The gunsmoke hadn’t yet cleared.

A nauseating, scorched smell permeated the air.

It was the unique stench of flesh ground down and carbonized by the intense friction of high-speed Qi Blood Power.

Wang Defa’s strike had landed true.

The cultist’s head tumbled two meters away, his dust-covered face frozen in the terror of his final moment.

"It’s over just like that?"

Gu Yun’s palms were slick with sweat as he clutched his gun; he hadn’t even had time to pull the trigger.

From the cultist suddenly lashing out to Han Feng blasting him off the wall with a single shot, and then to Wang Defa delivering the finishing blow, the entire sequence happened so fast it was as if someone had hit fast-forward.

"What, you wanted to invite him for a midnight snack?"

Wang Meng put away his tactical dagger and walked over, muttering curses as he gave the headless corpse two vicious kicks.

"Damn it, that scared the shit out of me. The bastard’s Shield could even stop an Armor-Piercing Bullet."

Zhang Hao said nothing.

He walked over to the body, crouched down, and carefully examined the bowl-sized gunshot wound.

Even though he’d already seen the damage it did to steel plates at the firing range, seeing the effect of the shot on a human body firsthand still made his eyelid twitch uncontrollably.

The edges of the spiral wound were as clean as if they’d been lathed by a machine.

The surrounding muscle tissue had all turned a necrotic purplish-black.

This wasn’t from poison, but physical necrosis caused by the instantaneous heat and impact.

"Where’s Han Feng?"

Zhang Hao stood up and scanned the area.

From atop the abandoned water tower several hundred meters away, a figure slid nimbly down the iron ladder.

He vanished into the darkness with a few fluid movements, reappearing before the group a moment later.

Han Feng hoisted the Thunder Fire-3 rifle onto his shoulder as casually as if it were a fire poker.

"Dead?"

It was an unnecessary question.

"Deader than dead."

Wang Defa thrust his large saber into the ground, splitting the concrete as if it were tofu.

"That was a beautiful shot."

This was praise from an expert of the Enlightenment Realm.

Han Feng smiled. Just as he was about to offer a polite reply, his brow furrowed sharply.

Through his Spiritual Vision, he could see that the dark red mass of Energy within the corpse, which should have been inert, hadn’t dissipated with its host’s death.

On the contrary, it was collapsing inward at an astonishing speed.

A dire warning signal blared in his mind.

"Get back!"

Han Feng roared, launching himself backward in an instant.

Before the others could react.

SQUELCH!

It was a soft sound, as if something were breaking out of a shell.

The headless corpse’s chest cavity suddenly erupted.

A streak of crimson light shot out from within, moving so fast it left an afterimage in the air.

"What is that!"

Zhang Hao was the first to react.

He activated his Talent, Eagle Eye Lock, almost the instant Han Feng yelled.

The surrounding cacophony of alarms and shouts instantly faded as the world transformed into a slow-motion film before his eyes.

The trajectory of the crimson streak of light was clearly captured.

Its true form was a thumb-sized grub, its body the color of translucent, blood-red jade.

Two pairs of wings, thin as a cicada’s, grew from its back, vibrating at an incredible frequency.

Breaking Army Eight Techniques·Liao!

Without a moment’s hesitation, Zhang Hao swung his azure Alloy Battle Saber upward in an incredibly precise arc.

His blade flared with Blade Aura Possession as his powerful Inner Qi condensed into a three-inch-long Light Blade, shooting out to intercept the blood-colored grub.

His goal wasn’t to kill it, but to block its path!

TING!

A crisp sound, like shattering crystal.

The blood-red grub slammed squarely into Zhang Hao’s Light Blade in mid-air.

A violent force surged through the saber, sending a sharp pain through the web of Zhang Hao’s hand and nearly making him lose his grip.

Even more bizarrely, the Blood Gu used the recoil to pivot in mid-air at an angle that completely defied the laws of physics.

Instead of slowing, it accelerated, diving straight for Wang Meng, who was closest and had the most abundant Qi Blood!

"Fuck!"

Wang Meng only had time to throw his thick arm up in front of his face.

His Talent was Giant Strength, and he excelled at brute-force confrontations. But against such a small, ridiculously fast creature, his strength was useless.

BANG!

BANG!

BANG!

Old Liu and several other team members nearby opened fire.

But at such close range, against a tiny target with an erratic flight path, the bullets were useless, serving only to punch smoking holes in the ground.

"It’s a Blood Gu!"

Zhang Hao shouted, his voice sharp.

"Don’t let it get inside your body!"

This was a Lifebound Gu Insect, nourished by a Blood-Feeding Cultist’s own soul and blood essence.

With its host dead, the Gu Insect was out of control and desperately needed to find a new host to replenish its Energy.

To it, the Martial Artists present were the most delicious buffet imaginable.

Just as the Blood Gu was about to slam into Wang Meng’s arm, Han Feng had already raised his rifle.

But he didn’t fire.

’It’s too fast, and Wang Meng is in the line of fire.’

’If I take the shot, there’s no telling if I’ll hit the bug, but Wang Meng’s arm will definitely be gone.’

In that critical instant.

BOOM!

The ground suddenly shook.

Wang Defa stomped his right foot down hard, and the concrete beneath it instantly spiderwebbed with cracks.

A visible, earthy-yellow ripple erupted outward from him.

In that instant, his aura connected with the very earth beneath his feet!

"Vile creature, freeze!"

Instead of leaping, Wang Defa pointed the tip of his heavy Standard Long Saber downward and plunged it violently into the ground.

Martial Skill·Earth-Splitting Wave!

The profound True Qi of an Enlightenment Realm expert poured unreservedly into the earth.

VMMMM—

With the tip of the saber as its epicenter, a fan-shaped, earthy-yellow shockwave swept out across the ground.

This was no mere physical shockwave, but an Energy Field composed of high-density Rock True Qi!

The incredibly agile Blood Gu was instantly enveloped by this Energy Field, heavy as a mountain.

Its speed visibly flagged, as if it had flown into a viscous bog, and the rapid vibration of its wings grew sluggish.

’Now!’

"Die!"

With a furious roar, Wang Defa yanked the Long Saber from the ground with one hand.

An earthy-yellow Sword Aura, so thick it was almost tangible, ignited along the blade, making it look like a slab of rock freshly hewn from a mountain.

Martial Skill·Rock Blade Aura!

There were no fancy techniques, only ultimate power and pure, crushing force.

SWISH!

The blade swept past, leaving a distinct, earthy-yellow arc in the air.

The Blood Gu, momentarily trapped by the Earth-Splitting Wave, had no time to react before the immensely powerful strike sliced it cleanly in two.

Nauseating green ichor splattered across the ground.

The two halves of its body twitched spasmodically on the ground before finally melting into a foul-smelling puddle of pus.

Silence.

A deathly silence.

Wang Meng remained frozen in his defensive posture, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

For that brief moment, he had truly felt the touch of death.

If that thing had gotten inside his body, not even an Immortal could have saved him.