Chapter 122: Surround and Intercept

Clang!

Deep within the dense forest, a metallic ring echoed, followed by a sudden eruption of violent phase force that swept up fallen leaves in all directions.

Li Luo held twin blades, his figure landing on a thick tree trunk. His face turned solemn as he gazed at the two human shadows charging from the right. From their earlier clash, he already knew that both of them were at the Yi Duan Xia Zhong White Seed Realm, about the same cultivation as him — they must have been top figures in their own prefectures.

"Li Luo, stop running. You can't escape. Just make it easy for us!" a youth wielding a serrated short sword shouted loudly. Gray phase force churned across the surface of his body, and beneath its cover, his skin showed signs of turning to stone.

This person possessed the Shi Xiang — a derivative of the Earth Phase.

The other youth held an iron staff. Phase force rose from his body, faintly taking the vague shape of a reddish ape behind him.

"They came way too fast."

Li Luo did not reply, his brows slightly furrowed. He had already begun to push deep into the mountain forest, where the spirit beasts grew more numerous and stronger. This had indeed blocked many of his pursuers, but a few still slipped through the net — and anyone capable of passing through the spirit beast blockade was no weakling.

"Brothers, why be so aggressive? How about, for the sake of my good looks, we sit down and have a nice chat, what do you say?" Li Luo thought rapidly, though his face remained earnest as he spoke.

"Dammit, disgusting. Cut him down!"

Yet the moment his words fell, the two were immediately displeased. Phase force erupted as they shot out from the left and right, their fierce attacks cleaving down.

Thud!

Li Luo stomped hard, the tree trunk bending, and his figure shot out like a spring, charging straight at them head-on.

"Li Luo, you're far too arrogant!"

Seeing Li Luo charge straight at the two of them, the pair sneered. Li Luo's strength was the same as theirs — both at the Yi Duan Xia Zhong White Seed Realm. Facing two against one, how dare he?

"Crimson Flame Staff!" the staff-wielding youth roared, his iron staff wrapped in scorching phase force as it smashed down with a thunderous crash.

Facing the whistling, violent staff shadow, phase force surged within Li Luo's body, and a Water Light Demon Mirror swiftly materialized at his side.

Crack!

The staff shadow slammed into the Water Light Demon Mirror. The violent force shattered the mirror's surface outright, but the powerful rebound force also came pouring out, catching the staff-wielding youth off guard. His figure retreated in a sorry state, and the iron staff in his hand nearly got shaken loose.

After using the rebound force to send one enemy staggering back, Li Luo's figure pounced directly in front of the Shi Xiang youth. His face expressionless, water phase power flowed at high speed across his twin blades.

Enhanced Water Edge Art!

Blade light slashed down, meeting the Shi Xiang youth in a head-on clash.

This collision immediately caused the Shi Xiang youth's face to change drastically, because in his perception, the onrushing phase force was so vast and surging that it completely crushed his own phase force beneath it.

"How is this possible?! He's clearly also at the Yi Duan Xia Zhong White Seed Realm — how can he possess such overwhelmingly powerful phase force!"

Amid the Shi Xiang youth's cry of shock, his figure had already been sent flying back in a sorry state, slamming heavily into a tree trunk and even breaking it in half.

A trail of blood slid down from the corner of his mouth, his face filled with shock.

"See? I told you, we should've just sat down and talked it over." Li Luo smiled at him, then, ignoring the wary gaze of the other staff-wielding youth, his figure dove into the depths of the dense forest like a great bird.

Clearly, he had no intention of getting entangled with these two here.

The staff-wielding youth stared at Li Luo's retreating back, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately did not give chase — because he had also witnessed the scene of Li Luo crushing his companion.

"How can this Li Luo be this strong?" the staff-wielding youth came to the Shi Xiang youth's side, helped him up, and asked with a frown.

"I don't know. From the new student records, this Li Luo should've only just broken through to the White Seed Realm, but from that clash just now, I felt his phase force was no weaker than someone at the Upper Zhong White Seed Realm." The Shi Xiang youth wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and said.

"Looks like that Purple Radiance Fu Yin has nothing to do with us." the staff-wielding youth said helplessly.

The Shi Xiang youth nodded. He had just been about to speak when his expression suddenly shifted as he looked toward the thicket on the right — a blue-haired youth was walking out from there.

"That's... Duze Duze Beixuan?" The two hearts trembled slightly as they recognized the person ranked fourth on the new student records.

"You two were just tangling with Li Luo here? Looks like you didn't stop him." Duze Duze Beixuan looked at the two and asked with a smile.

The two frowned but ignored him.

Duze Duze Beixuan didn't mind their attitude and casually asked, "Which direction did he go?"

The staff-wielding youth reluctantly pointed in a direction and said, "His strength is very strong — doesn't look like someone who just entered the White Seed Realm at all."

Duze Duze Beixuan's figure had already shot out, a faint voice drifting back.

"It's not that he's strong — it's that you two are too weak."

Both youths' faces showed anger.

"Too arrogant."

"Good thing I just pointed him in some random direction."

As the situation in the depths of this mountain forest grew increasingly intense, in another direction of this same mountain forest—

A youth with a slender build, narrow eyes, and a gentle smile on his face looked at the girl blocking his path and laughed, "Classmate Qing'er, what is the meaning of this blockade of mine?"

He held a jade folding fan, fanning it lightly — he did look quite dashing.

And ahead of him, Lv Qing'er's features were cold and clear as she said softly, "Wang Zhejiu, the direction you're heading — is it to surround and attack Li Luo?"

This fan-wielding youth was none other than Wang Zhejiu, ranked second among the new students in strength.

Wang Zhejiu smiled and said, "Taking care of Li Luo means I can obtain the Purple Radiance Fu Yin. Of course that's worth my move."

Lv Qing'er said, "If that's the case, then I really can't let you pass."

Wang Zhejiu said somewhat helplessly, "Classmate Qing'er, you're no match for me. Why bother?"

"Delaying some time is good enough." Lv Qing'er's gaze was calm. Then she gently peeled off her Ice Silkworm Silk Gloves, revealing slender, flawless jade hands.

Li Luo's situation right now probably wasn't great. If she let this Wang Zhejiu through, he would surely pose an enormous threat to Li Luo, so all she could do here was exert every ounce of effort to block him.

However, there was indeed a gap in their strength, so if she wanted to stop him, she would likely have to pay some price today and use her final trump card. Fortunately, now that her strength had stepped into the Phase Master Realm, the cost of this move would no longer be as terrible as before.

Wang Zhejiu gazed at Lv Qing'er's slender, flawless jade hands and was momentarily stunned. A flash of admiration crossed his eyes, then he chuckled lightly, "If Classmate Qing'er is willing to go on a date with me afterward, then I actually could agree to that today."

Yet what answered him was the sudden eruption of icy-cold phase force — frost spread across the ground.

Seeing this, Wang Zhejiu could only laugh and say, "Since that's the case, then I can only let you witness the gap between us."

Boom!

Green phase force burst from Wang Zhejiu's body like smoke. Wherever it passed, the leaves beneath his feet began turning pitch-black, as if corroded.

The next instant, two streams of phase force erupted in the forest and collided with a thunderous crash.