Chapter 73: Combat

Tao Lani led the group, walking at the front as they headed toward the Wind Source.

Before long, they could see a faint light in the distance.

Yet seeing the exit, none of them showed any joy.

Instead, their faces were stern as they warily scanned their surroundings.

At the front, Tao Lani muttered incantations under her breath, waving her Holy Staff to cast Defense Magic on herself.

Soon, they reached the cave entrance.

After exchanging a solemn look, Tao Lani stumbled out of the cave, feigning weakness.

Bright, scorching sunlight hit Tao Lani’s face, making her feel uncomfortable. Her whole body seemed to go limp under the sun, drained of strength.

The moment she stepped out and took a few paces, four or five crossbow bolts shot out from the bushes ahead, striking Tao Lani.

The strong impact sent her soft body tumbling back into the dark cave.

“Tao Lani!”

Seeing Tao Lani’s limp form fly back inside, Jiu reacted quickly and caught her, looking at the bolts lodged in her body with a pained expression.

Once inside the cave, Tao Lani perked up considerably.

Gritting her teeth, she pulled out all the bolts.

Then she fished a Magic Potion from her pocket, twisted off the cap, and gulped it down.

After drinking the potion, the wounds on Tao Lani’s body healed at a visible rate—bleeding stopped, and new flesh grew.

“So there really are survivors who slipped through the net.”

Just as Tao Lani was tending to her injuries, voices came from outside the cave.

“Even if someone survived, those bolts just now would have done them in.”

A deeper voice replied, and then footsteps approached the cave.

Hearing the footsteps at the entrance, Jiu’s face turned ice cold.

She quickly drew her bowstring and aimed at the opening.

A figure appeared at the entrance, peering inside.

The next moment, Jiu’s arrow shot from the string, whistling as it struck the figure.

The figure screamed and collapsed unsteadily.

“Damn, there’s more!”

Another set of footsteps stopped just outside the entrance. After cursing, they started to run away.

Seeing this, Rom immediately released five or six fireballs, blasting them outward.

As the fireballs exploded with loud booms, Rom shouted to his comrades, “Go!”

Behind them, the darkness began to stir with fierce winds again—the Black Bird was closing in.

Grey nodded, leveled his Long-handled Axe, activated a scroll, and charged toward the exit.

Jiu and Rom followed close behind, keeping a sharp lookout as they covered Grey.

Tao Lani watched her companions ahead and checked her wounds.

She felt they had nearly recovered.

As long as a Blood Demon had mana left in their body, even if you chopped them into pieces, they would regenerate.

Stretching her limbs, Tao Lani gripped her Holy Staff and caught up with her team.

Grey emerged from the cave, swinging his Long-handled Axe in a wide arc, shredding the bushes in front.

“Tch, damn it.”

A man scrambled out of the bushes, looking disheveled.

He wore an eyepatch over his left eye and was completely bald.

Du Yan Long held a crossbow.

His expression darkened when he saw the group.

“You’re the one who set the trap for us?”

The moment Grey saw him, rage flared.

He swung his axe toward Du Yan Long.

Seeing the attack, Du Yan Long quickly dodged to the side, raising his crossbow and firing at Grey.

A shield appeared around Grey.

Tao Lani rushed over, her Holy Staff glowing.

Du Yan Long saw this and muttered a curse, then shouted:

“Are you coming out or not? If you don’t, I’m going to get ganged up on!”

“Mm.”

A response came from nearby.

Everyone turned to look.

From under the shade of a tree not far away, another figure emerged—a man in a black robe.

Hei Pao Ren was completely wrapped in black robes, his face hidden by a hood.

The robe was decorated with white patterns—indecipherable, but Tao Lani’s instincts screamed danger.

“Who are you?”

Grey gripped his axe, asking warily.

“Who I am doesn’t matter.”

Hei Pao Ren waved a hand.

In the next instant, dozens of men dressed as bandits stepped out from the grass.

They carried all sorts of weapons, fixing hostile gazes on Tao Lani and the others.

A bolt of lightning struck from the sky, landing squarely in the middle of the bandits.

The moment the bandits appeared, Rom reacted.

Two streaks of lightning crashed down.

The lightning faded, but the bandits showed no change.

They still stood there, completely unharmed.

“A Mage.”

Rom saw the faint shimmer of light around the bandits and his voice turned low.

Hearing this, the others tensed up.

The enemy actually had a Mage, and from the looks of it, he was no weakling.

Being able to activate protection magic the instant Rom struck meant his reaction speed was extraordinary.

“Rom, if you had to fight him, what are your chances?”

Tao Lani stared at Hei Pao Ren and asked softly.

Before Rom could answer, Hei Pao Ren let out a cold laugh.

He raised his left hand and ordered the bandits to charge.

“Plotting your battle plan right in front of me? How naive!”

From his robe, he drew a pitch-black staff and mocked:

“When facing an enemy on the battlefield, you can’t afford to be distracted.”

Grey fended off the charging bandits, swinging his Long-handled Axe with a whoosh.

Jiu kept drawing her bow and firing arrows rapidly into the battle.

With each arrow shot, bandits fell to the ground one after another.

Seeing this, Hei Pao Ren showed no surprise.

Without even glancing at the fallen bandits, he casually waved his staff again.

Several layers of shimmering light appeared once more on the bandits.

As the light appeared, Grey swung his axe at the bandit in front of him.

The bandit took no damage at all—instead, he laughed and thrust his sword at Grey.

“That magic again.”

Rom was growing anxious.

He was in the middle of chanting and charging, unable to focus on protecting Grey.

Tao Lani acted quickly, summoning a shield to block in front of Grey.

This caught Hei Pao Ren’s attention.

He turned to Tao Lani with interest.

“Quick reaction. You seem to have some Spell Talent.”

Hei Pao Ren slowly faced Tao Lani, then raised his staff.

“In that case, I’ll deal with you first.”

With his movement, a powerful surge of mana erupted from his body, sweeping outward.

Feeling his overwhelming mana, Tao Lani’s expression shifted slightly.

This was going to be a troublesome opponent.

Hei Pao Ren waved his staff again.

The next moment, two giant spiders were summoned, crawling rapidly toward Tao Lani.

Before the spiders could reach her, two arrows whistled with the wind and pierced straight through their bodies.

Watching his spiders die, Hei Pao Ren remained calm.

He slowly waved his staff once more.

Two faint, ghostly white phantoms appeared beside him.

At his command, one phantom drifted toward Tao Lani, the other toward Jiu.

Their speed seemed incredibly slow.

Seeing the phantoms, Jiu fired two more arrows.

But this time, the arrows struck nothing solid—they passed straight through the phantoms.

“You can’t hit them. These phantoms aren’t physical.”

Hei Pao Ren said mockingly, watching the group.

Just then, Rom suddenly let out a loud roar, drawing everyone’s attention.