Within a few short seconds, a mound of earth rapidly piled up before Jiang Xiao's eyes.

The flowing earth seemed so magical to Jiang Xiao, like a huge pile of dung enveloping the two of them.

Then, the flowing mass instantly stopped surging and returned to its frozen state, solid and hard.

Jiang Xiao only saw a long arm extending from the upper slope of the earthen mound, the hand waving continuously, but not with any purposeful motion, more like someone drowning flailing about.

Jiang Xiao didn't experience the situation inside the earthen mound firsthand and couldn't know what was happening inside.

But just thinking about it was terrifying.

Was Er Wei completely covered in mud inside?

Were her nose, mouth, and even her insides filled with earth?

How could she breathe?

She...

The next moment, Jiang Xiao saw the long arm protruding from the earthen mound gradually change color. The dark military uniform was completely burned away, revealing a crimson arm.

Crimson?

The flames on the burning arm quietly extinguished, but her fair arm had turned pitch black, the cracked skin resembling dried earth, with scorching magma flowing in the crevices.

So dazzling, so brilliant.

Then, the arm exploded with a bang, and muffled sounds echoed from within the heavy frozen earth mound.

Cracks gradually appeared on the solidified frozen earth mound. Bang!

After several explosions, the frozen earth mound finally shattered. Jiang Xiao saw a person covered in mud leisurely retreating.

Remaining in place was a woman whose entire body was as black as charcoal, her clothes long gone, replaced by a charred body and cracked skin.

Scorching magma flowed over her massive body, constantly streaming down the cracks in her skin, and the woman's danfeng eyes turned crimson.

Her eyes seemed to have turned into molten lava, her scarlet gaze fixed on the enemy in front, the 13th star slot in the beast constellation shining with golden light on her charred body.

Dazzling, brilliant!

Gold-quality Star Technique!?

At this moment, Er Wei seemed to have transformed into a lava body, her magma-like eyes no longer focusing, one could only judge where she was "looking" by the direction of her head.

Thump.

The statue of the lava goddess knelt on the ground, seemingly suffering great trauma, her body no longer able to hold on, her head drooping.

Letting the drops of lava streak across her cheeks and flow to the ground, making "sizzling" sounds.

The mercenary sneered, the dirt on his body slowly falling away. He raised his left hand, and layers of frozen earth quickly wriggled under the lava goddess's feet, like two muddy hands, wrapping around her ankles.

Er Wei, kneeling on the ground, tried to get up, but such movements were not allowed. The two lava hands pressed on the ground were also tightly bound by two muddy hands.

In Jiang Xiao's sight, Er Wei struggled hard, but to no avail, only letting out a roar, raising her head, her scorching eyes aimed at the approaching mercenary.

"%￥#..." The mercenary said a sentence in Russian, seemingly mocking Er Wei. Another muddy hand sprang from the ground, quickly wrapping around Er Wei's neck, lifting her up.

The muddy hand didn't just simply wrap around Er Wei's neck; the flowing mud also enveloped Er Wei's head, flowing into Er Wei's mouth and nose, leaving her no chance to breathe.

At the same time, the mercenary had arrived in front of Er Wei, his eyes full of sarcasm, moving his right hand, watching the goddess statue kneeling and struggling frantically at his feet, but to no avail.

The mercenary aimed at her head, his fist radiating dark energy, the 9th star slot in his constellation suddenly lighting up.

Golden!

Also a Gold-quality Star Technique!

What to do?

If Er Wei died, without a doubt, the next one would be Jiang Xiao!

But how could Jiang Xiao, with his skills and pitiful Star Power at the Star Cadet level, shake such a behemoth?

Jiang Xiao's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly waved his hand, another beam of blessing light falling on the mercenary.

The mercenary's expression stiffened, his body slightly滞 (zhì - paused).

At the same time, heavy footsteps quickly approached.

The dazed mercenary quickly recovered and turned his head, only to see Jiang Xiao fighting bravely, seeming to have taken on an all-or-nothing momentum!

"Heh." The mercenary's fist, radiating a strong black light, directly smashed into Jiang Xiao's head.

Bang!

Jiang Xiao's body... shattered.

"Hmm?" The mercenary was slightly stunned. His fist did hit a solid object, there was a touch, but it wasn't the same as touching a human, more like hitting a piece of foam, easily crushed.

Silver-quality Star Technique * Decoy.

This was a Star Technique that Jiang Xiao dared not use, and it was also a Star Technique that Jiang Xiao tried his best to hide, but in this life-or-death moment, he could no longer hide it.

Every second counts.

It was no exaggeration to say that Er Wei was all his hope.

Once Er Wei died, Jiang Xiao, a Star Cadet weakling, would have no power to resist in front of a Star River mercenary, and he wouldn't even have any chance to escape.

The mercenary snorted coldly, looking into the distance, but he saw two identical Jiang Xiaos rushing out quickly.

"Bei Jiang, Decoy?" The mercenary suddenly spoke, with a heavy Russian accent, saying a sentence in Chinese, "Two, one of them must be real."

The mercenary lightly raised his hand, and the muddy hand strangling Er Wei's neck rose again, Er Wei's lava body looming, seemingly tending to restore her flesh.

"Are you sure you want to release your real body too?" The mercenary's eyes were full of mockery, looking at the two approaching Jiang Xiaos, he raised his hand again.

The closer, the more dangerous.

Jiang Xiao keenly observed that the opponent's muddy hands seemed to have a range, but Jiang Xiao had to rush towards the mercenary.

Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The two Jiang Xiaos almost simultaneously stretched out their right hands, and a beam of light once again enveloped the mercenary, buying himself this last chance.

It couldn't go on like this.

The longer it dragged on, the greater Jiang Xiao's chances of dying.

When the mercenary's eyes cleared and he quickly came back to his senses, he only saw Jiang Xiao's fist in front of him, radiating a strong cyan light, and...

The mercenary turned around abruptly, completely ignoring the Jiang Xiao in front of him, and kicked behind him.

There, there was a Jiang Xiao raising his fist, trying to smash the muddy hand at Er Wei's neck.

Bang!

Easily crushed!

The dreamlike bubble was smashed again with one punch.

The mercenary's expression stiffened, he had been tricked!?

The mercenary hurriedly stomped his foot, and the surrounding land boiled again, countless mud snakes窜 (cuàn - darted) out, and at the same time, a beam of light fell from the sky again, landing on the mercenary.

I'm just going to heal a path to the heavens!

It turned out that the one who attacked the mercenary head-on was Jiang Xiao himself. Facing the mercenary with his back to him, exposing great flaws, Jiang Xiao did not attack, because he knew that his small strength could not shake this brown bear at all.

Taking advantage of the mercenary's moment of错愕 (cuò è - bewilderment), Jiang Xiao directly窜 (cuàn - darted) past the mercenary's side, stepped on the mud snake that was also frozen in mid-air, and Jiang Xiao's body turned into a sharp arrow, almost horizontally窜 (cuàn - darted) diagonally downwards.

The target was not Er Wei's head, which was wrapped in mud, but her dominant hand.

Bang!

Jiang Xiao's fist, radiating a strong cyan light, smashed **** on Er Wei's right arm. Although Jiang Xiao rushed diagonally downwards, his fist was hooked upwards.

Silver-quality Star Technique * Cyan Glow.

Even Er Wei's strength could not shake this muddy hand, Jiang Xiao could not compete with it.

However, Cyan Glow has grown with generations of Bei Jiang people and is called an early-stage divine skill for a reason.

Because of the special attribute attached to "Cyan Glow": Repulsion!

Er Wei's right hand, which was firmly bound, was suddenly knocked away by this uppercut. The frozen earth was still wrapped around her wrist, but the frozen earth had lost its "roots" and was no longer connected to the ground.

The next moment, Er Wei punched her own head with that right hand, directly shattering the frozen earth wrapped around her face. As the frozen earth on her face shattered, her looming lava body returned again.

As the 14th golden star slot in her constellation lit up, she spat out a large mouthful of lava.

Uh... the lava seemed to be包裹 (bāo guǒ - wrapped) in unmelted mud.

How dirty...

The mercenary tried his best to dodge, but the lava column still hit the mercenary's legs.

The mercenary's miserable scream resounded through the night sky. Losing the mercenary's control, the mud that bound Er Wei's limbs also lost its vitality and was no longer flexible.

Er Wei directly climbed up, her lava limbs easily tearing apart the wrapped frozen earth, and lunged forward.

"Tell them, I died on the battlefield."

Er Wei's hoarse voice had a momentum of no return. Her body竄 (cuàn - darted) out from over Jiang Xiao's head, like a hungry tiger pouncing on its prey, directly knocking the mercenary to the ground.

The next moment, Er Wei tightly hugged the mercenary's body, and the lava flowing in the gaps of her cracked skin suddenly became extremely dazzling!

The 16th golden star slot in the constellation lit up again.

Rumble...

The vast Star Power, the huge air waves, the fierce explosive fire.

Completely lit up this dark snowy night.