Pressure Makes Motivation

The Titan Sky Cannon was still slowly advancing, like an unstoppable death star.

Seeing the situation inexplicably improve, and knowing he could not keep playing dead, Zhao Wuji had no choice but to get up and set an example. He thrust out both palms. "First soul skill, Mighty Vajra Palm!"

He tried to use his own strength to slightly deflect the Titan Sky Cannon's trajectory, even if it was only by a little.

But compared with the Titan Sky Cannon, his strength was a drop in the bucket.

The force of his palms struck the energy sphere like a stone thrown into a waterfall—splashing up a little spray, yet not changing the direction of the current in the slightest.

Zhao Wuji was blasted backward by the recoil, a trace of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth, and he crashed to the ground in a sorry state.

Seeing the Titan Sky Cannon draw closer and closer, the vicious light in WarGrowlmon's eyes intensified. It calculated the distance, then suddenly swung its two axe blades.

"First innate skill—Double Slash!"

This skill had different names in different forms: in Guilmon form it was called Rock-Breaking Claw, in Growlmon form it was called Plasma Blade, and in WarGrowlmon form, it became this even more powerful move—Double Slash.

The two enormous metal axe blades swung out in a cross, carrying an edge that seemed able to tear through everything, and slashed fiercely into the Titan Sky Cannon!

"Screech—!"

An ear-piercing sound of metal grinding rang through the clouds. The Titan Sky Cannon was struck by the axe blades, and violent ripples surged across its surface. It had actually been cut open.

Although the material of the axe blades was "Time Digizoid," under the influence of the world's rules, their hardness was naturally tied to soul power.

WarGrowlmon had consumed a great deal of stamina in its battle with the Titan Giant Ape, and its soul power was no longer at its peak, so the hardness of the axe blades had dropped somewhat as well.

On top of that, the power of the Titan Sky Cannon itself was simply too terrifying. Although WarGrowlmon barely managed to cut open the energy sphere, the price was—

"Crack—crack—"

Two crisp sounds rang out almost at the same time.

The axe blades on WarGrowlmon's two forearms were covered in dense cracks and gaps. Some places had even shattered outright, fragments clattering to the ground with a dull metallic glint.

Those axe blades could also be considered part of WarGrowlmon's body. For them to shatter was equivalent to the bones in its forearms shattering.

"Hiss—awoo—!"

WarGrowlmon let out a pained roar, its whole body trembling violently as the cracks on its axe blades continued spreading.

At the same time, Qian Ren Shuang suddenly sucked in a sharp breath.

His arms trembled violently, and an agony like shattered bones came through his connection with WarGrowlmon, hurting so badly he could barely stand.

In this state, the damage WarGrowlmon suffered would be shared with Qian Ren Shuang—the shattered axe blades became fractured forearm bones on Qian Ren Shuang.

"Qian Ren Shuang!" Oscar hurriedly supported him. "Are you okay?"

"Sigh—we should leave Star Dou Forest first."

Zhao Wuji limped over, swept his gaze across the battlefield, and made a decision.

Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Zhu Zhuqing were all badly injured, Qian Ren Shuang's arms were almost useless, and WarGrowlmon had devolved back into Guilmon form under the backlash from the Titan Sky Cannon.

That once-majestic demonic dragon was now curled up on the ground, its two forearms hanging limply, with a few strips torn from clothing wrapped around them as a makeshift bandage. It looked pitiful.

The only two people present who were uninjured were Ning Rongrong and Oscar.

"Ning Rongrong, you carry Qian Ren Shuang," Zhao Wuji ordered. "Oscar, you carry Guilmon. The rest of you walk on your own. Anyone who can walk, get moving."

"Why do I have to carry Qian Ren Shuang?" Ning Rongrong pouted unhappily, but her hands did not stop. She walked over, crouched down, draped one of Qian Ren Shuang's arms over her shoulder, and carefully helped him up.

Oscar crouched in front of Guilmon and patted his not-particularly-broad back. "Come on, Guilmon, I'll carry you."

Guilmon nudged Oscar with its head, then obediently lay on his back. Oscar let out a muffled groan and gritted his teeth as he stood, both legs trembling—although Guilmon had devolved back into a shoulder-high form, its weight had not decreased one bit.

Seven people and one beast withdrew from Star Dou Forest just like that, dusty, disheveled, and utterly wretched.

They would leave Tang San and Xiao Wu aside for now. Zhao Wuji thought to himself, Anyway, that kid runs fast. He probably won't die.

The group arrived at a nearby inn and booked several rooms.

While there was still some time before dinner, Oscar forced his exhausted body to keep going and made a batch of recovery sausages at full strength. His third soul ring still had no lead, but the effects of the sausages from his first two soul skills remained reliable—Big Recovery Sausage could heal injuries, and Small Detox Sausage could detoxify poison. Though they could not work instantly, they were steady and dependable.

After everyone shared the sausages, they had mostly recovered. The bandages on Qian Ren Shuang's arms had been changed. Although they still hurt somewhat, at least the pain was no longer as piercing as before. Guilmon's two forearms were also wrapped in thick bandages and hung from its neck, making it look as if it were wearing an ill-fitting little vest.

At dinner, Zhao Wuji shoveled rice into his mouth while speaking to Oscar in a consultative tone. "Oscar... for your third soul ring, how about I have the dean take you to a nearby soul hunting forest?"

He made it sound like a discussion, but in his heart he had already made up his mind—no matter what, he was unwilling to go to Star Dou Forest again. Go once and run into the Titan Giant Ape; what if they went twice? What would they run into then? He did not want to gamble with his own life.

Guilmon still had its two forearms wrapped in bandages and hanging from its neck. Hearing this, it lowered its head in grievance and was the first to step forward to apologize. "Oscar, I'm sorry... Guilmon couldn't beat that ape."

"It's not your fault, Guilmon." Qian Ren Shuang crouched down and used his still somewhat movable hand to stroke Guilmon's head, his tone gentle. "After all, we're only Soul Kings, and the highest soul power rank in the team is just a Soul Sage. Surviving the Titan Giant Ape is already very good."

His arms were likewise in casts and hanging from his neck—those were bone fractures that even Oscar's recovery sausage could not heal and needed time to mend slowly. Qian Ren Shuang crouched beside Guilmon, and the two "wounded" ones, one large and one small, looked at each other.

"Qian Ren Shuang, I'm sorry. I couldn't win," Guilmon said weakly, looking at the injuries on Qian Ren Shuang's arms that had helped share the damage for it.

Guilmon truly felt especially miserable right then. In its way of thinking, being unable to win and getting hurt was practically the same as dying.

It was genuinely afraid that Qian Ren Shuang would despise it for being weak and no longer want it.

"Of course." Qian Ren Shuang smiled and rubbed his forehead against Guilmon's big head. "No matter how you look at it, this can't be blamed on Guilmon."

Guilmon could no longer hold back. Tears burst from its eyes and ran down its cheeks. It rested its big head against Qian Ren Shuang's chest and swore in a muffled voice, "Qian Ren Shuang... Guilmon likes Qian Ren Shuang the most."