The chill of autumn was biting, ragged clouds whipped violently by the wind, shrouding the light and leaving the earth desolate.

Five minutes slipped away swiftly. Seeing his Superman state about to expire, Xu Tianguo’s face tightened with unconcealed frustration, and he roared at Huang Tianci not far away, "We can’t prolong this fight! Run!"

Huang Tianci was keenly aware of their disadvantage. He bellowed, sweeping the four ordinary Ant Superman soldiers surrounding him aside with one swing of his axe, ducked out, spun around, and bolted. He caught up with Xu Tianguo, his dark eyes beneath his heavy brows gleaming with icy malice. "I swear I will have revenge someday!" In the prior skirmish, the enemy had healers while his side did not, leaving him riddled with wounds—gaping sword cuts and gashes deep enough to show bone, yet he grit his teeth and remained silent.

The wind howled as the two men sprinted at incredible speed. Xu Tianguo spotted seven or eight men standing in the barren wasteland ahead and sighed inwardly; these men were nowhere near capable of keeping pace with the Superman soldiers.

Suddenly, the figures of the two men slowed abruptly as the Superman transformation rapidly retracted into their bodies. The ten Superman pursuers behind them also reverted from their enhanced state and halted, making no further attempt to chase. Before Xu Tianguo and Huang Tianci could exhale in relief, they saw ten more Ant Superman powerhouses emerge from behind a crumbling stone wall in the distance, charging toward them.

Huang Tianci’s expression shifted drastically. "This is bad!"

Xu Tianguo’s already pale face grew whiter. His eyes were filled with resentment and unwillingness. "It was an ambush!" He clenched his fists so tightly that the veins on his dark arms bulged, his fingernails digging deeply into his palms. He turned toward Huang Tianci beside him and roared, "You run first! I’ll hold them off!"

The remnant clouds wept sorrowfully, and the autumn wind grew more violent.

Huang Tianci’s body shuddered, as if all the blood in him surged to his brain. He turned, the wind from his frantic movement whipping his clothes. Seeing his childhood companion, whose face was a mask of indignation and regret, utter words so resolute, his heart was violently shaken. He suddenly threw open his mouth and shrieked in anguish, "I’m not leaving! We live together, or we die together!"

Xu Tianguo’s face was like iron. He roared back, "If you die, what about your little sister, Xiaoyan?" As he finished speaking, he heard the pursuit drawing nearer. Despair and fierce anger flooded his eyes. With a final shout, he gripped his dagger and charged forward like a warrior marching to his death, a tragic hero crying out in defiance.

Huang Tianci’s mind went blank, and the blood in his body felt as if it had frozen. The eyes of the towering eight-foot man moistened. He let out a few loud sobs, then quickly wiped his tears away, watching Xu Tianguo charge toward the ten Superman soldiers. He stopped running. The fierce wind billowed his black hair.

He threw his great axe onto the ground and knelt facing the direction Xu Tianguo had charged. His tall, imposing frame trembled slightly. He spread his arms wide, tilted his head back, and wailed to the heavens, his voice a piercing, tragic cry that echoed across the world: "Ahhhhhh… If I do not die today, one day I will drench Longteng in blood, and make everyone pay! I swear it with my blood!" Grief-stricken words soared into the clouds, tears streaming down his rugged cheeks.

The wind howled as if in response, the dark clouds churning and boiling, and the suffocating aura of killing intent between heaven and earth intensified.

Huang Tianci wiped away his tears, glanced one last time at Xu Tianguo’s retreating back, and could not help but burst into tears. Yet, he finally forced himself to stop, stood up, turned, and sprinted away.

Xu Tianguo gritted his teeth, tears streaming down his face. His eyes were cold and sharp, blazing with potent killing intent, as he rushed toward the leading man of the ten Ant Supermen, dagger in hand. The Ant Superman leader sneered, his great saber flashing out with lightning speed, slicing through the wind, aimed directly at Xu Tianguo’s head.

Xu Tianguo jerked sideways to evade, and the dagger suddenly flew from his hand, shooting toward the Ant Superman leader’s chest, near the heart. Like a sharp arrow, the man was greatly startled and had no time to dodge; the dagger struck, embedding itself in his outer layer of hide armor but failing to penetrate, falling away. However, the sheer impact slammed against the man’s sternum, causing a sharp, wrenching pain.

The Ant Superman hissed and staggered back three steps. His battle saber swept out, shearing off one of Xu Tianguo’s arms. Blood sprayed out from the severed limb, splashing onto the sandy ground in a shocking display.

Suddenly, another young Ant Superman rushed in from the side, roaring, and brought his blade down toward Xu Tianguo’s head. A flicker of despair crossed Xu Tianguo’s eyes; he was about to be split in two when, just then, a piercing whistle sliced through the air. A force grabbed him and swept him sideways, narrowly avoiding the Ant Superman youth’s blow. He rolled violently on the ground, scrambling quickly back to his feet.

Xu Tianguo’s expression changed. He quickly looked up and saw that his rescuer was a man clad in animal skins, lean of build, with a black cloth covering his face, revealing only a pair of intensely bright, incredibly agile black eyes, holding a hint of a smile.

Just then—

Swish, swish.

Several whistling sounds swept past as four figures rushed over, stopping in front of Xu Tianguo. Among them, a man with a black cloth covering his face, the shortest, muttered, "Leopard is good; he runs fast!"

Among these individuals, a man also wearing a black cloth, of balanced build, walked up to Xu Tianguo. His eyes were deep as a pool. He glanced at Xu Tianguo and said, "Go back and tend to your wounds first." Xu Tianguo froze, then his eyes widened in astonishment; he had recognized this man's identity—Ye Chen.

Ye Chen pulled out a porcelain vial from his pocket, tipped out a blood-red pill the size of a mung bean—smooth and round—and offered it to Xu Tianguo. "This is a Blood Elixir; it speeds up recovery." The Blood Elixir was made from Blood Tang Grass he had procured casually in the wilds; it had an accelerating effect on injuries. He had only seven or eight left, as it was not mass-produced.

Xu Tianguo didn't hesitate, took it, and swallowed it down. He then glanced at the four figures beside him, said nothing further, and turned to run toward the distance.

Meanwhile, the ten men currently operating in Ant Superman mode faced the sudden appearance of Ye Chen and his group. One of them noticed Bai Long’s swift movements and realized he was using the Superman state. He commanded sternly, "We are from the Longteng Guild. You had better move aside quickly and mind your own business!"

Bai Long drawled, "Little friends, your mothers are calling you home for dinner."

The man choked, his body trembling slightly, his face ashen. "Fine! If you have the guts!" he roared, taking the lead as he charged forward. The ten men split into pairs, moving to surround and suppress Ye Chen’s group.

Zhuge Fan sighed helplessly. "Looks like I have to join the fight after all." His form suddenly sank low, his entire skin exhibiting a metallic sheen. A pair of slender antennae extended from his forehead, and he pulled a shield from his back, charging forward with a low growl.

Yue Heng chuckled. "If you two can't handle them, I'll join in too!" He activated his Superman state; the aura around him thickened, his stature increased slightly, making him imposing and mighty, like a furious Gorilla. Wielding the long, pitch-black club he carried, he plunged into the fray amidst the Ant Supermen, engaging in slaughter.

At this point, four other Ant Superman warriors maneuvered past this group, closing in on Ye Chen and Mo Feng. Each step they took caused the muddy ground to sink. Ye Chen’s eyes grew cold, and he instantly entered his Superman state, a pair of antennae sprouting from his forehead, the ground beneath his feet abruptly caving in.

His eyes shone with ruthlessness. With a flick of his arm, the rune ring on his finger transformed into dense energy, coalescing in mid-air into a blood-red battle saber that landed in his hand. He took one step, and the earth exploded, the nearby ground shaking violently. This massive disturbance startled Bai Long and the ten charging Ant Superman warriors engaged in combat.

Whoosh!

Ye Chen moved like a wild beast unleashed. As his steps landed, the three-meter-long blood-red battle saber whistled past, sweeping out like a board, cleaving toward the charging Ant Superman warriors with irresistible force.

Two of the Ant Superman men dodged quickly, but the two in the center could not evade and could only swing their great blades, resisting with gritted teeth. Pfft! A flash of blood, and these two Ant Superman men were severed cleanly at the waist. Their upper bodies slid off and collapsed onto the ground, pillars of blood erupting skyward from their lower halves like beautiful fountains.

The roaring wind suddenly fell silent.

Dark clouds gathered in the sky behind Ye Chen, churning and roaring. The black strands of his hair whipped in the wind, his eyes dark as ink, radiating a chilling murderous aura as he stared bloodthirstily at the remaining Ant Superman warriors. He took another step, and the fierce pressure of his aura doubled, causing everyone to feel their hearts clench with dread.

"Kill!" Ye Chen moved, charging toward the two Superman warriors nearest him. The blood-red battle saber carved a beautiful arc, extinguishing two struggling lives.

The remaining six Ant Superman warriors battling Bai Long and the others were so terrified their eyeballs nearly popped out. While in their Superman states their physical attributes had dramatically increased, making them ridiculously strong, in Ye Chen’s hands, they were like straw, killed without even the strength to resist.

"Run!" These six suppressed the horror and panic rising in their hearts and simultaneously turned to flee. Bai Long pulled his gaze from Ye Chen, tilted his head toward the six attempting escapees, and sneered, "In front of me, you have no right to run!" He moved in an instant, appearing before one of them with unbelievable speed.

"Kill!" Yue Heng howled excitedly.

Zhuge Fan also put away his defensive shield, pulling out a slender, short sword from its interior, and charged forward excitedly.

The six Ant Superman warriors looked utterly panicked, their courage utterly shattered watching Ye Chen rush toward them like a savage beast. They could hold off Bai Long and the others for a moment, but once Ye Chen caught up, they lacked even the power to resist—all were cleaved in half with a single strike.

Instant kill! Instant kill!

In a blink, these six were dead, each body bisected. Ye Chen snatched his hand out and tossed their corpses into the Rune Space, giving them to Little Black and the other monsters as food. Any remaining limbs were used to extract their vital life essence.

Killing, devouring.

Such methods made him seem like a cruel demon.