At that moment, the ringing of the sword resembled a sound out of nature.
The vibrating Dragonspine Inferno completely sapped the elemental energy in Ai Hui’s body in an instant and accurately pierced through the blood mantis’s wound. A sword glint that resembled a crescent moon exactly erupted from the tip of the Dragonspine Inferno. The magnificent crescent moon frantically destroyed the inner organs of the blood mantis. It was a crescent moon of death.
Its muscles, bones, blood vessels, and everything else were completely shattered.
The crescent moon pierced through the blood mantis’s body and made its way to its head.
Pop!
The crescent moon erupted out of the blood mantis’s head.
The blood mantis’s body froze as it lost all of its life force.
The whole process seemed very long, but in reality, it only took a short period of time. Ai Hui finally removed himself from the state of extreme focus. His entire body was sore and weak, as if he had been submerged by surging tidewater.
They had won.
He burst into laughter and collapsed freely towards the ground.
At that moment, his body tightened and a white-colored bandage shot out from his s.h.i.+rt to lunge towards the blood mantis.
Ai Hui’s laughter stopped. The Blood Bandage!
Like an agile white python, the snow-white bandage wrapped around the blood mantis which had been mangled almost beyond recognition. In the blink of an eye, the bandage had tightly wrapped itself around the blood mantis, like a mummy.
The unforeseen event left everyone in shock.
The recovered Jiang Wei was able to catch Ai Hui, who was about to make contact with the ground. w.a.n.g Xiaoshan pulled Fatty out from the wall debris while Sang Zhijun pulled s.h.i.+ Xueman out from more debris nearby.
Duanmu Huanghun was bent down and holding his knees. He was panting very heavily.
Ai Hui looked around his surroundings. Even though everyone looked miserable, he was overjoyed that they had managed to survive.
Thump. The blood mantis collapsed to the ground heavily. The bandage released itself from the blood mantis’s body and returned to Ai Hui.
The bandage automatically withdrew back into Ai Hui’s s.h.i.+rt and wrapped itself around his body. At that moment, a wave of heat energy gushed into Ai Hui’s body and he immediately felt refreshed. It was as if his body had regained its energy.
He was very surprised. He did not know that the bandage had such a use!
Previously, he had known that the bandage could devour blood and flesh; however, this was the first time that he had received heat energy from it. He felt revitalized, as if he had recovered to his usual state. At the same time, however, he knew that this was a misperception. There was no elemental energy in his body. Usually, when an elementalist’s elemental energy was depleted, he would feel extremely weak. For a student like Duanmu Huanghun, who had a delicate body and focused his training on elemental energy, the fatigue would be more severe and obvious. For Ai Hui, who focused his training on body-tempering, it would be much better for him even though he would still feel tired.
What was the wave of heat energy if it was not elemental energy?
Ai Hui was puzzled as he got down from Jiang Wei’s arms.
Jiang Wei was staring at Ai Hui in shock. Previously, Ai Hui had been gasping for air, but now, he suddenly seemed to have recovered and left Jiang Wei’s hands as if nothing had happened.
“We have to leave this area immediately.”
Ai Hui took a glance at everyone. s.h.i.+ Xueman’s face was pale-white and half her body was leaning on Sang Zhijun. Her eyes, however, were still flickering, blazing with flames.
This girl had developed battlel.u.s.t...
The so-called “battlel.u.s.t” referred to a state in which one developed a strong desire for fighting and killing. In this state, one could exceed the limits of his or her fighting capabilities. Ai Hui had seen many male elementalists that had developed battlel.u.s.t, but this was the first time he had seen such a ruthless and violent woman.
The easier one developed “battlel.u.s.t”, the easier it would be for him or her to overcome the mental barriers of fighting and killing. Eventually, these people would enjoy engaging in combat. This was a remarkable trait for one to have. Those who had this trait were normally filled with fighting spirit and determination.
Beneath that icy, beautiful face was boiling blood that was filled with battle fervor.
Ai Hui couldn’t help but take a second glance at s.h.i.+ Xueman. She was indeed the best female student.
She was able to go all-out on the blood mantis and entered a state of bloodl.u.s.t during her first real combat. He had never seen such a ferocious girl! In fact, s.h.i.+ Xueman was much more powerful than most of the hunting units’ elementalists whom he had seen.
Fatty was lying on the ground and groaning while having a half-dead look on his face; however, Ai Hui heard the crunching sound of Fatty eating his malt candies and felt relieved. This fellow was alright.
Duanmu Huanghun had a tired look on his face, but when he saw Ai Hui looking at him, he humphed and acted as if he was alright, then stood up.
“Aim before you throw the Shackle Seeds, they’re very expensive.” Ai Hui’s voice rang across his ears.
Duanmu Huanghun’s facial expression froze.
After stabbing Bangwan with his words, Ai Hui’s gaze fell upon the blood mantis on the ground. All of the blood mantis’s blood and flesh had been devoured, leaving an empty sh.e.l.l on the floor.
The bright-red sh.e.l.l looked as if it was made out of red crystal.
Ai Hui walked over and picked up the blood mantis’s sh.e.l.l. Since the flesh and tendons had been removed, it was very easy to break it apart. Ai Hui skillfully broke the sh.e.l.l into pieces and gave one piece each to everyone in the group.
Upon seeing the confused look on everyone’s faces, Ai Hui explained, “This sh.e.l.l still contains the aura of the blood mantis. By carrying a piece with us, we can hide our auras and make the other blood fiends think of us as their kind.”
If it was other people who said these words, everyone might be skeptical, but it was Ai Hui who had long gained their trust.
Everyone took a piece of the blood mantis’s sh.e.l.l and under Duanmu Huanghun’s direction, were able to arrive at the training hall safely.
The alleyway outside of the training hall did not show any signs of damage, implying that the blood fiends had not visited the place yet. Upon knowing this, everyone heaved a sigh of relief.
When everyone saw Lou Lan, because of their tension and anxiety, they collapsed all over the place.
Lou Lan quickly tended to everyone’s wounds.
Ai Hui chose a few pieces of sh.e.l.l and placed them at the entrance and various corners of the training hall. He hoped that the aura of the blood mantis would ward off other blood fiends. He did not know whether or not it would work, but he was willing to try anything in this desperate situation.
After receiving treatment from Lou Lan, s.h.i.+ Xueman had more or less recovered. She walked towards Ai Hui and sat beside him to ask, “What’s up with your bandage?”
After going through a life-and-death battle together with Ai Hui, s.h.i.+ Xueman became more friendly.
Ai Hui felt that the way s.h.i.+ Xueman treated him now was as if both of them had known each other for a very long time; however, he did not feel the same way.
“It’s an ancient blood-refined artifact that was given to me by my mistress. I don’t know what happened either.” Ai Hui removed the bandage and pa.s.sed it to her. “It used to be a piece of Blood Bandage that was torn in half by my mistress. There was a time when I spilled my blood onto it and the blood was absorbed in an instant. After it absorbed my blood, it became snow-white. Can you help me take a look and see what’s wrong with it? It scared me as well.”
s.h.i.+ Xueman took the bandage and observed it carefully for a long time. She looked surprised and said, “Such a weird bandage.”
Since she was younger, she had come across a lot of artifacts, and hence, she knew a thing or two about them. She could not, however, see what was unique about the bandage. Other than it being tattered, there was nothing special about it, although she did see with her own eyes how the b.l.o.o.d.y bandage had devoured the blood and flesh of the blood mantis. It had frightened her. She quickly pa.s.sed it back to Ai Hui.
“What shall we do now?” s.h.i.+ Xueman asked and looked at Ai Hui.
After having some rest and replenishments, the others had regained much of their elemental energy. Upon hearing s.h.i.+ Xueman’s question, all of them gathered around.
Any amount of arrogance that anyone might have had prior to the battle today had been erased. It took so much effort from everyone to barely defeat a blood mantis. Furthermore, there was so much luck involved in the battle that if they were to fight the blood mantis again, none of them had the confidence that they could defeat it once more.
They were at a complete loss and felt that their future was bleak.
Only Ai Hui and Fatty remained as calm as usual. For those who had walked out of the darkness, whatever happened recently was merely a cloudy day.
“These next few days, we will try to avoid crowded places. Right now, it is the most chaotic period of time. We don’t know how many blood fiends have infiltrated the city and whether or not the breaches on the walls have been repaired. These issues are not something that we can care about or resolve. The only thing we can do now is to improve ourselves and learn how to fight in real combat. This is a race and those who are slow will be eaten.”
Ai Hui’s tone was so cold that it sent s.h.i.+vers down their spines.
Everyone remained silent. They found it hard to accept such a cruel reality.
“Can’t we fend off the blood beasts?” s.h.i.+ Xueman suddenly raised her head and asked.
“Only if you’re a Grandmaster, then it might be possible.” Ai Hui cast a glance at her. That absolutely beautiful face contained a tinge of worry and anxiety. He then continued bluntly, “You’re not a Grandmaster, I’m not a Grandmaster, and all of us almost got killed by a blood mantis. Don’t do things that are not within your limits. Other than losing your life, you’re also going to implicate the rest of us.”
“What if everyone unites together and fights them?” Jiang Wei asked doubtfully.
“Perhaps it might work.” Ai Hui unexpectedly nodded his head, but his tone changed the next moment. “Who’s going to do it? There has to be a hero to do that. You? Me? The mayor? Alright, let’s hope that the mayor is that hero.”
Everyone was depressed, but they knew that what Ai Hui said was right. No one felt that the mayor could do this. Even though w.a.n.g Zhen had been the mayor of this city for ten years, they had never even seen this man.
s.h.i.+ Xueman raised her head again, and this time, she had serious look on her face. “Nevermind, we can’t afford to care about the others. What matters most is that we survive.”
“We need to endure for a period of time and wait for the Thirteen Divisions’ reinforcements. I’m sure all of you know about the Thirteen Divisions’ situation. If you want to survive, you have to live at least until then. Reflect on the battle today.”
After Ai Hui finished speaking, he did not care about them anymore and walked to one side by himself.
He had a lot of things to do. Until now, he had yet to read the original copy of [Big Dipper] that he got from the dean.
He also needed to familiarize himself with the Golden Wind and the Red Dust.
As compared to the last time when Ai Hui accidentally executed [Crescent Moon], today’s situation had not been too different as there had been a lot of luck involved in the end. On the other hand, he could feel that there were some positive developments as he had observed and learned from every single detail of the sword move.
He felt that if he did not have enough time to train, how would he have the time to chit-chat with everyone?
During today’s battle, whether it was s.h.i.+ Xueman or Duanmu Huanghun, all of them had committed a lot of stupid mistakes; however, he did not criticize them. Both of them were geniuses and were smarter than him. They would learn how to coordinate during a fight after just a few more battles.
If they accidentally died before they learned how to engage in combat properly, then so be it.
Thanks to the blood mantis, Ai Hui was able to realize that the situation was far worse than what he had expected it to be. The blood mantis had been extremely powerful and was far stronger than the blood fiends that they had encountered in the Garden of Life and Central Pine City. It was on a completely different level.
It made him think of the days when they had hidden beneath the mound while matured blood fiends roared outside.
After reminding Lou Lan to supervise Fatty in his training, Ai Hui immediately dove into a crazy training routine.
His intense uneasiness made him more focused.
He was also deeply captivated by the [Big Dipper].
Lou Lan was squatting in front of the red crystal-like sh.e.l.ls that Ai Hui and the rest had collected. The eyes on his pale-white mask were blinking excitedly, showing deep interest.