1267 Heaven rank

After everything settled down, almost everyone immediately fell to the ground. The blunt knife remained on Yuan Jing's forehead. His bloody figure looked closer to that of an evil ghost than a human. Meng Tian helped Yuan Jing with his wounds. The blood was flowing nonstop. The good thing was that freezing the wounds helped stop bleeding. At this point, they could not care much about the methods used. Four people were covered in wounds, and they looked no better than ghosts. However, their gazes were firm, and only through battle were people able to grow.

The moment they were taken captive, they knew their fate. There was no such thing as luck. In order to survive, they would have to struggle, no matter how slim the chances may be.

In Thorn Forest, they could still see daylight, but daytime was always too short. The stars had just began to tilt towards the horizon, and sunlight disappeared from the forest. In a forest shrouded in darkness, this made the danger harder to detect.

Xie Yuxin took out a glow stick from his bag, gently twisted it, and it emitted cold, white light, similar to that of a luminescent plant, which did not trigger a reaction from the Thorn Forest. However, the truth was, in this battlefield, there was no longer the need to be this cautious, as the nearby thistles, after digesting the bodies of countless Mist Killers, had fallen asleep. Before they finish digesting the bodies, they would not attack anyone.

Seeing the light, those that could move started struggling to stand up. After surrounding the glow stick, began to sit down or lie down to catch their breath.

Meng Tian found Shen Liang's belongings. He was such a huge person, and all that was left was his military badge.

"Boss, it seems like Ge Ping is not going to make it!"

Meng Tian, who was in a daze and holding onto Shen Liang's military badge, carefully put the badge away and jogged over to Ge Ping.

Huo Dong and Kang Siqi helplessly looked at Ge Ping, who was vomiting blood. They had no idea what to do.

The two of them were standard examples of people who dragged the team down. For the past few days, it was mainly Ge Ping who had taken care of them.

After Ge Ping vomited blood, his senses became clearer. Looking at Huo Dong and Kang Siqi, he smiled. "Why are y'all crying? The both of you had better survive, or I will die in vain."

"Ge Ping, please stop talking! Save your energy, nothing will happen to you!" Huo Dong's expression was pale, his fists clenched - he hated himself for being useless.

"Old Huo, Siqi, you must leave this place together with Captain, must… live… on"

Ge Ping puked out another mouthful of blood and then his chest heaved up and down vigorously. On his pale face, a touch of red could suddenly be seen, and everyone's hearts sank. The final moments of lucidness before death.

Ge Ping turned his head to look at Meng Tian.

"Leader…"

"Don't say anything." Meng Tian did not know what to do either. With a healing capsule, the injury that Ge Ping had sustained would be healed in an hour. However, over here, there was nothing. All they could do was watch their teammates collapse and die.

"Leader, can't you smile for me one more time…"

Meng Tian was stunned.After a deep breath, she calmly gave a smile that seemed nothing like a smile.

The redness on Ge Ping's face grew even redder. "How pretty…"

Thank you, for letting me stay by your side, like a warrior.

Thank you, for letting me fight for you, like a knight.

Thank you, for letting me die for you, like a hero.

Huo Dong and Kang Siqi charged towards Xie Yuxin. The two were clearly weaker than Xie Yuxin, an Earth-rank warrior.

"Why did you bring us here!?"

Xie Yuxin did not retaliate, but silently accepted it. The ending was predetermined, but it was a choice he had to make.

Mengha pulled away the furious Huo Dong and Kang Siqi, looking at Xie Yuxin. "Don't be like this. Xie Yuxin may have made a cruel choice, but it was definitely the right one. From the moment we became soldiers, we were prepared to die. At least for our brothers, we make sure their deaths are glorious ones. Stop crying and don't go on a rampage. You two aren't battle types, but both of you have your strengths. If we are to make it out alive, we will need your strength, so you had better live on!"

Three days later…

The six of them stood in an ancient temple, covered in wounds.

"We are here." Xie Yuxin looked at the temple's floor. It had patterns similar to Atlantis' rune formations. His expression was calm. They had finally arrived.

No one cheered. After surviving through so much, the six of them had changed. They kept their feelings hidden in the deepest corners of their hearts.

They no longer blamed Xie Yuxin. In the past few days, they met other teams in the forest, and even saw teams with dozens of members being annihilated. The screams and cries remained etched their heads. Without Xie Yuxin, they would have joined the Mist Killers a long time ago.

Bang…

Suddenly, the seemingly tattered rune formations lit up. Everyone was on guard, while Xie Yuxin remained expressionless.

From the rune formations, an old man wearing a gray robe appeared. The expressions of Meng Tian and the rest changed, especially Yuan Jing and Mengha's, who got ready to fight. This was a person from the organization behind all of this. Luckily, Xie Yuxin stopped their childish actions in time.

"Not bad. Being able to find this place proves that all of you have earned the right to progress. Follow me."

The gray-robed old man said plainly. He then turned around and walked towards the inside of the temple.

"This is… Atlantis' skill?" Yuan Jing asked curiously while rubbing the wound on his forehead, which had yet to recover. This had become a habit of his.

"The rune formations are merely decorations. Behind it is a type of spatial transmission skill. The skills held by the organization are much stronger than what we had thought," Xie Yuxin simply summarized. Even though he was not an expert on space technology, his knowledge was deeper than that of the others in this aspect.

Mengha's eyes gleamed. "Is he from the Sacred Religion? He seems like someone important, why don't we…"

Xie Yuxin gave a wry smile. "Do you think people actually care about us?"

Everyone was stunned, and suddenly felt that they were being childish. The old man had appeared so freely and casually showed his back to them. It was clear that he did not think much of them.

However, they could not feel any strength from the old man. This could mean only one thing - either he was a highly skilled expert, or he had nothing to fear. From what they knew about the organization, it would most likely to be the former.

With his back facing them, the old man smiled slightly and ignored them. As they moved further into the temple, the old man did not say anything, and easily undid everyone's wristbands. Everyone heaved sighs of relief, some were even excited. The momentary spiritual fluctuations did not escape the old man.

The old man had more of his attention on Xie Yunxin, but he did not say anything. After finishing what he had done, he stepped into a warp portal and disappeared once again.

The six of them looked at each other. Even though they had yet to escape danger, they had managed to obtain their freedom. What they were feeling was indescribable.

"Yuxin, does the old man know you?" Meng Tian suddenly asked.

Xie Yuxin shrugged his shoulders. "My wristband was undone by him as well. Although I don't know what rank he may be in the Sacred Religion, he is definitely not a normal person. Actually, I wanted to attack him initially, but… there was no chance for me."