697 Drawing the Snake out from Its Hole! (1/2)

Wang Baole could no longer hold back the full extent of his injuries. As soon as he broke free from the gigantic black hand, his injuries became fully exposed. He spat out a mouthful of blood. More blood began to trickle out from the gaps in his Thearch Armor, which drifted into space and formed streams of blood. The Thearch Armor could no longer maintain its form as well. It shattered and transformed into mutilated strands of meridians that retreated into Wang Baole's body.

He hadn't initiated the Thearch Collapse, which meant that even though the armor was severely damaged, he could still restore it to full functionality by nourishing it with sufficient Spirit Qi. However, the terrible state it was in was a testament to the difficult battle Wang Baole had just survived.

Wang Baole had just lost the protection of his Thearch Armor. His vision began to blur after he had broken free. He was at the end of his rope and had expended all his energy. However… the threat hadn't been completely eliminated despite him having wrestled himself free.

As soon as he had broken free of the collapsing gigantic black hand, a cloud of mist had materialized into a seal inside the disintegrating hand and flown out. It charged towards Wang Baole, ready to imprint itself on the latter.

It exuded the aura of all things dead and dying, the power to end all living creatures and erode away life itself!

Should it reach Wang Baole, with his current weakened state, there was no way he was going to survive the seal!

Wang Baole was in no position to evade the attack. His Thearch Armor had vanished, and his demonic eye's form had grown blurry with weakness. It eventually transformed into a mark inked into Wang Baole's forehead, like a third eye. The only hope Wang Baole had against the approaching seal was his final words to Feng Qiuran over his voice transmission. If any accident had befallen Feng Qiuran over the course of his battle, he could only rely on his scabbard to unleash its power and save him from death.

Feng Qiuran didn't disappoint Wang Baole. She had been watching the battle closely. As soon as Wang Baole had dashed out, she rushed towards him. She appeared next to him in an instant, grabbed him, and spun around. Then, her left hand formed a series of hand seals and raised into the air. Her Soul Conduit realm cultivation erupted. She risked backlash and injuring herself again as she pressed her left palm into the air, towards the approaching seal.

Her face paled instantly. A white bottle materialized before her palm and collided with the seal.

The bottle shattered amidst a thunderous boom. The black seal's approach was halted by its explosion. It finally lost the power to pursue Wang Baole, giving Feng Qiuran sufficient time to escape. She turned and took Wang Baole with her, transforming into an arc of rainbow that rushed away from the battlefield. With the coordinated aid provided by Li Xingwen and the Federation fleet, she finally approached and landed on one of the Federation battleships.

Li Xingwen rushed over, anxiety clear on his face, as soon as they landed. He hadn't had time to take a look at Feng Qiuran, who was staggering and still suffering a backlash from her injuries. Instead, he took Wang Baole from Feng Qiuran's arms. Staring at the pale-faced Wang Baole, who was weakened to the point where he couldn't even open his eyes, and sensing the drained state he was in—like a candle on its last inch of wax—Li Xingwen's heart stuttered painfully.

\”You little rascal…\”

\”Grandmaster…\” A dazed Wang Baole seemed to have heard Li Xingwen's voice, so he struggled to open his eyes. He saw Li Xingwen, then noticed Feng Qiuran, who was standing beside Li Xingwen. His eyes seemed to clear slightly, and a grin appeared on his face.

\”Your disciple did as he was told. I brought the grandmatron back safely…\” He didn't finish speaking the words he wanted to say. Wang Baole couldn't stay awake any longer. After seeing familiar faces from the Federation, his heart finally eased into long-awaited relief. His head tilted to one side as he passed out.

Li Xingwen sighed secretly at the thought of Wang Baole still trying to gain Feng Qiuran's favor when he was in such a terrible state. He lifted his head and looked at Feng Qiuran. Her face was pale. She seemed to feel the same sudden sense of relief. She spat out a mouthful of blood that she had been holding in, then sat down immediately. Unable to move any further, she began her healing process.

Li Xingwen stared at Feng Qiuran and Wang Baole, then lifted his head and looked at the stars beyond. He gazed at the Dao Palace fleet and the Dao Palace cultivators, clearly thrown off course and into chaos after the Anti-Spirit Bombs had blown the gigantic black hand apart. He took a deep breath. They were too near Mercury. The mission objective was to rescue Wang Baole and Feng Qiuran, and the objective had been achieved. There was no need to start another incident. He gritted his teeth and stopped himself from acting on impulse, which was crying for him to turn the battleship around and pursue the enemy. Instead, he barked out an order to retreat.

As the fleet retreated, Li Xingwen sent orders for the deployment of another hundred Anti-Spirit Bombs. They hovered in space, threatening to blow up at any second. The Dao Palace cultivators stared at those glowing spheres, their pupils contracting in alarm. Their hesitation intensified.

Somewhere on Mercury, Daoist You Ran had fallen silent. Sending out the gigantic hand had consumed a great portion of his energy. Replicating the attack would affect the overall recovery of the Death Dao Battleship. The Anti-Spirit Bombs had left an impact as well. He narrowed his eyes. After assessing the situation, he clamped down on his murderous thoughts and didn't pursue the fleeing Federation fleet.