Strategic Retreat

"Another Transcendental?"

Zhou Zheng looked at the woman in purple, secretly astonished.

Their team had only Herk as a Transcendental, while the other team actually had three. The gap was far too great, wasn't it?

Just as Zhou Zheng was inwardly shocked, an elderly woman-like figure suddenly flew over at high speed from the distant ground.

"Four?"

Zhou Zheng was briefly stunned.

"Fear Moth, you came at just the right time!" Seeing her, the White-robed Man who had escaped first finally relaxed.

"What exactly happened?"

The old woman was puzzled as well. Her task had been to set up a magic array on the nearby ground to prevent the target from escaping.

But now, they were actually fighting in the air.

"The intelligence was wrong. The target is a Transcendental. Be careful of his Mystery of Time!" the White-robed Man immediately warned. The old woman was startled upon hearing this.

"Where is Silver Claw?" she asked instinctively.

"Of course he's already dead!" A cold sneer rang out. The Wind-Thunder Light Shadow formed by Zhou Zheng immediately lunged at the old woman.

Although three Transcendentals had appeared at once, Zhou Zheng still intended to see whether he could leave all three behind. The White-robed Man seemed to possess some special protective treasure, and Zhou Zheng could not deal with him quickly. Naturally, he shifted targets at once.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Zhou Zheng was incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he had closed to within a thousand meters of her.

The old woman was slightly startled. The next moment, a staff appeared in her hand, which she instantly raised.

Whoosh!

A black halo immediately spread outward from her. As it swept over Zhou Zheng, he instantly felt his body grow heavy.

"A Transcendent Mage!"

Zhou Zheng was slightly alarmed. This only strengthened his resolve to kill the old woman first.

A Transcendent Mage was not frightening in a one-on-one fight, but if she were allowed to hide in the back and cast spells, that would be another matter. Who knew whether she had mastered some terrifying spell?

After releasing the black halo, the old woman raised her hand again. In an instant, countless spike-shaped objects appeared before her and whistled toward Zhou Zheng.

However, while these spikes had astonishing initial speed, they immediately slowed after approaching Zhou Zheng.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Zhou Zheng's figure flickered continuously, easily evading the dense barrage of spikes.

Still, the spikes had delayed him for a moment. In that brief interval, the other two Transcendentals had already charged in from behind him.

The Feather Fan in the White-robed Man's hand had transformed into a Short Blade, faintly containing an astonishingly sharp aura.

Clearly, the White-robed Man had also mastered some kind of Myriad Profoundities.

The other woman in purple gauze held no weapon, but four Purple Ribbons rose behind her. Invisible profundities filled them, causing each ribbon to radiate an aura of destruction.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The moment the two approached Zhou Zheng, they immediately launched a merciless pincer attack.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sword in Zhou Zheng's hand was like wind and thunder, incomparably violent as he fought the two madly.

Although Zhou Zheng had only just broken through to become a Transcendental and was facing two enemies alone, he remained very composed. Under Time Deceleration, he held a massive advantage.

If not for the flawless coordination of the two attacking him, who always forced him to pull back at the most critical moments by trading injury for injury, one of them would definitely have been wounded by now.

However, despite holding the upper hand, Zhou Zheng was far from optimistic.

After all, the Transcendent Mage had already pulled away again and was rapidly chanting a spell. Clearly, she was preparing to cast some large-scale magic.

Zhou Zheng did not fear facing two people, but three people, one of whom was a Transcendent Mage, made him somewhat wary.

Retreat first!

The thought flashed through Zhou Zheng's mind. Without the slightest hesitation, he forced back the two fighting him with a single strike, then transformed into wind and thunder and shot toward the horizon in the blink of an eye.

A Flying Celestial level transcendent who had not mastered Myriad Profoundities could turn their body into particles and merge into the power of heaven and earth to fly. But if they had mastered Myriad Profoundities—like Zhou Zheng, who had comprehended the three profundities of wind, thunder, and light—they could merge themselves into them and fly.

As a result, Zhou Zheng was naturally far faster than someone merely merged with the power of heaven and earth. Almost in the blink of an eye, he vanished beyond the horizon.

Seeing this, the two who had just been fighting Zhou Zheng had no intention of pursuing him.

There was no other reason. That man was simply too terrifying. Honestly, if he had not been wary and fled, it was hard to say how many of the three of them would have survived!

"Silver Claw is dead?" the woman in purple asked.

"If I hadn't exchanged for a protective treasure from the Temporal Temple last time, I would certainly be dead too!" The White-robed Man shook his head. "Time-type profundities are too terrifying!"

"What should we do now? Our mission still isn't complete. Only around seventy percent of the Wang Family has died so far. To meet the minimum requirement, we still need to kill at least a hundred members of the Wang Family!" The old woman flew over and asked. The White-robed Man also frowned slightly.

He asked, "If this mission fails, do you have enough Time-Space Points?"

"..."

Hearing that, both of them shook their heads.

In the Temporal Temple, a failed mission could have its punishment canceled by deducting Time-Space Points. But if they lacked sufficient Time-Space Points, then failing this mission meant they would have to carry out three consecutive Hell Tier missions.

With a ninety-percent fatality rate, three consecutive Hell Tier missions were practically no different from certain death.

"Then we can only continue the mission. But this time, the three of us absolutely cannot split up again!" the White-robed Man said.

"We definitely can't split up!" The other two nodded.

Indeed, given that man's strength, if the three of them separated and encountered him again, they would almost certainly die.

Doing the mission together would be slower, but there was not much left to do. There were still more than seven days until the mission ended. That was enough!

Elsewhere—

After swiftly departing, Zhou Zheng headed straight for the Grand Canyon where they had previously hidden.

Zhou Zheng planned to return and see whether he could find any trace of Herk.

Although Herk had sold him out without hesitation earlier, he was indeed the only person Zhou Zheng could cooperate with.

Zhou Zheng was not completely confident in dealing with three Transcendentals alone, but with Herk added to the equation, his chances would be much greater.

Previously, when his strength had been insufficient, Zhou Zheng had only wanted to lie low and wait for the mission to end. But things were different now. Not only had he broken through to become a Transcendental, he had also mastered the immensely powerful Mystery of Time. He had to maximize his gains from this mission, so that his path in the Temporal Temple would be easier afterward!