Ke Li's close-combat skills were formidable, but he couldn't withstand the sheer number of Azure Qiu, whose impact was also immense.
Most of the time, he had to dodge and weave, because those little tank-like guys could cause serious damage if they bumped into him.
Cynthia and Qigeli were also having a hard time holding them back.
Ordinary bullets hitting scales are basically like scratching an itch, unless they hit the gaps between the scales.
While using pistols, the two men were forced to draw their weapons to assist in the attack.
Fortunately, the Knight Apprentice at the Martial Academy also have considerable combat experience.
Cynthia slashed at a Azure Qiu, sparks flying.
However, she took advantage of the momentum to straighten her back and float four or five meters away, unable to help but complain, "Did we just stir up Azure Qiu?"
"Instructor!" Qigeli shouted, "We can't win. Should we retreat while fighting?"
"Retreat in an orderly fashion, don't panic," Ke Li said swiftly. "These guys are strange, Little Wu, your trap..."
"Over here!" Wu Youren shouted.
The three were fighting when he actually retreated more than fifty meters, "A distance exceeding twenty meters."
"Hold on a little longer," Ke Li said, "Don't speak too explicitly, or the Azure Qiu might Weird Transformation!"
When fighting against the Weird Race, sometimes you can't talk loudly about battle plans, because the enemy might actually understand you.
" Weird Transformation?" Cynthia exclaimed in surprise. "I thought it was a spirit!"
Azure Qiu can indeed grow into spirits, but this is extremely rare.
Qigeli scoffed, " Azure Qiu aren't social animals at all... What do you think?"
"This is a big problem," Cynthia muttered to herself, and then slashed out with her sword again.
Before he knew it, Qigeli was grazed by the tip of a Azure Qiu's tail, staggering back more than three meters and then stumbling a couple more steps.
"Retreat!" Ke Li shouted, his body flashing as he grabbed Qigeli and instantly flew backward.
The retreat was not directed directly at Wu Youren, but rather deviated by more than twenty meters.
Cynthia's skills were truly extraordinary, even surpassing Qigeli's. Upon hearing this, she instantly fled.
Her speed was not much slower than that of the instructor who had captured someone, but her retreat direction was to reunite with Wu Youren.
Several Azure Qiu noticed that the other party had started to run away, so they accelerated and charged at it.
Seeing this, Wu Youren stomped his foot down, and the ground exploded more than forty meters in front of him.
These were explosive devices that had been planted beforehand. Since the plan was to stake out the area for ten days, it was inevitable that some traps would be laid.
This material wasn't something he could possess; it was brought out by the instructor from the Martial Academy.
Even before this, Ke Li hadn't allowed the fuse to be installed; it was something he had just finished doing.
The violent explosion sent the three Azure Qiu charging in front flying.
Several more, unable to stop in time, crashed into the crater created by the explosion.
As the earth and rocks flew, Ke Li suddenly shouted, "Watch out!"
The two Azure Qiu suddenly accelerated, ignoring the impact of the explosion, and crashed into the four people with incredible speed.
It moved so fast that it left a trail of afterimages in the air.
One of them was none other than the first one to roll down the cliff, the one that was over three meters long and had been hit by three armor-piercing bullets!
Its target was none other than Instructor Ke Li!
"Damn it..." Ke Li flashed forward, wielding his greatsword to meet the attack.
Qigeli and Cynthia stopped retreating and went straight to meet the other one.
The latter also very alertly fired two shots, both Weird-Breaking Projectile!
The facts are clear: the Azure Qiu couldn't possibly have such speed; it must have been Weird Transformation.
Fortunately, the instructor had given her a heads-up beforehand, so she wasn't worried about wasting the Weird-Breaking Projectile.
The two charged forward, and Wu Youren raised his gun and fired again—he had no choice, as he had no suitable weapon at hand.
The Weird-Dispelling Powder on the small dagger was fine for dealing with ordinary Weird Race, but it couldn't possibly break through Azure Qiu's defenses.
While focusing intently on his fight, Ke Li also kept an eye on the overall situation and the situation at hand.
Upon seeing the Jin youth firing shot after shot, his lips twitched. "Don't they know how to conserve resources?"
He knew the opponent's small dagger couldn't break through Azure Qiu's defenses, but Weird-Breaking Projectile could?
Both of these can cause considerable damage to the Weird Qi that the Azure Qiu exudes from its body.
However, can the cost of a small dagger and Weird-Breaking Projectile be the same? It's true... they don't care about spending other people's money!
He couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth. " Little Wu, go get my spare knife. Let's go together!"
Ke Li is skilled with a greatsword, but his swordsmanship is also quite good. The key is his broadsword and longsword, which allow him to deal with different opponents!
Furthermore, if someone goes on an adventure, and they have two amulets to Weird-Repelling Jue, wouldn't it be normal for them to carry an extra weapon?
Most importantly, he didn't want the other side to waste any more Weird-Breaking Projectile!
"Okay!" Wu Youren rushed diagonally, entered the cave, retrieved his long sword, and turned back to fight!
He had never participated in close combat before, but once he made a move, his two companions immediately sensed his strength.
The young man from Jin was not only skilled with a sword, but also struck with great force.
With just two strikes, he incurred the enemy's hatred and became the main force among the three.
Qigeli had suffered a chafing injury to his thigh, which already made him somewhat immobile. With this change in the battle situation, the pressure on him was greatly reduced.
"Good heavens," he couldn't help but grin, "With your cultivation level, you're not far from being Knight!"
"It's the instructor's knife that's good," Wu Youren replied, slashing twice more as he did so.
His cultivation level is undeniable, but his swordsmanship... can be concealed.
Since he was wielding a Knight- level melee weapon, he didn't need to worry about damaging it.
In no time, the three of them killed the Azure Qiu. Wu Youren even added a small dagger to ensure that the Weird Qi did not dissipate.
Then he stepped forward to support the instructors, saying, "You two finish off those Azure Qiu."
This Azure Qiu was Weird Transformation, its movements were swift and unpredictable, and although the wounds on its body were increasing, it did not affect its actions.
It took the two of them seven or eight minutes to finally kill the Azure Qiu.
Similarly, Instructor Ke Li didn't forget to deliver the finishing blow; these habits were all cultivated through bloody lessons.
By this time, the two had finished off the remaining enemies, and none of the dozen or so Azure Qiu had survived.
Then came the cleanup. The instructor, while catching his breath, searched around, hoping to find some strange creatures.
Unfortunately, no one was found.
He couldn't help but mutter, "This is... a huge loss!"
"The meat of the Azure Qiu is very delicious," Qigeli reminded his master, "But not all Azure Qiu have Weird Transformation, have they?"
"If they weren't Weird Transformation, how could they be clustering together?" Ke Li sighed. "Let's all get tested. Never mind, Little Wu, you do it!"
The fighting prowess of the young men of Jin was best preserved, but that's not the point.
The key point is that his Weird-Repelling Jue of very high quality, so even if there is any residual Weird Qi, it is not easy to threaten him.
After examining them, Wu Youren managed to find two Azure Qiu that were basically unaffected. "Instructor, take a look at these two."
Ke Li touched it directly, and felt a faint yellow glow on his hand, which was his own Battle Qi.
"These two... well, they're worth a try, but they won't fetch a good price."
The other Azure Qiu carcasses could only be burned, but the largest one, with its largest scale on its back, could be peeled off and sold for money.
Watching the flames rise, Qigeli began to calculate the costs and gains of this battle.
He quickly came to the conclusion, "We suffered a slight loss in this battle!"
"It's good enough that we survived," Cynthia said, taking it all in stride. "Besides, there are mission rewards, aren't there?"
The mission rewards are primarily for Ke Li, but the three Knight Apprentice are also on the team's roster.
With such a record, the three will also gain something; otherwise, why would the trainees bring their own equipment and fight so hard?
"I will report the truth," Ke Li said first. "Others may suppress your credit, but I won't!"
That's a pretty blunt way of putting it. Stealing credit is something that happens everywhere; for instructors, stealing credit from trainees is just a piece of cake.
But the fact that he said it was really unexpected for everyone.
However, there is never love without a reason in this world.
He then added, " The Weird Transformation the Azure Qiu into a monster—the issues involved here are potentially enormous!"
"Where Suotu Town will ultimately go is not something we can decide, nor can we do much to change it."
When Wu Youren saw that he was looking at him the whole time he was speaking, he could only nod repeatedly to show that he agreed with what the other person said.
However, he was somewhat unconvinced, because he had already guessed what the other party was going to say.
Ke Li was indeed straightforward. "So from now on, don't report any news to the Martial Academy. Keep things under control for now."
"Search for the ghost again tomorrow morning... Once we're sure we haven't found anything, we'll report back."
" Little Wu, I know you also want the ghost item. I'll make sure you get it in the future."
"But I was the main force in this battle, and I paid the price for most of it, so I should be the one who gains the most!"
Undoubtedly, he wasn't worried about the two students from Liang, but the young man from Jin had a complicated background, which he had to consider.
"No problem," Wu Youren nodded readily, as quickly as possible, "Even if there are no strange objects, silver coins are fine too."
The other two shared the same sentiment; Qigeli even remarked, "I'm desperately short of silver dollars, and I only brought two armor-piercing shells."
His family background might not be much worse than Cynthia's, but he still had to pay tuition to become Ke Li's apprentice!
The Mirage Sea Alliance, where the female warrior resides, is highly regional, allowing her to receive a lot of help from fellow villagers, so she doesn't need to formally become an apprentice for the time being.
"Then let's rest," the instructor said. " Little Wu, you haven't done much physical work, so you're in charge of night duty... I trust you the most!"
That's probably true, but what's even more interesting is that if he's on night duty, he won't have much energy to look for ghosts the next day.
Wu Youren smiled upon hearing this, then nodded, "Thank you for your trust, Instructor."
The fire was still raging, and the three men had already gone into the cave to sleep.
The young man from Jin hid behind a bush, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings while his mind wandered.
Tonight was a fruitful night for him, and more importantly, there was an unexpected surprise...