35: Chapter 35 You really only got two hundred points?

Now that the intelligence has been obtained, there's no need to continue tangling with this Shadow Devourer here.

Time to make a break for it; once dawn breaks and the information is passed up to the higher-ups, it'll be out of my hands.

Pulled by Gu Changming, Tang Ningfei snapped back to her senses and hurled the fireball in her hand.

She immediately followed Gu Changming's lead, asking urgently as she ran, "Where are we going?"

Gu Changming's gaze quickly swept over the surroundings before landing on the window at the end of the corridor. He replied briefly, "Same as yesterday."

As he spoke, he shouted to Zhou Tunan, who was leading Lu Shiyao ahead, "Jump out the window!"

Hearing this, Zhou Tunan immediately grabbed Lu Shiyao, adjusted his direction, and charged headlong toward the window.

He didn't hesitate, but Lu Shiyao's expression was clearly one of sheer terror.

*Crash!*

The ear-piercing sound of shattering glass rang out as Zhou Tunan, shielding Lu Shiyao, was the first to burst through the window.

Immediately after, Gu Changming and Tang Ningfei also rushed to the window and leaped out without hesitation.

Just like yesterday, the moment they were out, Gu Changming reached out and accurately hooked his arm under Tang Ningfei's armpit. Simultaneously, using his core strength, he twisted his body violently mid-air and swung his other arm, driving the Tang Dao he held firmly into the wall!

*Clang!*

Their downward momentum slowed abruptly, leaving the two of them suspended on the exterior wall over a dozen stories high.

Zhou Tunan and the other weren't in any danger either; the moment they jumped, Tang Ningfei had cast the Light Feather Technique on both of them.

Although they weren't caught by Gu Changming, the two were still drifting in the air.

Seeing that they had escaped, Tang Ningfei turned her head to look back inside the building.

Now that the four of them had escaped, Zhao Chenghan, who was still inside, would likely be killed.

But just as this thought surfaced...

A second later, with a loud crash, the entire window—frame and glass alike—was smashed from the inside, sending shards and the frame plummeting toward the ground.

Immediately following, the twisted silhouette of the Shadow Devourer crawled out from the opening.

Its limbs were bent backward at the joints, with pitch-black spikes extending from its palms and soles, digging deep into the exterior wall. It clung firmly to the surface like a giant spider.

Its blurred head swiveled, its gaze locking onto Gu Changming and Tang Ningfei suspended in mid-air.

Without a moment's pause, the Shadow Devourer exerted force with its limbs, its spikes carving deep grooves into the concrete of the exterior wall. Its entire body shot forward like an arrow from a bow, pouncing toward the two!

Tang Ningfei's expression changed drastically. The limit of her Light Feather Technique was only three people; with four people now, if she tried to carry everyone, there would be only one outcome: they would all fall together.

Tang Ningfei quickly turned her head. Drawing from their previous experience, Zhou Tunan wasn't in a hurry to descend with Lu Shiyao; instead, he used Psychokinesis to support them, and they were still drifting in the air.

In an instant, Tang Ningfei's thoughts raced. Just as she was about to make a decision...

Watching the approaching Shadow Devourer, Gu Changming lightly tapped the wall with his toes. Simultaneously, he exerted force with his right hand, pulling the Tang Dao out of the wall with a clang.

Then, with extreme agility, he dodged the Shadow Devourer's incoming attack.

But at that moment, the two of them also left the wall, swinging out a short distance into the air.

With no point of leverage, the two of them began to accelerate downward in mid-air under the pull of gravity.

Tang Ningfei's heart tightened. At this height, without any buffer, death was certain.

But it was also then that Gu Changming clenched the Tang Dao between his teeth and thrust his free hand upward, grabbing at the empty night sky.

*Whoosh!*

A sudden, violent gust of wind pressed down from above, making their clothes flutter loudly.

Tang Ningfei instinctively looked up, her pupils shrinking slightly.

A Storm Hawk with an incredible wingspan had appeared above them at some point. Gu Changming was currently gripping its talons, keeping her suspended in mid-air.

Gu Changming exerted force with his arm, pulling Tang Ningfei upward and shouting, "Grab on!"

Tang Ningfei reacted quickly, immediately reaching out both hands and tightly hugging the Storm Hawk's other talon.

Gu Changming then let go of her, his gaze shifting to the Shadow Devourer still clinging to the wall.

The Shadow Devourer's spikes were dug deep into the wall, its entire body arched back like a loaded spring, its gaze still fixed intently on Gu Changming in the air.

A second later, it lunged off the wall, sending concrete fragments flying. Its silhouette, like black lightning, pounced toward Gu Changming once again!

A cold glint flashed in Gu Changming's eyes as he yanked hard on the Storm Hawk's talon with his right hand.

The Mimic Beast, sharing a mental connection with him, immediately flapped its massive wings with all its might, lifting the two of them higher.

At the very moment the Shadow Devourer reached its highest point and its momentum was about to falter, Gu Changming released his left hand from the hawk's talon.

His body flipped in the air. Gripping the Tang Dao's hilt with both hands, he used the force of his descent and rotation, combined with his core strength, to deliver a powerful downward slash!

The blade sliced through the air, hacking fiercely into the Shadow Devourer's twisted torso!

*Bang!*

A dull, heavy thud echoed.

As if struck by a heavy sledgehammer, the Shadow Devourer's entire body plummeted uncontrollably, crashing heavily onto the dim ground below.

Having knocked the Shadow Devourer down with his strike, Gu Changming himself was also in mid-air with nothing to push off of, and began to fall as well.

Tang Ningfei was startled and immediately prepared to chant an incantation to cast a spell.

But before her spell could take shape, she saw Gu Changming's falling body suddenly slide to the side in mid-air, as if pushed by an invisible hand, quickly approaching the building's exterior wall.

*Clang!*

The Tang Dao pierced the concrete wall once again. Gu Changming's arm held steady, stopping his descent instantly, and he hung once more on the wall over a dozen stories high.

Tang Ningfei breathed a sigh of relief and looked down.

Below, where the Shadow Devourer had crashed...

Just like last time, its twisted body squirmed as if it had no bones, standing up again at an angle that defied logic.

Its blurred head shook from side to side, and then it walked away as if nothing had happened.

...

After the Shadow Devourer left, Tang Ningfei and the other two landed one after another.

Meanwhile, Gu Changming used his Tang Dao to stab into the wall several times, using the leverage to buffer and skillfully dissipate the downward force, finally landing on the ground unharmed.

The moment her feet touched the ground, Tang Ningfei's gaze immediately shifted to Gu Changming.

His performance had truly exceeded her expectations.

Before she could ask, Gu Changming gave a casual wave of his hand. The massive Storm Hawk in the air quickly blurred and shrank, turning back into a pitch-black crow in the blink of an eye and landing back on his shoulder.

This scene shocked all three of them, and they only then realized that the Storm Hawk was actually the pet Gu Changming had mentioned earlier.

Wait, what? Whose pet is that ridiculous?

Zhou Tunan and Lu Shiyao both stared in astonishment at the Mimic Beast on Gu Changming's shoulder.

Tang Ningfei's eyes flickered. After a moment's hesitation, she couldn't help but ask:

"In your first Assessment... did you really only get two hundred points?"