Command

Zhao Hong naturally knew that Evil Skin could restore him.

He had just glanced at his five fingers, mangled into a bloody mess with bone nearly exposed, when he saw the man in black reach for his storage pouch.

How could he let him get it?

Without hesitation, he lunged forward.

A punch crashed out.

A kick lashed out.

"Do you want your balls or the pouch?"

A fierce wind howled between his head and legs.

The black-robed man's face twisted, his pupils nearly splitting as he let out a crazed roar.

His legs only trembled slightly, yet he actually ignored his lower body entirely.

Bang!

Bang!

The black-robed man blocked the punch with one palm and even sent Zhao Hong staggering back.

But he had overestimated his own endurance.

He thought he could hold on.

Smack!

"Aooow~~~"

The black-robed man suddenly doubled over. His legs twisted as though paralyzed, dragging his waist into convulsions so violent that he could barely stand. A jet of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs sprayed from his mouth.

Darkness filled his vision like thick storm clouds.

At the peak of his agony, the storage pouch fell to the ground.

Zhao Hong let out a pained growl. His entire right arm had gone numb, his skin splitting open as blood seeped everywhere.

The black-robed man had suffered a devastating blow, yet the force of his desperate blocking palm had still been terrifying.

A Profound Embryo was still a Profound Embryo.

But the black-robed man had to die.

Zhao Hong swept his gaze over the area and stomped the ground.

Whoosh!

His body sprang into the air. His left arm snapped taut, its muscles bulging as though about to burst. Terrifying astral energy coiled around it like little serpents before he viciously swung it at the black-robed man's head.

"My head..."

Only a sliver of clarity remained in the black-robed man's mind. He struggled to move his neck as a chaotic crimson mass surged toward his forehead, but it ultimately failed to keep up.

Bang!

A mass of blood and white matter burst through the air.

The black-robed man's body toppled to the ground. Even without a head, it continued twitching nonstop, its legs still tangled together in an indescribably grotesque sight.

Yet the life force in his body visibly faded away.

The Evil Skin writhing across the surface of his skin gradually died out without energy to nourish and replenish it, growing dull and lifeless.

Zhao Hong collapsed onto the ground. His mind was clear, but the energy throughout his body churned unsteadily. His right arm hurt until it was numb, cold sweat pouring out in waves before being washed away by the rain.

As he looked at the black-robed man's corpse, there was no trace of relief in his eyes.

Everything had gone according to plan.

This was the planned result.

There had been no major surprises.

He had not given this man a chance to unleash Evil Skin.

But calling it dangerous would be no exaggeration.

He had only succeeded because he had happened to make a timely breakthrough.

Otherwise, he would have run as fast as he could.

After catching his breath for a moment, Zhao Hong climbed to his feet and approached the black-robed man's corpse.

His organs had been shattered, and his head was gone. No matter how many sinister tricks he possessed, there was no way he could come back to life.

Without any guard up, Zhao Hong grabbed the corpse and flipped it over.

The bloody hole in its chest was truly horrifying.

Zhao Hong picked up the storage pouch from the ground.

It was slightly different from the one he had obtained before. Its entire surface was bronze-colored and embroidered with exquisite patterns.

He opened it.

A pile of Evil Skin made Zhao Hong's scalp tingle slightly.

Fortunately, he had anticipated that Evil Skin could restore its user.

And fortunately, he had been clever.

The agony of crushed balls was no less than the pain of being intimidated by blade intent.

If this fellow had truly pulled out such a pile of Evil Skin, the outcome would have been hard to predict.

There were seven jade-colored skins emanating the aura of the Profound Embryo realm.

There were nearly twenty beast skins at the completion of the Blood Astral realm.

"This guy should be the leader who stirred up those vicious criminals and launched the attack. He used more than forty pieces, and still had over twenty left... In these mountains, the Evil Skin Cult has an overwhelmingly favorable advantage."

For a moment, Zhao Hong could not help worrying about the situation at the garrison.

He hoped nothing had happened.

Without time to think further, he quickly sorted through the items.

He tossed the cultivation techniques directly aside.

Then came several jade bottles.

One contained five entirely earth-yellow pills. Zhao Hong sensed them briefly and found that they held an astonishing amount of pure vital essence, without any yin or evil aura.

Another contained pitch-black pills with a blood-red pattern on their surface. One look told him they were nothing good.

There was also a bottle containing two emerald-green pills.

"These two should be for healing."

There was nothing unusual about them. Their aura was somewhat similar to the healing pills Zhou Baishan had given him before.

They looked the same, but he could not be certain.

However, if he did not recover from his current condition, then even if he caught up with the others, he would be unable to unleash his full combat strength for a while.

"Even if there really is a problem, it can't threaten Dragon Tendon and Tiger Bones."

Zhao Hong did not hesitate for long before swallowing one.

Buzz!

A warm torrent surged through his limbs and bones, making him let out a comfortable groan.

It really was a healing pill.

And there was nothing abnormal about it.

In only a few dozen breaths,

more than half of his weakness dissipated, and his churning energy rapidly stabilized.

Zhao Hong put away the storage pouch and forced himself upright.

Looking at the headless corpse on the ground, he pondered for a moment, emptied the other man's storage pouch, then put the corpse inside.

After finishing all this, he hurried after Liu Zheng and the others.

Five li southeast of the Clawfang Mountain garrison.

Shadows moved through the forest, clearly divided into two groups.

One group consisted of more than a dozen people led by five Silver Bell Guards, including Liu Zheng and Wang Yunshan.

The other side had only four people.

All four were Silver Bell Guards.

"Yang Feng, you're deserting in the middle of battle."

Liu Zheng's eyes burned with anger.

Yang Feng was the leader of the group.

He said coldly, "If you don't know how to speak, then shut your mouth. I am following Lord Yang Sanhe's orders to reinforce Claw-shaped Mountain."

"This side was prepared long ago. Those Evil Skin Cult demons are bound to die."

"But don't forget, Claw-shaped Mountain only has two Golden Bell Guards. How can they withstand an attack by the Evil Skin Cult demons?"

"Whether I'm deserting in battle is none of your concern. But you are defying orders by refusing to provide support. Once this is over, I'll report you for abandoning your posts, disobeying orders, and refusing to provide support."

As soon as he finished speaking, Liu Zheng and the others looked extremely grim.

They had arrived here and had not yet reached the garrison when they unexpectedly ran into Yang Feng's group.

Four Silver Bell Guards.

All of them were scions of great families.

Liu Zheng and the others understood perfectly well.

If the garrison had been prepared in advance, then the two Golden Bell Guards at Claw-shaped Mountain had likely been secretly summoned here as well, just like Li Tai.

If an assassination had truly taken place,

then after so much time had passed, it would already be too late to provide support.

The key was,

he did not believe Yang Feng.

Not every scion of a great family was unreliable.

But the ones before them had absolutely nothing to do with reliability.

Reinforcements at a time like this?

The battle in the central region had already ended. It was impossible that no assassination attempt had occurred at the garrison.

Yang Feng's words proved that much.

But had those Golden Bell Guards been kicked in the head by a donkey to still send people out for reinforcements at such a time? And only four Silver Bell Guards at that?

It could only mean that the situation was far from good.

These people had seen that things were going badly and were deserting in the middle of battle.

In truth,

even if Liu Zheng's group rushed over, they would not be able to help much.

Following Yang Feng and the others would at least offer them a chance to survive.

But the problem was, since they could tell Yang Feng was deserting in battle, would he take responsibility for them when the reckoning came afterward?

He would probably shove them out first as scapegoats for their superiors' anger.

Yang Feng and the others might receive some punishment, but their outcome would certainly be far better than theirs.

"Boss, how about we go with them?"

A Copper Bell Guard muttered through gritted teeth.

They had no idea what was happening at the garrison.

But Yang Feng's group fleeing spoke for itself.

"Idiot."

A Silver Bell Guard turned and snapped at him. With a gloomy face, he said, "Those who want to follow can decide for yourselves."

As soon as he spoke, several Copper Bell Guards in the group were visibly tempted.

"Looks like you still didn't hear what I said."

Yang Feng suddenly sneered. "I am ordering every one of you."