Chapter 259: Ruin Expedition (23)

[Who would win?]

[Both sides have their advantages and disadvantages. So, it is difficult to say.]

Lee Shen was leaning onto a tree as he spectated the fight between his students and the cultivators. His face was plain and his observed every detail of the battleground. But his mind was happy with the result.

'My students are exploiting the property of Mana. The elements assist them. Most importantly, their resentment to cultivators is boosting their abilities.'

But he could see that the students are not equally powerful with the cultivators. Their Mana usage was slowly pulling them down with fatigue. Lee could detect the change and pulled out his sword as he folded his arms in front of his chest.

"Divine Phoenix Sweep!"

An Elf shouted out and his sword was engulfed in fire. He sliced the air horizontally and an arc of fire flew out of the blade.

The Ice Wall was promptly raised but it could not quench the heat completely. The Ice was visibly evaporating as the fire tried to reach the students.

The cultivators began to use their martial techniques and the balance was tiled. The students of the academy felt pressure on them as they were slowly being cornered.

But the fight was finished. The Mana collided with Qi and violent reactions shook the terrain. The students and cultivators alike felt a loss of stability.

"This is not good."

Val muttered to herself as she tightened her grip. Her hand was getting numb from all the collisions. To increase the difficulty, her hammer was receiving heavy blows from the Dwarf cultivator.

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3 PM.

5,975,990 Essence harvested.

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The students were slowly being forced to go on defence as the Qi rampaged around them. Unlike Mana, the usage of Qi took relatively less energy. The reason was the characteristic nature of the energies.

*pant*

The students were panting with the accumulated fatigue. On the other side, the cultivators had only shed a drop of sweat or two.

Mana imbued spears and swords were showing reluctance to resist the oncoming strikes. Not that they were alive, but the students were having a tough time overcoming the sluggishness.

The one and only Orc among the cultivator thrust his bastard sword to the ground and began to laugh. He pointed at the students as his mocking smile was targetting Lee.

"These are your precious students, right?! They are just a bunch of losers with no skill!"

Lee Shen did not retort to his comment and glanced back at him. Then he slowly walked to the students crowded at the centre.

"You have fought well.

Now go, rest and contemplate."

Lee Shen pointed at the tree where he was standing. The students reluctantly walked away from the focus of the cultivators as they evaluated themselves as a burden. Their heads were down with defeat.

"Now that you have defeated my students, you can kill me."

Lee had a funny smile on his face as he said these words. The expression was undefinable as the cultivators felt it as if he was belittling them.

"Die!"

The Goblin cultivator dashed at Lee as he pulled out two daggers from the holster. The attack was from behind and the Goblin was confident in his nimbleness. As the cultivator neared him, his excitement skyrocketed as he saw Lee Shen slow when reacting.

But the remaining cultivators sensed danger. They rushed to save their companion but they were slow.

The sword in Lee Shen's hand had come out of its sheath and slashed backwards. It drew a beautiful semi-circle as the right hand's swing with immense momentum generated a bright light from it.

'Danger!'

One word resonated inside the Goblin's mind as he saw the incoming attack. He had also approached Lee with all his strength and a retreat was impossible. Thus he raised his daggers to block the bright light.

*clang*

The sound of the daggers breaking in an attempt to stop the slash was audible. The light swept past the Goblin who was utterly aghast.

"..."

Total silence.

The Goblin stood frozen like a statue and those around him were dumbfounded. They could not find why the fellow cultivator is not moving.

Puchik!!

A large horizontal cut appeared across the Goblin's stomach and blood flowed like a fountain. The figure of Goblin slowly leaned forward and fell lifelessly. His eyes still held the shock.

"I said, you can kill me."

The menacing pair of eyes skimmed across the faces of cultivators. The intimidating pair of eyes gave them a feeling of confronting an indomitable beast.

"Punishment Fog Formation!"

One of the cultivation screamed out while planting a flag on the ground. His unexpected noise pulled the cultivators back from the fear state.

Swiftly, another 9 cultivators pulled out a flag from their spatial ring. As Lee Shen observed, they began to run around him and placed the flags in their hands at appropriate positions.

Seeing this, an uneasiness sprouted in Lee's heart.

[Shit! This is a Flag Formation!]

Lee pinpointed the source of the uneasiness. He almost failed to feel the hostility hidden in the flags.

The modulation in D's voice alerted Lee. For the Dimension Sovereign to be afraid, he wondered what these flags are.

'What are those?'

The reply did not have the usual calmness. Instead, Lee Shen sensed Dnekewy's soul trembling in fear.

[No time to explain! ESCAPE!!]

The sourness of the situation was evident in those words. Lee quickly dashed to the students, but he was already trapped in the formation!

'Where are we?'

In front of his eyes were endless fog. The dense clouds with shades of grey colour obstructed his sight.

[Bloody hell! We have been trapped!]

D began to murmur something in a trembling tone. Lee couldn't help but frown and ask-

'D, speak to me. What is Flag Formation?'

The murmuring went silent and Dnekewy gave a reply in a hurry.

[Flag Formations may not be the ultimate offence but it can successfully trap people until the provided Qi is extinguished.

And this one is a punishment type.