'An explosive arrow!'

Ou Yangming widened his eyes because he recognized the explosion.

'An explosive arrow, it was definitely the sound of an explosive arrow.' When he sensed the familiar impact coming from it, he quickly understood Jiang Chengwei's actions.

After Zhang Yinli sent him flying, Jiang Chengwei pretended to be heavily injured instead of getting up right away. As such, Zhang Yinli dropped his guard.

Perhaps everything had been planned by Jiang Chengwei from the start.

In the beginning, it seemed like he had shot all his explosive arrows, but he had actually left one for himself.

If Jiang Chengwei was still holding his bow, Zhang Yinli might still keep an eye on him, but an archer without his bow was like an ant to Zhang Yinli, hence Jiang Chengwei was no longer a threat.

However, the insignificant ant was now using Heaven and Earth as its bow, and its body as the arrow. Jiang Chengwei shot the most dazzling arrow in his life.

The explosive arrow on his body soon exploded, causing numerous steel shards to burst in all directions. Additionally, there was a drizzle of blood in that area.

"Ah!" Zhang Yinli roared. A white light appeared on his body at that moment, which appeared to be a round shield that was floating in the void. Although it looked illusory, it blocked the shards completely.

Nonetheless, Zhang Yinli looked enraged and regretful.

Evidently, the price he had to pay to execute the move was so huge that he suffered physical pain.

Jiang Chengwei was not able to hit Zhang Yinli with his body. Though he had put his life on the line, which was truly unexpected, his path was blocked by the white light.

After the shards fell on the ground, the furious Zhang Yinli went over to Jiang Chengwei's corpse.

The corpse was already covered in holes, and was completely disfigured by the countless shards.

Even then, Zhang Yinli gritted his teeth and took a step forward to kick Jiang Chengwei's neck. The kick was as fast as lightning, and as sharp as a saber, by which Jiang Chengwei's head was kicked off at once.

Subsequently, Zhang Yinli proceeded to kick Jiang Chengwei's dead body, which was sent flying away as a result and was nowhere to be found. He then tipped his toe and shifted to Ou Yangming's side.

Zhang Yinli's face finally looked hideous. The white light earlier was stimulated from his most powerful defensive treasure, which he had cherished very much because it could only be used once.

Who knew, the precious opportunity was wasted on an ant that he thought of as unimportant, thus his resentment toward Jiang Chengwei was not at all lesser than his grudge toward Ou Yangming.

"Young fella, quickly tell me where the Fire-absorbing Badge is, or I'll make sure you end up like him. Not only will you die, but your family will suffer too!" Zhang Yinli shouted fiercely.

Ou Yangming looked fearful and was in disbelief when he looked at the head in front of him.

It was as if a ten-thousand-feet tall wave had surged inside him, and the fluctuating yet painful emotion that he felt at the moment was indescribable.

Even though Ou Yangming had not interacted much with Jiang Chengwei, a few moments flashed before his eyes at that instant; moments where the squad leader made things difficult for him in the past, and when the leader eventually respected him and fawned over him in every way possible.

"I applied for home leave as I'm visiting my younger sister in the prefecture!"

The words were still ringing in Ou Yangming's ears, but the person who said it could not see his younger sister anymore.

Ou Yangming's lips trembled a little. He was neither afraid nor having a heartache because he did not share such a relationship with Jiang Chengwei.

Nevertheless, he was full of rage at that moment; a rage that could burn everything down including him.

The more infuriated he was, the calmer and clearer his mind was.

In particular, along with his mental power, the purple light in his head rose to a new height.

Ou Yangming observed Zhang Yinli's every move. While he could not resist the man in terms of power, he had transcended himself in terms of mental state.

Instead of looking angry, Ou Yangming began to calm down.

Zhang Yinli furrowed his eyebrows. He quickly looked around him but did not find anything unusual.

He wondered, 'I actually became fussy and overly suspicious after that ant sneaked an attack on me.'

As he was comforting himself, he did not notice the mental power in the void that existed in an incomprehensible way.

Ou Yangming closed his eyes and asked slowly, "How do you know that the Fire-absorbing Badge isn't with me now?"

Zhang Yinli scoffed. "I have another Fire-absorbing Badge with me now. If two badges are present in the same area, they naturally produce an induction. Since nothing is coming from your body, it proves that the badge isn't with you now."

"If that's the case, you've searched my residence too?" Ou Yangming questioned.

"Not only your residence but your smithing workshop and even Old Craftsman's place were also searched." Zhang Yinli sneered.

Ou Yangming suddenly looked up at him. "Old Craftsman?"

Zhang Yinli curled his lips. "That's right. If you refuse to realize your mistake and insist on keeping the Fire-absorbing Badge for yourself, Old Craftsman will also die because of you!"

"You… You're really going to eliminate everyone!" Ou Yangming nodded slowly.

"Hmph!" Zhang Yinli stared at him with indifference. "Ou Yangming, you don't have to play any tricks, it's useless even if you try to drag this any longer. They're all dead, your arms are broken, and so are your breast bones, so are you still going to try to escape? Besides, I didn't even torture you. Isn't that enough to prove that I'll keep my word?"

Ou Yangming flashed a smile at him. "Sir Zhang, I suppose you didn't punish me right away not because you're being kind, but because you're afraid that you'll kill me if you overdo it."

Zhang Yinli's face instantly froze. "Nonsense!"

He swayed his body and was about to approach Ou Yangming.

Ou Yangming quickly shouted, "If you take another step forward, I'll kill myself now, and you'll never find the Fire-absorbing Badge!"

Zhang Yinli halted. His face looked as gloomy as a rain-bearing cloud before a rainfall.

Just as Ou Yangming said, Zhang Yinli actually hated him so much that he was only giving excuses when he claimed that he would spare Ou Yangming and let Ou Yangming serve him because of his smithing art.

Zhang Yinli only wanted to find out that Fire-absorbing Badge's whereabouts to acquire it.

Once he obtained the badge, he would torment Ou Yangming by executing every cruel punishment in the world on him to avenge Zhang Hanyu's death.

Obviously, Zhang Yinli had not hurt Ou Yangming yet because he needed to get the Fire-absorbing Badge.

It was important to take revenge for his son, but the badge was more important at the moment. Although he had killed many soldiers earlier, he was rational enough to know the seriousness of this matter.

Ou Yangming smiled hideously and expressed, "There were more than ten soldiers, and they shouldn't have died!"

Zhang Yinli narrowed his eyes. He could tell that Ou Yangming was very agitated, but he was delighted to see that. This was because it was easier to deal with someone who was on the verge of breaking down than someone who was composed.

Of course, the precondition was he had the ability to suppress that person.

Ou Yangming looked up and said, "Tell me what exactly is the Fire-absorbing Badge, and I'll tell you where it is."

The Devouring attribute in the Fire-absorbing Badge was the strangest and the most mysterious attribute that Ou Yangming had acquired. In fact, the attribute played the most important role in his current success because his martial power and mental power could not have achieved their respective height without it.

Therefore, he really wanted to know the badge's background if he could.

Zhang Yinli hesitated before answering, "Okay, I'll tell you. The Fire-absorbing Badge is the legacy of a Sky-devouring Devil God in ancient times and is said to contain the devil's secret in devouring the sky. If someone is able to fathom it, that person will possess the devil's Sky-devouring Ability."

Ou Yangming asked, "Did anyone manage to fathom it?"

Zhang Yinli scoffed. "Why will the Fire-absorbing Badge still exist if someone has fathomed it?"

"The badge isn't yours!" Ou Yangming suddenly uttered.

"You're very smart, but overly smart people usually don't get to live a long life." Zhang Yinli frowned and looked deeply at Ou Yangming. He then sighed and paced toward the young blacksmith.

Ou Yangming smirked and asked, "Aren't you afraid that I'll commit suicide now so you'll never find the Fire-absorbing Badge?"

Zhang Yinli sniggered. "If you dare to do that, I'll return to the military camp to kill Old Craftsman and bury him with you. What do you think?"

"You dare lay a finger on Old Craftsman?" Ou Yangming's face instantly changed. He had a look of savage on his face and seemed like he was ready to perish together with his enemy.

"He's just an old craftsman, so why would I not dare to? Hehe, I guarantee that I'll kill him discreetly, and I'll make sure he gets to meet you in hell!" Zhang Yinli laughed out loud as he was slowly becoming at ease.

When he approached Ou Yangming step by step, his footsteps sounded like thunderous drum beats on Ou Yangming's heart.

Seeing as Zhang Yinli was getting closer to him, Ou Yangming exhaled deeply. He reached out to Jiang Chengwei's head with one hand and grabbed a huge bag with his other hand.

Zhang Yinli's face suddenly changed and he exclaimed, "Your hands…"

Even though he had held back earlier to not kick Ou Yangming to his death, he had actually broken the young man's arms.

Zhang Yinli was a hundred percent sure of that.

That being said, the young man had just stretched his arms easily and did not look injured at all.

Zhang Yinli was finally feeling afraid. He slowly realized that he had lost control over the situation.

He raised his eyebrows and quickened his pace. While he did not know what Ou Yangming's trump card was, capturing Ou Yangming was unquestionably his best move for now.

At the spur of the moment, a red light flashed in front of him.

Ou Yangming had vanished into thin air.

"Wh-what was that?" Zhang Yinli mumbled with a pale face and widened eyes.