Du Ya Squad

"Heh! You noticed us pretty quickly!"

A light chuckle came from where the vehicles were hidden not far away.

Immediately afterward, a five-man squad emerged from their hiding place and walked toward Ye Cang and the others.

"Du Ya!"

"Everyone, be careful!"

Seeing who had come, Lin Yan gave a low shout, his tone somewhat grave.

At that moment, information about "Du Ya" flashed through Ye Cang's memories.

The Du Ya Squad.

They were likewise a squad that hunted ferocious beasts along the edge of the Wilderness Zone.

However, their overall strength was somewhat greater than theirs.

The captains were roughly equal in strength, but the other side had two Quasi-Warriors and one combatant at the Advanced Student level.

Since both squads made their living in the border region, friction had naturally built up over time, leaving them with longstanding grudges.

Yet because the gap in their combat strength was not great, neither side had ever gone too far.

But with the Du Ya Squad appearing here now, they clearly meant no good.

"Du Ya! What do you want?"

Lin Yan spoke coldly.

Hearing this, Du Ya, the captain of the Du Ya Squad, let out a cold sneer.

"Hmph! It's time we settled our grudge. I see you've had quite a haul today. Leave everything behind, and I'll allow you to leave in one piece."

As he spoke, Du Ya glanced at the backpacks on Ye Cang and the others, greed flashing in his eyes.

There was so much there that it was enough to rival the gains from two or three of their outings.

Still, that alone was not enough to make him take a risk.

He looked at Lin Yan, killing intent surging in his eyes.

This time, he had come knocking with absolute confidence.

At the same time, the other members of the Du Ya Squad had already stepped forward, surrounding Ye Cang and the others.

Seeing this, Lin Yan's expression grew even graver.

Their strengths were close, yet the other side had still come looking for trouble. They must have prepared some sort of trump card.

"Heh! Robbery? You think you can pull that off, Du Ya?"

Lin Yan sneered, then barked angrily:

"Get lost. You and I are evenly matched. If we really fight, we'll both end up battered and broken. Is that the outcome you want?"

Du Ya burst out laughing at those words.

"Heh! Who's evenly matched with you? Open your eyes. I've already broken through to the Intermediate Martial Artist level."

Everyone's expressions changed at once.

Ye Cang's heart sank as well.

According to the information he knew, an Intermediate Martial Artist's normal strength had already surpassed four thousand kilograms.

With the boost from combat techniques, it would be no less than close to five thousand kilograms.

Could Lin Yan withstand that?

But at that moment, Lin Yan gave a cold snort, a mocking smile on his face.

"So what? With your measly Intermediate Fighter strength, you want to swallow up our Rock Mountain Squad? You must be dreaming."

If this had happened before, he might already have been thinking of a way to retreat intact.

But things were different now.

Because Ye Cang was here.

With Minute Level Movement Technique and the strength of a Quasi-Warrior, no one on the other side besides Du Ya could stop him.

As long as he held out for a while, not a single member of the Du Ya Squad besides Du Ya would survive Ye Cang's hands.

By then, with Ye Cang assisting from the side, it was not impossible that they could kill this sworn enemy today.

"Courting death. I'd like to see how long you can keep running that mouth."

Seeing the mockery in Lin Yan's eyes, Du Ya was instantly enraged beyond measure.

Then he roared.

"Move! Kill them!"

At his command, the rest of the Du Ya Squad each picked out an opponent and charged in to kill.

Du Ya himself rushed straight at Lin Yan.

"Perfect! Let me see whether an Intermediate Martial Artist like you is the real deal or just full of water!"

Lin Yan shouted and charged forward with his broad saber in hand.

As he passed Ye Cang, he spoke in a low voice.

"Finish the others quickly!"

Hearing him, Ye Cang instantly understood Lin Yan's intentions.

With a flicker of his body, he charged straight at the Quasi-Warrior in the Du Ya Squad.

"You're courting death! You're not worthy of fighting me!"

Seeing Ye Cang rush over, the man's eyes flashed with contempt.

The two sides had crossed paths many times. Naturally, he knew Ye Cang's strength like the back of his hand.

He was merely an intermediate martial apprentice!

One slash would be enough to split him in two!

Ye Cang's expression remained unchanged at the taunt, but his feet moved even faster.

With a whoosh, he was already in front of the man.

"Not good!"

Seeing Ye Cang appear before him in an instant, the man's face changed drastically, and a flash of terror crossed his eyes.

That kind of speed!

There was no way an intermediate martial apprentice could unleash such speed.

Even he himself could not sprint that fast.

Swish!

Ye Cang made his move!

His longsword swept across. Before the man could react, he felt his head grow strangely light.

Thud!

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a headless corpse topple to the ground.

"This... why does that look like my body?"

Beside the corpse, Ye Cang cut the man down with one stroke, then looked at the system panel.

[Life Energy: 36.5]

It had increased by 0.9 from before.

"Life Energy comes from living beings. As expected, killing people can grant it too!"

Ye Cang's heart stirred as he looked to the other side.

At that moment, Shi Feng was locked in fierce combat with another Quasi-Warrior from the Du Ya Squad.

Both possessed the strength of Quasi-Warriors, their combat power evenly matched, and neither could gain the upper hand.

Yet in the blink of an eye, Ye Cang had already arrived beside the man.

"What?! Where's Shan Yuanzheng?"

The man's face instantly changed when he saw Ye Cang.

He had seen the other Quasi-Warrior in his squad face this man.

And he knew Ye Cang's background. He was merely an intermediate martial apprentice, incapable of lasting even one exchange against his teammate.

So how could this man be here now?

Before he could figure it out, a streak of sword light had already swept past his neck.

"You'll see him when you get down there!"

Ye Cang spoke coldly from behind him.

Glancing at his Life Energy, Ye Cang saw that it had indeed increased by another 0.9 points.

"You..."

Beside him, Shi Feng was utterly dumbfounded as he watched Ye Cang kill the man in an instant.

He could scarcely believe his eyes.

A Quasi-Warrior, killed in one sword strike.

That level of strength was terrifying!

He swallowed involuntarily.

If Ye Cang had been on the opposing side, the head flying through the air right now would probably have been his.

Then Ye Cang looked toward the other two battlefields.

As expected, Bai Yuanliang and Wu Guang were at a slight disadvantage.

But among Martial Apprentices, the gap in combat strength was not too obvious. To completely defeat one side would still take some time.

"You go help them. I'll help the captain!"

Ye Cang glanced at Shi Feng, then gripped his sword and charged toward where Lin Yan was fighting Du Ya.

"Oh! O-okay..."

Shi Feng froze for a moment, then hurriedly rushed over as well.

With a Quasi-Warrior like him joining in, dealing with the Du Ya Squad's two Martial Apprentices was no more than a matter of taking something from one's hand.

Elsewhere!

When Du Ya saw Ye Cang appear, he too could not conceal his shock.

Only then, when his peripheral vision swept over the battlefield, did he discover that the two Quasi-Warriors in his squad had already been separated from their heads.

"Ye Cang! Well done!"

Lin Yan threw back his head and laughed, feeling utterly exhilarated.

After seeing Ye Cang take on ten Azure Phosphor Snakes alone, he did not worry about Ye Cang's safety in the slightest.

"You damned thing! How dare you..."

Du Ya's face twisted into an exceptionally savage expression.

He had miscalculated!

He had thought that with the strength of an Intermediate Martial Artist, plus the two powerful Quasi-Warriors in his squad, wiping out the Rock Mountain Squad would be as easy as lifting a hand.

But now, it was his own squad that was facing destruction.

"Ah! Die!"

Du Ya let out a furious, shrill roar.

Whoosh!

His body flashed, and in an instant he appeared before Ye Cang. The dagger in his hand was like a venomous snake flicking out its tongue, biting for Ye Cang's throat.