novelraw Chapter 158 : Ambush
Chapter 158 : Ambush
158: Ambush
The Lingdu Source Martial Academy training team, carrying their wounded, retreated at full speed toward the Two Realms Gate as best they could.
At this moment, they could no longer worry about startling alien beasts. The former rearguard, now the vanguard, consisted of Student Council members led by Lianyue and Hua Yuanjing, responsible for repelling alien beasts and clearing the path ahead.
The remaining Source Martial Practitioner squads, the fourth-year graduates, and a few teachers were responsible for covering the rear.
Many male students carried their injured classmates on their backs, running toward the mountain forest they had come down from. For a Source Martial Student, carrying a person of over a hundred jin wasn't difficult, but it would inevitably affect their speed.
Now, no one thought of anything else; their only goal was to return to the Two Realms Gate as quickly as possible.
Although it might truly be a coincidence, and the large-scale invasion of the Two Realms Gate area by an alien tribe was just a speculation, who would dare to take such a huge risk?
Yuyin, carrying her longsword on her back, ran in the middle-to-rear of the formation. At the team's current speed, she didn't need to consume any Primordial Energy. She only needed to stay alert to her surroundings, ready to react to any situation.
The journey here, spent exploring and training, had taken several days. Now, they estimated it would take at most half a day to get back to the Two Realms Gate.
Even with this run, Yuyin was slightly sweating. She saw Jiang Da, his chest wrapped in bandages, also running on a hillside a dozen or so meters ahead of her.
Jiang Da was heavily injured, and running like this couldn't be easy, but fortunately, his body was strong enough to endure it.
Wang Yin was severely injured, and Wang Tieshu was carrying her on his back as he ran.
Qin Feizhen was uninjured. He was pulling along an injured first-year student, Yu Minjie, whose waist and legs were wrapped in bandages and whose dress was in tatters. But now she had no choice; she couldn't rely on a man anymore. She could only depend on herself, enduring the pain as she ran on the rugged, rocky ground.
Jiang Xue, running on one side of the central formation, was the only teacher left in the middle. She had to protect the center of the team and command the entire squad.
Liu Xing, Shenwu, Wang Xuezhang, Yuwen Wenhong, and others, along with some Student Council members, had also joined the central formation to help with the escort.
After running forward for about eight or nine kilometers, having crossed the previous mountain and entered the large forest on the other side, Yuyin sensed powerful auras of Primordial Energy approaching at high speed from behind.
Something was chasing them.
Was it the alien tribe?
"Teacher Jiang!" As Yuyin shouted, Jiang Xue had already sensed it too.
She stopped immediately, looking back into the depths of the mountain forest behind them. "This is bad, there are many auras!"
The distance was still too far for Jiang Xue to be certain, but she felt there were at least twenty of them, and they were no weaker than the auras from the previous attackers.
"Everyone, faster! Faster!" Jiang Xue shouted hoarsely.
"Liu Xing, have Zhou Na go ahead at full speed immediately! Go to the Two Realms Gate and request reinforcements!"
"Yes!" Liu Xing shouted, accelerating toward the vanguard.
The many powerful auras of Primordial Energy drew closer and closer. At the training team's current speed, they would be caught up to very soon. They would never make it back to the Two Realms Gate in time. Their only hope now was reinforcements.
"Don't worry about anything else! Everyone, run forward at full speed! Head straight back to the Two Realms Gate! Full speed!" Jiang Xue yelled at the students in the central formation.
The Source Martial Students all erupted with their full Primordial Energy, starting to run at their maximum speed. Some immediately swallowed a pill, while others discarded any excess items.
"The alien tribe is chasing us! Everyone, a little faster!" Liu Xing shouted as he ran.
Seeing two injured female students who couldn't run anymore, Jiang Da simply tucked one under each arm, while still carrying a male student on his back. His Strength-type Primordial Energy erupted as he strode forward at full speed.
A few minutes later, a violent fluctuation of Primordial Energy erupted from the rear. The rearguard had already engaged the pursuers in battle.
Jiang Xue gritted her teeth, her eyes moist. Running at the very back of the central formation, she knew there were over twenty auras from the alien tribe at the Purple Domain Realm or above. Going to help would be suicide. She had to protect these students in the central formation.
At this moment, Zhou Na entrusted the severely wounded Captain Wang to a teammate. She, at the Early-Stage of Purple Domain Realm, was the fastest in the Source Martial Practitioner squad. She took a deep breath, not even having time for a final farewell to Captain Wang. She gave him a lingering, affectionate glance, gritted her teeth, and her Primordial Energy erupted as she sped away. She wondered if they would ever meet again in this lifetime.
Jiang Xue untied a lantern from her waist and channeled a stream of Primordial Energy into it. The lantern immediately lit up, flying from her palm into the sky, emitting a brilliant radiance and a trail of white smoke, accompanied by a mournful, beautiful chime of bells. This was the most urgent distress signal she had brought.
Not only would the lantern remain suspended for a long time, but it would also follow Jiang Xue's position within a range of a hundred-plus meters, unless she severed the connection.
However, relying solely on a distress signal, Jiang Xue couldn't be sure if reinforcements would come. That was why she had sent Zhou Na to personally request help. She was afraid that with the situation unclear, any reinforcements that arrived might not be strong enough.
Even at full speed, carrying the wounded, it would take at least another two or three hours to return. It was simply too late. They could only place their hopes on reinforcements.
Otherwise, they could only run as far as they could. The majority of the students simply did not have the ability to fight against so many alien tribesmen with Purple Domain Realm strength.
Just after the central formation had been sprinting forward at full speed for a few minutes, a very powerful aura of Primordial Energy suddenly erupted from both sides of its center.
"Ambush!" someone ahead shouted.
"What!?" Even Yuyin was greatly shocked. In their full-speed retreat, no one had been paying attention to what was ahead.
No one had expected danger to appear from the front as well.
"Xia people students? Hahaha, just in time. Go die!" A rough roar erupted from ahead. A large, burly male alien tribe member with a thick beard, dressed in a pale cyan Daoist robe with his hair tied up, leaped into the midst of the Source Martial Academy students.
Bang! Wielding a long-handled Yellow Bronze Beast Palm, the bearded alien tribe member simply waved his hand, sending two Source Martial Students flying. They were killed instantly.
"No!" Cries of grief echoed all around.
"Stop!" Jiang Xue was furious. Her Primordial Energy erupted as she charged at the middle-aged alien tribe member, lashing out with all her might with her nine-section whip.
"Hmph, a mere female of the Xia people, nothing special!" The bearded one fiercely swung his Yellow Bronze Beast Palm, generating a powerful gust of wind that deflected the nine-section whip.
Swish!
Just beside Jiang Xue, a graceful and swift figure, Yuyin, passed her, her longsword flashing with silver light as she thrust forward.
"Eh!?" The middle-aged alien in the Daoist robe was startled, immediately gathering his energy to block with his Yellow Bronze Beast Palm.
Clang!
A powerful blast of air surged violently in all directions. The middle-aged alien was actually forced back several steps by Yuyin's sword before he could brace himself.
"What immense power! This Xia woman, Perfection-Stage of Purple Domain Realm?" The middle-aged alien's sharp eyes narrowed. He himself was a powerhouse at the Perfection-Stage of Purple Domain Realm, and Yuyin's full-power thrust was equal to his own strength, so he concluded that Yuyin was also at the Perfection-Stage of Purple Domain Realm.
"This is troublesome. They're not here yet?" The middle-aged alien had intended to slaughter his way through the crowd, but he hadn't expected such a troublesome woman to appear right after he jumped into this group of weaklings.
"So young and so skilled. A genius of the Xia people?" The middle-aged alien revealed a cruel and fierce smile. "Then you must die even more!"
The yellow Primordial Energy erupted throughout his body. The Yellow Bronze Beast Palm in his hand, trailing afterimages, chopped down toward Yuyin.
From that previous exchange, Yuyin could already feel that this fellow's strength was no less than her own, clearly a level above the previous alien tribesmen.
This palm strike carried the intent of a secret art. Yuyin didn't dare to be careless, using the Heavenly Maiden's Intercept to parry.
Clang!
The air shuddered with a piercing sound. The middle-aged alien's heavy Yellow Bronze Beast Palm was actually parried back, and he himself staggered back a few steps.
However, Yuyin was also forced back a step and a half. Although she held a slight advantage, it wasn't enough to launch an immediate counterattack.
"All of you, run!" Jiang Xue shouted to the other students in the central formation.
This level of combat was something they couldn't participate in. Staying would only make them a burden.
Jiang Xue whipped her nine-section whip to attack the middle-aged alien from the flank, forcing him to dodge.
Hum!
But Yuyin's sword thrust forward without hesitation. The middle-aged alien was greatly alarmed, swinging his Yellow Bronze Beast Palm fiercely to deflect Yuyin's sword, but he was struck on the left arm by Jiang Xue's whip.
"Bastard!" The middle-aged alien pushed out a palm, and a fierce palm wind blasted toward Jiang Xue.
Bang!
But Yuyin swiftly kicked out from the side, deflecting the middle-aged alien's palm to the side, completely dissipating the palm wind.
"Ah!" The middle-aged alien clutched his palm and jumped back. His palm, as large as a cattail leaf fan, was red and numb. Yuyin's kick had nearly shattered the bones in his palm.
He realized that these two working together were not to be trifled with.
"Why aren't they here yet!" the middle-aged alien cursed.
Yuyin and Jiang Xue could of course hear these words. By now, the other students had already run far away.
"Yuyin, let's go! We can't afford to get bogged down in a fight here!"
"Right!" Yuyin nodded, and she and Jiang Xue fought their way out and fled.
"Stop!" The middle-aged alien immediately gave chase.
"Martial Uncle! We're here to help you!"
Suddenly, from the surrounding hillsides, several more young male alien tribe members in dark blue Daoist robes charged in from the front and sides, stepping on large trees.
Yuyin was completely caught off guard. She never expected these enemies to have come from the front, completely separating her and Jiang Xue from the team ahead.
With enemies blocking the path ahead and pursuers behind, Yuyin had no choice but to fight.
Several of the alien tribesmen attacked Yuyin and Jiang Xue separately, while the middle-aged alien also caught up and attacked Yuyin from behind.
"No, I can't let them surround me."
Yuyin jumped to the side, creating distance from the few of them.
An alien tribesman at the Early-Stage of Purple Domain Realm leaped up, treading on air as he chased her, thrusting his sword toward Yuyin.
While leaping back, Yuyin swung her sword in a horizontal parry. The force of this strike was neither too strong nor too weak, just enough to deflect her opponent's sword outside the range where it could pierce her. Then, allowing his sword to stab past her body, Yuyin's longsword, in her retreat, severed the arm he was using to hold his sword.
"Aargh!" The Early-Stage of Purple Domain Realm powerhouse howled as he fell to the ground, rolling.
"Kill this Xia woman! She's the strongest one!"
Two Early-Stage of Purple Domain Realm tribesmen and the middle-aged alien attacked Yuyin together. Unable to face three powerful enemies at once, Yuyin leaped onto an ancient tree. At this point, Jiang Xue was fighting with two other alien tribesmen, and the two were separated in the heat of battle.
The middle-aged alien leaped up, his Yellow Bronze Beast Palm carrying the phantom image of a giant beast's palm, chopping down toward Yuyin.
The momentum of this palm strike was overwhelmingly powerful. Yuyin didn't dare to take it head-on, so she leaped down from the tree trunk.
Boom!
The middle-aged alien's palm strike chopped the thick tree trunk in two.
He landed and, along with the two younger alien tribesmen, continued to kill their way toward Yuyin.
Just as Yuyin was preparing to circle around and counterattack, an extreme sense of danger came from her side.
Run!
She didn't even glance in that direction. She immediately erupted with all her Primordial Energy and leaped toward the hillside.
A moment later, a white-bearded old man in a pale cyan Daoist robe, along with a one-armed male alien tribe member and an injured female alien tribe member, arrived from behind.
"Master, it was that Xia woman from just now! She alone killed three of our Brothers!" the one-armed alien tribesman shouted, pointing in the direction where Yuyin had just been.