At the scene of the battle.

Baiguang’s eyes narrowed slightly. He stood his ground, his gaze fixed on the object in the hands of the figure standing on the high ground of the Gobi.

That’s right, that was Yuan Luàn’s body.

As a member of the Seven Mo Luo, he knew full well what Yuan Luàn’s weakness was: his brain.

Or rather, before one broke the second shackle, the brain was a weakness for nearly all living things—a mysterious domain that various Magnetic Field Abilities could scarcely penetrate.

Judging by the extent of the damage to Yuan Luàn’s head, his brain must have been completely obliterated. Although the Rebellion cells on his body were still writhing, they could no longer restore him to his original state.

’It was too fast.’

’It had all happened far too quickly.’

He never imagined that Yuan Luàn, who was known for his Physical Strength and Recovery Ability, would be defeated so quickly and so miserably.

’How could he possess such terrifying strength?! A human?!’

’Or... did he have other allies hiding nearby? Was this a counter-trap laid for them?’

Standing his ground, watching the figure on the high ground, Baiguang realized he was caught in an impossible position.

Yuan Luàn was defeated, and the opponent’s true strength was impossible to predict, which meant the outcome of a fight was equally unpredictable.

’I could very well die...’

His expression flickered with indecision, but he knew that the longer he hesitated, the greater the danger. Soon, it seemed he had made a decision.

He gave Zhou Yuanjue one last, deep look. Without another word, he turned and retreated from the battlefield at extreme speed.

’First, the intelligence report on the target’s strength was wildly inaccurate. Rushing into a fight without understanding the opponent’s capabilities would be foolish.’

’Second, I can’t tell if he has hidden reinforcements, or if this is a counter-trap laid for us to walk right into.’

’Third, he defeated Yuan Luàn with such ease, which means the chances of me killing him are very low. Even if he couldn’t defeat me, he could still choose to escape.’

’Finally, I won’t risk my own life unless I absolutely have to.’

From any angle, this mission was already a failure. There was no reason to take any more risks.

Atop the high ground, Zhou Yuanjue stood motionless, holding Yuan Luàn’s mangled body. He watched Baiguang’s figure recede into the distance and disappear into the Gobi without giving chase.

Although he was in perfect physical condition, the intense burst of power had severely drained his stamina, and he wouldn’t be able to replenish it quickly. Facing an opponent with unknown abilities would be equally difficult.

However, that didn’t mean he was powerless to fight. He was confident that even if he couldn’t win, he could still retreat safely.

After the man’s figure had completely vanished, Zhou Yuanjue spent another ten-odd seconds scanning the area to ensure there were no other ambushes.

’So, it seems their original plan was to send two members of the Seven Mo Luo? I wonder what kind of abilities the one who retreated has...’

He slowly deactivated all of his body’s enhancements.

The Starlight receded, withdrawing into his heart. The Magnetic Field dissipated, and the Starlight Phoenix vanished. His bulging muscles and body gradually contracted, reverting to his original appearance. He no longer looked like the ordinary university student, Zhou Hong.

GURGLE GURGLE!!

Freed from the restraint of his Magnetic Field, the mangled corpse of Yuan Luàn that he held in his hand suddenly began to make a strange noise.

He could clearly feel the remaining cells within the body beginning to run rampant. The flesh and blood squirmed and swelled like a tumor.

WHOOSH!!

With a casual flick of his arm, Zhou Yuanjue tossed the corpse far in front of him, into the clearing where Baiguang had been standing.

GURGLE GURGLE!!

Freed from the constraints of both Yuan Luàn’s own consciousness and Zhou Yuanjue’s Magnetic Field, the Rebellion virus began to use the residual energy in Yuan Luàn’s body to multiply rapidly. The corpse swiftly swelled into a fleshy orb, like a giant, disgusting tumor.

Moreover, this fleshy tumor was still growing larger. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

Four meters...

Five meters...

Ten meters...

In the end, Yuan Luàn’s body had become a giant, writhing mass of flesh over ten meters across.

Zhou Yuanjue watched all this calmly. This was the Gobi desert; there were very few lifeforms for the Rebellion cells to infect. Furthermore, due to their proliferative nature, the cells would die off and become inert after a certain amount of time without an energy source to consume. There was no need to worry about a widespread infection.

It was a pity that in the instant he killed Yuan Luàn’s physical body, he hadn’t felt a Celestial Demon True Form dissipating from the flesh.

Of course, this could be explained if his Celestial Demon True Form had unique properties, being so intricately bound to the body that it vanished upon physical death. But Zhou Yuanjue was more inclined to believe that his opponent possessed some kind of contingency he was unaware of.

Still, whatever the contingency or ability might be, having been killed by him once, his opponent would surely have to pay a hefty price to be reborn, if that was even possible.

Besides, knowing that they might possess such an ability was, in itself, a crucial piece of intelligence. After all, never before had the physical body of one of the Seven Mo Luo been destroyed.

’It seems I’ll have to be more careful when fighting the Seven Mo Luo in the future. This can’t be Yuan Luàn’s own ability. For this to be possible, there must be a terrifyingly powerful being among the Seven Mo Luo, or rather, above them. The Celestial Organization must possess even greater power.’

Suddenly, he turned his head toward a spot in the Gobi. From that direction, he felt he was being watched.

His sharp eyes spotted a girl standing in the distance, holding a pair of binoculars whose lenses glinted in the sunlight.

’It’s her...’

Zhou Yuanjue had a rough idea of who she was, but he didn’t pay her much mind. With a single leap, he jumped from the peak, his figure quickly vanishing into the Gobi.

After what had just happened, taking the train was out of the question. However, now that he had foiled the Celestial Organization’s plan, the rest of the journey should be safe enough. Besides, this location was only a little over a hundred kilometers from Beisha Country. His running speed wasn’t much slower than that of an ordinary car; he could easily reach it on his own two feet.

Once he arrived in Beisha Country, friendly forces would be there to greet him.

Elsewhere, Tan Ying watched through her binoculars, staring blankly until Zhou Yuanjue’s figure had completely disappeared before she finally snapped back to her senses.

’So it was him...’

Tan Ying recognized Zhou Yuanjue’s face. Or rather, in all of Donghua today, there was no one who wouldn’t.

She had originally thought Zhou Hong was some unknown powerhouse from Donghua, but she never expected him to be the most brilliant star in all of Donghua right now.

’No wonder,’ she thought. ’Only someone who could write such a masterpiece and speak with such conviction could possess the kind of boundless aura and presence I just witnessed.’

At this thought, she quickly lowered her binoculars and, relying on the scene fresh in her memory, went back to perfecting the details of the drawing on her sketchpad.