Chapter 167: Surrounded

By the time Li Luo's cry to run had finished echoing around the woods, he was already long gone. Bai Mengmeng hurried after him, while Xin Fu vanished with a quick twist, streaking ahead of them like a wraith.

Their clean escape had thrown Ye Hua off. This Violet Vibrance squad thought really quickly...

"Where's your pride as a Violet Vibrance squad, damn it?!" he yelled after them. 

Shouldn't Li Luo be puffing out his chest and yelling that 30 wasn't enough to take him down or something? Could he have them all for himself or something? 

"Pride, my ass! Is pride worth any school points?!" Li Luo's voice came floating back to him. 

Ye Hua gnashed his teeth in frustration. "Let's chase them! If they escape, they'll come for revenge. None of us can stand up to that!"

The other Gold Gleam squads nodded vigorously. They had already made their move, so now they had no other choice but to see it through. Besides, if they could eliminate a Violet Vibrance team, it would give them bragging rights for a year. And wouldn't the Violet Vibrance mentors think them worthy of being taken in?

The dozen Gold Gleam squads gave chase in Li Luo's direction.

Seeing the dust clouds behind them, Li Luo cursed. "Damn, haven't these guys heard of respect for Violet Vibrance squads?"

Xin Fu's voice came back to him. "Leader, what about that banquet of slaughter you were mentioning?" 

Li Luo focused on putting one foot in front of the other, but he did make a mental note against this highly contrary squad mate. He would have Mengmeng prepare this guy a real banquet indeed.

Bai Mengmeng was the one who explained kindly. "You can't blame Leader, they have too many people. We might be able to take down a few, but they would wear us out. Besides, we don't know how many more reinforcements they have. That's why leaving was the smart choice. Isn't that right, Leader?"

"Er..."

Li Luo was stunned. Had he put that much thought into it? He had just felt overwhelmed by the sheer numbers and decided to avoid it.

"Erm, hem, yes, Mengmeng, you're absolutely right. As the leader, I have to display foresight. After all, our goal isn't just a few measly gold badges," Li Luo stated casually as he nodded. All was well, he pretended.

"Leader, you're so clever," Bai Mengmeng praised.

Xin Fu was a little suspicious. "Are we going to just keep running?"

Li Luo kept an eye behind them. "Perhaps not... That's, like, over a thousand school points right there. Since they've kindly gathered themselves, wouldn't you say that's a chance?"

Xin Fu almost ran into a tree. Was Li Luo thinking of taking on a dozen Gold Gleam squads?

Their pursuers had an overwhelming numbers advantage, and there were some quality fighters among them as well. Even though their squad was individually stronger, they would be dragged down by the shoal of piranhas in such conditions.

"Xin Fu, use your cloaking skills. Go ahead and scout the terrain. If you see any place with both a forest and a creek, let me know immediately," Li Luo ordered.

Xin Fu was silent this time. With a quick twist of his body, he sped ahead as a shadowy blur. His speed far outclassed Li Luo's own.

"Shadow resonance, eh."

Li Luo marveled. Xin Fu was really assassin material, a born scout. Shadow resonance was the perfect lurk role, striking from the shadows at defenseless opponents. Its only weakness was a full frontal assault.

"Mengmeng, make an illusion of Xin Fu so they don't know we're one short.

"Also, let's slow down a little. Give them the impression they're gaining on us."

Bai Mengmeng immediately complied, her starlight power twinkling forth to create a shadowy figure by their side.

They took off again.

All of this was watched by the five Violet Vibrance mentors on the high platform.

Of course they would be interested in the Violet Vibrance squads.

"This Li Luo. I feel like I've seen him present his bum to his opponents more often than his face," Cao Sheng hooted mirthfully.

"Well, it's not his fault. Ye Hua is a capable one, being able to persuade so many Gold Gleam squads to follow him in such a short time. There’s potential right there,” Chu Zi said appreciatively.

Chi Chan shook her head, bothered. Li Luo's team was unlucky. The other four Violet Vibrance squads had free reign, facing no united opposition.

She glanced over at Shen Jinxiao, who was sipping his tea with a satisfied expression.

He had not said anything, but Chi Chan knew that he was watching. Perhaps he was waiting for Ye Hua's army to take out Li Luo's squad.

She turned back to watch the battlefield.

“Li Luo, do your best! I'm still waiting for you to get the 12 Step Weave and throw it in Shen Jinxiao's face. If you let me down, I'll let you have it real good.”

...

Li Luo had been running for about a quarter of an hour.

Ye Hua and gang were being very patient about it. Or rather, perhaps they understood that once Li Luo and the others got away, their alliance would quickly crumble and internal fighting would start. That would be the perfect time for Li Luo to swoop in and take them all down.

So there was no other way but to commit. They had to get Li Luo's Violet Vibrance squad eliminated first!

They chased grimly. Finally, they saw the trio ahead vanish into a patch of forest, probably intending to lose them in the confusing terrain.

The other Gold Gleam squad leaders called out to him. "Ye Hua, what should we do?" 

He thought about it for a few moments. "We can't give up now. Chase on. This patch of forest is not very wide. We can surround them inside."

"I suggest we form groups of three Gold Gleam squads. Keep within distance to support each other. If we hold to our formation, they don't stand a chance to break us!

"If they want to attack, we just need to hold them off until the others come to cut them off!"

The others nodded.

All the Gold Gleam teams who had managed to chase this far were clearly quite strong, and they had ambition. They would not pass up on the chance to defeat a Violet Vibrance squad.

Most importantly, if they gave up now, it would be an open invitation for Li Luo and the others to descend on them like a vengeful spirit.

Decision made, they fanned out quickly and rushed into the forest ahead.

They spread out into smaller groups and weaved swiftly through the trees.

Very quickly, Ye Hua's group found the tracks of Li Luo's squad. He immediately gestured, and a dozen resonance art attacks flew out towards the position of the three.

Boom!

Head-sized craters peppered the ground.

Ye Hua stared in dismay. Their attacks had passed clean through the three figures.

Which then vanished.

"An illusion?" he croaked.

"Where are they?!" At that moment, another squad raised the alarm.

"They're there!" Ye Hua cried. "Quick, let's go!"

The Gold Gleam squads swarmed over.

A moment later, their surround was complete. They stealthily crept towards the vegetation ahead, but they only spotted a draining puddle of water.

Another group to the west raised the alarm.

Ye Hua and the others rushed over.

But when they arrived panting and out of breath, it was only to see three more disappearing figures.

"Damn it, they're toying with us!" Ye Hua shouted.

Thanks to the repeated false alarms, their surround formation had now been properly shaken up.

"That cunning Li Luo!"

Ye Hua was starting to feel uneasy. Their surround was looking rather shaky.

Suddenly, more and more teams started raising the alarm around them. Which meant that all of the teams had met with illusions as well and had sent up the signal for support before confirming things.

It was hard to blame them for panicking. Without an overwhelming advantage in numbers, the Gold Gleam squads were food.

"We're losing it!"

Ye Hua watched his orderly formation start to fray. The Gold Gleam squads were not listening properly now.

Finally, he made his decision.

"Retreat! Don't linger here, our encirclement has failed!"

Not caring about the other Gold Gleam squads, he led his own squad out.

Meanwhile, in a secret location, Li Luo listened to the sweet sounds of false and panicked alarms being raised all around him.

He looked at his squad and cracked his neck and loosened his limbs.

"Well then, next up is us..."