Chapter 65: Battle of the Graveyard

Du Zhengyi suddenly Shixian-ed from the Subspace, appearing tightly behind his own captain; the arrow he was holding forward in his hand then manifested inside the man's body. For a person, the sudden appearance of a metal arrow in their abdomen brought a fear that far outweighed the pain. The man let out a cry of pain, and his entire reaction slowed by a fraction. But Du Zhengyi's rhythm was always faster than others; before the man could react, he gripped the arrow, gave it a twist, and yanked it out.

Blood poured from the man's abdomen like a waterfall; it was obvious at a glance that a vital organ had been pierced. His companions were struck with horror, and just as they angrily launched an attack on Du Zhengyi, he had already sprinted toward the person on the left flank. His movements were swift; even without using Magic Ability, his physical reaction speed alone was far above that of most Battle Mages, though he avoided those two extremely strong Mages.

He ran at high speed through the snowstorm. Just as the two Mages prepared to engage, a spear instantly condensed in his hand, and he threw it violently toward the very center of the graveyard. The moment the spear tip hit the ground, it erupted with high-intensity light, like the detonation of a small human nuclear bomb. A curse was uttered, though it was unclear which of the usually silent and conceited Mages it came from.

Du Zhengyi had always been difficult to deal with, not only because his energy was shockingly high, nor just because his physical fitness was also far above the average for a Mage, but because he was simply born for slaughter. His thinking was always cold, and on the battlefield, he was always in his element, constantly erupting with new, terrifying potential. Even if the Gushan Guards could raise their energy and physical fitness to Du Zhengyi's level, they still wouldn't be as adept at war games as he was. Originally, their only chance was Du Zhengyi's energy predicament. They had inferred from subtle clues that for some reason, Du Zhengyi's energy was waning; although he tried his best to conceal it, he used energy less and less. From this, they arrived at a bold idea: the severe trauma Du Zhengyi suffered three years ago had caused him more damage than they had imagined, and it was very likely that Du Zhengyi was now relying on technique to bluff.

"Where did you get the intelligence that my energy is waning?" Du Zhengyi said with a cold laugh. Except for him, almost all the Mages were half-blinded. At this moment, no matter how valuable that earlier conjecture might have been, it could not solve the practical problem they were facing now.

"Du Zhengyi," a new voice said, a voice Du Zhengyi found somewhat familiar, "we only hope you will return to accept an investigation. If the Mind Mage's diagnosis concludes that you are fine, we are willing to apologize to you. But by resisting like this and not hesitating to raise a hand against your own brothers, you are effectively confirming your own problems."

"Sorry," Du Zhengyi said. "It's not that I don't trust you; I just don't have the time to go crazy with you. I have some things to take care of at home, so I'm leaving."

"Du Zhengyi!" his captain roared suddenly. "We've reached this point, and you're still being this flippant? You should know what kind of predicament you will fall into starting tomorrow if you run away today. I'm saying this entirely for your own good. You are practically insane now; you have no tomorrow at all. What do you plan to do after you leave here? Run amok like those High-Reaction Mages who have no tomorrow?"

"I'm telling the truth, yet you don't believe me," Du Zhengyi chuckled lightly. "I really do have things to take care of at home, and I'll be dealing with home matters tomorrow, too. I'm done talking to you; I'm going home now."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a bolt of Lightning Technique struck down.

The Mage who had unleashed the lightning strike immediately sensed something was wrong. The lightning split a grave mound; the earth mound cracked open, the long-rotted coffin fell apart, and a skeleton inside, rotted down to just half a torso, rolled out.

Of course, the Mages, temporarily blinded by the intense light, could not see this scene, but they all heard the sound at the same time—a fluttering, as if countless small birds were taking flight in the graveyard simultaneously. They also felt the ubiquitous, subtle Magic Wave. In the graveyard covered by pines and cypresses, countless Transmission Bubbles rose up, countless mouths of Du Zhengyi let out mocking laughter, and countless voices asked in unison, "Drawing me into conversation just to pinpoint my location? I'm really proud of you; at this rate, you might actually be able to raise the survival rate of Battle Mages!"

Among the ten-man Battle Mage squad, only one person heard a faint sound on the withered grass outside of this, as if a snake were passing through the grass, making a tiny noise. He knew Du Zhengyi had come, and he also knew that no matter where Du Zhengyi was, he would inevitably come to his side. Because the person he was guarding was the companion who had used the snowstorm to block Space Travel. No matter how strong Du Zhengyi was, traveling within this Energy Field was already the limit; theoretically, it was impossible to travel from this special State Field to normal space, and Du Zhengyi would not take that risk. It was even more impossible for him to leave on foot; the Mages' blindness was very brief, and he couldn't run away on foot at all. Therefore, Du Zhengyi's only choice remained to shut down this Energy Field, so he would definitely attack the Mage casting the snowstorm.

When Du Zhengyi sensed the sound of a sharp weapon approaching, he did not dodge completely, only shifting his body slightly, taking a blade directly on his arm. But he knew that if not for this shift, his arm would likely have been severed. The opponent was no longer certain of his Magic Energy and, fearing he would notice, had even resorted entirely to physical attacks.

He had no reaction to the pain and, using a physical attack as well, stabbed the Mage casting the snowstorm with a sword. Under the intense pain, the man immediately disconnected his control over the State Field.

"Du Zhengyi has no reaction to pain," the person who attacked him said in a low voice.

This confirmed yet another conjecture about Du Zhengyi's abnormal tendencies. Du Zhengyi merely laughed, saying nothing. He did not attack anyone else, retreated into the Subspace, and traveled away.

Du Zhengyi tumbled into Majiang's clinic. Majiang arrived at the ward where Du Zhengyi appeared almost immediately, reached out to support him without a word, pushed him onto a hospital bed, and quickly performed hemostasis and bandaging on his external wounds.

"It's nothing," Du Zhengyi said. "It's still far from the limit; it was just too risky today."

"It's not 'nothing' just because you say so," Majiang pulled a tube of medicine from his pocket and shoved it into his mouth; he drank it immediately. "Two hours. You can't go anywhere. It would be troublesome if you encountered danger now."

"It was those Gushan assholes," Du Zhengyi told him without waiting for Majiang to ask. "Meddling in other people's business."

"They ganged up on you?" Majiang said coolly. "Are you too arrogant? You didn't even think they would dare to do it? Those people are all top-tier Battle Mages; honestly, they aren't much worse than you. That 'I don't give a damn about anyone' attitude of yours—I think it's been asking for a beating for a long time."

"I need to go back quickly. Luo Qi isn't completely stable yet, and I'm worried something will happen if too much time passes."

"Two hours, at least. Blood loss will accelerate your energy drain; it's not safe to travel back now," Majiang said. "If it were entirely up to me, you'd be better off taking the rail back tomorrow."

Du Zhengyi had no choice. Majiang straightened his chin, raised his right hand, and covered his forehead. A trace of coolness surged into his brain, and Du Zhengyi let out a long breath; the headache finally eased.