Evolving infinitely from ground zero

He saw only a bloodied masked man, with no sign of Lu Tianrong.

This meant... Lu Tianrong might have been defeated.

At this thought, Lin Zichen's heart plunged into an abyss, and his expression turned ugly.

There was no time to think further.

Quickly.

Lin Zichen put down Shen Qinghan, whom he was carrying on his back, with a solemn expression, he said to her and the others:

"Everyone listen to me!"

"I sense that the masked man who can control vines is now hundreds of meters away, approaching us rapidly!"

"And behind him, I don't see the instructor's figure!"

"This implies that the instructor has likely been defeated!"

"The masked man is after me, I'll be responsible for drawing his attention next, to create an opportunity for you all to escape!"

"Don't look back, don't worry about me, and don't stay behind to be my burden!"

After saying this quickly, Lin Zichen turned and sprinted in the opposite direction at top speed, to create distance and ensure their safety.

Among them, the safety of Shen Qinghan was of utmost importance.

"Xiao Chen, you must come back!!!"

Shen Qinghan's eyes were somewhat moist as she shouted hoarsely at the rapidly disappearing figure of Lin Zichen.

As soon as her words fell, Lin Zichen, who was quickly moving away, responded with one word: "Okay!"

Hearing this response, Shen Qinghan raised her hand to wipe away her tears and stopped standing still, quickly catching up with the others to leave.

She very well knew that with her Biological Level being only an Ordinary Sixth Rank, she was in no position to help Lin Zichen in the current situation.

All she could do was to distance herself from Lin Zichen and not become a burden to him.

...

Elsewhere.

Lin Zichen, who was moving rapidly through the woods, continuously kept his eyes on the masked man, now only a bit more than four hundred meters away, observing his direction of movement.

Seeing the masked man change his course and stop chasing after Shen Qinghan, instead pursuing himself, Lin Zichen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, it seems the masked man really is after me."

"Han Han should be safe now."

"Next, I need to run frantically towards the edge of the forest."

"The masked man can only utilize his full strength within the forest, so as long as I'm not within it, my chances of survival will greatly increase."

"Perhaps, I can even try to counter-attack and kill him!"

While sprinting, Lin Zichen thought to himself and a bold idea of killing the masked man formed in his mind.

In the time he had been running, he belatedly realized that the speed of the masked man was off, not like that of a High Level Sixth Rank expert.

Upon a rough comparison, it seemed he was only one level stronger than Lin Zichen himself.

His own strength, considering the third-stage Body Refinement Completion and various Biometric Attributes bonuses, was about at the High-Level Third Rank.

That meant the masked man was currently around a High Level Fourth Rank strength.

His strength had slipped from High Level Sixth Rank to High Level Fourth Rank.

It seemed he was seriously injured.

But serious injuries were to be expected.

After all, the masked man had killed a peer of the same order, Lu Tianrong.

And to kill an opponent of the same order without a significant cost was simply not realistic.

"The masked man is so heavily injured, with barely ten percent of his strength left, it seems I might truly have a chance to kill him."

"Using the illusion of my Biological Level being just an Ordinary Ninth Rank, create an information gap by feigning weakness, and then take him by surprise with a sneak attack."

"Aim for a vital point and strike hard."

"Then, take advantage of his weakened state to finish him off with a relentless assault."

"Yes, I've decided. I'll try to kill him!"

With this thought in mind, Lin Zichen immediately slowed his pace, his face showing signs of exhaustion.

He pretended that he had only been able to run that fast because he had taken some drugs, which allowed for a short-term burst of strength far beyond his biological level by borrowing against his stamina.

Now that his stamina was depleted, his explosive power dropped sharply.

This was logically sound and seemed utterly plausible.

Not to mention, it made far more sense than a young man, barely 20 years old, having the speed of a High-Level Third Rank.

After Lin Zichen slowed down.

It didn't take long for the seriously injured masked man to catch up.

The distance between the two of them was now only a few tens of meters.

"Buzz!"

"Buzz!"

"Buzz!"

A series of whooshing sounds followed.

The masked man whipped several vines towards Lin Zichen, who was up ahead.

The speed of the whipping was not fast, and the strength was moderate.

At the level of an Ordinary Ninth Rank.

The masked man was being careful not to accidentally kill Lin Zichen with too strong a hit.

In his eyes, ordinary creatures were too fragile, easily crushed to death.

If he wanted to capture Lin Zichen alive, he had to be gentle with his hits.

Lin Zichen, "frantically" running ahead, could feel the oncoming vine strikes from behind were not powerful.

To create an opportunity for his own sneak attack.

After dodging several times, he intentionally failed to evade in time once.

He was directly whipped hard on the back by the vine.

He flew out as a result.

Then, with a "thud," he hit a towering tree in front of him, causing a rain of dry branches and leaves to fall.

After sliding down from the trunk, he collapsed "barely breathing" on the ground.

Seeing Lin Zichen collapse on the ground and unable to rise, the masked man also stopped his strenuous sprint.

He placed his hands on his hips and stayed put to catch his breath, panting heavily with disordered breaths, feeling a burning pain in his organs, which was extremely uncomfortable.

During the fierce battle with Lu Tianrong, he was severely injured.

The sprint just now was all sustained by adrenaline.

Now that the adrenaline levels had dropped slightly, the pain and fatigue overwhelmed his body instantly, making him acutely aware that his injuries were severe, with only about ten percent of his strength remaining.