The old man with white hair was sent flying by my palm strike, landing over ten meters away where he spat a mouthful of blood and lay still.

"Got him! Is he dead now?" Da Xiong bounded forward the moment he saw me take down the white-haired elder.

Nie Chuan added, "Well done, we finally avenged Liang Qian."

I, however, frowned deeply, for I knew the white-haired man would not die that easily.

Seeing my uneasy expression, Nie Chuan offered, "I'll go take a look."

I held out a hand to stop him. "Don't make any rash moves!"

No sooner had I spoken than the body of the white-haired old man, which had been lying in a pool of blood, suddenly twitched again.

The three of us were momentarily stunned; we had clearly never encountered someone surviving such a grievous injury.

His entire right rib cage was caved in, indicating severe damage to his internal organs, including his lungs. Under such circumstances, even if he survived, moving an inch should have been impossible.

While the white-haired man was surely not comparable to a normal human, he was still flesh and blood. There was no reason for him to possess such incredible toughness.

This thought triggered a memory of the massive specimen of a white-haired elder we had seen in the laboratory on the Sea of Japan, leading us to wonder if he wasn't born naturally but was the product of scientific experimentation. Could the only way to truly destroy him be to destroy the specimen in the jar?

Just as this idea solidified, the man staggered to his feet once more.

The hair that had stood upright earlier now hung loose, completely obscuring his eyes. Furthermore, half his face was stained crimson with blood, giving him a profoundly sinister appearance.

Seeing him like this, we all instinctively took several steps back.

A low, hoarse, almost neurotic voice emanated from the white-haired elder: "Good. It's been a long time since I felt this way. You've angered me."

The moment those words left his lips, I witnessed a sudden explosion of psychic energy from his body, increasing its power tenfold in one-tenth of a second.

Then, he vanished before our eyes.

This was not Da Xiong’s usual camouflage technique; it was simply that his speed of movement was so fast my eyes couldn't track him.

I realized this was the white-haired man's true strength. Back on the ship in the Sea of Japan, he had used this near-instantaneous speed to launch continuous attacks, leaving me barely able to defend myself.

As this realization struck me, Da Xiong beside me suddenly grunted, spat out a mist of blood, and was flung backward.

By the time I registered what happened, I only saw the afterimage of the white-haired elder flash past me.

I knew his attack on Da Xiong was meant to cause me pain, so his second target would certainly be Nie Chuan.

I quickly turned my head toward Nie Chuan and shouted, "Watch out!"

Unexpectedly, Nie Chuan had already taken a step back, and an afterimage zipped past him, barely missing.

Nie Chuan gave me a slight smile. "While I can't wield powerful telekinesis like you two, have you forgotten? I can predict. This level of speed is nothing to me."

I took a breath, quickly turning back to check on Da Xiong.

I saw a bloody hole had been torn open in his abdomen, from which fresh blood was welling forth. Fortunately, Da Xiong’s skin was thick; a normal person would have had their intestines spilling out, but Da Xiong had only been penetrated through a layer of fat. However, because the wound was so horrific, I told him not to move rashly and to retrieve bandages and coagulant from his backpack.

As my hand reached for the backpack zipper, Nie Chuan shouted from behind, "Right rear, seven o'clock position."

Knowing Nie Chuan had already predicted the white-haired man's trajectory, I rolled on the spot and dodged to the side. The white-haired elder’s phantom image shot past me, but while I evaded it, another gash appeared on Da Xiong's chest, blood spurting out like a column.

Nie Chuan and I, uninjured, could move freely, but Da Xiong could not. He naturally became the white-haired man's primary focus. He was no longer targeting me; he was like a vengeful spirit, seeking retribution against all of us.

Seeing Da Xiong suffer another severe blow, I was nearly driven mad. I roared, "If you have the guts, come at me!"

As soon as I finished speaking, Nie Chuan called out, "Directly ahead, six o'clock direction!"

The opening had arrived! I thought to myself, then immediately channeled a Wind Spell towards the front. A fierce gust of wind whipped up fine sand, sweeping forward.

Just as I thought I had temporarily stalled the white-haired elder’s movement, Nie Chuan interjected from the side, "He changed direction! Nine o'clock!"

I looked over; nine o'clock was exactly where Da Xiong was lying.

Suddenly, a burst of bloody mist erupted from Da Xiong’s body. He was lifted off the ground, slammed against the wall behind him, stopped momentarily, and then fell heavily back to the floor.

Da Xiong lay prone, vomiting a mouthful of blood. Instantly, vivid scarlet liquid seeped out from under him, forming a steaming pool of blood.

I knew Da Xiong was badly injured this time and rushed over to help him up.

Then Nie Chuan shouted again, "Eight o'clock direction! Double the speed!"

Before I could react, a burst of bloody mist erupted from my arm, and my entire body lurched sideways, spinning towards Da Xiong's location. In a dizzying rush, I slammed against the wall beside Da Xiong. Everything went dark, and a stream of blood trickled down from my forehead along my eye. My vision went black, filled with dancing golden stars. I shook my head hard to gradually clear my sight.

At this moment, Nie Chuan charged toward me, shouting, "Six o'clock direction, ten times the speed!"

I understood the meaning of his words: the white-haired man, having succeeded with the sneak attack, was now pouring all his might into a finishing blow against me. Sitting on the ground, utterly unable to move, I watched a streak of electric light flash not far in front of me, moving faster than actual lightning. I knew that if this lightning struck me, I would instantly be split into two halves of a bloody, unrecognizable Banzhang face.

Nie Chuan seemed intent on intercepting the blow with his body, but his movements couldn't keep up.

Just then, a hand shoved me aside. In that final moment, I turned my head and saw Da Xiong, his face smeared with blood. At that same instant, I clearly felt the electric light deviate, heading straight for the crown of Da Xiong's head.

"No!" I shouted as I lost my balance and pitched sideways.

Before the sound of "No" had completely faded, I saw Da Xiong’s other hand holding up a single digit, seemingly signaling something to me.

Half a second later, Da Xiong forcefully twisted his head, dodging the fatal strike, but a bloom of blood erupted from his shoulder. This crimson flower sliced instantly from his shoulder all the way to his chest. I knew Da Xiong’s right arm was now useless, and his lung must also be severely damaged.

It was at this moment I understood his message: the 'one' referred to one second. It meant to launch the attack against the white-haired man one second later. Since the white-haired man hadn't intended to kill before, merely probing cautiously, attacking him immediately would likely result in a miss. Da Xiong intended to use himself as bait, provoking the elder’s murderous intent, which would give me a much higher chance of successfully attacking from the flank.

Almost as soon as I grasped his meaning, Nie Chuan's gunshot rang out. Clearly, his reaction speed was far superior to mine. What surprised me, however, was that Nie Chuan’s shot was aimed toward my position. I hadn't reached bullet-dodging speed yet and could only raise my arm to block. Because my arm was reinforced with three layers of psychic energy, it was harder than steel. With a sharp clang, I deflected the bullet in another direction.

At that moment, a cry of pain—"Ow!"—erupted from the white-haired elder. The lightning dissipated, revealing his true form. I turned to look: one of the white-haired man's eyes was blinded, his entire body was scorched, and one of his hands, including the arm, was embedded deep within Da Xiong’s shoulder—a scene of gruesome carnage.

When I realized Nie Chuan had calculated that I would instinctively block the bullet, deflecting it straight into the white-haired elder's eye, I was so astonished my jaw nearly unhinged. He had calculated my natural reflex with such precision; it was beyond human capability.

The white-haired elder, missing an eye, contorted in visible pain. I quickly drew the dagger given to me by Xiaoge from my waist, concentrating all the psychic energy from my arm onto the blade. The dagger became an unstoppable weapon. I swung it horizontally toward the white-haired elder’s neck.

However, the opponent was clearly not easily defeated. He ripped his hand out of Da Xiong's body and grabbed the blade edge of my dagger. With a flash of light from his other hand, he lunged toward my head. The white-haired man had clearly misjudged the sharpness of the blade in my hand. With a slight exertion of force, all four of his fingers were cleanly sliced off. I pressed the advantage, and before he could react, I drew a bloody line across his throat.

The wild tangle of his hair, the blood covering his face, and one hollow, vacant eye chilled me to the bone. At that moment, his remaining eye—the one that was bloodied and sightless—forced itself open slightly, as if trying to see me clearly. I caught a fleeting glimpse of unwillingness, even a touch of sorrow, in his gaze. But it vanished quickly. His body convulsed once, and with a strange gurgling sound, his head separated from his neck, rolling aside.

Seeing this, Nie Chuan, the barely breathing Da Xiong, and I were all left stunned. We all wondered the same thing: Had we succeeded? Or would his head fly up and bite us again?

As we stood lost in speculation, the headless corpse of the white-haired elder on the ground began to move its left index finger, seemingly tracing something. Ten seconds later, his hand stopped moving, leaving behind a string of crooked English characters on the ground.

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