The battlefield fell into dead silence.
All the roars, fighting, and wails seemed to have had their pause button pressed at that very moment.
Whether it was the surviving Death Squad members or the Mutated Beasts that had lost their commander, all of them stared blankly at the Blood Wolf Commander's mountain-like corpse sprawled on the ground, and at the blood-drenched young figure kneeling before it, using his spear as a crutch, looking as though he could collapse at any moment.
The Blood Wolf Commander... was dead?
Killed by that Second Realm youth named Lin Ming...?
He had crossed an entire major realm to kill a Third Tier commander?!
Was this... real?
After a brief, deathly silence.
"ROAR!!!"
"Madman Lin! Madman Lin killed the wolf commander!!"
"We won! We won!!"
"Kill them! The beast leader is dead! Wipe them all out!!"
The surviving Death Squad members were the first to react, erupting in earth-shaking cheers of ecstasy!
Their morale, which had sunk to rock bottom, erupted skyward like a volcano! Their eyes reddened as if they had been injected with chicken blood, and they hurled themselves madly at the Mutated Beasts, which had fallen into confusion and terror after their commander's death!
As for the Mutated Beasts, after a brief spell of bewilderment and fear, they instinctively descended into chaos without unified command or their strongest fighter.
Some of the fiercer ones still wanted to fight, but more were overwhelmed by the humans' sudden frenzy and the terror brought by the Blood Wolf Commander's death. They began letting out uneasy roars and shrinking backward.
When an army was defeated, it collapsed like a mountain.
When the first Tier Two Mutated Beast tucked its tail and fled into the Wilderness, the rout began.
Countless Mutated Beasts no longer wished to fight. Wailing and trampling one another, they fled toward the Wilderness beyond the barricade like a receding tide.
"Chase them! Don't let them get away!"
"Watch out for a trick! Hold the line!"
"Madman Lin! How are you?!"
Amid the chaotic shouts, the old commander, Old Black, and several others scrambled to Lin Ming's side. Seeing his miserable condition, their eyes reddened with anxiety, yet they did not dare touch him carelessly.
Su Yunwan also staggered over with her black spear as support. Her face was equally pale and her breathing weak, but the look she gave Lin Ming was incomparably complex.
Shock, disbelief, scrutiny, admiration, and even a trace of... fluttering that she herself had not noticed.
She looked at the bloodstained Silver Frost in Lin Ming's hand, then at the Blood Wolf Commander's corpse on the ground, before finally returning her gaze to his lowered profile as he panted without stop.
That spear strike just now... Heaven-Splitting?
That had been the true, complete third form of the Heaven-Splitting Three Forms?
Not only had he instantly learned the first form, but he had comprehended and refined the technique continuously in battle, until he unleashed that breathtaking third form and killed a wolf across realms?
This could no longer be described as talent... He was a monster! A freak!
And the power he had erupted with at the end, along with that strange, razor-sharp aura... seemed to be more than just the martial technique itself.
Suppressing the raging waves in her heart, Su Yunwan walked up to Lin Ming, crouched down, and took an exquisite jade bottle from her robes. She poured out two emerald-green pills that gave off a delicate fragrance.
"These are Jade Muscle-Rebirth Pills. They have miraculous effects on internal injuries and bone healing. Take them quickly."
Her voice was somewhat hoarse, yet carried an unmistakable note of command as she brought the pills to Lin Ming's mouth.
Lin Ming barely raised his head and glanced at her. Without standing on ceremony, he opened his mouth and swallowed the pills.
The pills melted upon entering his mouth, turning into two streams of cool, gentle energy that flowed through his limbs and bones, swiftly nourishing his damaged organs and skeleton. The agonizing pain immediately eased considerably.
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"Thanks." His voice was hoarse.
Su Yunwan shook her head. Looking at the fleeing beast horde, then at the Death Squad members who were cheering despite their severe casualties and utter exhaustion, she gave a decisive order:
"Do not pursue a desperate enemy! Treat the wounded immediately, clear the battlefield, and reinforce the defenses! Be on guard against a beast counterattack or a new assault!"
Her command was clear and forceful, carrying a natural authority. The surviving Guard Army soldiers and Death Squad members obeyed instinctively.
Only then did Su Yunwan look back at Lin Ming. Her gaze fell on the Silver Frost he still gripped tightly. After hesitating a moment, she said softly:
"The spear... keep using it for now. We'll talk again once you recover, or when you have a better weapon."
Lin Ming held the icy spear shaft, feeling the spirituality within it faintly resonate with his own blood and qi. He nodded. "All right. I'll borrow it for now."
The frigid night wind carried a thick stench of blood through the gap in the barricade, whimpering across the battlefield strewn with corpses.
Nearly an hour had passed since the battle ended. The fleeing Mutated Beasts had vanished into the depths of the dark Wilderness. Guard Army soldiers and surviving Death Squad members silently cleared the battlefield and gathered the bodies of their fallen comrades. From time to time, suppressed sobs could be heard.
The atmosphere inside the makeshift medical station was heavy. The wounded's groans, the pungent smell of disinfectant, and military doctors' clipped, urgent commands mingled together.
Lin Ming sat propped against a pile of ammunition crates, his upper body wrapped in bloodstained bandages. His face was still pale, but his breathing had become much steadier.
The Jade Muscle-Rebirth Pills Su Yunwan had given him were remarkably effective. Combined with the powerful vitality of his own Second Realm martial artist's body, his broken ribs and internal injuries were healing at a startling rate.
"Kid Lin, how are you feeling?" Old Wang dragged his injured leg as he hobbled over and handed him a water flask, his lone eye full of concern and lingering fear.
"Damn it, you scared the hell out of me! That spear strike... was fucking awesome!"
Old Black, Mute, Bitter Melon, and several others also gathered around. Their faces, marked by survival after catastrophe, carried undisguised respect and gratitude.
If not for Lin Ming today, every one of them would have been left here for good.
"Not dead yet."
Lin Ming took the flask and gulped down a few mouthfuls. The icy liquid soothed his burning throat.
Just then, a dark green figure parted the crowd and strode over. It was Su Yunwan.
She had already changed out of her damaged everyday clothes and into a neat Guard Army combat uniform. Her high ponytail remained immaculate, though her face still bore the pallor of blood loss. Yet those valiant eyes now shone astonishingly bright as they fixed tightly on Lin Ming, as though she intended to see straight through him.
"You all leave for a moment. I need to speak with Lin Ming alone." Su Yunwan's voice carried unquestionable authority.
Old Wang and the others exchanged glances. Though worried, they did not dare disobey this powerful major whose background was clearly anything but simple. They gave Lin Ming looks that said good luck to you, then supported one another as they left.
Only Lin Ming and Su Yunwan remained in the corner of the medical station. The distant clamor seemed cut off from them.
Su Yunwan did not speak immediately. She merely studied Lin Ming from head to toe with those sharp eyes, as though reassessing a rare treasure. After a long while, she took a deep breath, lowered her voice, and came straight to the point.
"Lin Ming, that final spear strike you used to kill the Blood Wolf King... was it Heaven-Splitting? The third form of the Heaven-Splitting Three Forms?"
Her voice trembled almost imperceptibly, with excitement and disbelief she could not suppress.
Lin Ming raised his eyes to meet hers and nodded calmly. "Yes."
"How could you?" Su Yunwan stepped forward, nearly moving right in front of Lin Ming, her tone urgent.
"What I gave you was only a fragment of the first form, Mountain Splitter! No matter how gifted you were, you should only have been able to comprehend the first form from it, and even then it would inevitably be incomplete! But you... not only did you use the first form more completely and more dominantly than any record I've ever seen, you also successively used the second form, Wave Severing, and in the end... in the end, you used the third form, Heaven-Splitting, which theoretically only existed in deductions!"
The more she spoke, the more agitated she became, her clear eyes filled with probing light.
"That was absolutely not something the fragment could have recorded! How exactly did you do it? Could it be that you had learned the complete Heaven-Splitting Three Forms before? No, impossible. This fragment is the only copy..."
Lin Ming had long prepared an answer for Su Yunwan's barrage of questions.
His expression did not change much. Only after Su Yunwan had finished did he slowly speak, his tone as calm as if he were commenting on today's pleasant weather.
"I never learned the complete version."
"Then how did you..."
"I deduced it."