Chapter 254: Sweeping Away

Chapter 254: Sweeping the Field

Nobody wanted to die, and so, nobody dared to move.

Glancing over the paralyzed crowd, Zhang Yu leaned in close to Bai Zhenzhen’s ear and whispered, "Deng Dingding's reinforcements have begun to arrive. Go meet them first; leave this place to me."

According to Deng Dingding, it would take up to six hours for the reinforcing forces to assemble into an effective combat unit, meaning that help would be trickling in continuously over that duration.

And now, evidently, some individuals who could be of use to Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen had already arrived.

Bai Zhenzhen nodded at him. "Take care, then."

Wasting no time on sentimentality, she leapt straight into the sewer line they had originally planned to use for their escape.

The onlookers watched helplessly as Bai Zhenzhen vanished from the scene, yet not a single soul dared to make a move.

Having sent Bai Zhenzhen off first and watching her disappear into the subterranean gloom, Zhang Yu felt a slight wave of relief wash over his heart.

"The doctor Deng Dingding arranged should be able to treat Zhen, right?"

Then, Zhang Yu turned around, his gaze sweeping coldly across the gathered crowd.

Fuji reminded him, "Bai Zhenzhen is temporarily safe. You have no more inhibitions now."

"Slaughter every last one of them on this field."

"If you let them leave, they will undoubtedly continue to hunt her down."

Zhang Yu knew Fuji spoke the truth; on this battlefield of life and death, there was no room for the slightest mercy.

Thus, in the next instant, the Formless Cloud Astral Qi erupted furiously, and a blanket of dense mist rose once more to shroud the entire field.

Zhang Yu’s voice echoed from within the rolling fog.

"Obstructing the inspection team’s law enforcement, assaulting contracted personnel of the inspection team—knowing the law yet breaking it doubles the gravity of your crime."

"Next up is the hour of legal execution."

"It is your turn to run."

Almost the exact moment those words reached their ears, the combat will of the crowd was utterly extinguished. They recoiled in sheer panic, attempting to flee in all directions at their absolute highest speed.

Yet this frantic scattering, this act of exposing their backs to Zhang Yu, was precisely the ideal scenario for him. It allowed him to carry out his subsequent task with greater composure and efficiency.

Zhou Yang was the closest to Zhang Yu, and consequently, the one who fled the most frantically upon hearing those words.

With a fierce thrust of his legs against the ground, his entire form blurred into a succession of afterimages, hurtling outward like a leaping toad.

But just as he vaulted a few meters away, he felt a terrifying force of suction pull at him from within the pervasive mist.

It was the Formless Cloud Astral Qi, unleashing a myriad of forces—twining, vibrating, and deflecting—acting like oceanic whirlpools to drag him right back.

Simultaneously, a towering, titanic black shadow emerged from the fog behind Zhou Yang, carrying with it the thunderous cries of dragons and elephants.

At this moment, Zhou Yang felt like a solitary fish drifting in the deep ocean, sucked helplessly into the abyssal maw of a colossal marine beast as it gaped open to swallow him whole.

Staring at the dark silhouette drawing closer and closer through the thick fog, Zhou Yang shrieked, "Wait! I—"

Boom!

A surging, majestic palm force struck, threatening to compress the dense mist and the very atmosphere into solid form, slamming the remainder of Zhou Yang’s words back down his throat.

Faced with this mortal crisis, a glint of despair flashed in Zhou Yang’s eyes. With a ferocious roar in his heart, he rallied every ounce of his strength for a final resistance, unleashing a palm that carried a torrent of freezing Qi toward the shadow in the mist.

Yet when Zhou Yang’s palm struck out, he felt as though he had merely hit a pocket of empty air.

In the next breath, under the manipulation of Zhang Yu’s Undying Seal Technique, the freezing Qi reversed its course and surged back into Zhou Yang’s own body, instantly freezing him stiff.

Then, the Formless Cloud Astral Qi drove straight through him. Accompanied by a series of sharp, explosive cracks, it ground his flesh and bones into a pulp of ruined mud.

"The first."

With a casual wave of his hand, Zhang Yu brushed away the blood mist before him. His form flashed once more as he pursued another expert.

The waves of the cloud sea formed by the Formless Cloud Astral Qi surged back and forth beneath his feet, making him feel entirely in his element, his movement techniques blindingly swift within this domain of mist.

In stark contrast, Chiri, Ye Mantian, and the others felt as though the shroud of fog were alive. It not only entwined and obstructed them from all directions but even absorbed their attacks and deflected their fist and palm forces back at them.

Swoosh!

Amidst the churning mist, Zhang Yu materialized before another Qi Refining powerhouse.

The man’s face was twisted in terror. With a furious roar, he lunged forward to grapple, executing a complex series of capturing techniques.

A cold sneer played on the corner of Zhang Yu’s mouth. The moment their palms collided, he threw off the man's center of gravity and slammed him violently into the earth, creating a massive crater with a resonant boom.

Looking down at the man whose internal organs were completely shattered and who was slowly spitting up bloody froth, Fuji reminded him, "They can deploy surgical talismans remotely. Remember to deliver a fatal blow."

Zhang Yu delivered a swift kick, instantly turning the man's brain into mush; even a surgical talisman would be powerless to save him now.

"The second."

Then his figure flashed again, hunting down the next target.

Ye Mantian struggled to navigate the thick fog, listening to the muffled booms, screams, and Zhang Yu's steady tally echoing from the depths of the mist.

"The third."

"Ah!"

A piercing, miserable shriek rang out, sounding as though someone were being torn apart by a monstrous beast.

Boom!

"The fourth."

"I'll take you down with me!"

"Don't run, everyone! You can't escape—"

Bang!

"I'll pay! I'll buy my life with money!"

"The fifth."

Listening to that voice which sounded like a countdown to doom, even Ye Mantian, a favored genius from the Celestial Capital, found cold sweat pouring continuously from his brow.

He felt like a small fish swimming against a violent, undercurrent-laden river, desperately trying to evade the hunt of a submerged monster.

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

"How did it come to this?"

"Zhang Yu has already established his foundation, why hasn't President Wang sent reinforcements yet?!"

Right before his terrified eyes, a dark silhouette slowly materialized from the rolling fog. "The sixth."

Driven by extreme terror, Ye Mantian unleashed the full extent of his power at this very moment.

His body expanded like an inflating balloon, and with a roar resembling an elephant's cry, he thrust a fist forward laced with violent Astral Qi, the air crackling and popping in its wake as it hurled toward Zhang Yu.

Faced with Ye Mantian's desperate, all-out assault, Zhang Yu merely reached out with a simple grasp. The surging Astral Qi twisted and swirled, instantly crushing the opponent's fist to pieces.

Immediately following, a palm struck directly toward the man's head.

Ye Mantian’s other arm attempted to block, but it was entirely futile. Zhang Yu’s palm force blew the arm apart first before slamming heavily against his skull.

Bang!

Ye Mantian's figure shot backward, finally bursting out of the misty clouds, but his skull was already shattered, red and white flying everywhere.

After killing Ye Mantian, Zhang Yu did not pause, weaving back and forth through the clouds; within a few seconds, four more bodies crashed to the ground, all with crushed skulls, their brains shaken into a pulp, dead beyond death.

Zhang Yu caught up with another Qi Refining cultivator.

But the man, in the face of mortal peril, let out a wild roar, screaming in madness: "I can build my foundation too! If you want me dead, I'll take you with me!"

In an instant, a torrent of spiritual energy surged toward him, as a peak Qi Refining expert attempted to break through to Foundation Establishment on the spot.

Just then, Deng Bingding in the Divine Power Network snorted coldly: "Daring to break through mid-battle? What audacity."

Another righteous god in the Divine Power Network also shouted: "Breaking through without authorization? Execute him immediately!"

In a flash, the opposing righteous gods, who had been locked in combat within the Divine Power Network, all ceased their struggle.

Divine power blazed in the sky, coalescing into a pillar-thick bolt of purple lightning that struck down, reducing the breakthrough-bound Qi Refining cultivator to ashes.

Having done this, the righteous gods resumed their confrontation in the Divine Power Network, checking each other once more.

Zhang Yu, still shaken, glanced at the spot where the lightning had vanished, then continued his pursuit of the others.

From the moment Zhang Yu began his slaughter to the scattering of the crowd, the heavy casualties, and the falling divine thunder, much seemed to have happened, yet only a little over twenty seconds had passed.

But just then, a divine wind tornado swept across heaven and earth, forcibly dispersing the misty clouds.

Zhang Yu looked up at the majestic figure in the sky.

Behind his head swirled eight layers of divine light, at his left and right feet crouched dragons formed of gale winds, and around him coiled countless blood-red shadows—like an emperor of this realm, his indifferent gaze swept the field, finally settling on Zhang Yu.

Zhang Yu stared back with a grave expression, thinking to himself: "Wang Yin... he came directly?"

"Did he sense my Foundation Establishment... and decide to leave me no chance, to crush me outright?"

...

Meanwhile, Bai Zhenzhen advanced through the sewers, opening her phone to read the message from Deng Bingding, following his directions to a secluded spot.

A middle-aged man with a bushy beard, carrying a large bag, looked at her and said, "You're Bai Zhenzhen?"

The man's gaze held a hint of admiration as he said, "Daring to stand up to a wealthy bigwig like Wang, the boss of Oasis Group—you've got some nerve."

Bai Zhenzhen knew he was the outsourced worker Deng Bingding had hired, and said, "You're a doctor, right? Treat me first."

While receiving treatment, Bai Zhenzhen asked, "Lord Deng said you brought a legal corpse?"

The bearded man pointed to the large bundle beside him and said, "Yeah, a Dragon Soul Workshop's Flood Dragon Spirit Pivot."

"With my skill, it'll take about fifteen minutes to install."

"Want me to put it on you while I'm at it?"

Bai Zhenzhen said, "Why install it on me? Wouldn't it be more effective on Zhang Yu?"

The bearded man replied, "Zhang Yu probably doesn't have time for that."

"Wang Yin has already left Oasis Tower."

"He's coming."

Bai Zhenzhen's expression changed at this, and she looked at the Flood Dragon Spirit Pivot, asking, "Can I use this?"

The bearded man said, "It works best at Foundation Establishment, but for Qi Refining, short-term use is fine."

"But your entire spine needs to be replaced. With limited equipment here, and you needing to get into battle quickly... it's going to hurt."

Bai Zhenzhen gritted her teeth and said, "Do it."

"Install it on me."

Bai Zhenzhen knew that without the Flood Dragon Spirit Pivot, she wouldn't even qualify to join the coming battle.

...

On the battlefield.

Chi He, having narrowly escaped death, quickly ran to Wang Yin's feet, his face full of post-crisis relief: "Mr... Mr. Wang."

Wang Yin ignored him, merely casting a cold glance and saying icily, "A bunch of useless trash. After all the money I spent on you, I still have to do it myself."

"Do you know how precious my time is?"

"After this, your salary for the next year is docked."

Chi He lowered his head, enduring Wang Yin's scolding without daring to show any displeasure.

Wang Yin then turned to Zhang Yu and said flatly, "Zhang Yu, if you had just fled with Bai Zhenzhen, I might have considered you wild and untamed, not yet rid of the poor's base instincts, and spent more time breaking you in."

"But you two..."

A chilling murderous intent surged from Wang Yin: "You two have done something absolutely unforgivable."

"Colluding with outsiders, betraying the company's interests..."

"Why can't we sell?" Zhang Yu sneered, retorting sharply, "If someone buys, we sell. Business is business—isn't that Kunxu's rule?"

Wang Yin, hearing his own words thrown back at him, snorted coldly: "You think you're worthy of discussing Kunxu's rules with me?"

"Know your place—you're nothing but a dog I raised!"

(End of chapter)