60 Atonemen

Li Xuan's strength was used up by the time his cleave tore through the Buddha-patterned flower petals. Furthermore, he wasn't able to dodge in midair. The Sky Conch was too slow at flying, making it unable to keep up with Li Xuan. It was still gliding at a relatively high altitude and the direction in which it was heading wasn't towards Li Xuan.

Suddenly a fist appeared beneath Li Xuan's feet, striking his soles. Zhou Wen had come flying over!

Li Xuan exerted Strength in his feet as he stepped onto Zhou Wen's fists and used this as an impetus to soar high into the sky. Zhou Wen ended up plummeting rapidly, allowing them to dodge the toad's venomous shot.

Li Xuan used his momentum to leap onto the lotus receptacle and cleaved down at the venomous toad's head. After the saber beam flashed by, Li Xuan flew back in retreat, jumping out of the lotus receptacle.

Bang!

The venomous toad exploded like a bomb, splattering venomous liquid in every direction like flying arrows, covering a massive region.

Li Xuan was already unable to dodge the attack while in midair, but the Sky Conch which had been constantly in the sky arrived in the nick of time, putting its body in between Li Xuan and the venomous liquid.

Zhou Wen also landed on the Mutated Skeleton Ant before leaping up once again, jumping back tens of feet to dodge the range of the venom's splash.

The venom was extremely terrifying. The Sky Conch's body was immediately corroded like snow touching ember. With a tragic cry, it fell straight into the pond.

When Zhou Wen landed, the Mutated Skeleton Ant had already stopped beneath his feet. On the contrary, Li Xuan was plummeting straight into the pond without having any place to land his feet.

The Dragon-Scaled Turtle, which was meant to catch Li Xuan, was still a distance from Li Xuan under Xu Miantu's flustered commandeering. It was apparent that he wasn't going to arrive in time.

Zhou Wen had just landed on the Mutated Skeleton Ant and it was already too late for him to command it to rush over when he saw this scene. He stomped on the Mutated Skeleton Ant and flew across the pond for Li Xuan, pulling him up just as his back was about to touch the water.

However, Zhou Wen's leap was ultimately limited. He soon began falling.

"Miantu, what are you waiting for? Quick catch us!" Li Xuan, who had been pulled up by Zhou Wen, shouted at the nearby Xu Miantu.

Xu Miantu watched Zhou Wen and Li Xuan fall from about three to four meters away. He was likely to able to reach the two of them if he extended his arms while getting the Dragon-Scaled Turtle to speed up.

However, he stood there motionless. He clenched his teeth in silence as his forehead's veins throbbed. Ultimately, he chose not to do a thing.

"Xu Miantu, why!?" Li Xuan wore a grimace. At this stage, it was already obvious to him that Xu Miantu had deliberately thrown him and Zhou Wen into a trap.

From the initial provoking of Yang Lie to turning a blind eye to their peril, everything was a deliberate ruse by Xu Miantu.

The only person who was capable of doing this had to win the trust of Li Xuan and to know everything about him—Xu Miantu.

However, Li Xuan could do nothing. All he could do was stare intently at Xu Miantu as the duo were on the brink of falling into the pond.

There were exclamations on the bank. After all, they were still students. Even if they didn't like Zhou Wen or Li Xuan, none of them wished them dead.

With Li Xuan and Zhou Wen about to fall into the pond, Xu Miantu's face read, I had no choice. Don't blame me.

Am I really such a failure as a friend? Li Xuan, who had been staring at him, could read his lips. He couldn't help but feel a dreary sadness. The people he thought were his friends—Jiang Hao and Xu Miantu—had both betrayed him. It left him downhearted.

Just as Zhou Wen and Li Xuan were about to fall into the water, a white and silver beam shimmered above the lotus pond.

Silver light swirled behind Zhou Wen as four transparent wings appeared behind him. They were rapidly flapping as they pulled him and Li Xuan up, allowing them to escape certain doom.

Impossible… How do you have a Companion Beast capable of flight? Xu Miantu looked at the flying Zhou Wen, feeling alarmed and afraid. His expression was distorted beyond description.

With Li Xuan in tow, Zhou Wen landed on the Dragon-Scaled Turtle's back. He looked at Xu Miantu and said, "I kept giving you an opportunity, but unfortunately, you still did it."

"Have you always suspected me? So you deliberately hid the fact that you own a Companion Beast capable of flight?" Xu Miantu stared at Zhou Wen in alarm and anger.

"If it weren't the case, how would I be able to test if you really treat me as a friend?" Zhou Wen said indifferently. "I'm cool-natured and do not know how to be nice to others, so when others are nice to me, I suspect if they have any ulterior motives. Although I also wish that you really had treated me as a friend, the facts have unfortunately proven that this world is as cruel as I imagined."

Having said that, Zhou Wen glanced to the side of the lotus pond. He saw a beautiful girl floating in the sky with a pair of pure-white wings. This beautiful and holy beast was shockingly the legendary angel Companion Beast.

This angel Companion Beast had flown over and across the lotus pond almost at the same time that Zhou Wen had summoned the Silver-Winged Flying Ant.

"Thank you." Zhou Wen looked at An Jing riding the white horse's back. Zhou Wen had understood An Jing's warning; he had just feigned ignorance to test Xu Miantu.

At the instant the angel Companion Beast appeared, even if Zhou Wen didn't like An Jing as a person, he felt that he needed to thank her.

"I was afraid you wouldn't die and wanted to make your death a clean one. From the looks of it, I don't have an opportunity," An Jing said with a deadpan expression as she reached out her hand to withdraw her angel Companion Beast. She then rode the white horse away.

"Xu Miantu, give me a reason to let you live," Li Xuan said to him with a cold glare.

"Brother Xuan, I'm sorry. I was really forced. I was forced by your brother… Please, spare me…" Xu Miantu plopped to his knees as he hugged Li Xuan's legs to beg for mercy.

"You've once risked your life for me. I can choose not to take your life, but you tried not only to harm me but Zhou Wen as well. Your life isn't enough to atone two lives." Li Xuan kicked Xu Miantu away and turned around. With his back facing Xu Miantu, he said, "Scram. If you can leave Luoyang alive, I'll spare your life."

Xu Miantu wore a livid expression. He was from the Li family and knew what it was capable of. As long as Li Xuan was unwilling to spare him, there was no way he could live Luoyang alive.

In his despair, a look of hatred flashed in Xu Miantu's eyes. He pounced at Li Xuan with all his might, roaring with a ferocious look. "Then let's die together!"

Just as Xu Miantu was about to pounce on Li Xuan, the latter took a sidestep to dodge him as though he had eyes on his back.

Unable to stop himself, Xu Miantu fell into the lotus pond.

"Ah!" Xu Miantu struggled and cried in the water. His flesh was corroded as bloody bubbles emerged. It looked extremely tragic and horrifying.