After completing his training, Zhou Ming retracted the Water Jade Gu into his aperture and stood up from the bathtub.
The Water Jade Gu had one usage left, and in three days it would completely dissipate, having completed its function.
This meant that even if Zhou Ming survived this time, he would likely only have one Gu left—the Grassroot Gu.
If he was lucky, the Water Armor Gu and the Sword Qi Gu might not starve to death, but the probability of that was also very low.
Regarding this, Zhou Ming could only sigh silently in his heart, but his expression remained calm as usual, without any emotions showing.
In fact, he couldn't really say he was disheartened or discouraged.
Now that Zhou Ming had entered the main god space, it meant that there were countless opportunities waiting for him. What were one or two Gu insects?
As long as he returned to the Gu world, he could break the current stalemate and have a bright future ahead of him.
The prerequisite was that he had to survive first.
Complete the current mission and survive!
The night passed without any conversation.
On the fourth day in this world, Zhou Ming had rare leisure time.
Yang Zhisheng was supervising the production of ammonium nitrate at the factory, while Zhou Ming was enjoying good food and wine at the villa. Yu Man's plastic bomb was about to arrive, and it was expected to fly in and meet the two of them tomorrow.
Nothing unexpected happened, and everything was proceeding smoothly.
On the fifth day, the amount of ammonium nitrate produced had reached half the required amount, and Yang Man had finally obtained the plastic explosives she needed from the arms dealer and boarded a plane to Shao.
At this moment, however, Zhou Ming sat on the sofa in Andreas's living room, sighing softly.
The Grass Shoes Gu had ultimately starved to death.
Compared to the Leaf Blade Gu, Zhou Ming had activated the Grass Shoes Gu more than once in the past few days, so it died first.
The Leaf Blade Gu was not far from starving to death either, and to make matters worse, it was Zhou Ming's Vital Gu [1]. Once the Leaf Blade Gu starved to death, Zhou Ming himself would suffer a backlash.
The vital Gu was usually the first Gu refined by a Gu Master and was the Gu that was most closely connected to the Gu Master.
The destruction of other Gu would not cause too much harm to a Gu Master.
Once the vital Gu was destroyed, it would inevitably affect the Gu Master. Although death was not imminent, injury was unavoidable.
The problem was that they were about to take action against the Chronos organization. If Zhou Ming was injured at this critical moment, it would certainly weaken his strength and greatly increase his risk.
Unfortunately, he could not solve this problem yet.
"I hope the Grass Roots Gu can help me recover my strength during this time before we take action!"
Although the Grass Roots Gu was a healing Gu, it was only a Rank 1 Gu, and its healing effect was not very significant. Zhou Ming himself did not know how much it could help him recover in such a short time.
"If it really doesn't work, I'll just destroy the Leaf Blade Gu myself and bear the damage earlier so I can start treatment sooner!"
Zhou Ming gritted his teeth and thought fiercely to himself, "In times of necessity, one can only resort to extreme measures. This is the only way."
Just then, Zhou Ming's eyelids suddenly twitched, and a sense of danger filled his heart. This feeling was all too familiar to him; it was his overly sensitive sense of danger, which was once again coming into play at this moment.
"Danger!"
Before Zhou Ming's consciousness could catch up, his body had already followed his instinctive reaction, throwing himself to the side while hooking his foot around the sofa, flipping it over in the process.
The unique strength-enhancing Gu, the Jin Strength Gu, was commonly used by most Northern Plains Gu Masters to permanently increase their physical strength, and Zhou Ming was no exception. Although his muscles didn't look particularly bulky, the strength he possessed was definitely comparable to that of a strongman who could pull cars and airplanes.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Several gunshots rang out, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass, but all the bullets were met with the overturned sofa. Zhou Ming's instinctive reaction was too strong, and his hasty actions turned out to be the perfect countermeasure to the attack.
Dodging those bullets, Zhou Ming had already darted to the hallway next to the living room, concealing himself in the blind spot where the bullets had entered. At the same time, he drew his pistol, rapidly recalling the scene he had just witnessed.
How would the other side continue their attack? Would they charge in directly or continue shooting from outside the villa?
At this moment, the terrifying sense of crisis struck again. Without hesitation, Zhou Ming crouched down and a bullet grazed his scalp, embedding itself in the wall.
"The bullet curved!"
Zhou Ming took a sharp breath.
He was in the blind spot of the enemy's attack. Unless they came around, they wouldn't be able to see him at all.
But the enemy didn't come around. The bullet curved on its own.
"This is a master! A real master from the Chronos organization!"
This was Zhou Ming's first thought.
"How did the Chronos organization know I was here?"
This was Zhou Ming's second thought.
But he didn't have time to think any further. The intense sense of crisis engulfed him like a tide, and death seemed to materialize, swirling around him like a heavy black fog from all directions.
The situation forced him to act immediately and make the most correct choice. A wrong step would be a disaster!
Risk it all with bullets!
This idea flashed through Zhou Ming's mind.
No matter how formidable the enemy was, even if adrenaline rushed through his veins, he was still a mortal body and being shot in a vital spot would be fatal.
But Zhou Ming was different. The water armor Gu could help him block a crucial bullet.
As long as he could avoid vital spots, he could survive!
With this thought, Zhou Ming's eyes flickered, and he ran straight towards the kitchen at the other end of the corridor, which was on the first floor.
Firing bullets isn't just about charging out and emptying the magazine. If he could shoot the enemy from behind, Zhou Ming would never choose to face them head-on in a shootout.
Just as he approached the kitchen doorway, Zhou Ming suddenly stopped and raised his pistol, taking a deep breath before leaping across the hallway in a fierce motion.
In that split second as his body flew over the kitchen doorway, he saw a black-haired man with a large build and a cold expression holding a gun, aiming at him and pulling the trigger.
Bang! Bang!
Bullets shot out of the gun, accompanied by a brief but dazzling flash of light. Two bullets intersected in mid-air, each heading towards its respective target.
Zhou Ming's body landed heavily on the hallway floor after flying over the kitchen.
"Damn, I didn't hit anything vital!" Zhou Ming cursed inwardly.
As the bullet from the big man's gun was fired, he also pulled the trigger of his own pistol. As a result, although the bullet from the big man's gun only hit his abdomen and was blocked by his water-jacket, his own bullet also failed to kill the big man because he did not hear the voice of the main god.
The time he had for the leap was simply too short.
But Zhou Ming was confident that he had hit the big man, based on his own marksmanship.
As long as the opponent is injured, it will definitely have an impact on their actions, while he himself can still preserve his strength intact. The advantage will tilt towards him as time goes on, and then...
Crash!
The sound of shattering glass interrupted Zhou Ming's thoughts.
He was taken aback and horrified, and before he could get up from the ground where he was half-lying, his gun was raised again.
"This bastard, he's already been shot, and yet he's still attacking so aggressively!"
In the next moment, a figure like black lightning rushed out of the kitchen at lightning speed!
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Both sides fired at each other within a distance of less than three meters. The gunshots burst out with bursts of flame, and bullets flew across, colliding in mid-air and ricocheting around the narrow hallway.
"Ka ka ka!"
After firing the last bullet from his gun, Zhou Ming dropped the gun without hesitation. He clapped his left hand onto the ground, and used his waist, back, legs, and abdomen to exert force simultaneously. He sprang up from the ground like a yellow spring, rushing straight towards the man with a big back.
Another bullet hit him, but was once again blocked by his Water Armor Gu.
The primeval essence sea in his aperture suddenly dropped a large amount. Although it was not completely depleted, there wasn't enough primeval essence left for Zhou Ming to activate his Water Armor Gu again!
The distance between the two was already extremely close. With Zhou Ming's burst of energy, he had almost instantly rushed in front of the big-backed man. He lifted his hand to knock away the big-backed man's gun, causing his next shot to miss and the bullet to fly towards the deep end of the corridor.
Close combat to fight for his life?
A bloody chill flashed in the big-backed man's eyes, and he sneered inwardly.
He himself had extremely skilled close combat skills, and now that he was in an adrenaline-fueled state, his physical abilities far exceeded that of an ordinary person. There were few people in the world who could beat him, let alone this young man in front of him.
However, in the next moment, his pupils suddenly shrank to the size of a pinhole, filled with shock and incredulity. Then, a jade-green blade flashed and engulfed everything in his gaze.
A jade-green blade, shaped like a willow leaf, had grown out of Zhou Ming's palm and pierced into the big-backed man's eye socket, deeply entering his brain, and with a gentle twist, it crushed his fragile brain.
Then, the jade-green blade seemed to have completed its historical mission and quickly withered away, disappearing without a trace.
Both Big Back Man and Zhou Ming fell, but the difference was that Big Back Man had already lost his life, while Zhou Ming spat out a mouthful of blood and staggered to lean against the wall.
"Come fight me!" Despite the blood dripping from his lips and the excruciating pain all over his body, Zhou Ming still laughed coldly at Big Back Man's corpse.
If it weren't for close combat, Zhou Ming wouldn't have killed Big back Man so easily. If Big Back Man had been more cautious and acted like an assassin, the one who would have had a higher chance of dying would be Zhou Ming."
It's just that Big back man still underestimated Zhou Ming. Perhaps in Big Back Man's eyes, both sides had been shot and injured, and he was definitely stronger, even if he charged in recklessly, he could still kill Zhou Ming. On the contrary, there might be some unexpected changes if it dragged on.
Unfortunately, he didn't know that Zhou Ming was not injured and that Zhou Ming was actually even more powerful in close combat.
Fighting with Zhou Ming at such a close range was simply seeking death.
But Zhou Ming also paid a price. At that time, his primeval essence was greatly consumed, and he could no longer activate the sword qi gu, and could only forcefully activate the leaf blade gu, which consumed the last of his life force. Zhou Ming also suffered backlash and was injured due to his death gu.
Fortunately, he ultimately survived.
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[1]-Vital Gu, or '本命蛊', can be translated into many terms such as natal gu, lifebound gu, or vital gu. Since the original English translator used 'Vital Gu', I have also chosen to use the same term here.