like this, with Zhao Linchuan putting on a whole show only to accomplish nothing.

A long time later, the destructive energy slowly dispersed.

At the edge of the crater, a mountainside suddenly exploded. Gu Rong burst out from within in a miserable state, his steps unsteady. With a "pfft," he too spat out a mouthful of clotted blood, his face pale as paper.

"Cough, cough, cough... Little Bastard... good, very good!!"

He clutched his chest, where his qi and blood were churning violently, his eyes filled with boundless resentment.

"You'd better pray you never fall into my hands... Urgh! Pfft!"

Before he could finish speaking, he spat out another mouthful of blood. Clearly, his internal organs had also suffered a severe shock.

Rumble—

Broken rocks fell down and buried him.

On the other side, a hundred li away.

No one knew how much time had passed.

Zhao Linchuan had forcibly fled here on his sword, but he finally could not hold on any longer. He dropped sharply from low altitude, fell to one knee, and spat out another mouthful of blood.

"I can't go on... I have to recover immediately..."

Even his vision had become somewhat blurry. Inside his body was completely empty, and pain was everywhere.

"Fortunately... the passive effect of 'Wildfire Cannot Burn Out' is keeping my vitality unextinguished... Otherwise, this time would have truly been dangerous..."

He struggled to find a concealed place to meditate. As long as he recovered even a trace of Soul Power, he could activate the Blue Silver Emperor Leg Bone's "Spring Returns to the Earth" to heal himself.

Just then, rustling came from the forest beside him.

A strikingly curvaceous young woman carrying a bamboo basket emerged at a quick pace. When she saw the injured Zhao Linchuan, clear surprise appeared on her cool face.

"Is that you? Zhao Linchuan?"

"Zhu Zhuqing?" Alarm bells instantly went off in Zhao Linchuan's mind. He forcibly pulled himself together and held the Thunder Tyrant Prison Breaking Sword across his body.

He clearly remembered how he had "humiliated" her on the Soul Fighting Arena before. He certainly did not expect her to repay resentment with kindness.

"You're hurt?" Zhu Zhuqing examined his miserable appearance, her tone giving away neither pleasure nor anger.

She seemed to notice Zhao Linchuan's wariness and proactively stepped half a pace back to make her stance clear. "Don't worry. I won't hurt you."

After a brief pause, she continued, "Ning Rongrong told me about what happened between you... I know why you left the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."

Her voice carried a calmness that seemed intended to soothe him. "And I've already left Shrek."

"As I am now, I pose no threat to you."

Seeing that the wariness in Zhao Linchuan's eyes had not fully faded, though his hostility had lessened somewhat, she hesitated before speaking softly:

"Do you need help? Are you... being hunted?"

Zhao Linchuan nodded silently.

Zhu Zhuqing said nothing more. She deftly removed the bamboo basket from her back and set it on the ground, then turned around, bent her knees slightly, and presented the graceful curve of her buttocks to him.

"Come on. I'll take you away from here."

A trace of hesitation flashed through Zhao Linchuan's eyes.

"Don't be afraid." Zhu Zhuqing did not turn around, but her voice was exceptionally resolute. "I won't hurt you."

She emphasized it once more and urged him, "Get on quickly. I'll carry you."

"The one hunting me is a Titled Douluo," Zhao Linchuan said solemnly, reminding her of the danger involved.

Zhu Zhuqing's figure seemed to pause slightly. Then her cool voice sounded, carrying a hint of indifference from someone who had seen through life and death.

"It doesn't matter. Anyway... I probably... don't have many days left to live."

"Perhaps when the time comes, I'll be the one dragging you down."

Hearing those words, Zhao Linchuan was slightly stunned. Looking at her slender yet upright back, he finally leaned gently onto it.

A faint fragrance like an orchid drifted into his nose. At the same time, he could feel the warmth of her back and the taut lines of her muscles.

A faint, barely noticeable blush rose to Zhu Zhuqing's cheeks. She muttered softly, "You're really heavy..."

Before her words had even faded, dark Soul Power light had already flared around her body.

"Hold on tight."

She reminded him in a low voice, steadily supporting Zhao Linchuan's thighs with both hands. Exerting force with her feet, she moved like an agile Spirit Cat and instantly shot into the dense forest.

After several leaps, the two of them vanished into layers upon layers of green.

On the other side, Gu Rong was pulled from the mountain ruins by Ning Fengzhi and Chen Xin, who had arrived in time.

"Fengzhi! Don't worry about me!" Blood trickled from Gu Rong's lips as he urgently pointed in the direction Zhao Linchuan had fled. "Go after him! We absolutely cannot let that boy live!"

"We must obtain the secrets of his Martial Soul and those Self-Created Soul Skills! Otherwise, given time, he will become a grave threat to our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect!"