Chapter 116: I Will Keep You Alive

"Boom!"

The explosive giant Ice Sword crashed down, and endless ice froze in a straight line with a crackling sound, turning the enemy into an ice sculpture before they could even react!

It originated from Shui Bing'er's Third Soul Ring, a 9,000-year Soul Ring!

Soul skill, Ice Heart Snow Sword!

It locks onto the opponent mentally and freezes all enemies in a line. The freezing duration depends on the difference in soul power, and it simultaneously produces an Ice Heart effect, clearing all negative status effects from the body.

"Swish!"

After using the third soul skill, Qin Jian immediately hugged Zhu Zhuqing with both arms and ran for his life.

"Crack, crack..."

Sure enough, the sound of ice being cracked open came from behind very quickly, and it shattered completely with a bang two seconds later.

"The gap in soul power is too large; I can only freeze them for two seconds. This is really... troublesome..."

His whispered complaint actually frightened Zhu Zhuqing.

A Soul Elder against a Soul King, and he could still freeze them for two seconds—that was already incredibly heaven-defying!

"Bastard! You've angered me! Fourth soul skill, Leopard Pounce Kill!"

One could see the martial soul Leopard on the person behind him merging with their body, and they charged over as swiftly as a leopard pouncing on its prey!

Qin Jian looked back, and without a word, his second soul ring lit up: "Second soul skill, Sword of Original Heart!"

Although the all-attribute reduction was almost ineffective due to the massive gap in soul power, his own all-attribute increase was the real deal.

Seeing that Qin Jian's speed had actually increased by another notch, the person behind was so tormented they wanted to roar at the sky.

"Fifth soul skill!"

They finally released their strongest soul skill regardless of the consequences; majestic soul power instantly appeared on their body, and the speed they erupted with was almost twice as fast as before!

"My fifth soul skill is Assassination Lock. Whoever it is must take my strike head-on, otherwise it will never end. Go to hell!"

Qin Jian frowned upon hearing this, but he did not give up on escaping because of it; instead, he dodged through the forest even faster.

What if the opponent was bluffing?

He was still more willing to believe what he saw...

"It's useless... His fifth soul skill truly can only be resisted head-on. That's how I got these heavy injuries..."

Zhu Zhuqing's cold, weak voice rang in his ear. Qin Jian frowned and looked back, only to find that no matter how he dodged, that leopard-like figure was getting closer and closer...

"Then there's no other way..."

Qin Jian suddenly stopped his body, bent down, and placed Zhu Zhuqing on the ground.

"Are you going to abandon me..."

Zhu Zhuqing's eyes were full of sorrow...

Qin Jian ignored her entirely and turned around straight away.

"You still dare to turn back? I want you dead!"

The person behind was already about to kill them...

"Hum, hum, hum!"

At this moment, three soul rings on Qin Jian's body suddenly rose into the air and merged together in an instant.

"Ring Fusion!"

Two exclamations, one loud and one small, one male and one female, rang out simultaneously.

"Hmph! Human and Sword... as one!"

Qin Jian pointed his sword toward the sky and launched his strongest attack without hesitation.

"Chi!"

A massive Sword Qi shot into the sky, rising even higher than the forest, then slashed down violently, crashing fiercely into the opponent's giant leopard shadow...

"Boom!"

With a loud bang, both of them spat blood and flew backward!

"Pitter-patter..."

Tree branches flew everywhere, and smoke and dust rose up.

Before Zhu Zhuqing could recover from this earth-shattering collision, she found herself being picked up by Qin Jian again, fleeing rapidly into the depths of the forest...

Having completely emptied his soul power, Qin Jian could not hide his Soul Beast aura and could only let it radiate continuously.

Thus, it stirred up waves in the center of the Star Dou Great Forest; this was probably the same as knocking on a door at home...

No different at all!

"Swish!"

At this moment, Qin Jian, who was running with Zhu Zhuqing for dozens of meters, suddenly made a strange move.

Zhu Zhuqing saw his martial soul, the Sword, suddenly being flung by him toward the front left, flying straight in that direction.

"Why... did you let your martial soul fly over there?" Zhu Zhuqing couldn't help but ask curiously.

Qin Jian tilted his head slightly, looked at her cold, aloof face, and said: "That strike just now wasn't enough to make that person lose their combat ability; after all, they are a Soul King, so we still have to keep running..."

As soon as he spoke, several streaks of blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

Zhu Zhuqing was slightly stunned, and her gaze changed somewhat.

She hadn't expected that Qin Jian had fought so hard just now that he had even injured his internal organs.

"If I ran straight ahead foolishly like you, we would definitely be caught in the end..."

Qin Jian didn't have a spare hand to wipe the blood from his mouth, so he continued: "Besides, they have other companions. The battle just now will definitely attract them here, so I must use some means to confuse them..."

"Swish!"

Just at this moment, Zhu Zhuqing only felt a blur before her eyes, and the surrounding scenery changed.

Qin Jian swapped positions with the martial soul that had just flown off separately.

Zhu Zhuqing was very confused; she simply did not understand what had happened.

Next, every little while, Qin Jian would swap positions with his martial soul; if the other party continued to track their trail as before, they would only find that the trail would break every little while, then reappear a hundred meters away to continue...

"This should be able to delay them for a while... Next, it depends on whether the reinforcements arrive faster or their pursuit is faster..."

Qin Jian's gaze was very calm, so calm that it made Zhu Zhuqing feel a trace of peace of mind.

On an impulse, she suddenly raised her hand, reached toward Qin Jian's lips, and helped him slowly wipe away the blood at the corner of his mouth.

"Hm?"

Qin Jian, who was focused on thinking about how not to be caught, felt the gentle touch at his lips and could not help but show a moment of confusion.

Then, he lowered his head and his gaze met Zhu Zhuqing's...

"I just saw you couldn't wipe it yourself, so... I just helped you..."

Zhu Zhuqing suddenly turned her head away.

"Oh..."

Qin Jian responded very flatly.

They ran like this for about half an hour; even though Qin Jian kept changing directions, attempting to confuse the other party, soon enough, eight or nine sounds of wind being broken rang out behind them.

"They've caught up again!" Zhu Zhuqing said nervously.

"Hold me tight!" Qin Jian said softly.

Once Zhu Zhuqing wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, Qin Jian exerted force with his feet, simply stopped hiding their tracks, and pushed his Speed to the limit.

"This way! Quick! We're not far from them now!"

The voices of those people immediately came from behind.

"Swish, swish, swish..."

Several figures continuously shuttled through the depths of the forest; as time passed, the distance between them and the two of them gradually became less than two hundred meters.

"Can we not escape..." Zhu Zhuqing murmured.

Qin Jian did not answer her.

Zhu Zhuqing looked at the figures gradually catching up behind him, a look of sorrow appearing in her eyes: "If we can't escape... just leave me behind... their target is only me..."

Qin Jian gave her a strange look, not knowing why she had lost all desire to survive...

"Rest assured, I will bring you out alive..."

He suddenly said: "Just believe in me."

(End of chapter)