*Thud!*

Earth-Rabbit’s massive body crashed to the ground, billowing black smoke rising from both his arms.

“Damn…” He gritted his teeth as he stood up, staring at Song Qi with astonishment. “You actually have ‘Explosive Combustion’… When did this ability end up with you?”

“Oh?” Song Qi smiled faintly. “Do you know the previous owner of ‘Explosive Combustion’?”

“You…” Earth-Rabbit’s words caught in his throat, forcing himself to swallow them back down. “Your conviction is impressive… This little stone unleashed power far beyond my imagination.”

“Thank you.” Song Qi nodded. “I’ve been praised by many people in my life, but thinking back now, praise from an Earth-level ‘Zodiac’ is the most valuable.”

Earth-Rabbit examined his forearms. Having removed his suit earlier, his shirt sleeves were now completely burned away, and his skin was scalding hot and red, emitting wisps of black smoke.

Even though an Earth-level ‘Zodiac’s’ body had been enhanced, facing this kind of unreasonable destruction, he probably couldn’t withstand many more hits.

“Didn’t expect my ‘Explosive Combustion’ would work so well on you.” Song Qi said. “Even shooting a bear with a pistol, you’ll kill it eventually, right?”

“Unfortunately, I don’t believe your conviction can succeed one hundred percent…” Earth-Rabbit rubbed his wrists with a cold laugh. “Furthermore, I don’t believe every one of your attacks can hit me.”

“That’s why I was already prepared from the moment I opened that door.” Song Qi once again pulled out a small wooden fragment from his pocket, but this time didn’t throw it directly. Instead, he broke it into many small pieces in his hand.

Seeing Song Qi preparing his explosive materials, Earth-Rabbit rushed forward with both hands attempting a grappling tackle, but Song Qi took the opportunity to duck down and slip past Earth-Rabbit’s side at an extremely dangerous angle.

The two instantly created distance between them. Just as Earth-Rabbit was about to turn and pursue, he saw a shower of wood fragments thrown toward him. His back went cold, and he quickly closed his eyes tightly, using both hands to block in front of him again.

A chaotic series of gunpowder-scented explosions erupted within the room. The numerous wood fragments transformed into small explosive packages, blooming across Earth-Rabbit’s entire body.

Smoke instantly filled the room, making it difficult for both Earth-Rabbit and Song Qi to keep their eyes open.

“My thanks.” Song Qi stepped back several paces, once again pulling small fragments from his pocket.

He knew his ability was at a severe disadvantage in enclosed spaces. If he was too close to an explosion, he could very likely be caught in the blast himself.

And his physical condition differed from Earth-Rabbit’s like heaven and earth. The opponent could withstand many explosions, but he could probably only endure one attack.

Taking advantage of Earth-Rabbit’s inability to move, Song Qi hurriedly touched the stone fragments in his hand. The two consecutive successful attacks were half mental state and half luck. If panic or fear of death crept into his thoughts now… then he would truly be the one to die.

“Just a large roasted rabbit, that’s all…”

Song Qi slowly closed his eyes, stabilizing his mental state. He had experienced countless battles, and none had been more dangerous than his current situation.

For an ‘Echo’ user to single-handedly kill an ‘Earth-level’ with their ability—what an absurd thing!

Seeing Earth-Rabbit charge at him again, Song Qi didn’t rush to attack. Instead, he waited until Earth-Rabbit approached before throwing the stone. But Earth-Rabbit had clearly changed tactics. Just as he was about to reach Song Qi, he suddenly changed direction to dodge the flying stone and leaped forward from the side.

Song Qi let out a cold laugh. During his time in the ‘End Land,’ Song Qi had carried out countless missions, giving him extremely rich combat experience. His moves were frequently dodged by agility-type participants, so he forced himself to always hold another stone in his left hand. Whether his opponent dodged or his ‘Echo’ activation failed, he always kept a backup plan.

While Earth-Rabbit was completely unprepared, Song Qi threw the small stone from his left hand at his feet.

*Boom!*

The explosive sound rang out again, detonating between the two of them. Earth-Rabbit felt another wave of searing pain beneath his feet, involuntarily stopping his advance.

Taking advantage of the explosion’s blast wave and the billowing black smoke, Song Qi concealed his form and distanced himself from Earth-Rabbit once more.

“Damn… have you received training?” After these several rounds of pursuit, Earth-Rabbit finally understood what was strange about this team.

They not only had a strategist, ingenious plans, and coordination—even each person possessed some combat techniques.

Could this be some kind of ‘Strategy Group’ that had been formed?

People in the other rooms heard the continuous explosion sounds and knew Song Qi had begun fighting Earth-Rabbit. Their expressions all grew grave.

Song Qi wasn’t Jiang Shi. Once he chose to act, only one side’s death could end the conflict between him and Earth-Rabbit. But the probability of Song Qi’s death was obviously far greater than Earth-Rabbit’s.

“Little Song… you’ve made your move…”

Chen Junnan lowered his head, contemplating the current situation. He and Jiang Shi had already reunited, and the remaining three team members had certainly obtained the last magical treasure.

The most important task now was to get the whistle from Earth-Rabbit’s neck, followed by safely delivering Little Jiang Shi to room ‘Sixteen.’

After all, Little Jiang Shi held Lü Dongbin’s sword in his hand and had Tieguai Li’s crutch inserted in his neck. He was currently a walking magical treasure and absolutely couldn’t be left behind halfway.

After thinking for a while, Chen Junnan suddenly realized a peculiar idea had opened up in his mind. He turned back to look at Jiang Shi and asked with a mischievous smile, “Little Song and the rabbit should be fighting in ‘Six,’ right?”

“Should be.” Jiang Shi nodded. “Right next door to us…”

“Go Little Song, hey hey!!” Chen Junnan shouted through the door. “Blow him up! That’ll teach him to be cocky with me!”

There was no response from the adjacent room. Chen Junnan then turned back to look at Jiang Shi. “Little Jiang Shi… I just thought of an absolutely brilliant idea…”

“An absolutely brilliant idea…?”

“That’s right!” Chen Junnan nodded with a smile. This smile made Jiang Shi’s heart feel somewhat uneasy. All of this leader’s strategies were thought up on the spot—could they really work?

…

Song Qi continuously moved and dodged around the room, creating distance from Earth-Rabbit, then casually threw various fragments that had already posed a significant threat to Earth-Rabbit.

But in the later stages, his conviction was clearly insufficient. Two consecutive times Song Qi threw wood fragments failed to cause any ripples, and his entire state appeared somewhat dazed.

Earth-Rabbit also seized the opportunity to grab Song Qi’s collar, but Song Qi flashed and tore his upper body leather jacket to shreds, still managing to avoid being controlled by Earth-Rabbit’s evasive movements.

When Earth-Rabbit saw Song Qi’s bare upper body, he realized there was something strange about this person. His entire upper body was almost completely covered in burn scars.

“Well…” Earth-Rabbit patted the sparks on his body and said with a laugh, “The ‘End Land’ doesn’t preserve scars… Every rebirth is a brand new body, so your scars… were they left before you entered?”

“I don’t recall being familiar enough with you to need to tell you such personal matters.”

Song Qi took several deep breaths, calming his heartbeat and wandering thoughts, then touched his pocket again. He had long anticipated that this would be a war of attrition with this monster, but he hadn’t expected it to be so prolonged. Several consecutive explosions had failed to cause any substantial damage, and the fragments remaining in his pocket were now few.