The originally fearless Zhao Yuying was now somewhat nervous and didn’t dare move a muscle. Only when the thunderous footsteps had faded away in the distance did she heave a sigh of relief. She stretched her tense body and discovered that she was drenched in cold sweat.
She quietly wiped away the sweat on her brows and inhaled several times. After collecting herself and calming down, she stood up and kicked at the nearby mound of dirt. “How long are you going to play dead?”
Following a howl of pain, the earthen color receded from the pile of earth and Wei Potian was kicked out of his disguise. He rubbed his butt, crying, “Can’t you be more gentle? I’ll be dead from your kick before I die of shock from that six-armed monstrosity.”
“Look at yourself, scared like a chicken and not even daring to move. You even buried your face into the soil, how did the marquis even pick you as heir?” Zhao Yuying mocked.
Wei Potian wasn’t angry, however. “The moment I saw him, I knew I wasn’t his match. Even an ordinary divine champion will have to take a step back against him. I might not be afraid of death, but I can’t drag you down with me. I’m no good at concealment, so I can only use this method to hide my aura.”
Zhao Yuyang spat hard. “Spouting all that righteousness, but you’re just afraid of dying.”
Wei Potian’s face turned red. Without a word, he turned about and started running toward the source of the rumbling.
Zhao Yuying was shocked. Fortunately, she reacted swiftly by tripping Wei Potian and placing a foot on his back, stopping him from clambering up.
She prodded Wei Potian’s head with her hand-cannon, saying, “Are you nuts?”
Wei Potian said with an ashen expression, “I’ll go fight it out with that six-armed monster! I’ll let you see whether I’m afraid of death or not!”
Zhao Yuying was even more furious. She stomped down hard and cursed, “Do you even have a brain? Don’t you know the difference between being fearless and throwing away your life? What will I do if you die just like that?”
Wei Potian looked back at Zhao Yuying in surprise.
Zhao Yuying pushed the man’s head down with her hand-cannon, burying it into the soil. “What are you thinking about? What I mean is that a meat-shield like you isn’t so easy to find in this damned place.”
Wei Potian could only nod since he couldn’t speak.
“Get up. This mommy will ignore you the next time you act confused, you hear?” Zhao Yuying shouted.
Wei Potian clambered up. His face was full of mud and dust, but he was all smiles.
Zhao Yuying spat. “What a wretched smile, almost like that Song Seven!”
This time, however, Wei Potian wasn’t going to take it. “How am I similar to that sissy?”
Amidst the laughter and noise, the duo suddenly sensed something. They turned toward the forest at the same time and stared intently in a certain direction. Wei Potian stepped in front of Zhao Yuying, his figure glowing with a yellowish radiance and faint projections of distant mountains.
At this moment, Wei Potian’s Thousand Mountains was ready to activate at a moment’s notice. He had reached a stage where he could unleash and retract his powers at will, an entire level above his previous achievement.
Zhao Yuying took a step back, her cannon glowing faintly and ready to fire. As specialists in defense and attack respectively, the two were able to cooperate perfectly.
The thicket in front of them shook as a cloud of black mist drifted out. There was a humanoid figure hidden within the smokey mass.
This was a demonkin. What else was there to say? Zhao Yuying locked onto the target with a cold smile, ready to fire.
The mist faltered and revealed itself, not expecting Wei Potian and Zhao Yuying to be here. The smoke receded to reveal the person inside.
“Eden!” Wei Potian exclaimed with a serious expression.
“There’s nothing to fear. This fellow is shrewd and ruthless, but I refuse to believe he can escape a blast now that I’ve locked onto him!” Zhao Yuying was disdainful. Despite saying that, her eyes were clear and the cannon in her hand was rearing to fire. It didn’t look the least like she was underestimating her enemy.
Eden had long since gained fame, so the Empire’s younger generation was familiar with both his name and appearance. He was an extremely dangerous character, one worthy of caution once encountered.
Eden narrowed his eyes. He hadn’t expected to encounter two difficult experts from the Empire here. His luck had been pretty bad since entering the Great Maelstrom. He had almost run into a six-armed general just now. That monster was going berserk for some reason, destroying all the trees in his wake as he ran. A stray tree-trunk even smashed Eden’s temporary hideout. How could he dare stay around after such a shock?
Just the might of that six-armed native’s movements told Eden that he wasn’t a match at all. He naturally had to run as far as possible.
Who would’ve thought he would run into Zhao Yuying’s cannon?
With an unsightly expression, Eden tightened his grasp on the Abyssal Tribute and arched his body in a combat stance. Losing his concealment removed most of his advantage, and he wasn’t quite confident about a melee brawl with the duo.
Eden glanced at the mountain projections in Wei Potian’s origin power, and then at Zhao Yuying’s hand-cannon. “Wei Qiyang, Zhao Yuying!”
Zhao Yuying laughed out loud. “Well, it seems I’m quite famous! I guess I didn’t kill all those dark race scum for nothing.”
Wei Potian wasn’t too happy. “This daddy here is called Wei Potian!”
Be it in the Empire or Evernight, the younger generations would’ve gone into the battlefield at this level of maturity. Their fame among the opposing faction was mostly gained by killing. Eden, Wei Potian, and Zhao Yuying all knew one another and naturally understood that their opponents were difficult.
Presently, Zhao Yuying and Wei Potian were at an advantage. However, if they couldn’t kill him in one shot, the demonkin would run back into the forest. The tables would turn at that point because Eden was an expert in concealment and sniping—even Qianye had suffered somewhat in his hands.
Eden glanced into the depths of the forest. “Not fighting?”
Wei Potian was puzzled. “What do you mean?”
“Shut up!” Zhao Yuying glared at him. She then said to Eden, “We’re at an advantage now, why would we not fight?”
Eden shot her a glance. “Just a bit of an advantage, don’t think too highly of yourself. I don’t want to fight because I don’t want to die together with you two.”
Only at this point did Wei Potian realize that a fight would involve origin cannons and guns. The commotion would spread like an avalanche, and it would surely draw that six-armed monster over.
They could all forget about living once that monstrosity was upon them. They had witnessed the terrifying speed with which the six-armed general was chasing a certain prey just now. None of them would be able to escape once targeted. This was the reason why origin weapons couldn’t be used in the Great Maelstrom. The biggest threat wasn’t the animosity between factions and powers, but instead the native monsters that might be drawn out.
Zhao Yuying replied, “You don’t want to, but that doesn’t mean we don’t. This mommy here isn’t afraid of death and taking you down with me isn’t a loss, anyway. If you don’t want to fight, take out something to convince me, otherwise, we can skip the useless chatter.”
Eden pondered for a while before tossing a jar of wine to Zhao Yuying. “Take this and drink at your leisure. Also, I won’t be attacking you for three days.”
It was actually a jar of white-fruit wine. Seeing the gift, Wei Potian’s expression became weird while Zhao Yuying blushed ever so slightly. She duly caught the jar and tossed it to Wei Potian. “Put it away.”
The latter stowed the wine away in his spatial gear. The Wei family had given him their full support for his trip into the Great Maelstrom, going so far as to take out the treasures they had been hoarding. Comparatively, even Zhao Yuying didn’t have storage equipment.
After putting the tribute away, Zhao Yuying wasn’t in a rush to leave. “Aren’t the conditions too generous? What will you do if I attack you?”
“You won’t.”
“Ha! What if I like catching you off-guard?”
Eden replied calmly, “Humans are mostly crafty and untrustworthy, but you’re an exception.”
Zhao Yuying was surprised. “I have such a good reputation?”
Eden snorted. “I’m giving you three days because I made a deal with someone, and you happen to be related to it.”
“What deal?” Zhao Yuying was curious.
“That, you don’t need to know.” Eden wasn’t about to give her face.
It was at this moment that the three became alarmed.
The forest began to tremble as the shockingly heavy footsteps appeared once more, and it was coming in their direction!
The steps came at great speed. The six-armed general wasn’t sprinting deliberately, but it would move dozens of meters with every step, advancing great distances in mere moments. The dense forest could offer no resistance against him, either.
“We can’t escape!” Wei Potian exclaimed.
“Indeed, we won’t make it,” Eden chimed in.
“Duh! Start hiding!” Zhao Yuying stomped down to form a pit in the ground. This was the high-gravity region, and the soil here was as hard as steel. Even Eden was shocked at how easily she had excavated the pit.
Zhao Yuying kicked Wei Potian in after digging the pit. The latter knew how to cooperate—his origin power surged out to form a barrier of light over the opening, upon which Zhao Yuying arranged an array of branches and leaves. The setup seemed so genuine that Eden couldn’t help but feel surprised.
After the camouflage had been set up, Wei Potian let out a soft cry, and the origin power barrier rose above the opening. The elevation process was extremely stable and didn’t disturb the leaves in the slightest. This alone was enough to showcase his extraordinary cultivation.
Zhao Yuying jumped into the pit, and then beckoned to Eden. “What are you gazing around for? Are you looking to die?”
Eden jumped in after a brief moment of hesitation. Wei Potian then lowered the light barrier and duly sealed the opening of the pit. At a glance, this place was no different from any other part of the forest, and even the most experienced hunters would find it difficult to find any clues.
At this moment, a wisp of black energy spread out and covered up what remained of Wei Potian’s origin power aura.
Now everything was perfect.
The six-armed general arrived in large strides, scanning the surroundings with eyes like lightning. He stepped over the trio’s hiding place without sensing anything, and simply went on his way.
