Chapter 255: Ruin Expedition (19)

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1 PM.

5,976,500 Essence harvested.

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Total Essence: 368,606,191

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Lee Shen walked on as he took a glance of the appeared screen. He flicked his finger and the screen vanished. After a second, he asked D-

'Is my blade still at Lower Force grade?'

[Yes. Are you thinking of upgrading?]

'To the pinnacle.'

D did not raise his voice against Lee's decision. After all, such an act would only make the weapon exponentially stronger and suitable for D to release a great amount of his concealed aura.

[Done. Black is at Higher Deity level. Now it is capable of slicing the continent of Intellus in half by a single swing.]

'Do the same for my bow too.'

A metallic glow came from the bow's surface and Lee quickly placed it in the System Storage. Fortunately, the students did not detect the illumination from behind. Lee reacted very swiftly before the glow could reach its peak.

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368,278,191 Essence remaining.

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A couple of seconds after the notification appeared, Lee sensed the presence of monsters in the vicinity.

[Hudson, do me a favour and prepare 39 Low-grade Healing Potions.]

The next instant, 351 Essence disappeared from the reserve. Simultaneously, the Storage registered the addition of thirty-nine Low-grade Healing Potions.

What happened was within Lee Shen's expectations. He became aware of the reason why there were no visual of the monsters lurking in the bushes as he glanced above.

'They were on the trees.'

The larger version of Purple Weavers clung onto the tall tree trunks while observing their prey walking below on the ground. Their intricate network of webs running through the bushes caught Lee's sight and he unconsciously appreciated these gigantic beasts' intellect.

The situation was under Purple Weavers' control. Their constant control over the webs running among the bush made periodic rustling and the students focused below their eye level. Never would they expect such an intelligent threat from above.

"Look above and prepare for combat."

Upon hearing Lee's words, the students raised their gazes. A shiver going down their spine was awaiting them as they witnessed the surrounding Purple Weavers. A few lost their strength, while everyone else struggled to regain their composure.

The cunning arachnids saw the oncoming stares and quickly targetted Lee. The Purple Weavers were sure that it was Lee who informed them. Thus they decided to eliminate him first.

*whoosh*

The toxic web shot out towards Lee, who effortlessly evaded the threads. He effectively moved out of these webs' trajectories and the Purple Weavers were surprised to see this.

While the arachnids were absorbed in taking down Lee, the students have mustered their courage and spirit. They began to throw lethal dosage of attacks at these spiders.

Within a few seconds, the total spider population was cut in half. The Purple Weavers might be big and toxic but have never encountered elemental attributed attacks.

The slash from fiery swords and stabs from icy spears did not miss their mark. The hammer and bow and arrows spew chaos among the trees. The creativity boosted by the delicacy of Mana gave birth to multiple elemental projectiles like Fire Bullet, Ice Spear and Wind Disc.

As the students performed an overkill against Purple Weavers, Lee was watching the slaughter from the sidelines. He witnessed the arrogant and hungry arachnids growing frightful and retreating.

----

The combat disturbed the tranquillity of the forest. The fire continued to burn down trees and the ice attribute froze uncontrollably. Water Waves almost created a deluge where they were and the Stone Shots left numerous trees like sieves.

The display of elements was chaotic. As soon as the Purple Weavers were annihilated, Lee said that it is better to move away from the spot as many higher beasts may come looking for the unrest caused by them. The students heeded his opinion and quickly dashed to the grassland.

Five minutes later, the destroyed forest area was visited by some cultivators. Through the smoke rising from the burnt ground, their figures were vaguely visible.

"The presence of Mana. It is the students of the academy."

"They were absent in Ruin expeditions. Why now?"

"They have a new professor and he is our target."

The next instant, the shadows vanished without a trail. A blast of wind followed the sudden acceleration and blew the dust and smoke away.

---

By now, Lee and his students had already reached the grassland. The students breathed heavily as they ran with all their might.

Lee was the reason for this. When they departed from the battleground, Lee began to softly shout that there are cultivators near to where they are. This made the students channel all of their strength to their legs and dash away. Their agile movements did not stop until they reached and collapsed on the grassland.

The accumulated fatigue of Mana usage and continuous running made them burdened with weariness. With no strength left to move, the 13 students sought asylum on the plain grassland.

"What did you learn from this?"

Lee was not tired. He was relaxed after a continuous dash through the forest.

Students heard the voice but did not reply right away.

"Be...aware...of the...surroundings..."

"Conserve...energy..."

"..."

...

Lee Shen waited till all of them had spoken up. Then he nodded as he raised his voice-

"You have proven that I did not waste my time."

Lee flipped his palms as he walked to the students.

"This is a Low-grade Healing Potion. It can heal minor wounds. I am giving one potion for each. How and when you consume them are up to you.

And I don't have any more of these potions."

Lee distributed the potion among the students and they quickly slid it into the inner pocket of their robes. The concealed pocket in the inside was perfect for placing a potion bottle or two. The pocket was sewn in a way that assured stability of the object.

*rustle*

When the students were stabilising their breath, a breeze blew and brushed against the faces of the students. Many felt relaxed but a few among them had sensed an unusual coldness hiding in the wind.