Yan Qing was half-kneeling on the ground, exhaling heavy and hot breaths, his right hand leaning on the already extinguished Bingzi Pepper Forest, and his left hand supporting a broken Seven-Star Sword.

The leather armor on his shoulder was cut open, revealing a deep wound that reached the bone, with blood and sweat soaking the shirt underneath.

This was probably the most severe injury he had suffered since birth, but it wouldn’t be the last. Surprisingly, Yan Qing wasn’t overly afraid, and he didn’t even feel much pain. The vigorous Qi Blood of the Third-Turn Messenger had completely transformed him into an Iron-blooded Warrior... Unconsciously, he had adapted to this world and carved out a place for himself. 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Although Yan Qing tried his best to avoid it, he had long accepted that he would eventually face perilous battles and fall into desperate situations where he must fight for his life. However, as a newbie’s first teaching battle, the opponents he encountered were of an unexpectedly high level: one Third-Grade Silver Badge Chief Constable and three Second-Grade Copper Seal Chief Constables.

In the Secret Realm, these Demon fiends from the Divine Marquis Mansion would probably require a Third-Turn Messenger leading an elite team to subdue them, yet he was all alone, with time being very pressing.

Yan Qing took out the Blood Replenishing Pill, not bothering to count how many, and directly stuffed them into his mask to swallow.

"Yellow Dog, have you finished?" Pharmacist’s Wish called out from the other side, his voice wheezing and frail.

"Not yet, I’m searching for treasures among these corpses," Yan Qing responded irritably, "Or should I be waiting for you?"

Before Yan Qing lay the corpses of the constables from the Divine Marquis Mansion.

Aside from the Copper Seal Constable who died early on, the other three constables died almost simultaneously in a short period, so their bodies piled together.

After discerning the Divine Marquis Mansion constables possessed the characteristic of being ’stronger the more of their comrades die’, Yan Qing quickly devised the correct strategy: kill them simultaneously!

The time gap from the death of the first Copper Seal Constable to when the others received the enhancement was very apparent, roughly around five seconds. This meant that if Yan Qing wanted to prevent them from uttering phrases like ’I will uphold my comrades’ will’ and entering a berserk state, he had to eliminate all the Divine Marquis Mansion constables within five seconds, giving them no time for last words, flashbacks, or slogans.

In games, this is not difficult to achieve; controlling health and then killing them simultaneously is a common mechanism, but in reality, there is a huge technical problem: he couldn’t see the demon’s health bar.

How to control health without seeing health bars?

This problem might be very difficult for others, but coincidentally, Yan Qing is a single-player Brahma, and among his favorite games was one where you can’t see the monster’s health bar... "Monster Hunter"! Although the Demon fiends from the Divine Marquis Mansion were not monsters, the principle was the same. Yan Qing already had the experience of killing a Copper Seal Constable, and the constables bore clear scars on their bodies, allowing Yan Qing to roughly estimate their health from their injuries!

However, a plan is a plan, and practice is practice. Controlling health means Yan Qing must perpetually endure the attacks of three enemies. Even if he could kill the Copper Seal Constable, he couldn’t act. Yet, the Silver Badge Chief Constable’s health exceeded Yan Qing’s expectations. Until the Bingzi Pepper Forest Heaven-Covering time expired, he still hadn’t driven the Silver Badge Chief Constable to the brink of death, forcing him to take out the Seven-Star Sword to increase attack efficiency.

Whether intentional or accidental, when Yan Qing attacked the Silver Badge Chief Constable, a Copper Seal Constable suddenly charged at him, getting killed by Yan Qing.

He immediately sensed trouble, and indeed, the dead Copper Seal Constable began uttering last words. Once the last words ended, he would face two super-enhanced enemies.

Now he had two choices,

One was to kill the other injured Copper Seal Constable and then escape to regroup with Pharmacist’s Wish;

The other was to endure the onslaught of the two constables and focus all his might on killing the Silver Badge Chief Constable.

Opting for the former, he would definitely face the Third Transformation Demon King Level Silver Badge Chief Constable, but with only one opponent, he had ways to maneuver and delay; opting for the latter, not to mention whether he could defeat the Silver Badge Chief Constable in five seconds, but during these five seconds, he must withstand the constables’ attack, putting his life on the line.

Looking back now, Yan Qing himself found it hard to believe.

He actually chose the perilous path without any hesitation. Even when the Mountain Heart-Protecting Mirror was shattered, he didn’t run, nor did he feel a trace of fear when his shoulder was cut. With reddened eyes, he first emptied the Silver Badge Chief Constable’s health and then resolved the Copper Seal Constable with one strike.

If the Silver Badge Chief Constable had a little more health, or if Yan Qing hesitated a little more, two difficult-to-handle demons might have appeared, and he himself could have suffered severe injuries, possibly drooling even after being healed... But the result was, Yan Qing won. The victory was by luck and barely, but it was still a win.

Perhaps it was due to unwillingness? Clearly, he had found the right strategy, clearly, he had done his best, and clearly, he was close to achieving perfection. It was like playing a soul-type game when you accidentally have only a sliver of health left, but the boss also has little health. Would anyone surrender and start over instead of betting on not making any mistakes and clearing the stage?

Actually, this kind of symptom often occurred when Yan Qing was playing games. Nicely put, it’s called ’flow’; crudely put, it’s called ’getting carried away.’ The feature is being obsessively focused on victory regardless of anything else.

He just didn’t expect that it could also be triggered in real combat. Yan Qing secretly reflected; since he could get carried away during a fight, he decided he should protect Pharmacist’s Wish in front of him in future battles.

In the game, Pharmacist’s Wish looks just like a shield class suitable for enduring hardships, so let her take more hits.

On the other side, Pharmacist’s Wish also caught her breath.

She looked up at Chu Luoyan, who was pinned to the wall by a long spear. This elder statesman, more experienced than even her father, did not receive a burial befitting his status as the Pillar of the Country, but instead died in a dungeon as a white-haired prisoner... like a punished sinner.

Even though the enmity between them was as deep as the sea and irreconcilable, Pharmacist’s Wish couldn’t help but feel a tinge of sadness. She wasn’t a good person; like father, like son; under Yao Shi Moke’s tutelage, Pharmacist’s Wish perfectly inherited her father’s strengths: protective, selfish, greedy, and treating people as resources. Her dissatisfaction with her father was because he wasted human resources in meaningless ways; if it were her, she would certainly allocate resources to Secret Realm strategies more efficiently and with more planning.

But being not a good person doesn’t equate to a lack of compassion. In Pharmacist’s Wish’s view, Chu Luoyan could die from political struggles, assassinations, or at her own hands, but not from such an ending, imprisoned due to a Foundation Establishment Zhenren’s word.

It’s too absurd, absurd to the point that Chu Luoyan’s entire sixty-plus-year life turned into a joke.

But the world is just like this, without the slightest rationality to speak of; reason lies in the hands of the Foundation Establishment; what they say is reason.

Pharmacist’s Wish exhaled a long breath, her gaze becoming determined. Just as she was about to stand up, she stumbled and nearly fell to the ground. Her right calf had a large bleeding wound, which, though not reaching the bone, couldn’t stop bleeding for the moment.

If excluding the Fake Foundation Establishment at Shu Dao Mountain, Chu Luoyan was the strongest enemy she’d ever encountered, even surpassing the ’Hunting King’ Helan Que, integrating Celestial Spirit Authority into his battle system. Chu Luoyan was the true human limit, with no further progress possible.

Ten days ago, Pharmacist’s Wish would have absolutely no chance of defeating such an opponent, but the Celestial Spirit - Star Shifting and Dipper Changing Disc her sister gave her happened to compensate for her biggest shortcoming.

Pharmacist’s Wish’s damage-taken counterattack style had one unavoidable fatal flaw: What if the enemy’s attack exceeded the damage-taking limit? She might be defeated and heavily injured before she could counterattack.

Though she could block or dodge, Pharmacist’s Wish used a long spear and couldn’t equip a large shield, and her heavy armor for increased defense made dodging quite difficult. In fact, once she took too much damage, Pharmacist’s Wish indeed had no way, like being directly knocked away by Prajna on Shu Dao Mountain.

The Star Shifting and Dipper Changing Disc gave her another option: absorption!

According to her sister, every thirty breaths she could absorb damage once and add it to her next attack! However, based on Pharmacist’s Wish’s actual experience, she seemed to control the activation timing of Star Shifting and Dipper Changing, unlike her sister’s description of automatic triggering once time was up.

In combination with the Earth Demon Body-Stabilizing Stone, Pharmacist’s Wish often managed to pin Chu Luoyan in place with one thrust, thus reversing the situation.

But just this wasn’t enough; the true turning point for victory was her Bright King Armor, newly enhanced to the Third-Transformation Curiosities. The Bright King Armor didn’t introduce new authority, just nearly doubled the damage-taking limit!

If the Celestial Spirits and Earthly Fiends merely gave Pharmacist’s Wish the strength to contend with Chu Luoyan, then the Bright King Armor ultimately cemented her victory. Once the Bright King Armor accumulated damage to the limit, unless Pharmacist’s Wish missed, Chu Luoyan was destined for defeat, though accumulating damage to the limit also meant her defensive barrier was reduced to its lowest point. If Chu Luoyan could seize this opportunity, he could likewise deliver a deadly blow to her. Pharmacist’s Wish’s absorption of the Earth Fiend’s advantages couldn’t erase the gap between her and Chu Luoyan.

But she won.

Although Chu Luoyan seized the final opportunity, Pharmacist’s Wish was quicker and more precise, breaking Chu Luoyan’s spear, piercing his heart, and nailing him to the rock wall. Even with such injuries, a Third-Turn Messenger could theoretically last a bit longer, but Chu Luoyan seemed to exhaust his energy and spirit, unable to utter a final word, and closed his eyes in an instant.

Perhaps it’s better this way; what is there to say? Dying in the charge rather than in a cell from Qi Blood exhaustion, there’s no better end for such old Pillars of the Country.

Pharmacist’s Wish barely stood up, retrieved her long spear, leaving no evidence behind. She turned around and saw Yan Qing still squatting by the corpse of the constable in the Divine Marquis Mansion, asking curiously, "What are you doing? The Demon King’s weapon isn’t a token; taking it is pointless."

"Hmm..." Yan Qing frowned and stood up.

Yan Qing wasn’t complaining earlier, he was genuinely looking for treasure. The constables of the Divine Marquis Mansion were Demon Fiends, and Demon Fiends dropped loot, but no matter how he searched, he couldn’t find the expected spoils.

At that moment, Yan Qing finally realized the shame of being a three-dimensional creature; he and Pharmacist’s Wish, Shang Xinlei, were no different from these locals, unable to see the miracles, mere muggles.