60: Chapter 60 Rescue?

Su Qingyue approached and looked at the Command Medallion: "We might have encountered a Formation. Zhao Yu is most interested in this; he might be studying a way to break it. Let's head that way first. We can collect some Materials on the road."

Not long after the two of them set off, Zhang Wen suddenly stopped and tilted his head to listen to the movement deep in the forest: "Senior Sister, listen, does that sound like fighting?"

Su Qingyue listened intently. Indeed, she heard the faint sound of clashing weapons mixed with angry roars.

She and Zhang Wen exchanged a look and quickened their pace toward the source of the sound. In the clearing ahead, Wang Zhe and three followers were being besieged by two Iron-backed Bears at the Peak of the Microscopic Realm. One follower had already been swatted to the ground, his life or death unknown, and Wang Zhe's left arm had a bone-deep wound sliced open by a bear claw.

"Hmph, just a moment ago he said he'd be there whenever called, and now he can't even protect himself." Zhang Wen curled his lip but still gripped his spear tightly. "Should we save them?"

A water ball condensed at Su Qingyue's fingertips: "They are fellow disciples, after all. We can't just watch them die."

Su Qingyue and Zhang Wen quickly made their decision. After nodding to each other, they moved into action with tacit understanding.

Su Qingyue activated her Thousand Waters Without Trace talent. Her hands danced rapidly, and the moisture in the surrounding air was instantly mobilized. Countless water balls condensed at her fingertips before whistling toward one of the Iron-backed Bears like bullets.

The water balls struck the Iron-backed Bear's hard back with dull thuds. Although they failed to cause fatal damage, they successfully drew the bear's attention.

Meanwhile, Zhang Wen also unleashed Nine Heavens Tribulation Thunder. He held his hands high as Thunder Power surged around him. Purple lightning converged in his palms. With a loud shout, the lightning pounced toward the other Iron-backed Bear like a dragon emerging from the sea.

With a loud "boom," the lightning struck the Iron-backed Bear. The powerful current made the beast tremble all over, and its steps became unsteady.

Wang Zhe and his followers had been driven to a dead end by the two Iron-backed Bears and were almost in despair. Suddenly seeing Su Qingyue and Zhang Wen come to their aid, hope flared in their hearts. Enduring the intense pain in his left arm, Wang Zhe shouted, "Thank you, Qingyue, for the rescue!"

Afterward, he and the remaining two followers pulled themselves together, gripped their weapons, and prepared to coordinate with Su Qingyue and Zhang Wen to fight the Iron-backed Bears.

Although these two Iron-backed Bears were attacked, as Yao Beasts at the Peak of the Microscopic Realm, their strength was not to be underestimated. The bear hit by the water balls roared angrily and slammed its paw onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

It then charged toward Su Qingyue at extreme speed, bringing a gust of fierce wind.

Seeing this, Su Qingyue remained calm. Her figure flickered, avoiding the Iron-backed Bear's attack like a ghost. At the same time, she chanted under her breath. The surrounding moisture became increasingly dense, gradually forming a water curtain to protect her.

The Iron-backed Bear's vision was blocked by Su Qingyue's water curtain. It roared and swiped its claws, but most of the force was dissipated by the flowing water.

Zhang Wen seized an opening and lunged forward, his feet treading two charred black patterns into the ground—it was exactly the Tremor Step Treading Thunder Marks.

In an instant, purple electricity spread along the patterns, entangling the Iron-backed Bear's front paws. "Take a punch from me!" A blinding Lightning Radiance gathered at his fist. The first style, Startling Thunder Arises, smashed into the bear's belly. The Yao Beast arched its body in pain. Just as it was about to counterattack, Zhang Wen had already spun away to avoid the claws, his fingers forming a seal to trigger the surrounding thunder patterns: "Second style, Thunder Net Locking Truth!"

The electric net suddenly tightened, binding the Iron-backed Bear so it couldn't move, and it roared as it struggled. On the other side, Su Qingyue's water balls had transformed into ice spikes. While Wang Zhe swung his sword to draw the other bear's attention, an ice spike accurately pierced its eye socket.

"Roar—!" The injured Iron-backed Bear flew into a frenzy, breaking free from Wang Zhe's entanglement and crashing toward Su Qingyue.

Seeing this, Zhang Wen leaped into the air, purple thunder circling him like a living thing: "Thousand Mechanisms of Purple Lightning Transformation!" Countless thunder threads split into a rain of arrows. Although they failed to pierce the bear's iron back, they forced it to stall its offensive.

Wang Zhe took the opportunity to have his followers help the injured man away while he gritted his teeth and activated the skill Mountain Splitting Punch, his fist wind carrying earth and stone to smash against the bear's body. "Third style, Ten Thousand Thunders Return to the Void!" As Zhang Wen landed, he slammed his fists together. The thunder patterns on the ground exploded, and the gathered thunders drilled into the bear's body through its wounds.

The two Iron-backed Bears finally collapsed from exhaustion, dead as could be. At this moment, Lightning Radiance still condensed at Zhang Wen's fingertips: "These two brutes have such thick hides; they actually tanked three of my punches?"

Su Qingyue retracted her water curtain and shook her head: "Be satisfied. What's your Realm? What's theirs? To be able to kill them, you already have enough to be proud of." She glanced at Wang Zhe, who was clutching his wound, and asked in a flat tone, "Can you still walk?"

Wang Zhe's face turned pale and then flushed. Finally, he lowered his head and said, "Thank you, Qingyue and Junior Brother Zhang Wen." Zhang Wen snorted and retracted his thunder energy, his gaze sweeping over the unconscious followers on the ground: "First, carry the people. We don't know what the situation is with Senior Brother Zhao Yu yet."

"Your injuries are not light. Pushing further inside only adds risk. It's better to exit the Secret Realm first." Su Qingyue looked at Wang Zhe's bleeding wound, her tone calm but carrying an unquestionable seriousness.

Wang Zhe looked at the unconscious followers on the ground, then looked down at his own bone-deep left arm wound. His Adam's apple bobbed twice, and he finally gritted his teeth.

He gripped his Command Medallion and squeezed hard. Amidst the sound of shattering, three pillars of shimmering white light descended from the sky, enveloping them. As he ascended, Wang Zhe looked back at Su Qingyue and Zhang Wen. His lips moved, but in the end, he said nothing, and his figure disappeared into the glow.

"Let's go." Su Qingyue withdrew her gaze, the water patterns on her fingertips swaying gently. "That guy Zhao Yu might have caused some kind of mess in the Formation."

Zhang Wen shook his wrist, which still had residual thunder energy, and the tip of his spear struck sparks on the ground: "He'd better not have trapped himself inside, or we'll have to dismantle the Formation to save him ourselves."

With that, the two of them sped off one after the other toward the direction of the Command Medallion they had sensed earlier, leaving only two rapidly receding afterimages in the forest.

The further they went into the dense forest, the more turbulent the Spiritual Qi in the air became, as if being torn and churned by an invisible force. The water patterns on Su Qingyue's fingertips flickered. She suddenly stopped: "Something's wrong. The moisture here is flowing in circles."

Just as Zhang Wen was about to speak, pale gold patterns lit up beneath his feet, instantly connecting into a Formation diagram. "Watch out!" He grabbed Su Qingyue and leaped back. A ten-foot-high stone wall had risen where they had just stood, its surface covered in spikes.

"It's the Inverted Eight Gates Formation." Su Qingyue looked closely. "Zhao Yu really is here." Before she finished speaking, a dull thud came from the direction of the Formation core, mixed with Zhao Yu's muttering: "The third stone on the left can't be pushed... Ow!"

The stone wall suddenly shifted direction. Zhang Wen retreated with thunderous steps, only to see the surrounding scenery begin to rotate. "This Formation can distort vision." Lightning Radiance gathered in his palm. "Senior Sister, stay steady. Let me try!"

"First style, Startling Thunder Arises!" His fist wind, wrapped in purple electricity, smashed toward the Void Realm. The thunder energy exploded against the invisible Formation wall, and the surrounding illusions actually wavered.

Su Qingyue took the opportunity to trigger the water flow. A thousand water threads pierced into the gaps of the Formation patterns like probes: "There's movement in the northwest; that's the weak point of the Formation core!"

Zhang Wen kicked off, his Tremor Step Treading Thunder Marks leaving afterimages on the ground. In an instant, he reached the northwest position.

The trees before him suddenly turned into hideous ghostly shadows, but his eyes turned sharp: "Thunder Net Locking Truth!" The moment the electric net exploded, the ghostly shadows dissipated, revealing a green stone carved with runes.

"Found it!" Just as he was about to throw a punch, the green stone suddenly cracked open, and Zhao Yu's head popped out from behind it: "Don't hit it! It's a Decoy Formation Core I set up!"

Su Qingyue facepalmed helplessly: "What are you doing?"

Zhao Yu crawled out covered in dirt, still clutching a Command Medallion: "There's an ancient Incomplete Manual hidden in this Formation. I'm dismantling the last layer of protection..."

Just as he finished speaking, the ground suddenly shook violently. A roar of a Yao Beast came from the distance, sounding even more ferocious than the Iron-backed Bear's. Zhao Yu's face changed: "Oh no, the commotion from dismantling the Formation was too loud. It's drawn over that Xuan Shui Crocodile guarding the Formation!"