Eric King had just opened his mouth to respond when, all of a sudden, a jet-black, ink-like spike pierced through Brian Cooper's shoulder with a squelch, splattering blood all over his face.

Brian Cooper let out a miserable scream as a powerful numbness surged from the wound and swept through his entire body—he nearly lost consciousness. But two years of hardening on the battlefield at Huangtai Fortress made him instantly realize what was behind him. If he let the poison knock him out now, it would be a death sentence!

He bit down hard on the tip of his own tongue, the searing pain and mouthful of blood jolting him back to clarity.

“Ah—!” he roared, grabbing the black spike that had impaled his shoulder with both hands. A tremendous force yanked backward; the spike was covered in dense barbs, and Brian Cooper's hands were instantly drenched in blood. Yet he gritted his teeth and refused to let go, enduring the pain as he tried to wrench the venomous spike free.

“What are you standing there for? Get over here and help!” he shouted at the stunned Eric King. Behind him, the giant mosquito beat its wings, several sharp, slender legs kicking and scratching at his back.

The standard-issue leather armor flared with spiritual light, saving his life. The giant mosquito’s deadliest weapon was its proboscis; the legs, though sharp, lacked real strength. Scratches quickly appeared on the armor, but it held—barely.

Eric King snapped out of it—after all, he was a veteran of the Wolf Battalion. A hint of ferocity flashed across his chubby face as he lunged forward to help Brian Cooper. Four hands gripped the venomous proboscis tightly. Brian Cooper was at the fifteen-ignition stage, Eric King at nineteen. Together, they shouted and exerted all their strength, spiritual energy bursting forth, spiritual light flashing from their bodies like flocks of birds.

The giant mosquito suddenly beat its wings, and the force of its flight actually lifted both men off the ground.

Their first attempt failed, and the giant mosquito crashed back down with them. Brian Cooper clung to the proboscis, gritting his teeth as he said to Eric King, “There’s a red porcelain bottle in my chest—there are spirit pills inside, one for each of us, quick!”

Eric King didn’t hesitate. He let go with one hand, fished out the bottle, flicked off the stopper, and tossed it into the air. Seven or eight blood-red miracle pills tumbled out. He grabbed two and stuffed them into their mouths, swallowing hard.

A searing heat blazed through their bodies, as if someone had thrown more fuel onto the already-ignited acupoints—their spiritual energy surged even stronger!

But both of them caught a whiff of blood from their nostrils, knowing these miracle pills must be severely damaging to their foundations. Still, there was no time to worry about that now.

“Again!” Brian Cooper roared, and the two of them exerted their strength once more.

Behind him, the giant mosquito kicked hard. The leather armor finally gave way with a ripping sound, and several deep, bone-revealing gashes instantly appeared on Brian Cooper's back!

Crack! With a sharp snap, the giant mosquito’s proboscis was finally broken off by their combined effort. A thick, black fluid sprayed out, drenching Eric King's head. He let out a miserable howl, clutching his face as he collapsed.

Brian Cooper was sweating from the pain all over his body. He grabbed the broken proboscis in one hand, pulled out a Zhou Tian ancient coin with the other, spun around, and hurled himself at the giant mosquito.

Thud! The proboscis stabbed into the mosquito’s neck. At the same time, his other hand pressed against the mosquito’s wound, and the Awakening Thunder technique erupted—a dazzling blue bolt of lightning shot into the mosquito’s body.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Muffled explosions sounded from within the giant mosquito. From the cracks in its jointed exoskeleton, flashes of lightning burst out. The terrifying monster finally began to weaken and collapse.

Brian Cooper dropped it without bothering to check, turning back to Eric King: “Fatty, Fatty, are you alright?”

The fluid from the mosquito’s proboscis was paralyzingly toxic, and in large amounts, just as deadly! Eric King had already passed out. Brian Cooper pried open the hand covering his face and breathed a slight sigh of relief—the fluid had splashed onto his face but hadn’t gotten into his eyes, or else Eric King’s eyesight would have been done for.

He quickly pulled out several more porcelain bottles from his chest, checked them, selected a green one, and fed Eric King three pills from it.

He himself was dizzy, the wound and the poison in his shoulder flaring up together. He took three antidote miracle pills, then three more of the healing kind.

Then he crushed another healing pill and smeared it on both his and Eric King’s palms.

After all this, he sat to the side to rest a bit, feeling a wave of dizziness he could barely control. After a while, the miracle pills took effect, and he finally felt a little better. The wounds on his hands and shoulder healed rapidly—this was the power of cultivation; no mundane medicine could compare.

He stood up and walked over to the giant mosquito. Why had this monster ended up alone? After checking, Brian Cooper understood: one of its wings was nearly severed, cut by a standard-issue battle sword from the Seventh Garrison.

Those soldiers had fought back in the air, and this mosquito had the worst luck—half its wing was chopped off in a single blow, leaving it unable to fly. Its swarm had abandoned it without hesitation.

The most vulnerable part of the giant mosquito was its wings.

It had hidden on the ground, waiting to ambush Brian Cooper. If not for its damaged wing, it would have carried both of them into the sky—weight was no issue; even if Eric King weighed twice as much as Brian Cooper, the mosquito could have flown.

If they’d been taken into the air, the two of them would have been in grave danger.

Eric King gradually woke from the intense numbness, his heartbeat growing stronger and stronger. The first thought that crossed his mind as he came to was: “That was close—thank goodness I survived.”