OUTSIDE OF TIME

The surrounding wind seemed to have frozen up at this moment.

Captain Lei's eyes that were filled with death intent finally had a ripple in them. He took a long look at Xu Qing and then suddenly let out a low bellow.

"Kid, hurry up and go!"

However, Xu Qing didn't listen to Captain Lei's request but stared at the Bloodshadow Team Captain with narrowed eyes.

The Bloodshadow Team Captain also took a proper look at Xu Qing for the very first time. When he saw the three corpses next to the youth, his face twitched slightly. He had to admit that he had made a mistake in his assessment of the Thunder Team.

Barbaric Ghost's fearlessness of death was one of them, and this kid who had suddenly appeared was another.

"Kill him!"

The Bloodshadow Team Captain let out a cold snort and decided not to drag out the battle just to avoid injuries.

As he spoke, his aura exploded forth and he punched out toward Captain Lei. Hence, he instantly got entangled in an intense battle with Captain Lei.

On the other hand, the other middle-aged man at the fifth level of Qi Condensation let out a sinister smile as he turned and ran toward Xu Qing.

As he moved forward, all of his spirit energy was released and he also cracked his knuckles, revealing a brutal expression.

Even though this youth had astonishing speed and had instantly killed three of his comrades, he was still certain that given he had just made a breakthrough to the fifth level, it'd be an easy feat for him to kill this kid.

At this moment, Xu Qing narrowed his eyes and the cold light in them grew even more intense.

Based on his judgment of his fights earlier, he felt that he'd be able to kill someone at the fourth level of Qi Condensation, but as for the fifth level... He hadn't fought against one before, so he wasn't sure.

With a sway, Xu Qing charged out abruptly with great speed, heading straight for the middle-aged man. He then threw out a punch the instant he got close.

The middle-aged cultivator's lips curled up into a disdainful smile.

The instant Xu Qing arrived, the spirit energy fluctuations outside the middle-aged man's body turned into an invisible barrier that came into contact with Xu Qing's fist.

As a result, a loud boom rang out, and cracks appeared on the barrier, but it didn't crumble.

On the contrary, an intense counteracting force was emitted, causing Xu Qing's wrist that came into contact with the barrier to emit cracking sounds. It was directly dislocated.

Hence, Xu Qing's eyes narrowed and he dodged to the side. At the same time, he swung out his right hand fiercely, forcibly connecting back his dislocated wrist. Viciousness flashed in his eyes. He didn't retreat but struck out another punch with all his power again.

As a result, a rumbling sound rang out and the barrier that was covered in cracks finally broke down completely.

However, the instant it broke into pieces, a crazy impact expanded out abruptly from within. The invisible force then kicked up soil while surging toward Xu Qing, enveloping his entire body.

The invisible pieces from the shattered barrier seemed like many sharp blades that couldn't be seen, leaving behind many bloody marks on Xu Qing's body. It was a shocking sight.

Xu Qing's entire body trembled.

His thin body then retreated unceasingly because of the impact, and many bloody wounds could be seen appearing on various parts of his body. Also, his wrist that had just recovered became dislocated once more and hung unnaturally by the side.

"Fool!"

"A mere body refiner isn't worthy to fight a spellcaster, let alone someone like you who is at the third level yet wanting to overestimate yourself to fight me who is at the fifth level."

As the soil landed, the disdain in the middle-aged cultivator's gaze became even more intense.

However, he was also surprised. He didn't expect that his spirit energy barrier would collapse after the second punch.

Thankfully, he had made a breakthrough to the fifth level not long ago, causing his spirit energy barrier to be able to explode despite shattering. Otherwise, he'd be caught at a loss in the situation earlier.

Xu Qing frowned. He was staring at the middle-aged man as if he couldn't feel the intense pain coming from his entire body and his arm. While staring, he placed his right hand on the ground and used it as a medium to slam his wrist into, returning the dislocated joint back to its original spot.

The middle-aged cultivator, who was walking toward Xu Qing, saw the viciousness he displayed and couldn't help but pause in his footsteps as his eyes narrowed slightly. He then raised both hands and quickly performed a set of mudras.

Spirit energy once again gathered outside of his body. After that, it transformed into a fireball the size of a human head and whistled toward Xu Qing.

This fireball had astonishing power, causing distortion in the surroundings. This showed that its temperature was extremely high.

After the fireball got near, Xu Qing shifted to the side and dodged it. However, the fireball continued to chase after him.

The middle-aged man's eyes were now gleaming with killing intent. He didn't forget to erect another barrier outside his body as he simultaneously performed a set of mudras, manifesting the second and third fireball that also pursued Xu Qing.

Xu Qing's eyes contracted as he watched the three fireballs coming for him, sealing up all his escape paths. He rolled over to one of the corpses he had killed earlier and threw it fiercely toward one of the fireballs.

With a boom, the fireball and corpse came into contact and the corpse instantly burned up. The entire process lasted less than three breaths of time before the corpse turned into ashes.

This gave Xu Qing a direct assessment of the fireball's might.

At this moment, the air was radiating heat from the fireballs, and it caused his entire body to instantly turn red. Hence, he moved his body and wanted to dodge, but the second and third fireballs had already gotten close.

Under the middle-aged man's sinister gaze, the fireballs exploded fiercely the instant they got close, not allowing Xu Qing to have a chance to escape.

Boom!

The flames spread to a very wide range, and the resulting high temperature had a shockingly high level of killing prowess.

It was hard for Xu Qing to completely avoid the impact in this area. Although he had avoided half of the flames with his speed, he still ended up with a lot of blisters. Moreover, as the water vapor in the air evaporated, it felt as if even his internal organs were burning.

"Fire Crow, hurry up!"

The Bloodshadow Team Captain, who was engaging Captain Lei in the distance, let out a low bellow.

"Understood, Captain. This b*stard can at most take two more of my fireballs before he completely turns into a dry corpse!"

The middle-aged man who was called Fire Crow laughed. As he looked toward Xu Qing, the cruelty in his gaze grew even more. After that, he raised his right hand and two more burning fireballs appeared next to him. When he swung his hand, the fireballs flew quickly toward Xu Qing.

He was worried that Xu Qing would dodge, so he repeated what he had done earlier, controlling the two fireballs to suddenly explode when they got near Xu Qing. The explosions then permeated the surroundings, sealing up all of Xu Qing's escape routes.

As a result, blazing heat spread and fire was burning on the ground. Many trees were then burned down into ashes, unable to cover the light from the sky. This caused the sunlight to shine upon the ground, merging with the light from the flames and temporarily obstructing Fire Crow's vision.

However, he was very confident that there wouldn't be an issue for him to kill someone on the third level with his fireballs when he was at the fifth level.

Therefore, he wiped his hands. Although he was a little out of breath, his gaze was still disdainful. He turned and walked toward where Captain Lei and the Bloodshadow Team Captain were fighting.

"Captain Lei, your subordinate is useless."

Fire Crow sneered coldly as he walked over. However, he didn't see any despair in Captain Lei's eyes. On the contrary, he saw a change in the Bloodshadow Team Captain's expression.

Fire Crow's reaction was very fast as well, and he quickly dodged to the side.

However, it was still too late. A small and skinny figure shot out from behind him, landing two consecutive punches to the spirit energy barrier outside Fire Crow's body.

As a result, the barrier shuddered intensely and shattered a moment later. Under the impact eruption, although the small and skinny figure was forced to back off, a dagger and an iron stick flew forth ruthlessly in a sneak attack.

Even so, the impact caused by the collapse of the barrier obstructed the weapons to a certain extent, causing the dagger's speed to be slower when moving closer to Fire Crow. This gave Fire Crow a chance to dodge.

Fire Crow rapidly evaded, but the dagger still cut through one of his ears, sending blood splattering everywhere. As for the iron stick, it penetrated his chest, causing him to spurt out blood. It was a pity that he wasn't hit in critical spots, so the attacks weren't fatal.

The intense pain caused Fire Crow's eyes to turn red and made him howl. After he miserably dodged the attacks, he stared furiously behind him.

In his vision, he saw the wolf-like figure of the youth stomp the embers on the ground and retreat seven to eight zhangs away. He was half-crouching and looked ready to take action.

His body was flushed red and still covered in blisters, but at this moment, the glow from the setting sun reflected in the youth's eyes. In his eyes... there was a gleam as cold as ice. His killing intent hadn't diminished at all!