Chapter 114: The Final Pursuit

As his figure swiftly shuttled through the woodland, Chen Qi felt the aura growing clearer and clearer.

Bizarrely, however, that aura was unstable—fluctuating between strong and weak, bouncing around erratically, much like the Wi-Fi in his school dormitory.

Suppressing the questions that had completely filled his mind, Chen Qi had a flash of inspiration. He channeled his vital blood onto the surface of his body to dissipate the air resistance caused by his frantic sprinting, instantly boosting his already all-out speed even further.

This wave could only be attributed to the fact that knowledge is power, coupled with the worry for Yun Tianxin that had sparked the sudden ingenuity in his brain.

His agility was currently at 16 points, and his physique had even broken past the major threshold of 20. His speed was equivalent to a car steadily cruising at 70 miles per hour—and an ultra-tough off-road vehicle at that, one capable of crashing straight through massive trees and ravines without slowing down. If anyone were to witness this back on Earth, they would probably mistake him for a Transformer...

Before long, Chen Qi leaped high into the air, cleared a small hill, and spotted Yun Tianxin along with the two individuals confronting her.

To his surprise, however, Yun Tianxin was advancing step by step, her imposing presence ebbing and flowing in turns. She looked poised and elegant, a relaxed smile lingering on her face as if she were waiting for something.

The axe-wielding contractor looked pale as he faced Yun Tianxin, retreating step by step with a weary expression. His entire body was pulled taut under the immense pressure of her presence.

At times he would grit his teeth, preparing to step forward and risk everything in a final struggle, only to hesitate at the very last moment, his fighting spirit steadily draining away.

Liu Luo, retreating shoulder-to-shoulder with him, was in an even more wretched physical state. Her face was completely devoid of color; although the wound at her waist had been barely stanched, the leather armor around it was already stained a deep, ominous crimson.

"What are you afraid of? Fight that witch to the death!" she kept urging over and over again, yet she could never persuade the axe-wielding brute to stake his life on it, her pretty face already brimming with despair.

Noticing Chen Qi suddenly dash into the middle of the scene, the three individuals across from him wore different expressions, but all of them paused in their tracks.

Yun Tianxin’s face broke into a full smile, finally revealing a look of genuine ease. She stretched comfortably and beckoned for Chen Qi to come forward.

At that exact moment, the axe-wielding brute and Liu Luo wore expressions of utter despair. Especially the former, who glanced at the severed head dangling from Chen Qi’s left hand, and—perhaps associating it with his own fate—began to tremble violently with fear.

Seeing this, Chen Qi also let out a sigh of relief. Instead of launching his blade immediately, he chose to sidle up beside Yun Tianxin:

"Senior Sister, I've brought you that beast's dog head. Please tell me how you'd like it processed."

Chen Qi spoke with a seemingly serious tone, while his eyes discreetly admired Yun Tianxin’s vibrant, glowing face, trailing down her fair neck to catch sight of a faint hickey left behind.

Detecting Chen Qi’s flippant gaze, Yun Tianxin felt both embarrassed and annoyed. She stamped her foot and ground her teeth:

"It's utterly disgusting, Junior Brother. You should just throw it away and hurry up and finish off those two."

As soon as she finished speaking, as if remembering something, she added with a triumphant expression:

"I couldn't casually make a move in my current state, so I stubbornly used my presence to chase the two of them around for half the day. If you hadn't shown up, I was afraid I would have had to run away myself!"

Yun Tianxin made no effort to lower her voice, and her words naturally reached the ears of the two contractors. Liu Luo glared at the axe-wielding brute with a gaze so frosty it seemed capable of murder, while the latter lowered his head in embarrassment, though his eyes held no trace of guilt.

Following that, the two exchanged a glance, seemingly reaching a silent, secret understanding.

At the same time, Chen Qi finally made his move!

Ignoring Yun Tianxin's suggestion, he didn't casually discard the head of the man with the gold-rimmed glasses. Instead, he hurled the head fiercely toward the two contractors.

Granted, he had originally considered gouging out its eyes, but realizing the man was already dead, such petty methods wouldn't even be enough to vent his hatred. It was better to squeeze out a bit of residual value from it—at the very least, it could disgust the opposition.

Following closely behind the spinning, hurled head was a flash of blade light. Although it was nowhere near as astonishing as his state of detachment, it was still brimming with vital blood, representing a full-strength strike from Chen Qi in his normal state.

Ahead of both the flying head and the blade was Chen Qi’s overwhelming vital blood, locking onto the positions of the two contractors and forcing them to react.

This was a little trick Chen Qi had figured out after the quality of his blood grew increasingly refined, and using it here could be described as precisely fitting.

The axe-wielding brute, just about to flee, froze for a fraction of a second, instantly losing his optimal opportunity to escape.

Yet this also ignited his fierce tenacity. Realizing he could no longer escape, he resolutely activated a skill. An earth-yellow halo coated his arms and the axe, and he slashed viciously toward the front.

"Screech!"

The axe cleaved the incoming head in two without the slightest resistance, and the leftover foul-smelling fluids splashed all over the brute's face. Enduring the nausea, he swung his axe in a continuous motion to strike directly against the long saber.

A sharp, violent clash of metal rang out. The immense force knocked the brute back step after step, almost sending him stumbling to the ground. He stared at Chen Qi with an incredulous expression, evidently beginning to question the meaning of life all over again.

Anyone who used a skill yet still failed to outmatch an opponent's basic attack would end up with this exact look.

Chen Qi took a slight step back to absorb the impact on his body, intending to close in for another slash, but then he hesitated.

As it turned out, another sudden twist occurred on the battlefield. While the axe-wielding brute stepped up to confront Chen Qi head-on, Liu Luo had already transformed into a shadow. Strangely, the direction this shadow flashed toward was none other than the distance!

Perhaps because her condition was too poor, or perhaps due to her utter distrust of her teammate, Liu Luo had chosen to make a decisive, unhesitating escape this time, without even uttering a parting word.

This was precisely why Chen Qi’s long saber hesitated. He was torn: should he pursue or should he strike?

The hesitation lasted for merely a brief instant before Chen Qi slashed his saber forward. He believed that as long as he could finish them off within three moves, neither of these two would be able to escape!

Looking at his skill, Focused Burst, which had already cooled down, Chen Qi was thoroughly confident of success.

Meanwhile, the axe-wielding brute reacted as well. Having completely lost his momentum, he too chose to run for his life. Swerving slightly toward a different direction, red light overflowed from his body as he began to charge outward.

His execution of the skill was remarkably fluid, clearly practiced to the point of mastery, allowing him to dodge Chen Qi’s slash by a hair's breadth.

Chen Qi froze slightly. He glanced at the fleeing axe-wielding brute, then down at the long saber in his hand, finding it hard to believe that he had actually missed a swing.

The moment he slashed, the sensation of being locked on by his vital blood vanished entirely, neatly evaded by the brute's reverse charge.

This once again illustrated the importance of utilizing skills flexibly. For instance, missing an ultimate skill doesn't necessarily mean the player is bad; it could also serve as deterrence or a way to zone the enemy.

Time kept ticking, and the two contractors were fleeing in opposite directions, forcing Chen Qi to make another difficult choice.

Unlike the previous instance, Yun Tianxin no longer had the capacity to intimidate, and launching another attack would push her past her limits.

Glancing back at Yun Tianxin and receiving a reassuring nod from her, Chen Qi sprang forward and resumed his pursuit.

Between the axe-wielding brute and Liu Luo, he resolutely chose the latter. This was partly because that woman had thoroughly infuriated him during the earlier skirmish, and partly because the former was, in his eyes, nothing more than a fool.

In this instance, one could only say that sometimes, being a fool is indeed a blessing.

To prevent losing track of her, Chen Qi once again unleashed his full vital blood to slightly counteract the oncoming wind resistance, while pulling out the smoky-cyan formation banner.

This item had been given to him by Yun Tianxin earlier, and he had been reluctant to return it all along. As it happened, this was another moment for it to shine.

As the formation banner flashed with light, a wave of energy washed over Chen Qi, making his steps feel weightless and elevating his speed to yet another tier.

He was now like a car tearing along at a hundred miles per hour, leaving billows of dust and shattered foliage in his wake. The gale force generated by his high-speed sprint battered against him, yet it couldn't even pierce the layer of vital blood shielding his skin.

"I really want to go back home and become a track athlete..." Amidst his running, Chen Qi's mind couldn't help drifting off once again. He was always like this, his brain prone to blurting out wisecracks in empty environments—which was precisely why his outward demeanor often gave people a rather comical impression.

Scarcely twenty breaths later, the blood-red aura of Liu Luo, concealed within the shadow energy, appeared within his energetic field of vision.

Raising his guard by a fraction, Chen Qi chose not to draw his blade; instead, he simply decided to plow straight into her.

He wanted to test whether he could literally run that woman over and kill her!

Sensing the rapidly approaching wind and suffocating pressure from behind, Liu Luo turned her head just in time to feel a searing wave of agony rack her body.

The next second, her vision went black, and her entire body was launched into the midair like a kite with a snapped string, leaving behind a cry of grief-stricken and resentful questioning echoing in the sky:

"Why me?!"