I Don’t Want to Get Hurt, So I’ll Max Out My Defense

Chapter 323: 324 Blackened Scorched Earth

Translator: 549690339

Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and was stunned. Outside the small grove, a pitch-black screen had enveloped the area.

The once-bright sky had turned dark and gloomy. They had not noticed it before, but now, reminded by the situation, they all realized something was amiss.

The black substance fluttered in the wind, spreading continuously towards their location. They had never seen such a thing before, but this was No-Man’s Land, so it wasn’t unusual for some strange things to emerge occasionally.

“What is this?”

“Even at the periphery, we’ve encountered such an existence!”

“What exactly is going on?”

The cultivators were in chaos, trying to escape, only to discover that they had been completely sealed in by the black ocean surrounding them. Although no one recognized this thing, they all knew if they were caught by this sinister substance, there would be no good end.

Some cultivators with high cultivation levels tried to escape into the sky with their flying skills, only to suddenly realize that beyond their small grove, the wasteland was entirely consumed by the black matter.

It waved in the wind, making crackling noises incessantly.

“It’s fire, this black substance is fire!”

“The whole wasteland has turned into a black sea of fire, we are surrounded!”

The cultivator screamed in horror. The vast wasteland was shrouded in darkness, extending beyond sight. If one were to fly blindly in it, they would quickly lose their sense of direction. Even with his deep cultivation, he did not want to take the risk.

“Damn it, how could we encounter such a thing at the edge? Aren’t creatures of this level supposed to stay in the core area?”

The black shadows within the small grove shivered, and the overwhelming black flames instilled a deep fear in their hearts.

The expressions of the people trapped in the center also changed; this black fire was an entirely unknown entity. If they had a chance to break through against the hunters in the dark, facing this eerie fire, they saw no hope of survival.

The consequence of encountering such an existence in the frontier’s No-Man’s Land, they knew all too well.

“Miss, I’m afraid we’re done for today!”

“Even if we have to die, we must get the young lady out. Isn’t it just a sea of fire? We’ll carve a path through it at the cost of our lives!”

“Right, the young lady is our hope; she must not come to harm!”

“We’ll try to break through from the west in a moment. Young lady, don’t return to the frontier; go straight to Central Province for reinforcements!”

The group of guards had a resolve to die in their eyes, ready to make the ultimate sacrifice.

“My uncles, there’s no need for this. To release such Divine Fire must be the act of a mighty being. Forcing our way through would just mean a senseless death. Let me negotiate with it. If it’s an intelligent being, perhaps it will spare us for the sake of my father’s reputation.”

The ice-cold beauty in the center of the crowd stopped everyone’s movement.

“But…”

The guards wanted to say more, but the woman interrupted them with a raised hand.

“I cannot watch you throw your lives away senselessly. Today, it is I who have dragged you into this. Stay here and wait, I will go and negotiate. Whether we live or die, we must at least try.”

With that, the woman stepped forward, parting the crowd, and called out to the raging black flames ahead, “May I ask which esteemed senior is in front? My father, Marquis of Zhenyuan, Yang Guang, if the senior is acquainted with him, please grant us a convenience for my father’s sake and allow us passage. My father will surely repay the debt!”

The dozens of men in black within the woods scoffed at this. What a joke, the black fire was clearly not something humans could unleash. It was obvious that the powerful creatures active in the frontier region were definitely the likes of Flesh Mountain, driven only by the desire to destroy, with no possibility of negotiation.

This woman must be out of her mind.

“Leader, what should we do?”

“Let’s put the task aside for now, this woman surely won’t be able to escape. Let’s retreat first, using this small forest as a point of reference to generally identify the direction. Head back to camp first, then plan our next move!”

“Understood!”

The black-clothed figures quickly reached a consensus. Facing such a high-level creature, there was no chance for the mission target to survive, which was, in a way, equivalent to mission completion.

“While this foolish woman is drawing the monster’s attention, let’s make our escape hastily!”

“Let’s go…”

In the jungle, shadows flickered as dozens of escaping lights sparked, all soaring into the sky and fleeing into the distance.

But at that moment, a faint sound of surprise reached their ears.

“Are there actually people here?”

Amidst the black flames, a humanoid figure stepped out slowly, with two long ravines burning and collapsing behind them, spreading outward.

In just an instant, a chill swept over everyone present.

The newcomer was not the frontier monster they had imagined, but a cultivator—and such a formidable cultivator at that! What could their cultivation level be?

Probably even the very top defenders in the frontier didn’t possess such strength, right?

“Giggle, boy, there are people here, and a girl too!”

Ji Wuqing clucked in the lead, its eyes sparkling with excitement. It relished the feeling of being the center of attention.

“Hmm, I see them. What a familiar face, what a lovely person.”

Li Xiaobai looked at the cultivators in front of him and smiled faintly. It was better seeing human faces after all; playing solo games in the wilderness felt somewhat dull. The appearance of these cultivators was quite timely.

The dozens of black-clothed men in the sky were horrified. Such a grand spectacle had been caused by a single cultivator, an undoubtedly significant presence.

“Run quickly!”

The lead black-clothed man’s figure flashed explosively, moving through the void like lightning, with the other black-clothed men following closely behind, fleeing desperately. The threat from Li Xiaobai below was too overwhelming.

“Am I that scary?”

Watching the people in the sky flee in a panic, Li Xiaobai sighed, waved his hand casually, and the sky full of black flames surged, creating waves of fiery fury. In the blink of an eye, the black-clothed figures were engulfed within them, and without even a scream, they were burnt to ashes, not even leaving bone fragments.

These men were masked in black, but the cultivators trapped in the center were covered in blood, clearly involved in a typical scene of murder for treasure.

Li Xiaobai didn’t have any good feelings towards the black-clothed men; it wasn’t a big problem to simply slaughter them.

However, these black-clothed men seemed to have only average cultivation levels. The deaths of dozens did not give Hellfire a significant leap but only added ten percentage points—a bit underwhelming.

[Hellfire (Divine Level Skill): Current coverage range: Zero (ninety/one hundred) can advance.]

“Giggle, boy, don’t burn the lord here, quickly put out the flames!”

Ji Wuqing complained unsatisfied. It was a rare chance to encounter cultivators, and the atmosphere couldn’t be better; it wanted to show off a bit.

Li Xiaobai silently extinguished the flames and kicked it away before turning to the stunned group ahead.

“Where did you all come from?”