>With an overpowering rumble, the house collapsed, filling the air with smoke and dust. Before Duanmu Huanghun could wipe the dust off his body, a deafening noise pierced his ears.
A s.h.i.+ver swept down Ai Hui’s spine. He instantly sensed that there were more than fifty blood ants in the area, the largest wave they had encountered in this battle so far.
“Lou Lan!” Ai Hui yelled gruffly.
“Lou Lan is coming!” Lou Lan cheered.
The leaves covering the enormous fire vat on Fatty’s back were peeled back with lightning speed. Lou Lan then transformed into a sandy watering can and dipped half of his body into the fire vat. The long spout of the watering can extended over Fatty’s head and pointed towards the front.
Splas.h.!.+
Torrential red mist began spraying over a large area.
The overwhelming scent of strong chili immediately pervaded the air, dousing the blood ants that had just shot out in a red chili concoction. Ai Hui became nervous. Using chili against the blood ants was purely his conjecture, unsupported by data.
Instead of thinking about failure, his gaze fixated on what was going on ahead. His muscles strained, and the Dragonspine Inferno in his hand was in its optimal position; he resembled a beast that waited to pounce on its prey.
The blood ants doused in the chili concoction mist suddenly fell apart, descending into chaos. Terrifying shrieks sounded and startled everyone.
Everyone except for Ai Hui.
The chilli concoction in Fatty’s fire vat was specially concocted by him and Lou
A vicious light flashed across his eyes as he lunged forward. His Dragonspine Inferno swept up a cloud of fog before materializing in a streak of radiance.
[Misty Strike]!
Accompanied by an indiscernible buzz, the dazzling Dragonspine Inferno hit a blood ant with a piercing blow.
Bang!
Ai Hui’s readied attack had astonis.h.i.+ng destructive power. The blood ant exploded midair into a cloud of b.l.o.o.d.y mist.
With a slight twist of his feet, Ai Hui jumped through the air at an angle over the cloud of blood. Taking advantage of the momentum, he swiveled his sword and used the from from his momentum to execute an [Oblique Slash].
His move landed accurately on the blood ant’s neck and effortlessly beheaded it.
Only then did Duanmu Huanghun and the others realize what was going on.
s.h.i.+ Xueman and her team began their attack against the oncoming wave of frantic blood ants. As of now, the students’ coordination was pa.s.sable—not the best, but better than before. The unit was divided into three groups, each led by s.h.i.+ Xueman, Jiang Wei, and Sang Zhijun respectively.
Everyone realized this was an opportunity to attack, and they all rushed forward. The blood ants that had just escaped the chili concoction mist descended into a panic, and in the blink of an eye, more than twenty of them were killed. The disquieted blood ants soon returned to their senses, however, and lunged towards Ai Hui and his unit in waves.
The scene of the fight descended into chaos.
Seeing the disorderly situation, Lou Lan halted his movements; the chili concoction would harm the students as well, and though it was not deadly, it could possibly disrupt their momentum. They already struggled to coordinate with one another. If they were to be hit by the chili concoction as well, Lou Lan did not know how many students would survive this fight.
The battle had begun in earnest.
The students quickly found that this battle was completely different from the ones before. All they could see were the streaking after-images of blood ants all around them, which sent them into a panic. Screams and roars penetrated the air, and their previously acceptable coordination collapsed in an instant like fragile biscuits. Casualties accrued.
Some people clutched their throats as they collapsed onto the ground, struggling as they gasped in pain.
Others rolled frantically on the ground, their bodies b.l.o.o.d.y and mangled.
s.h.i.+ Xueman’s eyes were red. She tightly pursed her lips and darted back and forth. Her spear was like a moving cloud, reinforcing students at a disadvantage. Even so, she could not stop the students from collapsing one after another.
The two most dazzling individuals on the battlefield were Ai Hui and Duanmu Huanghun. Ai Hui’s sword glinted crisply and sharply with abnormal deadliness. Very few blood ants could survive to escape his sword. Flying around him were the Red Dust Daggers that carved numerous streaks of sword traces into the air.
Duanmu Huanghun was another distinguished individual on the battlefield.
His [Viridescent Flower] had become more complex and unpredictable. Under his feet, patterns of glowing vines, clouds, and lotuses were scattered and blossomed over his hands. He stepped on air and ascended into the sky, and from time to time, green flowers drifted around his body in a phantom-like image.
Fatty stood off to one side. His speed was slow, so when facing the fast and nimble blood ants, he remained pa.s.sive. His s.h.i.+eld was like a wall, however, and his armor resembled a mountain. w.a.n.g Xiaoshan stood behind him while Lou Lan transformed into a swirling sandstorm that surrounded them and ground the blood ants to smithereens. As for the ones that made it through the sandstorm, they were faced with Fatty’s heavy s.h.i.+eld.
The battle became increasingly intense, and from the midst of the smoke and dust, the occasional blood ants were blasted out.
Duanmu Huanghun had killed more than ten blood ants in one go, but as the elemental energy in his body began to deplete, his efficiency dropped and forced him to slow down his attack speed. He retreated to a less conspicuous position.
Thirteen!
He was thoroughly satisfied with himself. Compared to previous battles, his performance today was brilliant. After coming to know more about himself, he conquered his fear and underwent a complete transformation. Even the style of his [Viridescent Flower] had unmistakably evolved. It maintained the same complexity, but it now focused more on killing power, making it intensely ruthless.
With less pressure on him, his gaze s.h.i.+fted involuntarily towards Ai Hui. He was quite satisfied with his performance today and so felt confident that it was on par with Ai Hui’s.
Eh?
Ai Hui’s attacks followed a certain pattern, the same two moves. However… his attacking rhythm did not seem to vary at all….
How is it possible? Doesn’t he feel tired? Doesn’t he use his elemental energy?
Duanmu Huanghun felt incredulous.
Ai Hui was extremely focused. He needed to face four blood ants at once which didn’t allow him any time for distractions. In such an intense battle, it was not enough to rely solely on [Misty Strike] and [Oblique Slash]. He had to use elemental energy several times, and in some situations, he needed to dodge, unable to use either [Misty Strike] or [Oblique Slash], and sometimes block.
[Oblique Slash] and [Misty Strike] both had their own unique characteristics. [Oblique Slash] could be executed quickly, but it was highly dependent on angles and the attack range was narrow. Fighting stance could make up for these weaknesses, but such an intense battle greatly limited his options.
[Misty Strike], on the other hand, had great attack power, but its execution time was long. Ai Hui could only use this move when the time was right and normally employed it once per strike.
And like [Crescent Moon], these moves consumed large quant.i.ties of elemental energy, discouraging Ai Hui from using them too often.
Once his elemental energy was depleted, death was the only way out for him.
Sixteen.
Ai Hui did not know how many more blood ants were left. He forced himself to focus and pushed his mind to think of ways to use his [Oblique Slash] and [Misty Strike] to attack the blood ants.
He felt himself becoming more adept with these moves, but his physical and elemental energy were gradually diminis.h.i.+ng.
Twenty-two.
Ai Hui started to pant. He could feel the Dragonspine Inferno in his hand getting heavier. Fortunately, the blood ants were becoming spa.r.s.er.
The remaining students acclimated to engaging in combat after their cruel “baptism.” Clearly, they had improved.
“A-1 unit, you can retreat now.”
The voice of the supervising elementalist resounded from the sky behind them, resembling a sound of nature.
His mind rejuvenated, Ai Hui spoke quickly, “Myself, s.h.i.+ Xueman, Duanmu Huanghun, and Sang Zhijun will take care of the rear. Jiang Wei, lead everyone out of the battleground and retreat as quickly as possible. Lou Lan, prepare the chili concoction and retreat one hundred meters. Provide support to us later.”
“No problem, Ai Hui!” Lou Lan quickly drew the chili concoction and sprayed it over the ground as he retreated.
The rest of the students left the battleground one by one. Behind them were nothing but ruins.
“There’s one last thing we need to do,” Ai Hui suddenly said to those who remained.