118: Chapter 118 We're risking our lives, and you're just buying supplies?

The howling wind made their eardrums ache.

Lei Qianjue rushed at the very front, the "Soul-Stabilizing Armor" on his body already activated to maximum power.

Behind him followed the most elite first squadron of the Pojun Division headquarters.

Twelve people, all of them in the mid-to-late stages of the Martial Venerable realm, fully armed and wearing mental blocking helmets.

Ahead lay the outer perimeter of the Soul Demon Abyss.

The dense, pitch-black mist made it impossible to see the path inside.

"Turn the power of your protective gear to the maximum!"

Lei Qianjue roared over his shoulder and took the lead into the black mist.

The moment they stepped inside, an invisible force slammed directly into their foreheads.

It felt as if someone were driving a steel awl directly into their brains.

Even with the protection of the Soul-Stabilizing Armor, Lei Qianjue felt waves of throbbing pain.

The squad members following behind were in even worse shape.

Zhang Tie, the captain of the first squadron, was a tough man who had survived countless life-or-death situations, yet before he had even walked a hundred meters, he let out a muffled groan of pain.

"Venerable Lei... this place is so damn bizarre! The magnetic field is even stronger than it was five years ago!"

Zhang Tie gritted his teeth, his legs feeling like lead. Every step forward required a massive amount of physical strength to resist the mental pressure.

The other squad members were no better off, breathing heavily with their faces turning purplish-blue.

Lei Qianjue looked at the surrounding mist, anxious and worried.

They were struggling this much even while fully armed, yet that kid Li Zhengyang hadn't even claimed a single piece of protective gear and had rushed in completely unprotected!

That was mental piercing!

Great Xia had finally produced a twenty-year-old heaven-defying genius. If he fell in this wretched place, those old geezers would definitely skin him alive.

"Speed up! Keep close to me!"

Lei Qianjue subconsciously gripped the longsword in his hand, ready to face any Soul Demons that might leap out from the shadows at any moment.

Just then, the black mist ahead suddenly surged.

It was as if something was frantically stirring the airflow.

"On alert! Something is coming!"

Zhang Tie roared, raising his heavy shield to take the lead.

The squad members drew their weapons in unison, their nerves taut.

Lei Qianjue unleashed his full vitality, bracing himself for a hard battle.

A gust of wild wind swept through, dispersing the thick black mist.

After seeing the scene ahead clearly,

Lei Qianjue's sword froze mid-air.

The squad members behind him were also completely dumbfounded.

There were no overwhelming swarms of Soul Demons rushing at them, nor were there any signs of a fierce battle.

The ground was glowing.

A thick layer of grayish-white crystals covered the ground, stretching all the way to the edge of their vision.

Those were the soul crystals dropped after Soul Demons were killed.

And right in the center of the pile of soul crystals, a young man stood with his back to them.

With his hands in his pockets, he was even humming an unfamiliar tune, strolling around casually.

In mid-air,

twelve flying daggers darted back and forth through the black mist.

The moment a Soul Demon poked its head out, before it could even launch a mental attack, it was instantly sliced to pieces by the flying daggers, exploding into a cloud of ash and leaving only a soul crystal on the ground.

Li Zhengyang didn't even lift a hand. The tactical watch on his wrist glowed faintly, and the soul crystals flew into his storage space one after another.

How was this risking his life?

This was practically like picking cabbages in his own backyard!

Lei Qianjue stood frozen in place. Looking at the tightly wrapped Soul-Stabilizing Armor on his own body, and then at Li Zhengyang strolling around opposite him, he felt his blood pressure skyrocket.

"My goodness..."

Zhang Tie swallowed hard, his voice trembling. "Is... is this something a human can do?"

He touched the helmet on his head.

Comparing oneself to others really was infuriating.

Hearing the commotion behind him, Li Zhengyang stopped and turned around.

Seeing Venerable Lei and the others, Li Zhengyang raised an eyebrow, looking thoroughly surprised.

"Venerable Lei? Why are you guys here too?"

Looking at this fully armed group with their faces flushed blue-green, he was even more puzzled.

"Wait, why are you walking with a limp? Are you constipated?"

Constipated?

Zhang Tie almost coughed up blood.

We are resisting the mental magnetic field!

We are risking our lives! You fucking call this constipation?

Lei Qianjue trembled with rage. He took two strides over and sized Li Zhengyang up from head to toe.

Not only was this kid completely fine, but his complexion was rosy, and he looked energetic enough to kill a bull.

"You... you just walked in like this?"

Lei Qianjue pointed at him. "This is the Soul Demon Abyss! The mental magnetic field can crush a Martial Venerable's brain!"

"Magnetic field? What magnetic field? Did you forget I'm a Psychokineticist?"

Li Zhengyang took a deep breath and even puffed out his chest on purpose.

"The air is quite fresh, just a bit dusty. But killing these Soul Demons is really satisfying. I don't even have to lift a finger; they die as soon as the daggers fly past."

He pointed at the twelve Tiangang Blade still flying around in the sky.

Lei Qianjue looked at the flying daggers, then thought of the test results from the headquarters' medical room, and was completely convinced.

"Alright, now that you've seen me, you guys should head back."

Li Zhengyang waved his hand and started shooing them away. "I've cleared out most of the monsters in the outer perimeter, so there's no profit left for you guys here. I've collected all those soul crystals from earlier. If you want to buy them, I'll take a small loss and sell them to you at a twenty percent discount off the market price."

Lei Qianjue was almost amused by his anger.

"I brought people to rescue you, and you want to make money off me?"

"Cut the crap, kid!" Lei Qianjue grabbed his arm.

"The low-level Soul Demons in the outer perimeter aren't a threat to you because you've awakened telekinesis."

"But if you go further in, the middle section is full of Rank Seven high-level Soul Demons, and in the depths, there are even old monsters at the Martial Saint level awakening!"

"Listen to me, take these soul crystals and withdraw immediately. You've already made enough of a profit this trip!"

Hearing this, Li Zhengyang didn't back down; instead, his eyes lit up even more.

"Martial Saint level?"

He licked his lips and turned his head to look into the depths of the black mist.

"Venerable Lei, you're being an amateur here."

Li Zhengyang patted away Lei Qianjue's hand. "Now that I'm already here, what's the point of just picking up trash?"

Lei Qianjue was about to continue scolding him,

when the environment ahead changed.

The originally grayish-black thick fog began to take on a dark red hue at some point.

The mental magnetic field in the air suddenly intensified by more than tenfold.

Zhang Tie and several other squad members immediately felt their knees go weak. With a thud, they fell to their knees, clutching their heads and letting out agonizing roars.

"Retreat! Everyone, fall back!"

Shocked and alarmed, Lei Qianjue drew his longsword, and the array patterns on his Soul-Stabilizing Armor flared with bright light.

He stared intently at the red mist ahead.

In the depths of the red mist, over a dozen massive phantoms slowly emerged, each radiating a terrifying wave of energy at the Martial Venerable level.

And right in the center of these phantoms, a ball of blood-red light was pulsing continuously.

That soul-piercing, icy killing intent felt suffocating even from thousands of meters away.

"It's a pack of high-level Soul Demons!" Lei Qianjue turned and roared at Li Zhengyang. "Go! If we don't leave now, we'll all die here!"

Li Zhengyang stood in place, completely ignoring Lei Qianjue's order to retreat.

He raised his hand, and the twelve flying daggers in mid-air instantly flew back into his sleeves with a swoosh.

"Venerable Lei, take your men and retreat to the outer perimeter to watch."

Li Zhengyang reached behind his back.

Zheng!

He pulled out the abyssal meteor dragon spear directly.

A crimson-gold light erupted beneath his skin.

"I'll take care of all these big guys."

As soon as he finished speaking,

Li Zhengyang exerted power through his legs, blasting a large crater into the ground.

He charged in alone, holding his long spear, facing those dozen or so Soul Demon phantoms.

...