Chapter 492: Striking Out Again

Several days later.

Jie Ming stood on the strike platform at the top of Fortress No. 7, checking his equipment to confirm he was prepared.

On the distant horizon, the familiar dark red and grey-white tides surged forth once more.

The harassment forces of the Chaos Secret Sect and the Tower of Extinction had arrived on time to "clock in."

This mixed legion of about thirty thousand troops halted two hundred kilometers from the defensive line. The vanguard wizards began mobilizing elements and commanding cannon fodder units, preparing to unleash a round of long-range wizardry before retreating as usual.

But this time, things were different.

Just as their spiritual power fluctuations reached their most unstable moment...

Hum!

The space across the entire wasteland rippled violently, like the surface of a lake struck by a giant boulder!

Tens of thousands of figures "floated" out from the previously empty air!

They had been lying in ambush, using a large-scale group concealment barrier to blend into the environment; now, they dropped their disguises and bared their fangs!

The legion used by Plane Nuolun for the counterattack had appeared!

The battle erupted in an instant!

The roar of colliding energies, the shrill screams of tearing shields, the roars of charging cannon fodder units—all sounds converged into a symphony of destruction, sweeping across hundreds of kilometers in an instant!

Jie Ming stood at the edge of the platform, watching the battlefield below suddenly transform into a meat grinder, his expression calm.

"It has begun."

Sister Wei Ao's voice came from beside him.

She had changed into a form-fitting dark purple combat outfit, with a row of slender potion vials hanging from her waist and a pitch-black staff inlaid with crystals at the tip in her hand.

"Be careful." Jie Ming turned his head.

"I am very strong." Sister Wei Ao curled her lips into an arc. "You are the one who should be careful."

The two said a simple goodbye, and Sister Wei Ao turned and walked to the other side—where nine wizards were already waiting, the "Blood Crow" hunting squad she belonged to.

The squad members had fierce auras and subtle energy resonance between them, clearly having practiced together beforehand.

Jie Ming withdrew his gaze and formed seals with his hands in front of his chest.

Grand Void Step activated.

His figure faded like ink in water, completely merging into the environment, his aura vanishing without a trace.

He leaped off the platform silently, moving along the edge of the chaotic battlefield like a phantom without substance, streaking toward the vast wasteland outside the defensive line.

In reality, it was not just Jie Ming.

Looking out, under the cover of the erupting battle, one figure after another, either hidden or swift, was spreading outward from every direction of the defensive line.

As for how many of these wizards leaving the camp were true scouts and how many were decoys used to draw fire, no one knew.

But clearly, the allied forces had anticipated this long ago.

Many figures had barely left the outermost attack range of the defensive line before they encountered interceptions.

Thus, against the background roar of the main battlefield, the vast area outside the defensive line began to erupt with scattered combat fluctuations.

Every fluctuation represented a small-scale but potentially more dangerous life-and-death struggle.

Jie Ming maintained the concealment state of the Grand Void Step, flying outward at high speed.

As he moved, he continuously released "Space Stabilization."

This was a lingering effect from the assassination attempt by the Crystal Wizard earlier.

On the other hand, looking around, almost all Plane Nuolun wizards, and even the wizards from the allied side, were doing similar things: either releasing space imprisonment to prevent enemies from teleporting away, or setting up space stabilization fields to interfere with potential pursuits.

For a time, the space within tens of thousands of kilometers was filled with various conflicting, overlapping, and interfering space-type wizardries.

If an ordinary wizard wanted to perform precise space jumps in this area, the difficulty would likely be despairingly high.

Just as Jie Ming flew out about eight hundred kilometers, intense energy fluctuations suddenly came from his front-left.

Four figures were rapidly approaching his direction—strictly speaking, three figures were fleeing desperately, and one figure was in hot pursuit.

The three fleeing individuals were all wearing the iconic deep red robes of the Chaos Secret Sect, bearing obvious signs of injury, and they would turn back from time to time to release interception wizardry while fleeing.

The pursuer was in a grey robe of Plane Nuolun, holding a long sword burning with cyan flames; every time the sword light slashed out, it left long-lasting space cracks in the air.

"Three Chaos Secret Sect wizards being chased by one person?" Jie Ming's eyes flickered.

He slowed down, hiding on the side to observe.

The two sides fought while fleeing, and the pursuing Plane Nuolun wizard clearly had overwhelming strength.

His sword light was exquisite and sharp, always able to predict the opponent's escape route and block it in advance, and his energy control was extremely precise; every attack forced the three to defend together, greatly reducing their escape speed.

But as an outsider, Jie Ming saw more clearly.

Although the three Chaos Secret Sect wizards looked disheveled, their escape route was not chaotic, but vaguely pointed toward a specific direction.

Moreover, the interception wizardry they released was more about stalling for time than truly trying to repel the pursuer.

"There is a trap ahead." Jie Ming judged instantly.

Either there were teammates lying in ambush, or a pre-arranged lethal array.

Regardless of which, if these three successfully escaped to the predetermined position, that pursuing Plane Nuolun wizard would likely fall into danger.

As his thoughts raced, Jie Ming had already made a decision.

He quietly changed direction, circling to the front-side of the three fleeing wizards, and suddenly had a dozen floating talisman wizarding tools in his hand.

Jie Ming did not intend to use the Li Huo Mie Jue Divine Light; the movement of that thing was too large and easily avoided by the opponent in advance.

So he chose a more "conventional" method, choosing to use talisman wizarding tools after a long time.

Hum...

In front of Jie Ming's chest, a dozen embedded talisman wizarding tools lit up with a faint light simultaneously.

And then...

Swish swish swish swish swish!!!

Tens of thousands of energy light bullets, like a breached galaxy torrent, poured out from the void in front of Jie Ming!

Each light bullet was only the size of a fist, yet contained highly compressed elemental energy.

The flight trajectory wove into a three-dimensional firepower net covering a range of several thousand meters, precisely blocking all forward routes of the three Chaos Secret Sect wizards!

"What?!"

"There's an ambush!"

"Scatter! Run separately!"

The leading Chaos Secret Sect wizard roared in shock and anger, trying to drill through the gaps in the firepower net.

But Jie Ming's attack was too dense.

After all, he never intended to rely on these light bullets to repel the enemy from the beginning, so the position of every light bullet was carefully calculated, forming layers upon layers of barrage walls that complemented each other.

The three even felt like fish caught in a net; freedom seemed within reach, but they were completely powerless.

Just in this moment of delay, the sword light of the Plane Nuolun wizard behind followed like a shadow!

"Die!"

A low shout rang out.

The cyan sword light split into three in the air, like three poisonous snakes choosing people to devour, precisely piercing the backs of the three Chaos Secret Sect wizards.

The three turned around in a hurry to defend together, deep red shields layering up.

But the tearing law contained in the sword light was too sharp, and the shields were pierced layer by layer like thin paper.

Finally, the three sword lights sank into the chests of the three respectively.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Blood mist exploded.

The three wizards froze in mid-air, the luster in their eyes fading rapidly, and then they fell from the sky like broken puppets.

The Plane Nuolun wizard stood with his sword retracted, the cyan flames slowly extinguishing on the blade.

He turned his head to look in the direction where Jie Ming was hiding, nodding slightly.

Although he did not see Jie Ming's figure, the attack trajectory of the talisman wizarding tools just now was enough for him to judge where the assistance came from.

Jie Ming did not appear, only responding with a slight spiritual fluctuation.

The two did not even exchange names.

On this battlefield, the cooperation between wizards of the same camp was as concise as possible—help out, nod in greeting, and then each continue their mission.

The Plane Nuolun wizard turned around, turning into a cyan rainbow and speeding away in another direction.

Jie Ming also re-activated the Grand Void Step, his figure hidden again, streaking toward the deeper parts of the wasteland.

While flying, he looked back at the three falling corpses.

"Decoys for an ambush... It seems the allied forces are also prepared."

His eyes narrowed slightly, and his speed increased by another notch.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 493 =====