CHAPTER 537: CHAPTER 537. WE MEAN YOU NO HARM

An unprecedented rage welled up inside Da Niu. He had known from the start that Amon was trouble. That’s why he tried to kill Amon when Prince Huang Zhan invited Amon to Fort Lion’s Den. Huang Zhan asked him only to wound Amon, but he planned to blame it on an accidental kill. He was terribly surprised that Amon survived his ambush punch.

He now wished he could have gone back in time and made a full effort to kill Amon then. To hell with the consequences of disobeying Prince Huang Zhan’s order. But like the thoughts of any other man who had regrets, that was all he could afford, a wish to turn back time.

"Amoonnn...!!!" He advanced to where he sensed Amon. He wanted to at least take Amon to the afterlife with him, but he sensed three people came between him and his prey. The closest was the irksome ape.

The two exchanged blows using their fists without bothering to block. Each punch of Da Niu broke Wu Di’s bones, but he didn’t seem to care. Each of Wu Di’s punches generated explosions that stopped Da Niu from advancing. The two seemed to be in a stalemate.

It was when the water blanket reappeared and wrapped around Da Niu’s arms that the scale was tipped. Huang Er also acted. She slapped her hands on the metal platform, and an earth mound appeared under Da Niu’s feet. This earth mound locked his two legs.

Wu Di didn’t waste this opportunity. He charged forward and landed his gigantified fist right on Da Niu’s face. His Ignition Fist threw Da Niu away. Da Niu slammed into the metal platform and broke it. The momentum kept him tumbling in space. His body was rigid without any movement.

"The poison has taken over him," Amon remarked. Da Niu had succumbed to his poison. Wu Di and Huang Er flew over to ensure.

The stump on Amon’s right shoulder had stopped spurting blood. He ended his body-strengthening meridian points technique and used a different meridian points technique to stop the bleeding. He had also consumed recovery and regrowth pills.

Xin Wuming stood before Amon. He was in an even worse condition than Amon. He had a hole in his abdomen, but this hole was slowly mending in real-time.

"I know you have a special constitution that gave you rapid healing," a familiar female voice sounded beside them. They turned in the voice’s direction and saw Sima Fang appearing out of thin air. In her hand was a talisman.

Sima Fang was the one who used the water blanket to support them while being invisible. She could be invisible because of the talisman. Amon recognized the words of power on the talisman to be similar to the invisible talisman Gui Xa used. However, hers must be a better version because Gui Xa’s low-tier runic invisible talisman could only fool Mystic Stage cultivators and below. Sima Fang was undetectable even for their Spirit Sense. This indicated the talisman in her hand was at least mid-tier runic grade.

The talisman turned into ash. It was a one-time-use tool.

"I thought talismans were prohibited from being brought inside the trial," Amon said.

"I never pegged you for someone who is a stickler for rules," Sima Fang returned.

Amon was interested in how she could bypass the kingdom official’s inspection and smuggle the talisman, but his other interest was greater.

"How did you survive?" Amon asked. "That one punch should have killed you. You seemed to be devoid of any harm."

"A girl has to have her secrets," Sima Fang winked at Amon. "I am also interested in your expertise in poison and Wuming’s ridiculous healing power, but you don’t hear me demanding an answer, do you?"

By then, the hole in Xin Wuming’s body, which was originally as big as a human’s head, had shrunk to a small fist-size hole.

After confirming Da Niu’s death, Wu Di and Huang Er reconvened with them.

"I didn’t expect you to have such an interesting special constitution, dude," Wu Di told Xin Wuming. "No wonder you fight like you have no fear of danger."

"That’s rich coming from you," Xin Wuming returned. "Your recovery power during your ape-form is no less impressive."

"Hehe, we made quite a team, eh?" Wu Di lifted his hand in a high-five pose. Xin Wuming ignored his gesture.

"Tch! You are still no fun at all," Wu Di said. "Well, I’m just glad we all survived."

Huang Er approached Sima Fang. They were silent, but Amon did not doubt the two were communicating via their mind link. Amon let them be. Huang Er’s body language showed that she was rather apprehensive. Sima Fang appeared more relaxed. Not long after, Huang Er addressed Amon’s team.

"What is your plan now? Are you going to eliminate us?" Huang Er asked.

"No need to worry, princess. We mean you no harm," Wu Di replied.

"See?" Sima Fang said. "If they wanted to eliminate us, they would have waited until Da Niu was finished with us before acting."

"Really?" Huang Er sounded skeptical.

"Our liege, Prince Huang San, is concerned with your safety," Wu Di explained. "That’s why he sent us to save you while he faced Prince Huang Zhan."

"Huang San did that...? Does he not wish to win this trial by getting rid of us?"

"There is no need for us to do that," Amon said. "We’ve already won this trial. We could leave if we wanted to. The only reason we stayed was to save you and to eliminate Huang Zhan. That man is too dangerous to be left alive."

"It appears you know something about this trial that we do not," Sima Fang remarked, to which Amon shrugged in response.

"What do you mean about Brother Huang Zhan?" Huang Er asked.

Amon explained to her about Huang Zhan’s ploy to eliminate all of them inside this trial. He also told her that Huang Zhan was the one who assassinated the first and third princes. All this time, Huang Er harbored great hatred for Huang Zi because she thought he was the culprit. It never crossed her mind that she had accused the wrong person. Due to this revelation, she felt guilty to Huang Zi. She planned to apologize once this trial was over.

Sadly, Amon’s next news dashed her plan. Amon informed her that Huang Zi had fallen. He had been murdered by Huang Zhan in this trial, just as she would be if they had not arrived in time to save her.

Huang Er didn’t find Amon’s words hard to believe. Huang Zhan’s team was, after all, hell-bent on killing her. This information made her feel indebted to Huang San. She planned to thank him once this trial was over.

Amon intentionally disclosed this information. Since Huang San didn’t allow him to take out Huang Er, the next best option was to make her willingly accept Huang San as the winner of this trial.

"Are you sure your team will win this trial? If that is true, I don’t mind," Huang Er said. "You said he is facing Huang Zhan? We should go to aid him. Huang Zhan’s cultivation is much higher than his."

Amon smiled at her words. "Don’t worry. Huang San is also a Spirit Stage cultivator now. He is with my subordinate. They won’t lose."

"Really?" Huang Er was surprised. "Now that you mentioned it, how did you all improve your cultivation levels so drastically in just these few days?"

"We have our secret," Amon responded.

Wu Di wasn’t as secretive as Amon. He gladly revealed the reason for their improvement. "We gained the grand prize stored inside the vault of this pocket world."

"Huh? There is a grand prize?" Huang Er asked.

Wu Di explained the details about the grand prize and how they achieved the feat. Amon didn’t mind. The grand prize was already theirs. Their victory points were already higher than the other teams. He could end this trial now by shutting down this pocket world remotely. There was no way for the other teams to catch up to them. Hence, this information wouldn’t benefit Huang Er’s team. He didn’t share the information earlier simply because he didn’t see any benefit in doing it.

While talking to Huang Er, Amon didn’t neglect Sima Fang’s reaction. The princess appeared to be genuinely okay with her team losing this trial. As for Sima Fang, her expression didn’t change, but Amon could see in her eyes that she was displeased. Whether her displeasure was due to her side losing this trial or because of learning about their improved cultivation levels, he could not tell.

"Anyway, I still worry about Brother Huang San. I also want to say my piece to Huang Zhan," Huang Er said. "Let’s go to where they are."

"In that case, follow me, Your Highness," Wu Di said. "We can head there together."

Huang Er followed Wu Di. The hole in Xin Wuming’s chest had completely mended by then. He followed behind Huang Er. Sima Fang and Amon were the last.

"Lady first," Amon said.

"Never pegged you for a gentleman," Sima Fang said.

Amon didn’t respond to that. He stayed in his position and stared at her. Sima Fang smiled and flew following the others. Amon followed behind her. His eyes never left her back.