Chapter 412 - 409: Friend or Foe?

Chapter 412: Chapter 409: Friend or Foe?

The horrifying scene stunned everyone, including the members of the academy inside the Array.

"So this is the power of an Enlightenment Master? Truly terrifying!" City Lord Zhong Yuntao’s eyes flashed wildly. Ever since he reached level 100, he had been desperately searching for a trace of the Dao. Now that he was witnessing it firsthand, he was naturally overcome with excitement.

Unlike Zhong Yuntao’s awe, the academy’s experts were filled with doubt and confusion.

"If I’m not mistaken, that was the pressure of the Master Dao, wasn’t it? Isn’t he a member of the Thief God Hall?" several Elders asked, puzzled.

"It is indeed the pressure of the Master Dao. Perhaps this senior has some connection to our academy?" a white-haired Elder mused. He then turned his gaze to Elder Yun. "Elder Yun, you have the most seniority here. Have you ever heard of this senior from the Thief God Hall?"

"Huh?" Elder Yun, who was in the middle of touching up her makeup, froze. She stammered, looking slightly flustered, "I... I know him. We were students in the same class."

"What? That senior is from our Five Provinces Academy?" the Elders exclaimed.

"Not exactly," Elder Yun said with a wry smile. "I only transferred to Five States City after I began teaching. I was a student somewhere else."

"I see. We were getting ahead of ourselves," the Elders said, shaking their heads in embarrassment.

Meanwhile, Elder Wen had been keeping a close eye on Elder Yun. "Elder Yun, what were you just doing?" he asked suspiciously.

"Huh? It was nothing, nothing at all." Elder Yun’s cheeks flushed, her expression clearly flustered. As she spoke, she stole a glance at the Thief Master outside the Array.

In a situation like this, everyone was focused on the battle, so they didn’t notice Elder Yun’s strange behavior. But Elder Wen was different. As an old bachelor, he had been pursuing Elder Yun for a long time.

Her strange behavior, combined with her admission that she knew the Thief Master, gave him a distinct sense of crisis. He was almost certain there was something scandalous between them!

Seeing the woman he’d been pursuing for so long looking so flustered and lovestruck, Elder Wen panicked.

’No, absolutely not. I have to do something,’ Elder Wen fretted to himself.

If the students knew about this love triangle involving the old folks, they would probably be laughing their heads off.

Of course, this was just a minor interlude. The real focus was the battle outside the Array.

After that terrifying scene, the Root Cutting Sect’s experts were clearly shaken. Fortunately for them, the Thief Master was a Dark Force Mage, and one whose path specialized in weaker area-of-effect attacks. Therefore, with their superior numbers, they could still hold out for a while.

In their eyes, as long as they could hold out until Saint Envoy Tian broke the Array, Five States City would become their home turf. No—the entire Ancient Cang Realm would become their home turf!

But the Thief Master was no fool; he had guessed their intentions from the very beginning. He had planned to rely on his own strength to eliminate this trash, then go deal with Saint Envoy Tian. To his surprise, however, these Root Cutting Sect experts were actually quite skilled.

Although "root cutting" had left each of them with a fatal flaw, the dozen or so of them coordinated so well that they actually managed to compensate for one another’s weaknesses.

After a chaotic melee, he found he couldn’t get the upper hand.

Of course, they couldn’t do anything to the Thief Master, either...

"What are you experts in there standing around for? Don’t you see that guy is still trying to break the Array?" the Thief Master huffed impatiently. "If you want to watch this old man put on a show, you’ll have plenty of chances later!"

The academy’s experts froze for a moment, only then realizing that Saint Envoy Tian was still gathering energy above the Array.

"Damn it, I almost forgot about him!" City Lord Zhong Yuntao cried out, immediately rushing out of the Elder Hall. "Senior, don’t worry! I’m here to help!"

As Zhong Yuntao charged out, the other experts followed. They split into two groups: half rushed to support the Thief Master, while the other half went to stop Saint Envoy Tian from breaking the Array.

The Thief Master was in the middle of a heated fight when he suddenly saw Zhong Yuntao and his group approaching. He was exasperated. "Get lost, all of you! This old man doesn’t need any help!"

"Senior, are you sure you can handle it?" Zhong Yuntao asked with concern.

"Enough nonsense!" the Thief Master snorted arrogantly. "Reinforcements from the other sects will be here soon. Your job is to clear out the grunts below and stop that man from breaking the Array."

"Understood." No longer hesitating, Zhong Yuntao furiously charged toward the Root Cutting Sect army below.

At the same time, the Elders had successfully interrupted the Array-Breaking Spear’s energy accumulation. A furious Saint Envoy Tian immediately engaged them in battle.

Seeing the tide of battle turn, the rest of the academy didn’t remain idle. Led by Sun Yaowen and Xuchang, they swarmed out of the Elder Hall to launch a counter-attack.

However, the Root Cutting Sect’s army was simply too large. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t break through the encirclement.

It couldn’t be helped. Most of the academy’s forces were students around the fourth rank. There weren’t many true High-level Mages. In contrast, the Root Cutting Sect’s army consisted entirely of fifth and Sixth-rank Mages. The difference in power was too great.

"Old Sun, we should have the students fall back into the Array. If this keeps up, the academy’s going to be wiped out!" Xuchang said, his eyes bloodshot.

Sun Yaowen considered this for a moment, then immediately ordered the students to retreat to the Elder Hall.

But many students stayed behind. A large portion of them were from the elite squad that had been formed to rescue Sun Yaowen previously.

Feng Hao was one of them. From the moment the counter-attack began, he led the charge at the very front. He moved like a phantom, weaving through the Root Cutting Sect’s formation. Wherever his Su Mu Dagger passed, dark light and firelight intertwined, slaying countless enemies.

"Yao Girl, be careful! Don’t push so far ahead!" Feng Hao called out, not forgetting to watch out for her even as he cut down enemies.

Unfortunately, Yao Girl paid him no mind. Wielding her Golden Long Whip, she and Xiyue Frost, who had activated her Ice Domain, charged recklessly through the enemy lines in a mad slaughter.

Elsewhere, the sibling duo of Xie Kuangfeng and Xie Xiaoyu were just as ferocious.

Encased in full armor, Xie Kuangfeng looked a full size larger. Xie Xiaoyu rode on his shoulders as if atop an armored behemoth, frantically waving her Magic Staff and relentlessly casting one Secret Technique after another.

Seeing these sibling and sisterly duos, Feng Hao was exasperated. ’Dammit, what’s so great about them? Just wait until Yaoyao and I get our teamwork down. We’ll show you what a real power couple looks like!’

"Brother Feng!"

Just as Feng Hao was grumbling to himself, he heard a shout. Turning, he saw Yun Jiansong fighting his way over.

"Huh? Weren’t you fighting over there? What are you doing here?" Feng Hao asked, confused.

Yun Jiansong swung his sword, forcing back a wave of Root-cutting Mages, and said with a grim expression, "That strange kid... is he friend or foe?"

Feng Hao paused, instinctively looking in the direction Yun Jiansong indicated. He saw Lu Wen Jie, his body surging with demonic light, leading a large group of Root Cutting Sect Mages to block the academy’s counter-attack.

Seeing this, Feng Hao couldn’t help but frown. To be honest, he still couldn’t figure out if Lu Wen Jie was friend or foe.

He couldn’t be an enemy; he had clearly saved him before. But he couldn’t be an ally, either. He had joined the True God Sect and was now leading a group of their forces to obstruct the academy’s counter-attack.