Forge a path to success.

Chapter 226 Divine soldiers descend from heaven
The flames expanded as the blade's edge spread, and the soaring crimson flames dyed the entire world red. A scorching shockwave swept across the desolate wilderness, whipping up countless grains of sand that surged into the sky with the force of destruction.

The world churned in blood, the blood flames danced wildly with the killing, the power dissipated and then rolled back, returning to the slash marks with the will of the Asura.

Disappeared in a flash.

With a soft clang, the murderous blade was sheathed.

The flames burning on his body died down, and the demon Shura transformed back into the assassin. Exhaustion erupted within him; his heart shrank and constricted from overexertion, and excruciating pain assaulted his brain, threatening to tear his nerves apart. The aid from the murderous blade had departed after the battle, and the body of Point 3 began to pay the price for the previous fight—with blood, bones, muscles, and life itself.

But Chu Heng held on without moving an inch.

A piece of cake.

Having experienced the memories of the War Demon, this pain was nothing to him. A man even the heretics couldn't kill had no reason to be defeated by him. He breathed in the scorching air, and his magic, transformed into power by the Heavenly Demon Furnace, gradually revitalized his withered body.

The murderous blade trembled at his waist, its sharp edge pointing towards the world beyond the vortex. This blade was not yet satisfied; the heretical path of point 4 was merely the beginning for it, and it desired to continue its slaughter. Chu Hengkong didn't even glance at it. He gripped the hilt and rushed back to the front of the cave, just in time to catch the fallen Blood Knight.

Qingxia's blood-red bow dissipated, and her once strong body could no longer even stand steadily. The plague demon's toxins, carried by the fire mark, seeped into her flesh, turning her skin a hideous brownish-yellow. Her lips moved, but no sound came out; only silent words remained.

"Did we... win?"

“We’ve won.” Chu Hengkong grabbed her. “So you can’t die yet. We’ve already created so many miracles, you can’t fall here!”

The blood flames ignited again, this time fueled by his own life force. Several streaks of blood-red light shot out, landing on Qingxia, Shakes, Qingye, and Fande, thus hindering the poison and keeping them alive. Chu Hengkong's skin had become transparent due to excessive blood loss. He struggled to carry Qingxia, while Ji Huaisu had just built a clay cart.

"I'm out of strength...!" Ji Huaisu leaned against the car floor, her face half blue and half purple. "Mr. Assassin, could you please try one more time?"

"Okay. But you also have to try your best to hold on."

Chu Hengkong pulled the rest of the people onto the earthen cart one by one, then used his calamity wrist to pull the cart and sped towards the settlement. To increase his speed, he once again used the Qi of a Thousand Autumns, and now only the whistling wind could be heard on the road.

Qingye still had a pulse; the historical mist within her sinful bones had mitigated the effects of the poison, saving her life. Shax was in the worst condition; a single shot from the Blood Knight had shattered half his body, and Bloodflame would have killed him in a second. Ji Huaisu was still able to move, Vande remained silent, and Qingxia…

Qingxia's flesh and blood were autonomously differentiating and proliferating. Under the stimulation of the toxins, Xiangyu Yao's self-healing instincts went out of control, causing clusters of irregular tumors to grow on her wounds. Those out-of-control tumors were meaninglessly consuming her life force. She was now almost standing on the edge of life and death, and the tumors were the hand pushing her towards them.

"Qingxia, don't close your eyes!" Chu Hengkong shouted. "Say something! Talk to me!"

Chu Hengkong had experienced a similar situation and knew that her life was now hanging by a thread; once her mind was broken and her spirit dissipated, it would all be over.

Qingxia's lips twitched, as if she wanted to laugh, but the proliferating tumor squeezed half of her face, making her expression particularly terrifying.

"I...I'll take a nap first..."

"Don't sleep now!" Chu Hengkong shook her with his wrist. "How about I tell you a story? You'll be there after you hear just one story!"

"Wait... next time..." Qingxia's voice was barely audible, "Next time... then..."

She slowly closed her eyes. She was too tired. She could hear Chu Hengkong's words but didn't have the strength to respond. She wanted to rest for a while, just a little while.

Just then, a rash person started hitting her hard, completely disregarding the fact that she was seriously injured. Ji Huaisu, in a fit of rage, blurted out, "Qingxia, Qingxia, listen to me! You...you're getting ugly, you know that? A whole bunch of bumps like a honeycomb!"

"Say something nice, you fucking thing!" Chu Hengkong snapped.

“Really, you can see it the moment you open your eyes.” Ji Huaisu described it vividly, “It’s terrifying, even I can’t bear to look at it. Darling, if you keep delaying treatment, it will be too late. Look at Chu Hengkong, he doesn’t even dare to turn around now. In the future, he might not even dare to look at you, let alone kiss you…”

Qingxia gritted her teeth, opening her eyes a crack: "Can...you hurry...?"

Ji Huaisu gave an OK sign, then turned and leaned against the dump truck. Chu Hengkong was utterly bewildered and confused. "No, why?"

"You don't understand." Ji Huaisu rolled her eyes.

As they spoke, the seal surrounding the settlement came into view. The journey that had taken them almost half the night to leave was now just a few words long on their way back to the city. Chu Hengkong charged straight into the seal, rushing into the training ground amidst the shouts of joy and excitement from the warriors, and arrived in front of the pillar of light.

He caught a whiff of a fragrant aroma, like the tender shoots of newly sprouted grass in spring, the scent of flowers and leaves mingling in the warm air, creating a reassuring and relaxing atmosphere. Several vines shot out from the pillar of light, wrapping around each person; the vines pulsed like veins, sending the life force of the divine tree into the wounded.

“I’ll handle it.” Fenya poked her little green head out. “Sever the life link now, or you’ll wear yourself out.”

Chu Hengkong observed for a moment, confirming that the divine tree's vitality was sufficient to sustain the life, before slowly severing the blood flames. He plopped down at the foot of the sacred pillar: "Can it be cured?"

“It’s difficult. Infusing life force only treats the symptoms, not the root cause. For now, we can only keep them afloat,” Fenya said. “Qingxia is especially difficult to treat. That female demon attacked her too severely, and the toxins and bloodline factors have become one. The more life force we infuse, the more the tumor grows, which will endanger Qingxia’s life. But if the support is cut off, it will also be a dead end.”

The tumors on Qingxia's body were multiplying, almost engulfing her horse. They needed medicine, an antidote, something to eradicate the toxins, but everyone present was a combatant, and even the Divine Tree of Point 2 didn't have that ability. Chu Hengkong clenched his brow.

"Request for help," he said. "Stone Seeker, you've already leveled up, so you can contact Huilong City, right?"

“…I can only say there’s a chance.” Fenya paused for a moment, “but that would consume a tremendous amount of energy, and if it fails…”

"Let's take this gamble."

Finya looked into the assassin's eyes and for a moment felt as if she were talking to an old friend. Their styles were exactly the same: making extremely low-probability judgments without hesitation, gambling that their choices would definitely succeed.

It nodded and patted Gulibo next to the sacred pillar. Gulibo grabbed a leaf flute and blew a whistle with all its might.

Upon hearing the whistle, the researchers outside the training ground shouted, "Signal! Everyone to your positions!"

The whistle blew across the settlement, and the warriors hurried to their designated positions according to plan. They had rehearsed extensively during the earlier repair of the sacred pillar, so that they could activate the Unity Array at any time. People clenched their hands, hoping to transform their prayers into strength. Golden light then flashed, surging towards the center of the sacred pillar along with the array that covered the settlement.

The leaves of the bud were tinged golden by the light, and it raised its vines toward the sky, reciting an ancient prayer:

"The radiant star's divine righteousness, the true legacy of the Dragon King. Carving wood into a boat, in response to the people's wishes."

The candlelight never fades, the fighting spirit never dies. Respond to my command, righteous allies!

Specks of cryptic text emerged with the chanting, surging into the light. Golden light rose straight into the sky with the sacred pillar, piercing the sky above the settlement. The mists of history stirred, forming swirling vortices around the pillar of light, swirling like swarms of insects sensing danger, trying to extinguish this beam of light.

Fenya's face was tense, and Chu Hengkong couldn't help but feel nervous as well. No one knew if this effort would succeed. Perhaps everyone outside had already given up, or perhaps they hadn't yet detected the stone seed's signal. Perhaps the city lord knew, but was powerless to do anything…

But suddenly, a clear dragon's roar echoed from the other side of the vortex. A transparent water sphere was forcibly squeezed into the vortex and descended guided by the beam of light. The surface of the water sphere was constantly swirling; it was a flowing pearl, the largest flowing pearl Chu Hengkong had ever seen!

The mists of history seemed to sense the crisis, swarming in and instantly destroying the golden light. The unguided orb fell, rapidly deforming in mid-air. Chu Hengkong leaped into the air, his long, wicked wrist extending to catch the orb. He carried the orb back to the sacred pillar, placing it in front of Fenya.

"Yes, what is it?" Gulibo asked nervously.

With a snap, the bead burst open from the inside, splashing water all over the face of the screaming little animal. Inside the bead was a disheveled man, wearing greasy clothes and a dirty baseball cap.

He held in his hand a golden lotus pestle that seemed completely out of place with his attire.

Jie An peeked out furtively: "Um, does anyone need to take their medicine?"

Chu Hengkong cheered.

(End of this chapter)