Confrontation

“Grandpa!”

Li Peijun shouted toward the distance.

Li Jiao’s eyes were fixed on Xu Mu. He had been wondering what was going on.

His granddaughter had clearly entered as well, so why hadn’t he seen her?

He had already roughly guessed the truth: his granddaughter had become a hostage.

Fu Jinyu had originally been prepared to make a move, but when he saw Xu Mu appear, he stopped.

“Li Jiao, your genius granddaughter is in my hands now. If you want her to stay alive, then do as you’re told.”

Xu Mu threw Li Peijun, who had been slung over his shoulder, onto the desert sand. He then drew his longsword and placed it against her neck.

Li Jiao took a deep breath and said coldly, “Child, Grandpa is sorry. Things have already reached this point. I can’t give up. If I die, you won’t fare any better.”

Li Peijun’s eyes dimmed when she heard this.

Although she understood her grandfather’s decision, the fact that he had made it without the slightest hesitation still caused her heart to ache.

Li Jiao clenched his fists tightly. “What are you waiting for? Kill them! As long as I become the leader of the Second Tribe, I’ll definitely find a way to obtain the ancient ruins!”

Batu grinned. “Then let’s fight! Old Miao, bring it on!”

Boom!

Power erupted from Batu’s body. Black centipedes crawled across nearly every inch of him, forming a thick layer of armor.

Whoosh!

He transformed into a streak of black light and charged toward Miao Wentian.

Seeing this, Miao Wentian released his own power and met him head-on.

Li Chenshuang raised her hand and controlled the two corpses, sending them toward Li Jiao.

“Everyone, lend me a hand!”

When Li Jiao saw the two corpses charging at him, he immediately flew into the sky.

He was only at the peak of the second stage. There was no way he could stand against these two corpses.

Two of the black-robed men likewise released their power and charged toward the corpses.

As their power erupted, their true cultivation levels were revealed.

Xu Mu raised an eyebrow. They were only second-stage experts, and not even at the peak.

That made him rather curious.

These two corpses could stand toe-to-toe with fifth-stage experts. Why had Li Jiao found only two second-stage fighters? Where did their confidence come from?

Boom!

The yellow sand surged like enormous waves as the four sides collided.

The bodies of the two black-robed men trembled violently, but they gritted their teeth and continued pressing toward the corpses.

Terrifying white energy shattered their black robes, and blood began to pour from their noses.

Even so, they endured the attacks. When they drew within two meters of the corpses, they crushed a spherical object that looked like a grenade.

Bang! Bang!

Two explosions rang out almost simultaneously, and an intensely foul stench spread in every direction.

Sticky green liquid covered nearly the entire bodies of the two men.

However, the corpses were protected by the qi they had released, so they were not contaminated.

Even so, the corpses suddenly stopped moving and retreated.

“Hahaha!”

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the two men launched a fierce assault on the corpses.

As they engaged in close combat, the viscous green substance also smeared onto the corpses.

In an instant, the two corpses froze. Then, with a thud, they collapsed onto the ground.

Whoosh!

At that moment, a horizontal sword aura more than ten meters long swept toward the two men.

They quickly retreated when they saw it, narrowly avoiding the sword aura.

At the same time, Xu Mu appeared beside them. Carrying one corpse in each hand, he retreated to Li Chenshuang’s side.

“Xu Mu! What happened?”

Li Chenshuang asked in shock. The gu she had been controlling had suddenly severed its connection with her.

“An eighth-grade heavenly treasure, the Purifying Gu Flower. And that’s not all…”

Xu Mu lowered his head and looked at the sticky green substance covering the corpses. “It looks like they added some synthesized toxins as well.”

“The Purifying Gu Flower? I’ve only heard of it before. This is the first time I’ve actually seen one.”

Li Chenshuang clenched her fists tightly.

As a member of the Jiuli Tribe who practiced gu techniques, she had known about the Purifying Gu Flower since childhood. Even some Sacred Gus instinctively feared its scent.

What was more, the gu she currently controlled was not a Sacred Gu, but her own Immortal Gu—the Parasitic Gu.

Naturally, it feared the Purifying Gu Flower even more.

“This isn’t an ordinary Purifying Gu Flower. It was enhanced with technology from the Eternal Life Research Institute.”

The last black-robed man walked forward a few steps. “Once it sticks to the body, it corrodes the flesh and penetrates deep into the body. It won’t dissipate for several hours.”

“That voice… Are you Miao Jiuqiang?”

Li Chenshuang looked at the last black-robed man and asked in a low voice.

“You have pretty good ears. I suppose I’ve spent too much time around you.”

The last black-robed man removed his hood, revealing an old man with short silver hair.

He had a hooked nose and a somewhat plump face, with sagging flesh hanging from his cheeks.

“Miao Jiuqiang! This is a matter concerning our Second Tribe. Since when does the Third Tribe have the right to interfere?”

Li Chenshuang gave a cold snort.

Xu Mu quickly scanned the people before him with his Divine Eye.

So this Miao Jiuqiang was the leader of the Third Tribe—the father of Miao Qing and the man of Chi Yunzhi, whom they had encountered earlier.

As for the other two, they were both members of the Eternal Life Research Institute.

“This comes down to our relationship,” Miao Jiuqiang said calmly. “Patriarch Chi Ting is my benefactor, and you provoked him.”

“Now, the two corpses you’re so proud of are useless.”

“Hahaha! Li Chenshuang, what other tricks do you have? Go ahead and use them all!”

Li Jiao laughed wildly as well.

What he feared most were those two corpses. Once they were rendered useless, Li Chenshuang was nothing more than trash at the first level of the World-Breaking Realm.

He, on the other hand, was at the peak of the second level of the World-Breaking Realm, and he had Miao Jiuqiang, a peak third-level expert, on his side.

The two of them alone were enough to deal with everyone present.

Not to mention the two second-level experts from the Eternal Life Research Institute.

“Xu Mu! Patriarch Chi Ting personally ordered your death. Your head should be worth quite a few treasures.”

Miao Jiuqiang pointed at Xu Mu and laughed.

“Your patriarch couldn’t deal with me. What makes you think you’re anything special?”

Xu Mu shrugged indifferently.

“Can we fight now?”

Fu Jinyu turned to Xu Mu and asked.

“We can.”

Xu Mu nodded with a smile.

Whoosh!

Fu Jinyu leaped into the air and charged toward Miao Jiuqiang. “I’ll take this one!”

“Foolish ant. Do you think our Jiuli Tribe is like those weak races?”

Miao Jiuqiang raised a hand. “Demonic Guardian!”

Golden light enveloped his body, transforming into armor.

Boom!

Fu Jinyu’s attack did not slow in the slightest. He swung his sword down with all his strength.

Miao Jiuqiang raised his fist and slammed it against the blade.

The yellow sand swept up once again, spreading in every direction.

Chen Xuan tightened his grip on his woodcutter’s knife, but before he could make a move, another second-level expert from the Eternal Life Research Institute had already charged at him.

As for Li Jiao, he let out several loud laughs and headed straight for Li Chenshuang.

The last second-level expert from the Eternal Life Research Institute turned his gaze toward Xu Mu.

Swish!

He transformed into a streak of light and charged at Xu Mu.

Xu Mu gripped his black longsword and met the attack head-on. As their weapons clashed, he asked, “You’re from the Eternal Life Research Institute, aren’t you? We may have a lot to talk about.”