Chapter Forty: Casualties

Forcing himself to resist the urge to turn and observe, Chen Qi slashed at the incoming shadow.

This time, no less than seven shadows descended upon him: two above his head, three at his upper body, and two at his lower body, all arriving almost simultaneously.

Holding his breath, Chen Qi felt the tension and stimulus as danger swept over his skin, and activated his skill, Focus Burst.

He had intended to save this skill for the most crucial moment—his senior was still dozens of breaths away from breaking free—but he realized he would never withstand this wave without it. In other words, the third round of attacks had already pushed him to the brink.

Though he had used it many times before, this time the pressure was greatest, the sense of peril most intense—one man against seven foes!

Feeling his nerves ignite anew, the energy around him became vividly clear. Chen Qi narrowed his eyes.

All his fear, anxiety, and ominous premonitions collapsed into a single point.

For a brief moment, Chen Qi forgot his wounds, his teammates nearby, the swarm of buzzing bees not far off; the world consisted only of himself and the seven gusts.

His awakened mind raced with thoughts. At last, he understood why the skill was called Focus Burst; previously he had thought the name crude and brash, but now, he found its true essence.

“The first one, half an inch left of the brow.”

A breath burst from his chest, and the pale red longsword he had already swung accelerated in a diagonal sweep. In a hair’s breadth, Chen Qi blocked the first Blood God Bee, sending it flying with a forceful strike.

Without a pause, the sword shifted downward like a drifting red shadow, its blade angled before his chest, as if a Blood God Bee had impaled itself upon it.

Seeing this, Chen Qi’s expression remained unchanged, and his right hand let go of the sword hilt!

The blood-charged blade fell, striking precisely the Blood God Bee attacking his groin.

“The fourth one, two inches above the right knee.”

Chen Qi’s right hand drew a semicircle, seizing the longsword at his right thigh just as it fell. In an instant, his wrist twisted, the blade stood upright, and with no hesitation, he maneuvered it to his left chest.

Right thigh, abdomen, left chest—three incoming Blood God Bees were skewered on the sword’s tip, resembling a bizarre string of candied fruit.

“The seventh one, left temple!”

Using the upward momentum of the sword, Chen Qi stepped back with his left foot, pressed forward with his right shoulder, twisting his body to the side.

It was at this moment that the icy venomous stinger grazed past his left temple; his heightened nerves could sense the mad, deadly energy of the venom just half an inch away!

The longsword became saturated with blood energy, its red aura roasting the struggling Blood God Bees into crisps.

From strike to sidestep, all took but 1.2 seconds—five Blood God Bees dead, one wounded!

Twisting around, Chen Qi finally saw the scene behind him: a shifty-eyed outer disciple covered in seven or eight Blood God Bees, clutching the already-used Cloud Sea Sword Seal. Nearby lay several bee corpses, cleaved in two by sword energy.

The bees crawling over him still wriggled, trying to drive their stingers deeper. Strangely, the disciple’s expression of pain faded, replaced by an almost ethereal look of comfort.

With a slap, he collapsed, a hint of satisfied smile lingering on his face.

Seeing the breach in the small formation, the Blood God Bees at the perimeter stirred restlessly. Chen Qi’s heart sank—if they were attacked from both sides, each person could face a dozen assaults simultaneously, and the entire squad would soon be wiped out.

Yet the next wave of Blood God Bee attacks was already ready. Enhanced senses allowed Chen Qi to faintly detect the incoming force.

While his skill was still active, Chen Qi narrowed his eyes, attempting to re-enter that marvelous state.

But perhaps due to unsettled thoughts, he failed. The Blood God Bees' stingers were already before his eyes.

He exhaled a disappointed breath and swung his sword with all his might.

As the skill’s duration ended, he channeled his blood energy onto the Crimson Blood Longsword, fully energizing the blue-grade weapon. The heated aura drove the blood energy into a frenzy.

Gripping the sword with both hands and utilizing his strengthened hand nerves, Chen Qi spun the blade into a fiery whirlwind, smashing two Blood God Bees to pieces. Those farther away hesitated to advance, deterred by the heat.

Out of the corner of his eye, Chen Qi saw a blue treasure chest appear beside a bee corpse he had slain, and a notification seemed to come from the Budding Space.

But he had no time to attend to it—he only wished to wound a few more bees before the skill faded.

Behind him, Blood God Bees finally swarmed through the breach, choosing their targets by proximity, buzzing as they stabbed toward the back of Ao’s right hand...

On the other side of the breach stood a tall outer disciple, his blood energy surging to the limit, as if cloaked in a layer of blood.

Within this blood cloak, the forward charge of the bees was somewhat slowed. Armed with a two-meter-long green spear, he was faring best among the group, his body barely wounded.

Seeing his comrade fall, his expression changed sharply, but he quickly made a decision, moving toward the breach, hoping his vibrant blood energy would seal it...

The time for Focus Burst had long passed. Relying on the memory of blood energy flow from the skill, Chen Qi struggled to maintain the energy on his sword.

Thanks to everyone’s desperate efforts, Chen Qi sensed the Blood God Bee swarm around them thinning; this allowed him to repel two more waves of bees from the front, and his attention shifted behind.

As he turned, his pupils contracted at the sight:

A tall figure stood at the breach, blocking it. Each shadowy attack dimmed his blood energy a little more. Now, the blood cloak was nearly gone, and the green spear was covered in bees, some still twitching.

Beside him, Ao was in worse shape. Bees infiltrating through the breach drove their stingers into the back of his arm; a quick glance showed seven or eight thick stingers embedded.

Ao’s face shifted between pale and dark, enduring the pain. His sword, infused with blood energy, still stabbed forward with effort.

“Ah!”

Chen Qi exhaled the foul air from his chest, sighed lightly, and his crimson sword flashed—its target: Ao’s sword-wielding right arm!

The arm snapped off, the sword and right arm flying, carrying nearly ten Blood God Bees entangled in flesh.

Without waiting for Ao’s reaction, in a flash, Chen Qi stepped forward, his blade slashing repeatedly at the flying arm.

The Crimson Blood Longsword hacked the arm into a mass of ruined flesh, incinerating the bees along with it.

“My arm! My sword arm!”

As Chen Qi sheathed his blade, he heard a dreadful scream, so piercing it seemed to shatter the sky, surpassing even the cries of apes, like a curse from a ghost of the nine hells.

Then he saw Ao’s face twisted, tinged with the pallor of death. Blood spurted from the stump, but Ao ignored it, howling in pain, his left arm feebly beating his chest.