# 83
**Chapter 83: Are You Sure You Can Survive?**
"Wait!" Cao Yuan suddenly called out, stopping Lin Qiye, who was about to leave.
Lin Qiye frowned and turned back.
"What's your surname?"
"Lin. Two trees Lin." Lin Qiye looked at Cao Yuan in confusion. "Is there a problem?"
"Two trees standing tall, eight gods minus one, ten years in the night, to ferry our people… So it's you." Cao Yuan stared blankly at Lin Qiye, muttering to himself.
Lin Qiye didn’t catch what he said, only saw him mumbling like a madman and rolled his eyes.
"Crazy."
"..."
Lin Qiye didn’t bother with him anymore and turned to run toward another battlefield.
Cao Yuan silently watched his departing figure, lost in thought.
Suddenly, someone patted him on the shoulder from behind.
Cao Yuan turned around to see Tianping looking at him with eager eyes.
"Come cut me. I’m curious."
Cao Yuan looked at him, then glanced at Lin Qiye fighting in the battlefield. After a moment of hesitation, he slowly bent down...
And picked up the knife on the ground.
Tianping’s eyes lit up.
"Looks like he thinks I’m a deserter now… I need to fix that bad impression." Cao Yuan muttered to himself as he gripped the knife.
"What did you say?" Tianping didn’t quite hear him.
"Are you sure you can survive?" Cao Yuan asked seriously, one hand holding the sheath, the other slowly reaching for the hilt, his eyes locked on Tianping.
"If you’re not confident, I can go find that man wearing the king-mask instead."
Tianping shook his head decisively. "Don’t worry, something this small doesn’t need the captain to step in."
"Alright, then I’m drawing the blade."
Cao Yuan took a deep breath and placed his hand on the hilt.
The moment his fingertips touched the hilt—
An inexplicable sense of dread surged in Tianping’s heart!
At the same time, Wang Mian, who had been watching the fight quietly, suddenly turned his head and stared at Cao Yuan in shock!
The blade was drawn.
Black malevolent energy erupted like a blazing pillar of fire, shooting into the sky!!
Strands of pitch-black flames burst from Cao Yuan’s skin, instantly burning his shirt to ash, revealing a muscular body covered in scars. The black flames intertwined around him, gradually solidifying into a strange humanoid cloak.
Neither fully human nor fully demon!
*Rip—!*
His lips curled into a grin, white smoke seeping from his body. His eyes slowly opened, revealing a pair of eerie, blood-red pupils!
There was no trace of reason or calm left in his eyes—he was like a wild beast.
Tianping’s pupils shrank sharply. The unease in his heart intensified, and he immediately floated backward, trying to create distance.
But the moment his feet left the ground, Cao Yuan flashed forward like a ghost, appearing right in front of him.
With a savage smile, he slashed at Tianping’s neck!
Black flames wrapped around the blade, easily slicing through Tianping’s defensive field, aiming straight for his head!
Tianping’s heart sank!
In that instant, he remembered the boy’s serious eyes and the question he had asked:
"Are you sure you can survive?"
Sure?
Sure my ass!
This strike truly made Tianping feel the threat of death.
If he didn’t release his full power, he would absolutely die under this blade while still in the Zhan Realm!
Just as Tianping was about to unleash his full strength, his vision blurred—and a figure suddenly appeared in front of him!
It was a man wearing a mask with the character “王” (king), holding a black blade.
*Clang—!!*
A sharp collision rang out, sparks flying in the dusk. Wang Mian’s Mandarin Arrow clashed with Cao Yuan’s blade, and a violent gust of wind erupted from the center of the two!
Then, a terrifying blade aura shot out from the Mandarin Arrow, sending Cao Yuan—blade and all—flying into the ruins in the distance.
Wang Mian sheathed his blade and turned to Tianping, speaking helplessly:
"Tianping, you underestimated him."
"No…" Tianping rubbed his eyes, still in shock. "What the hell was that?"
"Forbidden Ruins Sequence 031: [Black King's Annihilation Slash]."
"[Black King's Annihilation Slash]… I’ve never seen a human with a Forbidden Ruins ranked so high."
"Indeed. The top 30 Forbidden Ruins are known as the Divine Domain—not just because most of them belong to gods, but because those who possess them have stepped into the realm of the divine.
And Sequence 031, [Black King's Annihilation Slash], is the true pinnacle beneath the gods, above all mortals."
Wang Mian looked at Cao Yuan, who was rising from the ruins, and said calmly:
"This power is too strong, and he’s too weak. When he uses his Forbidden Ruins, he loses all consciousness and acts purely on instinct. It’s a true indiscriminate attack—when he goes berserk, even his teammates aren’t safe."
"I get it now…" Tianping slowly rose into the air, eyes fixed on the mad Cao Yuan. "I was careless. But now… I’m going all in. Let’s see what this lunatic’s really made of."
He clasped his hands, and the scattered weapons and bricks on the ground floated up, hovering in the air like a swarm of projectiles, all locking onto Cao Yuan below.
Cao Yuan gripped his blade, blood-red eyes locked on Tianping in the air, black flames swirling around him, a twisted grin on his face.
The next moment, he flashed like a ghost through the ruins.
"Go." Tianping flicked his finger, and the storm of bricks and weapons shot down like machine gun fire, shaking the ground.
*Boom boom boom—!*
Black flames erupted. Blade flashes flickered as Cao Yuan easily sliced through the falling debris, moving at terrifying speed. In moments, he was beneath Tianping—
And leaped!
Just as his blade was about to reach Tianping, Tianping casually floated up another few dozen meters…
And so, the berserk Cao Yuan encountered a serious problem.
He couldn’t reach him.
"Hehehehe…" Tianping flew higher, grinning down.
Cao Yuan: ...
"Damn, that guy’s shameless!" Baili Pangpang cursed from the sidelines.
"He’s too strong. If it were a real one-on-one fight on the ground, no one but Wang Mian could beat him. So this is the only way to stall him." Lin Qiye rubbed his chin, muttering,
"That guy… I didn’t expect him to be this strong…"
He hesitated, then looked toward Wang Mian in the distance, eyes narrowing.
"Take care of yourself." Lin Qiye patted Baili Pangpang on the shoulder and vanished in a flash.
Baili Pangpang opened his mouth to say something, but Lin Qiye was already gone.
He scratched his head and sighed helplessly.
Just then, a faint moonlight shadow crept up behind him...
A Short Sword’s hilt rose high—
And slammed toward the back of Baili Pangpang’s head!
*Smack—!*
A blinding golden shield suddenly appeared around Baili Pangpang, sending the Short Sword in Moon Ghost’s hand flying!
Baili Pangpang blinked, slowly turned to the awkward Moon Ghost, and tilted his head.
"Huh? Were you… trying to sneak attack me?"