High Martial Arts: Enlightenment after Practices

Chapter 437: Chapter 437: A Quick and Decisive Battle

An artificial channel.

Xu Wuyi’s gaze hardened. This meant it wasn’t a small-scale infiltration, but a planned raid.

For the Celestial Wolf Civilization to dare to open a channel and send people in at a time like this, they were either insane or had a much grander scheme in mind.

"Everyone, check your equipment." Xu Wuyi spoke, his voice carrying clearly inside the cabin. "Li Shuang, Wang Lie, establish a double cordon the moment we arrive. Prevent any targets from escaping."

"Ji Shanhai, Zhou Qian, you’re on flank security and rapid maneuvering. The rest of you, stick with me. Priority is to destroy the channel’s core."

"Understood."

The replies were simple, with no wasted words.

Everyone on the rapid response team was an elite who knew exactly what to do and when.

Two minutes passed in a flash.

The assault craft dove, plunging down from a hundred meters high before abruptly hovering thirty meters above the ground. The cabin doors slid open to either side, and an icy night wind poured in.

"Go!"

Xu Wuyi was the first to leap out, the Power of his Heart Image condensing beneath his feet to cushion the fall, allowing him to land without a sound. Behind him, seven figures dropped down one by one, swiftly dispersing to secure advantageous positions.

Before them was a sparse woodland. A hundred meters ahead, the air twisted into a vortex. Dark red Energy, like blood vessels, spread through the void.

At the center of the vortex, a Rift was slowly opening. Through the gap, they could already see the dark red glow of the sky over a scorched plain beyond.

And around the Rift, three towering figures had already landed.

Wolfman Priests.

They wore dark purple Bone Armor and held bone staves inlaid with crystals. An unnerving pulse of Energy radiated from them.

The Priest in the middle had the strongest aura, likely level 44, while the other two were around level 41.

"Priest-level, as expected," Ji Shanhai murmured, tightening his grip on his longsword.

"There’s more." Li Shuang’s cool voice rang out as she pointed to the side of the Rift. "Look there."

Xu Wuyi followed her finger.

In the shadows at the edge of the Rift, a dozen or so smaller figures were moving quickly. They were War General Level Werewolf Warriors, and they were setting up some kind of runic array.

"They’re stabilizing the channel." Xu Wuyi understood their intentions in an instant. "They want to turn this channel into a long-term base to facilitate the arrival of reinforcements."

’What a cunning plan.’

A small group of Priests leading Warrior Generals to quickly establish a forward outpost.

Once the channel is stable, they can send a continuous stream of troops through.

And for the Federation, the cost of destroying a stable channel is far greater than destroying a temporary one.

"We can’t let them finish." Xu Wuyi took a deep breath. "Proceed as planned. I’ll take the level 44 in the middle. Li Shuang, Wang Lie, you control the Priests on the left and right. Ji Shanhai, lead the others to clear out the War Generals and destroy the runic array."

Although the others were only Martial Artists, the three Priests were also responsible for stabilizing the transport channel and couldn’t fight at full strength. To some extent, they were just sitting ducks.

As long as the others could keep them occupied, Xu Wuyi could go for a quick kill.

"Move out!"

The last word had barely left his lips when Xu Wuyi’s figure vanished from his spot.

Dark gold Power of Heart Image flowed across his body. Like a phantom in the night, he crossed the hundred-meter distance in an instant, his Meteor Iron Long Spear thrusting straight for the throat of the middle Priest.

The Priest reacted in a flash, blocking with its bone staff held horizontally.

"CLANG—!"

The explosive sound of metal striking metal rang out. An Energy Shock wave radiated out from the two of them, cracking the ground and flattening the grass and trees.

With a flick of his wrist, Xu Wuyi changed his thrust to a sweep, the spear’s shaft wreathed in dark gold Flame as it swung out horizontally.

The Priest retreated rapidly, waving its bone staff to coalesce dark purple arcane energy into a shield.

The Flame collided with the arcane shield, producing a piercing, tearing sound.

At the same time, battles erupted on the left and right flanks.

Li Shuang’s figure was as elusive as an ice sprite, frost spreading wherever she passed.

"Ice-type True Intention... a nuisance," the Priest growled, trying to create distance.

But Li Shuang gave it no chance. With a light tap of her foot, the frost on the ground formed a slide, allowing her to close in at a bizarre speed.

As her longsword thrust out, the very air seemed to freeze. Where the blade pointed, cracks began to appear in the Priest’s protective spell.

On the right, Wang Lie’s fighting style was completely different.

The level 38 Fire Martial Artist was like a human-shaped tyrannosaurus, his fists wreathed in crimson flames. Every punch he threw carried explosive power.

His opponent, also a level 41 Priest, was struggling to maintain its arcane shield, attempting to interfere with Wang Lie using curse-type spells.

Both Priests were infuriated. ’If not for the limitations of this situation, how could these two mere Martial Artists possibly be our opponents?’

"Break for me!"

Wang Lie roared, charging his right fist as the flames turned from crimson to incandescent white. He slammed it into the arcane shield, which shattered on impact. The aftershock forced the Priest to take a step back.

Meanwhile, on the War General battlefield, Ji Shanhai had already charged in with his men.

Seven Martial Artists against thirteen War Generals. A numerical disadvantage, but they were overwhelmingly superior in quality.

Ji Shanhai’s sword was as fast as lightning, each strike accurately piercing the joints or energy nodes of the Werewolf Warriors.

Zhou Qian’s Wind True Intention made her incredibly fast. She weaved through the battlefield, each attack robbing a warrior of their ability to fight.

Pei Ju held up an ochre shield, creating an opening for Wang Jingran and Chen Tao to deal damage. Sun Xiaoyun moved about in the rear, releasing pale green healing Energy from her hands, ready to restore any injured teammates at a moment’s notice.

Thirty seconds after the battle began, the situation was already becoming one-sided.

But Xu Wuyi did not relax in the slightest. He knew that although they had the upper hand, they were short on time.

He stared at the level 44 Priest before him. Despite being suppressed, its eyes showed no panic, but instead held an uncanny calm.

’Something’s wrong.’

Xu Wuyi suddenly sensed something and whipped his head around to look at the Rift.

The Rift’s expansion speed... had increased.

And the runic array at the Rift’s edge, although mostly destroyed by Ji Shanhai and his team, still had its core components functioning.

The destroyed runes were repairing themselves at a visible rate.

"They’re stalling for time!" Xu Wuyi understood instantly. "The channel’s stabilization has entered an automatic phase! It no longer needs the Priests to actively maintain it!"

In other words, these three Priests were just bait. Their real mission was to tie up the rapid response team and buy time for the channel to fully stabilize.

Once the channel stabilized, the Celestial Wolf Civilization could transport more troops, or even... a Divine Son level Priest directly.

"End this quick!" Xu Wuyi barked into the comms channel.

As the words left his mouth, he stopped holding back.

In his sea of consciousness, his Dark Gold Mountain Body Heart Image trembled violently. Xu Wuyi raised his hand and made a grasping motion in the air toward the Priest before him.

The Priest’s expression changed drastically.

It felt the Energy in its body beginning to run rampant, and a searing pain erupted from its heart. Without any warning, dark gold flames ignited on its body, instantly consuming its protective spell.