96: Ambush by the Martial Alliance Association

"They... are killing each other?"

Lin Qianqian gasped.

Su Lei squatted down and turned over a corpse.

The deceased's facial expression was twisted into extreme terror, his eyes wide open, and his pupils had turned crystalline blue.

"Mental pollution," he said in a low voice, "Some kind of power has affected their minds."

The spectrum analyzer in Liu Hongyan's hand suddenly let out a sharp alarm.

"Captain! High-intensity Mental Energy fluctuations are approaching! The reading is more than ten times higher than a Shadow Blade wolf!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the ground began to tremble slightly, and tiny crystal fragments bounced on the ground.

The crystal cluster forest in the distance suddenly collapsed in swathes, as if an invisible giant beast was rampaging through it.

On the tactical tablet screen, the red dot representing the Mental Energy fluctuation was approaching them at an alarming speed.

Su Lei's eyes narrowed, "Prepare for battle!"

The squad quickly formed a defensive formation, every person's nerves taut.

Deep within the crystal cluster forest, a massive silhouette gradually became clear.

Seconds later, it burst through the last crystal cluster barrier and appeared before everyone.

It was a five-meter-tall humanoid creature, entirely composed of translucent blue crystals, with a pulsating heart-shaped core suspended within its chest cavity.

The most terrifying part was its head; it had no facial features, only hundreds of densely packed human eyes, each constantly rotating, looking in different directions.

"Yao Beast, Hundred-Eyed Crystal Demon..." Su Lei's voice uncharacteristically carried a hint of solemnity, "It seems to be the source of the Mental Energy pollution."

The crystal core in the giant's chest suddenly flashed violently, and hundreds of eyes simultaneously locked onto the squad members.

Lin Qianqian felt the world spin, and countless unfamiliar memories drilled into her mind like venomous snakes—

She saw herself kneeling at Lei Qianjue's feet, her forehead bleeding;

She saw her father, Lin Xiaotian, being eaten alive by a Yao Beast;

The most terrifying thing was Su Lei's always calm face, which was now giving her a cruel sneer...

"No... this isn't real..." She shook her head desperately, her fingernails digging deep into her palms, but she couldn't escape the illusions.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Wang Kai had already fallen to his knees, his hands tightly clutching his own neck.

The Zhao brothers were wrestling fiercely, their faces contorted.

Zhou Mingyuan held a tactical dagger, its tip pointed at Liu Hongyan's back...

"Clang—!"

The sound of metal clashing echoed through the crystal forest.

Su Lei's palm-blade, wreathed in a blazing golden light, struck the Crystal Demon's right shoulder.

The power of that single blow shattered all the crystal armor on half of the Crystal Demon's body, sending crystal shards raining down like a storm.

The team members awoke as if from a dream, looking at each other in horror.

Lin Qianqian's tactical uniform was completely soaked in sweat, Wang Kai had purplish-black finger marks on his neck, and the Zhao brothers' combat uniforms were torn to shreds by each other.

"Everyone, fall back!" Su Lei ordered, slowly stepping forward at the same time, "This is not an enemy you can handle."

The Crystal Demon seemed enraged, its chest core erupting with dazzling blue light, and hundreds of eyes simultaneously shed crystal tears.

The teardrops condensed into countless sharp crystal spears in mid-air, raining down on Su Lei!

Just as the crystal spears were about to hit their target, his figure suddenly blurred.

Each step precisely landed in the gaps between attacks, his black trench coat leaving streaks of afterimages in the air, and not a single spear could touch the hem of his clothes!

Everyone behind him was momentarily stunned.

Su Lei almost turned into an afterimage amidst the hail of spears, arriving in front of the Crystal Demon in an instant.

His right hand once again formed a sword with his fingers, but this time the golden light condensed at his fingertips was several times more intense than before!

The moment that sword-finger struck the Crystal Demon's core, time seemed to stand still for a second.

"Click."

After a faint cracking sound, the Crystal Demon's massive body suddenly froze.

Starting from the core, spiderweb-like black cracks instantly spread across its entire body.

Those horrifying human eyes burst one after another, and crystalline blue viscous fluid rained down.

"Boom—"

The five-meter-tall crystal giant collapsed with a crash, shattering into a pile of smoking crystal debris.

Su Lei slowly reined in his stance, the golden light at his fingertips gradually extinguishing.

When he turned around, not a speck of dust had touched his black trench coat.

Dead silence enveloped the crystal forest.

Everyone stared at this scene dumbfounded, even forgetting to breathe.

This was a Yao Beast!

A monster that usually required three Grandmasters to deal with, killed in just two simple moves?

If it hadn't happened right before their eyes, they wouldn't have believed it even if they were beaten to death!

In an instant, everyone couldn't help but look at Su Lei, their gazes filled with an indescribable awe.

Liu Hongyan swallowed hard, her peripheral vision scanning the tactical tablet.

She suddenly let out an exclamation.

The reading representing Mental Energy suppression was rapidly decreasing.

"Mental Energy... recovered?" She looked up in disbelief, meeting Su Lei's unfathomable gaze.

Su Lei's face showed no joy of victory, but rather an unprecedented solemnity.

He turned his head to look at the peak of the snowy mountain and said in a deep voice, "Rest quickly."

"The real test has just begun."

...An hour later, the majestic snowy mountain was close at hand, and a bone-chilling cold permeated the air.

"Maintain formation, prepare for battle."

Su Lei's voice was directly transmitted into everyone's minds through the Mental Energy link.

The squad tacitly adjusted their formation; outwardly they seemed unprepared, but in reality, everyone's nerves were taut.

When they rounded the last crystal cluster barrier, the sight before them made Wang Kai gasp.

More than thirty Martial Artists from the Martial Alliance blocked the center of the mountain path in a fan shape.

Lei Qianjue, who was leading them, wore an immaculate purple-gold battle robe and was leisurely toying with a crystal compass.

Behind him were three Grandmasters with powerful Auras.

The old man on the left had palms as red as branding irons, on the right was Chen Xuan, who carried a seven-foot-long green sword on his back, and the one in the middle had light, floating steps as if treading on clouds.

Three Grandmasters!

"This is quite a surprise. I didn't expect you to make it this far."

Lei Qianjue's lips curved into a confident smile.

"Su Lei, does the scenery of this snowy mountain please your eyes?"

As soon as he finished speaking, thirty Martial Masters spread out like a tide, surrounding Su Lei's squad.

There were no shouts, no taunts, only thirty pairs of cold eyes and thirty slowly unsheathing weapons.

Lin Qianqian's fingertips trembled slightly.

Everyone else's expressions were also extremely solemn.

Su Lei looked around expressionlessly, his gaze finally resting on Lei Qianjue.

"You stopped here half an hour ago."

"What? Are you afraid to go up?"

"Joke." Lei Qianjue let out a cold laugh.

"Although I'm not sure why the Mental Energy's shackles suddenly disappeared, this has helped us a great deal."

He glanced at the black-robed Mental Energy Master who had fainted from excessive Mental Energy consumption.

"Although he's a waste, he did help us locate the star marrow."

"To avoid any accidents... you'd best die here."

He suddenly looked at Lin Qianqian, his gaze slithering over her like a poisonous snake.

"Su Lei, I can give you a chance to live."

"Have this Miss Lin strip naked and crawl over to beg me, and if this Young Master is in a good mood..."

"Perhaps I can spare your lives."

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