The originally desolate plain was shattered by the sudden chase, and many mercenary teams passing by watched Lin Feng’s squad flee, then glanced at the figures flying across the sky. Their expressions first showed confusion, but quickly turned to solemnity and anger.

Nobody knew about Lin Feng’s squad entering Maple Forest, but now the news spread from one to ten, and ten to a hundred.

The massive bounty on Lin Feng’s squad was also known by everyone. Clearly, under the temptation of the bounty, three factions had made a move against them.

The combat achievements of Lin Feng’s squad were well known. Just after the Land of Chaos had closed, someone dared to attack them, which was truly infuriating.

"Fuck this shit."

A seven-man mercenary team, among them, a man suddenly cursed viciously, stomping forward and heading towards Lin Feng’s squad.

He wanted to help, refusing to let anything happen to Lin Feng’s squad, but he’d only dashed ten meters when he was stopped by a companion.

"Are you crazy? You’re just an ordinary Eighth Grade without any demon spirit; do you think you’re a match for them?" his companion retorted angrily.

He was equally angry and wanted to help, but those daring to openly attack Lin Feng’s squad now were not only powerful but also an unrestrained group of madmen and assassins unafraid of death.

If they joined this chaotic battle, their chances of survival were slim.

"Killing one is still killing one. Everyone dies eventually, right?"

"Then who’s going to take care of your mom, and will your sister-in-law have to remarry?"

"Dammit!"

The man looked at the direction where Lin Feng’s group disappeared, clenched his fists, yet was ultimately forced to give up.

He had elderly parents and children to support; he couldn’t take risks lightly.

"Sigh!" Seeing the man’s angry yet helpless expression, his companion sighed, resigned.

He also wanted to help but had long passed the age of reckless impulsiveness.

.....

Facing the pursuit of three factions, Lin Feng’s squad ran in one direction. Lin Feng glanced back slightly, noticing people continuously descending from the sky, then chasing them on foot.

Once Martial Arts reaches the Flying Realm, one can condense Spiritual Power Wings, but flying consumes a significant amount of spiritual power. Demon Spirit Masters might not care much about the spiritual power cost, but for warriors, spiritual power represents combat capability.

After running over ten miles, Lin Feng’s squad was forced to enter a sprawling red forest stretching over a hundred kilometers.

As the wind howled, red leaves fell, resembling maple leaves. This was why the Space Gate was named Maple Forest.

Upon entering the Maple Forest, a massive figure appeared before Lin Feng with a piercing wail. It was a gigantic Eighth-Tier Earth Demon Bear, swinging its enormous paws fiercely at Lin Feng’s face.

Lin Feng remained motionless, instantly vanishing. The next moment, Ye Xing, with a faintly helpless expression, appeared where Lin Feng stood, facing the Earth Demon Bear.

With an angry roar, Ye Xing entered Demon Transformation mode, turning into a muscular giant. He grabbed the massive bear paw with one hand and swung it up. The Earth Demon Bear, like a toy, arced through the air and landed with a loud crash.

"Roar!"

A shrill cry echoed but quickly ceased. An illusory demon spirit appeared above the Earth Demon Bear’s head, attempting to escape upon appearing, but Lin Feng grabbed and crushed it, pushing it into his Soul Sea.

"Too violent."

Zhan Tianyu remarked with some disdain, staring at the Earth Demon Bear’s corpse akin to rotten mud.

Ignoring Zhan Tianyu’s complaint, Ye Xing looked at Lin Feng hopelessly, "Can’t you give me a heads-up before using the Stand Soul Skill? I wasn’t prepared, you know how dangerous it is? If I resist and the soul skill fails, you’ll be in danger too, understand?"

Lin Feng chuckled dismissively, "In such intense battles, there’s no time for warnings. When I cast the Stand Soul Skill, you can sense it to some extent. Just get used to it."

As for getting hurt, Lin Feng didn’t care at all.

If he transformed, he’d be even more violent than Ye Xing.

"Get used to it, my ass!" Ye Xing cursed helplessly, feeling somewhat exasperated.

Since absorbing the Stand Soul Skill, whenever engaged in close combat or encircled, Lin Feng would use it to swap places with him.

He felt he’d become both Lin Feng’s shield and enforcer.

"Haha."

Seeing Ye Xing’s helpless demeanor, the others couldn’t help but laugh.

Even Yun Kai’s lips curled into a faint smile.

Other than Bu Zheng, Ye Xing was inherently the strongest in the squad.

In the Glory Alliance, he was recognized as the number one Berserker, almost unbeatable in close combat.

In the Avengers Alliance, many excelled in close combat, besides Ye Xing, including Yun Kai, Ye Qiu, Zhan Tianyu, and Yun Tianqi.

Yun Kai could metalize entirely, impervious to blades and bullets, fighting with reckless abandon, without fear of injury.

Ye Qiu was covered in thorns like a hedgehog, leaving opponents with no way to strike.

Zhan Tianyu attacked from multiple angles and with multiple weapons using his six arms simultaneously.

Yun Tianqi wielded the Double Blade Technique, leaving opponents unable to keep up with his attack rhythm.

Ye Xing relied purely on brute force, overwhelming opponents with his combat style of breaking through all techniques with sheer might.

All five refined demon spirits from the Earth Chart, ranked highly, and each had a distinct fighting style. Assessing who was stronger was difficult, but in close combat, Ye Xing was unquestionably the most violent, ending battles the fastest.

That’s why Lin Feng liked using the Stand Soul Skill on Ye Xing the most.

Jokes aside, in the face of enemy pursuit, no one let their guard down. Yu Qiao had long disappeared from sight, though undetectable, everyone could sense his position thanks to the contract effect, hiding twenty meters away in a bush.

"Let’s get started," Lin Feng said, and the squad began running again.

The teams daring to pursue them were no pushovers; getting surrounded would entail danger, especially since He Jun and Yue Mingming were not particularly strong.

Since it was fishing, they couldn’t reveal all their strength.

Before long after Lin Feng’s squad left, the sound of rushing wind increased from afar.

Moments later, three teams dashed over, appearing beside the Earth Demon Bear.

Each of these teams wielded various weapons and wore different masks, evidently wanting to conceal their identities.

"They left not long ago; split up and pursue. Signal if spotted."

"An Apostle is involved this time; let’s wrap this up quickly."

"Watch out for Bu Zheng, Yun Tianqi, and Ye Xing; they’re the biggest threat."

"Our main target is Lin Feng. Once we get his head, we can retreat. Don’t get greedy."

As those words fell, figures darted out, their eyes gleaming with greed and murderous intent, quickly dispersing, flitting across the ground and through the tree trunks.

They had already tested Lin Feng’s squad’s strength earlier and worn down their combat power. Given their capabilities, they weren’t worried about retaliations from Lin Feng’s squad. What they truly feared was competitors fighting for the head.

Not only competitors, amongst themselves there wasn’t unity, and they had to be wary of one another.

One head was worth billions, even up to hundreds of billions—such enormous temptation could drive anyone insane, especially since they inherently had no bottom line.

On the other side, as Lin Feng’s squad continued running, Lin Feng suddenly halted. Up front, on branches twenty to thirty meters high, seven or eight figures looked down at them.

These individuals uniformly wore pitch-black masks.

Lin Feng slightly turned to look behind, seeing a dozen figures wearing white masks blocking their retreat.

With cries of rage, Yun Kai and the others swiftly entered Demon Transformation mode, looking at Lin Feng and awaiting his command.

"Kill!"

Without any warning or hesitation, Lin Feng acted first, casting the Stand Soul Skill, appearing upon the tree branches amongst the black-masked figures.

As Lin Feng shouted "kill," Yun Tianqi’s emerald eyes focused on Lin Feng’s position. His scythe-like forelimb was already raised. A black-masked figure appeared, his eyes still dazed, yet in the next moment, with a cold blade flash, his head was severed.

In the wake of the Stand Soul Skill activation, numerous bubbles emerged around Lin Feng’s body.

"Boom..."

A deafening explosion resounded, electric arcs blooming like a purple sun, unleashing terrifying lightning and blast force. Blood and limbs flew around, marking the commencement of combat.