The provoked Tough Porcupines were further enraged, but because of the fireballs, the formation of those six porcupines shrunk inwards.

The three 100-year porcupines in front shrugged their backs and shot out sharp thorns directly towards Lan Xuanyu and the rest. The ones who bore the brunt were obviously Ling Donghui and Yu Tian.

It was also at this moment that a purple light went past Lan Xuanyu without a sound. It seemed like a human figure but it was distorted. It appeared before Lin Donghui and Yu Tian, and coiled up, becoming a huge electric net. When those thorns flew over, they were absorbed by the electric net and none of them could go through the net at all.

At this moment, the six Tough Porcupines were finally getting closer. Yu Tian let out a loud shout and pulled out the Mo Sword, which brimmed with power. A bright light flashed across as his body and sword became one.

“Pu pu pu…”

Two big and one small porcupines’ bodies exploded open, blood and flesh flying everywhere. The other three porcupines were sent flying from the blast. This was the power of just one slash.

The Brilliant Sun above Lin Donghui’s head became brighter as well, and a giant flaming rod flew over, hitting the last 100-year Tough Porcupine. The smell of barbequed meat filled the air as the last porcupine fell to the ground. Its defenses had already been shattered from the first blow, and this caused it to be severely injured.

Yu Tian turned around. The Mo Sword slashed continuously and many sword rays flashed past, killing all the remaining Tough Porcupines.

The entire duration of the fight was merely the time taken for the Tough Porcupines to run.

Yu Tian then put away his sword. That slash just now was his way of venting all his anger and humiliation, making him feel much better.

Following the death of those six porcupines, white spots of light shot out of their bodies and flew towards the six peoples’ bodies evenly.

Lan Xuanyu’s team felt a slight heat around their bodies as if some wonderful changes had occurred. This should be the Spirit Ascension Platform enhancing the abilities of their Soul Rings.

Yu Tian strode back, his gaze still on Lan Xuanyu. There was a hint of indifference and disdain contained within it. It was as if he was asking ‘What’s the use of having you guys here?’

The purple lightning shadow also disappeared at the same time and became a light ray as it passed Lan Xuanyu and Qian Lei, going back to Bing Tianliang’s body.

Three 100-year and three 10-year soul beasts were dealt with so easily.

Lan Xuanyu turned around and looked at Bing Tianliang. “If the subsequent battles are going to be this way as well, I feel that our cooperation should end here.”

Bing Tianliang stared at him. “What do you mean?”

Lan Xuanyu pointed at Lin Donghui and Yu Tian, who weren’t far from him. “Is this obeying my commands? What’s there to command?”

Bing Tianliang replied indifferently, “The soul beasts that appeared weren’t strong, we could just get rid of them directly. There was no need for you to command.” He was truly worthy of the title of ‘chief’ in Ling Tian Academy and was usually the one that people clustered around, yet he showed tolerance towards Lan Xuanyu today. But when being questioned by Lan Xuanyu once again, he could no longer control his temper.

Lan Xuanyu said simply, “Do you think that I am being unreasonable and doing this on purpose to provoke you guys?”

“Aren’t you?” Lin Donghui said as he and Yu Tian walked over.

Lan Xuanyu nodded and said, “Alright, then let me ask you guys some questions. First off, didn’t we agree that I would be in-charge of commanding the team? But in that fight just now, who actually asked for my opinion or waited for me to give orders on how to fight?

“Nobody. You guys immediately went for it, not waiting for me to speak first. Further, you all thought that I was showing off my power to command and was deliberately attacking Student Bing’s self-esteem when I said to focus on the peripheral area rather than explore deeper into the woods. Hence, you guys went ahead to kill the soul beasts when they appeared in order to put me in my place, right?

“Fine, I will explain to you guys why I want to focus on the peripheral area, then. We aren’t sure where we are at right now, and since we aren’t sure, it means that we have no idea how strong the soul beasts around us are. We have sufficient time so we should first ascertain where we’re at and the level of cultivation of those soul beasts we often encounter instead of exploring deeper recklessly. You guys are confident in your strength. This is the Elementary Spirit Ascension Platform and maybe there aren’t many soul beasts that could threaten your life, but what if this were a real soul beast forest and not a simulation? Taking the enemy lightly and charging in rashly could possibly bring misfortune to the entire team. This is the kind of habit you want to develop?

“Additionally, when you guys didn’t listen to my command and simply fought without permission, this lead to unnecessary consumption of energy. Yu Tian, am I right? Let me ask you, how much Soul Power did you use for that slash just now? How much percent of battle power are you left with?”

Yu Tian was stunned for a moment but still forced out an answer, “At least 70%.”

Lan Xuanyu nodded. “That means you used up 30% of your battle power when faced with such a small opponent. Was it necessary? What if all six of us fought together? You would use up only 10% at most. We’re now in a dangerous place and must always try to keep our strengths at their fullest potential instead of over-consuming our energy because of a fit of anger. Every ounce of energy is precious; we should use it only when it is necessary. Student Lin Donghui should have expended about 20%, right? We don’t have a Soul Core, so we can’t recover swiftly. Due to the consumption of energy from both of you, I have to make changes to my plan. We need to leave this dangerous area immediately and have both of you recover fully before we can proceed to explore deeper. This is to avoid being in a situation where we can’t fight properly when we encounter a strong enemy. In other words, your reckless behavior has delayed the entire team.”

Listening to Lan Xuanyu speaking so eloquently, Bing Tianliang, Yu Tian, and Lin Donghui were dumbstruck. Their first thought was, ‘we really can’t win against this guy in talking.’ But after thinking carefully about it, they had to admit that what he said made sense.

What triggered Bing Tianliang was that word ‘habit’. Lan Xuanyu was right; in the simulated world, it was very easy to develop a habit of being unafraid of death because you wouldn’t really die in here. But what if this was the real world? What if they developed this habit and couldn’t change it anymore? Then, what sort of ending would it bring?

Bing Tianliang took a deep breath, looked at the calm Lan Xuanyu, and nodded. “Sorry, it’s our fault. From now on, we will listen to your instructions. Yu Tian, Dong Hui, let’s listen to him.”

Yu Tian and Lin Donghui were still slightly unconvinced in their hearts but still nodded and agreed in the end. They knew very well why Bing Tianliang came to find Lan Xuanyu.

Yu Tian glanced askance at Lan Xuanyu. “I would really like to see just how amazing your commanding skills are. What should we do now, then?”

Lan Xuanyu replied indifferently, “Maintain the formation; Liu Feng will continue to be on the lookout and we will move away from the peripheral area for a bit. Then we’ll find a place to let both of you recover what was expended.”

After they were about a kilometer away from the battleground with the Tough Porcupines, Lan Xuanyu let Yu Tian and Lin Donghui meditate to recover. At the same time, he got Liu Feng to continue scouting the area.

Bing Tianliang sat at the outer area and was in-charge of keeping a lookout.

A full 20 minutes later, Lin Donghui and Yu Tian got up, indicating that they had recovered to the maximum.

Bing Tianliang kept thinking about what Lan Xuanyu said just now and roughly calculated how long Lin Donghui and Yu Tian would take to recover. He had to admit that what Lan Xuanyu said made sense. With danger lurking everywhere, it was best that they try to maintain a tip-top condition at all times.