The Glorious Transcendent-Chapter 52: Finishing the First Rank

"That bastard is getting a fortune of essence while I’m stuck distracting this one here," Wang Tu scowled.

As Fu Ren hunted down and killed the team members, none of them refined their essence, thinking they might survive and avoid ruining their refining cycles.

This allowed Fu Ren to amass a wealth of essence.

Wang Tu had previously made an agreement with Fu Ren.

He would distract Ray Kang while Fu Ren hunted the rest of the team, and afterward, they would share the essence.

But Wang Tu felt uneasy. What if Fu Ren decided not to share the essence?

There was nothing he could do.

He would take this as a lesson for the future.

Wang Tu and Ray Kang continued exchanging arrows with no progress in their situation.

"This is nonsense. Why do we keep playing this boring game?" Ray Kang couldn’t bear the situation any longer.

"I haven’t received any news from Kogan about an attack on them, so why does that bastard keep fighting?"

Ray Kang stopped firing arrows and sat down behind a tree.

His partner was nearby, under his protection at all times.

He wouldn’t be foolish enough to let his partner—who was also his wife—escape with the others into the unknown.

So even if he wanted to rush to the rest of his team quickly, his partner wouldn’t be able to keep up with his speed and might end up killed by Wang Tu.

Wang Tu also stopped attacking and sat in his place.

He and Ray Kang could sense each other; if one moved, the other would follow immediately.

"Kogan!" Ray Kang called out.

"Kogan...!! ...Kogan."

***

One by one, they were all killed.

The arrows shot out like bullets — from bow to target — piercing through long distances.

Ray Kang’s squad members were helpless; there was nothing they could do except run and pray they wouldn’t be the next targets.

Unaware of what was happening around them, Kogan and the two girls kept running without stopping.

Unlike Kogan, Mei Lan and Mei Li were nearly at their physical limits, barely managing to keep going.

If it weren’t for Kogan running behind them and constantly pushing them forward, their speed would have dropped.

’Just a little more,’ Kogan kept repeating these words in his mind.

They had separated from the others — or rather, the others had separated from them.

No one wanted to stay together; only by splitting up could they hope the killer would attack their teammates first, giving them a chance to escape.

You don’t need to outrun the bear — you just need to outrun your friend.

And throughout their run, Kogan, Mei Lan, and Mei Li hadn’t been attacked.

But that didn’t last.

Swoosh!

’Now!’ Kogan’s eyes flashed.

An arrow was fired, aiming straight at Mei Lan — but before it could reach her, it vanished... along with Kogan.

"Huh!"

Startled, Mei Lan glanced back, heart pounding, but there was no trace of kogan.

No footsteps, no voice, no blur of movement — nothing.

It was as if the shadows themselves had risen and devoured him, leaving behind only silence and the faint echo of the wind.

"Kogan..."

Her pace began to slow.

But Mei Li firmly grabbed her hand and pulled her forward.

There was no room to stop. Besides—

"He’ll be fine," Mei Li said without hesitation.

Mei Lan looked at her, startled and afraid.

Wouldn’t speaking out draw the killer’s attention?

"Heh! Looks like a little lamb has lost its way,"

Fu Ren smiled.

He moved through the treetops, his ears like radars picking up even the faintest movement.

"He’ll be fine? Hehe, I’m sure all of you will be just fine," Fu Ren mocked, drawing his bow toward the source of the voice.

It was Mei Li.

His thumb pressed against the trigger, ready to release the deadly arrow—

But suddenly, without warning, he was yanked from the tree with tremendous force.

Kogan leapt toward Fu Ren’s legs, grabbing them tightly and pulling him down with all his might—

slamming him into the ground.

His face smashed into the dirt, forcing him to taste the bitterness of soil and grass,

as a violent headache exploded in his skull.

His bow flew far from the sheer force of the blow.

"What the hell was that?!" Fu Ren growled.

He twisted his body violently and kicked with both legs, breaking free from Kogan’s grip.

Placing his hands beside his head, he pushed off the ground and smoothly got back on his feet.

But before he could even rise completely—

Kogan’s fist crashed into his face.

"Wait—who the hell are y—!"

He couldn’t even finish his sentence before his head was slammed back into the dirt.

Kogan’s punch pierced Fu Ren’s skull, crushing it into the ground—his head reduced to a smashed watermelon.

Just as team members study infamous sinners—their methods, patterns, and preferred tactics—the sinners, too, do the same.

They investigate teams, their members, their captains, and even their operational schedules.

For lone first-rank sinners like Fu Ren, their focus is solely on the team capatins.

Only they pose any real threat.

As for the rest?

They’re nothing more than prey—dead men walking.

Nothing they do could change that.

Fu Ren had been completely relaxed while hunting the team members, savoring every moment of the chase.

After all, their only captain at the first rank was, at that moment, busy toying with Wang Tu.

And so, Fu Ren never expected what happened.

To the extent that he thought Kogan was a lone sinner like him, and in that final moment, he tried to negotiate.

But he got no reply—.

The last thing he saw was black hair cascading over a pale face, hiding most of its features — all except a pair of strange, terrifying eyes that seemed to pierce straight through him.

They were cold, unreadable... inhuman.

And then came the punch — fast, brutal, and final — closing the distance in an instant.

There was no hesitation in it, no mercy, just raw intent — like a judgment delivered by something that had already decided his fate.