Vermilion Bird

Pojun's hand blade, wrapped in dark red magical energy, tore through the air. The edge of the blade was less than three inches from the back of Long Ao's neck.

Time was forcibly stretched out at this moment.

Deep in Long Ao's chaotic mind, that gentle voice sounded again, devoid of any emotion, merely stating an established fact.

"You have no choice."

The moment the voice faded, all sounds in the entire abandoned industrial zone vanished.

The wind stopped, the flickering of the distant neon lights slowed by a beat, and the air solidified into an invisible piece of amber.

Pojun's hand blade simply stopped in mid-air.

The muscles all over his body trembled as he tried to carry on with the strike, but an irresistible force completely imprisoned his arm, his body, and the space around him.

In the face of this power, his Tier Seven strength was like a stream crashing into a dam, unable to stir up even the slightest ripple.

The sneer on Qisha's face also froze. The spiritual force field he had released was directly crushed by a much grander existence, and the backlash of pressure sent a sharp pain through his sea of consciousness.

What happened?

Chen Guan had originally been prepared to mobilize Baal's power, and that familiar burning sensation was already brewing at his fingertips, but this sudden turn of events made him stop all his movements.

He looked toward the center of the battlefield.

There was nothing there.

The next second, a figure appeared there.

Without warning, he merely took a step forward from the top of a building a thousand meters away, and when he landed, he was already standing in front of Pojun and Qisha.

The newcomer was wearing a well-tailored suit and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. It was none other than Lin Jiu.

He pushed the glasses up the bridge of his nose, the lenses reflecting the cold lights of the industrial zone.

He looked at the two dumbfounded Tier Seven protectors, wearing a professional smile on his face.

"You two, bullying children is not a good habit."

[??? Teleportation?]

[Lin Jiu? Was that his voice just now?]

[Holy crap, this style, this entrance, a big shot, definitely a big shot!]

[Who cares who he is, as long as he's cool. This aura is even better than Greedy Wolf's fireworks.]

[Why still call him Lin Jiu? Isn't it obvious at a glance that he's White Tiger? When he appeared in the first act, they put a white tiger right in front of our eyes. It was a clear hint.]

Chen Guan looked at the refreshing bullet comments in his field of vision, his mind calculating rapidly.

Lin Jiu, the Origin Return Group, White Tiger.

It was actually him? He should have noticed earlier.

What was he here for? To protect Long Ao?

Also, the voice mentioned in the bullet comments... but he hadn't heard White Tiger's voice just now.

Pojun's horror lasted only for a moment before it was replaced by endless fury. As a protector of the Flesh Embrace and a Tier Seven powerhouse, when had he ever suffered such humiliation?

"Playing tricks!"

He shouted explosively, and his imprisoned power broke free instantly. His other intact fist gathered all the magical energy in his body and smashed toward Lin Jiu's face.

Qisha also struck at the same time. His spiritual power transformed into dozens of pitch-black spikes, piercing toward Lin Jiu's temples from all directions.

The two cooperated perfectly, one physical and one spiritual. It was the ultimate killing move that made them famous.

Facing this joint attack that was enough to instantly kill anyone of the same tier, Lin Jiu didn't even turn his head.

He merely raised his right hand and extended an index finger.

His fingertip lightly tapped on the front of Pojun's incoming fist.

That punch, powerful enough to shatter mountains, vanished.

The flames in Pojun's eyes extinguished, leaving only cold fear.

At the same time, those spiritual spikes aimed at White Tiger crumbled inch by inch a foot away from his body, dissipating into the air.

"Too weak."

White Tiger commented softly, as if critiquing an unappetizing dish. If it weren't to show off his strength, these people wouldn't have even had the chance to break free and attack.

He withdrew his finger, looking at the terrified duo. The smile on his face remained unchanged, but the words he spoke carried an unquestionable power of rules.

"Freeze."

Just one word.

Pojun and Qisha's bodies were instantly bound by invisible chains. The two maintained their attacking postures, unable to move a muscle.

They became two statues in this ruin of steel.

"My name is White Tiger. Remember it."

White Tiger walked up to them, admiring the expressions of fear on their faces from up close. "The next time we meet will be the day you die."

After saying that, he snapped his fingers.

Snap.

The invisible chains disappeared.

Regaining their freedom, Pojun and Qisha didn't hesitate for a second, nor did they dare to utter a single harsh word. The two turned into two black shadows and fled this nightmare place that they would never forget for the rest of their lives at the fastest speed of their lives, without looking back.

A moment later, they reappeared in the same spot, both looking completely bewildered.

White Tiger looked regretful. "It seems you are dead set on having a showdown with me. Oh well, this is our second meeting."

Before the two could beg for mercy, another snap of his fingers, and they were instantly reduced to ashes.

He walked over to Long Ao, who was kneeling on one knee.

The power of the dragon blood within Long Ao was still violently clashing. Golden auras burned his internal organs, and his vitality was draining at a visible rate.

White Tiger reached out and gently pressed his hand on top of Long Ao's head.

A gentle energy slowly flowed into Long Ao's body.

That violent dragon blood power became as docile as a kitten in the face of this energy.

It was soothed, untangled, and then guided to merge into Long Ao's limbs and bones, repairing his body that was on the verge of collapse.

The ruptured wounds on Long Ao's body stopped bleeding, and the flickering golden light stabilized, eventually retracting beneath the surface of his skin.

His breathing steadied. Although he was still weak, his life was no longer in danger.

"Welcome to the team, Vermilion Bird."

White Tiger's voice echoed in his mind.

Long Ao raised his head and looked at him in confusion.

[Vermilion Bird? What's that? A codename?]

[Definitely. Since there's White Tiger, it's obviously the Four Holy Beasts.]

[Why do I feel like Brother Guan knows about this? He's been way too calm from beginning to end.]

[The truth is out. This was a call for backup. Brother Guan had everything planned out all along. Detonating Greedy Wolf was part of the plan, getting chased was part of the plan, and the goal was to get White Tiger to show up and give Brother Ao a power-up...]

Looking at the analysis in the bullet comments, Chen Guan almost lost his composure.

Calling for backup? The one I called was a demon, it was Baal. Who knew White Tiger would pop out halfway?

However, this was fine too. It saved him a huge amount of popularity points that he would have spent on healing medicine.

He looked at White Tiger, and the other party's gaze happened to fall on him as well.

There was a hint of a smile in those eyes behind the gold-rimmed glasses.

"You recognize me, right, silly boy."

A voice echoed only in his mind. Then, White Tiger didn't expose Chen Guan's identity. Instead, he spoke to him and Long Ao in an undeniable tone, "I'll clean up this mess. You two should disappear."

As his voice faded, his figure began to blur, and soon not a single trace of him could be found.

It was as if he had never appeared.

Only Chen Guan and Long Ao were left at the scene.