The Science of Cultivation [Xianxia]

Chapter 234: Numerically Superior

“This…” Xie Zhi and Yuan Tao were at a loss for words.

Facing three opponents may have posed a challenge to them, but it was one they believed they could still handle. The two could tell the intruders were inexperienced, and they knew how to exploit that to their advantage. They had them figuratively against the wall, so they disregarded their bluffs about reinforcements.

However, they never expected to be proven wrong within the next moment. They really did have backup, and they arrived immediately as well. Just as Xie Zhi taunted his foes about how his fellow deviators were more likely to arrive first, half a dozen figures suddenly appeared and surrounded him.

The fight quickly turned into a nine-on-two. From their aura, they could tell none of them were mortals. No matter how inexperienced they may be, against such odds, the chances of victory were slim for the deviators. Both parties knew that.

“I’ll give you a chance to surrender,” Li Lang offered. “We’re not here to take your lives.”

It was a fact that they were in the heart of a deviator base, but they were only here to rescue Wei Ping. Wasting time fighting would only endanger them needlessly.

Li Lang and his students slowly tightened their encirclement as they waited for a reply. Contrary to what they expected, the two men didn’t say yes or no. The older gentlemen stayed stoic, but the younger Xie Zhi burst out laughing maniacally.

“You, offering us a chance to surrender? Hahaha.”

Xie Zhi covered his face with both hands as he tried to contain his laughter.

Li Lang’s group exchanged glances and was just about to take action when the ground suddenly trembled. Thick roots shot out from the ground, splitting the earth apart. There were dozens of them, each as thick as a human adult.

The wooden tendrils shot out in all directions, causing the inexperienced group of cultivations to hastily cast their Qi arts in defense. Unlike Li Lang and Wei Ping, their students had selected and practiced an Earth-grade technique.

Various techniques of different attributes were unleashed. The presence of so many Qi arts combined with the confined space resulted in a chaotic scene. The powerful moves ricocheted around when they collided, causing multiple techniques to crash into each other. It was plain to see that Li Lang’s group wasn’t used to cooperating.

It couldn’t be helped. Li Lang was focused on research regarding cultivation and Qi arts. They neglected individual combat, not to mention group combat. They were incomparable to sects and organizations who spent a lot of effort training team play and practicing a unified set of techniques that complemented each other.

All this gave some reprieve to the deviators. It allowed the two an opportunity to slip away. However, it wasn’t to escape, but to reposition themselves near the entrance of a side tunnel, where they could funnel their enemies toward them.

They did this quickly and immediately counterattacked when they got into place.

Yuan Tao charged forward while Xie Zhi stayed back and took out a pouch. He was just about to scatter its contents around when a large figure suddenly loomed over him.

He sensed it immediately and dove forward to get out of the way. A split second later, pieces of debris flew everywhere from behind him. He turned around to find Long Yi, recovering his sword from a small crater on the ground.

Before he could make another move, more attacks came from the opposite direction, where Li Lang and his students were. They had the leeway to not only deal with Yuan Tao but also target him!

If Xie Zhi was a normal person, he would’ve uttered curses at the unfortunate situation he found himself in. However, deviators were known to have a few screws loose. Xie Zhi widened his smile at the prospect of life-threatening danger.

Half of a dozen attacks landed at the same time. It kicked up a storm, obscuring visibility within the tunnels.

“Don’t let up! Keep attacking!” Long Yi roared.

Li Lang and the students obliged, and each shot out more attacks before the dust settled.

The nine cultivators continuously cast powerful moves, one after the other. The sound of impact rang out without stopping. It was a testament to the large reserves of Qi cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Realm had. It was at least a few orders of magnitude more than Energy Gatherers.

“Long Yi!” Li Lang cried. “That should be enough. Let’s get out of here while we still can!”

With some hesitation, Long Yi agreed.

“You guys, it’s time to return!”

At his beckoning, his students promptly followed the sound of his voice and gathered. Li Lang then summoned a man-sized Crucible again. Just as his students were about to enter, dozens of tiny needles shot out from the opposite direction of the smoke. To be precise, they were needles made of water. Their thinness made it hard to spot and their speed allowed it to strike Li Lang’s group before they could respond.

Thankfully, Long Yi reacted quickly. He slashed down his sword, casting his Terra Moon Slash toward the approaching cultivator. It prevented the newcomer from attacking again. Using this opening, Li Lang ushered all his students before retrieving his Spirit-grade artifact.

“Let’s go. We’ve overstayed our welcome. They’ve either got backup coming or one of them who had been hiding in their room had decided to show up. We have to leave before even more decide to join.”

Their students had gotten hurt. Li Lang and Wei Ping did as well, but none of the injuries were serious. It could be solved within a few minutes by consuming a Recovery Pill. Still, it wasn’t a good idea to fight the newcomer as well.

Just the short encounter had already revealed a plethora of their weaknesses. They had poor teamwork, poor combat experience, and lacked a breadth of techniques to deal with various situations, like when visibility was poor. Now, several students were injured.

What seemed to be an assured victory on paper turned out to be a tough encounter. While they could replicate their victory against this new deviator, they couldn’t discount the possibility of more reinforcements coming. It was time for them to make their escape.

With their students now safely returned to the pocket realm, the tunnel became a lot less crowded. It gave the trio more room to maneuver, which was vital for them to slip away.

Just as they steeled themselves to get past this new enemy of theirs, a bright light appeared in the distance. Within the next second, a huge hole had opened up in the chest of their foe. He tilted his head to inspect his wound, only to fall down face first into the ground.

“This way!” a familiar voice shouted.

Having seen the display of power, the trio already knew who it was. It wasn’t the first time the Nightmoon Valley disciple, Ma Kong, had showcased his deadly Qi art. It was almost invincible at their current cultivation level. Perhaps the only shortcoming that could be observed was its lack of coverage, unable to target multiple foes at once.

The trio ran down the main corridor of the underground stronghold, straight toward the figure of their ally. A sense of safety spread among them as they spotted the reliable late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.

From what they saw, Ma Kong and Zhu Yi were some of the most powerful people in the Foundation Establishment Realm. One specialized in single target attacks while the other in area of effect. They complimented each other so well that they literally took on an army of deviators of the same rank by themselves.

This sense of comfort made their astonishment all the greater when their supposed ally shone with light once more while staring straight at them. It was the precursor to his deadly Qi art. It caused the trio to stiffen as they came into the crosshair of such a powerful technique. There was nothing they could do. They could only stare, like a deer caught in the headlights.

Ma Kong finished casting his Qi art quickly, leaving the trio wondering who the target was. They inspected their own bodies for wounds before turning to each other.

“What are you doing? Hurry up!” Ma Kong shouted.

It was only then that the trio realized the target of his attack wasn’t one of them. Looking behind them, they found the two deviators they had been fighting, Xie Zhi and Yuan Tao, leaking out fresh blood while they remained motionless on the ground.

Hmm, we need a technique to sense if a cultivator is really incapacitated or not, too. Maybe techniques for low-visibility situations can do that as well. I need to talk to more cultivators at this level to find the means they use to deal with these issues.