Friends from Afar

Those Awakened to the water, fire, or Earth Element have always been the most sought-after targets by various conglomerates in the Inner World, with the Earth Element being the most favored.

This is because these three types of elemental Awakened can assimilate with their own abilities. Once they reach Rank A and assimilate with their element, they become almost immune to firearms. Bullets hit them as if nothing happened.

Unless someone specifically targets and restrains them, they are the undisputed leaders among the Awakened, at least stronger than many who can only be considered "wild monsters".

The reason why Earth Element are favored by conglomerates is because they are natural bodyguards.

In the event of an attack, they can help the person they are protecting withstand bullets and survive, and they are also skilled at stealth assassinations.

At this moment, the fire Awakened, now engulfed in flames, looked at Zard's injuries and said, "Did you really think you could roam around like Earth Element?"

"Is the injury serious?" Qing Chen ignored him and turned to ask Zard instead.

When ordinary people get burned on their arms, their skin is burned open and the flesh is torn open. But Zard is different. After he was burned, his palms were like the glaze on porcelain. His palms were like porcelain and could no longer move.

Zard looked at his palm in pain. "Now, I can't use my ability to turn my whole body into sand."

There are limitations to full-body sandification. If a limb that has already been glazed is forcibly sandified, it means that Zard will lose his right hand forever.

It will no longer turn into sand and will have a chance to slowly recover. Just wait for Zard to slowly shed its enamel, like shedding its shell.

At this moment, Zard's facial muscles twitched from the pain. He looked at the fire elemental Awakened, then at his own palm, and gritted his teeth, saying, "It's quite beautiful!"

The fire Awakened paused for a moment, then laughed, "Pretty tough, but useless."

At this moment, Zard looked at Qing Chen with some grievance. "Boss, I'm sorry, one of the Purple Orchid Star burned inside my body."

Qing Chen suddenly felt a lump in his throat. "What's a single Purple Orchid Star? It's good that you've recovered."

He never expected that even though Zard himself was injured, his mind was still focused on protecting those plants.

For some reason, he always felt that the other person's mind was as simple as a child's.

On the other side, Chen Bing of the Chen family had already taken off the bamboo basket from his back and placed it on the ground. He silently looked at Qing Chen and the others, and then picked and chose in the bamboo basket.

That look was like a butcher checking which knife to use before slaughtering a pig.

Qing Chen laughed. How did he become a lamb to the slaughter?

He conjured Black Sniper with a wave of his hand and pulled the trigger at Chen Bing, but in the instant he raised his hand, Chen Bing had already twisted and crushed a Painting Scroll with his bare hands.

As Qing Chen pulled the trigger, a tall Jinwu Guard stood in front of Chen Bing.

The Jinwu Guard was two meters tall, clad in bright armor, with a breastplate on his chest, and carrying a giant axe in his hand.

The Black Sniper bullets struck the breastplate, barely penetrating it but failing to cause fatal damage.

Standing behind the Jinwu Guard, Chen Bing continued casually picking through the bamboo basket for Painting Scroll: "It took me 32 days to paint this Jinwu Guard. The pigments were all made from minerals ground from Forbidden Zone, the armor is outlined with gold powder, and the red cloth on the armor is colored with my blood. You can't do anything about him, so it's worth it."

Qing Chen's heart skipped a beat. He knew that the strength of the figures in the Painting Scroll was related to that of the painter.

Chen Bing is probably one of the best among the younger generation of the Chen family, and may even be a key talent that Chen Yu has been rapidly promoting with the help of the Purple Orchid Star.

Exceptionally young, exceptionally fierce.

It must be said that the Chen family's superhumans have always had the upper hand in battles. For them, the preparations for battle are already completed before the battle even begins.

They use a painting they've spent a year creating to attack one person, which in itself is a huge advantage.

Three hundred years ago, during the Chen family crisis, an old man in the family who never participated in battles took out 1,231 Painting Scroll and, burning his life force, twisted them all to pieces.

That day, the southern wilderness seemed to have fallen into a bizarre and fantastical world, with countless Buddhas and ancient beasts appearing one after another.

It truly is a case of one man guarding the pass, making it impenetrable to ten thousand.

This old man was deeply engrossed in calligraphy and painting during his lifetime. For him, the meaning of painting was simply painting, not a tool for fighting.

He couldn't bear to break the drawings he had already made.

After all, once it's broken, it's gone.

Therefore, this old man remained unknown throughout his life within the Chen family.

Everyone knows that there is an eccentric old man in the deep mansion who paints but is reluctant to use his paintings, but no one knows that the paintings he collected throughout his life once helped the Chen family through a great calamity.

After that battle, the old man became emaciated, and because he was heartbroken over his paintings, he passed away along with them.

He fought only one battle in his life, and that one battle made him famous throughout history. This describes Chen Xuanwu of the Chen family.

Chen Yu previously mentioned in the Battle of the Demigods that he wanted to paint countless Buddhas, which was based on this story.

From that time on, this demigod of the Chen family had already revealed his ambition.

Now, Chen Bing has arrived with eight Painting Scroll, which already puts immense pressure on everyone present.

Qing Chen looked at Zhang Mengqian, Sun Chuci, Tuanzi: "Take your shadow and retreat. This is not something you can interfere with."

Of the experts present, only Qing Chen and Zard remained; Yang Yang was nowhere to be found.

One A-rank and one B-Class against two A-ranks, plus Zard being naturally countered by this fire element Awakened, this was inherently a battle with a huge disparity in strength.

What to do?

It wasn't that Qing Chen had lost his fighting spirit, but rather that he genuinely didn't know how to respond at that moment.

Zard cannot be allowed to deal with the fire elemental Awakened, because Zard will die.

However... Qing Chen's fighting style was also countered. Black Sniper were useless against superhumans who had assimilated fire elements, and the Autumn Leaf Blade was also useless as a physical attack method. Moreover, he himself was more capable in close combat.

If you get close, he will probably suffer extensive burns immediately.

Using cloud energy? If it's Rank A, it's worth a try, but he's only B-Class. Even if cloud energy can harm a fire elemental Awakened, it can only severely injure them at most, not kill them.

There is no solution.

This made Qing Chen realize a problem: he was far from being invincible. Even though he had the dual identities of a knight and Awakened, and despite his many transformations, he was useless in the face of absolute power.

Having seen off the shadow, his most important task was to continue his advancement and continue challenging himself to the Life and Death Trial!

Qing Chen glanced at the sky, then at the shadow, and snarled, "When the fight breaks out, you guys figure out a way to take Mr. Shadow away."

Qing Chen: "Zard, you go deal with that Chen guy, I'll hold off this one who's playing with fire!"

With that, the two rushed off to opposite sides of the valley.

Qing Chen a shot with Black Sniper rifle.

But the fire elemental Awakened just chuckled, not even flinching. "Firearms are useless against me!"

There seemed to be a hint of mockery in his tone, like a cat teasing a mouse.

Just as they were talking, Qing Chen suddenly exhaled a breath of cloud, the white cloud rolling like auspicious waves, instantly filling the entire valley.

The fire Awakened suddenly sensed something was wrong. "What's that?!"

In the blink of an eye, the flames on his body seemed to have been extinguished by a fire extinguisher, and they quickly subsided, almost forcing him to reveal his true form!

Qing Chen was overjoyed; it worked!

His cloud-like aura can actually have an effect on elemental systems!

But before he could be happy for long, he saw the Awakened's body shine brightly, and the flames that had been suppressed suddenly exploded again, forcefully sending Qing Chen flying.

The Awakened sneered in the firelight, "It seems you've never encountered an A-rank fire elemental Awakened before. You don't actually think you can kill me with something like this, do you? However, I underestimated you."

Before they arrived, Qing Chen's background had been thoroughly investigated.

Sniping skills, peak knight physique, Autumn Leaf Blade, Thunder Awakening, and mastery of disguise.

Judging from these abilities, none of them pose a threat to a fire element Awakened, which is why he was so confident.

Not everyone is as cautious as Kamiyo Yunhe.

Therefore, Qing Chen had just caused him real harm, which, although not fatal, was still extremely painful.

But he couldn't say it.

Qing Chen got up from the ground, feeling as if the intense explosion had shaken his heart and lungs, and half of his right eyebrow had been burned off.

What can we do? Even the clouds can't do anything to the other side?

Qing Chen clearly felt that if he were an A-rank, he could extinguish this Awakened with a single breath, but the other party was acting as if nothing had happened, which puzzled him...

He looked to the other side and saw Zard, who had lost one hand, locked in a fierce battle with Chen Bing. The entire valley was covered with sharp, jagged rocks.

Chen Bing had already broken the second Painting Scroll, and a Vermilion Bird with a trailing fiery tail flew out from Painting Scroll, spewing down a mouthful of fire.

Upon seeing the flames, Zard instinctively retreated rapidly, but it was too late.

His entire right arm was glazed by the raging flames.

Zard howled and retreated, and when he reached Qing Chen's side, he was still excitedly saying, "Boss, this time he didn't burn Purple Orchid Star!"

Qing Chen fell silent.

"I'm sorry," Qing Chen said, "I've dragged you down."

As he spoke, Qing Chen closed his eyes.

He had heard people say that... Awakened could sacrifice their lives, burning themselves to fuel their awakened abilities.

Today, he's going to give it a try.

But just then, someone on the rock face above the valley laughed, "Wow, this place looks interesting! We finally made it. Hey, friend, need any help?"

Friend?

Sun Chuci and the others looked up in astonishment and were shocked to see Yang Yang leading a young man dressed in white hunting clothes, smiling as they looked down into the valley.

Kamishiro Yunluo.

The Chosen One of the Kamishiro Corporation, the true controller of the Secret Business Division of the Outer World, has suddenly appeared here for some unknown reason.

The moment Chen Bing saw Kamishiro Yunluo, her expression changed instantly.

This was simply because he knew about Kamishiro Yunluo, and he also knew that the other party was now considered the number one person below demigod in the Kamishiro Corporation.

That iconic white hunting robe has now become the calling card of Kamishiro Yunluo; he is more like a figure in a painting than Chen Bing, ethereal and otherworldly.

Chen's abilities are similar to those of Onmyoji, but the Onmyoji's shikigami are even more powerful than the figures in the Painting Scroll.

But he couldn't understand why the people of the Kei clan would know and even become friends with the Onmyoji of the Shindai era.

Why!?

Qing Chen looked up at Kamishiro Yunluo and smiled; this was the reason Yang Yang had disappeared.

Meanwhile, Kamishiro Yunluo was smiling at him, "Hey, friend, you owe me a drink after this battle, so you can't try to dodge it again."

Qing Chen laughed and said, "Why do you have to be so eager to drink with me? It's clearly a win-win situation for everyone."

"Sigh, how can someone who's in 37 degrees Celsius say such cold things? Saying that will really upset my friend," said Kamishiro Yunluo with a laugh. "I came here specifically for our friendship!"

A few days ago, when Qing Chen left City No. 10, he saw that Shadow was unwilling to open the Shadow Gate and go directly to Forbidden Zone No. 002, so he guessed that there would be some risks in this trip.

So Qing Chen called Kamishiro Yunluo and asked only one question, "Many experts are going to try to kill me soon, do you want your eyes?"

Kamishiro Yunluo arrived.

In fact, this matter had already crossed Qing Chen's bottom line. He had once imagined being like a shadow, not making any deals with anyone from the Kamishiro Corporation.

However, he clearly felt that Kamishiro Yunluo was different.

Even if they eventually become enemies, they can become friends before that day comes.

Kamishiro Yunluo said, "Don't try to escape the drinking anymore, you can't escape. Come on, let's end this battle first."

In an instant, the shikigami behind Kamishiro Yunluo materialized one by one.

ATS-010, Hyakume-ki, in just a few days, this terrifying shikigami has grown to 63 eyes on its arm.

But then they saw a white- Hyakume-ki floating in the air, its size even larger than Chen Bing's Jinwu Guard.

ATS-011, the Oki-Hori, drifted downwards, hidden in the smoke, skimming the edge of the battlefield.

ATS-013, the Mezu Raksha, wielding a massive nine-ringed sword, leaped down from the mountain and slashed down at the Jinwu Guard.

In ATS-018, the Bone Woman carries a bone sword, her long hair is tied into a ponytail, and she wears tattered armor. Despite being just a skeleton, she inexplicably possesses a graceful figure.

ATS-091, Under the Tenjō-shita, there is a humanoid red monster, crawling along the mountain wall like a gecko.

ATS-229, Shirayōsei is a white dragon.

Kamishiro Yunluo leaped onto the top of the white dragon's head, grabbed its two horns, and laughed loudly, "That damn fire element is mine. After the shikigami is burned, it just needs to go back to the Divine Bridge to recuperate. If you are disfigured by the flames, you probably won't be able to be the top male escort in City 22 anymore."

Yang Yang asked curiously, "The Cowherd?"

Qing Chen's expression changed. "Don't talk nonsense."

Kamishiro Yunluo stood atop the dragon's head, and Shirayōsei breathed a breath of ice towards the fire element Awakened. The ice and fire merged together, instantly disrupting the airflow in the valley and causing a strong wind!

Outside the valley, reconnaissance planes circled overhead.

Countless soldiers, spanning dozens of miles, were gathering in the direction of Qing Chen and his group. They wore exoskeleton armor and moved across the wilderness like space warriors.

In the forward base in the wilderness, someone went to the chessboard and whispered a few words.

Chen Yu stood up, leaned back on the Green Ox, and laughed, "Even someone like Kamishiro Yunluo has appeared? Why would someone from the Divine Era help Qing Chen? It seems they really have no more trump cards. Senior, let's go. If we don't go now, they'll break through the blockade."

Li Bingxi looked up at him and said, "I haven't received what I want yet."

At this moment, the advisor from the Kei clan returned. "We agree to exchange the resources you mentioned. We can arrange the evacuation now, and Kashima can take over after you leave."

Only at this moment did Li Bingxi finally get up.

Please subscribe and vote with monthly tickets.