However, he had also sustained immense damage. A glacial chill invaded his body, and his blood cells felt as if they were freezing solid.

In that instant, Chen Yu appeared before him. Empowered by his Biological Force Field and his amplified Force Field, he slammed a terrifyingly powerful fist into the ghost-faced man.

"CRACK—!"

"PTUI!!!"

The heavy punch landed with the sound of breaking bones. The ghost-faced man’s body shot out like a cannonball, smashing through four or five large trees before stopping. He spat out a mouthful of blood.

"BZZT—!"

With a flicker of electric light, Chen Yu’s Divine Speed Power erupted, and in an instant, he was standing before the man.

"BANG!" 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

He stomped on the ghost-faced man’s chest, which caved in. Blood seeped out from under the mask.

"Your last chance," Chen Yu said, his voice cold as he looked down at the ghost-faced man.

"It’s... the Pantheon... Sect," a weak voice replied.

"Thank you."

"SQUELCH!"

The moment he finished speaking, Chen Yu stomped his foot clean through the man’s torso. The ghost-faced man was dead beyond dead.

With a freezing touch and a wisp of Qi, the corpse was obliterated into frozen chunks of flesh.

Having dealt with the ghost-faced man, Chen Yu looked off into the distance, toward the direction the other masked men had fled.

"BZZT BZZT—"

Lightning coiled around him, and Chen Yu’s figure vanished in a flash.

...

"They’re wearing masks. It must be that group of bandits!"

An Ran and Baili Qing were racing through the forest when they suddenly spotted several masked figures running toward them in the distance.

The two exchanged a look and attacked in perfect, unspoken sync.

"BOOM—!"

A Vibration Wave and a shockwave swept out, splintering trees. The masked men were instantly and heavily wounded, sent flying by the blast.

The forest was a wreck. An Ran and Baili Qing appeared amidst the destruction.

"ZAP!"

Just then, a bolt of lightning suddenly struck.

CRACK!!!

One of the masked men had just struggled to his feet, but in the next instant, a sharp pain shot through his chest.

He struggled to look down and saw a bloody hole in his chest.

’Am I going to die?’

As the thought surfaced, the masked man’s consciousness faded. Filled with resentment, he collapsed to the ground, completely still.

"BANG! BANG! BANG!!!"

Before An Ran and Baili Qing could even react, a series of thuds rang out. The other masked men collapsed to the ground, leaving only one survivor.

Chen Yu appeared in front of the last masked man. He grabbed him by the neck with one hand and ripped the mask from his face, revealing a scarred visage.

"I’ll give you one chance. Tell me the location of a Pantheon Sect stronghold."

Chen Yu told the scarred man, his tone flat.

’The Pantheon Sect!’

Baili Qing and An Ran were startled.

’The Pantheon Sect was behind this group of bandits?!’

’Them again!’

’They showed up at the end of our last mission, and now they’re here again.’

"I... I... I don’t know."

The scarred man stammered.

Chen Yu’s gaze turned icy.

"Brother Yu, let me handle this," Baili Qing said, stepping forward. "I can make him spit out everything he knows."

Hm?

Chen Yu looked at Baili Qing.

Baili Qing smiled. "Did you forget, Brother Yu? I have Spiritual Element abilities."

Chen Yu nodded. Baili Qing stepped forward, his eyes locking onto the scarred man.

"HMMMM—!"

A light shone from Baili Qing’s eyes as a strange spiritual ripple spread out.

The scarred man struggled for a moment, a look of terror on his face.

But soon, his expression went numb.

Chen Yu didn’t let go, using his full strength to restrain the scarred man. After a moment, the light in Baili Qing’s eyes faded, and they returned to normal.

The scarred man opened his eyes, a blank look on his face.

Chen Yu looked at Baili Qing, who gave a slight nod.

"CRACK!!"

With a burst of power, the scarred man’s eyes closed forever, and his body slumped to the ground in a limp heap.

"How did it go? Any useful information?" Chen Yu asked, looking at Baili Qing.

Baili Qing said, "Hold on, I need to sort through it."

With that, Baili Qing closed his eyes.

Seeing this, Chen Yu could only wait patiently.

While waiting, Chen Yu searched the bodies of the dead masked men on the ground but found nothing of value.

"An Ran, send a message to Brother Feng and have him handle the cleanup."

"No problem." An Ran nodded and sent the message to Xu Feng.

...

「Jiang City. Mercenary Headquarters, Office.」

Captain Wang and a deputy captain were sitting on a sofa, chatting.

"Captain, do you think they’ll be able to solve it? Those three look awfully young. If something happens, we’ll probably be held responsible."

The deputy captain said with a grave expression.

"It should be fine," Captain Wang said. "They’re from the Superpower Academy, after all, and they’re all Awakened. They may be young, but people from the Superpower Academy are very capable. On top of that, they’re Elite Students."

"I still feel it’s risky," the deputy captain said. "There are a lot of those mutated beasts, and they’re all very strong."

Captain Wang was about to speak when suddenly, his wristband vibrated and a message appeared.

He opened the message, and upon seeing its contents, immediately shot to his feet.

"Captain, what is it?" The deputy captain also stood up, looking at him in surprise.

Captain Wang’s face was a mask of shock. It took him a moment to speak. "A message just came in. The mutated beasts have been dealt with. And some bandits, too. They’re all taken care of."

"What?!"

Hearing this, the deputy captain was dumbfounded.

’They... They’ve only been gone a few damn hours?’

’And it’s already solved?’

’What kind of monsters does the Superpower Academy churn out?!’

’There were so many powerful mutated beasts, and they were level four and five! And they even took care of all the bandits on top of that.’

’This... How is this possible?!’

"Captain, this news... is it real?" the deputy captain asked in disbelief.

Captain Wang nodded. "The message is from the Superpower Academy’s liaison. It can’t be fake."