No one gave any further thought to completing the mission.
They could barely protect themselves now!
Having found their footing, Qian Jun Douluo, Yue Guan, and Gui Mei exchanged a glance across the distance. Like bolts of lightning, the three of them uttered a hasty word: "Go."
As Qian Jun Douluo rapidly approached, he reached out to grab, and together with Yue Guan and Gui Mei, each took one of the Golden Generation members. Moving at a speed that left afterimages, they used the palm wind from their combined strike to disperse the thick fog, then urgently broke through to the outside.
The other surviving Soul Sages reacted and quickly followed, but they were ultimately a step too slow. The rapidly growing blood mist blocked their escape route.
Because Hu Liena had departed, the Soul Sages without the protection of the Killing God Domain followed in the footsteps of those before them, perishing in the blood mist.
A team of dozens of Soul Sages and above was reduced to a mere three Titled Douluos and three Soul Emperors!
No matter how much they gritted their teeth in hatred, all they could do now was flee in desperation.
Unfortunately, Lady Luck did not favor them this time.
The blood-red light that pursued them from behind was like a shadow, as if toying with them. It could have caught up in an instant, yet it deliberately held back.
Qian Jun Douluo, carrying Yan, harbored deep resentment but knew that none of them would escape if this continued.
"Yue Guan, catch!"
Having made up his mind, Qian Jun Douluo gritted his teeth and threw Yan towards Yue Guan, who was carrying Hu Liena.
The two performed an aerial handover. Qian Jun Douluo, catching a glimpse of Yue Guan securing the person, exhaled and abruptly halted. His Dragon Coiling Stick expanded several times, unleashing its concentrated soul power in its entirety—
"Seventh Soul Skill, Weapon Soul True Body!"
"Rumble—!"
A deafening explosion echoed across the vast Spirit Beast Forest, its might so great that almost the entire Star Dou Great Forest heard the colossal sound.
Only two or three breaths later, Yue Guan, who had flown a thousand meters away, glanced back with lingering fear.
This was the peerless battle that unfolded after level 95... Though he hated to admit it, if he had been the one to cover their retreat, he would not have survived even a single blow from the opponent!
"Cough, cough—"
Qian Jun Douluo, covered in wounds, struggled to prop himself up with his arms.
With him as the epicenter, the surrounding ten miles of forest and its inhabitants had been reduced to dust nourishing the land. In the clash of that powerful strike, everything was razed to the ground.
But...
Qian Jun Douluo, already gravely injured, moved his pale lips, bloodstains still lingering at the corners.
He looked at the Slaughter King, who hovered in the air with his wings spread, completely unharmed, and fear began to dawn in his eyes.
This fellow, who had taken the full force of his attack in his Weapon Soul True Body state... not only was that little girl protected tightly, without a single scratch, not even a strand of hair out of place, but the bat wings this fellow used to block his Dragon Coiling Stick were undamaged. He himself, however, was severely injured by the combined might of his own attack and the force reflected back by the opponent!
"...Monster!"
Qian Jun Douluo spat out two trembling words from between his gritted teeth.
The Slaughter King looked down at the disheveled human from his high vantage point, his gaze falling upon the man's trembling arms.
"You used this hand to press down earlier, didn't you."
Though it was a question, it sounded more like a calm statement.
Qian Jun Douluo's pupils constricted, his every hair standing on end. Before he could even react, excruciating pain shot through his arms.
"Ah!!" Su Dan Novel Network
His two severed arms, cut cleanly by the blade wind, flew off. The pain surged, and the veins on Qian Jun Douluo's forehead bulged as if about to burst. His face, covered in blood, contorted in agony.
Blood poured out like a torrent, yet the blood splashing into the air transformed into a rusty scent that permeated the atmosphere, further thickening the blood mist.
He cried out again, enduring the intense pain and the shock of his injuries, retreating rapidly. However, the blood mist had, at some unknown time, surrounded him.
The moment Qian Jun Douluo was forced back into the blood mist, the blood flowing from his severed arms, now part of the mist, began to boil. His own blood surged uncontrollably, like magnets drawn to each other, continuously merging into the blood-red light emitted by the Slaughter King, becoming part of this dense blood mist!
"Mian Mian, finish him." The Slaughter King raised his chin slightly, speaking calmly as he generously offered this hunting opportunity to the cub, his tone as serene as if he were merely swatting an ant.
Hearing the Slaughter King's words, Tang Sui lifted her head from his embrace. A dark crimson demonic energy condensed in her eyes, her pale little face filled with the same icy killing intent as the Slaughter King.
Four masks, as dust-covered as their master, emerged silently from the blood mist. Ethereal light flickered in their hollow eye sockets, like hungry wolves zeroing in on their prey, determined to tear the target before them to shreds.
Strike while they are weak, take their life!
The four masks, all filled with fury, lunged at the human who had soiled them and nearly shattered them earlier.
Under the pincer attack from four sides, Qian Jun Douluo's eyeballs bulged. The faint beat of his heart beneath his chest gave one last, unwilling surge, and as his head drooped from exhaustion, all became silent.
Looking impassively at Qian Jun Douluo's demise, the Slaughter King, holding Tang Sui, slowly landed. He carefully placed the cub on the scorched earth and gestured towards Qian Jun Douluo: "Absorb him. I'll guard you."
It sounded as casual as saying, "Hurry up and eat while it's hot."
Tang Sui exhaled a mouthful of sweet, coppery air. She raised her hand, and dark crimson demonic energy surged from her palm, spreading like vines, like a spiderweb, instantly entwining and enveloping into a colossal humanoid cocoon.
She sat down on the ground, closed her eyes, and began to meditate, absorbing the power.
As Tang Sui closed her eyes, she did not see the blood-colored patterns on the Slaughter King's body, standing with his hands behind his back, flicker, and the flowing light grow somewhat dim.
Inside the pitch-black domain, Tang San and the others, filled with anxiety, were unaware of what was happening outside. However, judging by the domain's ceasing collapse and its slow expansion, they could roughly surmise that Tang Sui's spiritual and soul power were recovering, and the situation was not entirely dire.
But the unknown was terrifying, and waiting was particularly agonizing.
It took half an incense stick's worth of time for Tang Sui to finish transforming the power.
She opened her eyes, her dark blue irises shimmering with light.
Her soul power had broken through to level 69!
"Grandpa, my soul power has broken through to level 69!"
Tang Sui ended her meditation and looked at the Slaughter King with a hint of joy.
"Not bad." The Slaughter King offered a rare word of praise.
Under Tang Sui's delighted gaze, the approaching Slaughter King bent his right knee slightly, retracted his bat wings, and knelt before Tang Sui in a gentle posture, extending a finger that was pale gray with deathly energy.
Tang Sui did not flinch. Even though the tip of the finger was so long that it extended beyond human limits, she did not avoid it, letting it touch her soft cheek.
The Slaughter King gently wiped away the specks of blood on Tang Sui's face. His pair of blood-red vertical pupils reflected her disheveled appearance, and something seemed to flash in his eyes. He said softly, "I no longer need that plan. If you have time, return to the Slaughter City and connect all your demonic energy to mine, erasing mine."
"What?" Tang Sui froze.