Chapter 284 - Ambush
Ai Hui concealed the light of his azure wings. The initial whistling of the wind stopped abruptly and the surging force of the wings soften and calmed down. Not only that, he was like a snake, constantly changing his direction and advancing in a haphazard manner.
The faraway, dazzling light behind him would occasionally illuminated his silhouette but he never once looked back.
He no longer cared if the Great Wei’s caravan lived or died.
He was already unlucky enough to get tangled in such trivial matters. It was simply a waste of his precious time to continue getting involved with the other party. He had things on hand and had no energy to waste on this.
Whether or not the Great Wei’s caravan could survive, it would depend on their luck.
Thinking about the elemental energy beans in his possession, Ai Hui felt that he had gained a little after all.
Unknowingly, he had already flown a few hundred miles. In order to get rid of his pursuers, he had deliberately altered his route as he felt like it. He wasn’t familiar with the route anyway so it did not matter where he went.
A thread of light had already started emerging in the sky.
He flew on for most of the night, which felt like an extremely long time. Even Ai Hui felt rather tired and his speed had declined quite a bit. Nevertheless, his vision was clear as day.
Flying close to the ground, about seven, eight meters away, easily allowing him to hide between the rocks and forest.
Seeing a small slope in front, Ai Hui’s eyes lit up. He flew up and when he reached the top, he saw a rock.
This is an ideal ambush location.
He flew to the bottom of the rock, took off his clothes quickly, wrapped it around a stone slightly smaller than him, and placed it under the rock.
He then flew away from the rock to a nearby tree. The thick treetop concealed him thoroughly.
He grabbed the broadsword tightly and tossed an elemental energy bean into his mouth. Essence elemental beans contained exceptionally pure elemental energy, and the best way to consume it was to absorb and refine it slowly. Using it the way Ai Hui was doing now is a waste of valuable resource since he would only be able to utilize less than ten percent of its essence.
But Ai Hui’s did not seem sorry. He felt a wisp of pure elemental energy circulating within his body and felt refreshed immediately. Sure enough, this deserved to be called the essence elemental bean. It was said that elementalists who had attained elemental externalization would directly produce essence elemental beans when they had no money. It was this easy for high level elementalists to earn money.
It was his first time "abusing" an essence elemental bean like this. The result was exceptionally good.
The strand of pure element within his body, released by the elemental energy bean, was congealed and gluey like mercury. When it circulated, his five residences and eight palaces were rejuvenated. It was inexpressibly comfortable and his fatigue vanished
He crouched on the tree trunk, his eyes drooping low. His broadsword hung down, its tip pointing toward the ground. His breath was nearly undetectable, his body not moving a single jot. He was like a seasoned hunter, patiently awaiting the appearance of his prey.
There was a brief instant, when he was on the run, where he captured a wisp of extremely weak wave of motion.
This wisp of undulation was very faint and pa.s.sed in a flash but it was as if Ai Hui had met a big enemy. He pretended not to sense it and continued on , changing directions non-stop. Even after flying unceasingly for a long time, he wasn’t sure if he had managed to ditch the other party.
Ai Hui knew he had crossed paths with a troublesome opponent.
As he was advancing forward, he was searching for a solution. His eyes lit up when he saw the slope, in particularly the terrain behind it .
Ai Hui waited for a whole ten minutes and when he captured a wisp of odor, he knew that prudence had saved his life once again.
He remained highly focused, waiting for the right opportunity.
Their locations changed constantly. The prey became the hunter, but the hunter was oblivious to this fact. Having flown for such a long time, both were largely exhausted and since the pursuer had to identify the target’s direction , their energy consumption was even greater.
Through the thick tree crown, Ai Hui finally saw his pursuer. Although it was blurry, that face startled him. s.h.i.+ Youguang. He thought that s.h.i.+ Youguang, who had been badly injured by that old man, was already far away. He did not expect him to be so persistent.
He didn’t know what it was that Great Wei had in possession for s.h.i.+ Youguang to be so determined, not giving up despite his severe injuries.
In fear of being detected, Ai Hui squinted his eyes, leaving only two slits open.
s.h.i.+ Youguang looked extremely tired and his movements were evidently much slower than before he was injured. His injuries must have been very serious. On second thought, if s.h.i.+ Youguang didn’t get hurt, he wouldn’t have chased after him. Ai Hui knew very well that if he were to face unwounded s.h.i.+ Youguang, there was no way he could win.
s.h.i.+ Youguang flew up the slope and immediately saw the perfectly positioned rock.
That was the ideal ambush spot.
That fellow wouldn’t be laying in ambush, waiting to take me down right?
s.h.i.+ Youguang was being cautious. The chase made it clear that the fellow was very sly and had lots of tricks up his sleeves. He had merely attained elemental internalization, but managed to get him, a strong elementalist that had attained elemental externalization, all tired. There had been a few times where he almost lost sight of the fellow as well.
It would’ve been too embarra.s.sing if that did happen.
Luckily that fellow was of a lower realm and wasn’t as capable. Otherwise, s.h.i.+ Youguang would’ve turned around.
s.h.i.+ Youguang knew well that with his injuries, it was already impossible to profit from the puppeteer-like Great Wei Enterprise. If he was just a little careless, his life would be jeopardized. But he had already invested so much and even got hurt so it would be a ma.s.sive loss if he were to give up now.
s.h.i.+ Youguang had planned to take down a lone-moving, injured elementalist to recuperate his losses.
He then saw Ai Hui jumping out of the Fiery Floating Cloud, but did not take action since there were quite a few fearful players who made a move. Who knew, that guy was incomparably sly and disappeared in a flash.
s.h.i.+ Youguang then made his move quietly. Few knew that he was good at chasing and those who knew were already dead. It was rare for earth elementalists to be good pursuers but s.h.i.+ Youguang had the skills to differentiate the changes in the ground elemental energy.
Ground elemental energy was like a calm lake, and when an elementalist hovered over, ripples formed on the water surface. To others, these ripples were disordered but to s.h.i.+ Youguang, they were information.
The earth elemental energy on the ground looked very messy but many ripples made it clear to him that his target had flown straight to where the rock was.
s.h.i.+ Youguang was good at ambush to begin with, so he could tell right away that where the rock was, was the perfect spot.
His opponent had detected him.
s.h.i.+ Youguang was somewhat surprised but quickly calmed down. His target’s cunningness exceeded every single elementalist he had met before. It shouldn’t be strange even if that fellow managed to detect him.
But if that was all to that fellow’s abilities, so what if he knew where he was?
Trying to lay an ambush? How naive!
A mocking smile appeared on his face as he advanced confidently toward the rock. While his elemental energy had been greatly exhausted, he knew his opponent’s was too.
Even though his condition wasn’t good, he did not feel pressured since he was dealing with a worn out, elemental externalized elementalist. The disparity in realm is not easily compensatable.
There was still no movement behind the rock. How composed.
Admiration flashed across his face. To be honest, while his target wasn’t considered very strong, his abilities in other aspects were actually uncommonly outstanding.
Cunning, shockingly calm, and collected.
If his target had been slightly stronger, s.h.i.+ Youguang would’ve aborted his mission.
But now, the admiration in his eyes turned into ruthlessness. Die!
Where the rock was, a bottomless pit appeared suddenly as the surrounding soil seemed to come alive. Mud vines appeared above the pit to form a big cage, covering the pit.
Ai Hui went for it the moment s.h.i.+ Youguang made a move.
He was like a noiseless bat, diving down for s.h.i.+ Youguang from the treetop.
When the mud vines above the pit took shape, Ai Hui was already less than thirty meters away from s.h.i.+ Youguang!
s.h.i.+ Youguang suddenly realized what was going on and his face changed completely. He had been tricked!
The rock was just a diversion!
His target’s shrewdness turned his body cold, but for him to be this reputable, s.h.i.+ Youguang had experienced countless battles. While his situation was precarious, he knew that the thought of escaping would undermine his will and allow his opponent to take advantage of it.
There was a subtle aura around the battle between strong players.
Once his state of mind swayed, his abilities would be affected greatly. Coupled with the fact that he was injured, he would undoubtedly die.
His only chance of survival was to meet his target face on!
Whatever trap became useless since it boiled down to abilities.
s.h.i.+ Youguang was shook, as if he was a completely different person. His whole body oozed ferocity. Instead of retreating, he suddenly pounced on Ai Hui, his body transforming into a clump of quicksand in midair.
A head seemed to be floating atop a pool of quicksand.
And on Ai Hui’s back, a sharp earth spear was raised, just like how a poisonous snake raised its head in the darkness, ready to deal a fatal blow.
They were less than fifteen meters away from each other.
s.h.i.+ Youguang couldn’t help but was slightly distracted by his target’s eyes. Those eyes were cold, still, and without the least bit of panic and helplessness.
Not good!
s.h.i.+ Youguang’s heart sank a little as a bad feeling rose within his chest. Before he could react, a glaring silver light exploded right before his eyes.
This ball of light was so dazzling that he lost his sight right there and then. Everything was white.
Ai Hui channelled nearly half of the elemental energy within his body into the Starry Gem Swordwing and it exploded with an extremely splendid silvery light!
They were too close and the silver light appeared too suddenly, effectively striking s.h.i.+ Youguang, who was unprepared.
Amid the glaring light, a bright yet non-conspicuous and silent sword light emerged.
The broadsword was soft and easy, making a slash across s.h.i.+ Youguang’s neck.
The head floated up lightly and unhurriedly.
Ai Hui’s elemental energy had been maxed out and as he was descending, his legs softened and he almost kneeled on the ground. The battle was short but Ai Hui had put all his wisdom and skills to use.
His body was empty but the moment he touched the ground, he dashed over to s.h.i.+ Youguang. Within thirty seconds, Ai Hui had already claimed all the loot.
He wasn’t out of practice!
Ai Hui swept all the spoils of war and flew away speedily.
The silver light from before was simply too dazzling and could’ve very possibly attracted other elementalists’ attention.