Ambush

News of the Mummified Corpse Incident had already reached some of the students, but with the mock exams just around the corner and the College Entrance Exam not far off, few people were paying much attention to it.

After all, only three people had died in the Mummified Corpse Incident so far. For West Lake High School, with its tens of thousands of students, that hardly seemed like much.

Perhaps everyone thought that something like this would never happen to them.

Jiang Yuanjie was always well-informed. He knew that mummified corpses had appeared on other campuses while Mu Qing was still at East Campus, so he hadn't been very suspicious of Mu Qing.

But now, Jiang Yuanjie's doubts were growing.

He even wondered whether Mu Qing was human at all. Who could possibly master martial techniques so quickly?

"How long has it been?" Mu Qing asked Jiang Yuanjie after withdrawing his Origin Force, unaware of what was going through the other boy's mind.

If Mu Qing had known what Jiang Yuanjie was thinking, he probably would've kicked the fatso in the face twice on the spot, just to show him whether he was a man or a ghost.

"It's already night. Quite a few students from the other campuses passed by, but none of them found us," Jiang Yuanjie said.

"The whole afternoon went by that fast?"

In the Heaven and Earth Fusion State, Mu Qing couldn't sense the passage of time. He'd thought at most two or three hours had passed, never expecting the entire afternoon to be gone.

He turned his head and saw that Ling Fei was still cultivating. Yet the aura around him had grown steadily stronger, almost reaching the limit of Blood Qi Fifth Rank.

Suddenly, Ling Fei's Blood Qi surged, and a vast aura burst forth.

Behind him, strands of Blood Qi gathered, forming a Golden Lion that let out a roar. The lion had grown more solid and powerful, golden radiance flowing over its body, sharp as a blade.

Ling Fei abruptly opened his eyes. His gaze was bright, and he immediately sprang to his feet, laughing.

"Hahaha! I finally broke through! Blood Qi Sixth Rank!"

Ling Fei didn't care at all how disheveled he looked after his ordeal with the Gray Wolf Pack. He roared with excitement.

At the same time, golden light flashed across his palm. In an instant, he struck the cave wall. With a deafening boom, a huge crater appeared, cracks spreading outward like a spiderweb.

"How does Blood Qi Sixth Rank feel?" Mu Qing asked with a smile.

He was just as happy that Ling Fei had broken through.

"Powerful!" Ling Fei said. Then he shook his head in disappointment. "Unfortunately, the improvement isn't as great as when I first broke through to Blood Qi Fifth Rank. Before becoming a Martial Practitioner, the greatest force I can unleash won't exceed two tons. Breaking through to Sixth Rank only more than doubled my Origin Force. My strength hasn't increased much."

"More than doubling your Origin Force is already impressive. And it looks like your Sharp Metal Palm has broken through, too. If we run into the Gray Wolf Pack again, you should be able to fight your way out on your own," Mu Qing said.

After Blood Qi Fifth Rank, each breakthrough mainly increased one's Origin Force, with little change in strength. A significant improvement would only come after reaching Blood Qi Tenth Stage and opening the first bloodline shackle.

Just then, Jiang Yuanjie's expression changed abruptly. "Someone's coming! More than one!"

Mu Qing and Ling Fei both tensed.

Neither of them could sense anything, but they trusted Jiang Yuanjie. He wouldn't raise a false alarm.

Sure enough, after a short while, a jumble of footsteps drew closer.

Voices came from outside the cave.

"That sound just now seemed to come from this direction. I wonder which campus they're from."

"Who cares which campus? The other squads are all nearby. As long as they're not from our campus, we'll rob them!"

"Wait! There seems to be a cave over there!"

The startled voices rang out, and then the footsteps drew closer and closer.

"They've found us," Mu Qing said gravely, shooting Ling Fei a glare.

If Ling Fei hadn't laughed so loudly during his breakthrough, they might not have been discovered.

Suddenly, Jiang Yuanjie seemed to think of something and hurriedly warned them, "They seem to be from North Campus!"

He continued, "This afternoon, I sensed several of their squads passing by. They seem to have camped nearby, but they didn't notice our cave at the time."

As he spoke, Jiang Yuanjie also shot Ling Fei a fierce glare.

Ling Fei scratched his head and gave an awkward grin, his face apologetic.

"Looks like a fight's unavoidable. We'll finish this quickly and take down the squad that's coming. We can't let the other North Campus teams find out!" Mu Qing said gravely.

Ling Fei and Jiang Yuanjie nodded solemnly. They crouched down and switched off the lights on their communication devices. The cave plunged into darkness.

Thud, thud, thud.

The footsteps drew closer.

"There are three of them!" Jiang Yuanjie whispered to Mu Qing and Ling Fei.

"All three are at Blood Qi Fifth Rank. One's a little stronger than the others, but not by much."

Jiang Yuanjie told them what he'd sensed.

At the same time, he breathed a sigh of relief.

Fortunately, only a relatively weak squad had come. There were just three of them.

"Don't let your guard down. From what they said, the other squads are nearby. If we're discovered, we'll be like turtles in a jar, surrounded and slaughtered!" Mu Qing whispered, careful not to let the three outside hear him.

He couldn't help feeling grateful for Jiang Yuanjie's unusual ability. He could sense the situation so clearly, giving them warning and time to prepare.

Now they just had to strike decisively and capture all three at once, without letting any of them send a message. If the other North Campus teams found out, they'd be hunted down by a whole group of top students.

"Wow! This cave is really well hidden." The three North Campus students had now reached the cave entrance. The one in front marveled at the concealed opening.

The entrance was extremely narrow, like a crack, and only one person could squeeze through. Someone as fat as Jiang Yuanjie would get stuck.

"I'll go in first. Follow close behind." The leader switched on the light on his communication device and spoke.

He wasn't careless; after all, they'd just heard someone making a sound inside.

The man slowly approached the cave. After passing through the entrance, he was about to raise his communication device and light up the surroundings.

"Attack!"

Mu Qing let out a sharp whisper and struck first. His arm shuddered as arcs of electricity leaped across it. Four streaks of searing white lightning gathered in an instant and slammed into the man.

"Not good!"

The North Campus student's face filled with alarm. He sensed a terrifying threat and reacted swiftly, unleashing his Origin Force in a desperate attempt to block Mu Qing's attack.

But Mu Qing had gone all out from the start. He unleashed the fourth level of Thunderstorm Fist, the four streaks of searing white lightning coiling around his fist as it crashed down.