Doomsday Roulette

Di Zi swore that at the moment Ye Zhongming charged towards him, he truly saw it.

Ye Zhongming's intentions were so obvious. When the Son of Heaven and Heavenly Armor slightly retreated, and the King of Cloud Summit's gaze passed over him, Di Zi knew he had been targeted.

However, he was not panicked.

The person named Ye Zhongming was indeed formidable, overpowering two evolvers of the same rank in battle and maintaining an advantage, appearing to have plenty of strength left. Throughout the fight, it seemed he had been moving towards Di Zi's direction.

Di Zi had indeed not been alert earlier, but instinctively he was adjusting his position, trying to maintain a certain distance from the battlefield.

So when Ye Zhongming struck, he felt that even though the distance had closed a bit, it was still within a safe range.

Even if Ye Zhongming's speed was incredibly fast, Di Zi believed he had enough time to evade or defend, and soon, his two companions would swiftly entangle Ye Zhongming, preventing the enemy from getting close again.

But in fact, just as Di Zi was about to crush a protective shield bead he had prepared, he suddenly found that Ye Zhongming, who had previously been at a distance, had vanished and reappeared right in front of him.

It was too fast—so fast that Di Zi had no time to react. Ye Zhongming had just charged at him, and the next second, he was standing before him, the war knife in his hand had disappeared, replaced by a blue dagger.

Di Zi instinctively screamed in terror, crushing the bead in his palm, hoping to block the incoming strike before it reached him.

With a loud snap, the shield activated, protecting Di Zi behind it. Ye Zhongming stood before the shield with the dagger raised as if he had been held back.

The Son of Heaven and Heavenly Armor, who were rushing back, felt a bit relieved. They knew about this protective shield bead; although its strength was nothing against an eight-star evolver, it was certainly capable of blocking a blow. As long as Di Zi wasn't killed instantly, they would ensure Ye Zhongming wouldn't have another chance.

Ye Zhongming strangely paused there, not attacking the shield that was within arm's reach and could be shattered with a single strike.

On the other side, Di Zi, who should be fine, let out a couple of gasps and fell stiffly backward.

It turned out that just before he crushed the bead, Ye Zhongming had already cut his throat with the dagger.

"Ah!"

The Son of Heaven and Heavenly Armor, witnessing this scene, felt their minds momentarily go blank, their eyes bloodshot.

The most solid combination of heavenly stems and earthly branches was actually a five-person team.

The two leaders, the Son of Heaven and Heavenly Armor, were responsible for close combat entanglement, Heavenly Culling took care of ranged attacks, Di Zi was in charge of healing and removing negative statuses, and there was also Earthly Ugly, who specialized in applying various buffs.

The combination of these five supplemented each other, making them the strongest battle group of heavenly stems and earthly branches, which was the basis for their fearlessness against any force.

Previously, they hadn’t paid much attention to Earthly Ugly’s betrayal because, although space mages were rare, they were not irreplaceable.

Similarly, Heavenly Culling and Earthly Ugly could be replaced; after all, there were plenty of evolvers or equipment that offered similar ranged attacks and buff effects.

Even the Son of Heaven and Heavenly Armor themselves could be replaced.

Only Di Zi was irreplaceable because there were very few support professions that could possess both healing and the ability to remove negative statuses, and his healing effectiveness far exceeded that of ordinary healers.

Such a professional scroll could now be exchanged for an eight-star evolution potion.

But now, such a person, a true core of heavenly stems and earthly branches, was killed.

Regret surged through them, blaming themselves for being so careless, knowing they were facing the King of Ye Zhongming and still bringing Di Zi along even after Heavenly Culling was killed.