Chapter 15

Chapter 15: Blood-colored Dusk

What he saw was the sight of Captain Thunder being attacked by the Blood Shadow Team!

At that moment, the setting sun was giving out its last rays, and the remaining light in the distance was quickly turning into darkness.

It seemed that it wouldn’t take long before the dark night covered the earth.

Along with the darkness came waves of gloom and cold, spreading out in all directions.

The jungle seemed to be clinging on to the final rays of light like a struggling old man, unwilling to accept his end. However, the light from the setting sun didn't have any strength remaining. It could only barely slip through the dense leaves in some scattered locations, giving off a dim glow.

But all of that didn’t matter to Xu Qing, who was hiding in the treetops. He looked at the battlefield coldly and everything that happened was reflected in his icy eyes.

There were five people from the Blood Shadow Team here. Two of them were at the front, attacking Captain Thunder, and the other three blocked off any escape paths.

The three weaker ones were around Luan Ya’s level, at the third level of Qi Condensation.

They didn't dare to get too close, only moving around the perimeter, but at the same time, Captain Thunder couldn’t afford to just ignore their existence.

As for the other two, there was one of them whose spiritual energy fluctuations were only a tiny bit weaker than Captain Thunder’s. Clearly, he was also at the sixth level of Qi Condensation, and he was also an old man.

This man’s hair was disheveled and his eyes were fierce. Right now, his clothes were in tatters, and Xu Qing could see the muscles in his body that seemed to be bursting with strength. It was the Blood Shadow Team Leader who had previously eaten raw dog meat.

Just then, the Blood Shadow Team Leader licked his lips. Striking out like thunder, he stared coldly at Captain Thunder, whose body was turning blue-black.

"Today, the Thunder Team will be erased from the camp. Captain Thunder, you might as well kill yourself right now, or else you’ll be like that Barbarian, unable to have a complete corpse even after fighting to the point of mutation. It’s too undignified for a man of your caliber. If you commit suicide here, I will definitely take good care of the rest of your team."

"That’s right! Captain Thunder, you can rest assured. After you die, we will take good care of the remaining members of the Thunder Team. I’ve wanted to try that Luan Ya since a long time ago. Oh, you also picked up a kid recently. He should be worth a pretty penny if we sell him to be raised as a treasure breeder.”

The one who spoke after the Blood Shadow Team Leader was the other vanguard who was attacking Captain Thunder.

This was a middle-aged man who looked quite ugly and had a hunchback. He only had one good eye remaining, and that eye was filled with bloodthirst. Although his spiritual energy fluctuations weren’t as great as his team leader, he still surpassed Cross, reaching the fifth level of Qi Condensation.

But his cultivation didn’t seem stable. He had probably just broken through not long ago.

Facing the two’s verbal provocation, Captain Thunder didn’t respond. Instead, his attacks became even faster, and his eyes grew lifeless. It seemed as if he already intended to meet his death here.

The Blood Shadow duo were unwilling to suffer serious injuries to kill Captain Thunder faster, so they pulled back a bit and began a battle of attrition.

They were obviously determined to succeed this time, and they weren’t against dragging things out.

"One sixth level, one fifth level, three third levels!" Xu Qing's eyes were filled with killing intent. It wouldn’t be a problem for him to leave, but he viewed debts of gratitude very seriously. Captain Thunder had always been good to him, so at that moment, Xu Qing chose not to run away. Instead, he looked around the battlefield and at the surroundings.

This location wasn’t very open. There were many trees, and coupled with the dim lighting, there were many patches of darkness that were suitable for making sneak attacks.

After coming to this conclusion, towering killing intent blazed in Xu Qing’s eyes.

Pushing off the tree where he had been watching, Xu Qing’s figure shot forward like an arrow loosed from the bow.

The physical might brought by the coupling of the third level of the Sea and Mountain Art and the purple crystal was fully displayed at this moment.

His speed was so fast that he left an afterimage on the treetop. Before anyone could react, Xu Qing rushed into the battlefield in the blink of an eye and appeared next to one of the three who were blocking Captain Thunder’s escape.

It was a thin young man, and Captain Thunder’s desperate appearance was all that was reflected in his eyes. He didn’t notice Xu Qing at all.

When a cold wind hit his face, he was slightly taken aback and tried to turn his head. But the next moment… an iron skewer pierced through his forehead with terrifying force.

Xu Qing’s body didn’t stop. Without waiting for the corpse to fall, before any screams could ring out, he spun around and kicked off, exploding forward like a cheetah and appearing in front of a second person almost instantly.

The second scavenger's pupils contracted and his expression changed greatly. He was about to step backwards, but Xu Qing’s fist had already arrived, carrying with it the mighty force of the third level of the Sea and Mountain Art.

With a bang, the scavenger’s chest instantly caved in, and blood burst out of his back. As the sound of breaking bones rang out, Xu Qing turned and waved his left hand, flinging his dagger with a terrifying force. The dagger left afterimages as it flew towards the third scavenger at high speeds.

It was only after the second scavenger’s sternum shattered, heart collapsed, and back burst open that the third scavenger came to his senses.

He was just about to move when a gust of wind blew into his face. His eyes widened with shock, and he instinctively reached his hand up to touch between his eyebrows. A dagger was already embedded there.

His forehead sank in and his skull shattered!

All of this happened in a flash.

Xu Qing was just too fast, and his attacks were swift and decisive. As the first and third scavengers’ corpses hit the ground, the second scavenger, whose entire chest area was destroyed, also fell down, revealing Xu Qing’s figure.

As he bent down, his long black hair hung down in front of his face, but it couldn’t hide his cold, wolf-like eyes.

He raised his head and looked at Captain Thunder and the Blood Shadow pair, who were startled by his sudden attack.

The wind all around them seemed to suddenly stop.

Ripples finally appeared in Captain Thunder’s lifeless eyes. He took a deep look at Xu Qing and suddenly let out a low voice.

"Kid, get out of here!"

Xu Qing didn’t listen to Captain Thunder’s plea. He stared at the Blood Shadow Team Leader and narrowed his eyes.

The Blood Shadow Team Leader also looked seriously at Xu Qing for the first time. When he glanced at the three corpses beside Xu Qing, his face twitched slightly. He had to admit that he had misjudged the Thunder Team.

He hadn’t expected Barbarian’s stubbornness, and he had also not expected this kid to suddenly appear.

"Kill him!"

The Blood Shadow Team Leader snorted and decided to risk injuries to end the battle quickly.

As he spoke, his aura exploded outwards and he threw a punch at Captain Thunder. The two team leaders were soon entangled in fierce combat.

To the side, the middle-aged man at the fifth level of Qi Condensation turned around with a grin and walked over to Xu Qing.

As he moved, spiritual energy exploded out from his whole body, and he cracked his knuckles with a cruel gleam in his single eye.

Although the boy in front of him was extremely fast and killed three team members in an instant, he was still sure that his recent breakthrough into the fifth level of Qi Condensation would allow him to easily kill his opponent.

The cold light in Xu Qing’s narrowed eyes intensified even more.

Judging from the previous attack, Xu Qing estimated that he was able to kill someone at the fourth level of Qi Condensation. As for the fifth level… he’d never fought one, so he didn’t know.

Xu Qing suddenly rushed out. His explosive speed made him appear in front of the middle-aged man immediately, and he threw a punch an instant later.

The middle-aged cultivator's lips curled in contempt.

An invisible barrier of spiritual energy formed around the middle-aged man's body, blocking Xu Qing’s fist.

As the fist impacted the barrier with a loud bang, cracks appeared, but the barrier did not break.

Instead, a strong backlash appeared from the barrier, causing a cracking sound to ring out from Xu Qing’s wrist as it directly dislocated.

Xu Qing's pupils contracted, and his body moved erratically as he struck out with his right hand and forcibly relocated his wrist. Instead of retreating, his eyes blazed with ferocity as he punched again with all his strength.

With a loud bang, the barrier filled up with cracks and finally collapsed.

But the moment the barrier broke apart, a violent force spread out from the point of impact. Soil flew into the air as the force struck Xu Qing in the face and spread to his whole body.

The fragments of the invisible barrier that appeared when it shattered were like sharp blades as they flew out, quickly covering Xu Qing’s body with bloody cuts. It was a shocking sight.

Xu Qing’s body trembled.

His slender body repeatedly staggered backwards to disperse the impact, and his many cuts were dripping with blood.

"Idiot!”

“A mere body refiner isn’t worthy of fighting a magic arts cultivator, and you even want to fight my fifth level of Qi Condensation with your third level. You overestimate yourself.”

As the soil landed, the contempt in the eye of the middle-aged cultivator became stronger.

However, deep in his heart he also felt surprise. He hadn’t expected that his spiritual energy barrier would collapse from his opponent’s second punch.

Fortunately, he had broken through to the fifth level not long ago, so his spiritual energy barrier could now explode when it broke. If not, he would have been in a sorry situation just now.

Xu Qing frowned. Staring at the middle-aged man, as if he didn’t feel any pain in his body, he slammed his right hand on the ground, once again fixing his dislocated wrist in a shocking manner.

The middle-aged cultivator saw this ruthless scene as he walked towards Xu Qing, and he couldn’t help but stop in his tracks. He narrowed his eye and raised his hands, pointing at Xu Qing as he rapidly formed hand seals.

Immediately, spiritual energy gathered outside his body and turned into a fireball the size of a head. It whistled towards Xu Qing with amazing force.

As it shot forward, the air around it twisted and distorted, making it clear that its temperature was extremely high.

At the moment it approached, Xu Qing suddenly shifted his body to avoid it, but the fireball continued to follow him.

Killing intent flashed in the middle-aged man's eye. Not forgetting to create a barrier around his body, he quickly summoned a second and third fireball, both of which chased after Xu Qing in the same way.

Xu Qing’s pupils contracted as the three fireballs closed in on him. Since all his escape routes were blocked, he could only run over to the body of one of the scavengers from before and throw it at one of the fireballs.

As soon as the fireball touched the corpse, the corpse rapidly burned up. It took less than three breaths for it to be reduced to ashes.

This let Xu Qing directly judge the power of the fireball.

At this moment, the blistering heat from the fireball radiated toward him, turning his whole body red in an instant. Xu Qing wanted to move to the side and avoid it, but the second and third fireballs suddenly arrived.

The middle-aged man’s eye flashed with a cunning light, and without giving Xu Qing any time to dodge, the fireballs suddenly exploded as soon as they drew near.

Boom!

Flames instantly spread out in a large area, giving off lethal heat.

Xu Qing wasn’t able to dodge completely. Although his incredible speed helped him avoid instant death, blisters still appeared all over his body and his internal organs felt like they were burning.

"Fire Crow, hurry up!"

The Blood Shadow Team Leader let out a low growl as he fought with Captain Thunder in the distance,

"Understood, team leader! This little wolf cub can endure two more of my fireballs at most before turning into a dried-up corpse!”

The middle-aged man called Fire Crow replied with a smile. He looked at Xu Qing again, cruelty in his gaze as he lifted up his right hand. Two more fireballs appeared, and they flew towards Xu Qing with a wave of his hand.

He was worried about Xu Qing dodging, so he repeated his actions from before, making the two fireballs explode the second they approached Xu Qing and blocking off all his escape routes with the explosions.

Blazing heat spread across the ground, lighting it up with flames and turning the trees to ash in an instant. Without the canopy from the trees, the sunlight shone down and fused with the light of the flames, momentarily blinding Fire Crow.

But he was very confident that his fireball backed by fifth level Qi Condensation cultivation wouldn’t have any problems dispatching a third level cultivator.

So he wiped his hands and put a contemptuous look on his face, despite being slightly out of breath. He turned and walked toward the place where Captain Thunder and the Blood Shadow Team Leader were fighting.

"Captain Thunder, your team member’s no good.”

Fire Crow sneered as he walked forward. But instead of seeing Captain Thunder’s face twist in despair, he saw the Blood Shadow Team Leader’s expression suddenly change.

Fire Crow's reaction was fast and his body immediately jumped to the side.

But it was still too late. A thin figure appeared behind him and punched twice at his spiritual energy barrier.

The barrier shook violently and shattered immediately. The impact from its explosion burst out, but although the thin figure was forced to retreat, it managed to throw out a dagger and an iron skewer as a counterattack.

But the impact from the barrier’s collapse slowed the speed of the weapons, allowing Fire Crow to barely avoid instant death.

However, although he managed to twist his body, the dagger pierced through one ear, causing blood to splatter, and the iron skewer pierced through the right side of his chest, barely avoiding a fatal injury.

The pain made Fire Crow's eyes red, and he let out a distressed roar. After surviving the sneak attack, he turned around with a fierce gaze.

What he saw as the flames gradually extinguished was the wolf-like figure of the boy from before rapidly retreating to several dozen meters away, crouching on the ground and ready for action.

The boy’s figure was still red and covered in blisters, but as the glow of the setting sun illuminated the boy’s eyes, it could be seen that… his gaze was as cold as ice, and his killing intent had never diminished in the slightest!

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