The Science of Cultivation-Chapter 224: Dense Greenery

“Seniors!” Li Lang called out. “Should we climb away?”

Despite not knowing the situation, Li Lang wanted to do something to address the current situation. He didn’t know what caused the treeline below to be stalking them, but he knew it wasn’t good to allow it to continue.

“No,” Zhu Yi replied. “It’s no use.”

The Nightmoon Valley cultivator kept it short for a good reason. The Skyrunner suddenly jerked. The entire vehicle slowed down, and the occupants were alarmed. It didn’t take long for the couple standing above to spot the issue. Some vines had somehow latched onto the back of their vehicle.

Just as Ma Kong moved to sever these vines, numerous silhouettes could be spotted from within the treeline below. They were keeping pace with the Skyrunner now that it had been slowed down. These newcomers didn’t hesitate and launched various attacks to prevent the couple from freeing their transport.

“Leave it to me,” Zhu Yi coldly muttered.

She then flicked her sleeve and darkness consumed her figure. It quickly expanded, covering up a good chunk of the surrounding area, including the Skyrunner. The oncoming attacks consisting of various Qi lights of various attributes were instantly consumed the moment they made contact with this darkness. No sound or impact happened. The attacks just disappeared, but that wasn’t all.

The sphere of darkness surrounding the carriage then launched out toward the assailants, expanding in size as it traveled. Nothing remained in its wake. All the trees and vines it came into contact with vanished from existence.

The events happened within an instant. The driver, Li Lang, and his two companions still had yet to realize the severity of the issue. All they noticed was their vision suddenly darkening before it returned to normal.

“Steer us into the treelines!” Zhu Yi yelled from above. “There are more of them tracking us down!”

Li Lang fought against the instinct to fly up where it normally was the safer direction to flee in and drove the Skyrunner into the cover of the branches. While this was a valid strategy to lose the pursuers, in the short term, he only closed the distance to the ambushers.

Red piercing glances could be seen all around him, so Li Lang could only hope that his companions from the premier organization knew what they were doing.

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He may have a small force of Foundation Establishment cultivators in the Crucible that could be summoned to reinforce them, but their combat experience was several folds worse than even his. Even their repertoire of techniques was abysmal, thanks to being rushed through the entirety of the Energy Gathering Realm.

Thankfully, as the next round of attacks closed in, the darkness took hold of the surroundings again and consumed everything that dared encroach on its domain. Zhu Yi repeated her technique, sending out the globe of darkness at her enemies, but this time, a figure suddenly appeared behind her as soon as she did.

It was a muscular man with his upper body completely exposed. He had expertly timed his approach to be just after the darkness had gone from defensive to offensive. His eyes were muddled and had a frenzied look in them.

Seeing this, Li Lang retrieved his spear from his space ring and leaped out from the driver’s seat. He didn’t even have the chance to straighten his knees when the strong man spurted out a mouthful of blood. He stared down to find a hole through his torso, the size of a fist. Without letting him lift his head, Ma Kong kicked the man off the roof of the carriage. He then turned his eyes to Li Lang.

“We’re surrounded, but keep going. We’ll take care of it. As soon as we make it out of their encirclement, use the cover of the trees to lose them.”

Li Lang nodded.

“Long Yi, Wei Ping, go help the two seniors.”

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“Umm, shouldn’t you call for some reinforcements?” Long Yi questioned. “I think there’re dozens of them out there. We’re completely outnumbered.”

His words caused Ma Kong to scoff.

“They’re a bunch of rabble. Weak-willed cultivators who have lost their minds. Most of them are mortals, while the few who are in the Foundation Establishment Realm are all in the early stage.”

Li Lang cleared his throat, exchanging glances with his companions. While the composition of the enemy’s forces may appear weak to Ma Kong, it was a different story for the trio. They doubted they could handle even one true cultivator without some serious planning or taking some risks.

“Anyway, we won’t be having any reinforcements yet,” Li Lang replied.

“Why?”

“Just look around. How much room do you think we have?”

Their battlefield was only the roof of their Skyrunner. It barely had room for the four of them to punch and kick around. Adding more defenders wouldn’t be much help.

“Hmm, you’re right.”

The conversation was cut short as another barrage of attacks headed their way. Li Lang left the specific arrangements of their formation to the experts and focused on driving the Skyrunner.

It wasn’t an easy task, with all the greenery obscuring his vision. He had to weave around the trees and branches to avoid any collisions. It only got harder with the assailants lurking within. He was completely stumped when he spotted an unnaturally dense wall of trees blocking their path. It stretched far and wide, and no gaps could be seen. The worst part of it was the numerous eyes peering through the tiny gaps.

“Do you still want me to keep going straight into that?” Li Lang asked.

There was no place for them to sneak through. It was either straight ahead or fly over the tree line. The enemy knew that too, so they were likely prepared to deal with both scenarios.

“Yes,” Ma Kong curtly replied.

Li Lang wasn’t used to hearing the man’s voice so much, but he could only comply. The two from Nightmoon Valley were their most reliable protectors at the moment.

Steeling their resolve, the group soon charged headfirst into the wall of trees. Before the moment of impact, a bright light shone for a split second and a large circular opening was bored through the trees. The Skyrunner didn’t slow down at all as it smoothly passed through the newly made hole.

“Good job!” Long Yi cried. “That’s quite the Qi art you practice there. I wonder when I’ll be—”

Before he could finish his words, wooden tendrils lashed out from all around them. There were so many that it appeared whoever was behind the attack was determined to bury them in vines.

The four who weren’t driving were positioned on the four corners of the roof. They wordlessly got to work, unleashing their attacks to repel the tide of plants. One moment, darkness consumed everything they could see, and the next, a bright light shone through it. Zhu Yi and Ma Kong assisted their weaker companions by using one flashy Qi art after the other.

It allowed them to successfully pass through the hole in the dense treeline, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief. They were now safe, safer than being in the middle of the encirclement—or so they thought.

Before any of them could react, dozens of saplings burst out from their clothes. It grew quickly, entangling both their bodies and their vehicle. They were caught off guard, which meant they were slow to react. It cost them. Their entire group soon came to a complete standstill, as they were all restrained.

As they struggled to break free, four figures closed in from different directions. During this struggle, the weakest among them, Wei Ping, was having the toughest time.

He could barely put up a fight against the roots entangling him. It overpowered him to the point of pulling him off the roof of the vehicle!

Seeing the urgent situation, Zhu Yi enshrouded them all in her darkness again, but this time, it covered a much larger area. It caused the roots to rapidly weaken and then disintegrate, allowing them all to break through. Without a moment of delay, she masterfully manipulated it to split off and shoot toward the four figures.

For some reason, the ambushers were undeterred. They each continued walking in a straight line without a care. It allowed the darkness to consume them. However, for the first time of the day, someone had actually managed to survive the shadowy power. In fact, all four of them were completely unharmed!

“Hmm, too weak! A Qi art designed to deal with multiple targets is too weak to be able to cause me any harm. Perhaps you should try to concentrate your power next time.”

In response, Ma Kong made his move.

The signature bright light shone, and the next second, the talkative assailant got into a defensive stance with a shield in front of him.

“Now that’s more like it! That got my heart pumping. Time to have some fun!”

While the man got excited, the two Nightmoon Valley disciples were less than enthused. They shared a glance and solemnly nodded. They were prepared to take things more seriously.