1047: Chapter 1046 Keep up, we can survive!!!

Wu Zhankong raised an eyebrow, seemingly showing a hint of interest, but then he quickly curled his lip. "One playing with a whip, another half-dead... Forget it, I'm in a hurry."

For the first time, the mockery and coldness on Milak's face were broken, replaced by solemnity and a flicker of irritation at being slighted.

She could not see through this red-haired man who had suddenly burst through the ceiling at all. His manner of appearance, his unscathed appearance, and his attitude of treating her and Grom as if they were nothing...

"Who are you?"

Milak's voice grew cold. The Bone Whip loosened slightly from around Jade Scale's neck, but her aura remained firmly locked onto Wu Zhankong. "You dare to interfere in the affairs of the Dark Star Auction House?"

Grom let out a low growl. "Another one looking for death!"

Wu Zhankong acted as if he hadn't heard. His gaze passed over the two of them, looking toward the end of the passage behind them.

There, the dense ranks of the Dark Star Heavy Guard had already appeared. Energy shields were raised, spears glinted coldly, and further back, even stronger energy reactions were rapidly approaching.

"Troublesome," Wu Zhankong muttered, and then seemed to make a decision.

He looked at Thunder Horn and the others, his tone flat but carrying an unquestionable authority. "Hey, those who can still move, follow me."

After speaking, he didn't wait for an answer, nor did he look at Milak or Grom. He walked straight toward the depths of the auction house, where the energy turbulence was most violent and the self-destruct core's impact seemed most severe.

That direction was not any known exit; instead, it was a dead end.

"You want to leave?"

The cold light in Milak's eyes flared. Being ignored like this was something she absolutely could not tolerate.

She shook her arm, and the Bone Whip seemed to come alive, transforming into dozens of gray shadows that were hard to distinguish between real and illusory. They sealed off all the space around Wu Zhankong. Before the whip shadows even arrived, a bone-chilling coldness that could erode energy and the Soul descended.

At the same time, the five fingers of her left hand again made a grasping motion toward Wu Zhankong—it was that same strange technique for siphoning energy!

Grom also roared, his remaining strength flowing into his fist. Wrapped in dark red Qi-blood, he threw a punch. The wind from the punch condensed into the phantom of a hideous Blood Beast, forming a pincer attack with Milak's whip shadows!

Facing the combined strike of two powerhouses who were at least at the Tier 4 Peak, Wu Zhankong finally stopped his pace.

He didn't even turn around.

He simply reached back and gave a casual wave.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no dazzling display of energy.

There was only a dark red arc of light, refined to the extreme and thin as a hair, yet composed purely of destructive Qi-blood, which flashed and vanished.

Wherever the arc passed...

The sky full of Soul-eroding whip shadows melted away silently, like ice and snow under the sun.

The invisible force field that siphoned energy was like a wave crashing against an immovable reef; it instantly shattered and backfired, causing Milak to groan as a bloodstain seeped from beneath her left eyepatch.

Grom's full-strength Blood Beast fist force was split in two by the arc, grazing past both sides of Wu Zhankong's body and blasting two large holes in the wall behind him. The arc's momentum remained undiminished as it swept across Grom's chest under his horrified gaze.

Grom's movements froze.

He looked down and saw a thin red line appear on the thick beast-hide armor over his chest.

No blood sprayed out immediately, but a coldness, as if his life and strength had been instantly severed, spread throughout his body.

He opened his mouth but could not make a sound. His massive body swayed and he collapsed to his knees with a thud, then pitched forward onto the ground, his aura rapidly withering.

With a casual wave, he had broken the strange whip shadows, shattered the siphoning force field, and heavily injured Grom!

The color drained completely from Milak's face, and for the first time, the hand holding the whip trembled slightly.

It wasn't fear, but an instinctive palpitation when facing a power that exceeded her comprehension.

She stared fixedly at Wu Zhankong's back, not daring to strike again easily.

Wu Zhankong acted as if he had done something trivial and continued walking.

"Follow me, or stay here and wait for death."

Thunder Horn, Jade Scale, Stone Mountain, and all the surviving slaves were left with blank minds by this inconceivable scene.

But the instinct to survive overrode everything else.

"Follow the Lord, we can live!!!"

Thunder Horn growled with a hoarse voice, helping up a nearby heavily injured companion.

Jade Scale clutched her neck, coughing violently. Her gaze toward Wu Zhankong's back was filled with disbelief and a flicker of excitement at finding life in a desperate situation.

Stone Mountain gave a low growl and took heavy steps forward.

This group of remnants from a defeated army followed that red-haired back without hesitation, charging toward the area where energy raged and which seemed like a dead end.

Milak stood in place, not pursuing.

She watched Wu Zhankong and the others disappear around the corner, then looked at Grom, whose life or death was unknown on the ground, and the guard troops that were arriving.

The stinging pain under her left eyepatch was still clear. She slowly raised her hand and pressed it against the eyepatch. Between her fingers, a deeper and more ominous dark red light faintly seeped out.

"Red hair... purple pupils... such power..."

She whispered to herself, her voice carrying a strange trembling—not of fear, but of some suppressed excitement.

"Issue an order,"

She said coldly to the arriving guard captain, "Executive Grom is heavily injured. The targets are fleeing toward the 74th Floor, the 'Ruins Corridor'."

"Activate the S-rank Pursuit Protocol, mobilize all available 'Hounds', and block all conventional exits leading to the bottom floor. Also..."

She paused, looking in the direction where Wu Zhankong had disappeared, the red light under her eyepatch flickering.

"Report urgently to Lord Qing Li and request... the activation of 'Cleaner' authority."

The guard captain's body visibly stiffened, a look of deep horror flashing in his eyes, but he immediately bowed his head. "Yes! Executive Milak!"

Milak ignored everything else as her figure slowly merged into the shadows, pursuing the direction Wu Zhankong had left at a measured pace.

The Bone Whip in her hand emitted a faint, almost excited humming.

And ahead, Wu Zhankong led the group of injured and exhausted slaves forward with unstoppable momentum.

"He's dead!"

Inside the initial special cage, a Black-Robed Figure closely examined Black Abyss's body. A moment later, he confirmed the other's death in a heavy voice.

The Black-Robed Leader's face was pale within the shadows. He stared at Black Abyss's corpse for a long time without speaking.

"Take him back. The royal Bloodline of my Black Cloud Empire cannot be left scattered outside."

"Yes!"

Someone immediately responded and solemnly put away Black Abyss's body.

"My Lord, the murderer is that Wu Zhankong. He should still be inside the Dark Star Auction House. Should we..."

The person made a throat-slitting gesture, but was rejected by the Black-Robed Leader.

"This is no place to stay for long. That fellow Qing Li is not easy to deal with. Now, the powerhouses of the entire Chaotic Star Domain have likely noticed the changes here."

"Our identities cannot be exposed yet. As for that Wu Zhankong, he won't get away."

A flash of sternness and chilling killing intent passed through his eyes, and then the group transformed into a mass of black light and quickly retreated.