While Qi Wu was locked in a fierce battle with the goddess's phantom-
Outside Lake Heart Island, the Blood Knife Team was plotting a backstab.
"Brothers, once they've worn each other down, how about we ambush them from behind and take the Full Moon Heart?"
Scarface excitedly laid out his plan to his teammates.
His teammates were bewildered by what they heard.
They had genuinely thought Scarface had brought Qi Wu to the treasure to thank him.
They had never imagined he was using Qi Wu to get his hands on the Exotic Treasure.
"Captain, you..."
One teammate instinctively lowered his voice, his face full of shock and hesitation.
"Are we... are we really going to attack Qi Wu? He just saved us!"
"Saved us?"
The muscles in Captain Scarface's face twisted into an utterly greedy, ruthless smile.
"So what? Don't be naive. Do you have any idea how much the Exotic Treasure is worth?"
"Every single one is worth a fortune!"
Captain Scarface's voice trembled slightly with excitement, an almost maddened fire burning in his eyes.
"Our two teams are the only ones here. If we kill them, who'll ever know we did it?"
"The strong prey on the weak in this world. The opportunity is right in front of us! If we don't seize it, we'll spend our whole lives as ants struggling at the bottom!"
Scarface's words swayed quite a few members of the Blood Knife Team.
A burly man leaned in, backing him up with a vicious look in his eyes:
"The captain's right. No matter how strong their team is, there are only three of them. If we strike from behind once both sides are worn down... we've got a good chance! Pull this off, and we'll be set for the rest of our lives!"
"But... his ability..."
Another teammate went pale.
Everyone in the bureau knew about Qi Wu's bizarre "absolute defense."
This teammate was wary of Qi Wu's Limitless.
"His ability?"
Captain Scarface snorted and pointed toward the altar, where the battle was raging.
"Can't you see? He's focused entirely on fighting that goddess's phantom! How could a defense that powerful not drain him? How could it not require concentration? This is when his guard is lowest! Ambush him from behind, catch him unprepared-even if he's made of iron, we'll still tear a layer off him!"
"If we attack from behind, what, is his defensive ability going to activate automatically?"
He swept his gaze over all his teammates, his voice firm and brooking no argument:
"Don't forget how we earned the name Blood Knife! Hesitate, and you die! Only by being ruthless can we survive-and live better!"
"Listen to me. When Qi Wu is about to finish off that phantom, or when he looks exhausted, I'll give the signal! Everyone, use your strongest attacks, aim for their vitals, and kill them in one strike!"
Their initial hesitation gradually crumbled before the immense rewards Captain Scarface promised.
The remaining teammates exchanged looks.
In the end, greed and the longing to change their lives completely overwhelmed their fear and conscience.
They nodded emphatically, nothing but ruthlessness and resolve left in their eyes.
"Let's do it!"
"We'll risk it!"
"We're with you, Captain!"
On Lake Heart Island.
Qi Wu blocked every arrow in the Goddess of Night's phantom's Nightglow Arrow Rain.
Above the altar, the battle had reached a fever pitch.
The Goddess of Night's phantom seemed utterly enraged by the way Qi Wu disregarded her attacks.
She spread her arms, and the moonlight above the altar suddenly turned violent. Countless streams of moonlight no longer attacked as arrows, instead gathering into enormous, spinning lunar vortices.
Like the Milky Way pouring down, they crashed toward Qi Wu with the terrifying force to crush everything!
"Heh. Now it's getting interesting."
Qi Wu chuckled. Faced with this wider, more powerful attack, some of the languor faded from his eyes, replaced by a hint of seriousness.
Rather than retreating, he stepped forward and raised his right hand slightly, palm up.
"Cursed Technique Lapse: Blue."
Vmmm-!
A powerful suction erupted instantly from the center of his palm!
Several enormous moonlight vortices were forcibly dragged off course by that gravitational pull.
As though seized by an invisible giant hand, they surged wildly toward the Gravity Sphere in Qi Wu's palm, finally compressing into an energy sphere flickering with a dangerous blue-white light!
The Goddess of Night's phantom seemed to freeze for a moment.
In that instant of hesitation, Qi Wu's left hand had already formed the opposite seal.
"Cursed Technique Reversal: Red."
His combination paired Cursed Technique Lapse with Cursed Technique Reversal.
An alternating use of gravity and repulsion.
A completely different power-repulsion pushed to its utmost limit-erupted from his left hand like a supernova!
A dark-red torrent of pure destructive energy overtook the first attack and slammed into the newly compressed energy sphere!
The ultimate forces of lapse and reversal collided violently!
BOOOOM-!!!
A deafening explosion reverberated across the entirety of Lake Heart Island!
The blue-white lunar energy intertwined with the dark-red torrent of destruction, producing an unimaginably powerful shock wave that spread furiously in a ring in every direction!
The altar shook violently, the ground cracked, and even the floating Full Moon Heart gemstone flickered wildly!
The Goddess of Night's phantom bore the brunt of the terrifying explosion. Her Moonlight Shield cracked under the strain, and her entire form instantly grew dim and indistinct.
She let out a soundless shriek, clearly grievously wounded.
Yet, while the explosion's aftermath still raged and the goddess's phantom reeled from her injuries-
An icy glint flashed through the eyes of Qi Wu, who had been coolly observing the entire situation with his [Six Eyes].
"So they really did come looking for death."
Qi Wu's perception was extraordinarily powerful.
Even when the Blood Knife Team was still some distance from Lake Heart Island-
He had already sensed their approach.
Qi Wu was hardly naive enough to think the Blood Knife Team had come to help.
Back when Scarface had told him about the Full Moon Heart-
His extraordinary insight had already caught the subtle expressions that betrayed Scarface's ill intentions.
He had merely played along.
Now, the Blood Knife Team really was planning to stab him in the back.
Perfect.
He could catch them all in one sweep.
"Qingyue, activate the backup we prepared."
His voice reached Jiang Qingyue behind him, calm and even.
Qi Wu had long since prepared a way to wipe out both the Blood Knife Team and the goddess's phantom together.
Jiang Qingyue was doing everything she could to maintain their defenses against the explosion's aftermath. His words sent a jolt through her, but she did not hesitate.
"Yes, Mr. Wu!"
With a wave of her hand, a Red Magic Circle appeared in midair, summoning Yellow Weasel's true weasel form.
"Squeak, squeak!"
Chittering, Yellow Weasel burrowed into the soil and quickly vanished.
Qi Wu nodded slightly at the sight, then spoke.
"Qingyue, Gale, get out of here. Quickly."
"I'm about to get serious."
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