Too bad, looks like I won.

The smoke and dust had yet to settle, and the air was thick with the sickening stench of charred flesh that rushed straight to the crown of the head.

"Cough, cough... cough, cough, cough..."

A half-collapsed pile of rubble shifted.

Several blistering hot rocks were pushed aside, and a hand covered in burn blisters reached out.

Immediately after, Old Ghost Li's usually sinister and mean face was revealed.

Only now, his face was as black as the bottom of a pot. His beard and eyebrows had been singed clean off, and his left ear was missing, steadily dripping bloody water.

"What... what kind of monster is this..."

Old Ghost Li gasped violently, every breath feeling like a knife cutting through his windpipe.

Trembling, he pulled out a bronze heart-protecting mirror from his chest, which had already cracked into eight pieces. His face twitched with intense heartache.

This was his life-saving trump card that he had risked half his life to acquire in an ancient cultivator's cave dwelling years ago.

Just now when that flaming meteor smashed down, if it weren't for this mirror...

Old Ghost Li shuddered with lingering dread.

An attack of that magnitude.

He must have used some mutually destructive forbidden art, sacrificing himself to unleash such a strike.

Old Ghost Li spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva and struggled to crawl out of the rubble.

If he didn't run now, when would he?

He looked around.

Besides him, four or five other people gradually crawled out of the ruins.

Missing arms and legs was the standard for them; it was a ghastly sight.

The few of them exchanged glances. No one spoke, but the meaning in their eyes was clear: retreat!

This muddy water was too deep; it wasn't something small fry like them could wade through.

Old Ghost Li forcefully drew upon a breath of spiritual energy. Ignoring the intense pain all over his body, he readied himself to bolt toward the mining area's exit.

As long as he got out of the Great Wasteland and lived incognito for a few decades, he could still live comfortably.

However.

Just as he took no more than two steps.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

A rhythmic set of footsteps suddenly rang out across the dead silent ruins.

The sound wasn't loud, even a bit unsteady. It sounded like the person walking was very tired and their legs weren't very agile.

But when this sound fell into Old Ghost Li's ears.

The foot he had stepped out with froze stiffly in mid-air. His neck, as if rusted, slowly and mechanically turned his head around.

He saw within the billowing thick smoke.

A gaunt figure, carrying a spear that was still dripping blood, slowly and leisurely walked out.

Those scarlet eyes shone terrifyingly bright in the dust.

"Everyone."

"Since you're already here."

Old Ghost Li only felt a chill shoot up his tailbone straight to the crown of his head, his scalp ready to explode.

Was this a man or a ghost?!

Having suffered such heavy injuries and unleashed such a massive ultimate move, he could actually still stand and talk?!

"Run!!!"

Someone shouted.

The few survivors were like cats whose tails had been stepped on, their fur instantly standing on end. Wishing they had grown two extra legs, they fled madly in all directions.

At this time, who cared about companions? Every man for himself!

Su Ji's figure vanished out of thin air.

It wasn't the kind of afterimage left by extreme speed, but a true disappearance out of thin air, as if he had blended into the surrounding winds that had yet to dissipate.

The wind had not yet stopped.

Then he was the wind.

The next second.

The person running the fastest only felt a chill on his neck.

He was still charging forward, but his body bizarrely became lighter.

Immediately after, he saw a familiar headless corpse, spraying blood like a fountain, yet still sprinting forward under the force of momentum.

Is that... me?

Just as this thought popped up, his consciousness completely plunged into darkness.

"Thump."

The human head fell to the ground, rolling far away like a watermelon.

"One."

Su Ji's voice drifted erratically in the wind.

"Don't kill me! I was forced! I..."

In another direction, a mine overseer was just about to beg for mercy.

"SquELCH!"

The Fallen Dragon Spear pierced through his back and out his chest, hoisting his entire body into mid-air.

Su Ji flicked his wrist.

The man was directly torn in half.

"Two."

It was too fast.

And too ruthless.

This kind of slaughter had no aesthetic value to speak of; it was purely to silence them, purely to vent.

Old Ghost Li was going crazy.

He threw talismans behind him as he ran.

But those talismans hitting the back were like clay oxen entering the sea, not even making a splash.

That fiend was like a maggot in his bones; no matter how he ran, that oppressive sense of death remained firmly glued to his back.

In just the span of a few breaths.

Those few screams were extinguished one after another.

In these massive ruins, besides that monster-like Zhao Teng, only Old Ghost Li was left alive.

"Since you're also Old Li, why are you so ignorant?"

"Back on the Reception Terrace, you were quite majestic."

Old Ghost Li's legs gave out, and he face-planted onto the ground, eating dirt.

He stopped running, rolled over to his knees, and kowtowed so hard it made loud thuds, instantly busting his forehead open.

"Lord... Lord Su! Grandpa Su!"

"Your magnanimity is great, please forgive this lowly one's mistakes! Treat me like a fart and let me go!"

"Back then, the Zhao family forced me! I had no choice!"

"And... and we can be considered to have some fate!"

"Think about it, if I hadn't assigned you to this third mining area back then, how could you have encountered such a serendipity?"

"I... I can be considered your guide!"

To survive, this old thing was going all out; he could even say such shameless words.

Su Ji stopped his footsteps.

Leaning on his spear, he looked down from above at this old thing begging for mercy like a dog wagging its tail.

"Guide?"

Su Ji seemed to seriously ponder the meaning of this word.

"Hmm... makes some sense."

Old Ghost Li felt a surge of joy in his heart, thinking there was hope, and hurriedly kowtowed. "Yes, yes, yes! This lowly one is willing to work like a horse or an ox for you in the future. I'm familiar with this Great Wasteland, I know all the shortcuts inside out! Keeping me is useful! Truly useful!"

Su Ji smiled.

Holding the Fallen Dragon Spear, he gently patted Old Ghost Li's half-bald skull.

As if patting an obedient old dog.

"Since you are a guide."

"Then I'll trouble you..."

"To first go to the Yellow Springs Road, and scout the way for your master."

"Crack."

The joy on Old Ghost Li's face froze at the corners of his mouth.

His skull shattered.

Having done all this.

Su Ji finally turned around, dragging his long spear, and walked toward the charcoal-like figure still lying in the crater.

The tip of the spear scraped against the rocks, making a piercing screech.

"It's finally over."

"What a pity, it seems I won."