Chapter 006: The Abyss

Some of the older dwarf warriors paled at the sound. Based on their experience, this was undoubtedly the sound of the Black Panther Riders charging.
“Retreat! Retreat!” shouted a dwarf knight who seemed to be a commander, riding on a giant pangolin.
Hearing this command, the warriors on Karu’s side immediately retreated down the mountain like a tide.
“Chase them!” Moses roared.
The elf archers behind him also followed in pursuit like a tide, leaping over the fallen dwarf corpses with ease.
The remaining nine members of the Black Panther Riders also joined the chase, emitting shrill cries as they pursued. These cries, which sounded like rolling thunder, constantly changed direction. In fact, they were a secret code used by the Black Panther Riders to communicate.
Originally, it was impossible for Moses and the Black Panther Riders to achieve zero casualties. But thanks to Moses being the leader of the Ancient Tree elves, and Old Saito having provided him with an abundance of Life Spring water over the years—far more than what Saito had given Du Fan—those who were not killed instantly could be fully healed by the Life Spring water!
The elf archers all had a cultivation level of at least level 7, while the Black Panther Riders were elite warriors carefully selected from various dwarf tribes. Moreover, they dedicated themselves entirely to military training and martial arts practice.
In terms of martial skills, these dwarf knights were not far behind the elf archers!
It’s easy to imagine that only dwarfs with exceptional talent could be chosen for the Black Panther Riders. With full-time training and hundreds of years of experience among their senior members, even a weak sickling could be turned into a master after centuries of training!
There were no members of the regular Black Panther Riders below level 6!

Members of the Black Panther Knights who haven’t reached level six feel too ashamed to stay in the order any longer! Reaching that level requires at least several hundred years of dedicated cultivation, and yet if one still can’t achieve it under such conditions, they truly aren’t suited for this path!

These were the original ideas when the Dwarf King founded the Black Panther Knights. To this day, not a single member of the order has a cultivation level below seven!

Those serving as squad leaders all have levels above eight, those as company leaders have levels above nine, and the commanders of the Black Panther Knights all possess holy-level cultivation! As for the leader of the entire order, he is even a domain master. In the eyes of the dwarves, he represents the highest physical achievement among them. The Dwarf King is undoubtedly number one, with the leader of the Black Panther Knights coming in second!

In the dwarves’ view, the leader of the Black Panther Knights holds a status roughly equivalent to Thrack in the world of Warcraft! Thrack is the second-in-command, second only to the supreme leader and above all others!

When these two forces began chasing after the fleeing dwarf warriors from Karu, the situation was like autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves! In this battle, Karu’s dwarf warriors suffered heavy losses—out of 20,000 soldiers, only a little over 2,000 managed to escape.

It should be noted that these 2,000 survivors were able to do so thanks to the dwarves’ lax military discipline. When the dwarf warriors from Karu started fleeing, seeing the Black Panther Knights and elf archers closing in behind them, they had no sense of discipline at all and scattered in every direction, fleeing wherever they thought the enemies might not follow.

As a result, nearly 10,000 dwarf warriors scattered, preventing the Black Panther Knights and elf archers from pursuing them all. Some of the dwarf warriors took this opportunity to escape.

“Brother, where’s the third brother?” Bashah asked eagerly upon seeing Moses.

“He’s being chased by Thrack,” Moses replied.

“Let’s go help him right away!” Bashah said.

“Can we keep up at our speed?” Moses countered.

“What should we do then?” Bashah asked.

“Naixiu has already caught up. I think with the two of them together, Thrack won’t be able to gain much advantage,” Moses said with a smile.

When Basha and Moses returned to the Black Panther Knights’ base, Du Fan was being chased by Tek. Seeing Nayixiu struggling hard to keep up on the ground, Du Fan felt a surge of warmth in his heart. Quickly, Du Fan took out a small cup of water from the Spring of Life. Thanks to its powerful healing effects, the energy he had lost was rapidly replenished. Du Fan’s Absolute Protection, strictly speaking, was also a kind of domain. The energy required for such a domain had to come from within his own body. As the water from the Spring of Life circulated throughout his body, he felt the energy of Absolute Protection being continuously restored as well. The chase between the two had lasted for hours, and at their speeds, they had already covered over 200 miles! Yet Nayixiu was still far behind, running hard on the ground. “Du Fan, you coward! If you keep running away, I’ll kill that elf woman of yours!” Tek, who had long noticed Nayixiu chasing after him without being able to catch up, threatened angrily. “Haha, Tek, if that’s the case, I’ll owe you a favor,” Du Fan said with a smile. “To be honest, I already have too many women. This elf girl keeps insisting on following me; I’m really annoyed. If you really help me get rid of her, I’ll be even more grateful.” The two were flying in the air while Nayixiu followed from afar, so Du Fan wasn’t worried that she could hear him. After saying that, Du Fan deliberately glanced at Nayixiu, who was still running hard on the ground. Sure enough, the elf girl was still striving to keep up. As a powerful wind mage within his domain, Du Fan’s speed was already at an extreme on this continent. Tek’s giant golden eagle, an extraordinary creature by nature, also reached an extreme in speed. As a result, the two were almost evenly matched, always separated by about 100 meters as they chased each other. Hearing Du Fan’s words, Tek suddenly slapped the neck of his eagle. The golden eagle let out a loud cry, and a golden light ball shot out from its beak. Du Fan was startled and soared upward. But Tek didn’t follow right away; due to strong inertia, he still rushed forward for a while. By the time Tek reacted and chased after Du Fan again, Du Fan had already flown backward in Nayixiu’s direction.

In the Dusk Mountains, sparse grasses and trees covered the landscape. Naixiu stood in such an environment, surrounded by stones emitting a faint yellow glow that made her appear even more delicate and beautiful. When she saw Du Fan flying toward her, Naixiu tightened her bow. The arrow was aimed at Tek, who was chasing behind them. With a slight release of her fingers, the long arrow flew toward Tek in the air. Tek, of course, was not afraid of Naixiu’s arrow, but the golden eagle he rode could not withstand it. Seeing the arrow coming toward it with an irresistible force, the giant eagle let out a loud cry, flapped its wings rapidly, changed direction, and then continued chasing after Du Fan. During this brief moment, Du Fan had already reached Naixiu’s side. Holding Naixiu’s hand, Du Fan began to flee at full speed again. Du Fan, the man on the continent closest to a god, had already noticed that Tek’s blood carried a hint of golden color. It seemed likely that Tek already possessed some divine powers. With only the two of them, Du Fan dared not take any risks. His first choice was to flee—until his absolute protection was fully restored! Above the Dusk Mountains, there were peaks of various sizes everywhere. Du Fan pulled Naixiu along as they ran, constantly using his lightness technique, and managed to keep up with the speed of the giant eagle. The eagle’s speed was only slightly faster than theirs, but the numerous peaks in the Dusk Mountains gave Du Fan and Naixiu an advantage. Tek, riding on his giant eagle, was close to catching up several times, but the peaks always blocked his path, forcing him to slow down. “Du Fan, shall we keep running like this?” Naixiu asked. “We have no choice but to flee for now. I’ll fight him again once my absolute protection is almost restored. It’s not possible yet,” Du Fan said. As they ran, a vast grassland appeared ahead soon. Such a large expanse of grassland was quite rare in the Dusk Mountains. On the grassland, many herbivores were grazing leisurely or lying down to rest. When they saw Du Fan and Naixiu running toward them quickly, the sheep, deer, wild horses, and other grass-eating animals fled in all directions in fear! Suddenly, several antelopes running in front of Du Fan and Naixiu disappeared abruptly, followed by several cries of pain coming from below!

Du Fan and Naixiu quickly slowed down. As they did, a bottomless abyss suddenly appeared on the grassland ahead! The abyss was unbearably wide; its edges stretched out so far that they were invisible. Even across from the abyss, it was impossible to gauge the distance at a glance.
“Du Fan, what should we do?” Naixiu asked again.
“Jump! Although our Absolute Protection has recovered a bit, we won’t be able to hold out long if we fight him head-on. His Decomposition Field is simply too powerful. Once our Absolute Protection is broken, it’s basically a death sentence,” Du Fan analyzed.
Looking back, Tek was already closing in. His terrifying appearance had improved significantly—he was no longer skeletal. The man closest to a god now possessed some divine traits, and his powerful healing ability had caused tender red flesh to grow on his face.