Chapter 311: A Great Relief

Feng Jue was the first to charge forward, sword blade shimmering with flowing light.His figure moved like lightning, thrusting straight with his sword, the tip transforming into seven cold stars that enveloped Su Zhan from all sides.

Xu Hao's figure blurred for an instant, appearing the next moment behind Su Zhan's flank, two daggers slicing toward the backs of his knees and his waist.

"Crackle—!"

Thunder roared.

Liu Ziming pressed his palms together and violently pushed them forward, a purple electric snake as thick as a bowl shot toward Su Zhan's face at astonishing speed.

Where the Purple Thunder passed, the air carried a scorched smell.

Facing this perfectly coordinated triple assault.

Su Zhan's pupils contracted slightly.

His feet slid in a step, his body dodging Feng Jue's sharp sword tip by a hair's breadth, the blade grazing past the hem of his clothes.

Simultaneously, he twisted his waist, causing Xu Hao's two supposedly guaranteed backstabs to miss completely.

As for that violent Purple Thunder.

Su Zhan actually didn't dodge or evade, instead spreading the fingers of his right hand, gathering a layer of Mist Energy in his palm like a shield to meet the electric snake.

"Boom!"

The Purple Thunder collided with the Mist Energy, producing a dull explosive sound.

Su Zhan used the momentum to float backward, dispersing most of the impact, but a numbing sensation still spread from his palm.

He lightly shook his hand, a flash of surprise in his eyes.

The power of Liu Ziming's Purple Thunder was even stronger than he had anticipated.

"Good coordination."

Su Zhan landed lightly three meters away, his tone carrying a hint of teasing: "Unfortunately, it's not enough."

Feng Jue frowned tightly.

The other's dodges seemed perilous, but in reality, he was completely at ease.

Every movement precisely intercepted the transition point of their offensive momentum.

Xu Hao was even more shocked. His teleportation ambushes rarely missed, yet just now, Su Zhan's seemingly casual twist of his body had so cleverly evaded his attack.

Liu Ziming snorted indignantly, the purple electricity around him surging again: "That was just an appetizer, take this!"

More concentrated attacks followed in quick succession.

Sword light like a net, electric snakes dancing wildly, daggers shadowing his every move.

Su Zhan's figure weaved and dodged on the narrow mountain path.

Seeming as if he might fall at any moment, yet always managing to avert danger at the last possible moment.

He never counterattacked, using his footwork and control of the battle rhythm to dismantle the trio's offensive one by one.

The probing phase was over.

A sharp glint flashed in Feng Jue's eyes. The radiance on his sword blade retracted inward, yet it emitted a sharp, piercing aura.

He and his sword seemed to merge into one, transforming into a streak of light difficult for the naked eye to follow, his speed at least doubling compared to before.

Where the sword tip pointed, the air was sliced open with a faint vacuum trail, aimed straight at Su Zhan's heart.

At the same time, Xu Hao's figure vanished from his original spot, and three hard-to-distinguish illusory afterimages appeared, flanking Su Zhan from the left, right, and rear.

Liu Ziming roared angrily, slamming both palms onto the ground: "Thunder Prison!"

"Rumble—!"

Several thick purple lightning pillars erupted from the ground around Su Zhan without warning, instantly weaving into a cage of lightning.

Not only did it restrict Su Zhan's movement space, but the rampant lightning also carried a strong numbing effect, frantically scorching Su Zhan trapped at the center.

A triple lethal move.

The relaxed expression on Su Zhan's face finally completely vanished.

Facing this deadly combined attack, he could no longer rely solely on footwork to evade.

"Rip—"

The clothing on Su Zhan's upper body tore under the instantly swelling violent energy, revealing skin beneath which scale patterns rapidly surfaced and then faded away, a surge of ferocity appearing.

He crossed his arms in front of him, dense Mist Energy forming a solid, dark-colored light membrane over his body.

"Bang!!!"

Feng Jue's sword was the first to strike the light membrane.

The membrane fluctuated violently, cracks spreading.

Su Zhan was sent sliding backward by the tremendous impact force.

Xu Hao's three afterimage daggers had already arrived.

"Thud thud thud!"

The light membrane shattered in response, the daggers drawing three lines of blood.

Although Su Zhan twisted his body at the last possible moment to avoid vital points, deep, bone-visible wounds were still slashed open on his left arm, his ribs, and his back, blood instantly gushing out.

The Thunder Prison continuously tightened.

Purple lightning lashed against Su Zhan's body, bringing waves of intense numbness and stinging pain, severely disrupting his movements.

Su Zhan grunted, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of his mouth.

He steadied himself, looking at the new wounds on his body and the rampant lightning around him, his eyes growing even more appreciative.

Dust and scattered lightning slowly dissipated.

Revealing a somewhat disheveled Su Zhan at the center of the field.

The clothing on his upper body was torn, several new wounds on his body were seeping blood.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

Feng Jue's sword-holding hand stiffened mid-air, those eyes always cold as a winter spring now filled with disbelief.

Liu Ziming's mouth was slightly agape, his pupils contracting violently.

Xu Hao's gaze was locked onto the familiar scale patterns on Su Zhan's skin.

Black... scales...

This image violently pried open their long-sealed memories.

That first time in Vermilion Bird City years ago, that near-total annihilation desperate situation.

A somewhat similar figure who descended like a divine weapon at the final moment, tearing through the powerful enemy with overwhelming force.

That Aberrant covered in ferocious black scales...

The one who saved them all, yet quietly retreated into the depths of the Mist before dawn arrived...

A suspicion they had long harbored surfaced in their hearts.

A guess that, because it was too shocking, and more so because they didn't want to damage that precious bond, had been mutually and tacitly suppressed deep within their hearts.

Su Zhan, their Captain, was an Aberrant!

They had discussed it privately before. Even if this guess were true.

They would never raise their weapons against Su Zhan.

Then came these past two-plus years. It wasn't that they hadn't encountered Aberrants with these black scales.

But the texture, the luster of those scales were completely different from the figure in their memory.

Yet the Aberrant before their eyes now was... remarkably similar.

Remembering that their coming on this mission was guided by Teacher Wang Mingyuan.

Was there something to that?

And now, recalling Su Zhan's face just now, besides resembling the wanted Chen Qing, didn't it also somewhat resemble their former Captain?

Combining all the suspicious points.

They were all stunned.

Liu Ziming's breathing suddenly became rapid, his eyes fixed on Su Zhan's face, trying to find, within the unfamiliar contours, the somewhat youthful, handsome features of their Captain from memory.

The tip of Feng Jue's sword trembled slightly.

Remembering Su Zhan's clear, weary voice just now, that tone... how incredibly similar it was to the calm, commanding voice of their Captain from memory!

All the suspicious points, all the coincidences, converged at this moment into a clear line.

Pointing directly at the one they thought had long passed away, yet now reappeared before them in another, shocking, earth-shattering way... their Captain.

Immense shock, disbelief, sudden realization, the feeling of regaining something lost...

A torrent of complex emotions assaulted their minds.

They just stood there, frozen, forgetting the battle.

Just staring blankly at that figure, both strange and familiar.

Su Zhan looked at the complex expressions on the three faces, his own heart filled with a tumult of emotions.

He knew. They had recognized him. At the very least, they suspected.

He took a deep look at the three of them, that gaze containing too many unspeakable emotions.

There was relief, apology, resolve, a sense of release...