Forge a path to success.

Chapter 64 Fearless
Ji Huaisu lay paralyzed in the collapsed hall, blood flowing over her eyes, turning the fireball in her vision crimson.

Time seemed to slow down at this moment, and in Ji Huaisu's eyes, the expansion of the fireball also slowed down, with the flames spreading in wisps, like a blood-red flower about to bloom. This guy was extremely cautious; even at this point, he was unwilling to close the distance, preferring to wait an extra second to create the fireball rather than take a step closer to use the Qing Shao.

Ji Huaisu knew the yellow crystal was flashing frantically, and her companions must be frantic with worry, but she had nothing to say. What could she say? That the enemy was too strong for her? That she had to rely on them all after failing to hold out? That was too pathetic; they weren't even worthy of being captains, let alone knights. A captain shouldn't utter such tragic last words before dying; a captain should use that strength to wield their sword!
But when it actually happened to me, I was still on edge. I couldn't find that fearless bravery; instead, I felt like a little kid, so scared.

I guess there's no one in the world who's truly unafraid of death, right? They're just holding on. If they could hold on like their father until the very end, then they really wouldn't be afraid.

"I'm sorry." Ji Huaisu smiled silently.

The light shield and shadow blade in her hands simultaneously grew larger, the sword's edge piercing the shield's surface, merging the most intense light with the darkest shadow. The two opposing poles collided violently, and the fundamental hostility caused a destructive white light to emerge between the sword and shield.

This was Ji Huaisu's last resort, "Dust Break," a suicide attack that would take the enemy down with her. She endured the pain, breaking the flamethrower that held her left hand in place, and threw the weapon away the instant the fireball exploded.

Flames raged, weapons shattered, and two magnificent beams of light erupted, engulfing both the knight and the ambitious man!
·
Chu Hengkong pressed the accelerator to the floor with a blank expression, and the storm slashed at his face like a blade.

He took everything out of his coat: empty medicine bottles, the Silver-Eyed Book, a small hang glider, jade carvings, unused talismans… nothing was of any use. What he needed at that moment was a helicopter or even a teleportation portal, but there were none on the floating island.

He would certainly take action, and he had already headed to headquarters when he sensed something was wrong. However, the Black Workshop's aircraft wasn't particularly fast to begin with, and the fierce battle above the city had caused energy turbulence to dominate the high altitude. This half-destroyed aircraft was like a tattered kite, swaying precariously in the turbulence no matter how much it struggled. It would eventually fall to the ground, but that would take some time.

A period of time that can never be caught up with again.

He knew he wouldn't make it. The battle between the battered knight and the near-peak craftsman was not about victory or defeat, but about how long the knight could hold out. But in the heat of battle, there wasn't that much time for her. This wasn't even a one-on-one fight; Kanin had that damned demon behind her. How could she win? How could they possibly win?
Therefore, Chu Heng remained expressionless, not uttering a single word. This battle had been meticulously planned by Kanin from beginning to end; even though he unexpectedly landed on the sky island and even though he fought valiantly to kill Besen, he was only presented with yet another Plan B.

Chu Hengkong sensed a destiny, an inescapable fate. He had tried his best, giving his all each time. He was certain he would defeat the enemy; his assassinations had never failed. But he was ultimately just one man, his short-sightedness blind to the bigger picture. The victories of individual soldiers were irrelevant to the final outcome; the accumulation of countless individual victories could not alter the predetermined ending. It was the same on the day his family perished, and it was the same now.

He felt a tightness in his chest, unable to speak; so many things were stuck in his throat, unable to escape. He wasn't just an assassin anymore; he was now Detective One, a new subordinate with new friends. But would he repeat the same mistakes again?

Once again... watching the person next to me die?

"I still owe you my life," he muttered to himself. "At least give me a chance... let me pay it back!"

Chu Hengkong suddenly roared, pounding his fist on the dashboard with the rudeness of a common thug. He'd had enough. He hadn't become a skilled craftsman and learned the Dragon Township Fist to lament his fate at a time like this. His skills were meant to turn the tide!
There is still a way, there is one last way!
Chu Hengkong stood up against the wind, staring through the insurmountable energy turbulence at the giant tree in the city center, and at the indistinct city beneath it. The gale whipped against his body, feeling as if countless invisible blades were piercing through him. The talisman was held between his fingers, the incantations on the paper as red as blood.

Blood-Burning Qi-Controlling Talisman. The final method Ji Qiufeng entrusted to him, allowing martial artists to briefly control their "intention and qi" at the cost of burning their blood!
Chu Hengkong slapped the talisman onto his body, and the out-of-control aircraft spun wildly. He tensed all his muscles, using the aircraft as a springboard to leap out, plunging alone into the turbulent air currents high in the sky! Like an eagle soaring through the heavens! Leaping towards the final battlefield that would determine fate, thousands of meters below!
A storm. Clouds. A deafening roar. Vision rapidly turning red. Eardrums vibrating violently. His brain felt like it had been struck by a blunt object, confused and empty. He smashed through the gray clouds, his body burning from the heat of high-speed friction and the streaks of fire shooting from the sky. But he could still hold on; the weakness from blood loss continued to grow, and a different kind of "qi," distinct from blood, was circulating within him.

It's as if another self is roaring within, burning with unwavering will as fuel. That will is the spirit of a martial artist. As long as the martial artist lives, that spirit will not dissipate!
The muscles in his back signaled an approaching strong wind. Chu Hengkong unfurled his hang glider, using the wind to propel himself forward at a great speed. The hang glider shattered the moment it unfurled. His vision was filled with blood red. His limbs felt frozen. He continued to tense all his muscles, unable to use his protective shield. He could see almost nothing, only the blurry outline of a city.

The heat lay ahead. He had to keep going. The sails were gone. Chu Hengkong took off his coat, the symbol that had accompanied him since his days as an assassin, and unfurled it like a sail! Using the fleeting wind, he propelled himself forward, approaching the sky above his destination. He focused his energy in his eyes, forcing them open. He saw a burning silhouette, a familiar figure. A demon, a fireball, a dying girl, light gleaming between sword and shield—

He flung out his tentacles, stretching his arms as far as he could. His tentacles transformed into silver lightning, engulfing Ji Huaisu and lifting him into the air!

Two explosions occurred simultaneously on the ground, and the airflow slammed into Chu Hengkong like an invisible wall. He held Ji Huaisu tightly as he fell to the ground, bounced up due to the recoil, and then fell one after another like a stone skipping across water.

Each landing created a vortex-like trail, and Chu Hengkong used the Dragon Township Fist technique to deflect the force, finally coming to a stop in the lobby of the headquarters building. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, almost collapsing into the rubble. Ji Huaisu lay in his arms, her eyes glazed over as if in a dream.

"...Ah Kong?"

"Apologize...what...?" Chu Hengkong mumbled, "Even if I die...I'll die laughing...!"

Kanin stood at the headquarters gate, staring blankly at them. A crater-like wound ripped across his upper body, so deep that his heart, scorched by flames, was visible. It was a wound inflicted by "Dust Breaker," meant to be the last mark Ji Huaisu would ever bear. But Ji Huaisu had been rescued by tentacles. By tentacles…?
How can there be tentacles?

(Kanin! Pursue them immediately!) Bessen roared in his mind, (Damn it, I didn't even remember... she's a Discipline Knight! We can't let her live!!) Chu Hengkong, Ji Huaisu, Kanin. None of them could act normally at the moment. Kanin tried his best to sort out his thoughts and recover from the damage of Dust Break. Because he was still not fully awake, he asked a very low-level question.

"How will you be here?"

Chu Hengkong smiled. A very smug smile. Kanin used flames to heal his wounds. He pointed to the sky.

“Don’t do that, assassin.” He chuckled. “Did you jump from the sky?”

“Yes.” Chu Hengkong touched the pocket of his partner’s clothes containing the pills, and Ji Huaisu moved aside.

"Haha, hahaha, hahahahaha..."

Kanin couldn't help but chuckle, his laughter broken and intermittent. He covered his face with his hands and laughed a few times. Suddenly, he flung his hands away and roared without any decorum, "Are you out of your mind, Chu Hengkong?!"

"Not happy?" Chu Hengkong laughed fiercely. "Come and kill me if you dare, you bastard!!"

Kanin swung his arm, unleashing a cylindrical flame cannon that shoved the two men in the rubble towards each other, using the recoil to dodge to the left and right. The brief exchange of words had given them enough time to catch their breath; they leaped from the wall, launching an attack from both directions!

"I just used my ultimate, and now my damage output is too low!" "I can hold on for another two minutes." "Watch out for his speed." "We'll split the pills." "I'm playing support this time..."

"I'll take the main attack!"

Ji Huaisu ducked to dodge a rocket, swallowed half of the Chang Le Dan, and tossed the other half into Chu Hengkong's mouth. Chu Hengkong swallowed the pill and raised his sword to parry the claw attack. Kanin's wings flashed, and he rapidly shifted his position to appear behind Chu Hengkong. However, his next attack only struck an afterimage; Chu Hengkong dodged the sneak attack by shifting his feet.

After using the Blood Burning Rune, his speed was comparable to that of Kanin, who had fused with the demon!

The two exchanged blows several times in an instant. Chu Hengkong, using his rock-blade and superb swordsmanship, parried each attack. With the flowing protective energy and half a Chang Le Pill, the burning flames of ambition could not decisively interfere with him. He seized an opportunity and launched a series of kicks, delivering a painful blow to the elemental body with his energy. Kanin was struck and retreated, shooting blue flames from his eyes in retaliation, which was blocked by a light shield that appeared out of thin air. Ji Huaisu followed closely behind, providing support with a spherical light shield. Her shadow blade shrank to the size of a regular short sword, and she used the shadow blade to stab at Kanin's shadow.

Even Kanin, in his current state, would be harmed if struck by the Shadow Blade. Kanin, wary of harming the enemy, distanced himself, and with a flap of his wings, dozens of feathers shot towards Ji Huaisu, who was about to unleash her sword. A flash of silver light, and Ji Huaisu vanished. Chu Hengkong used his tentacles to rescue his partner, then carried her forward on his back.

Kanin's gaze flickered several times, and six cyan rings appeared on the ground, unleashing six consecutive cylindrical attacks of cyan fire. "You can't withstand this," Ji Huaisu warned. Chu Hengkong immediately changed his strategy, leaping to dodge, but his dodge routes were predictable due to the limitations imposed by the cyan fire. Kanin seized the opportunity to create a longbow from cyan flames, simultaneously nocking and firing several flaming arrows.

"Fire Arrows and Poisonous Rain".

The bowstring trembled, the sound of arrows piercing the air incessant as flaming arrows shot towards the inescapable blind spot. "I'll handle this!" Ji Huaisu patted her partner's shoulder, and Chu Hengkong charged forward recklessly. Ji Huaisu set up a light shield in front to block four arrows, but the fifth and sixth arrows came from behind, which she cleaved into pieces with her shadow blade. However, the flaming arrows exploded into a red poisonous mist, temporarily blinding the two trapped within.

"Three meters to the left." Chu Hengkong used his hearing to report the location, while Ji Huaisu swung his sword to cut off the fireballs that were being launched from the shadows. "Five steps forward, then turn left." Ji Huaisu used his light shield to slightly illuminate the path ahead, reminding his partner to adjust their direction. The two constantly reminded each other, cooperating closely as they had on their first mission. A few breaths later, they burst out of the poisonous fog, and Kanin used this time to launch a new offensive. Boiling blue flames appeared between his claws, and from the flames flew a flock of cawing blue fire crows!

The crows moved with the speed of stars, carrying deadly poison and fire with tremendous force. Chu Hengkong threw water bombs at maximum speed, knocking down crows and clearing a path for one person through the flock. However, more crows surrounded him. He could see nothing but countless burning feathers. The crows' beaks and claws pierced his already tattered light armor, tearing more than a dozen scorched, bloody holes in his body.

But Ji Huaisu was still there. The knight leaped into the fleeting path, raising his shortened shadow blade high in both hands. Seeing that the distance was too close to dodge, Kanin created a wall of fire to defend against the shadow blade's attack. But Ji Huaisu did not strike down; instead, she hurled the shadow blade like a dart, striking Kanin's shadow, which had momentarily appeared due to the wall of fire.

"on!"

The shadow blade struck, and Kanin froze. Chu Hengkong, who was in the crow flock, had already sheathed his sword. He took a step forward and rushed out of the crow flock, using his senses to determine his location, and unleashed an invincible vertical slash.

The surging power within the rock blade erupted, severing Kanin's right hand and one of his wings!
(End of this chapter)