High Martial Arts: Slay enemies to become stronger, forge invincibility from billions of corpses.

Six people frantically fled through the deadwood forest, the gray-white tree trunks rushing past on both sides, and the dead branches under their feet were crushed to pieces.

A loud crash of a tree trunk snapping came from behind; the Azure-Scaled Viper had come running after them.

It's too fast.

Its body, fifty or sixty meters long, slithered across the ground, its scales screeching against the earth. Its head moved among the dead trees, its amber-colored vertical pupils always locked onto its prey.

The distance is shrinking rapidly.

Song Chen was second to last, with Shen Yuan ahead of him.

He could feel the terrifying pressure of the blood energy behind him getting closer and closer, and he could perceive the exact location of the snake without activating his True Sight.

Instead of accelerating immediately, he used his True Sight to repeatedly examine the wounds of the Azure Scaled Viper.

No, that's not right.

This is also why Song Chen was willing to go and explore the area; he noticed something was wrong from the very beginning.

The Azure-Scaled Viper still quickly approached.

One hundred meters, eighty meters...

Song Chen knew he had to speed things up.

He took a deep breath, and his internal energy and blood suddenly exploded. Two wind wings appeared behind him, and his speed suddenly increased by a level. These were the Gale Wings at the Great Perfection stage.

He instantly surpassed Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan's eyes widened. She felt a gust of wind sweep past her, and Song Chen's figure rushed in front of her at a speed completely inconsistent with his 35 Qi and Blood.

"you……"

Song Chen didn't stop; he continued to accelerate.

He surpassed Zhou Yuan.

Zhou Yuan's expression was as if he had seen a ghost. The aura emanating from him made even Zhou Yuan, a veteran of poison, feel a sense of instinctive fear.

He surpassed Zhao Hu.

Zhao Hu had already thrown away his heavy sword and was running with his hands empty. The moment he saw Song Chen pass by, his mind went blank.

Then he overtook Liu Dong and Liu west.

When Liu west was overtaken by him, he was completely stunned.

He recognized the figure from behind; it was the same young man he had called "the greenhorn," sent him to scout ahead, and said he would "take him under his wing."

Now, this "hothead" disappeared into the dead woods ahead at a speed that he couldn't even see the taillights of.

With his True Sight fully activated, Song Chen found the shortest escape route in the deadwood forest ahead. There was a gap 30 meters to the left, and beyond that was an open area.

"To the left! Follow me!"

The chased and bewildered group instinctively followed him.

Thirty meters.

Twenty meters.

ten meters.

The end of the deadwood forest was just ahead.

Behind them, the sounds of the Azure-Scaled Viper chasing them grew closer and closer.

It chased to the edge of the treeline, where the snake's head emerged from the dead wood, and then it stopped.

It crouched at the edge of the treeline, its amber vertical pupils coldly staring at the six people in the open ground, its forked tongue flicking and hissing.

He stared at them for a full ten seconds, then slowly retreated into the forest, his massive body disappearing among the gray and white dead trees.

The six men collapsed onto the gravel ground, panting heavily.

Liu west lay sprawled on the ground, trembling all over, his trousers soaked.

Liu Dong leaned against his younger brother, his face ashen, and remained silent.

Zhou Yuan huddled behind a rock, the poison bottle in his hand having fallen out of his hand at some point. His gaze was fixed on Song Chen, his eyes filled with surprise, fear, and something else he couldn't quite put his finger on.

Zhao Hu rested his hands on his knees, head bowed, breathing heavily like an ox.

He had left his heavy sword in the woods and now had nothing at hand.

Shen Yuan leaned against a rock by the roadside, her chest heaving violently, but her eyes remained fixed on Song Chen.

Song Chen stood at the farthest point, with his back to everyone.

Liu west spoke first, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows: "That...that snake...didn't the intelligence say...it was seriously injured...?"

No one answered him.

Zhou Yuan suddenly stood up, his voice icy: "The intelligence was brought by Zhao Hu. Zhao Hu, what do you mean by this?"

Zhao Hu suddenly looked up, his eyes bloodshot: "You doubt me? I only got the information from someone else. If I had known this beast was still so strong even after being seriously injured, would I have gone? I even left my knife inside!"

Zhou Yuan's voice grew even colder: "Who knows if you're doing this on purpose, trying to send us to our deaths so you can reap the benefits later?"

Zhao Hu jumped to his feet, his fists clenched so tightly they cracked: "Bullshit!"

"If I had that kind of intention, would I be the first to run? Would I be the last one to take your place?"

Zhou Yuan sneered: "You're at the very back? You run faster than anyone else, if it weren't for..."

His gaze shifted to Song Chen, and he didn't finish his sentence, but his meaning was clear.

Zhao Hu also looked at Song Chen, his lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end he didn't say anything.

Liu Dong helped Liu west sit up. The two brothers were covered in dust and looked disheveled. Liu Xi avoided looking in Song Chen's direction.

Liu Dong looked at Song Chen, remained silent for a moment, and then whispered two words: "Thanks."

Song Chen didn't turn around; he kept looking in the direction of the dead wood forest.

The group continued arguing.

After arguing for a while without reaching a conclusion, Zhou Yuan was the first to speak up: "Let's call it a day."

"That beast still has the strength of the mid-stage of the third tier. If we go up there, we'll just be feeding the animals. Whoever wants to die can go ahead. I'm not going to play along."

Zhao Hu sat on a rock, his face ashen.

His heavy sword was left in the dead woods, and now he was empty-handed, like a tiger whose teeth had been pulled out.

He remained silent for a long time before finally nodding: "Zhou Yuan is right, the intelligence was wrong, we can't take this job, let's call it quits."

Liu Dong helped Liu west sit down to the side; the two brothers looked disheveled.

Liu west's expression hadn't recovered yet, but upon hearing the words "break up," he nodded repeatedly as if granted a pardon: "Break up, break up, break up! Whoever wants to kill the snake can kill it, I'm not going."

Liu Dong didn't speak, but he didn't object either.

Shen Yuan leaned against the rock, crossed her arms, and glanced at the faces of the group before finally settling on Song Chen.

She noticed that Song Chen hadn't said a single word since they escaped.

He stood a little distance away, with his back to the crowd and facing the direction of the dead wood forest.

Psionic particles floated slowly around him, and his back looked quiet, even somewhat... composed.

Amidst the chaos and fear, this composure stood out starkly.

Zhao Hu stood up, dusted himself off, and said, "That's settled then. We'll each go our own way and find somewhere to stay before dark."

"Wait a moment."

Song Chen turned around.

His voice wasn't loud, but everyone could hear him clearly.

"Perhaps we can fight."

Several people were stunned at the same time.

Liu west looked at him like he was crazy: "Are you crazy? That's the middle stage of the third tier. We almost all died in there just now."

Zhao Hu frowned, but remained silent.

If it were before today, Song Chen would have just thought he was a young man who didn't know his place and was talking nonsense.

But it's different now.

The scene in the deadwood forest, the speed that young man unleashed, the sharp aura emanating from him—these were not things that an ordinary second-tier martial artist should possess.

Zhao Hu stared at Song Chen for a few seconds, then asked in a deep voice, "How confident are you?"