Chapter 570 - Three Bunny Hairs
Jiang Wei wasn’t a rash individual; he was calm and steady. In everyone’s eyes, he was a reliable and trustworthy person. They did not need to worry about anything that he was in charge of.
He wasn’t really talented. Among the students of Central Pine Academy, he wasn’t considered outstanding. As compared to other students who were more talented than him, sometimes he felt that his achievements today were largely due to the coincidental encounter with Ai Hui at the Garden of Life where the blood catastrophe first broke out.
If one was to ask him what his strengths were, his answer would most likely be his trustworthiness and tenacity.
Whether it was the escape from the Garden of Life, the Battle of Central Pine City, or the battle with the Ardent Flower Blood Division, he was the least noticeable and seldom put up an extraordinary performance. However, he would never give up and was always a reliable force to the team.
Everyone liked calling him "Old Ginger" because they felt that his character was too elderly for his age. He was like a 50 year old middle-aged man.
He would properly carry out the missions Ai Hui and s.h.i.+ Xueman gave him. He would not skimp on the training tasks that were given to him either. He did all his tasks meticulously. Even if he knew the camp was stationed in an absolutely safe area, he would not lower his guard and slack off defensively.
He was a person who treated his job seriously and did not like to let his imagination run wild.
However, after having witnessed the blood catastrophe, the death of his cla.s.smate’s teacher, the collapse of the Avalon of Five Elements, and the world becoming increasingly chaotic, he felt helpless and insignificant and realized that human lives were fragile like gra.s.s. There were more and more things that he couldn’t understand acc.u.mulating in his heart.
He was not good at motivating people or talking.
He had said these words because he was giving a serious reply to the other party.
When these words left his mouth, he felt as if he was enlightened. His entire body relaxed, appearing as if he had shed the shackles that bound him. The haze that clouded his mind was completely lifted off. At this moment, his mind was in a state of clarity. He had finally expressed his desired answer.
Whether an enemy was powerful or weak, whether the world was safe or dangerous, life still remained short and unpredictable.
Live not an ign.o.ble life, die an honorable death.
Jiang Wei’s elemental energy surged excitedly. It was as if his elemental energy was cheering in high spirits. His facial expression remained composed, he had his huge bow in his hand, and his eyes were like an abyss, deep and unfathomable. Behind him, three elementalists took up their positions and formed an irregularly-shaped rhombus with him. Finally, there was one more elementalist standing directly behind the rhombus.
The Lesser Arrow Formation was a battle formation that was commonly used by elementalists.
However, in Jiang Wei and his counterparts’ hands, it displayed a terrifying might.
w.a.n.g Rui’s face turned deathly pale. Jiang Wei and his counterparts were only five people in total, yet they were able to cover his line of sight. The aura of devastation exuded by Jiang Wei and his counterparts made w.a.n.g Rui feel as if he was on a battlefield where people were blasted into pieces. Like humongous, malevolent beasts, they advanced slowly toward him.
Thump.
His legs gave way, and he fell to the ground.
At this point in time, the middle-age man behind him did not bother with him. He withdrew all his elemental energy and prepared to face Jiang Wei.
After one entered the Surveillance Division, he or she would not use his or her birth name anymore. This symbolized a farewell to his or her old life.
The middle-aged man was called Xiao Shan even though he wasn’t young anymore. Only those who were familiar with the Surveillance Division would know that members who had the word "xiao" in their names were the legitimate core members of the division. These core members either held key positions in the division like Xiao Lin or were powerful experts like Xiao Shan.
[1] "Xiao" in Chinese means small or young.
At this moment, there was a solemn look on Xiao Shan’s face. The Surveillance Division was one of the Three Central Divisions, so how could they not be familiar with a battle formation. Furthermore, wasn’t this the commonly used Lesser Arrow Formation?
The Lesser Arrow Formation was a battle formation that every elementalist in every combat division had to learn.
The Lesser Arrow Formation arranged in front of him looked extremely absurd and was filled with many mistakes. The biggest mistake was its arrowhead position. Xiao Shan had never seen a Lesser Arrow Formation that put an archer at the arrowhead position.
An archer was a role that needed range in order to be useful in combat. How could an archer stand at the arrowhead position where he would be put in a close combat situation with the enemy?
There were a lot of other mistakes as well. For example, their formation was much more spread out than a typical Lesser Arrow Formation.
However, the imposing aura and elemental energy undulations released by Jiang Wei and his counterparts were definitely no joke!
As an expert even among Masters, Xiao Shan’s eyes were naturally very sharp. He was quickly able to tell that there was something odd about Jiang Wei’s Lesser Arrow Formation.
Jiang Wei stood at the arrowhead position of the Lesser Arrow Formation. Behind his left and right flanks, there were two fire elementalists. At the arrow nock position to the rear, there was also a fire elementalist. These three fire elementalists formed a perfect triangle. Right behind Jiang Wei, there was an earth elementalist. The earth elementalist happened to stand in the center of the triangle formed by the three fire elementalists.
Such an elaborate structure!
In his heart, Xiao Shan exclaimed in admiration. He had not expected the commonly-used Lesser Arrow Formation to become so special in Jiang Wei’s hands.
Even though they had not fought yet, and he could not see all of the marvels of Jiang Wei’s formation, he could sense that there was something unique about it just from its elaborate structure.
However, even though the other party’s Lesser Arrow Formation lit his eyes up and he looked forward to experiencing it, he stood by the words he said just now. The strength disparity between a Master and someone who had yet to become a Master was incredibly wide.
On the battlefield, a Master wasn’t invincible, but he or she had the ability to ultimately change the outcome of a close fight.
Having only five people in total, Jiang Wei and his counterparts couldn’t pose any threat to him.
However, he did not want to start a feud with the Spear of Heavy Cloud. After all, both sides had no enmity toward each other in the beginning. This candidate selection trial was prepared for Master’s Glory, not for the Surveillance Division.
Among the higher-ups of the Surveillance Division, there were many divided opinions about the Division Leader’s decision.
Many people felt that the Surveillance Division should head toward the front line like the Judgement and Dread divisions. On the contrary, another group of people felt that they should follow the Division Leader with resolution. Ultimately, Madam Ye’s qualifications and achievements weren’t enough to convince everyone.
Xiao Shan looked at Jiang Wei and his counterparts with a complicated facial expression. The rise of the Spear of Heavy Cloud had caused the rift between members of the Surveillance Division to grow wider and wider. Skyheart City’s performance had disappointed a lot of people. Many were disappointed that an elite force like them were hiding in Skyheart City doing dishonorable things. At the same time, they felt conflicted too.
Xiao Shan belonged to the neutral party. Whatever tasks his division leader gave him, he would carry them out earnestly. He had no ill intentions toward the Spear of Heavy Cloud. Instead, he rather admired them.
He had seen the mirage bean pod of that battle. If it had been the Surveillance Division, he believed they would have obtained a victory as well.
The Surveillance Division was one of the Three Central Divisions. Generations of trial and error were conducted and a countless amount of manpower and resources was spent before this Central Division was born.
Every member had to undergo multiple stages of selection tests before he or she was chosen. They had gathered the most outstanding elementalists.
In Xiao Shan’s eyes, it wasn’t easy for a regional combat division like the Spear of Heavy Cloud to obtain such a military success.
Xiao Shan had made up his mind. He wanted the other party to retreat on their own accord. With an apologetic tone, he said, "This is my duty. Pardon me then, Sir Jiang!"
He raised his right hand.
Snap.
A loud and crisp sound of fingers snapping resounded through the air.
A weird elemental energy wave swept across the area like a ripple.
Crack!
A small ice cube formed between his fingers. The ice cube was irregularly shaped, and it was sparkling and translucent, giving off an oddly beautiful fluorescence.
Crack, crack, crack!
The frightening sound of ice forming echoed through the air. A irregularly shaped, dazzling ice dragon was growing thicker and longer at a terrifying speed as it neared Jiang Wei. The ice dragon grew in an expansive manner. The further it grew, the thicker and wider it became, resembling an enormous cone that was oriented horizontally.
Xiao Shan’s Path of Master: [Tears of Amber]!
The demonic, yet beautiful, ice wasn’t really ice. It was actually crystallized elemental energy. When the elemental energy surrounding an enemy crystallized, the enemy would become like an insect trapped in resin that slowly became amber. The seemingly weak crystallized elemental energy was actually very firm and strong. A person who was trapped by it would not be able to move at all, resembling a bug encased in amber.
Jiang Wei’s gaze was lowered, his feet were spread out, his straightened left arm was holding his bow, and his right hand was holding the bowstring, looking as if he had not seen what was going on.
A transparent gla.s.s bamboo vial appeared in each fire elementalists’ hand. Each gla.s.s bamboo container was filled with crystal-clear snow lava.
Crack.
The gla.s.s bamboo vials shattered as the crystal-clear snow lava immediately ignited into a faint blaze. The three fire elementalists had solemn looks on their faces. Their hand signs transformed nimbly as the faint blaze danced between their fingers.
At almost the same time, a quicksand whirlpool formed beneath the feet of the earth elementalist behind Jiang Wei.
Following which, the surging sand whirlpool swirled around the five squad members.
The movements of the three fire elementalists were uniform and synchronized. They pressed their hands downward, and the faint blaze generated by the snow lava entered the quicksand whirlpool beneath their feet.
Boom!
Surging fire elemental energy gushed into the sand whirlpool. However, the weird thing was that the fire elemental energy only gathered at the outer ring of the sand whirlpool. The earth elementalist took in a deep breath of air as his face became bright-red. He pointed, raised his palms upward, and roared, "Rise!"
The quicksand whirlpool behind Jiang Wei began to rise from the ground, looking like a quicksand monster climbing out of a sand pit.
The wiggling quicksand engulfed Jiang Wei’s feet and extended upward to his waist, his upper back, and over his shoulders to his arms.
Jiang Wei looked as if he felt nothing, remaining motionless.
In the blink of an eye, Jiang Wei was entirely covered by the quicksand, leaving only his head exposed. More and more quicksand rose from the ground and flew toward the back of Jiang Wei. Following which, the quicksand became an enormous and solid sand wall that supported Jiang Wei like a firm and hard pedestal.
The frantically crystallizing elemental energy grew increasingly larger in Jiang Wei’s line of sight. It was as if a huge wall had been hurled at him.
A demonic, yet gorgeous, radiance flooded his line of sight. He had nowhere to run.
Suddenly, violent elemental energy surged from his back. A brilliant glow erupted from Jiang Wei’s eyes as he pulled the bowstring!
However, there was no arrow nocked on the bowstring!
Jiang Wei pulled the bowstring further back as violent elemental energy surged through his right arm. A dazzling glow blossomed from the bowstring as an arrow began to form.
The arrowhead was made up of s.h.i.+ning silvery metal elemental energy, the arrow shaft was made up of quicksand that was swirling nonstop, and the arrow fletchings were made up of scarlet feathers of dancing flame.
The Spear of Heavy Cloud’s unique Lesser Arrow Formation, [Three Bunny Hairs]
This unique name was chosen Sang Zhiijun. The Bunny Hair Arrows she used in Central Pine City had burned a huge and painful hole in her pocket, but they were very effective in battle. In her eyes, Bunny Hair Arrows were the best arrows. Of course, they were the most expensive as well.
The bowstring was released.
After flying for two meters, the arrow collided with the frantically growing wall of crystallized elemental energy.
Clink!
The deafening sound of a collision rang through the air.
The rain of fire released by the arrow fletchings silently entered the quicksand arrow shaft. Then, the fire elemental energy from the fletchings and the earth elemental energy from the arrow shaft entered the dazzling arrow head.
These three different types of elemental energy fused together.
Boom!
A deep and m.u.f.fled explosion resounded through the air.
The crystallized elemental energy wall that was growing frantically appeared as if it had been heavily struck by a dire beast.
The crystallized elemental energy wall stopped two meters in front of Jiang Wei.