139: Chapter 139 Duan Qi

As soon as the voice rang out, everyone's expression changed simultaneously.

"Who is it?!"

Zhao Lingxiao was the first to level his spear and step forward.

But the next second, the black mist beneath the stone tablet began to churn on its own, and a hand slowly reached out from the cracked ground.

That hand was pale and slender, with distinct knuckles, completely different from a Mimic.

Following that, the crack in the ground grew wider and wider.

A figure slowly walked out from the darkness beneath the stone tablet.

He wore a tattered black robe and had a slender build. His face was covered by a half-shattered metal mask, revealing only one cold eye.

That eye swept over the crowd, finally landing on Lin Mo.

"It's actually you."

"It seems that this time, it's not small fry that have delivered themselves to my door."

Gu Changchuan's face darkened, and he drew his battle saber immediately.

"Who are you?"

The man chuckled softly, but his tone carried a chilling calmness.

"Who I am is not important."

"What's important is that you have finally opened the door."

He raised his hand, and the black mist beneath the stone tablet suddenly began to churn violently.

The next instant, the ground all around began to tremble.

"Boom—!"

Mimics crawled out from the cracks in the ground, one after another. Their numbers were more exaggerated than any previous wave, like an angry tide that had been pent up for a long time and finally found an outlet.

Zhou Jingyue's pupils constricted.

"This guy can control Mimics?!"

Shen Zhihan's face paled, and she quickly took a step back.

"It's not control."

"It's awakening."

"It is awakening the things below!"

Lin Mo looked at the black-robed figure, his gaze finally turning completely cold.

"So, the one truly guarding this place is you."

The black-robed man smiled faintly.

"Guarding?"

"You could understand it that way."

"But now that you have come, you might as well all stay."

The moment the black-robed man's voice fell, the air suddenly tightened.

The Mimics that had crawled out from the cracks in the ground seemed to receive an order simultaneously, crazily pouncing towards the surrounding Awakeners.

Yet, the black-robed figure kept his eyes fixed solely on Lin Mo.

"Let's start with you."

As the cold voice faded, Zhao Lingxiao was the first to flare up in anger.

"You want to touch him? Ask us first!"

Before the words even finished, Zhao Lingxiao had already stepped forward, his spear sweeping through the air with a dragon-like gleam, striking directly at the black-robed man.

Zhou Jingyue also drew his sword at almost the same time.

"Sword rise!"

The Azure Cloud sword intent erupted, and several sharp sword beams sealed off the black-robed man's escape route to the side.

Shen Zhihan immediately set up a formation in the rear, spreading layers of icy blue spiritual light, attempting to restrict the opponent's movements first.

The three of them coordinated extremely quickly.

Clearly, after the bloody battles all the way here, they were no longer fighting individually.

Yet the black-robed man just stood there, not even moving his feet.

Even his movement of raising his hand appeared very slow.

He just waved his hand gently.

"Bang!"

Zhao Lingxiao's spear gleam shattered on the spot.

He raised a finger again.

Zhou Jingyue's sword qi seemed to crash into an invisible iron wall, and it was sent recoiling back, forcing him to retreat three steps.

Finally, without even looking, he pressed down gently toward the direction of Shen Zhihan's ice formation.

"Crack."

The icy spiritual formation was instantly covered in cracks.

"What?!"

Shen Zhihan's face turned pale.

The next instant, the black-robed man's figure flashed, and he seemed to disappear from where he stood.

When he reappeared, he was already in front of Zhou Jingyue.

It was too fast.

So fast that it didn't look at all like the performance of someone suppressed to the early Fourth Stage.

Zhou Jingyue's pupils constricted violently, and he hastily held his sword horizontally to block.

"Boom!!!"

A muffled sound rang out.

He was sent flying, crashing heavily into a stone pillar behind him. A sweet taste rose in his throat, and he nearly vomited blood.

"Zhou Jingyue!"

Zhao Lingxiao shouted angrily, thrusting his spear out again, attempting to press the attack during the gap after the black-robed man's strike.

But the black-robed man just dodged to the side, his palm seizing the spear shaft, and his five fingers applied a little force.

"Crack."

Zhao Lingxiao only felt a terrifyingly immense force pressing down along the spear shaft; his entire arm instantly went numb, and the spear shaft was actually forcibly twisted to the side.

"This strength..."

His expression changed drastically.

The black-robed man did not answer, simply raising his leg and kicking him squarely in the chest.

Zhao Lingxiao let out a muffled grunt and was kicked, sliding backward for over ten meters, leaving a deep furrow plowed into the ground.

"Zhao Lingxiao!"

Shen Zhihan's expression changed completely, and she hurriedly followed up with an ice-sealing technique. Several cold chains shot out from between the surrounding stone pillars, wanting to lock the black-robed man in place.

But the black-robed man just looked up at her.

The next instant, the ice chains shattered inch by inch.

Shen Zhihan's face turned ghastly pale, and she was forced to retreat two steps by the backlash, blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.

"How can he be so strong..." she whispered.

Lin Mo stood in the rear, his gaze finally darkening slightly.

He could tell.

This was not ordinary strength.

It was the kind of suppression that was a level higher in terms of existence.

The black-robed man slowly raised his hand, black mist swirling around his fingertips, and spoke indifferently:

"Did you think that after being suppressed, I would be the same as you?"

"Ridiculous."

"I am a Perfect Mimic; even if I only have early Fourth Stage strength left, it is enough to crush trash like you."

Zhou Jingyue struggled to stand up from beside the stone pillar, his expression ugly to the extreme.

"A Perfect Mimic?"

"You are not an ordinary Mimic?"

The black-robed man gently lifted a corner of his mask, revealing the bloodless face underneath.

Shen Zhihan's eyes widened suddenly.

"Duan Qi..."

She seemed to have suddenly thought of something, and her voice changed.

"A Perfect Mimic?!"

"A Perfect Mimic like Cao Shen?!"

Duan Qi looked at her, a faint smile curling the corner of his lips.

"It seems you know quite a lot."

"Not bad."

"We both belong to the same type of existence."

"It's just that I am much more complete than those you have seen before."

This sentence made everyone present feel a chill in their hearts.

Perfect Mimic.

They had, of course, heard of them.

Even if suppressed to the early Fourth Stage by the secret realm, it was still a level far beyond what Zhou Jingyue and the others could contend with.

"Don't waste time talking to him." Zhao Lingxiao gritted his teeth and tightened his grip on his spear again. "All together now!"

"I'll take the front; Zhou Jingyue, you find an opportunity to break his defense!"

"Shen Zhihan, keep up the crowd control!"

"Understood!"

As soon as the words fell, the three of them charged up again.