Chapter 9: A Strange Ambush

Chapter 9: Chapter 9: A Strange Ambush

Li Ye knew that leaving people in the cave was a hidden danger.

In fact, every person in the team was a hidden danger. How could a group of people gathered through threats and bribes become entirely loyal to him in just a few short hours?

A unified goal, a good atmosphere, shared beliefs, a stable division of labor...

Building a team required meticulous and lengthy organization and planning; it couldn’t be achieved overnight.

Since betrayers were inevitable, Li Ye simply stopped worrying about it. As long as he could stabilize the current situation and get through the difficult starting phase of a Time Traveler, it would be enough.

The survival of the fittest was also a necessary process in forming a team.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

At the end of the road, three figures sprinted toward them like arrows released from a bowstring.

Before encountering demons, Li Ye would never have believed humans could run at such speeds. But after Earth had been tormented by monsters for three years, he was already thoroughly accustomed to it.

Even now, with the enhancement of Demon Qi, he could keep up with this kind of pace.

"They’re here," Liu Guangsheng said in a low voice.

At those two simple words, the three approaching figures abruptly halted their sprint. Their gazes swept toward the direction where Li Ye and the others were hiding. Their vigilance was impressively sharp.

Li Ye silently cursed him for an idiot. Who ever heard of ambushers making noise first during a sneak attack?

Sure enough, only those capable of finding the Secret Manual were protagonists. Without him joining them, this ragtag group of misfits he had temporarily scraped together would merely serve as cannon fodder on someone else’s path to success...

"Show yourselves, cowards!" the young man leading the trio shouted.

He looked to be about twenty-five or twenty-six, with striking brows and eyes as bright as stars. Both his appearance and aura were righteous and upright; he looked even more like a disciple of an orthodox sect than the group beside him. As he spoke, he had already drawn his saber, the tip pointing straight ahead.

A fight was inevitable, and Li Ye had no intention of wasting time trading nonsense with him. He delivered a powerful kick to the "ball" and ordered, "4-3-3 formation! Charge!"

WHOOSH!

Under the cover of night, a pitch-black human head hurtled straight toward Shi Xiang’s face, accompanied by the whistling wind.

Li Ye gripped his dagger and followed closely behind. The dagger had been meticulously forged by the Demon Hunting Bureau. It was razor-sharp and could slice through iron as if it were mud—a true Divine Weapon in this world.

He wasn’t actually playing soccer. In this world, there was no rule stating you couldn’t carry weapons while playing...

Liu Guangsheng, Fan Jie, and Deng Wei followed, lagging a pace behind him.

The natives had, after all, trained for only a short time and had never seen a soccer match. They couldn’t quite keep up with Li Ye’s coordination right away.

This hastily assembled group didn’t even understand the point of this so-called 4-3-3 formation. They wondered why they had to leave one person behind to guard the rear.

When robbing someone, shouldn’t they just charge shoulder-to-shoulder, pool all their strength to hack the target down, snatch the Secret Manual, and run?

Perhaps this was also a method to cultivate Spiritual Power. Liu Guangsheng and the others could only console themselves with this thought.

"Bring it on!" Shi Xiang bellowed, swinging his saber to cleave the incoming head.

THUD!

A muffled impact sounded.

The human head was knocked flying back by his strike.

Under the moonlight, he couldn’t clearly see what on earth he had just batted away, but since even his Hundred Refinements Saber couldn’t cleave it in half, perhaps it was some sort of Exotic Weapon.

In the Martial World, those who favored Exotic Weapons were either total rookies or top-tier experts.

After knocking the head away, Shi Xiang became increasingly cautious. Having studied under a Grandmaster, his high skill gave him confidence, and he completely disregarded this band of highwaymen.

Meanwhile, his two companions had also drawn their sabers. Without a word, they charged at Li Ye’s group. The three of them cooperated flawlessly, fighting independently yet supporting one another. Clearly, this wasn’t their first time dealing with such a situation.

Eleven against three.

It was an unfair match.

But who cared?

The ambush Li Ye organized wasn’t just for the "Dragon Emperor Spell", but also an experiment on the demonic entity. Ideally, he wanted to unlock the Derived Skills as well.

Facts proved that whenever soccer was involved, the demonic entity seemed to get excited too. After kickoff, the speed at which the Demon Qi invaded his body surged dramatically, bringing significant boosts to his strength, speed, and agility.

"Old Liu, mark Shi Xiang closely!" Li Ye commanded, hyper-aware of his surroundings while constantly keeping an eye on the head’s trajectory.

Seeing the "soccer ball" land behind him, while the guy playing center forward ignored it and kept his eyes glued to Shi Xiang’s trio, Li Ye couldn’t help but frown. He barked, "Yu Qiang, what are you doing? Pass the ball! How many times have I told you? Where the ball goes, you go! The ball is your life! You cannot lose possession, even if it kills you!"

"..." Yu Qiang froze for a moment, then hurriedly scrambled to find the ball.

Entangled in close combat with Shi Xiang’s group, Liu Guangsheng and the other two complained inwardly. They were already fighting hand-to-hand; who had the time to care about a human head!

It was maddening!

Only upon clashing with Shi Xiang’s group did they realize their intel was flawed. Shi Xiang’s martial arts were far superior to what they had imagined. He possessed powerful strikes, exquisite techniques, and boundless Inner Strength.

With every clash of weapons, layers of Stacked Force invaded their meridians like crashing ocean waves, leaving their limbs numb from the shock. Shi Xiang had cultivated the "Sevenfold Force" to at least the fourth or fifth fold, far beyond the rumored third fold.

This was clearly the sign of someone on the verge of breaking through to the Innate realm. No wonder he had the guts to personally transport the "Dragon Emperor Spell".

If they hadn’t been physically remodeled by Spiritual Power earlier—which slightly enhanced both their constitutions and Inner Strength, and granted them night vision as clear as day—they would have been taken down by Shi Xiang in just a few exchanges.

Realizing this, Liu Guangsheng and the others felt both relieved and helpless.

They were relieved that they had met Li Ye, which led to an increase in their Skill Level.

They were helpless because, at the most critical juncture, Li Ye was still fixated on kicking some human head around, completely disregarding their lives...

Shi Xiang and his companions were equally bewildered by Li Ye’s shouting.

In fact, the moment the opposition charged out, they felt an overwhelming sense of sheer bizarre.

Along their journey, they had encountered more than one group trying to hijack the "Dragon Emperor Spell", but never had they seen a band of robbers as unprofessional as these guys.

Not only were they few in number, but their positioning was incredibly scattered. This was practically no different from serving themselves up on a silver platter.

The only thing that made Shi Xiang take them seriously was that the men entangling him actually possessed decent martial arts skills. But what on earth was this "ball" they kept fixating on?

A secret weapon?

Shi Xiang had excellent eyesight. Experts of the Martial Arts World possessed acute senses, granting them enhanced vision at night. Moreover, his master was Grandmaster Huaiyi; even if he were truly blind, relying on sound to pinpoint locations wouldn’t hinder his combat ability in the slightest.

While exchanging blows with Liu Guangsheng, Shi Xiang spared a moment to observe the battlefield.

Sure enough, one of the opposing team members, who had already charged to the front lines, suddenly turned around and ran back to search for that so-called ball.

Shi Xiang blanked for a second, a trace of doubt inexplicably rising in his heart as he wondered if these guys were really here to rob them.

Li Ye’s reprimanding voice rang out again. "Idiot! The defenders have already pushed up, why are you running back? Let him pass the ball to you!"

The defender was sharper than the center forward. Seeing the head land by his feet, he instinctively stopped and launched a long pass. The head traced a beautiful parabolic arc through the air, hurtling straight toward Li Ye.

"Good pass!" Li Ye leaped up, executing a chest trap. After bringing the ball under control, he dribbled forward with his right foot and charged directly into the fray involving Shi Xiang and the other two.

Shi Xiang’s attention had long been locked onto Li Ye; after all, among this group, he looked like the leader.

Seeing Li Ye close in, Shi Xiang forced Liu Guangsheng back with his long saber. With a twist of the blade, a cold, gleaming arc of white light slashed straight toward Li Ye’s neck.

Li Ye repeated his old trick. He nudged the ball toward Liu Guangsheng, then threw himself backward, executing a sliding tackle directly at Shi Xiang’s shin.

Shi Xiang’s slash hit nothing but air. Catching sight of Li Ye’s maneuver, a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes. He fluidly leaped into the air, dodging Li Ye’s diagonal tackle.

But the very instant he jumped, his opponent’s speed abruptly skyrocketed.

What the hell?

Shi Xiang turned pale with fright, but it was too late to change his move.

With a crisp CRACK, his calf was spared, but his ankle took a direct hit. His entire foot bent at a horrifying ninety-degree angle.

With a bloodcurdling scream, Shi Xiang lost his balance in mid-air and crashed downward toward Li Ye on the ground.

Worthy of being a Grandmaster’s top disciple, Shi Xiang stared at Li Ye below him and adjusted his stance mid-fall. He swung his Hundred Refinements Saber down toward Li Ye’s face.

Li Ye’s Inner Strength had been cultivated during a three-month training camp at the Demon Hunting Bureau; it was extremely feeble. Even with the enhancement of Demon Qi, his total reserves were pitifully low. However, during a match, the Demon Qi provided a unique multiplier to his strength and speed. Seeing the blade slashing down, he raised his dagger to block.

CLANG!

The long saber and the dagger collided, sending a shower of sparks flying into the night.

Shi Xiang’s blade bounced back, but a layer of hidden force surged through the dagger and invaded Li Ye’s meridians. His arm trembled violently, and he narrowly avoided dropping his weapon.

He marveled at the man’s formidable Inner Strength. Watching Shi Xiang still plummeting toward him, Li Ye abruptly raised his right foot and aimed a vicious kick straight for Shi Xiang’s crotch.

This was a purely subconscious reflex.

The dirty tricks bestowed upon him by the Team Emblem had already deeply penetrated his soul.

BANG!

A direct hit.

Shi Xiang let out an agonizing howl as Li Ye kicked him flying. His scream was even more harrowing than the last.

Taking a critical hit to such a vital area was entirely beyond his limits of endurance. He dropped his saber before even hitting the ground, clutching his crotch with both hands as he violently rolled across the dirt.

"Hall Master!"

His two companions were horrified. They hastily forced Fan Jie and Deng Wei back and rushed over to reinforce Shi Xiang. But the moment they turned their backs...

A thunderous roar of applause suddenly erupted from the woods lining both sides of the road.

"Good ball!"

"Great footwork!"

"Lord Li is mighty!"

"Victory to the Fun Seekers!"

"Ole, ole ole!"

The sudden explosion of cheers startled the two men, and they instinctively looked toward the source of the noise.

Under the moonlight, a shadowy throng of people stood by the roadside, cheering loudly while waving tree branches in their hands.

The spectacle looked exactly like a crowd of ignorant commoners gathered to watch a street juggling performance...

What in the world?

Please, this is a robbery! What are you cheering for?

At this moment, Li Ye got back to his feet and brought the ball under his control. Staring at Shi Xiang, who was enduring the pain while trying to balance on one leg, Li Ye drew back his foot and delivered a thunderous volley to the head. "Yu Qiang, catch!"

He called it a pass, but the human head rocketed directly toward the face of the still-writhing Shi Xiang. The shot was heavy and powerful; the head acting as the soccer ball spun violently, skimming just above the ground with its hair flailing wildly in the wind.

Shi Xiang’s ankle was snapped, and he wasn’t even sure if his balls were shattered. Watching this grotesque weapon hurtle toward his face, he had absolutely no time to react. He could only channel all of his remaining Inner Strength to shield his face, forcefully taking the incoming head straight to the visage...