Only a Step Behind

"Kill!"

"This thing has a very thick protective layer, which can easily knock off weapons; you'll need to use your bare hands to strike it!"

"Sun Rihui couldn't break through this bird's resistance layer. If Zhou Xin were here, that would be great!"

"Yinghao and Yinglian, try combining your two swords!"

"This ferocious beast is good at flying. If we hurt it, it will likely run away. We must seize the opportunity!"

As top-tier experts in the Scarlet Alliance State, Changkong Luo and his companions were not reckless youngsters.

Before they regrouped, they rarely made a move, mostly dodging and luring others, and did not launch a rash attack.

Once more than ten people had gathered at the location where the ferocious beast was discovered, and only two beast hunting teams had not yet arrived, the group began to prepare for a joint attack.

"That bird's beak is curved like a sickle, so it definitely belongs to the eagle family. These birds of prey spend most of their time circling high in the sky and inhabiting high mountains, making them very difficult to spot!"

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng deliberately slowed down their car. When they arrived, they happened to run into Changkong Luo directing everyone in a hunt.

Compared to the giant bird-like beast with a large beak that Zhou Xin hunted, the beast in front of them, tentatively named the Azure Eagle, was a size smaller, but its agility was extremely high.

Perhaps seeing humans as food, or perhaps provoked and angered, this eagle would sometimes spread its wings and soar into the air, and sometimes swoop down to hunt with swift strikes.

"It's incredibly fast; if you're even a fraction of a second too slow, it could subdue you in an instant!"

Ren Yisheng pointed to several small vehicles that had been caught and overturned, indicating to Zhang Xuezhou that there was an advantage to being slow; if they had driven faster, they might have had to run around and hide.

"I wonder how well this ferocious beast can withstand our intimidation?" Zhang Xuezhou asked.

"It will most likely have an impact," Ren Yisheng said. "But it's hard to say how long the impact will last. Without anyone's cooperation, it will be difficult for us to defeat the ferocious beast!"

Zhang Xuezhou's deterrent ability stems from his realm technique, while Mental Strengthening amplifies its power.

Ren Yisheng's deterrent ability stems from the Dragon Elephant Combat Technique, and his Mental Strengthening ability further amplifies its deterrent power.

The two men each have their strengths and weaknesses in terms of deterrence. Zhang Xuezhou focuses on the scope of influence and sustained deterrence, which is a simple and violent approach. Ren Yisheng, on the other hand, focuses on the manipulation after psychological influence, and his deterrence tends to be more refined in terms of control.

Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng previously had similar deterrent abilities, but Ren Yisheng later gained some insights and discovered the control power of the Eighth Sequence, while Zhang Xuezhou stepped into the seventh chapter of the Mental Strengthening Chapter. Even after their separation, the two still had their own unique strengths.

Zhang Xuezhou was stationed on Alliance Island to support Ren Yisheng from the rear, thereby intimidating and influencing Orro.

In the subsequent stages, Zhang Xuezhou and Ren Yisheng each hunted birds and exotic animals, constantly proving their abilities through actual combat.

At this moment, the two of them turned their attention to the ferocious beast.

"Ren Yisheng, lend a hand. Try your best not to miss the first ferocious beast!"

Changkong Luo called out from over two hundred meters away, prompting Ren Yisheng to lean out of the window and respond.

I'll do my best!

Ren Yisheng added, and the genetic power within his body quickly entered a state of adjustment.

"If only I could unleash the Dragon Elephant Combat Technique like you!"

Ren Yisheng's genetic power follows the Gene Sequence and orientation adjustment, thus forming a considerable striking force. Zhang Xuezhou's intimidation is a realm suppression, almost at his command, appearing and disappearing at will, and his strikes are virtually silent.

It's impossible for Ren Yisheng not to feel a bit envious, but Ren Yisheng well aware that his energy and abilities were limited, making it difficult to keep both on par, let alone push Gene Fighting Technique and Mental Strengthening to a deeper level while learning both.

"Simply cultivating realm techniques isn't this good!"

Zhang Xuezhou pursed his lips.

He gazed into the distance outside the cockpit, his eyes fixed on the body of an eagle high in the sky.

The deterrent effect of the Realm Technique is not particularly strong; it is merely an ability to assist cultivators in survival, and is only effective against the weak.

Zhang Xuezhou was able to use this technique to penetrate high-level battles, mainly because of the amplification brought by the Mental Strengthening Chapter. Otherwise, his ability in this area would be far inferior to Ren Yisheng's, let alone his ability to silently suppress Orro on Alliance Island.

At this point, the two had clearly entered into a test of their teamwork.

It will still be Ren Yisheng who steps up.

Ren Yisheng truly stepped into the limelight through the Alliance Island International Dispute Conference, and such a rise to prominence is obviously better the stronger one is.

Either hide your ambitions and refrain from competing, or openly compete in a way that makes people afraid to even consider it.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

A low chanting voice began the countdown from Ren Yisheng's mouth.

The moment the countdown ended with the word "one," Ren Yisheng bowed slightly like a pine tree, raised his hands towards the sky, and Zhang Xuezhou swept his gaze across him, simultaneously releasing his intimidating power.

A chilling aura swept over the ferocious beast that swooped down from the sky.

Fifty meters above the ground is equivalent to a seventeen-story building, but it is only slightly more than twice the wingspan of the ferocious beast. Fifty meters is extremely short for the beast, much like a normal person running two to three meters.

Almost simultaneously with their attack, two swords transformed into pale white Sword-Ray of light, shooting upwards like dragons, and another pickup truck was thrown directly upwards, followed by muffled gunshots.

"Hey!"

Ten pale red longswords appeared in Li Qi's hand with his shout, and in the blink of an eye, these longswords were already slashing repeatedly.

A sound like metal clashing rang out, and Li Qi's expression changed slightly. Then, Zhong Rang's arm shot out like a phantom.

"This ferocious beast has lost its fighting ability, don't kill it!"

Li Qi's expression changed, sensing something was wrong, while Zhong Rang stretched out his arms repeatedly and grabbed the beast's metatarsal bones.

A sensation similar to gripping steel bars welled up in Zhong Rang's mind, but he did not feel any force of recoil.

Even when the pickup truck that crashed down on his head fell in the opposite direction, it didn't attract the beast's grasp or sweep it away, thus creating an open position to strike.

"It's under control!"

The crowd's reaction to Ren Yisheng's victory over Silva and Orro was not particularly strong, after all, these two were not as good as many of the older Sequence Holder.

Ren Yisheng's provocation of Montespatton, which prevented the injured Montespatton from playing, also failed to create a strong enough consensus. The general public's opinion was that Montespatton was being targeted repeatedly, so they dared not take any risks.

Ren Yisheng is very strong, but his strength is within acceptable limits. Even with Zuo Lianguang's evidence, he couldn't demonstrate his overwhelming power.

But watching helplessly as the ferocious beast that had swept away Zhao Tianhua became a target for attack, the sheer intensity of the instantaneous blow chilled everyone to the bone.

If Ren Yisheng's partner were not Li Yingbo, but rather someone like Changkong Kongyinghao, it would be possible to kill certain high- Sequence Holder in an instant.

"Ren Yisheng is currently second only to Luo Zhong!"

A thought crossed Zhong Rang's mind.

Regardless of their respective ranks, even Changkong Luo, who was at the Seventh Sequence, didn't dare to speak recklessly in comparison to Luo Zhong.

Luo Zhong's shadow has indeed lingered in the minds of many people.

At present, Ren Yisheng's abilities are already very close to Luo Zhong's.

If Ren had one more partner in his Ren Yisheng, it would almost be a repeat of Luo Zhong's violent tactics of killing whoever he pointed at back then.

Being able to directly influence the ferocious beast that causes headaches for many high- Sequence Holder, Zhong Rang felt he could now make an accurate judgment about Ren Yisheng.

But at the same time, huge doubts also welled up in Zhong Rang's mind.

That's why Ren Yisheng gave him the feeling that his strength was close to Luo Zhong's.

"Only by following Luo Zhong's path can we possibly recreate Luo Zhong former glory. Could it be that Ren Yisheng followed the path of the Heavenly God General...? Is it the Mental Strengthening Chapter? The Heavenly God General might very well be the Mental Strengthening Chapter of our cultivation!"

Various thoughts kept surfacing, but Zhong Rang quickly sorted them out and finally deduced the reason.

He activated his genetic power, and six arms of different shapes appeared on his body like insect legs, gripping the tarsal bones on the beast bird's legs tightly along with his original arms.

As the immense force struck his tarsal bones, a faint blue light appeared, and Zhong Rang almost lost control of his eight arms. Only then did the various thoughts in his mind quickly subside.