Lu Huaishuang turned her gaze away, unable to watch. No matter how despicable this young man might be, dying like this was far too cruel. Besides, he had just helped her—if he hadn't intervened so suddenly, she would likely have been injured.
Ma Chaoqun and He Wuzui, on the other hand, were ecstatic inside, barely restraining themselves from bursting into laughter. Truly, the heavens had a long memory—look up, and you'd see that no one escaped karma.
Their eyes met, and without a word, they could read each other's thoughts.
It took quite some time before the lightning pouring down from the sky finally ceased, and the black cloud vortex overhead dissipated completely.
The entire field fell silent.
The young man still held Ge Ming by the collar, but both he and Kuangfeng's Third Master had their hair standing on end, their faces charred black, their auras all but extinguished.
Setting aside the young man's condition, Kuangfeng's Third Master was unquestionably dead!
Everyone had witnessed the power of that lightning punishment. Even a third-level Void King standing here couldn't have survived it, let alone Ge Ming, who was only at the first level. This was nothing short of disaster. The young man might have had the ability to kill him, but he had never actually made a lethal move against Ge Ming from start to finish.
Instead, it was a single bolt of divine lightning that had taken Ge Ming's life.
Two figures suddenly rocketed forward.
Ma Chaoqun and He Wuzui charged in from left and right, moving with the speed of thunder and lightning.
To pull up weeds, you must remove the roots. To strike a snake and fail to kill it is to invite it to climb the staff—such a simple principle, and how could they not know it? They had only been cautious before because this strange young man had displayed extraordinary power.
Now that the young man had been struck by the lightning punishment, dead or not, they would dismember him first. They had to make absolutely sure he was dead before they could have any hope of survival; otherwise, their fates would be in someone else's hands.
Though Ma Chaoqun was fat, his movements were remarkably agile. His plump white frame moved with startling grace and speed, the two golden pills in his hands blazing with brilliant light. Before he even arrived, the pills had already been launched, hurtling toward the young man's head and chest with unstoppable, crushing force.
He Wuzui formed a series of hand seals and unleashed a devastating secret technique.
A massive serpent materialized in midair, rearing its head forward and opening its jaws to snap down at the young man.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye. Lu Huaishuang, on the far side, had no time to react. Her heart lurched, and she raised her hand, sending a sky-full of sword qi slashing toward He Wuzui and Ma Chaoqun in a desperate attempt to relieve the pressure.
But her reaction came far too late. It was little more than going through the motions—a prayer to fate that could do nothing to help.
A series of hissing sounds rang out as the sword qi streaked through the air. Ma Chaoqun and He Wuzui, charging forward, slammed into something like an invisible wall. Their bodies froze in place, and they stared ahead in terror as their hearts plunged to the bottom of their chests.
It was not Lu Huaishuang's sword qi that had stopped them. It was the young man's reaction.
There, ahead—the young man who had been bombarded by lightning punishment for more than ten breaths suddenly stirred. He reached up and swept a hand through his disheveled hair. Those once calm, deep eyes now brimmed with resentment and fury, as if something had enraged him beyond measure.
That simple movement alone was enough to rob Ma Chaoqun and He Wuzui of every shred of fighting spirit, forcing them to halt in their tracks.
The scene froze as though bound by an invisible hand, and time itself seemed to stop flowing. Everyone stood rooted to the spot, eyes glazed in disbelief.
He wasn't dead? After being struck by that lightning punishment for more than ten breaths, he was still alive? Even Lu Huaishuang's beautiful eyes went wide, a strange light flickering in their depths.
Only Ma Chaoqun's two golden pills were still hurtling toward the young man, reaching him in the span of a blink.
The young man lowered the hand that had been smoothing his hair, then gave it a casual flick.
Ma Chaoqun's heart dropped. In that instant, his spiritual connection to both golden pills was severed. He looked closer, and his entire body began to tremble violently.
Those two golden pills were already in the young man's hand. His five fingers moved nimbly, and the two pills rolled back and forth across his palm, leaving behind trails of afterimages.
In the mere flick of a wrist, he had snatched away their life-bound Artifacts! What kind of technique was this? What manner of creature was this man?
He Wuzui's giant serpent technique had also arrived, but with his mind reeling in shock, he could no longer sustain it. The serpent merely flickered once before dissolving into smoke.
Gulp—a desperate swallow, and his face began to twitch uncontrollably.
"That, uh..." Ma Chaoqun pressed his dry lips together, scrambling for something to say, only to find that his courage had long since evaporated. Even his voice trembled beyond his control.
"The man wasn't killed by me." The young man casually tossed Ge Ming's corpse—the one he had been holding the entire time—aside.
Ge Ming's death was entirely due to the lightning punishment. From beginning to end, the young man had never made a single lethal move against him.
"My lord... this must be a misunderstanding." Ma Chaoqun forced a smile, though it looked worse than a grimace.
"A misunderstanding, you say? Do tell." The young man regarded him with an indifferent gaze.
How could Ma Chaoqun possibly produce a convincing explanation? He had always relied on his strength to dominate others, resorting to violence at the slightest disagreement. Eloquence had never been his strong suit—spouting honeyed words was simply not something he was capable of. Sweat beaded on his forehead, and he kept reaching up to wipe it away. If he couldn't think of something to say, he would almost certainly die today.
Gritting his teeth, he abandoned all pretense, spun around, and fled at his utmost speed.
If there had still been a sliver of hope before the lightning punishment, then now running was their only option.
All because he and He Wuzui had been foolish enough to attack the man. He could only blame himself for not bringing better judgment along on this trip.