Liu Hui grasped this point, and as soon as he shared it with Zhou Tengyun, the two of them hurried to search for the scent of blood in the air. Their five senses, already enhanced by medication, naturally allowed them to quickly detect a faint metallic smell in the air. Following this trail, they arrived before a sheer vertical cliff face, where the bloody scent abruptly ended.

Liu Hui tapped the cliff wall, producing a hollow sound. He was overjoyed. “This is it! This must be their secret passage.”

The two searched the immediate surroundings and finally discovered a subtly placed, floating button. Liu Hui pressed it, and the cliff face silently swung open. They quickly slipped inside just as a violent explosion rocked the depths of the canyon. It turned out that the great fire had finally ignited the "SN" organization's ammunition depot. The resulting earth-shattering blast completely collapsed the opposite cliff wall, sending vast quantities of mud and rock cascading down, sealing the entire canyon floor shut.

Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun exchanged glances, both looking pale. They were immensely relieved that they had found this secret passage; had they remained where they were, they would now be buried alive under the debris. Their relief was compounded by the fact that the collapsing mountain had not been the side where the hidden tunnel was located—otherwise, their fate would have been grim.

Not daring to linger, the two men glimpsed the path inside the tunnel and immediately sprinted forward. The passage appeared to be naturally formed rather than artificially carved, as the floor was uneven and riddled with faults. However, given their current strength, these obstacles posed no trouble. They moved rapidly through the cavern, which stretched for about four or five kilometers, and soon reached the exit.

Emerging from the tunnel, they found themselves at the very edge of Jiasen Town, as the lights of the settlement were now visible before them. Duoming and the group of black-clad figures, however, had vanished without a trace.

Liu Hui took a brief breath and instantly detected a faint smell of blood in the air. He and Zhou Tengyun immediately dashed toward the direction indicated by the scent. This direction was precisely opposite to Jiasen Town, suggesting the black-clad figures dared not enter the populated area.

After running for nearly ten minutes, they once again caught the sound of voices from around a bend ahead. They moved forward cautiously, discovering several temporary structures behind a curve in the mountain road, marking the site of a large construction project currently underway. Since it was late at night, only the site’s floodlights remained illuminated; the construction crew had already knocked off for the night.

The group of black-clad figures was resting in front of a building resembling temporary barracks, while others had gone inside.

Upon spotting the figures, Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun immediately straightened up and unleashed a barrage from their heavy machine guns. The men resting outside the door screamed and collapsed, quickly turning the ground beneath them into a river of blood. Some of the remaining figures shouted, “The enemy is here! The enemy is closing in!”

The men inside the building were instantly mobilized and began firing back in disorganized bursts. Protected by the Hongguang Armor, Liu Hui felt no fear. He stood his ground, raising his heavy machine gun and systematically eliminating every point of resistance inside the room. Zhou Tengyun sheltered behind Liu Hui, picking off targets with precision shots. Soon, the firing from within the room ceased entirely.

Liu Hui advanced, kicking open the door, now riddled with holes, and stepped into the darkness. Someone inside immediately fired at him, but he swung the barrel of his machine gun around and swept the area, dropping the attacker instantly. Liu Hui meticulously checked the room but found no trace of Duoming’s body. Zhou Tengyun joined the search, and their final conclusion was that Duoming had disappeared.

“Boss, what do we do? We have no idea where Duoming went. If we don't eliminate him this time, we’ll face endless trouble,” Zhou Tengyun said.

Liu Hui fell into contemplation. Suddenly, he noticed one of the bodies of the black-clad men on the ground faintly twitching. He paused, then quickly seized the moving figure. He found a severely injured man whose legs were broken, bleeding profusely, and clearly near death. Liu Hui immediately retrieved a Potential Excitation Serum from his storage space and injected it into the man.

The serum quickly took effect, and the man’s condition visibly improved; he was able to speak. His first words were a plea for mercy: “Great sirs, please spare me! I only just joined the organization and haven’t done anything bad yet!”

Liu Hui asked coldly, “Where is your leader?”

The man replied, “The leader was taken away by a master from within the organization just moments ago.”

Liu Hui pressed, “Where did they go?”

The man pointed east and said, “They went east. They left less than ten minutes ago.”

Liu Hui applied a sudden burst of pressure, instantly snapping the man's neck. The black-clad figure was dead. Liu Hui stated, “We must take down Duoming today. Let’s start chasing them now. With our speed, they won’t get away.”

Zhou Tengyun nodded. “Right, let’s move quickly.”

The two rose, ready to pursue Duoming’s party. However, Zhou Tengyun suddenly stopped. He looked around with confusion, then pushed open a door on the upper floor. Inside, a young man and woman lay in pools of blood; it appeared they had been murdered by the black-clad men. They looked Asian, and on the wall hung a framed piece featuring the famous Qu Yuan quote: “The road ahead is long and winding; I shall seek truth high and low.” It seemed this fallen couple were Chinese nationals. Considering the large construction site outside, this location was likely part of some infrastructure project China was assisting the Kenyan government in building. The black-clad men had seized their residence and murdered them in the process.

Zhou Tengyun took only a brief glance at the unfortunate pair before crouching down to examine beneath a large bed. Curled beneath it was a small young girl, perhaps five or six years old, her eyes filled with tears, clutching a cloth doll and staring at him in terror.

A sudden thunderclap seemed to sound in Zhou Tengyun’s mind. This little girl looked exactly like his daughter, who had died long ago. He choked out, “Nini, don’t be afraid, Daddy is here.”

Liu Hui was perplexed. “Third Brother, you know this little girl?”

Zhou Tengyun blinked, finally realizing that his own daughter was long dead; this child merely resembled her. He sighed softly, waved his hand gently behind the girl’s neck, causing her to immediately fall unconscious. Zhou Tengyun carefully picked up the girl and placed her on the large bed in the room, covering her with a blanket.

“Boss, let’s go,” Zhou Tengyun said somberly.

Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun jumped out the window and ran eastward. After covering some distance and moving away from the scent of blood at the construction site, they finally picked up Duoming’s lingering trail of blood again. They pursued the scent steadily and did not lose track of their target. However, neither of them was familiar with the terrain, and the initial delay meant they had to constantly search for the scent. As a result, they failed to catch up to Duoming’s group quickly.

They continued pressing forward. When they were less than twenty kilometers from the coast, they finally spotted the black-clad figures on a distant peak. These men looked formidable, leaping across the mountaintops, carrying someone strapped to their backs. Liu Hui’s eyes were sharp; he instantly recognized the person being carried as the heavily wounded Duoming.

Reinvigorated, the two immediately accelerated their pursuit. The men ahead also noticed them closing in and urgently sped up their own pace. But just as Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun believed victory was certain, the sound of machinery roared from the sky, and a helicopter suddenly ascended from the valley ahead. It was an unarmed transport helicopter. It flew to where the black-clad men were, dropped a rope ladder, and the figures quickly scrambled aboard.

Liu Hui cried out that this was bad. They were still some distance from the aircraft, and because the helicopter had been momentarily obscured by the peaks as it descended, he couldn't use his specialized rounds to shoot it down. The helicopter thus flew further and further away before them.

“Boss, what now?” Zhou Tengyun asked, discouraged.

Liu Hui’s face darkened. “Keep chasing.”

So they continued in the direction the helicopter had vanished. However, no matter how fast they ran, they could not outpace a flying machine. By the time they reached the sea, the helicopter was nowhere in sight.

“It’s over,” Zhou Tengyun collapsed onto the ground. He knew Duoming’s true strength and understood that if the man recovered from his injuries, the losses he could inflict would be unimaginable.

Liu Hui gave a cold laugh. “Third Brother, it’s not over yet. I still have a way.”

Zhou Tengyun questioned, “We don’t even know where they went. What way could there possibly be?”

Liu Hui suddenly smiled. “If I say I have a way, I have a way. Have you forgotten the giant python we saw last time?”

“The python? What good is that? It can’t fly into the sky and find that helicopter,” Zhou Tengyun countered.

“Who said it couldn’t? Little Black, show yourself!” Liu Hui shouted.

Immediately, less than a hundred meters ahead on the sea, the water began to churn violently. Then, a massive serpent’s head erupted into the air, sending plumes of seawater scattering in all directions, connected to an enormous body below. The head rose until it reached a height of a hundred meters before stopping. The massive head then lowered itself before Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun, its fierce eyes locked onto Zhou Tengyun.

“This… this…” Zhou Tengyun was utterly stunned, terrified by the sheer immensity of the python. He had seen Little Black before, but at that time, the snake was only about twenty meters long—shocking, yet somewhat comprehensible. Now, Little Black stretched over two hundred meters long, making Zhou Tengyun feel like an insignificant ant in comparison. How could he not be shaken?

“Third Brother, let’s get on,” Liu Hui offered no explanation, leaping onto the top of Little Black’s head. Zhou Tengyun snapped back to reality and quickly followed Liu Hui onto the serpent’s crown.

Liu Hui smiled. “I don’t know exactly where that helicopter flew, but Little Black was lurking on the seabed, so it knows the direction they left. Let’s go find them now.”

Little Black began to swim rapidly eastward. The downdraft created by its movement made Zhou Tengyun unsteady and caused him difficulty breathing. Liu Hui immediately expanded the protective field of his Hongguang Armor to envelop Zhou Tengyun, who quickly recovered his composure and felt less discomfort.

“Boss, why is it swimming out to sea? Did the helicopter fly over the ocean?” Zhou Tengyun asked, confused.

“Yes. Little Black detected the helicopter’s trajectory earlier, but it couldn't strike an aerial target, which is why they escaped. We are going to find where they landed. The entire east is open ocean, with no islands in sight, so the helicopter likely landed on a vessel in the outer sea,” Liu Hui explained.

Zhou Tengyun was silent for a moment, then asked, “Boss, what that man said about the Realm of the Gods…”

Liu Hui nodded. “I understand what you mean. His level is equivalent to the Foundation Establishment stage for us cultivators, though he is at best in the initial phase of that stage.”

Zhou Tengyun inquired, “But didn’t you say ordinary people can only reach the peak of the Innate Realm?” Duoming’s power had profoundly affected him, prompting him to ask more questions.

Liu Hui replied, “I did say that, but if an ordinary person reaches the peak of the Innate Realm and then undergoes some unknown mutation, it is possible for them to break through to a higher level. However, that level would only correspond to our Foundation Establishment stage. Achieving such a breakthrough is far from easy; just consider that in his family’s history, only one person has ever succeeded.”

Zhou Tengyun: “But…”

Liu Hui cut him off. “Don’t worry. As long as we continue our cultivation, we will soon reach the Foundation Establishment stage. Then our strength will advance by leaps and bounds, and even if another person of the Realm of the Gods appears, they won’t be our match.”

Having encountered Duoming, Zhou Tengyun had doubted his own strength, but Liu Hui’s words instantly reassured him. He was already at the peak of the Entry-level; with continued cultivation, he would soon break through to Foundation Establishment, dramatically increasing his power and making dealing with experts like Duoming a simple matter. He fell silent.

Liu Hui calculated the time, estimating the helicopter’s maximum flight range. After swimming east for a period, once Little Black reached that maximum distance without spotting any helicopter or ship, Liu Hui instructed the serpent to change course southeast, beginning a search across the open sea.

Finally, after swimming about thirty kilometers to the southeast, Little Black discovered a luxurious cruise liner on the water. From a distance, Liu Hui saw a helicopter parked on the liner’s top deck—the external shape confirmed it was the same one that had just picked up Duoming.

Liu Hui told Zhou Tengyun, “Let’s get in the water first.”

Zhou Tengyun followed Liu Hui into the sea. They watched as Little Black rapidly submerged and shot toward the cruise liner. Suddenly, an alarm blared across the vessel, and the ship abruptly stopped moving.

“Boss, what’s this?” Zhou Tengyun asked.

“Nothing much. I just had Little Black bite off all the ship’s propellers. Now they’ve lost power and really have no way to escape,” Liu Hui said with a faint smile. He produced a sniper rifle, aimed at the helicopter on the deck, and fired a Fire Burst round. The helicopter instantly erupted in a violent explosion.

“Let’s go,” Liu Hui led the way, swimming toward the luxury liner, with Zhou Tengyun closely following. They quickly approached the ship and grabbed onto protruding fixtures, making several powerful leaps to board the deck.

As soon as they landed on the top deck, a rocket soared toward them. Liu Hui was caught slightly off guard, but thankfully, his Hongguang Armor was fully deployed. The rocket detonated harmlessly in front of him, only depleting some of his armor’s energy. Zhou Tengyun, sheltered behind Liu Hui, reacted instantly, firing several sharp bursts that eliminated the black-clad figures on the deck who had launched the rocket.

Covering each other, Liu Hui and Zhou Tengyun soon wiped out all the men on the deck.

Next, the two kicked open a cabin door and cautiously entered the cruise liner. This time, no one attacked them. They proceeded carefully until they reached the most opulent main salon. The room was resplendent, brightly lit, and Duoming was seated in the central chair, smiling as he watched them approach.

“Welcome, my friends,” Duoming said, making an embracing gesture. He looked somewhat disheveled, his body smeared with blood, which gave his appearance a comical edge.

Liu Hui stated coldly, “We don’t welcome you.”

Duoming chuckled. “You two are incredibly lucky. Based purely on strength, the two of you combined wouldn't be a match for me. It was only thanks to that strange foul odor and the surprise attack from those armor-piercing rounds that I was gravely wounded. To be honest, since I achieved godhood, I have never been injured before.”

“‘God’? You crowned yourself, didn’t you? Otherwise, you wouldn't be running around like a dog being chased by us,” Liu Hui scoffed.

“That is true. Victory crowns the king; defeat forfeits the title. Since I failed, I am unworthy to utter the word ‘god’,” Duoming sighed. “However, I am curious: how did you pass the Divine Illusion Array at the entrance to the Valley of Death?”

“The Divine Illusion Array you speak of—is that the strange place where savage beasts condense to attack people?” Zhou Tengyun asked.

“Exactly. That formation wasn't set by anyone; it’s naturally occurring. Quite magical, isn't it? The masters in my family spent countless efforts to crack the secret of that array and carve out a safe path within it. Originally, with the protection of the Divine Illusion Array, no one could ever invade the Valley of Death. It’s a pity you managed to break through,” Duoming explained.

“Just a minor Divine Illusion Array; it was no challenge for me. I entered with ease,” Zhou Tengyun replied, unwilling to reveal the truth, saying this only to deflate Duoming’s morale.

Duoming sighed again. “There are truly countless talents in this world. It seems I underestimated the heroes of this land. I escaped to the sea by helicopter, yet you still found me. It seems this is fate.”

“Boss, look at his shoulder,” Zhou Tengyun suddenly whispered cautiously to Liu Hui.

Liu Hui observed closely and noticed that on the shoulder where Duoming was injured, the muscle was continuously twitching. The wound was visibly shrinking, and in the time they were speaking, it had diminished further. The wound inflicted by the Fire Burst round explosion had already vanished.

Liu Hui felt a chill of horror. He had not expected Duoming’s vitality to be so tenacious and resilient. The injury hadn’t been sustained long, yet the wound was already healing. If they had waited until he fully recovered, he would have become terrifyingly formidable.