Chapter 295: Thank you

Youming Laoze's breathing was erratic, and his eyes revealed a sense of unwillingness, but his body was already exhausted. "You have won... but I will not let this rest." After saying this, his figure gradually vanished, leaving only residual black mist slowly dissipating in the air.

"Phew—finally finished!" Xiao Qing let out a sigh of relief and put away the Long Sword in her hand.

Wang Zhenqiu clapped the dust off his hands: "It's fortunate we had the help of this little girl, otherwise it wouldn't have been easy for us to win."

Lin Xuan nodded slightly and looked at the little girl gratefully: "Thank you."

The figure of Youming Laoze condensed once again from the black mist, his cold eyes filled with resentment and unwillingness. "Hmph, do you think you can defeat me like this? Too naive!" He roared, his figure flickered, and his entire body instantly transformed into a mass of thick black energy, attacking the three of them—Wang Zhenqiu and the others.

Xiao Qing immediately became vigilant; she gripped her Long Sword tightly, watching the changes before her with caution. At the same time, Lin Xuan and Wang Zhenqiu also assumed combat stances, preparing their defenses. "Don't give him a chance to catch his breath, we must finish him in one go!" Wang Zhenqiu shouted.

The black energy twisted like a giant snake, suddenly splitting apart and attacking the three people from different directions. Facing this situation, the three of them tacitly dispersed, attempting to form a pincer movement to restrain Youming Laoze.

"Watch out! His attacks are highly toxic, you must not get touched." Lin Xuan warned loudly, the short blade in his hand gleaming with a silvery-white light as he precisely slashed at a strand of approaching black energy.

Youming Laoze sneered: "Foolish! My power comes from darkness itself; you cannot defeat me!" As soon as he finished speaking, the black energy that had been separated suddenly converged as if it had a mind of its own, rapidly forming a human shape in the air and swinging a palm toward Xiao Qing, who was closest to him. This move was both fast and vicious, catching the little girl off guard.

However, at this critical moment, Wang Zhenqiu flew out from the side, blocking the girl with his body. After a loud "Boom—", a powerful impact threw both of them away violently. When they stood up again, a pitch-black patch could be seen on Wang Zhenqiu's arm; he had clearly been injured and poisoned. "What... what is this thing?" The man frowned as he looked at his arm, which was gradually losing sensation.

Seeing this, Lin Xuan's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly took out a Pill emitting a gentle glow and handed it to him: "Take this first to stop the poison from spreading!" At the same time, he turned to Xiao Qing, who was still struggling to control the energy in her body to recover: "How are you? Can you still hold on?"

"Mm..." Xiao Qing nodded, but her eyes were full of worry for her companion's safety. "Don't look down on me! This little injury is nothing." Wang Zhenqiu smiled reluctantly and bit down hard on the Antidote Pill in his mouth.

Just then, the sky became abnormally gloomy, and the surroundings seemed to be shrouded in boundless darkness. "You ungrateful wretches! Today I will make you know the price of offending me." As the voice fell, the temperature in the entire area dropped by several degrees.

Just as the atmosphere fell into extreme oppression, a crisp voice suddenly broke the silence: "If you want to hurt my friends, you have to ask me if I agree first!" Accompanying these words, a figure in a white long dress appeared lightly before everyone—it was none other than their friend Liu Ruyan, who had not appeared for a long time but could always provide support at critical moments.

She elegantly waved the White Jade Flute in her hand, and instantly, the air seemed to gain a bit more vitality and life. "It seems I will have to trouble everyone to put in a little more effort." Having said that, several strands of pure light leaped from Liu Ruyan's fingertips and rushed directly toward Youming Laoze...

The battle became even more intense and spectacular. The four of them cooperated closely, taking turns to distract and weaken the enemy. Whenever someone was injured or in poor condition, they would always receive timely help from the other companions. Gradually, the situation shifted—although they were still at a disadvantage, they did not give up any opportunity to fight for victory...

Just as the scene reached its climax, Youming Laoze finally showed signs of exhaustion; he knew that it might be difficult for him to completely defeat these tenacious young people. "Damn it... to think I still failed..." Looking at the four forces of light pressing in on him, he couldn't help but mutter to himself.

"It's not over yet, we've only just begun!" Wang Zhenqiu's firm voice broke the silence. At this very moment, everyone had the same thought: no matter what, they could not let this evil existence escape again...

A complex expression flashed in Youming Laoze's eyes, and then the corners of his mouth curled up: "If that's the case, then just wait and see; this game has only just begun."

After speaking, his entire body suddenly burst forth with even thicker black radiance, and then, as if sucked into a black hole by something, he rapidly shrank until he disappeared...

The surroundings returned to calm, leaving only a few figures with heavy breathing standing and supporting each other. "Is it really over?" Lin Xuan asked, his gaze filled with both relief and lingering unease. "No, it is far from over; we must quickly find a way to Seal him completely!" Liu Ruyan replied seriously.

Wang Zhenqiu sighed and looked at Xiao Qing, who was still on edge, and said gently: "You've worked hard; today, being able to reach this point is all thanks to you."

A smile appeared on Xiao Qing's face, and her eyes looked at everyone brightly: "As long as we are together, everything will be fine, right?"

Before the words had faded, a strange fluctuation suddenly surged in the air. Wang Zhenqiu's expression changed, and he immediately stood up, scanning the surroundings vigilantly. Xiao Qing also sensed that something was wrong; she gripped her weapon tightly and said in a low voice: "There's movement, it seems to be an Array."

Just then, the ground suddenly began to shake, and a complex magic Rune rapidly expanded and spread beneath their feet. The light shone, forming a huge circle of light that enveloped the three of them.

Lin Xuan frowned, quickly taking a thick ancient book from his backpack: "This thing looks a bit familiar..." He flipped through the pages, scanning the incantations and diagrams on them rapidly, "Right, this is a type of maze mechanism designed by an Ancient Mechanism! If we don't break it, we might never be able to get out."

"What?! You mean we've been locked up?!" Xiao Qing looked at Lin Xuan in surprise, "Then hurry up and find a way to break it!"

Wang Zhenqiu said in a deep voice: "No need to be too impatient, let's analyze the situation calmly first." But his inner tension and unease were no less than the others', "Lin Xuan, you continue checking the book's contents, and Xiao Qing and I will look around to see if there are any other exits or clues."