88: Chapter 88 Rejection? He doesn't deserve it!

With a roar, the three swords—Blue Frost, Red Leaf, and cloud shuttle—instantly shot up.

In that same moment, they formed the Wuliang Sword Array, completely slaughtering the Jingjian Ahan on the ground.

A mist of blood filled the sky as it fell.

Song Yiqing, appearing 'exhausted,' knelt on one knee, his peripheral vision stealing glances at the restless 'Huo Jin.'

...

Chat section:

[Holy crap!! That was insanely cool! Brother! That shout of 'Sword, come!' got my blood boiling!]

[Regardless of anything else, this Sword Kinesis is truly too cool!]

[But looking at Song Yiqing, in order to break the situation and use Sword Kinesis, is he already in a state of exhaustion now?]

[Exhausted or not, at least the good news is that the situation was successfully broken! We are one step closer to uncovering the secrets of the forbidden area!]

[No, you guys totally missed the point. Song Yiqing is exhausted, Zhang Qilin lured away the Flood Dragon Python and his fate is unknown. Relying solely on Lin Tianyi and the other two, there's no way they can contend with the Shadow Exploration Team led by Huo Jin!]

[Damn!! You're right. Now that the common crisis is resolved, what comes next is a fight to the death!]

[This is deadly. This is literally banging one's head against a wall! How can they win? There's absolutely no chance of winning!]

[Oh my! Oh my!!]

The viewers' pessimistic comments grew increasingly intense.

Within the Flying Tiger Archaeology Team, which had paused its evacuation, Bai Yao looked extremely nervous.

"How can they do this!! Song Yiqing clearly saved everyone!! He broke this formation and saved us! They can't do this!"

"Yaoyao, this is survival!"

Yi Menglian gently patted her back, her eyes filled with a trace of helplessness.

Hearing her words, Bai Yao was somewhat unwilling to accept it.

"But why should it be like this!"

"Simply because Song Yiqing no longer has the strength to resist now," Kang Mo replied at this moment.

"The world itself is very cruel. What he did was his limit.

Furthermore, the Shadow Exploration Team is still here. If Song Yiqing dies in the end, there will still be people who can continue forward.

Song Yiqing's sacrifice is definitely not in vain; to a greater extent, it will have very high value. After all, he truly pioneered a new route!"

"You..."

Listening to those words that practically sentenced Song Yiqing to death, Bai Yao felt an inexplicable sense of distress in her heart.

But just as everyone was talking, Xue Xingye spoke up.

"Um... why does it have to be Song Yiqing who dies?"

His words immediately drew the attention of everyone present.

Everyone knew clearly that the relationship between Xue Xingye and Song Yiqing should be like fire and water, but now Xue Xingye's words seemed exceptionally strange, as if he didn't want to see Song Yiqing sacrifice himself.

Xue Xingye then explained, "What I mean is, Song Yiqing is a very cunning person. He looks like he has no strength left to fight, but perhaps this is just a facade, a deliberate lure."

He scratched his head as he spoke.

"But this possibility is relatively small; after all, he's not a superhero."

Everyone looked at each other upon hearing this.

It was common knowledge that Song Yiqing was good at using schemes, but in the current situation, saying he was using a strategy seemed a bit too exaggerated.

...

However, at this moment, on the livestream screen, Huo Jin moved.

He walked over slowly, carrying his blade.

Lin Tianyi reacted extremely quickly and immediately grabbed his gun to fight back, but Huo Jin was one step ahead and kicked him flying.

Then, the seven surviving members of the Shadow Exploration Team swarmed up, and in less than a minute, they had taken Lin Tianyi and the other two hostage.

The Fatty was pinned down hard by two people, his face flushed red, full of indignation.

"Damn you!! You're a beast!! If Lord Song hadn't used his Sword Kinesis to kill those snakes earlier, you all would be dead!! A bunch of scoundrels!! A bunch of scoundrels!!"

Huo Jin ignored him and continued walking toward the half-kneeling Song Yiqing, simultaneously gripping the blade in his hand tighter.

But at this moment, his wristband vibrated slightly.

"Hmm?"

Huo Jin glanced at his wristband first, then stopped.

Looking down at Song Yiqing, he said, "Now I'll give you a chance to choose: sign the contract, take our special drug, and join us, and I can spare your life."

"Heh heh heh," Song Yiqing looked up at him with curiosity.

"A special drug?"

"Yes," Huo Jin replied like a robot.

"A type of micro-explosive that can be controlled by others. Once you make any move to betray us, you will be instantly blown to death!"

"Whoa," Song Yiqing shook his head slightly, sighing.

"That's really ruthless!"

"So, make your choice," Huo Jin's voice sounded like a straightforward notification.

"We don't have time to linger here."

"What's the benefit if I agree?" Song Yiqing looked at the other party with interest, while simultaneously recalling the rewards he received after solving the Celestial Star Compass Feng Shui Array earlier.

[Challenge Quest: Solve the Celestial Star Compass Feng Shui Array, completed. Obtained SSS-rank reward: Fanpu Qi Absorption!]

This reward didn't sound like much by its name, but its actual effect was astonishing.

Once activated, it could instantly absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth to convert it into his own Qi, filling it up in an instant!

This could completely be called a second mana bar!

Because the cooldown time was only a little over three hours! An absolutely powerful upgrade!

And just as he was reviewing it, Huo Jin spoke up at this moment.

"The benefit is that you get to live."

"Then forget it," Song Yiqing waved his hand.

"I'm the type of person who least values my own life."

"?"

Huo Jin frowned. He hadn't expected the other party to refuse so decisively, or even so easily.

'Could it be... does he still have a backup plan?'

...

Chat section:

[So tough?? He just refused directly?]

[Wait? Lord Song! Your refusal was too decisive! This is clearly a case of using power to coerce others! Why did you refuse?]

[You fool!! If you had agreed, maybe there would still be a chance to counter-kill, but by refusing directly, you're just sending yourself into the abyss!]

...

At the Xue Group board meeting, the conference room was dim, with only the projector at the front lighting up, playing the various scenes from Song Yiqing's livestream.

Sitting around the long table were middle-aged men and elderly people of various builds.

When they heard Song Yiqing's answer, they all revealed expressions of disdain.

"Heh heh heh, what an overestimation of one's own capabilities. Refuse? He needs to have the capital to do that!"

"Alright, I never expected him to agree anyway. Just have Huo Jin leave a complete corpse; it might still be useful later."

"Alright, just let Huo Jin send him on his way."