Another two guards had died.
Several undead creatures were standing above their corpses, eating away without a worry in the world. More creatures came in from the back to fill the gaps and started fighting with them for the right to feast.
The surroundings guards helplessly pushed back the creature's incoming attacks and moved in to close the gap. Barely twelve or thirteen guards were left standing now four or five of which were injured and in no fighting condition.
They were standing back to back, pushing Hao Xuan closer towards Han Rong who was busy giving emergency treatment to a twitching guard.
"Stay with me!" Han Rong shouted before the guard's body suddenly relaxed.
The guard's eyes opened wide, the twisted expression of pain slowly disappeared from his face and was replaced by a look of pure astonishment and realization when he took his last breath.
Hao Xuan could 'feel' something leaving the guards body. It was just scarred flesh now, not much different from the undead around them.
Han Rong who was pounding his chest with bursts of yellow Qi slowly came to a stop as well. He reached forward gently closing the guard's still open eyes.
"I'm sorry, brother. May you have a better afterlife. May your loved ones find the courage to accept your loss and if you ever find yourself back in this mortal coil, may you live a long and fulfilling life."
Surrounded by a sea of undead, Han Rong still took out the time to say a small prayer for the guard, just like he had done so many other times tonight.
He looked up and examined the situation around him. The undead were so close now that he could smell the foul breath from their snapping maws and feel the air tremble with each strike.
One of the guards, a muscular middle-aged man with numerous injuries turned his head halfway to glance back, "We cannot last any longer my lord."
Han Rong nodded feebly, "It seems so."
The guard who was hoping for a different answer visibly shook before nodding as well, accepting the truth.
"The end of the road it is then," he chuckled.
Hao Xuan could feel the vigor of life escaping from the man's body. He too was readying himself for death.
The other guards who heard their short conversation had much the same reactions. Their movements became sluggish, so much so that even the undead were surprised. They were a little more than empty husks now.
Zou Huan was engaged in the final stages of the battle with the minor demon was too busy to pay any attention to them. Hao Xuan peered towards him and saw his terrible condition.
He was missing chunks of flesh from three places and there were long vertical holes in his muscles as if someone had put a burning pole through them. Yet he still fought with the same fervor as before, going head to head with the demon that could heal itself in seconds.
But when Hao Xuan's gaze fell on the minor demon, his heartbeat doubled in frequency. His mouth started watering, making him swallow several mouthfuls of saliva.
He felt like a starving nomad walking through the desert that had just found a scrumptious full course meal waiting for him in the shade.
Hao Xuan's pupils dilated to the extreme and his stomach let out a loud growl. Luckily there was too much going in nearby for anyone to hear it or notice his flushed cheeks.
Hao Xuan quickly covered his mouth to stop himself from drooling. He took in a death breath and somehow, he could smell the demon from almost a hundred meters away. More importantly, he could smell its weakness.
Even though it looked fine, it was also at its limit.
"So that's why it is called a demonic physique," he nodded inwardly with a new understanding.
Hao Xuan quickly averted his gaze before he lost control of himself and rushed in. But a bright smile was adorned on his face now that he knew what to do.
He tapped on Han Rong's shoulder, "Brother, can I ask you favor perhaps?"
Han Rong looked up with dead eyes but was shocked to see Hao Xuan's smile.
"Can I borrow some Qi from you, brother?" Hao Xuan asked.
Han Rong snapped out of his daze with knitted brows.
There was a very real limit to how much foreign Qi a body could absorb. There was only a small amount that could be transferred slowly over time, making it synchronize with the receivers Qi.
Otherwise it would do more bad than good and would poison the person, creating a state of Qi poisoning. That was also the reason he could not heal the injured guards in such little time.
Hao Xuan understood Han Rong's look of confusion but now was neither the time nor the place to explain.
"I have a unique physique brother. I can absorb foreign Qi without much effort. If you can help me, maybe I can buy you guys a way out," he said still maintaining that smile.
But Han Rong did not take his words to heart. He just saw it as a dying man's last attempt to try and find a way for himself.
How rare were natural physiques? Especially one that could just absorb foreign Qi without any negative repercussions? And now Hao Xuan just had it?
But there was nothing to lose from trying since they were all going to die in a few minutes anyway, he agreed.
Han Rong extended his hand and Hao Xuan grabbed it. Han Rong moved a small wisp of Qi towards his arm but as soon as it reached his palm, it just disappeared.
Confused, Han Rong redirected more Qi, twice as much as before but the same thing happened. It wasn't that he was sending that Qi to Hao Xuan but that it was being taken from his body even without his consent.
He looked at Hao Xuan in disbelief, getting a nod in response.
"More, as much as you can spare," Hao Xuan said.
For the next three minutes, Han Rong transferred over 40% of his total Qi to Hao Xuan's body and it looked like he could still take more, which left him speechless.
Han Rong was a Profound realm expert. The main difference between other realms and the Profound reals was that once a person broke into the Profound realm, they could hold hundreds of times more Qi than before by directly connecting their Mind Palaces to the other world.
That's why it was considered to be such a huge step up from other realms.
And yet, Hao Xuan who was a middle-stage Spirit Realm cultivator could absorb 40% of his Qi.
Just how big were Hao Xuan's meridians?!
Hao Xuan retracted his hand and stood up, feeling the thrumming Qi inside his body.
"Blood Energy Restored: 270%"
And there was still enough Qi in his meridians that he could use it normally. It was still being slowly digested by the Chaos Qi but that would take a little more than five minutes.
It had been over a month since Hao Xuan last felt the rush of Qi inside his meridians. Every hair on his body was standing straight up, overjoyed by the sensation of absolute power that the Qi brought with it.
Hao Xuan clenched his fists, creating a black spark that covered the complete length of both the arms, expanding them to twice their size and painting them black.
With pupils shinning with such brightness that they resembled precious rubies, Hao Xuan took in a deep breath that created a howling gale.
"Assault of the Mad God," he muttered with slanted eyes and gave another command to Baracus, "Offensive Power to 200%"
*BOOM*
A shockwave was created from the sudden expansion of Hao Xuan's muscles, startling every other guard including Han Rong.
Hao Xuan was an entire head taller now.. His muscles brimmed with such threatening power that the onlookers couldn't help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.
