Chapter 56

Chapter 56

"Hiss..." Bai Hong hissed in pain, sucking in a sharp breath. Then, right before Lu Wei's eyes, the skin on his glowing cheek healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Only a faint smear of blood remained on Bai Hong's cheek, with no other trace of the previous injury.

Light-based superpowers were inherently powerful, combining formidable healing and offensive capabilities.

"Heh, not bad." Bai Hong looked at Lu Wei, his eyes filled with undisguised, intense killing intent. "Your power suddenly spiked, and you're no longer suppressed by my rank... must be some secret technique, right?"

Lu Wei only had thirty minutes with his full potential unleashed. Unwilling to waste time on idle talk with Bai Hong, his piercing black eyes brimmed with sharp killing intent. He teleported instantly to appear right in front of Bai Hong in mid-air, the wind blade in his hand forming into a long saber, and swung it down at Bai Hong's head.

Lu Wei knew his own shortcomings. His understanding and application of superpowers were remarkably shallow. Forget comparing to a top-tier powerhouse like Bai Hong, who forged himself in battle during the apocalypse, he couldn't even match some of his more skilled Favored Ones who specialized in this path.

It couldn't be helped; different professions required different expertise.

In the year since his awakening, the first half had been dedicated to hiding himself and developing the underground organization, laying the foundation for the zombie social structure; the latter half was spent day and night expanding and enhancing his Favored Ones, leaving him no time or energy to master his superpowers.

Therefore, against Bai Hong, only by using his expertise in close combat could he hope for a shot at victory.

Facing Lu Wei's wind-blade slash this time, Bai Hong didn't take him lightly. He raised his light spear, using its shaft to block Lu Wei's strike. The impact instantly numbed the webs of his thumbs on both hands, and the light spear nearly shattered on impact.

He was inwardly shocked. He knew Lu Wei's combat prowess had increased, but he hadn't expected it to rise to such an extent.

Lu Wei gave Bai Hong no chance to catch his breath. The wind blade in his hand, shaped like a long saber, suddenly split into dozens of smaller blades, barraging Bai Hong in rapid succession.

Bai Hong's situation was the opposite of Lu Wei's. He had a thorough understanding of his own superpower, knowing how to apply it most effectively, but he was utterly unskilled in close combat.

He never needed to be. After all, most enemies he encountered before were of a lower rank. He could simply suppress them with his superior rank, pin them with his aura, and then cleanly take their heads with a single spear thrust.

And opponents of his own rank, other 3S-level powerhouses, never engaged in close combat like Lu Wei either. They all used "External Avatars" to compete.

Thus, faced with Lu Wei's relentless, storm-like, and fierce offensive that allowed no respite, Bai Hong was momentarily overwhelmed.

Unable to dodge, Bai Hong used teleportation, barely escaping Lu Wei's attack range.

As soon as Bai Hong's figure reappeared in his line of sight, Lu Wei instantly teleported, closing in on him with speed no less than Bai Hong's. Before Bai Hong could even regroup, he was plunged back into the nightmare of close combat, forced to teleport again.

For a time, one figure pursued relentlessly while the other fled back and forth in the sky. By all appearances, Lu Wei seemed to have the upper hand.

On the ground, Zi Ting watched, his blood boiling. He was desperate to assist Lu Wei and had even tried firing off a few lightning bolts at Bai Hong earlier. But the two moved too fast in the sky, so fast that his lightning couldn't keep up, missing every time.

Such speed was approaching the speed of light, wasn't it?

Zhi Nv and the other Favored Ones were in the same situation. They were utterly unable to intervene in this battle, only watching from afar.

With a *shink* sound, Lu Wei's blade finally left a deep, long gash on Bai Hong's left shoulder. Blood cascaded down like a small waterfall.

"Bastard... bastard!" Bai Hong was wounded by Lu Wei for the second time today. Although the wound on his left shoulder healed quickly, the blood loss was irreplaceable, and his face noticeably paled.

Lu Wei was also far from satisfied with the current combat efficiency.

Ten minutes had passed since their battle began. Although Lu Wei seemed to have the upper hand, he only had twenty minutes left in his boosted state, and he had only managed to inflict this level of damage on Bai Hong.

Not enough, far from enough!

Moreover, due to repeatedly using teleportation far beyond this body's rank, his bones and tendons screamed with tearing pain.

Clearly, this couldn't continue.

Seizing this opportunity, Lu Wei suddenly laughed loudly. While continuing to pursue Bai Hong, he mockingly spoke up, "I heard your nickname is the Jade Emperor?"

"Why not change it to 'Stray Dog'? A stray dog that only knows how to run!!"

Lu Wei raised his voice, his words instantly echoing across the sky and earth. Not only did the Favored Ones on the ground burst into loud, mocking laughter, but even the humans and zombies engaged in battle some distance away, those who had a spare moment, glanced over.

"You damn Zombie King, do you really think I, Bai Hong, am afraid of you?!"

Bai Hong was exceptionally gifted. Since his awakening, he had encountered few difficult bottlenecks, smoothly advancing all the way to the 3S rank without major setbacks. Now, being so humiliated by Lu Wei and losing face in front of so many people, it indeed enraged him.

Especially since his lover, Wei Xiao, was among them. As a man, he couldn't afford to lose face like this!

He stopped using teleportation to evade Lu Wei. Driving the light dragon beneath his feet, he turned and thrust his spear towards Lu Wei. "All secret techniques have time limits. Let's see how long you can stay smug!"

Hearing Bai Hong's words, Lu Wei's heart turned cold.

Bai Hong's previous refusal to truly engage him in combat wasn't just due to his lack of close combat skill; he was also trying to stall for time.

In that case... he had no other choice either.

Fifteen minutes left.

Disregarding the system's earlier warning, Lu Wei gripped the wind blades in both hands, gritted his teeth, and charged towards Bai Hong, who was driving the light dragon towards him.

At the moment the wind blades clashed with the light spear, Lu Wei squeezed out the last drop of potential from within his body.

The light spear and the light dragon, upon contact with the wind blades, shattered into scattered, broken points of light, dispersing across the sky.

Simultaneously, Lu Wei, seated on the Sedan Chair, suddenly turned pale. He opened his mouth and vomited a mouthful of blood containing fragments of internal organs. Thin lines of blood trickled from his eyes, ears, and nose.

Bleeding from all seven orifices.

The Lu Wei on the Sedan Chair had no consciousness. His black hair hung neatly over his shoulders, his gray-clouded eyes half-open and half-closed. His handsome face, crisscrossed with blood, remained eerily calm.

Precisely because of this, it felt even more terrifying.

Anyone could sense that vitality was being drained from this body.

"Let me go! What are you waiting for?!" Seeing this, cold sweat drenched Wei Xiao's entire back. He shouted at Zi Ting beside him, veins bulging on his neck. "Are you really going to watch Lu Wei die?! No one here can help him, only me, only me!!"

Zi Ting took two steps back, his amber eyes filled with tears, shaking his head in panic. "I... I can't trust you..."

"Hahahahaha! So that's how it is!!" Bai Hong spat blood, his entire body covered in wounds from the chaotic wind blades. Witnessing this scene, he laughed heartily in mid-air. "Zombie King, let's see how you die today!"

Before his words faded, the wounds on Bai Hong's body began to slowly heal. The light dragon beneath his feet, previously shattered, solidified once more, and the light spear reappeared in his palms.

Twelve minutes left.

Lu Wei now clearly understood what the system's earlier warning truly meant.

After exhausting the potential of Feng Bo's Battle Body, what was being consumed next was the vitality of his original body in this world.

Fine... then let's see who falls first—me, exhausting my vitality, or you, being defeated by me.

Since there was no choice, there was no need for hesitation or doubt.

Expressionless, Lu Wei continued charging towards Bai Hong, who had mostly recovered his original appearance, swinging his blade down again and again.

Lu Wei could tell that after repeated injuries and massive blood loss, Bai Hong's ability to heal his wounds had slowed significantly.

Wei Xiao, hands bound behind his back, dropped to his knees before Zi Ting with a thud, banging his forehead heavily against the dusty ground as he choked out a tearful plea, "He really can't go on like this anymore, I beg you to release me..."

Seeing the large bruised area on Wei Xiao's forehead, Zi Ting covered his mouth, trembling all over.

On one side was the Heavenly Father's fading vitality, on the other was an untrustworthy enemy—this choice was far too difficult for him.

There were five minutes left.

Seated on the sedan chair, Lu Wei vomited blood again, his raven-black hair gradually turning white.

The smooth, cold-white skin on the back of his hands developed several cracks, like precious jade suddenly fracturing.

Tears streaming down his face, Zi Ting finally made up his mind and untied the Immortal-Binding Rope restraining Wei Xiao.

The moment the Immortal-Binding Rope was released, countless slender, semi-transparent tendrils sprouted from Wei Xiao's sides.

Those tendrils grew rapidly in the air, intertwining to form four large, semi-transparent wings resembling those of a lacewing, instantly lifting Wei Xiao into the sky where Lu Wei and Bai Hong were battling.

Bai Hong was gradually being overpowered by Lu Wei's attacks.

Lu Wei had severely wounded him multiple times. Repairing his body had drained his superpower heavily, to the point where he could no longer use teleportation to escape Lu Wei's attack range. He could only struggle to hold on, waiting either for Lu Wei to exhaust all his life force or for himself to be defeated and die.

When Bai Hong saw Wei Xiao appear before them, his face lit up with joy. "Xiao, come help me quickly!"

Wei Xiao was a 2S-level superpower user. With his assistance, Bai Hong was confident they could outlast Lu Wei.

"Alright, Hong," Wei Xiao replied with a gentle, affectionate smile toward Bai Hong. Deep brown wooden thorns adorned with little white flowers extended from his palms as he fluttered his wings and flew toward Bai Hong.

"Xiao, you're plant control, you don't need to engage directly, just provide support..." Before Bai Hong could finish speaking, he felt a chill at his back.

Looking down, he saw the tip of the deep brown wooden thorn in Wei Xiao's hand protruding from his own left chest, right where his heart was.

Bai Hong opened his mouth but had no time to say anything before hundreds of sharp wind blades from Lu Wei came crashing down on him.

Just as he had watched his lover pierce his heart with the wooden thorn, he now watched his own body being sliced into hundreds, thousands of pieces by those crisscrossing wind blades, scattering in all directions.

A massive, dripping blood flower exploded in the air, like celebratory fireworks.

Then, this blood flower, along with a head whose features were blurred, plummeted from the high sky, landing solidly on the snowy ground and turning into a mess of pulpy flesh.

The supreme powerhouse guarding the Nine Heavens, the Jade Emperor Bai Hong, met his end dismembered by a thousand cuts.

Thirty seconds remained.

Author's note: Bai Hong had it pretty rough~~

For the next world, would you all like to see an interstellar Zerg male protagonist?