As he finished speaking, Hong Maru drew the long blade from his waist and charged towards Gu Jie.
Facing the blade Hong Maru was about to cleave down with, Gu Jie did not choose to use her Tan Hua Sword to block. Instead, she put her sword away, dodged the strike with a sidestep, and directly punched Hong Maru in the stomach. The powerful impact sent Hong Maru flying uncontrollably, crashing through several trees before finally stopping.
From Hong Maru's attack to him being sent flying, it was only an instant.
After Hong Maru was sent flying, Shion descended from the sky with her spiked club, seemingly intending to smash Gu Jie into a meat patty. Just as the spiked club was about to land, Gu Jie vanished.
"Watch out behind you!"
While Shion was still confused about Gu Jie's sudden disappearance, she heard Byakuya's warning and instantly swung her spiked club backward. However, Gu Jie easily dodged it by leaning back. Then, Jing Liu concentrated her power into her fist and delivered a punch to Shion's chest.
Shion was also sent flying by that punch.
Just as Shion was sent flying backward, a figure instantly appeared behind her, holding a short blade.
Just as Souei thought he was about to succeed, Gu Jie quickly spun around and kicked him away with a roundhouse kick.
At this moment, Byakuya flashed forward and instantly brought his blade down on Gu Jie.
Gu Jie summoned her Tan Hua Sword and blocked the strike.
Seeing Gu Jie block the strike, Byakuya did not retreat but continued to swing his blade, launching a dazzling array of sword techniques at Gu Jie, but all were blocked one by one by Gu Jie.
While Byakuya was still holding Gu Jie back, the others who had been sent flying by Gu Jie had also returned to rejoin the battle.
Soon, Zhu Cai's voice came from the side.
"Everyone, that's enough! Quickly get out of her range!"
At the same instant that the four Ogre Clan members retreated, four walls of fire rose directly around Gu Jie, trapping her in the center. Zhu Cai threw an orange fireball the size of a soccer ball towards the fire walls.
The moment the fire walls and the fireball made contact, the fire walls began to expand continuously. In a short while, they transformed directly into towering pillars of fire!
"Did we win?" Hong Maru watched the pillars of fire nervously.
Byakuya, who was beside him, spoke, "Her sword skills are very strong. If she had intended to, I feel I wouldn't have lasted three moves against her."
At this, the others were astonished. They knew that Byakuya's sword skills were the strongest in their village.
"But the strange thing is, she remained on the defensive and counter-attacked. I don't know if it's because she's overly confident, or if she's toying with her prey.
However, she has already been hit by the princess's magic. No matter how strong she is, she will fall here."
Just as everyone was preparing to deal with the Gun-Leg Tarantula's corpse, a voice came from within the pillars of fire.
"Good magic, but it's not enough to defeat me."
Then, everyone looked at the pillars of fire again, only to see them scattered by a powerful force. Gu Jie inside was unharmed, and at that moment, they had only one thought: escape!
But just as they were about to flee, Gu Jie instantly appeared in front of Zhu Cai, who was closest to her, and captured her.
"It's too late to escape now. I'll give you a chance. I heard that your Ogre Clan was massacred not long ago, but I didn't expect there to be survivors like you.
As long as you are willing to submit to me and become my subordinates, I can help you become stronger and help you get revenge by eliminating the Pighead Emperor," Gu Jie said, recalling the plot.
At this, Byakuya said, "It's not that we don't want to believe you, esteemed sir. Your strength is indeed very great, but the Pighead Emperor's strength is also not weak. If you can truly help us get revenge, acknowledging you as our master is not impossible, but you, esteemed sir, have not witnessed the terror of the Pighead Emperor. I fear that even with your strength, you might not be a match for the Pighead Emperor."
"Heh heh, hahahahahahaha! Are you sure? I'm not a match for the Pighead Emperor?" At this moment, Gu Jie no longer concealed the amount of her magical power. A surge of magical power that shot straight to the sky erupted from Gu Jie, and the terrifying magical pressure made it difficult for everyone to breathe. Zhu Cai, who was closest to Gu Jie, had already fainted under this magical pressure.
"Now, do you think I have that strength?"
Looking at the terrifying magical power, Hong Maru and Byakuya fell into thought. They saw the hope of revenge in Gu Jie, and then they simultaneously knelt on one knee.
"We are willing to become your subordinates, we only ask that you, honored sir, avenge us."