In an instant, a sudden attack caught it completely off guard.
The little mouse was so terrified that all its fur stood on end. Just as it realized what was happening and tried to struggle and squeal,
its nose twitched. It seemed to have caught a familiar scent.
Its tiny, humanlike eyes lit up with delight, and it stopped struggling, staying obediently in the claws.
Of course, even if it had wanted to squeal and struggle, it wouldn't have been able to.
Having obtained the target of his trip, Bai Chuan first cautiously glanced toward the three of them. When he saw that he hadn't drawn their attention,
he carefully held the little wooden box and the mouse between his two claws, keeping them in front of himself as he silently slipped away with his back to them.
It was worth mentioning that Bai Chuan's Environmental Mimicry—in other words, his Invisibility—didn't make his whole body transparent. Instead, he changed his own colors to mimic the surrounding environment, creating a visual blind spot.
So in this situation, as long as Bai Chuan used his body to hide the little wooden box and the mouse, making sure they didn't extend beyond the area blocked by his body, he could make them disappear along with him.
After all, their bodies were still there the whole time. You just couldn't see them, so you instinctively ignored them.
And so, just like that,
Bai Chuan cautiously carried the most important treasure of his trip away from the heart of the disaster.
Once he'd gotten a little farther away and realized they probably wouldn't notice anything happening over here, Bai Chuan immediately picked up speed. His entire serpentine body shot out like an arrow, fleeing toward the great river.
After all, even though he'd successfully snatched a prize from under their noses and made a huge profit, that didn't mean they wouldn't figure it out.
And Bai Chuan guessed they'd realize what had happened very quickly.
So why wait around? Now was the time to leave!
Having been human in his previous life, Bai Chuan knew all too well how terrifying humans could be.
There was no way he could return to his old lair. Maybe staying underground would keep them from detecting him, but Bai Chuan didn't dare take that chance.
After all, in this enormous forest, they'd managed to find a tiny mouse. Even if they couldn't find him, they could track the mouse right to him.
Maybe he could abandon the mouse now.
But he wanted the Ice Silkworm as a model. He didn't dare eat it—who knew whether he could withstand the Ice Silkworm's power? And if he killed it, he feared it might lash out in a final, desperate attack.
Although Zhang Daring had said that this thing wouldn't be able to fight back at all against the mouse, could he really be trusted completely? Even a cornered rabbit would bite. Anyone who believed every word he said was a fool.
Bai Chuan didn't dare gamble with his life.
After all, this was his first time encountering a transcendent power like Frost Strike.
So he couldn't abandon the mouse yet. At the very least, he had to wait until the scan succeeded.
That meant if he wanted the Ice Silkworm's power, he couldn't possibly abandon the mouse.
Of course, his old lair was also a major problem, because there were far too many obvious traces of intelligent beings having been there.
If they discovered it, they probably wouldn't just want the Ice Silkworm—they might make him a target too.
So he had only one choice: run!
The farther, the better. Ideally, he'd leave this mountain range entirely.
From what he'd seen earlier, it was obvious that those people held high positions in human society. If they couldn't find their target, they might send a large force to comb through the area.
No matter how vast the mountain range was, he probably wouldn't be able to hide from that.
But he couldn't just run any old way. On land, he'd leave obvious tracks. Forget the question of speed—his stamina might not be enough, and then there was the problem of his scent and other traces.
So he had only one choice: get into the water, enter the great river, and let the current carry him as far away as possible. If he could reach the sea, all the better. Then he could erase his trail completely.
After all, compared to the land, the sea was truly vast and boundless. No matter how far and wide humans explored on land, they couldn't do a thing to the ocean.
And that would give him plenty of time to grow stronger.
While Bai Chuan was fleeing, elsewhere,
the battle between the three had already reached its fiercest point.
Zhang Daring's muscles bulged all over. Black Veins, like living things, covered his body, continuously giving off a faint crimson glow, as though supplying his flesh with a steady stream of immense power.
He swung one fist, encased in enormous golden armor, with abandon, sometimes smashing, sometimes sweeping.
Every strike stirred the air into a howling gale.
On the other side, Snake Granny had no idea what secret art to use, but the Bamboo Green that had been on her back had transformed into one of her arms.
It was a remarkably agile snake arm, able to stretch or shrink, and coated in Venom.
Every one of her attacks was viciously tricky, striking either high or low at vital points. Once bitten, the wound turned black and stank.
Compared with the other two, who had become somewhat inhuman, the handsome young Zhou Zhen seemed relatively normal.
His slender right hand glimmered. On closer inspection, it had no trace of blood in it and had none of the texture of human flesh. It was as smooth and beautiful as flawless white jade.
He gripped a straight-bladed saber with a curved tip, shaped like a goose-feather saber, and swung it again and again.
Every time he brought it down, a transparent ripple appeared around the blade. The air had been rapidly compressed and twisted.
But just then, as the three fought, they inadvertently moved closer to where the Ice Silkworm had been. Snake Granny glanced over and suddenly cried out:
"Something's wrong! The Ice Silkworm is gone!"
"What?!"
At her words, the fighters paused for a moment, then warily backed away to guard against a sneak attack. Their eyes turned toward the place where the Ice Silkworm had been.
They were stunned to see that both the Ice Silkworm and the mouse had already vanished.
"Where's my Ice Silkworm? Which one of you secretly took it?"
Zhang Daring was going mad. He hadn't broken through normally, and after swallowing the Martial Stone and devouring countless lives, his reason had already begun to fade.
If he couldn't get the Ice Silkworm now, he would eventually go insane. He needed its extreme cold to clear his mind, then its blood to wash away the chaotic impurities produced by devouring lives.
He'd already been beating the other two down. If he kept wearing them down, he'd take them both before long.
Then he could use these corpses, brimming with the essence of power, together with the Ice Silkworm to break through to the Seven Limits and join the Demon Cult.
Everything had been going according to plan, just as he'd imagined. But now...
Who was it?!
Who was ruining his plan?!
He demanded this in a fit of rage. Luckily, he had the confidence to do so. Then, as if remembering something, he took a compass-like object from his side and looked at it. Only then did he relax a little.
Now that the Ice Silkworm was no longer being held down by the mouse, it would immediately struggle. Whoever had taken it, whatever their motives, would have to bring the damn mouse along if they wanted to keep things from getting out of hand.
And he could track the mouse to find them.
But he couldn't afford to drag this out. He needed to go after them now, before anything else went wrong and he lost the Ice Silkworm.
It was a shame to leave behind all this hard-won flesh.
Thankfully, the remnants of his reason still let him tell what mattered most.
He glared fiercely at the other two, baring his teeth, and said, "I'll let you off this time. If I see you again, you're dead."
With that, he hurried off into the distance.
Before you continue