The Legendary Dagon person collapsed with a boom, his body splashing a large swath of filth as it smashed into the swamp.
After Ji Xinghuo finished speaking, the corner of his mouth twitched violently.
A piercing, intense pain surged into his brain, relentless, and his face immediately turned pale as paper. He bit down on his teeth to avoid passing out and managed to stay standing without falling.
His left hand was severed from the middle of his forearm, blood flowing incessantly.
Ji Xinghuo threw Lei Chi aside, grasped the severed area on his arm with his right hand to reduce blood loss, then turned his head to see his hand lying on the grass not far away. He staggered over, attempting to pick it up but couldn’t; as soon as he let go with his right hand, blood would spurt from his arm.
Yuan Chongzhen hurried over, helping Ji Xinghuo pick up his left hand.
He was also in bad shape, his body covered with wounds and continuously vomiting blood. The Ultrasonic Sword Energy had a penetrating effect; it not only caused lacerations but also internal injuries.
If it weren’t for the fact that the Black Iron Giant Ape’s body was as hard as iron with robust defense and could transform into the Forest Deer Spirit to heal himself, Yuan Chongzhen would already be a corpse.
"Keep it safe for me."
Ji Xinghuo managed to say, slowly sitting down, "I’m fine, go check on Jing Ji."
His current condition couldn’t be worse, having drained the last bit of his Star Power using Flash Step, Rotating Magnetic Field, and Myriad Phenomena, and having exhausted his physical fitness to the point where even walking became difficult.
Alex was also in bad shape, lying motionless in a puddle; if it weren’t for the rise and fall of his chest, one might think he was dead.
But the most miserable was Jing Ji.
He took a full force Sound Explosion from the Dagon person and was also hit by the remnants of the Ultrasonic Sword Energy. As a Phantom Assassin not accustomed to head-on battles, with a weaker body and defense, things were looking grim.
Yuan Chongzhen ran to Jing Ji, transformed into the Forest Deer Spirit, and began drawing life force from the surrounding plants to heal his wounds.
Jing Ji’s life force was threadlike, barely maintaining consciousness.
Jing Ji’s complexion finally gained a little rosiness as he struggled to say, "Old Yuan, that’s enough, I should survive."
"Damn it, you scared me to death! It’s good you’re not dead!" Yuan Chongzhen could no longer maintain his transformation, reverting to his human form. He collapsed to the ground, so exhausted that he couldn’t lift a finger.
It quieted down in the swamp, and none of the four felt like talking.
"Hahaha! I survived..." Yuan Chongzhen suddenly burst out laughing, but the laugh so pulled on his wounds that he grimaced in pain.
The four looked at each other and then their gazes fell on the corpse of the Legendary Dagon person, eventually smiles appearing on their faces.
This was the joy of victory!
As if in delayed realization, a sensation of wild elation surged through them.
Though it was a brutal fight, not only had they survived, but they had also killed a Legendary figure!
After a while, Ji Xinghuo’s severed arm stopped bleeding, and some of his Star Power Physical Ability had recovered. Although his wounds still hurt, he was able to stand up. He went over to Jing Ji and Yuan Chongzhen, checking Jing Ji’s wounds with one hand and couldn’t help but frown.
Jing Ji was severely injured, with almost all his bones shattered and multiple internal organs ruptured. If he were an ordinary person, he would have been dead long ago.
It was only because of the Super Mutant’s strong physical constitution, astonishing recovery power, and Yuan Chongzhen’s healing and blood clotting that he was able to hold onto life.
"We need to get back to Midpoint Fortress for treatment as soon as possible," Ji Xinghuo said.
The healing capabilities of the Forest Deer Spirit, after all, were inferior to those of the White Knight and the Plant Witch—it was a temporary fix, not a cure. His hand also needed to be reattached without delay; the longer the severed hand was left, the worse it would be.
Alex had also regained some strength and came over saying, "Let’s leave now."
Yuan Chongzhen got up, fashioned a makeshift stretcher from materials in the nearby woods, and carefully placed Jing Ji on it with Alex’s help. They started walking with him in tow.
"Don’t forget the spoils of war," Jing Ji said from the stretcher, "We earned them with our lives..."
Ji Xinghuo retrieved the backpack he had discarded before the fight and approached the corpse of the Legendary Dagon person, inspecting it carefully.
The only valuable thing on the Dagon person was his longsword, already stashed in Ji Xinghuo’s Dimension Stomach, so he cut off the Dagon person’s head and stuffed it into his bag before catching up with the others.
He took back his severed hand, removed the two rings from it, and placed them on his right hand.
The severed hand itself was directly stored in the Dimension Stomach for preservation.
With the Acceleration Ring enhancing his Star Power recovery, after traveling over ten kilometers, Ji Xinghuo’s Star Power had risen by several dozen points, and his physical fitness was also restored, once again possessing the power for battle.
Magnetic field sensing scanned the surroundings as they avoided all people on their way.
It was now Star Night.
The human side of the Star Realm defenses was relatively safe. With all four in poor condition, they couldn’t move fast and it took over four hours before they finally saw Midpoint Fortress.
Yuan Chongzhen was elated, and Ji Xinghuo also felt a joy of narrowly escaping death.
The four arrived at the gates of the fortress and after waiting a few minutes, the gates opened to a group of Bounty Hunters leaving the city. Seeing the four’s dreadful state, the Hunters looked at them, recognized who they were, and upon seeing Jing Ji on the stretcher, stopped in shock.
The gate guards recognized Ji Xinghuo and the others and quickly went through the motions, allowing them to enter the city.
Yuan Chongzhen and Alex rushed with the stretcher carrying Jing Ji into the hospital of Midpoint Fortress. The emergency room doctors, all mutants themselves, began treating Jing Ji immediately.
The other three also sought medical attention.
Ji Xinghuo handed over his severed hand to a surgeon.
Admiring Ji Xinghuo’s composure, the surgeon, well-experienced with such injuries, meticulously cleaned both the severed hand and wound, aligned the nerves and blood vessels, fixed the hand in place with instruments, but did not suture it.