Chapter 180 - Thundercrack Stamp
Lu Li, Lu Hai and the other four ten-star condensed prime Warriors each took five cultivators with them in their search for Ye Wei on the outskirts of North Barren Mountains.
All of them, even Lu Li were afraid of the consequence of failing their assignment, and they feared facing the powerful assassin as well. Lu Li just fiercely wanted to annihilate him.
Ye Wei flew through the woods as he expanded the range of his will-force's reach. He knew the returned prime Warrior’s senses given by their will-force was potent enough to detect energy from more than ten miles away.
Five miles was the limit of Ye Wei’s will-force reach. Any further Ye Wei could not sense if if the object or person was farther from him. ‘This is dangerous. They can set a trap if they know my location while I am oblivious on theirs!’ Ye Wei gritted his teeth and continued to channel his will-force.
‘Six miles…’
‘Seven miles…’ His veins bulged up, and his Sentient rattled as he reached his limit.
“No! This is still not enough!” He injected Qi into his Sentient and dug deep to the mystic mount within.
The golden presence of the mystic mount shone bright; Ye Wei could feel his will-force thickening.
‘Ten miles… Twenty, thirty!’
Ye Wei could finally sense his pursuers He felt the Lu’s movements Judging by what he could sense, none of the small teams, not even Lu Qianying himself, had any idea on Ye Wei’s whereabouts.
‘The returned prime Warrior and the teams of condensed prime Warriors slowed down. I might even be able to sneak back to the Drakehead and train a bit more if I am careful!’
“They’ve just split up!” Ye Wei mumbled to himself as he sensed the slight change in Qi disturbance, ‘that’s a good sign. It means they don’t know where I am!’
Ye Wei’s eyes glistened Although coordinated, the Lu’s every single move was read by Ye Wei. He noticed they were split farther and farther from each other. ‘I’ve been chased for an entire night, I think it’s time to turn the tables.’
‘But how should I do it?’ He was still haunted by the scene of the valley collapsing because of just one strike from the returned prime Warrior.
“I can’t defend myself against a forbidden high-level Myst stance, not when it is used by a returned prime Warrior.” Ye Wei muttered.
‘Though it will be hard to find a chance like this, when the all the teams are closer to each other again.’ Ye Wei decided to launch a counter attack. ‘I have been feeling anxious the entire night. Now it’s my turn for you to feel anxious. I need to kill a couple of you to send a clear, direct message!’
Taking advantage of the Lu’s split search, Ye Wei quietly tracked down one of the weaker teams. He was ready to silence all of them. He hid all his Qi presence. While sensing where the returned prime Warriors were, he calculated the best time and place for the surprise attack.
On the other hand, Lu Qianying was clear that his men were no match for Ye Wei. He was trying his best to keep an equal distance between himself and each of the search teams.
The seasoned elder knew he was looking for a needle in a haystack, so he kept his distance. It was his intention all along to use the six teams as bait. He correctly assumed that it was in the assassin’s interest to eliminate as many Lu’s as possible.
However, he was one step behind since he had no knowledge about Ye Wei’s sensory capabilities.
‘One of the search teams is closing in, six of them in total, the strongest one of them is a ten-star condensed prime Warrior…’ Ye Wei was constantly assessing the situation. He waited patiently for his timing, though.
After hours of stalking, Ye Wei saw his window of opportunity. He took a scroll out of his bag and sped towards the team furthest away from Lu Qianying.
“Rip!”
The enchanted scroll was torn; sequences of runes bursted out from the tear. Ye Wei was suddenly wrapped in a green runic light. He rushed towards the isolated team with speed of a returned prime Warrior.
Both of them being forbidden high-level Myst stances, the Green Shade stance within the scroll was at least as quick as Lu Qianying’s Slideflash stance.
Ye Wei took more than one of these scrolls from the Glacial Emperor. Although he preferred using them defensively, he believed using them offensively also would gain him tempo.
“Swoosh…”
Ye Wei became a cyan flash.He quietly advanced two miles distance. His gaze was hysterical, and he attentively looked forward to seeing his victims.
‘Lu Li?’ Ye Wei was close enough to identify the energy source, ‘a direct descendant of the Lu’s bloodline! This was worth the hours of stalking!’
‘Goodbye!’ Ye Wei rushed forward, activated the second evolution of Supernova stance as he shot six Peerless Swords to his targets.
“Plop!”
“Clang!”
The Qi Swords hit simultaneously five condensed prime Warriors. Their bodies were penetrated from behind. None of them could even see their killer’s ice cold eyes before they died.
The dead bodies flew backwards from the Ye Wei’s powerful sword’s force. They were eventually stopped by the trees.
It did not come to a surprise for Ye Wei that he was able to kill five condensed prime Warrior from the dark, but the man left standing did startle him.
“It’s you!” Lu Li saw his dead teammates. He turned around and recognized the familiar figure. “How dare you! This time I am ready for your cowardly ambush! You won’t be able to run this time!”
Lu Li quickly leaped away from Ye Wei; he crushed the jade amulet with his large muscular hands. He was still injured; consequently, he concluded before he started the search that he would not fight, but instead just buy time until Lu Qianying arrived to finish the assassin off.
“Ha, and you call me a coward?” Ye Wei immediately guessed the Lu Li’s intention. He narrowed his eyes and shot ten more Qi swords right at Lu Li’s chest.
“Gotcha!” Lu Qianying felt the burst of energy released by the broken amulet from forty miles away.
“Swoosh!”
Lu Qianying levitated, and he flew towards Lu Li’s current location at a fearsome speed.
“Same trick? How naive!” Lu Li chuckled. He clenched his fist and channeled his Qi to strengthen his body further. His muscles bulged up, and his skin gained a mysterious metallic shine.
“Titanic form is the most defensive out of the Lu’s three earth grade cultivation formulas!” Lu Li’s disdainful smile grew wide. His fist flew towards Ye Wei.
“Clang! Clang Clang!”
After a deafening sharp noise, the Qi swords dispersed. Lu Li was unharmed expect a few shallow scratches on his fist.
“Eh!?” Both Lu Li and Ye Wei were surprised. They both underestimated their opponent.
“Pfft!” Lu Li’s face darkened. He grunted and stomped the ground; his Qi swept the ground, sending a shockwave straight at Ye Wei.
‘He is stronger than me, but I don't need to beat him. I just need to by my time until the elder comes!’ Lu Li was bold but not completely dumb. He knew what to expect.
‘Starblink Steps!’
Ye Wei frowned. He quickly channeled his Qi to his feet; the star-like rune sequences under his feet buffered the shockwave while he was charging towards Lu Li.
“Swoosh!”
Lu Li was struggling to follow Ye Wei’s ghostly figure. He threw his fist forth repeatedly to create a safe zone in front of him. However, before his eyes registered where his opponent was he felt a cold breeze behind his head.
Ye Wei aimed right at the back of Lu Li’s skull. His fist was infused with Peerless Sword energy and traveled at the speed of lightning.
“Clang!”
The sound of an iron hammer striking a rock sounded when Ye Wei’s fist crushed against Lu Li’s head. “What a tough body! I don’t think I have enough time to destroy him before the return prime Warrior comes!”
Ye Wei stared at Lu Li, counting the time in his heart, ‘I’ve landed all my Qi swords onto the back of his head, at the human body’s weak spot, I don’t understand.’ He didn’t even hurt Lu Li, and Lu Li’s strikes didn’t hit Ye Wei even once. It seemed they were at a stand still.
“You are still not strong enough to hurt me! Just surrender now before I tear you apart!” Lu Li screamed and laughed. His heavy fists fell onto Ye Wei like a rain of meteors.
“Bang!”
Ye Wei’s Qi Swords and Lu Li’s metallic fist clashed against each other. The impact turned stones into dust and sent a rippling energy wave through the woods, snapping the tree trunks in its path.
The enormous recoil stunned Ye Wei slightly. He absorbed the main impact with a backflip while the star-like runes under his feet kept his body steady.
“Earth grade formula, huh?” Ye Wei shook off the numbing tingle in his shoulder. He noticed the similarities between Lu Li’s technique and the Polaris Academy’s formula.
‘His formula can redirect impact too! It’s a shame the falling star form is unfinished. I am sure the Ye Supreme had worked on it, and I can feel its potential.’ Ye Wei again tried to learn his
opponent’s tricks in combat.
‘Any moment now, though elder Qianying should be here! I have to keep this kid with me!’ Lu Li glared at Ye Wei, like a wolf about to feast on his prey. He clenched his fist, his muscles bulged up, and his hair hardened and stood up like rows of steel needles, a metallic texture appeared in his eyes.
“Crack! Crack!”
Lu Li’s arms were now twice their original size; the muscles rattled as he groaned.
‘High-level Myst stance, Thundercrack Stamp!’ Lu Li’s Qi turned into runes. The runes were wrapping around his arm, and it became electrically charged. He leaped up and struck at Ye Wei. He covered all his escape routes with bolts of runic lightning.