"Watch out!"
Zhu Mingda let out a startled cry.
But the Dream Butterfly was already prepared. It opened its mouth and spat out a rice-grain machine gun, countless pale green grains surging like a torrent, straight at the lunging Assassin Mantis.
Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang—
The Assassin Mantis swung its blade-like arms, turning them into blurs as they clashed with the countless grains—each comparable to bullets—sparks flying everywhere.
This Assassin Mantis had blocked every single bullet!
But the momentum from the rice-grain machine gun also forced it to keep its distance for the moment.
Just then,
A bat, as large as a round table, with countless red stripes on its black wings and its mouth wide open, revealing crimson fangs, flew down from above.
Blaze Bat!
The final evolution of the Ember Bat!
Back when the school bus was attacked, Su Hao had encountered a one-stage evolved Flame Bat!
Flames, scorching and searing, surged from the Blaze Bat's mouth, coalescing into a massive fireball—blindingly bright, brimming with terrifying energy.
It rolled forward.
"Leaf Blade Darts!"
Zhu Mingda gave the order. Despite his shock, his reaction was swift.
Under his command, the blade-like leaves on both sides of the Blade Leaf Warrior's arms lit up one by one.
It raised its arms and flung out sharp, knife-like leaves that sliced through the air, whistling as they struck the massive, rolling fireball.
One leaf, two leaves, five, six, seven, eight—leaf blade darts infused with wood-element spiritual power shot forth, finally piercing the fireball.
The massive fireball exploded midair.
Shockwaves, accompanied by waves of heat, rolled in, casting a red glow over Zhu Mingda's grim face.
"Dammit, two elite-level spirits!"
Before he could finish his sentence, the Blaze Bat hurled another massive fireball at the two of them.
The Dream Butterfly, locked in combat with the Assassin Mantis, flickered, leaving an afterimage as it flew back a short distance. While fluttering, it whipped out four energy spheres.
One sphere missed and slammed into the cliff wall, while the other three hit their mark precisely, colliding with the slower-moving giant fireball.
The close-range blast melted the snow, and the intense shockwaves caused a translucent barrier to materialize around the two of them.
This was the passive spirit: Guardian.
Bracing against the heat, Su Hao spoke, "Gale!"
"Guu-no—"
The Dream Butterfly stirred up fierce winds, sweeping up piles of snow, turning the surroundings into a blinding white haze.
Under Zhu Mingda's command, the Blade Leaf Warrior also charged forward, aiming to tie down one of the spirits.
Amid the blizzard,
The Blaze Bat, having received its orders, whipped up a hot gust, dispersing the blinding snowstorm.
The two spirit hunters, wearing goggles, scanned the area but could no longer see Su Hao and Zhu Mingda.
"After them!"
Leaving the Blaze Bat to deal with the Dream Butterfly and the Blade Leaf Warrior, the Assassin Mantis dashed along the cliff wall.
...
Su Hao grabbed Zhu Mingda by the arm, pushing forward through the blizzard.
"Stay close to me!"
"Oh, okay."
His stern expression and steady voice made the already flustered Zhu Mingda instinctively obey.
But he still couldn't help asking, "But why are we charging into the storm zone? I think taking the mountain path—"
"Don't think."
"Can we outrun a spirit?"
Zhu Mingda understood.
They really couldn't outrun a spirit.
In comparison, though the storm zone was dangerous, visibility was only a few meters, making it easy to hide.
But...
"We can't hide in the storm zone for long."
As he spoke,
A wind blade shot in from the side, slamming into the light barrier that had appeared around Zhu Mingda, sending faint ripples across it.
"Just get through it. Stay close!"
"Get... get through...?"
He watched Su Hao step forward and hurriedly followed.
But he was baffled to find they weren't cutting straight across the storm zone—they were weaving left and right, occasionally pausing in place.
During one pause, Zhu Mingda saw several wind blades suddenly appear not far ahead, slicing past with a whoosh.
He broke out in a cold sweat.
"You... you can predict wind blades?"
He looked as if he'd seen a ghost.
Utter disbelief.
Are you human or a spirit?!
Su Hao, hunched low to reduce his profile, pressed on against the storm, completely unfazed, even finding time to chat with Zhu Mingda.
"The storms in the Valley of Sighs follow a pattern. You've been here so long and never noticed?"
Noticed?
Zhu Mingda realized there was no point talking to this guy!
But even he didn't notice that, without realizing it, his tension had eased considerably.
...
On the other side,
The Assassin Mantis that had given chase returned, letting out a "click~ click~" sound.
The Assassin Mantis's spirit master's face darkened.
"Didn't find them. No idea how, but they managed to escape!"
The other person looked around and said, "Maybe they fled into the storm zone..."
But the storm zone was vast, with snow and wind raging, making it hard to find two people.
"We're running out of time..."
"Yeah, if the spirit master is still alive, they could recall the spirits at any moment."
"Kill it. Even dead, it can be studied—better than letting it escape."
"Guu-no~ Guu-no!"
The Dream Butterfly was furious.
Don't underestimate me!
It watched as the Assassin Mantis and the Blade Leaf Warrior clashed head-on. After three exchanges, the Blade Leaf Warrior was defeated and injured.
The Assassin Mantis abandoned the Blade Leaf Warrior outright and, together with the Blaze Bat, attacked it from both sides.
The Dream Butterfly's tiny face turned serious.
An energy sphere and a fireball clashed, exploding at low altitude.
Then,
It dodged the Assassin Mantis's slash, turned, and flew into the storm zone.
Blaze Bat: "???"
Assassin Mantis: "???"
...
A few minutes later,
Su Hao and Zhu Mingda emerged from the storm zone, spotting a rest cabin on their side in the distance.
They hurried over.
After a few steps, Zhu Mingda's face changed. "My Blade Leaf Warrior—badly injured!"
When a spirit and its master are close, they can vaguely sense each other's state through their contract.
He panicked.
"Summon it."
"Right, right, summon it now!"
He spread his fingers, channeling his soul power, but due to anxiety and panic, he failed the summoning once.
On the second try, two pointer-like scales appeared around his palm, and a Blade Leaf Warrior tumbled out.
It was in a sorry state.
Both arms were nearly severed, and a deep slash mark ran across its chest. Zhu Mingda hugged it, pained.
"You... you should recall your spirit too!"
"Hold on, don't panic. I'm going to find backup."
The contract perception was still vague.
But on the panel, under the spirit column, the Dream Butterfly showed no negative status.
Meaning it wasn't a big deal.
"In a normal environment, the little one would struggle against any elite-level spirit. But here, this is the Valley of Sighs!"
A place it knew inside and out.
Like coming home.
And it had grasped the essence of wind control.
Without going into detail, Su Hao believed the Dream Butterfly could hold its own against the Assassin Mantis and the Blaze Bat.
He trusted it!
Su Hao quickly ran to the rest cabin and pushed open the door.
Inside, there were no other resters, only an uncle stationed there reading a newspaper.
Su Hao spoke, brief and to the point. "Someone attacked. Two elite-level spirits!"
The uncle shot to his feet and slammed the alarm button mounted on the wall—the Valley of Sighs only had faint signal at the entrance office, but the rest cabin's alarm system was enough to notify the valley's management.
"Let's go! Where?"
The uncle grabbed his spirit and hurried after Su Hao.
On the way, he saw the battered Blade Leaf Warrior, and his expression grew even darker.
"Over there."
Su Hao used the contract to sense the direction.
He crossed the storm zone again.
This time, under the protection of the uncle's spirit, it only took twenty or thirty seconds.
Bursting out of the storm zone, the view opened up.
The angry guard uncle looked ahead and suddenly froze.