High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

Chapter 415: Chapter 415: Shock

The next second, the flames contracted inward.

POP! POP! POP!—

The heads of the three Stone Scorpions exploded simultaneously, splattering carapace fragments and murky bodily fluids everywhere. Their headless bodies twitched a couple of times before crashing to the ground.

The entire process took less than three seconds.

From a distant observation point, Su He’s pupils contracted.

The recorder in his hand was running at high speed, its screen displaying the energy fluctuation data from the recent event.

There was no outward projection of Qi and Blood, no physical contact. The flames had appeared directly inside the targets’ bodies.

"An external projection of the Power of Heart Image... with a range of at least forty meters," Li Rui whispered, his voice filled with disbelief. "And with such high precision, marking three targets at once..."

Although their support squad’s overall Life Energy Levels weren’t high, they had been on the front lines for a long time and had their own set of skills.

Moreover, they had worked with quite a few Innate Martial Artists, but they had never seen one like Xu Wuyi.

"Keep watching," Su He said, taking a deep breath.

Inside the canyon, Xu Wuyi had already gone deeper.

The earlier commotion had alerted more Stone Scorpions.

From holes in the rock walls on both sides, dozens of Stone Scorpions swarmed out, surging toward Xu Wuyi like a grayish-white tide.

Xu Wuyi still didn’t draw his gun.

He stood his ground, hands hanging naturally at his sides, calmly watching the approaching swarm of beasts.

When the foremost Stone Scorpions entered the forty-meter range, he moved.

He didn’t charge forward. Instead, he slowly raised his hands and spread his fingers.

The Power of Heart Image erupted in full.

A dark golden halo spread out from him, coalescing in the air into dozens of energy tendrils as fine as hairs. Each tendril precisely locked onto a Stone Scorpion, burrowing into the gaps in their carapaces as if alive.

Then, Xu Wuyi gently clenched his fists.

THUMP! THUMP! THUMP! THUMP!—!

A continuous series of muffled explosions echoed through the canyon.

Within a forty-meter radius, the heads of all the Stone Scorpions burst simultaneously.

Grayish-white carapace fragments rained down, and murky bodily fluids splattered across the ground, staining the scorched earth a filthy color.

A total of twenty-eight Stone Scorpions were killed in the same second.

Behind them, Su He’s squad fell completely silent.

They had seen Innate Martial Artists fight. They had seen group-attack Martial Techniques and area-of-effect kills. But a slaughter this effortless, this precise down to every single target, and this sudden—they had never seen anything like it.

That wasn’t a Martial Technique anymore. It was more like... some kind of rule-based obliteration.

"Record the data," Su He’s voice was a little hoarse. "Attack range: forty meters. Simultaneous mark limit... unknown. Kill efficiency: extremely high. Consumption... unmeasurable."

He paused, then added, "Our support strategy needs to be adjusted. With this combat style, we don’t need to provide suppression or cover at all. We just need to handle battlefield cleanup and resource collection."

In the canyon, Xu Wuyi continued to advance.

The subsequent battle became a one-sided cleanup.

Stone Scorpions swarmed out in groups, only for their heads to explode the instant they entered his forty-meter range, causing them to drop dead. Xu Wuyi didn’t even have to move. Like a precision harvesting machine, he left nothing but a field of corpses in his wake.

A short while later, he reached the depths of the canyon.

The Stone Scorpions here were larger, nearing Level 35, their carapaces even gleaming with a metallic luster.

But their fate was no different. Enter the forty-meter range, get marked, and then die.

When the last Stone Scorpion King crashed to the ground, Xu Wuyi glanced at the time.

Seventeen minutes.

He turned and walked back.

Along the battlefield he passed on his way back, the ground was blanketed with Stone Scorpion corpses—a rough estimate of over eighty.

Su He’s squad had already begun their work. Li Rui and Xie Yushan were rapidly harvesting Stone Scorpion tail stingers and carapace core materials, Zhao Cheng was processing the corpses, and Chen Xiaoyu was checking for any missed survivors.

They were highly efficient and their movements were practiced. Clearly, this wasn’t their first time doing this kind of work.

Seeing Xu Wuyi approach, all five of them stopped what they were doing and stood up straight.

This time, the doubt in their eyes had completely vanished, replaced by reverence and even a hint... of fear.

That ability to kill invisibly was simply too overwhelming.

"Is the recording complete?" Xu Wuyi asked.

"It is." Su He stepped forward and handed over the recorder. "The data has been synced to the Battle Group’s database. Based on the analysis, your group combat rating is S-class. The recommendation is to adopt an ’independent hunt and assisted cleanup’ model. Meaning, you’ll be responsible for the main assault, and we’ll handle the follow-up work."

Xu Wuyi glanced at the data and nodded.

"For future missions, I will inform you of the hunting area and target type in advance," he said. "What you need to do is complete the cleanup and collection as quickly as possible after I’ve finished fighting. If you encounter any sudden danger, prioritize your own safety. You don’t need to worry about me."

Su He was taken aback for a moment. "But..."

A support squad’s duties actually included an implicit one: in the event of danger, they were to die in place of the captain to protect their retreat.

In terms of value, the survival of an Innate Martial Artist captain was naturally far more valuable than that of ordinary Martial Artists.

That ten percent of the merit points wasn’t so easy to earn.

"That’s settled," Xu Wuyi cut him off. "I don’t need you to take a blade for me. That would only slow me down. You’re of most value to me alive."

The five exchanged glances, then nodded in unison. "Understood."

Just then, Qiao Zonghan walked over from the canyon entrance.

He glanced at the field of Stone Scorpion corpses, then back at Xu Wuyi, a rare smile gracing his face.

"I’ve received the assessment results," he said. "An S-class group combat rating. That puts you in the top five among the Dongjiang Battle Group’s Innate Martial Artists. With this rating, you’re entitled to the highest level of auxiliary support, priority on supplies, and real-time intelligence updates."

He paused for a moment before continuing, "Also, starting tomorrow, you can freely choose your hunting grounds. A map of enemy distribution in the East Third District has been sent to your terminal. Red markers are activity zones for the Celestial Wolf and Feathered People, yellow are Star Beast nests, and green are relatively safe zones."

Xu Wuyi pulled up the map.

The East Third District was about half the size of Yuntai City, with complex terrain that included canyons, plains, swamps, and hills.

There were seventeen red markers, scattered throughout the area.

His gaze lingered for a moment on three of the markers.

They were small strongholds of the Celestial Wolf Civilization, with a garrison of about fifty, and their strongest combatant was an Initial Stage Innate, below Level 43.

"I want to start with these three," Xu Wuyi said, pointing to the three markers.

Qiao Zonghan glanced at them and didn’t object. "You can. But a word of warning: the Celestial Wolf strongholds all have early warning systems. Once attacked, reinforcements from nearby strongholds will arrive within twenty minutes. You’ll need to control the duration of the battle or withdraw before support arrives."

"Twenty minutes is enough."

Xu Wuyi closed the map and looked at Su He and his team of four. "Assemble at the camp at 0600 tomorrow morning. Target: Stronghold Seven."

The five responded solemnly, "Yes, sir!"