Under the hazy moonlight, Su You and Zhang Yue were busy cleaning up the battlefield. As Su You carved materials from the monster corpses, he said to Zhang Yue:
"It's around ten at night now. We have fourteen hours until noon tomorrow, so we should head back. Otherwise, we might miss the passenger aircraft, and that would be trouble."
They were now more than 1,500 kilometers from the oasis they had come from. Since they couldn't travel in a perfectly straight line on the way back, they needed to set out a little early.
Zhang Yue's physical fitness was only at the mid-level War General Rank, so the two of them usually traveled at around 100 meters per second, or 360 kilometers per hour.
"All right. Then let's split up."
After speaking, Zhang Yue seemed worried Su You might misunderstand, so she quickly added, "The Training Camp students have people keeping an eye on them."
"No need."
Su You smiled and shook his head. "I'll just take a roundabout route once we get near the departure point."
This was the Sahara Desert. Traveling more than 1,500 kilometers in a straight line was risky enough; going alone as a War General was no small danger.
"Mm." Zhang Yue lowered her head, her eyes faintly red, and answered in a voice as soft as a mosquito's buzz.
After gathering the monster materials, the two set off together, racing back in the direction they had come from.
Behind a sand dune more than 300 kilometers east of the departure point, Beiyuan Gang sat in his tent at his base, his face gloomy. It was already seven in the morning on the 29th, and they still hadn't found any sign of their target.
"Could they have died in the desert?"
Just then, his Communication Watch vibrated softly. Beiyuan Gang glanced at it and saw that headquarters had sent him a location within his area of responsibility. He was to go and check it out.
Although headquarters could use satellites to monitor the surrounding area, the desert weather made their surveillance extremely unreliable. Once they detected an unfamiliar target, they had to go and check in person whether it was the mission target.
After receiving the location, Beiyuan Gang didn't hesitate. He quickly reached the top of a sand dune, pulled a pair of binoculars from his backpack, and looked at two black dots racing toward him in the distance.
"The mission target. And the person beside her is... Su You?"
Beiyuan Gang lowered the binoculars and furrowed his brow. They had information on this batch of Elite Training Camp students, especially those ranked in the top thirty who had War God-level strength. Those students were their particular focus.
Beiyuan Gang quickly sent out the coordinates, then shouted directly into his Communication Watch, "The mission target has been spotted. Everyone, come here immediately. She's accompanied by a student with War God Rank strength."
After speaking, Beiyuan Gang quickly left the dune and chose a spot beneath it, along the route Su You and Zhang Yue were taking in the distance.
"A genius from Huaxia Country? Hmph!"
Beiyuan Gang snorted coldly. The moment he saw Su You, he had already decided to kill this genius.
The Japanese were now only a small nation in the world, and they harbored deep jealousy toward Huaxia Country. The chance to kill an extraordinary genius from Huaxia Country made Beiyuan Gang feel his blood boiling.
Meanwhile, Su You and Zhang Yue were racing toward the departure point. They soon reached the foot of the sand dune where Beiyuan Gang had been standing.
"Hmm?"
Su You's heart suddenly clenched. The hairs all over his body stood on end as an extreme sense of danger surged through him. Without a moment's hesitation, he kicked Zhang Yue beside him, sending them both veering in opposite directions.
Just then, from the sand to Su You's left, an arcing War Blade shot upward and sliced through the spot where Su You and Zhang Yue had been about to step.
If Su You had been even half a beat slower, their throats would have been slit by now.
Beiyuan Gang's slash missed. He seemed a little surprised and paused for an instant, then changed the direction of his War Blade and swung it straight at Zhang Yue, who hadn't yet had time to react.
Although he really wanted to kill the genius from Huaxia Country, after his first strike failed, killing Su You would likely take some time.
Besides, his mission target was the young woman at War General Rank. He could deal with the genius from Huaxia Country after taking care of her.
The instant Su You dodged the strike, he reacted. His right hand drew his long sword on instinct, and he unleashed all his strength. Five bursts of hidden force followed one after another, each accelerating the sword further.
Then, after releasing those five bursts of hidden force, another burst suddenly erupted from Su You's body. The Baihong Sword in his right hand accelerated once more, slanting upward toward Beiyuan Gang.
He had to defend himself. If Beiyuan Gang's blow landed, Su You's sword would split him in two.
"What?"
Beiyuan Gang hadn't expected Su You to react so quickly. With no other choice, he changed the direction of his War Blade and slashed backward, CLANG! The blade struck the long sword.
But Su You had already unleashed his full physical strength in that attack. Combined with the 3.6-fold force multiplier he'd gained after breaking through, its power exceeded 400,000 kilograms—far beyond the 256,000-kilogram threshold for a High-level War God.
Beiyuan Gang had been forced to meet the strike in haste and couldn't fully bring his strength to bear. The immense force traveled through his War Blade.
Beiyuan Gang was blasted away like a cannonball. He crashed into the sand a short distance away, smashing out a deep pit seven or eight meters wide.
Su You glanced at Zhang Yue and, seeing that she was unharmed, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Then he dashed toward the pit in a flash.
Beiyuan Gang sprang out of the pit, his body covered in blood. Caught completely unprepared, he had practically taken Su You's blow—one comparable to a High-level War God's—head-on. He was now seriously injured.
"Bastard!" Beiyuan Gang cursed under his breath. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and ran. In his current condition, he had no chance against Su You at full strength. He would very likely die at Su You's hands.
Fury blazed in Su You's heart. Six bursts of hidden force surged into his legs in succession. He sprang forward, tearing through the air as his speed instantly approached 1.5 times the speed of sound. In almost an instant, he was behind Beiyuan Gang, thrusting his sword toward his heart like lightning.
Beiyuan Gang was badly startled. Four bursts of hidden force surged into his legs, and he immediately used the movement technique Liuguang, dodging Su You's strike.
He had trained in Thunder God's Nine-Layered Thunder Blade, but had only mastered the first three layers. His force multiplier had reached 2.8. Although his movement technique and blade technique were slightly inferior, his overall strength was not much weaker than Su You's.
Su You brought both swords into play, striking one blow after another in an unbroken stream. Seriously injured, Beiyuan Gang had no chance to fight back. It looked as if he would soon die beneath Su You's swords.
"Bastard!"
Beiyuan Gang gritted his teeth and once again took the full force of Su You's attack. He used the impact to open up some distance between them. Though he had been prepared this time and managed to deflect much of the force, the tremendous impact still made him spit blood repeatedly.
Su You had no intention of letting this Japanese man escape. His 3.6-fold force multiplier erupted in an instant, and in the blink of an eye he was behind Beiyuan Gang, thrusting his sword straight toward his neck.
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