Chapter 124: Awakening

The sealed mirror space itself was a part of the vast secret realm. It existed as a semi-independent pocket created and guided by divine power, essentially like a small bubble on the surface of a larger one.

Wan Canglong exploited this small bubble-like space to set up an altar for his rituals. The residents of Dacang Town had all been relocated into this mirror space by him. Since the ritual required time, Wan Canglong intended to complete it in secret, fusing the precious Scarlet Flame Gold Scale into the Infinite God Weapon. Once the military relaxed their vigilance, he planned to strike under the cover of night, delivering a severe lesson while offering flesh and blood as tribute to the Divine Lord.

However, Gao Wu discovered the entrance to the mirror space, interrupting the ritual and forcing Wan Canglong to face an attack by several martial masters. Even with the assistance of Luo Mo, Wan Canglong could not fend off multiple martial masters. In a dire moment, he detonated the stored divine power within the altar.

The mirror space, established atop the altar, shattered instantly without its foundation—much like a balloon bursting—sending everyone flying from the violent spatial force. Prepared in advance, Wan Canglong seized the chance to break free from the encirclement of martial masters. He originally intended to flee swiftly into the Dacang Mountain secret realm but suddenly spotted Gao Wu.

Wan Canglong planned to crush this young man but was infuriated further by Gao Wu’s taunts. Although severely injured and with about seventy to eighty percent of his source power depleted, handling two punks was still easy for him!

The distance between them was less than fifty meters. In under a second, Wan Canglong charged before Gao Wu and his companions. The speed—fifty meters per second—made him a massive humanoid arrow, emitting a sharp, piercing sound as he cut through the air.

Bai Yan, An Ziru, Zhang Yunyi, and Shen An all saw Wan Canglong’s move, but the four martial masters had been scattered by the violent spatial force, each in a different direction. Their distance from the scene was at least three hundred meters; even if they rushed to assist, it would take five or six seconds.

Without any long-range attacks bolstered by source power, they were powerless against Wan Canglong.

The four martial masters grimly realized the danger but could only watch helplessly.

Facing Wan Canglong directly, Gao Wu endured immense pressure. The fierce wind alone stirred dust and sand, flipping his bangs back, as if confronting a car racing at two hundred kilometers per hour.

Although prepared for battle, Gao Wu could not help but feel his heart tighten. The tremendous impact generated by such speed was terrifying.

He silently activated the Eightfold Azure Dragon Spirit Qi Spell, simultaneously triggering the Swift Wind and Thunder transformations, raising his spirit to nineteen points and agility to sixteen points.

Wan Canglong, shooting forward like an arrow, appeared to slow down in Gao Wu’s eyes.

The potent spiritual force allowed Gao Wu to calmly process all the information he sensed. In this state, he noticed numerous flaws in Wan Canglong.

His left arm was severed, his left eye lost, and the fierce battle had drained much of his source power. Although his speed was great, it was merely the last breath of a powerful arrow.

Wan Canglong’s only formidable advantage was his crimson battle armor fused with his source power field, amplifying his source power several times over.

“A trapped beast still struggles!” Gao Wu naturally thought this upon seeing Wan Canglong’s desperate form. No matter how battered, he remained extremely dangerous.

Suppressing distracting thoughts, Gao Wu knew that since Wan Canglong had provoked the fight, hesitation or retreat would only lead to death.

The bright azure light emitted by the Azure Dragon Spirit Qi Spell energized his acupoints, doubling his source power output. At this level, his source power rivaled that of an ordinary martial artist.

On the spiritual level, Gao Wu had established a resonance with Song Mingyue, allowing them to communicate through spiritual force.

“I’ll go first!” Song Mingyue notified Gao Wu mentally as she initiated her spiritual psychic power.

Just yesterday, she had broken through to spiritual psychic power, erecting an invisible wall before Gao Wu that blocked Wan Canglong’s advance.

Wan Canglong, a seasoned fighter, even in his injured and foggy state, sensed the obstruction of this psychic barrier.

A flicker of unusual color flashed in his good right eye: a psychic martial artist was involved?

Without dwelling on it, Wan Canglong regarded psychic martial artists as special but not particularly advantageous in close combat—only somewhat troublesome.

Turning his thoughts, Wan Canglong unleashed his spiritual energy field. Under the influence of source power, it manifested as a crimson tiger behind him, roaring fiercely as if descending the mountain.

Materializing a martial spirit form through the spiritual energy field was standard for martial artists.

The crimson giant tiger stood two meters tall at the shoulders and nearly six meters long, its roar carrying the majestic might of a tiger echoing through the forest, intimidating all beasts.

Song Mingyue’s psychic power was strong, but her martial cultivation was far inferior to Wan Canglong’s.

The Scarlet Flame Heavenly Tiger spirit form targeted Song Mingyue’s spiritual core, intimidating her despite her strength.

Fortunately, her Cold Nether Heavenly Snake resonated with Gao Wu’s Azure Dragon, soft yet resilient, allowing her to quickly regain composure.

Seizing the moment amid their spiritual clash, Wan Canglong summoned five silver crescent blades that materialized on his right palm from the Infinite God Weapon. A single swipe from his claw tore through the invisible psychic wall with a ripping sound.

“How dare you provoke me! Laughable!” Wan Canglong sneered at Gao Wu, insulting him for thinking a psychic martial artist could match him—such ignorance.

Just as he prepared to strike decisively, a blue lightning flashed in Gao Wu’s eyes. Suddenly, intense head pain struck, as silent azure thunder raged and flashed through his spiritual realm, battering even the Scarlet Flame Heavenly Tiger spirit form he had conjured.

“No!” Wan Canglong snapped back to awareness. In this critical moment, he exploded with all his might, letting out a long, fierce roar from his thirty-year refined Scarlet Flame Heavenly Tiger spirit.

The source power-formed tiger roared thunderously, shaking Gao Wu’s ears until he was temporarily deafened. The pressure was so intense that his eyes bled, turning red.

No matter how strong the body, the fragile organs could hardly withstand such force.

Protected by the Azure Dragon Spirit Qi Spell, Gao Wu’s spiritual awareness weathered the impact with minimal effect. He focused his spirit.

After the tiger’s roar and violent source power wave passed, Gao Wu grasped his Golden Thunder Eagle pistols, firing directly at Wan Canglong’s face.

Wan Canglong did not expect Gao Wu to endure the roar—nor did he imagine Gao Wu would dare to counterattack.

Just as he was about to strike, a rapidly spinning silver light wheel shot in from the side.

“That psychic martial artist!” Wan Canglong was both shocked and enraged. He instantly altered his move, clamping the tiger claw around the incoming sword wheel.

The silver wheel transformed into a slender silver blade, trembling in Wan Canglong’s grasp.

An Ziru was also greatly surprised. She knew Song Mingyue had advanced to the warrior rank—a first-class genius at eighteen, worthy of top-tier rating.

She had never expected Song Mingyue to be a psychic martial artist, nor that her psychic power was so formidable as to force Wan Canglong to fully engage.

Bai Yan and Zhang Yunyi were also astonished; they immediately understood why Song Mingyue always stayed close to Gao Wu, and why Song Chunqiu hadn’t stopped her.

This psychic power was truly formidable… but whether they could jointly withstand Wan Canglong was unknown.

Though Wan Canglong was gravely injured, he still wielded the power of the Demon God and the refined Infinite God Weapon. To Gao Wu and Song Mingyue, he was an extremely fearsome foe.

The four martial masters, along with the level-five insectoid Luo Mo who had escaped, focused all their attention on Gao Wu, Song Mingyue, and Wan Canglong.

To Luo Mo, Wan Canglong was a crucial guide who had cost him dearly. He did not want Wan Canglong to die here.

No matter what the martial masters thought, none could intervene in the battle now; they could only watch wide-eyed.

Gao Wu and Song Mingyue displayed perfect coordination. As Song Mingyue unleashed the sword wheel, Gao Wu had already drawn his Golden Thunder Eagle pistols, firing continuously at Wan Canglong’s face.

Wan Canglong desperately clung to the Frost Moon Sword. The sword’s cold, piercing chill caused his source power to stagnate, making it difficult to operate. He could only forcefully activate his source power field to withstand Gao Wu’s assault.

Silver bullets were deflected by the crimson source power field, ricocheting away. Gao Wu’s pistols, like piercing spears, pressed simultaneously against the crimson source power.

His source power condensed in the acupoints, combined with his bodily strength, all focused on the pair of Golden Thunder Eagles.

With the added boost of the Swift Wind transformation, the force on his pistols exceeded twelve thousand kilograms.

The crimson source power field was compressed inward, collapsing into a thin crimson membrane tightly clinging to Wan Canglong’s face.

Wan Canglong had not anticipated Gao Wu’s incredible speed and the fierce force wielded like fists from pistols. Fear caused his one-eyed pupil to dilate wildly.

Yet his left arm was gone; he had to expend all his energy sustaining the tiger roar spirit form to resist spiritual interference, while his right hand suppressed Song Mingyue’s icy blade.

At this point, his spiritual energy, source power, and physical strength had all reached their limits. Facing Gao Wu’s assault, he lacked the strength to adapt.

Wan Canglong could only frantically activate all his acupoints to maintain the source power field. If he could catch his breath, he could forcibly unleash source power to annihilate Gao Wu.

However, through his shadow spirit, Gao Wu saw Wan Canglong’s acupoint light dimming; his source power was already maxed out.

Now was the perfect moment to crush Wan Canglong.

Gao Wu’s arm muscles tensed as he shifted from pistol stance to assault rifle mode.

The assault rifle stance excelled in rapid, successive strikes, especially the triple-hit technique, delivering simple yet sharp, direct force.

His dual pistols fired in rapid succession, pressing Wan Canglong’s protective source power field to the brink, just shy of breaking.

At the final surge, Gao Wu simultaneously pulled the trigger; the primer ignited, the bolt recoiled, and bullets erupted from the barrels.

The bullet tore through the crimson source power field at its limit, deeply embedding itself into Wan Canglong’s cheekbone. Another bullet shot directly into Wan Canglong’s dilated, terrified pupil.

Martial artists honed their bodies to be extremely tough; the bullet lodged in the cheekbone but did not penetrate further. However, the fragile eye could not withstand the bullet, which deeply penetrated Wan Canglong’s brain, destroying his central nervous system—and ending all his movements.

Gao Wu fired again. Amid the muzzle flash, Wan Canglong’s head was blasted open with two large holes.

Wan Canglong’s strength was formidable, yet Gao Wu dared not slack off until he confirmed Wan Canglong’s death, then holstered his pistols and stepped back.

The martial masters watching were stunned at the sight of Wan Canglong’s shattered head and gushing blood mist. So powerful a man was killed by Gao Wu?!

The distance was too great to see every detail clearly. If possible, the masters wished Gao Wu could perform the feat again…

No matter what secret techniques Gao Wu used, his joint effort with Song Mingyue to slay Wan Canglong showcased terrifying power.

Seeing Wan Canglong dead, Luo Mo glanced at Gao Wu deeply, then turned and left without hesitation.

With their vital guide gone, the remaining thousands of low-level black-armored insectoids were insignificant. Staying was meaningless.

Gao Wu noticed Luo Mo’s departure. This alien martial master radiated strong, stable source power—much stronger than Wan Canglong. He was not someone to provoke.

This matter was no longer his concern.

With a clear hum, the Frost Moon Sword broke free from the crimson tiger claw’s grip and was retrieved by Song Mingyue.

Looking at the gaping wounds in Wan Canglong’s head, Gao Wu mused, “You lost because you lacked vision and were trapped in rigid thinking.”

“I’ll open your eyes for you—no need to thank me!”

Wan Canglong showed no sign of gratitude. Shaking slightly, he lay silent on the ground, only his crimson battle armor continuing to shimmer incessantly...