111: Chapter 111 I'm coming clean, I'm not pretending anymore.

Lin Muer was also in a precarious situation. Her soft sword was agile, but the tall, thin man's dual daggers were extremely tricky, aiming for her weaknesses with every strike.

During the struggle, the tall, thin man suddenly feigned an attack on her left shoulder. As Lin Muer blocked with her sword, he tapped his toes hard on the ground and his body suddenly leaped up.

The dagger in his other hand stabbed straight at her throat. At the same time, another short, stout man rushed in from the side, his short axe raised high, the blade gleaming coldly.

It slashed toward her waist—if this hit, it would definitely result in broken bones and tendons!

"Muer, look out!"

Zhao Meng roared, trying to force his way through the burly man's obstruction, but was struck on his shield by the opponent's blade.

The backlash of Spiritual Qi made his throat sweet, and he forcibly swallowed the mouthful of blood that surged to his lips.

Old Wang and the others were so anxious their eyes turned red, but they were suppressed by their opponents and couldn't even take a step.

They could only watch helplessly as the short axe fell. Xiaoya was so scared she closed her eyes, trembling all over.

Just at this critical moment, a residual shadow suddenly darted out from the end of the team, moving with a speed that broke the limits of the naked eye, the wind it stirred up directly dispersing the surrounding fog.

Zhang Wen had originally been following at the back, but now he seemed like a different person—the aura he had deliberately restrained before erupted completely.

The Initial Stage of the Formation Realm Spiritual Qi spread out like a tide, causing even the gravel on the ground to vibrate slightly.

His sky-splitting startling thunder spear had been unsheathed at some unknown point, the tip wreathed in fine Lightning Radiance, glowing with a blinding white light in the mist.

"Clang!"

The crisp sound of metal collision was piercing. Zhang Wen moved sideways to stand in front of Xiaoya, his wrist flicking sharply, and the spear tip precisely struck the blade of the short, stout man's short axe.

The short, stout man only felt a massive force travel up the handle of the axe. His wrist felt a sharp pain, and the short axe flew out of his hand with a "clatter," embedding itself into a nearby tree trunk, causing leaves to rustle down.

Before he could react, Zhang Wen had already turned around, shielding Xiaoya behind him.

When he looked up at the six men, the "cowardice" and "wretchedness" that had been on his face had vanished without a trace, leaving only cold sharpness, as if tempered in ice.

"If you want to touch my teammates, you'll have to ask this spear in my hand first."

When the burly man saw someone suddenly kill his way in, his brows instantly furrowed into a knot.

Glancing at Zhang Wen, he was first dazzled by his Initial Stage of the Formation Realm aura, then sneered.

"Another one looking for death? Good, we'll bury you all together!"

With that, he gave a wink to the two men holding short sticks nearby.

"Go, finish this brat off, don't delay things!"

The two men immediately grinned grimly and turned, their sticks crossing as they smashed towards Zhang Wen.

The wind from the sticks carried the Shaping Realm Late-stage Spiritual Qi, causing gravel on the ground to bounce up.

In their eyes, even if Zhang Wen was in the same Realm, he couldn't withstand their combined attack.

But Zhang Wen stood still. It wasn't until the two sticks were about to smash into his face that he slowly raised his right hand.

The Lightning Radiance in his palm suddenly surged, no longer the faint Shimmer from before, but condensed into blinding lightning arcs.

Spreading along the shaft of the sky-splitting startling thunder spear, the entire spear body became scorching hot.

"Something's wrong!"

The burly man's heart suddenly skipped a beat. A strong sense of crisis crawled up his spine. He looked up at Zhang Wen abruptly, his pupils contracting—

The aura on Zhang Wen had changed!

The Spiritual Qi fluctuation, which had originally been only Initial Stage of the Formation Realm, was now leaking out crazily like a burst dam.

The shackles of the Forming Realm were instantly broken: Initial Stage of the Subtle Realm, Middle Stage, Late Stage... the aura continued to climb until it hit a terrifying critical point and stopped.

The Spiritual Qi in the air churned violently, even the surrounding fog was blown back.

Fine cracks even appeared in the seams of the bluestone on the ground, and fine Lightning Radiance danced around him, making him look like a Thunder God descended to the world!

"This... this is the Peak of the Subtle Realm?!"

The burly man screamed, the mountain-splitting saber in his hand almost slipping out. The ferocity on his face was instantly replaced by terror, "You... you were hiding it all this time?!"

The two men besieging Zhang Wen were even more scared, frozen in place, their sticks hanging in mid-air, not daring to fall.

Their faces were as pale as paper—the difference between the Peak of the Subtle Realm and the Shaping Realm Late-stage was like heaven and earth; it simply couldn't be made up for by numbers!

Zhang Wen ignored their shock, his wrist flicking slightly, and the sky-splitting startling thunder spear swept out with lightning arcs.

There was no earth-shattering roar, only two soft "puchi" sounds. The two men didn't even see the trajectory of the spear tip.

They felt a chill in their chests, and when they looked down, they saw Lightning Radiance exploding at the wounds.

The Spiritual Qi in their bodies was instantly shattered by the lightning force, and their bodies fell softly to the ground without even a groan.

One move, instantly killing two!

Zhao Meng and Lin Muer were also stunned. Especially Zhao Meng, who had just had his Breakthrough to the Forming Realm Peak and felt his strength greatly increased.

Yet, in the face of Zhang Wen's Peak of the Subtle Realm aura, he actually felt a sense of oppression that made it hard to breathe.

The previous "approval" of Zhang Wen instantly turned into shock—just how much strength had this kid been hiding?

"You... you dare to kill our men?!"

The burly man was both shocked and angry, but his feet subconsciously took a half-step back, his eyes full of wariness.

"We are from the Black Wind Stockade. If you dare to touch us, the Stockade Leader won't let you go!"

"Black Wind Stockade?"

Zhang Wen raised an eyebrow, his long spear slightly lifted, the tip pointing directly at the burly man, Lightning Radiance condensing on the tip, making a "zzzt" sound.

"I don't care if you are Black Wind Stockade or Clear Wind Stockade. If you touch my people, you have to die."

Before the words faded, he exerted force under his feet. Tremor Step Treading Thunder Marks was quietly activated, and his body appeared in front of the burly man as if teleporting.

The burly man was so scared, his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, hurriedly raising his mountain-splitting saber to block. But in the face of the power of the Subtle Realm, his defense was like paper.

With a loud "clang," the mountain-splitting saber was directly shattered into two sections. The spear tip's momentum remained, piercing toward his chest with lightning force.

"No!"

The burly man let out a desperate roar, wanting to retreat, but Zhang Wen stepped on his ankle, the crisp sound of bones breaking clearly audible.

He rolled on the ground in pain, but before he could beg for mercy, the spear tip had already pierced his heart, the Lightning Radiance exploding inside him, instantly ending his life.

The remaining three Black Wind Stockade men, seeing their leader killed, were scared, their Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering. How could they dare to continue fighting? They turned and tried to run into the dense forest.

But how could Zhang Wen give them a chance? With a flick of his wrist, the sky-splitting startling thunder spear flew out like an arrow leaving the string.

The tip, carrying Lightning Radiance, precisely pierced the back of the tall, thin man running at the very end.

Immediately after, his figure flashed, catching up to the other two, condensing lightning force in his palm, and solved them cleanly, one palm each.

In just a few breaths, the six Shaping Realm Peak Black Wind Stockade men had all fallen to the ground.

Beside the corpses, un-dissipated lightning arcs remained, and the air was filled with the smell of burning and blood.

Zhang Wen retracted the sky-splitting startling thunder spear, casually flicking the blood off the spear body. The Lightning Radiance around him gradually converged, and his aura became steady again.

It was just that the pressure of the Peak of the Subtle Realm had not yet completely dissipated, making Zhao Meng and the others not dare to speak easily.

He turned around and looked at Lin Muer and Xiaoya, who were still dazed, his tone returning to his previous gentleness.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Lin Muer finally came to her senses, her eyes full of complexity as she looked at Zhang Wen—shock, lingering fear, and a hint of indescribable admiration.

She shook her head, her voice still trembling slightly: "We... we are fine, thank you, Zhang Wen."

Xiaoya's eyes turned red, and she bowed deeply to Zhang Wen: "Many thanks to Brother Zhang Wen for saving my life!"

Zhao Meng stepped forward, looking at the corpses on the ground, then at Zhang Wen, a bitter smile appearing on his face.

"Good kid, you really fooled us all. It turns out you are the hidden expert."

Zhang Wen scratched his head and smiled embarrassedly.

Old Wang and the others also gathered around, their eyes full of gratitude and awe as they looked at Zhang Wen.

Before, they had thought Zhang Wen was a student who needed to be taken care of; now they knew he was a powerhouse who could stand on his own.

"These people are from the Black Wind Stockade. I heard that people from the Black Wind Stockade do all kinds of evil in the Secret Realm and specialize in robbing other expedition teams' supplies."

"Maybe they were hiding stolen goods just now and attacked because they were afraid we would run into them."

Zhao Meng squatted down, checked the burly man's corpse, and took a blood-stained cloth bag from his chest.

Opening it, it turned out to be a few Vicious Beast cores radiating Spiritual Qi, "Sure enough, these things must have been robbed."

Zhang Wen looked at the cores, then at the surrounding fog, frowning.

"Since people from the Black Wind Stockade appeared here, there might be their accomplices nearby. We'd better leave here as soon as possible to avoid further trouble."

Zhao Meng nodded in agreement.

"You are right. Let's deal with these corpses first, and we will continue to go deeper, striving to find the core area of Black Wind Ridge as soon as possible."

The group worked together to drag the corpses of the Black Wind Stockade men into the depths of the dense forest, cleaned up the bloodstains at the scene, and then set off again.

With Zhang Wen, a powerhouse at the Peak of the Subtle Realm, the group felt much more at ease, and even their steps became a bit lighter.

But looking at Zhang Wen, the disdain in their eyes was gone, replaced by full trust.