Chapter 232: Razed to the Ground

As the sound of gunfire entered her ears, Jiang Lan squeezed her eyes shut and curled up into Chen Che's embrace.

Chen Che swung his long arm, and his True Qi swatted the bullets away, sending them flying into the ground.

At the same time, Shen Qi darted out with lightning speed, struck the gun from Bai Xiangjin's hand with a palm, grabbed his wrist, and snapped it with a crack.

"Ah!!"

Bai Xiangjin let out a miserable shriek and fell to one knee; his wrist was gripped in Shen Qi's hand, unable to move even a fraction.

Not until her feet touched the ground did Jiang Lan recover from the tension. She slowly opened her eyes, and what came into view was Chen Che's handsome profile. Noticing the warm palm on her waist and their current intimate posture, Jiang Lan's face flushed quietly. Suddenly remembering something, she exclaimed, "Xiaoguo and Xiaokui are here too! They were locked up by Bai Xiangjin!"

"Speak! Where are they?"

Shen Qi exerted force through his arm and yanked hard on Bai Xiangjin's broken arm; the latter let out a pained cry but did not answer.

Chen Che immediately raised two fingers, his eyes snapping open. He filled them with True Qi and unleashed his Pupil Technique.

"Over there!"

Chen Che scanned the area and pointed toward a corner of the factory.

Jiang Lan immediately ran in the direction Chen Che's finger was pointing, with Chen Che following behind her, opening the door to the cramped room first.

Inside the narrow space, due to the aftermath of the earlier battle between Chen Che and Wen Meng, Jiang Kui was passed out on the floor, holding Jiang Xiaoguo.

The people guarding them were sprawled out in a mess, unconscious.

Chen Che squatted down, carefully checked the condition of Jiang Kui and Jiang Xiaoguo, and then used the Ghost Gate Needle to pierce their acupoints and channel True Qi into them.

"They've only fainted; they'll be fine after a sleep when we get back."

Chen Che said as he put away the Ghost Gate Needle.

Jiang Lan let out a sigh of relief, gently took Jiang Xiaoguo into her arms, and touched Jiang Kui's face, only then feeling completely at ease.

"Wait a moment; the others from the Scorpion Society should be arriving, and there is one more thing to do."

Chen Che said again.

"Okay."

Jiang Lan nodded without asking further. In her subconscious, she had already come to rely on Chen Che, and she obeyed him instinctively.

Chen Che walked up to Bai Xiangjin, looked down at him, and said, "Bai Ye, what a pity; it seems your plan has failed."

Bai Xiangjin let out a cold snort, his other hand reaching quietly into his pocket.

"Thank you for setting the stage for me; next, I will need to borrow your head."

Chen Che said calmly.

"Even if I have to die, I will take you down with me!"

Bai Xiangjin roared ferociously, simultaneously popping a red-date-like Pill into his mouth.

Chen Che was startled and grabbed Bai Xiangjin by the throat, demanding, "How do you have a Pill!?"

However, it was already too late!

Bai Xiangjin's Adam's apple bobbed, and with a gulp, he swallowed the Pill.

The next second, surging True Qi erupted from his body!

The blast of energy was violent and wild, blowing Chen Che and Shen Qi backward.

Landing back on the ground, Chen Che immediately shouted an order: "Take them and hide!"

Shen Qi also guessed that what Bai Xiangjin had swallowed was a Pill; he had already experienced how evil and powerful such a Pill could be.

Knowing that staying behind would only be a hindrance to Chen Che, he immediately used his True Qi to form a Protective Shield, shielding Jiang Lan and her family of three behind him, and hid as far away as possible.

"What happened?"

Jiang Lan's bangs were ruffled by the blast of energy; she squinted her eyes and asked.

"Bai Xiangjin has gone mad!"

Shen Qi did not answer directly, but instead stared vigilantly at the distance and urged, "Stay hidden behind me; don't cause trouble for Mr. Chen!"

Jiang Lan's face showed shock. Although she didn't know exactly what had happened, she could still see the situation on the scene.

Especially Bai Xiangjin's sudden change and Shen Qi's panicked appearance; even Chen Che was showing tension at this moment.

Clearly, the situation was critical!

Jiang Lan looked toward that resilient figure, her beautiful eyes filled with intense worry.

Chen Che stared at Bai Xiangjin, whose True Qi was growing crazily within his body; the wrist that had been broken by Shen Qi returned to its original state after a few twists.

True Qi permeated the area around his body, morphing into a coat of True Qi, with eight tentacles extending from the rib area of the coat, dancing flexibly and violently according to his thoughts.

Bai Xiangjin carefully examined the changes in his body and laughed ferociously: "So this is True Qi, this is the feeling of becoming a Martial Artist! It's truly amazing!"

"Madman!"

Chen Che sneered: "The Pill provides you with True Qi, but at the same time, it is draining your life force. In less than half an hour, your body will completely collapse!"

"Half an hour is enough for me to kill you!"

Before Bai Xiangjin had finished speaking, he had already leaped into the air, and the eight True Qi tentacles stretched out in an instant, striking swiftly toward Chen Che.

"Boom... boom, boom, boom......"

Chen Che leaped left and right to dodge, barely evading the attacks.

Every spot on the ground hit by the True Qi tentacles developed a shallow pit, and cracks spread outward from the center of each pit.

Through the power and speed of the True Qi tentacles, Chen Che judged that Bai Xiangjin now possessed the full strength of an Innate Grandmaster.

And as his life force continued to be drained, the power he erupted with would become even stronger.

A thin layer of sweat appeared on Chen Che's forehead. He steadied his stance again, formed seals with his hands, and fully activated the Array Diagram!

"Ha... hahahahaha......"

Bai Xiangjin laughed maniacally, charging into the range of the Array Diagram without any hesitation, his eight True Qi tentacles striking the ground simultaneously.

"Boom!"

A loud noise rang out, the ground shook, the factory's concrete floor shattered, and cracks several meters deep snaked and spread like long serpents.

The Array Diagram, operating at full power, vanished in an instant; Chen Che suffered a backlash, retreated several zhang, and before he could steady himself, a mouthful of blood gushed out.

Seeing this, Shen Qi and Jiang Lan both felt their hearts tighten.

"Ahahaha... Hahaha..."

Bai Xiangjin lunged out from the dust of the ruins, his face covered in blood; clearly, the side effects of the Pill had reached their peak.

The True Qi in his body also grew to its zenith at this moment, and a monster covered in tentacles appeared in the sky behind him, laughing wildly as it lunged at Chen Che once more.

Chen Che wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, steeled his heart, changed his hand seals, and finally clapped his palms together with a smack, shouting lowly: "Rise!"

True Qi surged out from his body and gathered rapidly above his head; the True Qi Python appeared once again, and as its body writhed, dense scales grew upon it.

"Hiss~~"

A pair of thunderous horns grew from its head, and amidst a hiss, it held a fireball in its mouth.

Seeing this scene, Bai Xiangjin's ferocious smile faltered for a moment, and he said in surprise: "You have actually been hiding your strength all along! No wonder Wen Meng died at your hands, and no wonder that person said you had secrets!"

"Pfft!"

Chen Che and Bai Xiangjin both spat out a mouthful of blood at the same time; one was being drained by the Pill, the other was being eroded by the Great Red Sun Poison, and both had reached their limits.

The final strike, a moment of life and death!

"Die!"

Bai Xiangjin opened his mouth wide in a ferocious roar, and the tentacle monster above his head launched its attack.

Chen Che swung his arm forward and shouted: "Kill!"

The python lunged toward the tentacle monster, and as they made contact, the tentacles instantly coiled around the python's entire body.

The python roared, its sharp scales standing on end, slicing all the tentacles to pieces.

At the same time, the True Qi Python's body rapidly coiled and constricted, strangling the tentacle monster tightly, then raised its head and bit down.

"Boom!!!"

The fireball in its mouth and the thunderous horns on its head launched their attacks simultaneously; in an instant, lightning and flames soared into the sky.

The factory was filled with blinding white light, and the next instant, an explosion rang out, leveling the entire factory to the ground in a flash.