The mountain road of the Devils Path was rugged and difficult to walk, with gravel making the soles of one's feet ache.
But compared to the hardships underfoot, what was even more chilling was the faint sense of alienation and calculation within the team.
Compared to the mutual assistance of the Shrek Seven Devils in the original work where they shared life and death, now that this group of people had undergone Rebirth, that pure friendship had long since vanished from their hearts, leaving only individual calculations and selfish desires.
Moreover, with a disruptor like Fu Qin added to the mix, he had forcibly stirred the originally close-knit team into a gradual state of collapse.
Traversing these four hundred kilometers of the Devils Path while carrying heavy loads was indeed a significant challenge for Tang San, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar.
After all, they had long grown accustomed to a life of stability and pleasure; how could their bodies after Rebirth still withstand such high-intensity physical exertion?
But for Fu Qin, this wasn't a challenge at all—it wasn't even a warm-up.
The clothing on Fu Qin's body had long been refined by his Alchemy Gloves Spirit, turning into a genuine Elementary Magical Artifact.
Not only could it resist scratches from thorns, but it could also greatly offset the pressure brought by the heavy load.
Those seemingly heavy stones pressing on his back felt as light as carrying a few pounds of cotton to Fu Qin.
Furthermore, Fu Qin had already successfully learned Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record in secret, and his Mysterious Heaven Skill had even been Cultivated to the third-tier Peak. His Internal Energy and spirit power complemented each other, making his physique far surpass Spirit Masters of the same rank.
If it weren't for the fact that he didn't want to expose the secret of the Spirit Bone too early, Fu Qin would have already refined the Spirit Bones stored in his spirit tool into a full set of auxiliary Magical Artifact equipment to wear.
By then, let alone this weight, even if it were several times heavier, he could easily finish the journey.
While traversing the Devils Path, Fu Qin chatted and laughed with Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong, while Zhu Zhuqing, in order to temper herself, struggled to support the weight of the stones she had to carry.
Xiao Wu held Fu Qin's arm, occasionally picking wild flowers by the roadside to tuck into Fu Qin's hair, her eyes curving into crescent moons as she laughed.
Ning Rongrong stood on Fu Qin's other side; although she wasn't carrying any weight, she still complained about how difficult the mountain road was, yet she didn't cry out in exhaustion once throughout the journey.
Not far away, Zhu Zhuqing stood in stark contrast to Fu Qin and the others.
She carried heavy stones, her forehead covered in fine beads of sweat, and her face was somewhat pale, yet her gaze remained firm as she moved forward one difficult step at a time.
It was clear she truly wanted to become stronger.
Tang San's situation was fairly good.
With the foundation of the Mysterious Heaven Skill, he could still move forward steadily even while carrying a heavy load.
The gaze he directed at Fu Qin still held that naive trust, as if Fu Qin were still that "good brother" who hadn't hesitated to put himself in danger to save him.
How could he know that his Mysterious Heaven Skill and his Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record had already been thoroughly understood by Fu Qin?
Dai Mubai's situation was also fine; after all, he was an attack system Battle Spirit Master, and his spirit power had reached rank thirty-nine, giving him excellent physical strength and endurance.
Dai Mubai's physical strength was indeed good; the physique of an attack system Battle Spirit Master was no joke.
However...
A Lustful Tiger is still a Lustful Tiger.
The gaze he occasionally cast toward Zhu Zhuqing was full of complexity and resentment, and his steps faltered slightly because of it.
He was likely still thinking about how to get Zhu Zhuqing to change her mind and perform a Spirit Fusion Skill with him.
At the end of the line, Ma Hongjun had help from Dai Mubai and Tang San, but Oscar was in a miserable state.
Ma Hongjun was quite the opportunist, relying on Dai Mubai and Tang San to share much of his load along the way; although he was panting for breath, he could at least keep up with the team.
But Oscar was truly left without a soul to help him.
Previously, when everyone faced the ten-thousand-year Soul Eating Spider Emperor, he had pushed Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun out to take the blow.
As a result, one of them had a kidney removed, while the other had half of his manhood sliced off.
This led to Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai wanting nothing to do with him.
Thinking of this, Fu Qin couldn't help but give him a thumbs-up in his heart.
He hadn't expected this kid to be cruel enough to push his own companions out to take a blow just for self-preservation.
Dai Mubai had a kidney removed, and his strength was greatly affected.
Ma Hongjun was even worse off; with half of his manhood sliced off, he was completely ruined for the rest of his life.
With such deep-seated hatred, how could Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai possibly forgive him?
It was already the height of kindness that they weren't secretly sabotaging him along the way.
Although Tang San didn't want to deal with him either, unfortunately, now was not the time for a falling out; after sharing Ma Hongjun's stones, his own load had already reached its limit.
But after all, he was acting under the banner of "team unity" and didn't want to sour the relationship just yet.
However, he had already shared much of Ma Hongjun's load, and his own burden had long reached its limit, leaving him with no extra strength to help Oscar.
Fu Qin had also helped the two girls by taking all their weight and was already working hard enough; Oscar couldn't exactly ask the girls to carry his load for him.
As for Fu Qin, he naturally shared all the weight for Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong, allowing them to just enjoy their leisure by his side.
No matter how pathetic Oscar looked, he couldn't bring himself to ask the two girls, Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong, to help him.
Moreover, he hated Fu Qin to the bone; even if he starved or worked himself to death, he would never ask Fu Qin for help.
So in the end, only Tang San gave Oscar some token verbal encouragement like "Keep it up" or "Hang in there," but offered no actual help beyond that.
Just like that, in the blink of an eye, noon arrived.
Oscar was now near the point of exhaustion; seeing Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun turn a blind eye to his plight, a surge of hatred and anger rose within him.
The sun gradually rose overhead, the scorching sunlight baking the earth, and the mountain road became increasingly difficult to walk.
Oscar's steps grew heavier and heavier; every step felt like he was overdrawing his life. His face was as pale as paper, and his lips were parched and bleeding, clearly nearing total exhaustion.
He staggered to a halt, looking at the backs of Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun still moving steadily ahead, and seeing them ignore his plight, a wave of intense hatred and anger instantly surged in his heart.
He hated the heartlessness of Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, hated Tang San's hypocrisy, and hated Fu Qin even more for stealing Ning Rongrong and leaving him in such a state of isolation and helplessness.
He had only done it for self-preservation at the time; he hadn't even caused them to lose their lives.
They only lost half a manhood and a kidney because of him—why should they treat him like this?
From a distance, Fu Qin watched Oscar's venomous expression, and he couldn't feel more satisfied.
Because all of this was Oscar's own doing; when he made the move to push others to take a blow, he should have expected today's outcome.
Xiao Wu noticed Fu Qin's gaze, followed it, and curled her lip.
"Tsk, Oscar is so pathetic, but he deserves it!"
Ning Rongrong also nodded, her tone carrying a hint of disdain.
"Who told him to be so bad before? Now that no one is helping him, he brought it on himself!"