C.2074: Midnight Attack

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Zhao Hai calmly walked outside before returning to the hotel. He didn’t discuss the matter with the other Clone Stage disciples. He knew that if told the others, then they would become more vigilant. This might cause the other party to be less careless. Therefore, Zhao Hai didn’t talk to the others and just returned to his room to rest.

The next morning, Zhao Hai and the others ate their breakfast at the hotel before riding out of Fragrant Ink City on their demon horses. As he sat on his demon horse, Zhao Hai sent a secret voice transmission to the others, “Everyone, be vigilant. Yesterday, I felt a hostile gaze. We might be targeted.”

Hearing Zhao Hai, the others couldn’t help but raise their brows. But they weren’t newbies who didn’t understand anything. Seeing that Zhao Hai didn’t turn his head back, they quickly understood what he meant. They also pretended to be unaware. But they replied using secret voice transmission, “Team Leader, what’s going on. Are there people going after us?”

The secret voice transmission isn’t an ordinary technique. It uses spiritual qi to compress sound and transmit it using spiritual force. This technique has no strength, but it could send voices to others without alerting people around.

This kind of voice transmission technique was different from the common usage of spiritual force to communicate. Using the common spiritual force method to communicate involves sending noticeable waves of spiritual force. The secret voice transmission technique only sends a very small amount.

The technique was also different from common voice transmission techniques. Common voice transmission techniques compress sound with spiritual qi and then passes it on to the person. But the fluctuation caused by this method was quite large. It was easily detected by other people.

It was precisely because of these fluctuations that secret voice transmission technique used a combination of spiritual qi and spiritual force to condense and wrap the user’s voice. The fluctuation would be minimal while the energy usage would be decreased. This was the best method to use for short-range voice transmission.

Hearing the others speak to him, Zhao Hai replied, “I felt the other party staring at me yesterday. I’m afraid that they would notice, so I didn’t tell all of you. Be vigilant. If we’re attacked, listen to my commands.”

Everyone complied. But although they had already reached an agreement, nobody changed their expressions. It was as if they were just traveling like before.

Before long, they left Fragrant Ink City’s vicinity. Zhao Hai and the others maintained their speed. But as they traveled, Zhao Hai was releasing liquid silver dust to pay attention to the surroundings.

After traveling for two hours, they still haven’t met anyone. However, everyone was very patient. If they were impatient, then they would have no place in the path of cultivation. They could afford to wait. And while on the road, they talked and laughed with each other. Everything seemed normal.

But in reality, everyone was very careful. They just didn’t show it on the surface.

The morning passed but nothing happened. At noon, Zhao Hai called everyone over again to talk and eat. But in the process of eating, Zhao Hai reminded everyone to pay attention. He already felt that the other party was setting their eyes on them.

The group continued hurrying along that afternoon. Although they haven’t been attacked, they didn’t lower their vigilance. They didn’t dare underestimate Zhao Hai’s warning. They knew that Zhao Hai wasn’t someone who was careless with his words.

The skies slowly darkened, but Zhao Hai and the others missed a place to stay. They passed through a village earlier, but hundreds of miles have passed. It would be too late to go back. They can only proceed forward.

Seeing the moon coming out, Zhao Hai looked at the sky and then at his surroundings. They were now in the middle of a forest. To be honest, this wasn’t a good place to camp. Not only were they susceptible to being attacked by cultivators, the beasts of the forest might also attack them.

But since it’s already dark, Zhao Hai and the others need to find a place to camp in. After looking around, Zhao Hai said, “Brothers, it seems like we can only spend the night in the woods. Go find a place and clean it up. We’re staying here for the night.”

When the others heard Zhao Hai say this, there was a burst of complaints. Naturally, they were pretending. They knew that Zhao Hai wanted to camp in the forest to lure the other party out.

It must be said that demon beast skins were really good. Not only were they moisture-proof, they were also comfortable to lie on. It’s precisely because of this that beast skin has become a necessary item for low-level cultivators.

In the True Spirit Realm, only a few low-level cultivators use spells to build houses to camp at night. This was because the pressure of the True Spirit Realm was too high. If your cultivation was low, you would use all of your spiritual qi maintaining the house. Otherwise, the house would crumble.

Naturally, low-level cultivators of the True Spirit Realm can use formations to maintain their house. But only a few people knew such formations. Therefore, if low-level cultivators want to stay outdoors, then they would use beast skins.

Before long, a temporary camp has been established. Everyone created a bonfire and then chatted around it. After they ate, Zhao Hai appointed two people to keep watch while the others went to their sleeping mats to lie down.

Zhao Hai also laid down on his sleeping mat. However, his spiritual force was constantly scanning the surroundings. He felt the hostile gaze getting stronger and stronger. He knew that the other party was preparing to act.

After two hours, heavy breathing was heard around the camp. Besides the two watchmen, the others seemed to be asleep. Then at this time, the sound of wind was heard. The two night watchmen immediately stood up and alerted everyone, “Enemy attack!” Then they pulled their blades out.

The camp fell into panic. The disciples have just woken up and they seemed to be flustered. From time to time, screams could be heard. Zhao Hai looked and could see that the sound of wind was caused by arrows flying towards them.

After this first rain of arrows, another shower of arrows came. And as soon as he saw the arrows, Zhao Hai’s expression changed. He felt that the second rain of arrows was stronger than the previous one. This showed that the other party was getting closer.

After the arrow rain, the camp seems to be in confusion. Cultivators were lying motionlessly on the ground while others were groaning in pain. The rest had a shaken appearance. Even so, there were still about ten people standing.

Zhao Hai coldly snorted and said, “Rats. You actually used such a despicable method to deal with us. Come out!”

“Hahaha!” A laugh was heard from the trees. Then a reply came, “I didn’t expect Demon Blade Zhao Hai to be afraid. Alright, I’ll let you know who will kill you.” After speaking, a group slowly appeared around Zhao Hai’s camp.

Zhao Hai looked and saw around 40 people surrounding them. Each of them wore gray clothing. In their hands were crossbows.

Looking at this, Zhao Hai’s complexion changed as he said, “Divine Armament Sect. It’s you. We will enter your sect’s territory in two days. I didn’t expect that you would attack us this time.”

One of the cultivators coldly snorted and said, “Of course we’ll attack you this time. If we attacked you when you entered the Divine Armament Sect’s territory, then there’s no need to guess who attacked. We don’t want to be chased down by the lunatics of the Tyrant Blade Sect.”

Zhao Hai looked at the cultivator like he was stupid, then he said, “Are you an idiom? As long as the Tyrant Blade Sect takes a look, they would know that we’re attacked by the Divine Armament Sect’s crossbows. So why would it make a difference if you attack us here or in the Divine Armament Sect’s territory? Also, if we’re attacked in the Divine Armament Sect’s territory, you can even deflect the blame to someone else. Now that you attacked us here, isn’t that equivalent to telling others that you did it? You’re an idiot.”

The leader of the enemy team’s face couldn’t help but turn red. It was clear that the attack was his idea. Then he harrumphed and said, “Stop wasting your breath. Zhao Hai, you will die today. Even if the Tyrant Blade Sect finds out that it’s us who attacked you, we won’t acknowledge it. Now, die!” After saying that, he aimed his crossbow at Zhao Hai. With a springing sound, the crossbow bolt flew towards Zhao Hai.

Seeing this, Zhao Hai waved his blade, protecting himself as well as the other disciples of the Tyrant Blade Sect. Zhao Hai’s blade techniques were very strong, and he didn’t use his most powerful defensive technique. The crossbow’s bolts were all blocked by Zhao Hai’s blade.

Seeing this, the cultivator from the Divine Armament Sect coldly snorted and said, “What a talent of the Blade Dao. It seems like the rumors are true. Unfortunately for you, you will die. Lightning Palm!” Then the attackers turned their hands, taking out dark spheres. Then they threw the spheres towards Zhao Hai and the others.

Zhao Hai’s complexion quickly changed. He quickly shouted, “Use your blades! Block the lightning palm!”