Xue Wei was stunned when he heard the priestess' statement, but he did nothing but nod his head, understanding that now was not the time to ask questions. With a final glance at Jiang Fengmian, he turned to focus on their troubles at hand.
The group set out to look for their first group of pursuers, to figure out whether or not it was possible for them to take on ten at a time. It did not take long for them to locate their first targets.
A group of experts had taken position at a small clearing atop the trees, observing the area below for any trespassers.
"Stand back," Xue Wei ordered the others with a compressed voice transmission.
Mind Infestation!
Xue Wei did not hesitate and threw a Mind Infestation probe at the strongest Sky Warrior in the group, a fifth layered Sky Warrior who was standing in the middle and supervised their group as a whole.
At first, they noticed nothing. The group’s supervisor had not said anything from the beginning, just overlooking their performance, yet when they saw that he stood stiff like a board – and not even blinking his eyes – the others started to frown.
"Zhao Ming, what are you doing?" one of the nine called out and stepped in front of the blanked-out man, snapping his fingers at him to bring him back to reality.
Unfortunately for him, his supervisor was currently entirely under Xue Wei's command. Although unaware of what was happening, the one leading their group in front of him suddenly drew his sword and sliced him into two equal parts.
Just as he was about to check why his superior had stopped in his tracks, his life ended. The scene was so unexpected that it took the other eight by surprise, but Xue Wei did not let up just yet.
He instantly ordered this Zhao Ming to launch even more attacks, to kill as many as possible. At the same time, his voice transmitted to Hei Gou, "It is our time to shine!" before he darted out from within the thicket and charged at the other Earth Warriors with Tianyi in his hands, wreaking havoc among them.
The unsuspecting experts were stumped, unable to put up any real resistance as Hei Gou, Zhao Ming, and Xue Wei swept them up one after another.
The element of surprise on their side shocked the eight remaining warriors, delaying their reaction time. They had never expected that Zhao Ming would turn on them, and even less that the ambush would be done with such ferocity that Hei Gou and Xue Wei displayed.
Hei Gou was waving his claws around, slicing throats wherever he went. Xue Wei was wielding Tianyi, the weapon that these experts feared more than anything. Even though they had a chance to call for reinforcements, their hopelessness won over their better judgment, resulting in a miserable death for the lot of them.
When it was over, Xue Wei shattered Zhao Ming's mind and watched as the man, a Sky Warrior no less, slumped to the ground, dead.
"Why not keep him?" Hei Gou asked. Xue Wei shook his head in response. "I can only control one person at a time," he admitted. "Our tactic will not allow us to bring him with us."
After saying this, he started the cleanup of the battlefield. Unlike before, there were bloodstains on the ground, which were not easy to cover up, and the corpses were hidden underneath bushes. Fortunately, everything within this Vermilion Forest was red, so one had to look carefully to notice the blood that had sprayed in the wake of their small massacre.
As soon as the corpses were hidden, Xue Wei and Hei Gou returned to the group and continued on. They were now confident in dealing with ten at a time, so they were feeling less nervous, but they did not dare let their guard down. They were still alert and filled with vigilance, keeping an eye out for everything.
If they accidentally ran into two groups at once, their problems would more than just double. There was also the possibility of someone not being so stunned by the sudden friendly fire, and fighting back. If that happened, the battle would drag on, and the ruckus might attract other teams over.
There were many things to consider when they thought of how smoothly the first battle had gone, but the main reason it had gone well was luck. They had been lucky that the other nine experts had been so unprepared. There were three Sky Warriors in each team; one was mind-controlled, one was dealt with by the mind-controlled expert, and the final one was dealt with by Hei Gou.
Still, although aware of this, they had no other option than to press forward. They found another group soon enough. And after scouting the area, ensuring that no other team was in close proximity, they sneaked up on them.
Where the first group had been standing still in a clearing, this group was currently walking in a long line along a small, narrow animal trail. Xue Wei assessed that this team had three Sky Warriors, one at the seventh layer and two at the second layer. It was clear which one was his target this time.
Mind Infestation!
The attack was launched, and the expert at the very front of their group stopped. He had stopped very abruptly, so the others almost bumped face-first into him and each other. They were surprised by his sudden change in action.
"Hey, did you find something?" one of them asked excitedly. However, there was no answer save for the sound of steel being unsheathed.
The others were eager to hear what he had found, so they also drew their weapons, their eyes filled with excitement.
Xue Wei’s target was the seventh layered Sky Warrior. He was at the front of the group, while the two second layered Sky Warriors were at the back. Xue Wei had wanted to use the one he had mind-controlled to take out the second layered Sky Warriors, but he was aware that it was not easy.
Instead he planned to make Hei Gou keep the other two Sky Warriors tangled while the mind-controlled Sky Warrior assisted him in whittling down their numbers, leaving the weak Earth Warriors with no chance of survival and then assist Hei Gou with the two Sky Warriors.
He wanted to make the expert speak, but his skill with Mind Infestation was still not at a level where he could do such things. The ability needed more strength behind it to do so, and Xue Wei's power was just too low still.
They were all puzzled. Even Hei Gou and the priestess were wondering what exactly Xue Wei was waiting for. Xue Wei could not help but pause, however. He understood he could not get his hands on the second layer Sky Warriors, so he decided he should cause as much ruckus as he could.
Reaching this conclusion, Xue Wei sighed and gave his order. The expert under his control instantly lifted the spear in his hand and lunged it at his companion.
The expert was holding a spear in his hands, and he infused it with Qi under Xue Wei’s orders, and struck out with the spear, instantly impaling three of the Earth Warriors. With a powerful wave the three were thrown aside, hitting the trees and collapsing on the ground devoid of all life.
"What are you doing?!" they called out. However, the mind-controlled expert did not care and continued to advance with steady and threatening steps, his every step causing pressure to descend on the poor Earth Warriors.
The second layer Sky Warriors at the back knew that things were terrible, so they rushed ahead to confront the other Sky Warrior. They had not even thought about escaping. Instead, they advanced, in an attempt to save the other villagers.
Xue Wei was somewhat surprised to see this self-sacrificing behavior, but it did not deter him from carrying out his task. His original target was the two second layered Sky Warriors, so for them to deliver themselves was perfect.
"Let us sneak up on them and take them out, one after another," Xue Wei muttered to Hei Gou through compressed voice transmission.
The other experts in the group, the Earth Warriors, were all observing the battle between the three Sky Warriors with bated breath. They knew it was a serious battle, a battle that was likely to determine their future, but they dared not flee.
Since this was the case, Xue Wei decided to sneak up on them. They were too focused on their front to notice anything. A moment later, Xue Wei stood behind the first person, fluidly slitting the throat of one before thrusting the sword into the heart of another.
At the same time, Hei Gou had acted. He had a set of claws on each hand, and he swiped down on two experts at once.
The remaining two Sky Warriors noticed this far too late. They saw their comrades suddenly collapse, blood spraying from their wounds.
They yelled out and retreated towards Xue Wei and Hei Gou with the intent of attacking them first, but they were too slow.
All four Earth Warriors had died alongside the three earlier experts killed by the mind-controlled Sky Warrior. Hei Gou had broken through to the Heavenly Warrior stage with his physical strength, and he was eager to test his strength against the two Sky Warriors. He moved like the wind, rushed up to the remaining four, and swiped his claws through each of them before they could even blink, instantly killing them
"Hah, I killed much more than you did!" Hei Gou laughed and wiped his claws clean of the blood.
"It was no race," Xue Wei pointed out. His reply caused Hei Gou to laugh. "It might not have been a race or a competition, but isn't it a good idea to be competitive?" he asked with a snicker. Xue Wei just shook his head.
"If you want to be competitive, why don't you go kill all the Sky Warriors in the future? We don't have a lot of time, and it seems that the guy I am controlling is rather weak considering his high rank."
Xue Wei did not hesitate and shattered the soul of the seventh layered Sky Warrior, killing him, and quickly the two of them started the cleanup.
Although Xue Wei could instantly kill experts like this, the strain on his soul was rather immense every time he launched the Mind Infestation skill. He had to preserve his power so that they could deal with as many groups as possible, before his soul was weakened too much.
They became more and more proficient at killing these groups and cleaning up after themselves.
One group after another died, but the more they killed, the more careful and cautious Xue Wei became.
"Why?" Hei Gou asked when Xue Wei warned him the umpteenth time about being careful, fast, and not leaving behind any openings.
"We already control the field. We have killed so many, and not many can be left. We have the complete upper hand as well," Hei Gou argued.
Xue Wei just shook his head, "They will notice the dead soon. The fact that we have been able to clean the scenes so well up until now is going against my expectations," he explained.
"When they realize we can deal with their groups of ten, they will regroup again. This time they might just move as one group. If they do, then we will have problems."
"Although we have killed many so far, there are still around fifty people left. If they band together, then I don't know how to deal with them, other than depending on Tianyi."
This reasoning seemed to make Hei Gou nod his head. A solemn expression appeared on his face. "Let us be careful," he said.
The group continued moving on and managed to find another group of ten, which they demolished before a flare suddenly lit up in the sky some distance away.
Like last time, Xue Wei’s group of three inched towards the location of the meeting place. They wanted to listen in on what was being said and what their plans were.