Chapter 468: Midnight Ambush

The several Element Academies had already been traveling for two days since leaving their own campuses. These two days could be considered calm; the Spirit Hall was still holding its composure and did not make a move as soon as they left.

Moreover, the direction the Element Academies were actually heading was not the Gu Lei Kingdom, but the completely opposite Heaven Dou Empire.

This was also Feihuang's strategy, because if they had headed in the direction of the Gu Lei Kingdom, the Spirit Hall would have deduced that they might have already been recruited by Nan Feihuang.

The titled power of the Gu Lei Kingdom could not be underestimated; to avoid any accidents, Xie Yue and the others would very likely go back to seek reinforcements.

However, the situation with the Heaven Dou Empire was different. The Spirit Hall would only think that they were seeking protection from the Heaven Dou Empire, which was also normal, as the Element Academies and the Plant Academy were originally within the borders of Heaven Dou.

In the original story, these academies indeed made this choice.

Although they succeeded in reaching Heaven Dou at that time, no one knew what the process was like. When negotiating with Shrek Academy, not a single one of the headmasters appeared to back up the young people, so it was feared that their outcome was not good.

Feihuang had told Shui Yue'er that the safety of the Element Academies did not depend on whether they set off for the Gu Lei Kingdom as quickly as possible, but on meeting up with the people from the Gu Lei Kingdom as early as possible and repelling the Spirit Hall Academy and the Elephant Armored Sect.

As long as the enemy retreated, it did not matter how much of a detour they took.

The route Feihuang chose was a slanted triangle, second only to the straight line representing the shortest distance between two points. The Element Academies and Dugu Bo set off at the same time and would meet in a province of the Heaven Dou Empire.

In the dead of night, the students set up camp in the wilderness, preparing to rest.

Several students were guarding the four corners of the camp, and one of those responsible for guarding tonight was Feng Xiaotian.

In fact, he was already a vice-headmaster of the Element Academies, so guarding at night was something he did not originally need to do.

But he insisted on sharing the hardships with the junior students, giving up this privilege, which also made him, as a vice-headmaster, even more popular.

"Brother Feng!" Huo Wu suddenly sat down beside Feng Xiaotian and handed him some sliced fruit. "Here, a midnight snack, provided by Yue'er. I don't know why she suddenly became so generous today, giving us fruit one by one."

Feng Xiaotian was immediately flattered. "Thank you, Sister Huo Wu, but why aren't you asleep yet? You must be quite tired after traveling for days, right?"

"I'm fine. I'm a Spirit Master; it won't affect my spirit if I don't sleep for one night," Huo Wu laughed. "Brother Feng, don't you feel that you've become very different from before ever since the Academy Tournament ended?"

"Different?" Feng Xiaotian was stunned and subconsciously touched his face; it still looked the same.

Huo Wu shook her head. "I'm not talking about your appearance, but your personality. The old you would only revolve around me. When you were free, you would just study that self-created soul skill of yours. Actually, I always understood that you learned that soul skill not for the purpose of defeating enemies, but mainly to show off in front of me, right?"

Feng Xiaotian awkwardly scratched the back of his head. Indeed, a large part of the reason he researched self-created soul skills at the time was to demonstrate his uniqueness in front of Huo Wu.

When everyone else only knew how to use soul ring skills to fight, he could already unleash exquisite self-created soul skills.

How cool was that? He hoped to gain Huo Wu's favor through this.

In reality, his thinking was quite advanced, but the timing was wrong. Understanding a self-created soul skill unique to oneself was absolutely correct and could greatly enrich one's combat methods.

But the problem was that the root of all soul skills lies in soul power. He shouldn't have practiced this during his golden period of cultivation; he should have waited until his soul power was profound before researching it. Even Feihuang only relied on a set of Single-Handed Eighteen Picks to conquer the world for the first few years, and only started delving into the more profound Ghost God Halberd Technique and Overlord Halberd Technique after his soul power became strong.

Huo Wu continued, "However, you've changed since the tournament ended. You've become more motivated and courageous, no longer just chasing after me, but working hard to strengthen yourself."

"That's because the old me thought I was a peerless genius. The halo of innate full soul power inevitably made me a bit arrogant. But at the tournament, I saw a true monster." In his mind, Feng Xiaotian recalled that invincible figure holding the Halberd, and he laughed at himself. "Compared to that guy, I am far too inferior to be called a genius. With such a person standing ahead of us, what qualifications do I have to be proud and complacent?"

"So, when he extended an invitation to us, I ultimately chose to agree. I thought, if I could go to his side and follow in his footsteps, would there be a day when I could qualify to see his back?"

"You definitely can, as long as we work hard!" Huo Wu had always been an incredibly confident girl; even if others were outstanding, she would never deny her own potential.

Feng Xiaotian took off his mask and smiled; Huo Wu's encouragement was the best motivation for him.

The two looked at each other with deep affection.

Suddenly, Feng Xiaotian's expression changed, and he stood up.

"What's wrong, Brother Feng?" Huo Wu asked in confusion.

"Killing intent!" Feng Xiaotian's martial soul was a wolf, a two-headed wolf at that, and his perception of danger far exceeded others'. "Sister Huo Wu, go wake everyone up. The enemy is here."

"Brilliant Fire of Huo Wu!" Huo Wu trusted Feng Xiaotian absolutely now. Not only did she not hesitate in the slightest, but she also chose the most extreme way to wake everyone up.

A super-huge fireball rose directly into the sky, illuminating the entire night, and the surrounding temperature also rose sharply.

With such a big commotion, it was impossible for the students and teachers to continue sleeping soundly; one by one, they immediately got dressed and walked out of their tents.

This fireball not only woke everyone up but also let the lurkers in the darkness know that they had been discovered.

Consequently, they no longer hid, and one by one, guys dressed in pitch-black clothes darted out from the night.

Although many of them were wearing masks, the Element Academies could actually recognize the other side completely.

After all, besides the Elephant Armored Sect, who else could those groups of big men as fat as mountains be? "Have they finally come?" Feng Yuanyi knew that this scene would happen sooner or later, but he had originally thought the Spirit Hall would choose to make a move on the third day; he hadn't expected them to be unable to hold back on the evening of the second day.

The four headmasters all came out, guarding the four corners, forming a rectangle to protect all the students in the center.

The Gale Demon Wolf, Ice Phoenix, One-horned Fire Tyrant Dragon, and Red Flame Thorn—the four high-level martial souls were all surrounded by the best soul ring configuration of two yellow, two purple, and four black.

Feng Xiaotian looked at the leader on the opposite side and said in a deep voice, "Xie Yue, why the need to wear masks to kill us? Who do you think this can fool?"

Xie Yue sneered, "Heh, so what if it can't fool you? Anyway, today, not one of you will escape. Feng Xiaotian, I gave you plenty of chances, but since you chose a dead end yourselves, you can't blame me."

(End of chapter)