Cheng Mingyue usually looks like she hasn’t woken up, but her mind is working very fast now.

"At times like this, we should be considered together, right?"

Simon and Eso both twitched their faces.

Who’s in cahoots with you? The two of us were hiding perfectly well and you suddenly brought a troublesome spirit over.

But Cheng Mingyue didn’t bother with them, stretched out her hand, and several buffs appeared in their status bars.

"Go ahead, beat him up."

"....."

If it wasn’t for the giant bearing a halberd charging at them, Simon would have definitely taken a shot at Cheng Mingyue first; however, a bigger threat had arrived, so he had no choice but to brace himself.

"Roar——"

Amidst the roar, the devilish muscle man reappeared, filled with anger, so there was no need for him to rely on attacks to stack buffs.

The halberd-wielding giant initially targeted Li Rui on Cheng Mingyue’s shoulder, but seeing the two inexplicably dragged in, he had to change his target, as Simon’s threat level post-transformation was still high.

He swung his arms, holding that long halberd, preparing to engage in a frontal attack, but suddenly, his movements stiffened in mid-air like a puppet.

Upon closer inspection, a transparent glow flickered at all his joints, and several faint lines tied around key parts.

Cheng Mingyue’s control ultimate halted his actions, and Isa Eso, as a Puppet Master, was naturally a half-offensive, half-control class; his threads could also exert considerable control, working together with Cheng Mingyue to forcibly restrict the giant’s movements.

Roger Simon saw his chance, activated several status skills, and roared as he charged forward.

"Roar——"

A massive fist, like a fleshy monster, smashed into the giant’s chest like a cannonball.

Boom!!!

This punch actually produced a burst of flames, explosion and shockwave swept the area, and the part of the district that had only half-collapsed now completely crumbled.

"Take this chance, run quickly!"

The three plus an unconscious person inexplicably formed an alliance; even though they had been fighting to the death in the Secret Realm battlefield earlier, now they had no choice but to team up.

However, before they could make a move, a murderous intent locked onto them once again.

Amidst the flames from the punch, the towering figure of the halberd-wielding giant emerged, his light armor had vanished, but his bare upper body was unscathed.

Simon certainly didn’t expect to one-hit-kill a world NPC, but he didn’t anticipate that the opponent would be completely unharmed.

"Don’t leave, today, you can’t escape alive."

As he spoke, a silhouette towering over him flashed briefly around him, wearing the very light armor he had lost.

Apparently, although he couldn’t move, he managed to use his treasure or Divine Power before getting hit, thus maintaining his intact condition.

At this point, everyone felt the gravity of the situation; if they couldn’t shake off even this person, let alone face the rest of the world NPCs.

Among them, only Simon was purely an aggressive force, and they all knew that when he transformed into his flesh form, his destructive power was quite astonishing. Cheng Mingyue, once hit, was immediately on the verge of death, unable to continue fighting, and that was without anyone assisting to control the target.

But now, even with an ideal angle to hit, there’s no breaking through the defense, so there’s no chance of playing anymore.

As they racked their brains for a solution, a scorching aura suddenly appeared on the street.

Soon after, a thunderbolt tinged with crimson gold descended from the sky with the speed of lightning, engulfing the halberd-wielding giant directly.

"Run quickly, use shadow teleportation."

Simon never thought Li Rui’s voice could sound like a beautiful melody to him.

But now, Isa Eso couldn’t be bothered with the target he once wanted to hunt down; the moment the giant was obstructed, he immediately used shadow teleportation to vanish from the spot.

Simultaneously, Li Rui also teleported with Cheng Mingyue to another corner.

When the halberd-wielding giant withstood the thunder and reopened his eyes, the silhouette had disappeared, and his body bore many small scorch marks, but it wasn’t enough to stop him from continuing the fight. However, he realized the few people from earlier had all vanished, and a dense fog was spreading in the forbidden zone.

Li Rui’s Escape Technique could only carry one person, so although he wanted to protect Simon and the others to consolidate more power, he couldn’t do it, thus he had to hide in a corner of the forbidden zone with Cheng Mingyue.

At the first moment, he activated Mist Flow Control.

After a round through the Secret Realm, he gained more attributes, even his leadership increased by dozens of points, enabling him to summon enough mist to cover most of the area within the blood barrier.

Such a vast mist is something most specialized Rain Summoners couldn’t achieve.

At the same time, several figures rose into the air, one of them wearing a long robe and holding a bowl, coldly looking down below.

"What happened? It seems there are some extraordinary people still hiding here. Who can find them?"

"Mr. Zuo, I’ll do it."

One short old man volunteered, clapping his hands together in front of his chest as a tangible wave swept like radar in all directions, dissipating only upon touching the blood barrier.

As the wave swept through, a crisp ringing sound came from many places within the mist.

The figures in the air instantly disappeared, reappearing at the locations of the sounds, adding a few more blood debts beneath the Holy Mountain.

Looking at the severed heads in front of him, Zuo Qiutian frowned slightly.

"No, keep looking."

Meanwhile, in a quiet corner, Li Rui activated the newly acquired Golden Scaled White Dragon Amulet, entering a concealed state, with a transparent wave emanating from him, greatly diminishing his presence.

This was a special attribute from the Dragon Thunder, naturally not something just anyone could easily detect.

Nevertheless, although he possessed this ability, Cheng Mingyue did not, so to isolate their aura, Li Rui had no choice but to hold her while hiding in the corner.

A male’s frame is naturally larger than a female’s, thus effectively cutting off their aura.

The solitary man and woman, facing each other in an embrace, unavoidably created some ambiguous atmosphere, though the timing seemed off.

Their hearts were both pounding quickly, unsure if it was due to nerves or something else, Li Rui only felt a warmth in his arms, and to avoid being discovered through rising temperature, he could only summon more mist around them.

"Sister Yue," he said awkwardly in a low voice.

"Hmm?" Cheng Mingyue also seemed a bit different.

"If we continue till our Spiritual Power is exhausted without any changes, we’ll be in danger." Li Rui tried to distract himself, avoiding the softness in his embrace.

"Mm." Cheng Mingyue’s voice was as faint as a mosquito’s.

"What do you mean, mm?"

Cheng Mingyue slightly raised her head, her eyes sparkling as she stared at him, allowing both to feel each other’s breath.

"No, this is serious, there must be a response from the department, it’s been several hours..."

Several hours?

Li Rui was puzzled; he’d only been in the Secret Realm for a few hours.

Could the flow of time in the Secret Realm have changed?

In theory, not much time should have passed outside.

But at this moment, he didn’t delve into it because he felt something warm approaching his lips.

Despite the dangerous individuals scouring the mist outside and various powerhouses converging upon the Holy Mountain of the Holy Judgment High Court beyond the blood barrier,

the two relying on each other in a dark corner quietly stayed close, despite their words of assurance about avoiding danger, they both knew once discovered, survival today would be unlikely.

A short-lived kiss didn’t make them more restless, but rather quickly calmed them down.

Having fought side by side so many times, their feelings had subtly surpassed mere friendship, turning into the perfect sedative during times of crisis.