Chapter 425: Ch-425: Ambush
"Black Church!" Mui Ling shouted, and everyone’s face turned pale in fear when they recognized the newcomers in black robes with skeleton symbols on their backs.
’Shit, all of us are out of spiritual energy, and our recovery pills are finished too,’ the masked man thought, clenching his fists. They were all completely worn out from the fight with the giants, having emptied their spiritual reserves and used every last healing and recovery pill. Not to mention Wang Ming, whose battle against those massive black behemoths had been far more dangerous.
’Huh? Why isn’t he panicked?’ the masked man glanced at Wang Ming. Unlike the others, who were filled with fear and wariness, Wang Ming’s face held no trace of panic. He simply looked at the newcomers with cold indifference.
"Damn, I thought all of them died," Wu Jing muttered, her face turning ugly as she met the cold gazes of the Black Church members. Their eyes were fixed especially on her and Wang Ming. She could understand why Wang Ming would be targeted, but why her? When she had seen the corpses of Black Church members before, she had assumed all those who entered had been killed by the giants and titans. She had never expected they had been hiding all along, waiting to ambush them.
"Hey, does anyone have any more healing pills?" Jiang Yao whispered, swallowing a mouthful of saliva as she stared at the Black Church members. She was so exhausted that she doubted she could even block a single attack.
"Why are you so tense? Are they more dangerous than the titans you just saw?" Wang Ming asked Min Li beside him. She blinked in surprise, but when she thought about it, she realized he was right. Her tension eased slightly, her shoulders visibly relaxing.
---
A Few Minutes Ago
The Black Church members were completely silent, the only sounds being their heavy breathing and the occasional swallow. Sweat drenched their backs as they stared ahead.
They had seen Wang Ming vanish suddenly, and then watched in horror as the first behemoth lost its arms and legs, collapsed to the ground, and had its body destroyed. The most terrifying part was that they couldn’t even detect the attack. Their fear only deepened when they saw the corpse turn completely to dust.
’What kind of technique is that? And he’s already at the later stage of the Pure Core Realm?’ The squad leader grimaced, feeling an ominous chill. Everything about Wang Ming seemed strange and dangerous.
His heart shuddered even more when all the titans that had charged toward the other group were also killed the same way—reduced to dust by invisible attacks.
"Squad Leader, do we really still need to ambush them?" one of the members whispered nervously, eyeing the figure in the middle with a grim look.
"Yes. It shouldn’t be a problem," the squad leader replied coldly. "They’re all drained right now, and judging by the situation, they must have already used up all their recovery pills." He glared at the others, silencing their doubts.
The squad leader then walked forward calmly, and the others followed, finally revealing themselves to the exhausted group.
’Good. Looks like they don’t have any recovery pills left... but...’ the squad leader thought, sighing in relief—until his heart skipped a beat. His eyes fell on the princess, their planned bargaining chip if they failed to escape. But then he froze when he noticed Wang Ming looking at them calmly, his indifferent gaze piercing straight through them.
"You—what are you people doing here? No, wait, how the hell did you even access this place?" Mui Ling demanded, gritting her teeth as she glared at the new arrivals with pure hatred. The Black Church had once attacked her sect for treasures, and many disciples and elders who were like family to her had died in that assault. Even if she couldn’t win now, she had already resolved to die fighting.
"Oh, you want to know?" The squad leader smirked arrogantly and pointed at Wu Jing. "It’s because of her that we got into this place."
Wu Jing’s eyes widened in shock. "What! Rubbish! Don’t slander me! How could I possibly help you?" she shouted angrily as the others turned to stare at her in disbelief. Her teeth clenched when she realized what he was doing—trying to make her look suspicious and sow discord among them.
"I never said you directly helped us," the squad leader replied calmly. "Rather, you did so indirectly."
"Indirectly?" Wu Jing frowned, her heart sinking.
"Yes," the squad leader continued with a cold smile. "We had already snuck into the royal palace and were preparing to sacrifice a few of our own to create a distraction. But who would have guessed that the palace’s security would be so low that day? Almost everyone had been called to guard the entrance of the secret realm—because you were going in. That made it easy for us to slip inside. After that, we hid near the entrance using a powerful artifact, killed the guards stationed there, and entered this place."
"You... Damn you bastards!" Wu Jing’s body trembled with rage as her teeth ground together. "You actually dared to target the royal palace!" she shouted, glaring daggers at them.
"Alright, now, princess—come with us. We need a bargaining chip in case we get caught. If you come, we’ll spare everyone else," the squad leader said confidently, staring at Wu Jing. He expected everyone to react in anger, but instead they all gave him strange looks while glancing toward Wang Ming. The odd expressions made his heart skip a beat.
"!!!!"
He hurriedly turned to look at his subordinates—only to see a pile of dust where they had been. Cold sweat drenched his back as he slowly looked back at Wang Ming.
"You... aren’t you out of spiritual energy?" he asked, trying to stay calm while discreetly summoning a hidden orb into his hand.
"True. But I recovered," Wang Ming replied, his tone casual. He had secretly used his supreme regeneration—which he had kept hidden until now—along with a few pills. "Now, come here, and let’s have a cha—"
Before Wang Ming could finish, the man’s body suddenly shone with white light and vanished from the spot.
"System, where did he go?" Wang Ming asked, his eyes narrowing.
[System Message: He most likely advanced to the next round of the trial. The system can still sense his presence nearby.]
Wang Ming raised an eyebrow at the explanation.
[2nd Trial has been completed]