The group all but crawled and scrambled up the small hillside backed by a rock wall.
The top was relatively flat and small, with room for only twenty or thirty people to stand. Just as Xiao Li had said, it was easy to defend and hard to attack; they only needed to face the slopes in front and on either side.
But now, this "easy-to-defend" terrain seemed more like a natural cage.
"Quick! Everyone, backs against the rock wall! Soul Masters in front, support in back! Move!" Teacher Mo Hen shouted himself hoarse as he directed them. His Mountain Leopard martial soul had already possessed him, and three soul rings-two yellow and one purple-blazed brightly. He unleashed the full might of his Soul Elder presence, trying to intimidate the approaching threats.
The panicked students crowded together as ordered. Few summoned their martial souls, and most of their soul rings were only white, looking so pale and powerless in the face of danger.
Tang San and Xiao Wu immediately shielded Wang Sheng and the other work-study students. The hidden weapons in Tang San's hands were ready to fly, while Xiao Wu tensed, prepared to unleash her soft skills at any moment.
Ling Feng stood alone a little ahead of the group, facing downhill. The Clear Sky Hammer hung at his side, a yellow hundred-year soul ring circling him quietly. His was the only face that showed no panic, only an icy calm.
Xiao Li, his group, and Teacher Liu also swiftly took up defensive positions on the other side of the hill. Xiao Li's martial soul was a slender sword gleaming with cold light. Two white soul rings rose around him. He appeared to watch the slope below warily, but out of the corner of his eye, he kept Ling Feng firmly in his sights.
"Roar!"
"Awooo!"
The beasts' roars were already right upon them!
The first to burst through the trees were three hundred-year Netherworld Wolves, their eyes flashing with bloodthirsty red light! Larger than the one Ling Feng had killed earlier, they bared their fangs and drooled freely. They were clearly members of the same pack that had been alerted!
Then rustling came from the side. Several venomous pythons, as thick as the mouth of a bowl and covered in vivid patterns, slithered out, their cold, vertical pupils fixed on the people atop the hill.
Shrill cries also rang out overhead. Several iron-clawed eagles with wingspans exceeding two meters circled low, waiting for an opening.
More dark shapes moved among the trees. Who knew how many more soul beasts had been drawn here!
In the blink of an eye, at least a dozen hundred-year soul beasts had loosely surrounded the little hill from three directions! Among them were several whose presence approached the two-hundred-year level!
The terrifying pressure from the horde made some of the more timid students collapse to the ground, trembling.
"Hold steady! Don't panic!" Teacher Mo Hen roared. His first soul ring lit up, his speed surged, and he charged the leading Netherworld Wolf, slashing his claws through the air with a sharp whistle!
Battle erupted in an instant!
Tang San's hidden weapons shot toward the venomous pythons attempting to sneak in from the flank like a furious storm, striking precisely at their vital points seven inches below the head or their eyes. Though the hits could not kill them, they effectively slowed their assault.
Xiao Wu moved nimbly, unleashing Waist Bow and kicking a ten-year soul beast attempting to pounce clean away.
The other teachers also used their own methods to hold back the soul beasts' charge.
Chaos filled the scene, the flashes of soul skills, the roars of soul beasts, and the students' screams all intertwining.
Yet Ling Feng keenly noticed that the soul beasts attacking his side seemed... rather few? The pressure was far less than what Teacher Mo Hen, Tang San, and Xiao Wu were facing.
Was it a coincidence?
No!
It was Xiao Li!
Using his Soul Grandmaster presence and the sharpness of his slender sword martial soul, he appeared to be defending with all his strength. In reality, he was subtly driving or guiding most of the soul beasts charging his position toward Mo Hen and Tang San's defensive sectors!
He was deliberately easing the pressure on Ling Feng's side!
Why?
Ling Feng sneered inwardly. Of course it was not to protect him. It was to create a "relatively safe" environment so that Xiao Li himself could... make his move!
Sure enough!
At the very instant Teacher Mo Hen was tied down by two Netherworld Wolves nearing two hundred years old, while Tang San and Xiao Wu were occupied by several venomous pythons and an iron-clawed eagle!
Xiao Li moved!
He did not charge at the soul beasts. Instead, he pivoted and slipped soundlessly around the brief gap in the fighting like a phantom, lunging straight at Ling Feng!
The slender sword martial soul in his hand erupted with dazzling white light, and his first soul ring flashed!
"Ling Feng! You're shirking battle and undermining morale! Kneel and admit your fault!"
Xiao Li shouted with righteous indignation, as though enforcing discipline!
But that thrust was vicious and cunning, aimed straight at the vital point in the middle of Ling Feng's back! It was lightning-fast! He was unmistakably striking to kill!
The fluctuations of soul power revealed the full-force blow of a rank-twenty-two Soul Grandmaster! Combined with his sharp sword martial soul, it was enough to easily pierce the defenses of a Soul Master of the same rank!
Disaster had struck from right beside them!
No one had expected a teacher leading the group to suddenly launch such a murderous attack on a student from his own academy amid a soul beast siege!
"Ling Feng, watch out!" Tang San noticed first, his eyes nearly splitting with fury, but the venomous pythons kept him pinned down when he tried to help!
Xiao Wu also cried out in alarm!
Blocked by the soul beasts, Teacher Mo Hen had no time to rush back and help!
The other students were utterly stunned!
A savage, triumphant smile had already spread across Xiao Li's face! After plotting for so long, he had finally found this perfect opportunity! He would use the chaos of the beast tide to eliminate this thorn in his side! Afterward, he could blame it all on the soul beasts! The dead could not testify!
Die, brat!
Yet faced with this sudden, lethal sneak attack, Ling Feng seemed to have eyes in the back of his head.
Or rather, his Danger Sense had long since locked onto Xiao Li's seething killing intent!
At the very instant the sword tip was about to touch him!
Ling Feng moved!
He did not dodge!
Instead, he spun around!
Facing that cold, deadly gleam hurtling toward him, his eyes held not a trace of panic, only icy mockery!
"I've been waiting for you!"
Before his words had faded!
The pitch-black Clear Sky Hammer swept fiercely upward from below!
He did not choose to block or defend!
Instead... he met attack with attack! Strength with greater strength!
At the same time, the deep yellow soul ring beneath his feet suddenly erupted with dazzling light!
First Soul Skill-Earth-Shaking Blast!
But this time, Ling Feng did not blast his power into the ground!
Instead, he concentrated all that terrifying vibrational force, powerful enough to split the earth, into the head of the Clear Sky Hammer!
Buzzz!!!
Even the air around the hammerhead buzzed beneath the unbearable strain! It faintly distorted!
He struck later, yet arrived first!
Under Xiao Li's utterly horrified gaze, that seemingly cumbersome black hammer struck the spine of his slender sword martial soul with unerring precision, at a speed and angle that overturned everything he knew!
Not the tip! The spine, where the force was most dispersed!
Clang!!!!!!!
A deafening, ear-piercing blast erupted, nothing at all like the sound of colliding metal!
It was as though a giant drum had thundered beside their ears!
Xiao Li felt an indescribably savage, overwhelming vibrational force surge madly up the blade into his arm like a flood bursting through a dam!
Crack!
The webbing between the thumb and forefinger of his sword-wielding right hand split instantly, streaming blood!
His slender sword martial soul gave a mournful cry. Its white light flickered violently like a dying candle in the wind, then shattered inch by inch, dissolving into motes of light!
His martial soul... had been dispersed by a single blow!
How was that possible?!
Xiao Li's mind went blank, filled with nothing but boundless terror and a sense of absurdity!
He was a rank-twenty-two Soul Grandmaster! His martial soul might not have been top-tier, but it was by no means weak! His opponent was merely a Soul Master in the teens who had only just obtained his first soul ring!
Their soul power differed by nearly a factor of two!
Martial soul quality... just what kind of monster was that black hammer?!
That power... was not power a Soul Master should possess!
"Pfft-!"
The tremendous impact did not stop. It slammed viciously into his chest!
As though struck head-on by a charging giant elephant, Xiao Li flew backward uncontrollably. While still airborne, he spat out a great mouthful of blood, tracing a miserable arc through the air!
Thud!
He crashed heavily onto the hillside seven or eight meters away and rolled several times before stopping. His clothes were torn, his body covered in dirt and blood. He struggled a few times, but could not get up!
One sword strike!
No, one hammer blow!
Just one hammer blow!
A rank-twenty-two Soul Grandmaster, his martial soul dispersed, sent flying with severe injuries!
For an instant, deathly silence fell over the entire hillside.
Even the attacking soul beasts seemed to pause, startled by this sudden scene and its staggering reversal.
Everyone stared dumbfounded at the hammer-wielding boy, then at Xiao Li lying limp like a dead dog in the distance.
Teacher Mo Hen forgot the soul beasts before him.
Tang San forgot to fire his hidden weapons.
Xiao Wu forgot to use Waist Bow.
Towering waves surged through the hearts of everyone who witnessed it!
Challenging someone of a higher rank... they had heard of that.
But... instantly defeating someone of a higher rank?!
And in such an overwhelmingly crushing fashion?!
This was completely beyond their comprehension!
Ling Feng slowly drew back the Clear Sky Hammer, the terrifying power gathered in its head gradually dissipating. Without so much as glancing at Xiao Li, whose life or death remained unknown in the distance, he swept his gaze over the surrounding soul beasts, momentarily halted in shock, and coldly uttered:
"The threat within has been eliminated."
"Now, it's time to clean up these beasts."
His voice was not loud, but it carried an unquestionable authority and a murderous bearing.
As though he were the true master here.
Lying limp in the distance, Xiao Li barely raised his head. As he looked at Ling Feng's figure, like a god of war, his eyes filled with utter terror and incomprehensible shock. Summoning the last of his strength, he spoke in a hoarse, broken voice:
"You... you... what kind of... monster are you?!"