28 Hunters
Lu Yuan had only taken a few steps when he saw a crimson light flash in front of him.
A fireball came flying over from the darkness deep within the passageway. Lu Yuan's pupils contracted and he quickly dodged to the side.
Boom!
The fireball landed on the stone wall not far away from Lu Yuan, making an exploding sound. Flames seethed and heatwaves came gushing over.
Lu Yuan took a look at the charred and cracked stone wall and his lips twitched. He then looked into the depths of the passageway.
The sounds of anxious footsteps rang out and four human fighters were fleeing in this direction.
There were three catfolks behind them.
One of the catfolks was wearing a mage robe and holding a wooden magic staff.
Spirit energies were seething around him, and a fireball the size of a head appeared on the top of the magic staff, shooting out.
The four humans quickly dodged and the fireball shot toward where Lu Yuan was at.
Lu Yuan: "..."
This was really a disaster that was uncalled for.
He quickly dodged as well.
Boom!!
The fireball hit the walls again, exploding.
Lu Yuan took a look. Another hole had appeared on the wall.
The great prowess made Lu Yuan feel uncontrollably shocked.
When the four human fighters saw Lu Yuan, they were first stunned. After that, the guard-type fighter who had a tall figure and was the leader of the group quickly said.
"Friend, those catfolks behind us are hunters! Hurry up and run!"
Upon hearing that, Lu Yuan's pupils contracted slightly.
Hunters referred to a type of gene fighters.
In the Land of Origins, if a gene fighter were to die, their gains from the current trip would drop and they would receive mental damage as well, which would delay their next trip to the Land of Origins for a very long time.
Hence, most gene fighters had a certain degree of resistance and avoidance toward a battle to the death.
However, this wasn't the case for some gene fighters.
They didn't wish to hunt ferocious beasts themselves, to go on adventures to obtain treasures.
Instead, they targeted other gene fighters.
They specially hunted other gene fighters to obtain various resources, and this group of gene fighters was referred to as hunters.
Hunters were generally stronger than ordinary gene fighters.
Of course, if they weren't strong, it'd be impossible for them to hunt other gene fighters to obtain resources.
It was because of this that if one were to encounter hunters, gene fighters who were lucky would be able to escape. If they were unlucky, they might leave the place dead.
Lu Yuan didn't expect to encounter hunters when he had just come to the Sandstone Underground Palace.
When the human fighters saw Lu Yuan, the few catfolk hunters naturally saw him as well.
They broke into a smile.
"I didn't expect that there's one more. Let's kill him too."
There were only three catfolk hunters, but when facing Lu Yuan and the other four humans, the situation was like hunters versus their prey.
A catgirl with an amazing figure, wearing black leather armor and holding a longbow, licked her lips.
"This human guy is quite handsome. It's such a pity."
She pulled her bow and a faint red glow flashed on the arrow.
After releasing the arrow, it tore through the air with a piercing screech, shooting toward Lu Yuan.
Seeing this, the four human fighters opened their eyes big.
"Watch out! This arrow is very powerful!!"
Previously, a few of their companions had been killed by this arrow.
Lu Yuan frowned slightly and blocked with his longsword.
Keng!!
A deafening sound rang out and Lu Yuan's arm trembled slightly, turning a little numb from the tremendous force.
He felt a little surprised inside.
This prowess was many times stronger than the Third Missy from the five kobold party.
As expected of an archer who had engraved and recorded an extraordinary gene.
Moreover, the gene this person had engraved and recorded was probably an extraordinary gene that specially raised the prowess of bow and arrows.
Seeing that Lu Yuan managed to block the arrow without taking a step back, the three catfolk hunters' eyes narrowed.
"Be careful. This guy isn't weak."
Seeing that Lu Yuan was able to block this arrow, the four human fighters were all stunned. Then, they broke into a surprised smile.
"It is an expert!"
"Friend! We'll help you!"
The guard-type fighter, who was the leader, saw that Lu Yuan was strong. Hence, he gritted his teeth and immediately prepared to retaliate.
Most hunters were gene fighters who were agile and had fast speed.
They mostly tried to kill their targets instantly or flee upon failure.
When facing hunters, fleeing was just a helpless option people had no choice but to take.
With the opportunity to retaliate, fighters with rich combat experience would naturally not give up on it.
Although this guard-type fighter was covered in wounds, he showed no hesitation at all.
When the other gene fighters heard this, they were stunned for a moment.
However, they clearly had strong trust in the guard-type fighter. After coming back to their senses, they immediately made preparations to fight.
"F*ck them!"
"F*ck, these three b*stards, killed Xiao Qi and the others! Let's avenge them!"
Seeing that the four gene fighters were ready for battle, the three catfolk hunters revealed disdainful smiles.
"Hmph! Futile attempt."
"I'll hold back that human fighter. You guys deal with them."
The catgirl archer broke into a smile, and her sharp green cat eyes looked at Lu Yuan.
The other two catguy hunters were an elemental-type fighter, who had grasped a fireball battle technique, and an attack-type fighter holding a longsword respectively.
The attack-type catguy swordsman used his battle technique, and his skin turned slightly red. His speed surged by a notch, and he charged toward the four gene fighters.
He said coldly.
"That guard-type guy isn't weak, so kill the others first. Let's target that sword wielder."
"Don't worry, as long as you can mess up their formation, we can kill them all."
The elemental-type catguy hunter who was wearing a mage robe smiled and then started to condense a fireball again.
Amongst the four human gene fighters, the sword-wielding attack-type fighter looked the youngest. He still had a hint of childishness on his face as well, seeming to be about Lu Yuan's age.
When he saw that the catguy hunters had turned their gazes to him, his countenance turned pale and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
The guard-type fighter was a middle-aged guy with a calm appearance. He let out a cold snort and pierced his shield that was about the height of a person fiercely into the ground.
"You'll have to get through me first."
The catguy swordsman's lips curled up, and he charged up to the guard-type fighter with an explosive speed.
After assuming a strange stance, the catguy swordsman held onto his sword with both hands, took in a deep breath, and then let out a fierce bellow.
The longsword slashed out horizontally and white air currents appeared on the sword.
Keng!!
The longsword and shield clashed.
After that, the guard-type fighter's countenance turned pale. He let out a stifled grunt and took half a step back.
He had many injuries on his body to begin with. Hence, after receiving this attack, his wounds opened up again and blood was flowing out.
The catguy swordsman's tone sounded relaxed.
"You're considered quite strong to be able to receive my Berserk Blood battle technique in addition to my Heavy Sword Slash. It's a pity that you're injured."
"Everyone, attack together!"
Seeing that the guard-type fighter was being suppressed, the remaining three human fighters all opened their eyes wide and attacked the catguy swordsman.
The catguy swordsman let out a light snort and moved to dodge the three human fighters' attacks.
Just then, a fireball came shooting over, flying toward the young human swordsman.
The human swordsman's pupils contracted when he sensed the scorching temperature, and a hint of fear appeared on his face. He rolled to the ground and avoided the fireball.
Boom!
The fireball erupted on the ground and the three human fighters' formation was broken up.
Seeing this, the catguy swordsman let out a savage laugh and then slashed out repeatedly with a furious bellow, attacking the guard-type fighter through various tricky stances.
The guard-type fighter was worn out from all the blocking, and the wounds on his body were getting increasingly worse. Blood gushed out and his face gradually turned pale.
When the catguy swordsman saw the guard-type fighter's defense gradually wearing out, he broke into a savage smile.
The other three wanted to help but were suppressed by the catguy elementalist's fireballs. They could only keep on dodging.
Just when the situation was bad for the human gene fighters, an agonizing cry rang out.
The catguy swordsman and elementalist's countenances changed.
They turned to look in the other direction.
The catgirl's face was ghastly pale, and a black longsword had pierced through her stomach.
Lu Yuan held onto the longsword with a cold expression. He also had an arrow pierced into his armor at his shoulder.
The catgirl was very strong, and the prowess of her arrows was very great. She was also very agile.
If they were in a spacious area, Lu Yuan wouldn't have been able to deal with her.
After all, the gene he had engraved and recorded was more inclined toward being defensive. Its speed was very mediocre.
He could fend off the arrows' attacks but wouldn't be able to catch up to the catgirl.
However, they were in an underground palace now.
The entire passageway was only about 30 meters wide, and the rest of the area was used by the others in their fight.
Moreover, the catgirl had had to hold back Lu Yuan, not letting him rush over to the battle over there and give the catguy swordsman pressure.
Hence, this greatly reduced the area in which the catgirl could dodge, and Lu Yuan could keep on pushing the catgirl to a corner with his powerful defense, eventually forcing her into a corner.
Despite this, when Lu Yuan launched his final charge, the catgirl still shot out an arrow that was hard for him to dodge.
Thankfully, he turned his body slightly at the last moment, causing the arrow, which was aimed at his heart, to hit his shoulder.
He was wearing the graystone beetle armor, which fended off a portion of the arrow's prowess.
Furthermore, there was his powerful Blackiron Body.
In the end, the arrow had only pierced through Lu Yuan's flesh and didn't even reach his bones, let alone pierce through his body.
It could only be considered a light wound.
"Moli!"
When the two catguy hunters saw this scene, their eyes opened wide and they let out a furious bellow concurrently.
"Damn it!"
The catguy swordsman immediately gave up on the guard-type fighter who was reaching his limits and turned to dash toward Lu Yuan.
The other catguy elementalist also condensed a fireball toward Lu Yuan with a cold expression.
On the other hand, Lu Yuan squinted his eyes, his expression cold.
He drew out the Bugclaw Sword and Moli fell to the ground, panting. Blood was gushing out quickly from her stomach area, dyeing the floor red.
