Bai Ye's mouth twitched.
Chapter 63: The Battle for the Supplies Begins!
When they reached the place where the food had been dropped, they discovered that several groups had already arrived. Every one of them was hiding, waiting for someone else to make the first move and test the waters, so they could swoop in at the end like the oriole.
Bai Ye was speechless, but he naturally wasn't going to take Qing Lin out to grab the food first. They'd become everyone's target in an instant.
You're hiding, hoping to be the oriole? Then I'll hide too. We'll see who can stay hidden, and who'll be the last one laughing!
Determined not to lose out to anyone, Bai Ye decided that he and Qing Lin would play the same sneaky game. They found a spot and hid, waiting to see what would happen.
As more lone fighters and Soul Master groups arrived, they saw that the huge black box containing the food hadn't been touched at all. The whole place looked as if no one had ever been there.
That clearly didn't make sense!
Once they thought about it, all the clever ones arrived at the same conclusion. They hid in perfect unspoken agreement. No matter what, they weren't going to be the first to touch the food.
But eventually, some people who weren't particularly sharp saw the huge black box of food sitting right in front of them and couldn't help laughing aloud, convinced that they were the chosen ones!
They couldn't believe they were the first to arrive. They had to hurry and take the box of food away, or it'd be too late once the others showed up!
But just as this Soul Master group excitedly lifted the box of food, preparing to carry it off, they were greeted by a truly "wonderful surprise"!
All of a sudden, countless green vines burst from the ground and whipped wildly through the air, forming a gigantic vine whip. In the blink of an eye, it sent every member of the group flying.
Another Soul Master group had seen them lift the huge box of food and start to leave the clearing for the forest, and they couldn't hold back any longer.
After all, this clearing was a good place to fight. Once they entered the forest, it would be much harder to make a move.
"You... despicable! You actually ambushed us!"
After the huge vine whip had suddenly sprung up and knocked them all flying, leaving them badly injured, the group that had thought they were the first to arrive finally understood. When they saw another group of Soul Masters emerge from the forest, they could only lie on the ground, blood trickling from their mouths, and shout angrily.
"Ambush? You've only got yourselves to blame for being so stupid. The signal announcing the food drop appeared ages ago. How could there not be a single person here?"
The Soul Masters who emerged from the forest could only sneer at this naive group.
But as they spoke, the Soul Ring circling one of them suddenly lit up.
In the next instant, countless green vines burst from the ground around the black box of food. They whipped through the air and formed a vine wall, which quickly stretched across the clearing and connected to the forest.
"Move!"
At a shout brimming with suppressed excitement and tension, a tall figure suddenly charged out of the forest and rushed toward the black wooden box of food.
"Haah!!!"
With a mighty roar, the tall, burly Soul Grandmaster beside the black box-his muscles knotted, bull horns sprouting from his head, and two Soul Rings circling him-wrapped his thick arms around the huge black box and lifted it right up.
Then, holding the box of food, the Soul Grandmaster with the Bull Martial Soul raced toward the forest along the passage formed by the green vine wall.
That's right! The Soul Master group that had rushed out first to play the oriole hadn't actually been foolish enough to think they were the first to arrive.
Instead, they planned to take advantage of everyone watching one another and hoping to be the last oriole. While drawing everyone's attention, they'd have one of their Soul Masters carry off the huge black box of food.
There was no denying that it was a clever plan!
Unfortunately... they still weren't strong enough!
"Trying to run?!"
Just as the Soul Grandmaster with the Bull Martial Soul was about to rush into the forest with the huge black box of food, an angry shout rang out.
A Soul Grandmaster dressed in crimson, with a head of fiery red hair, suddenly leaped up from the forest. In midair, he summoned the Blazing Flame Tiger and entered Martial Soul Possession.
Then he unleashed a Soul Skill, opening his mouth to spew out a raging blaze. The flames instantly burned the green vines forming the wall to ashes. The Bull-Headed Soul Grandmaster, who was carrying the box and trying to escape, could only dodge the sudden onslaught of fire.
But at that very moment, figures burst out from all around the forest, rushing toward the Soul Grandmaster with the Bull Martial Soul.
"Ice Fang Dragon Lizard, Possession!"
"First Soul Skill: Absolute Frost!"
"Purple Lightning Rhinoceros, Possession!"
"Second Soul Skill: Furious Lightning Charge!"
"Great Vajra Bear, Possession!"
"First Soul Skill: Vajra Mighty Palm!"
In an instant, lights flashed as the charging Soul Masters all entered Martial Soul Possession with roars. Then they unleashed their Soul Skills at the Soul Grandmaster carrying the huge black box of food.
Among the Soul Masters from Spirit Hall Junior Spirit Master Academy taking part in the Genius Selection Competition, Soul Grandmasters weren't especially numerous, but there were certainly plenty of them!
Any Soul Master group that could get off the ground had at least one Soul Grandmaster. Otherwise, no one would join them!
At that moment, the Soul Grandmaster with the Bull Martial Soul who had rushed out first to seize the huge black box of food wasn't weak. But the Control System Soul Master on his team, who had provided him with an escape route, simply wasn't strong enough.
Even though this plant-type Control System Soul Master had also reached the Soul Grandmaster level, plant-type Soul Masters were naturally countered by fire-type Soul Masters!
So, the Control System Soul Master with the plant Martial Soul had spent a great deal of Soul Power weaving vines into a wall, hoping to provide the Soul Grandmaster with the Bull Martial Soul a way out. But when faced with the Second Soul Skill of a fire-attribute Soul Grandmaster, the wall was burned away in an instant!
The Soul Grandmaster with the Bull Martial Soul, carrying the huge black box of food and trying to escape, could only dodge the raging flames unleashed by the Second Soul Skill of the fire-attribute Soul Grandmaster.
Otherwise, if the flames caught on, he'd probably be burned half to death!
But once he was stopped, the Soul Grandmasters from the many Soul Master groups hiding in the forest could no longer hold back. To fight for the food, they all joined the fray.
And against all these attacking Soul Grandmasters...
The man was already up against too many opponents. Worse still, because he was carrying the huge black box of food, his hands were tied. He was no match for them.
After dodging only a few attacks, he was struck by several Soul Skills, spat blood, and went flying. The huge black box of food in his arms slipped free and crashed heavily to the ground.
Chapter 64: I'll Take These Supplies. You Can Leave!
As the huge black box packed with food hit the ground with a "thud," the Soul Grandmasters who had just worked together to knock down the Soul Grandmaster with the Bull Martial Soul immediately turned on one another. They attacked their nearby opponents without hesitation.
The black wooden box containing the food was so large that the Storage Soul Tools commonly used on Douluo Continent generally couldn't hold it.
That was exactly why Spirit Hall had designed the black box to be so large!
So, the only way to carry off the huge black wooden box of food was to defeat every opponent and become the last one standing.
Trying to take it away by force would only leave the box dragging you down. The Soul Grandmaster with the Bull Martial Soul had just learned that the hard way!
And so, the entire clearing was plunged into a massive melee!
At first, not everyone had joined the battle for the food. Most of the Soul Master groups and lone fighters had made their move, but not all of them.
But as the fight grew fiercer, Soul Skills of every element kept bursting across the clearing: raging flames, razor-sharp wind blades, bone-piercing ice spikes, and crackling balls of lightning...
The Soul Masters unleashed one Soul Skill after another at their opponents. When their targets dodged, the attacks slammed into the forest instead.
Before long, the flames had set the trees ablaze, sharp wind blades had sliced through swathes of trunks, and freezing cold had encased both the trees and the ground. Crackling lightning had felled countless more trees...
With the battle in such chaos and Soul Skills flying everywhere, the Soul Masters hiding nearby could no longer stay out of sight. At any moment, a Soul Skill might hit them.
So the Soul Master groups and lone fighters who had wanted to keep hiding until they could swoop in at the end had no choice but to rush from their hiding places-and were dragged into the battle.
There was no helping it!
If no one had spotted you, fine. But once you were discovered, the Soul Masters in the fight weren't going to let you reap the benefits from the sidelines. They'd make sure you got dragged into the fray too!
Of course, Bai Ye and Qing Lin were the exception.
Thanks to the Star Extremity Divine Eyes, Bai Ye and Qing Lin could observe the box of food from hundreds of meters away with ease.
And even if someone did manage to carry off the huge black box, Bai Ye had absolute confidence that, with his Phoenix Dance Six Illusions movement technique, he could catch up while bringing Qing Lin along and take it back.
So, knowing that plenty of Soul Master groups and lone fighters were hiding around the clearing, watching and waiting to be the oriole, Bai Ye had taken Qing Lin far away from the clearing, where they could watch what was happening from a distance.
Now, watching the melee in the clearing, Bai Ye couldn't help smiling.
The result was exactly what he'd expected!
So many sneaky people were eyeing the food, and no one dared to move first. But sooner or later, someone would make the first move.
Once someone lit the fuse, it would blow every last one of those sneaky people out of hiding!
After all, once a few Soul Master groups were caught up in a melee and Soul Skills started flying everywhere...
People in this era didn't care about protecting the environment. If a fire-attribute Soul Master unleashed a Soul Skill and set the nearby trees ablaze, starting a forest fire, even the best-hidden people would have to come running out!
Unless a Soul Master could stay hundreds of meters from the clearing, watching secretly like he and Qing Lin, there was no way to avoid being caught up in the melee.
But that was obviously impossible!
The food in the clearing was too important. Everyone wanted to be the oriole, but no one dared to let their guard down for even a moment. Otherwise, if someone stole the prize right under their noses, they'd have nowhere to cry!
"Young Master, when are we going to make our move?"
High in the dense canopy of a great tree in the distant forest, Qing Lin watched the massive melee in the clearing. Excitement filled her, and she turned her innocent, pretty face toward Bai Ye to ask.
"Don't rush. We'll be the last orioles. There are still too many people. If we go over now, we'll probably have to fight for ages. Better to wait until they've fought each other down, then we'll make our move!"
Bai Ye smiled faintly, completely at ease.
At last, as Bai Ye and Qing Lin waited, the huge melee in the clearing drew to a close.
At the beginning, more than ten groups had been involved, counting the lone fighters. By the end, fewer than five Soul Masters still had any fight left in them.
All five were naturally Soul Grandmasters: one with the Ice Fang Dragon Lizard Martial Soul, one with the Purple Lightning Rhinoceros Martial Soul, one with the Great Vajra Bear Martial Soul, one with the Crimson Flame Fire Dragon Martial Soul, and one with the Swift Wind Falcon Martial Soul.
By now, the outcome of the fight between these five Soul Grandmasters would determine whether almost everyone there was eliminated.
That was because, in the Genius Selection Competition, a contestant wasn't eliminated based on when they could no longer carry on. Spirit Hall had no way to monitor that every moment.
Whether a contestant was eliminated depended on whether the special identity token issued to them was intact or damaged.
The identity tokens were made using special methods and materials. If one was damaged, Spirit Hall would be notified. That meant the contestant had either given up or been eliminated by someone else.
After that, Spirit Hall would send someone to take the contestant away.
Now, after the huge melee, almost every Soul Master besides the five Soul Grandmasters still capable of fighting had lost the ability to battle. Some lay on the ground, panting heavily; others had been badly injured and fallen unconscious.
For those who had fallen unconscious from heavy injuries, the conscious ones naturally helped snap their identity tallies to notify the Spirit Hall, having the Spirit Hall dispatch Soul Masters to take them away.
After all, being heavily injured in the Misty Trail Grand Canyon was no laughing matter.
There were basically no healing-type auxiliary Soul Masters here, and using the medicinal herb knowledge taught by former Chief Instructor Reno earlier made it difficult to treat heavy injuries, leaving no choice but to take them away.
Otherwise, once dragged out, letting the injuries worsen and producing adverse effects on Soul Master cultivation was the lightest outcome, and in the worst case that someone died here, that would be hilarious!
Just as the remaining five Soul Masters were about to grit their teeth and exhaust the very last thread of Soul Power within their bodies to wage a final battle and decide who the ultimate winner was.
Bai Ye finally brought Qing Lin, wearing a smile and unhurriedly stepping on the withered branches and fallen leaves covering the ground, to slowly walk out from among the woods that were thoroughly slashed by wind blades, charred black by lightning strikes, and still burning with raging fires.
"Everyone, I'll be taking the food in this large black box. You may leave!"
Chapter 65: The Final Oriole
To think there were still people?
Seeing two more people walk out of the woods left in utter disarray by the melee, the five Soul Masters still retaining combat capability on the battlefield could not help but feel a simultaneous jolt in their hearts, turning somewhat indignant and angry.
Dammit! To think someone actually played the oriole!
Yet as Bai Ye and Qing Lin gradually drew closer.
When they clearly saw the appearances of Bai Ye and Qing Lin and recognized their identities, the five Soul Masters quickly relaxed again and could not help sneering.
So it was this Bai Ye.
Although this Bai Ye had performed quite well in the Genius Training Camp previously, he was, after all, merely a Soul Master, while the girl beside him looked young and was presumably just a Soul Master as well.
Mere two Soul Masters thinking that because the five of them had fought for half a day and were already at the end of their tether, they could come and pick up easy spoils?
How laughable!
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