Lam Minh struggled, leaning on his sword just to keep himself steady.
Blood was still flowing from the wound.
"Not good. At this rate, I'll bleed to death," Lam Minh muttered.
The black shadow was now approaching him, step by step.
Its arms swung, making a cracking sound. Each step it took left a deep, jagged hole in the concrete, a testament to the uncontrolled power it now wielded.
"A reconnaissance agent, eh? Let me taste your blood and see what it's like, heh heh!" The Demon Shadow's voice echoed with a sinister gloom, like a demon from the abyss. Its eyes glowed a terrifying red.
Lam Minh panted, swallowing a 'Life Force Pill' and silently circulating the Hong Hoang Dragon Seed Blood to treat his injuries. The wound could be seen slowly staunching.
The distance between Lam Minh and the Demon Shadow grew smaller.
Behind him, inside the bushes, To Quyen covered her mouth.
She was afraid she wouldn't be able to stop herself from crying out.
"If 'he' were here right now, that would be great. At least I'd have a shoulder to lean on," To Quyen thought to herself. But looking at the figure in the military uniform in front of her, she felt a strange sense of familiarity. How it was familiar, she herself didn't know.
Just then, it seemed the Demon Shadow could wait no longer. Its figure turned into a wisp of black smoke, quickly vanishing into the air, carrying with it an aura of slaughter and madness.
Seeing the Demon Shadow disappear, Lam Minh's heart seemed to freeze. The tension reached its peak.
He decided, if not now, then when.
Instinctively, Lam Minh somersaulted forward, even though he didn't feel any attack from the Demon Shadow.
The drop of Dragon Blood was circulated by Lam Minh at a frantic pace.
His meridians seemed unable to withstand the pressure and were slowly tearing, causing him a pain like dying and being reborn.
He silently recited the sword art in his mind, a sword form that Lam Minh had never used before because it required him to have stepped into the Qi Refining realm: "Primordial Chaos Sword Art – Second Form, One Sword of Primordial Chaos!"
Immediately, all of Lam Minh's power, including his sword intent, was poured into the Nhu Yen Sword.
The sword instantly became strangely quiet.
Lam Minh's eyes were half-closed. To be more precise, he no longer had the strength to keep them wide open.
At the same time, a dark hand reached out from behind, wanting to grab his head. The Demon Shadow was only 10cm away from him, the black qi gradually enveloping them both.
From the outside, it looked as if Lam Minh was being swallowed by an abyss, revealing only the biometric mask with its stark white eyes.
A mouth opened, revealing fangs formed from practicing demonic arts, about to take a bite out of Lam Minh's neck.
"Heh heh, just one bite, and everything will be over. All of you will become my nourishment," the Demon Shadow muttered.
Just then, Lam Minh, who had been channeling the sword art for a long time, suddenly twisted the tip of his sword and stabbed it towards the hole in his own waist.
A situation where Lam Minh wanted to trade his own body for an injury on the Demon Shadow.
He knew that in his current state, he could not hit the Demon Shadow. He had to lure it, let it get close, and trade life for life.
The sword quickly pierced through the wound, accurately stabbing into the Demon Shadow's dantian.
At the Demon Shadow's most smug moment, the sword tip had already pierced its body. A force that was both primal and wild, carrying both the power of destruction and the power to create all things, exploded inside its body.
Boom!
A mass of purple energy mixed with sword intent exploded, blowing a hole in its abdomen even more terrifying than Lam Minh's wound.
The Demon Shadow froze in the motion of opening its mouth, its blood-red eyes wide and dim.
"You..." it only had time to utter one word.
The Demon Shadow staggered back a few steps, its eyes looking in disbelief at the sword piercing through Lam Minh. "You're insane!"
From its frenzied state, it was now completely sober.
The Demon Shadow coughed up a large mouthful of blood, its face ferocious.
"I... will not forget you, 'Z'!" With that, the Demon Shadow vanished into thin air, disappearing into the dark sky.
It was not dead.
Although the wound was terrifying, it was not enough to take the life of a Foundation Establishment realm powerhouse like it.
Lam Minh was still in the posture of having the sword stuck in his stomach.
He lost consciousness.
Before his consciousness faded, he only had time to hear a few sentences.
[Ding! Seeing that the host has acted with heroic sacrifice, the system is offering a one-time upgrade.]
[Yes/No?]
[Seeing that the host cannot decide, the system will prioritize the YES option.]
[Ding! The system is upgrading... Wishing the host survives to enjoy it.]
Inside the mask were tightly closed eyes.
Heavy breathing.
Ignoring Mr. Chien's attempts to stop her, To Quyen rushed out of the bushes.
She caught Lam Minh and laid him down.
Looking at the sword deeply embedded in his abdomen, she cried, sobbing uncontrollably.
She didn't know why, but looking at the special reconnaissance soldier in front of her, she couldn't hold back her tears.
To Quyen quickly dialed her phone, about to call for an ambulance.
But just then.
A figure appeared, swiftly pulling the sword from Lam Minh's abdomen. Another hand immediately placed itself on the wound.
A blue light flickered from the palm, and the wound gradually closed.
It was Dam Chan Quoc. He glanced at To Quyen. "Good, he's still alive. What happened today must absolutely not be revealed. The actions of national special agents are top secret, is that clear?"
To Quyen looked at Mr. Quoc in a daze. "So he's not going to die?"
Mr. Quoc lifted Lam Minh up princess-style and looked at To Quyen. "You don't need to worry about that."
With that, both he and Lam Minh disappeared.
…
In a dream.
Lam Minh saw his body floating in an indefinite space.
He couldn't feel his limbs or his body.
His only sensation was existence, but he didn't know exactly how he existed.
The surroundings were filled with colors, from darkness to light.
Blue, red, purple, and yellow flickered as if he were floating in the vast, endless universe.
Suddenly!
A dragon's roar echoed throughout the universe.
It made even the galaxies tremble.
A bronze-gold sword qi swept across the starry sky.
A series of violent explosions rang out.
Layer after layer of stars were turned to dust as the sword qi passed.
"Ha, what do you think of this sword of mine?" a majestic, middle-aged voice thundered.
Along with it was a middle-aged man with white hair, wearing strange clothes and holding a greatsword, strolling through the universe.
The sword was bronze-gold. Along the center of the blade were coiling dragon patterns, accentuating the sharpness of the edge.
Each step he took made the galaxies give way.
At this moment, another female figure appeared. She was breathtakingly beautiful, with a noble coldness that was hard to match.
Like a celestial fairy, her clothes were equally strange, and she held a long spear.
The shaft of the spear was simple, the highlight being the exquisite tip, shaped like a blooming lotus flower.
The woman thrust her spear forward. Raging flames from the spear tip stirred the space, and spatial cracks appeared as if they wanted to devour the entire universe. "Your sword has been the same for years. Look at my Raging Flame Embroidered Spear; it is the true invincible one."
The white-haired man retracted his sword and looked at the woman. "Then I'll meet you at the 'Primal Cleansing'. You and I will join forces and see who can succeed, haha!"
The woman also laughed upon hearing this, but her smile was gentle and delicate. "I'm afraid you'll fail and be in dire straits. I would be very sad then."
The white-haired man's smile deepened. "You seem to really want me to accompany you. Then you'd better break through properly. My cultivation is already tens of thousands of miles ahead of you."
Hearing this, the woman's eyes dimmed with a hint of sadness, and she stopped talking.
Suddenly, the woman brandished her spear, her eyes looking in Lam Minh's direction. "Who's there?!"
The white-haired man also looked towards Lam Minh, following the woman's gaze.
"Stop!" the white-haired man said, and then continued, "I can feel my bloodline, the Hong Hoang Dragon God Body! Haha, for so many years, none of my clansmen have been able to produce this physique, yet I have such an outstanding bloodline descendant?"
The man laughed more and more enthusiastically, grabbing the woman's arm, which made her blush. "What are you doing? Let go," the woman said shyly, but her hand remained still.
The white-haired man looked at Lam Minh. "Go back to where you came from. I will wait for you to grow up, hahaha!"
With that, the man waved his hand. Lam Minh felt himself being swept into a current, drifting away rapidly.
He wanted to open his mouth to ask, "Who are you two? Where is this place?"
But unfortunately, he couldn't speak.
The feeling of drifting was extremely fast. Lam Minh only saw a brilliant red light strike his mind, along with the middle-aged man's words: "I almost forgot. A meeting gift. Grow up well."
…
Whir! Whir! Whir!
The sound of the ceiling fan was the first thing Lam Minh heard.
His eyelids were heavy. He slowly opened them.
The first thing he saw was the blinding light from the lamp on the ceiling.
Lam Minh felt his limbs were exhausted, and his throat was parched.
He looked around.
The scene looked like a hospital.
Looking at the clothes he was wearing, he guessed he was in a hospital with 80-90% certainty.
He currently had no strength to move his body. A feeling of helplessness spread through him.
His eyes fixed on the ceiling, Lam Minh tried to mobilize the drop of Hong Hoang Dragon Blood Essence in his body.
But the truth confused him.
Where is the blood essence? Why can't I feel it??
What kind of joke is this? Did one battle make me lose the Dragon Blood I worked so hard to accumulate?
Lam Minh was on the verge of tears.
"Mmm, be a man. I can't lose heart. I have to stay calm," Lam Minh thought to himself.
This thought sobered him up a little.
He silently called for the system.
But his expression became even uglier.
The system was also gone.
It didn't answer when called, didn't reply when summoned.
Could it be that he had lost everything?
Then it would have been better to just let him die.
Lam Minh lamented silently.
He didn't know how long had passed before the sound of footsteps appeared.
Only then did Lam Minh snap out of his negative thoughts.
He opened his eyes and looked towards the sound of the footsteps.
It was Quynh Nhu.
"Oh! Little junior brother is awake! Doctor, doctor! Master!" Quynh Nhu saw Lam Minh open his eyes and look at her.
She was overjoyed that he had woken up and hurriedly ran to find someone.
She ran out of the hospital room.
Lam Minh was helpless.
A moment later.
A group of doctors in white coats walked in, followed by Quynh Nhu and Dam Chan Quoc.
Both of them remained silent to let the doctor do a preliminary examination.
After it was done, the doctor nodded and said something to Mr. Quoc.
Lam Minh felt this scene was very familiar.
Usually in movies, only when the chance of survival is very low will the doctor not tell the patient and instead talk quietly to the family.
Thinking of this, two streams of tears rolled down Lam Minh's face.
"Hey, what are you crying for, you little brat? How do you feel?" Quynh Nhu asked, sitting beside the bed.
Lam Minh struggled to open his mouth, trying to overcome the dryness in his throat to speak. "I'm thirsty. And why can't I move?"
"Hahaha!" Quynh Nhu burst out laughing upon hearing this and at the same time gave Lam Minh a bottle of water to drink. "Isn't it your own fault? You were in a coma, but your body kept thrashing around like a fish out of water. The doctor said your case was rare, so they had to inject you with a drug to paralyze your limbs. It's fine; you'll be back to normal once the drug wears off."
Only then did Lam Minh let out a sigh of relief.
And here I thought I was paralyzed.