Chapter 50: The Traitor, Ambushed

"Who goes there?"

Chen Yu shouted angrily, a monstrous aura erupting from his entire body. Without a word, he flashed forward.

Chen Yu charged at an incredible speed.

Yet, a moment later, he retreated at an even faster speed.

"Damn it! We've been ambushed! There are four Anglandians outside! Their cultivation is not weak—all four of them are Tier Four!"

"Ah? Why would Anglandians be here?"

Shangguan Yan panicked, her face instantly turning pale.

"Chen Yu! We might have been targeted right from the start! Do you have a way to handle this?"

"Difficult."

Chen Yu's expression was gloomy, tacitly confirming her words as he gritted his teeth and looked at Qin Zhe.

"I'm sorry. If it weren't for me and Academician Chen accompanying you, you wouldn't have ended up in this situation with us. Later on, could I please ask you to take Academician Shangguan and leave? The Anglandians came prepared and set up a trapping array outside. I can hold them off for a while and buy you some time."

Qin Zhe furrowed his brow and stared at the cave entrance, remaining silent.

Being ambushed by Anglandians, with the enemy even preparing a trapping array, was honestly something he hadn't anticipated either.

Yet, one thing didn't make sense...

His true cultivation was only at Tier One, and his sensory ability was ridiculously poor, so failing to notice someone approaching and setting up an ambush was completely normal.

As a member of the Disaster Alleviation Bureau assigned to personally protect Shangguan Yan, Chen Yu's cultivation had to be at least Tier Four.

With a trapping array set up right outside, he hadn't sensed a thing?

More importantly, since the enemy was targeting Shangguan Yan, why didn't they show themselves until she made a breakthrough discovery?

Shangguan Yan was very smart. Seeing Qin Zhe fall into silence, she vaguely realized something, and her expression grew even paler.

At that moment, Qin Zhe spoke.

"Alright, I'll take Academician Shangguan and leave."

As he spoke, the blood Qi within Qin Zhe's body quietly surged, causing the surrounding space to gradually distort.

Chen Yu was no fool. With Shangguan Yan unable to hide her inner thoughts and her expression changing so obviously, how could he fail to guess that his cover had been blown?

Seeing Qin Zhe's aura rise, Chen Yu adopted a guarded expression.

Clearly, he had learned from the Anglandians about the invincible combat power Qin Zhe possessed in this state.

Choosing not to fight head-on, Chen Yu decisively retreated toward the cave entrance and sneered.

"Qin, you punk, I advise you to give up resisting. We've done our research beforehand; the True Self Heart Scripture's explosion technique can only last for three minutes. There are five of us on this trip, all at Tier Four. Any one of us alone could fight you! How long can you hold out trapped inside the Soul-Bewildering Illusion Array?"

Soul-Bewildering Illusion Array?

Illusion array?

Qin Zhe was slightly startled.

Did it really have to be this much of a coincidence?

He had just awakened the Oneness of Heaven and Man, and someone immediately used an illusion array to trap him?

So be it!

Five Tier Fours—handling them all within the time limit would be a bit difficult!

Thinking too much was useless; killing one counted as one!

Qin Zhe narrowed his eyes, a flicker of spiritual energy circulating through his body as he transformed into an afterimage and lunged instantly at Chen Yu.

Chen Yu had been on guard; he raised his hand to strike a palm blow head-on, and without lingering in the fight, he immediately pulled back and fled.

Seeing this, Qin Zhe raised an eyebrow. It seemed... the Anglandians only knew about his True Self Heart Scripture?

Joyfully puffing out his chest to meet the palm strike, Qin Zhe stumbled underfoot, truly tasting just how terrifying Tier Four Daoist cultivation was.

Compared to James—who possessed Tier Four combat power in name only while actually being at Tier Three—Chen Yu's palm strike not only successfully obstructed his movement but also left him feeling a stifling chest pain.

However, the discomfort of the tightness in his chest quickly passed, confirming to Qin Zhe that his physique could handle Tier Four attacks without much issue.

"Erbao, take good care of Academician Shangguan."

Leaving behind this instruction, Qin Zhe suppressed the energy accumulated by his Rebound talent, employed the Swimming Dragon Seven Forms, and closely pursued Chen Yu out of the cave.

Yet, the moment he stepped out of the cave, Qin Zhe instantly regretted it.

Because the second he left the cave, he lost control of his body, replaced entirely by his "True Self."

Crap!

Why did it have to act up at a time like this?

Wasn't Chen Yu right in front of him?

There were people right in front of him... why on earth was the True Self popping out?

Sinking into a state of pure consciousness within his body, Qin Zhe panicked before noticing that his True Self was looking back with lingering fear.

Noticing this tiny detail, Qin Zhe nearly shattered.

He finally understood. It turned out that the true key to controlling the Blood-Burning True Self Art wasn't using it in front of people, but women!

Realizing this crucial point, Qin Zhe was utterly speechless.

Observing the True Self in the past, he had once theorized.

To a certain extent, the existence of the True Self approximated one's most primitive desires—the original sin deep in the bones of living beings.

To put it bluntly... the True Self was just a huge pervert...

Yet Qin Zhe could never figure out why, if the True Self was so lustful, those who practiced the True Self Heart Scripture had never committed any grave mistakes.

Now he finally understood; it turned out the True Self was afraid of women—all lust and no courage!

Meanwhile, Chen Yu retreated from the cave and saw Qin Zhe chase after him, plunging straight into the Soul-Bewildering Illusion Array. He let out a roar to the sky.

"Stop hiding! This arrogant punk walked right into the illusion array, attack together! No matter how strong his combat power is, there's no way he can handle the five of us inside the illusion array!"

Following his shout, four Anglandians instantly revealed their figures in mid-air, each raising a hand to unleash a thick pillar of light.

Chen Yu was not about to fall behind; he spun around and struck back with another palm.

Seeing this scene, Qin Zhe was startled.

The four Anglandians in the air were all teachers; he remembered that much.

Yet he hadn't expected all four of them to be ascetic monks. Weren't ascetic monks supposed to be rare?

Before he could overthink, the four pillars of light engulfed Qin Zhe, and Chen Yu's counter-palm landed a fraction of a beat slower.

The four Anglandian teachers did not possess Holy Light bloodlines; the pure destructive power of the light pillars they unleashed was far inferior to James'. However, their cultivation was higher, and the combined weight of the four pillars was immense.

If Qin Zhe had been controlling his body at that moment, he might have been sent spinning in a daze by a rash move.

However, at this moment, the one controlling the body was the True Self...

The True Self operated on pure instinct, far surpassing Qin Zhe himself in terms of body control!

With a full four thick pillars of light hitting him, the True Self let out a long roar, forcefully enduring them as he punched straight toward Chen Yu.

Right at that moment, Chen Yu's palm landed squarely on Qin Zhe's chest. Facing the brutal, oncoming punch of the True Self, he was completely powerless to dodge or retreat.

In the flash of a spark, Chen Yu was utterly bewildered.

Was this guy even human?

Five Tier Four experts attacked simultaneously, and not only did he shrug it off with pure physical body alone, but he was also throwing a punch at him like it was nothing!

This wasn't an ordinary fistfight!

Even a Tier Five expert, faced with a joint attack from five Tier Fours, who would dare to take it purely with their physical body?

More importantly... trapped inside the Soul-Bewildering Illusion Array, why wasn't he affected at all, effortlessly locking onto his exact position?

Logically speaking, being trapped in the Soul-Bewildering Illusion Array should plunge one into terrifying hallucinations, heavily impairing sensory perception no matter how close the distance!

Chen Yu had no chance to figure out the reasoning behind it as the True Self's fist already landed squarely on his chest.

And then...

There was no "then"...

The True Self fought entirely on instinct, utterly devoid of the concept of holding back.

Counting Chen Yu's two palm strikes, a total of six Tier Four attacks filled with murderous intent had been accumulated by the Rebound talent. The might of their eruption was nothing short of terrifying.