Chapter 97 - Everyone’s Target

However, they found nothing in sight.

Not only Qin Feng but the Dark-Robed Ripper was also nowhere to be seen.

‘Darn! How could we have lost two targets in an instance?’

‘We can’t let Qin Feng escape. He is a student of Chengbei University. He is not to join the evaluation next month.’

‘His potential is beyond the chart. He is going to disrupt the power balance in Chengyang at this rate. My uncle is one of the strongest candidates to run for mayor next term. We can’t afford to let him mature into our future threat.’

‘Damn you, Qin Feng. You should pay with blood for killing my underling!”

The members of the “search and kill” team might have a different purpose in mind but they all had one common target—to put an end to Qin Feng’s meteoric rise.

Nevertheless, none of them could locate Qin Feng.

They were not to be blamed. Most parts of the Zimu Mountains had now turned into bare lands. Rotting trees were consumed by dark runes and would soon turn into bewitched plants. This caused the Zimu Mountains to be stained by the black color of death. Both Qin Feng and the Ripper were dark ability users so they could conceal themselves in the environment without being noticed.

However, they could clearly sense each other. After all, they were almost equal in power, with Qin Feng perhaps slightly stronger overall since he was also an ancient warrior.

‘Let’s get this done quickly.’ With this thought in mind, Qin Feng pursued the Ripper with Bai Li on his side.

The Dark-Robed Ripper could sense the imminent danger and dashed toward the peak hastily.

At the mountain peak, the Emperor Knight was annoyed by the flies that had suddenly occupied the sky of his turf. Without its spear, the beast could no longer launch ranged attacks and thus it could only wait for its prey to come down.

The beast’s attention was distracted by the search team and it had also failed to realize the presence of the Dark-Robed Ripper in stealth mode.

‘Gotcha!’ Qin Feng sneered and intercepted the Ripper with his well-built body.

Bang!

The Dark-Robed Ripper took the hit and was bounced into the air. It landed hard on the ground and continued to roll down the hill before it was stopped by a giant tree.

Slash!

Qin Feng quickly followed up with his Verdant Emperor Saber.

He did not expect that the Ripper’s robe was also made of runes. It exploded into a dark mist as soon as the saber came into contact with it. Qin Feng felt like he had hit on a large pile of fluffy cotton instead of the Ripper’s body.

“Grrrr!”

The Dark-Robed Ripper was infuriated and evoked all its power.

Without being watched by drones, Qin Feng neither retreated nor evaded this time.

Though his saber was unable to cut through the Ripper, Qin Feng still had plenty of tricks up his sleeves.

Qin Feng retracted the saber and wrapped his hand around the robe.

“Absorb!” The dark runes of the robe disappeared into his palm under the effect of his innate ability.

With the mist protecting the Ripper gone, Qin Feng finally managed to grab its body.

“Asteroid Assimilation!”

This secret art not only could devour the enemy’s inner power but it also exerted ten times the force in return. The impact created by the two opposing forces was especially suffocating.

It was the Ripper’s arm that Qin Feng was gripping at the moment.

Poof!

The arm exploded under the grinding force. There was no blood but only flesh that burst into pieces along with the black robe.

‘Break!’

Qin Feng heaved and forcefully tore the remaining arm apart from the Ripper’s body.

The noisy battle did not go unnoticed. The ancient warriors on gliders finally discovered Qin Feng’s whereabouts and began to descend.

Not only that but the Emperor Knight had also sensed its demised comrade.

“Roar!!!”

The Emperor Knight was enraged. Its Umbra Stallion dashed through the air and entered the battle zone almost at the same time as the ancient warriors’ arrival.

“Stop the knight!” Liu Ba from Dongling colony bellowed yet he himself jumped on the Dark-Robed Ripper.

Nobody cared about the Emperor Knight right now. They were all here to take advantage of the dying Ripper.

‘Bunch of hooligans!’ Qin Feng triggered his inner force once again.

‘Asteroid Assimilation!’ Instantly, a vortex of energy appeared around Qin Feng.

“What the hell is this?”

None of the ancient warriors had experienced the power of Asteroid Assimilation before. They panicked and were horrified to find that their inner power was disappearing rapidly as if it were being sucked out by an external force.

Nonetheless, these were E-tiers with massive battle experience. They knew that this vortex was either Qin Feng or the Ripper’s doing. There was one simple way to escape the vortex, which was to back off until the edge of the affected area.

The E-tier aptitude users were indeed powerful enough to escape the strange whirlpool easily.

‘Too late!’ Qin Feng leered. He had foreseen the attack of the Emperor Knight.

Since no one was slowing down the knight, it charged in with its shield and knocked an ancient warrior out of its way.

The ancient warrior spilled blood but luckily it was not too serious. Even so, he had lost the ability and stamina to compete with others now.

Unfortunately, a ghastly figure suddenly appeared behind him.

“My dear sir, why did you gang up and attack me just now?” Qin Feng asked rhetorically.

The face of the fallen warrior paled rapidly. Before he could defend himself, Qin Feng had laid his hand on the warrior’s dantian.

Asteroid Assimilation!

His rich inner power was devoured by Qin Feng.

If the internal force of an F-tier ancient warrior was described as thin mist, then that of the E-tier ancient warrior was as thick as a sea of clouds.

Qin Feng digested the sea of clouds swiftly inside his own dantian and turned them into ten patches of energy mists. These, of course, were still not as dense as Qin Feng’s original energy mass.

Regardless, it was better than naught! This could greatly amplify his training speed.

“What have you done to me?” The E-tier ancient warrior was devastated after he realized that his dantian had been emptied and could no longer generate any internal strength.

“My respected senior, I only require your explanation. But since you are heavily injured, I will let it slide for now and we shall get to it when we are back in the base.” Qin Feng said righteously and turned to the others.

Those who had besieged him before were now being pursued by the Emperor Knight.

Qin Feng’s skill earlier on had critically derailed them. Yet, some of them were able to remain unharmed, such as Lin Zheng and Han Jian.

“Haha, good job, Qin Feng.” Han Jian laughed hysterically. He was here to stop the others but figured that he was not needed after all.

While Lin Zheng had restrained himself from making a move in front of Han Jian, he was not shameless to the point where he would publicly kill a comrade from the same colony.

“We have to kill the Emperor Knight together or none of us are going to get out alive!”

Liu Ba growled and charged in first. Others knew that what he said was true. If they were to still refuse to work together now, then the whole team might be annihilated. Hence, everyone cooperated and brought out their best attack.

These individuals were actually capable fighters but they were overwhelmed by the Emperor Knight before because each of them were fighting for their own lowly intentions.

Why had they given up on the Dark-Robed Ripper? Because the beast had once again blended into the dark surroundings and the ancient warriors had lost trace of it once more.