Ye Zhongming was breathing heavily, his chest heaving violently. He could feel that his proud physical recovery rate could no longer keep up with his consumption.
Earlier, he had used the “Chase” ability of the Reaper Mimic Shooter’s sniper mode to kill Cheng Ou, who had pursued him with hatred.
Just as Ah Xiu said, Cheng Ou was an outstanding defender. Despite having inferior equipment and physical attributes compared to Sheng Yuan, his defensive capabilities were no less impressive, making him one of the strongest defenders on this planet.
But that didn’t mean he had no weaknesses—nor did it mean he couldn’t die.
Especially when facing a top-tier attacker like Ye Zhongming.
Ye Zhongming had used himself as bait, delivering a devastating blow to his pursuers with Cloud Slice. But by then, his body was already severely injured, and continuing to fight in such a state would only worsen his condition. He also sensed that Vice Chairman Yang and Saint Green Snake were still in decent shape—if he didn’t retreat now, there was an 80% chance he’d be pinned down.
Of course, he had no way of knowing that “Yang the Flee-er” had actually been about to run or that Saint Green Snake had already decided to withdraw from this chase.
Another reason he retreated immediately was that he couldn’t confirm the condition of Sister Bo and Ah Xiu—if even one of them still had some hidden means to fight, Ye Zhongming wouldn’t just be unable to escape; he might even suffer a humiliating defeat.
But the biggest concern, the one he feared most, was still the Demon Vine and its master.
So as he fled, he tied a tendon from a dimensional jumping toad in a certain spot. Once stretched taut, this tendon would emit a clear sound when touched and had a slight mind-disrupting effect.
Then, he ran some distance away and crouched under a tree, listening.
Cheng Ou, consumed by hatred over Ah Xiu’s uncertain fate, chased after him and triggered the tendon. Relying on his hearing, Ye Zhongming fired a single shot.
To ensure lethality, he used a micro-carved bullet.
In terms of accuracy, this shot wasn’t particularly impressive. In peacetime, any professionally trained sniper could have easily scored a headshot with such a high-quality firearm at this distance.
But Ye Zhongming couldn’t see. He fired purely on instinct.
The bullet struck Cheng Ou in the lower abdomen.
Without his active defensive skills, the God Hall defender’s natural resilience was only slightly better than an average evolved.
So his body was bisected on the spot, his internal organs shredded by the elemental force of the micro-carved bullet, eliminating any chance of survival.
After firing the shot, Ye Zhongming continued moving. He quickly dashed out of the forest—just a few more minutes of full-speed sprinting, and he would reach the edge of the plains.
But then, he was blocked.
An invisible barrier stood in his way. Over five seconds, Ye Zhongming tested it with fists, blades, firearms, skills, and even corrosive liquids—nothing made it disappear. He immediately understood: this was another “gift” prepared for him.
Restraining equipment like this, once activated, wouldn’t be broken in a short time.
Ye Zhongming turned and retreated back into the forest.
If he couldn’t leave, the woods were the safer option.
Not only could they conceal his form and scent, but they were also ideal for ambushes and counterattacks.
Unfortunately, when Ye Zhongming re-entered the forest, he was met with relentless attacks.
These assaults came from mutated creatures of various levels.
The lower-level ones—Level 5 and 6—had special abilities, such as emitting peculiar scents to mark his location or disrupt his sense of smell.
Others produced all sorts of noises, throwing off his auditory perception. Even a fist-sized, toad-like creature shot out sticky, foul-smelling threads between the trees. Once they stuck to Ye Zhongming, they were nearly impossible to tear off. Even when he managed to break them, half would remain glued to his body, adhering to anything he touched. He had to rip them away with force constantly.
These lower-level creatures were just support. The real offensive threats were the Level 7 and 8 mutated lifeforms.
Undoubtedly, these were the stitched monstrosities cultivated by God Hall. Individually, they weren’t as strong as naturally evolved creatures of the same level, but they made up for it in numbers. From sound alone, Ye Zhongming detected at least twenty Level 7+ creatures surrounding him, with even more approaching from afar. God Hall had truly gone all out to kill him.
Thus, Ye Zhongming was plunged into endless combat. Without sight and with his hearing and smell disrupted, his stamina and mental energy were rapidly depleting. If not for the Soul Refining Technique, which sharpened his perception, his current state wouldn’t just be about exhaustion—his injuries would have worsened, and his combat effectiveness would have plummeted.
For the first time, Ye Zhongming felt a flicker of doubt about his plan.
Perhaps… this was too reckless.
But even if he was reconsidering, no one else was—especially not Dr. Ziche and the researchers currently controlling these monsters. Their faces were twitching uncontrollably.
God Hall deployed all their reserves to encircle and kill Ye Zhongming: 32 Level 8 creatures, 75 Level 7 creatures, and over 300 Level 5-6 support mutants.
These weren’t the second-rate goods sold to Soul Merchant and Pin Palace—these were top-tier specimens, the pinnacle of God Hall’s splicing technology in terms of fusion stability, lifespan, combat power, and functionality.
Faced with such numbers, Dr. Ziche believed that even the Director himself, armed with the Demon Vine, would be doomed to fail. This was his confidence in God Hall’s scientific prowess.
But now?
A blind man, his other senses severely impaired, was cutting through them like a scythe. So far, at least five Level 8 creatures, seven Level 7 creatures, and dozens of lower-level mutants had been slaughtered.
And the cost?
Nothing but some sticky threads and lingering odors on his body…
To Dr. Ziche, this was impossible.
If he could, he would order an immediate retreat of all these mutants.
Just as frustration, rage, and unwillingness consumed him, Dr. Ziche suddenly calmed down, his body relaxing. The researchers beside him glanced at him in confusion.
“The final battle is here. This fight… is over.”
……………………………………
Ye Zhongming also sensed the arrival of the final confrontation.
Two overwhelmingly powerful auras, strong enough to make even him feel awe, appeared a few hundred meters away.
There was no need to guess—these were the Soul Merchant’s Chairman and the God Hall’s Director.
Two old enemies who had been his adversaries since the early days of the apocalypse, yet whom he had never met face-to-face.
In the past, Ye Zhongming had always suppressed them—destroying their bases, slaughtering their people, while they could do nothing to Cloud Peak.
Now, he had delivered himself to them, and these two titans were finally taking matters into their own hands.