After a desperate battle with the nine Ringwraiths, the three teams suffered devastating casualties. Most of the survivors were injured and exhausted; aside from a select few, the rest had virtually no fighting capability left. The surplus members were the newcomers, along with the Elves, who appeared listless and weak after losing so much life energy. This troop, upon sight, resembled a defeated remnant.

But regardless of the cost, the One Ring and the four Hobbits were ultimately safe. To commemorate the honor of fighting side-by-side, the Elves actually gifted the group three Green Life Stones before continuing their journey toward the seaside port.

According to the energy stone expert, Gani'er, these three Green Life Stones were all C-grade, wood-attributed energy stones. While their value wasn't particularly high, they were certainly better than nothing. As such, they were divided between the North Ice Continent team and the South Flame Continent team, who had suffered the most severe losses.

Zheng Zha truly couldn't say much in rebuttal. Compared to the heavy casualties of the other two teams, the Central Continent team miraculously hadn't lost a single person—even none of the newcomers had perished. This meant the other two teams were deep in the negative points, while the Central Continent team remained untouched at zero, with several members having even slain Ringwraiths, reaping their first tangible reward since entering The Lord of the Rings.

Next up was the treatment of the injured. Zheng Zha's left arm was severed two-thirds of the way through, his bone and sinew cleanly cut in two, with extensive damage to the muscle and nerves. Fortunately, the internal energy from his Hun Yuan Yi Qi Gong was able to suppress the Ringwraiths’ black death energy, keeping the wound perfectly intact. All that remained was for Cheng Xiao to reconnect the severed nerves and apply a Three Pure Ones Talisman; the broken arm would then recover completely within a few days.

The other casualty under the Ringwraith’s blade was Richard. His situation was far more severe. Firstly, he lacked the internal energy necessary to suppress the death qi. By the time Zheng Zha reached him and channeled his internal power, the strong man was already on the verge of death. It was only thanks to Cheng Xiao’s Golden Needles, which could stimulate vital energy, combined with the potent effect of Zheng Zha's inner force, that the death qi within Richard was barely contained. Even so, a gaping wound marred Richard’s chest, almost revealing his pulsating organs. His heart meridian had suffered a fatal injury; he required treatment within twelve hours, or he was certainly doomed.

The three teams boasted only two professional healers. One was a Demon Stone Therapist from the North Ice Continent team, capable of using the energy within wood-attribute Demon Stones for healing. However, this girl had only strengthened her skill to the beginner level. It consumed massive amounts of energy, and the therapeutic effect was quite limited; she could only continuously maintain Richard's vital energy. The other professional healer, Cheng Xiao, was far more specialized. His Golden Needles were extraordinary, their efficacy at least on par with the constantly draining Demon Stone Therapist, and moreover, only he possessed the ability to perform the heart meridian reconnection surgery on Richard.

“We need to get to Bree for the heart meridian surgery,” Cheng Xiao stated while inserting the Golden Needles into Richard. “This environment isn't suitable for such a major operation; we need warm water and a sterile, enclosed space...”

Aside from Zheng Zha and Richard, everyone else struck by the Ringwraiths had been killed, their corpses horribly mutilated. Such was the nature of the Ringwraiths’ piercing attacks: either they missed entirely, or upon impact, it was generally a clean severing into two pieces.

Due to Richard’s critical state, Chu Xuan piloted the Green Goblin Glider ahead with the two medical personnel and Richard bound for Bree. The rest continued escorting the four Hobbits toward the village. It was during this journey that Zheng Zha finally found a moment to secretly question Zhao Yingkong about that terrifying, single strike.

At the crucial moment, that Ringwraith could have killed Chu Xuan and the four Hobbits behind him in mere seconds; the situation had truly reached its most dangerous point. Zheng Zha’s Mind Link was connected to Chu Xuan’s vision, and he could only watch helplessly as the black two-handed sword descended upon Chu Xuan. Then, he distinctly saw the light around the Ringwraith momentarily distort. When the light stabilized, the Ringwraith and the skeletal warhorse it rode were already torn into fragments.

Zheng Zha asked Zhao Yingkong curiously, “What kind of move was that? Why didn’t I see you attack at all? Were you using the Sword of Victory and Vow for the strike?”

Zhao Yingkong and Zheng Zha walked at the rear of the procession. Zheng Zha was seated upon his incredibly flashy skeletal warhorse. Once the three teams realized this mount was rideable, they bitterly regretted having killed several intact skeletal warhorses and left them abandoned in the wilderness—a regret that nearly caused Gani’er and several others to turn green. After Zheng Zha used the Green Goblin Glider to fly back and confirm, the skeletal horse had vanished without a trace. Once the ice melted, it had apparently wandered off somewhere. Thus, in the end, only Zheng Zha possessed this gravity-defying steed among the three teams.

Zhao Yingkong explained as they walked, “My special technique is 'Blink'—it can boost my speed tenfold or even more in an instant. But my Blink, unlike your 'Explosion' or 'Destruction,' does not correspondingly enhance my reflexes. In other words, that level of speed is a burden to me, not a strong move...”

“This move mimics the Rankyaku from your 'Destruction' state. However, because my Blink state is faster than your 'Destruction' state, and since I lack the immense strength and fine control you possess, I transformed a linear vacuum wave into a broad, planar vacuum wave.”

Saying this, Zhao Yingkong’s hands suddenly twitched slightly. She continued, “This is basic assassin training: making all the muscles in the body as pliable and resilient as finger muscles. I assume you have experience with this—the speed at which you can flick your finger to launch something is definitely faster than swinging your arm, fast enough to create a sonic boom. Swinging your arm can never produce a sonic boom. Likewise, the speed of swinging your arm is absolutely slower than your body’s full sprint speed. When I enter the Blink state, my body speed increases by about ten times or more, but the speed increase for my arms is fifty to a hundred times... that’s how.”

As Zhao Yingkong spoke, she entered the state of unlocking her Gene Lock. Her arms subtly began to swell. When she activated her Blink state, her hands waved furiously at a speed that Zheng Zha’s eyes could barely follow. In the blink of an eye, a massive force struck him head-on, nearly throwing him off the horse. But Zhao Yingkong immediately stopped waving her arms, and Zheng Zha managed to steady himself. His heart, however, was filled with pure elation.

“Unlocking the second stage of the Gene Lock, the second stage, Zhao Yingkong, you broke through?” Zheng Zha exclaimed, hugging Zhao Yingkong’s soft, pale shoulder in delight.

A slight blush crept onto Zhao Yingkong’s face. She gently pushed Zheng Zha’s hand away, then pulled her oversized coat tighter around herself. Her original clothes had been shredded during the fight with the Ringwraiths, and since they were currently in the wilderness, she had hastily thrown on whatever she could find, planning to buy local attire in Bree. This situation, however, prevented Zhao Yingkong from making any large movements, lest the sight of her round, milky-white curves become momentarily visible.

“Waving my arms like that requires incredibly tough muscle tissue. My muscle structure cannot sustain that level of force. If I were wielding the Sword of Victory and Vow, using this move at full power would indeed be devastating, but afterwards, my muscles would be in a state of extreme fatigue. Moving my arms again could cause tears and strains. This move can only be used in extreme emergencies; otherwise, if the enemy escapes, I too lose my combat capability,” Zhao Yingkong said with a hint of melancholy.

Zheng Zha waved his hand dismissively. “It doesn’t matter, it doesn’t matter! This is a self-created skill; it doesn't count toward the 'Main God' difficulty modifier, and you can unleash one hundred percent of its lethality! No wonder you could slay that Ringwraith in one hit... Train more, strengthen your physical condition until you can use a move like this several times, and then even I won’t be your match, haha... Oh, right, how many Reward Points and Sub-Plot points did you get for killing that Ringwraith?”

Zhao Yingkong looked down and replied indifferently, “5,000 Reward Points, two B-grade Sub-Plot points...”

“Is that so? That skeletal warhorse truly yields no Reward Points, what a pity...” Zheng Zha forced a wry smile.

Another member of the Central Continent team had killed two Ringwraiths: the timid Zhang Heng. However, he had only faced the earlier-level wraiths, so his rewards likely weren't significant. Furthermore, after using his Arrow of Wind, Zhang Heng’s hands and feet felt weak and useless, forcing him to be supported by several newcomers as he walked.

“No matter what, we managed to get through this trial, and it served as a lesson: never underestimate the world of The Lord of the Rings. The plot characters here are far stronger than we imagined. If the Ringwraiths are this powerful, how terrifying must the Dark Lord Sauron be? Moreover, one final Ringwraith escaped back to the fortress in Mordor—that’s the combined strength of nine Wraiths! When we encounter it again... can we still win?”

Zheng Zha’s mind raced. On one hand, he was overjoyed by the strengthening of his companions—whether it was Zhao Yingkong’s breakthrough or Zhang Heng showing signs of overcoming his inherent timidity—it was proof of their growth. The Central Continent team would become significantly stronger along with them.

On the other hand, the Ringwraiths’ fierce assault left even Zheng Zha filled with apprehension about the future. The unknown plot characters, the unseen dark enemies, and the two randomly appearing teams—the East Asian team and the terrifying Celestial Team... Could their three-team alliance truly stand against all of this?

By the afternoon, Bree arrived... Jump to