Chapter 8 Retreat, Monster Attack

"Yang Haochen... one of the school's Five Hidden Dragons," Chu Ling murmured softly, his tone heavy.

Yan Shuangling's brow furrowed. Gu Ye had also heard a bit about the Five Hidden Dragons of Yunlin Second High School. The two people beside him were two of them—not referring to Chu Ling; they were the five people in the entire second high school with the most potential to get into the Yanxia Imperial Capital University.

These five people, regardless of strength, background, or resources, far surpassed civilian Card Masters like them.

Gu Ye heard that they had broken through to Bronze Five-Star not long ago and could start creating their first bloodline card after the trial ended.

And Yang Haochen was most famous for his family's inherited Immortal Path card; his specific combat power was unfathomable.

As the three approached, Li Jie seemed to have found a backer and immediately pointed at Gu Ye, his voice trembling: "Cousin! It's this kid, Gu Ye! You must teach him a good lesson for me!"

Chu Ling looked at Gu Ye with a face full of confusion. Gu Ye explained in a low voice: "I gave him a slight lesson." Chu Ling understood instantly; with Gu Ye's current combat power, Li Jie was just unlucky to have run into him.

Yang Haochen looked at Ye Suxuan and Yan Shuangling: "Shall we fight first to decide the winner, or should each rely on their own abilities?"

In Yang Haochen's eyes, Chu Ling and Gu Ye were not worth fearing; only the two of them could slightly pique his fighting spirit.

After a flash of white light, Ye Suxuan took a weapon in her hand, her meaning already very clear. The others also used their cards one after another.

Yang Haochen said to the two behind him: "Leave those two women to me. You two deal with those two men."

Hearing his words, Li Jie and Tang De's faces instantly turned pale. They had just been taught a lesson; they couldn't even handle one of them, let alone two. It was too much to ask of them.

Li Jie still wanted to grab Yang Haochen to express his reluctance, his tears almost coming out, but he grabbed thin air. Yang Haochen summoned a card, and a flying sword darted into his palm like a bolt of silver lightning.

He pushed off the ground and leaped up, the blade piercing towards Yan Shuangling with a sharp whistling sound, but her card, Elegant Blade, was no pushover; it was a predator.

A Tang Dao glowing with a faint white light appeared out of thin air. "Clang!"

The crisp sound of clashing metal made the surrounding air vibrate slightly. Elegant Blade stood horizontally in front of her, easily blocking the flying sword.

Yang Haochen's pupils shrank as another whistling sound came from the right. Ye Suxuan appeared on his right at some unknown time, wearing armor full of technological flair, holding a Zhanmadao and quickly slashing at him, the wind from the blade making his long hair dance wildly.

He exerted force with his feet, immediately flying back to dodge the attack and landing steadily. His fingers gripping the flying sword tightened slightly as his gaze swept over the two. Yang Haochen's expression was grave: "It seems that as fellow members of the Five Hidden Dragons, none of you are easy to deal with!"

"Come out! The cooperation—I agree to it!"

As soon as Yang Haochen's voice fell, the field fell into a moment of stagnation.

Ye Suxuan and the others were wondering who he was talking to. Before his voice had even faded, a slender figure emerged like a ghost from the shadows of the church wall corner.

The person hiding was exactly one of the Five Hidden Dragons, Yue Daoyu. He chuckled softly: "A wise choice."

Before Ye Suxuan and Yan Shuangling could recover from their shock, a black dart suddenly shot from Yue Daoyu's fingertip towards Yan Shuangling. Fortunately, Ye Suxuan reacted in time.

The armor's propulsion device immediately sprayed a blue flame, and she quickly blocked the way. Sparks flew as the dart slammed hard into the armor's shoulder plate, leaving a small dent.

Ye Suxuan looked at him angrily: "Launching a sneak attack, are you!"

"Old Gu."

"Zhang Fei."

Gu Ye had been waiting for an opportunity since summoning Zhang Fei. After comparing the martial arts of both sides, Zhang Fei was the clear winner.

Trait [Skilled in Martial Arts and Riding] activated! Critical hit rate increased!

Skill [Roar I] activated!

"I am Zhang Yide, Man of Yan! Who dares to fight me to the death?" Yang Haochen, who was some distance away from them, was instantly restrained. His expression changed drastically:

"Yue Daoyu, stop them!"

Seeing this scene, Yue Daoyu immediately ordered his shadow to intercept Yan Shuangling and the other who were making a move. He thought he could breathe a sigh of relief.

But the two stood in the moonlight, the ridicule on their faces clearly visible. He immediately realized something was wrong. Just as he was about to turn his head to look, Yang Haochen's shrill scream came from behind him.

Yang Haochen's miserable state appeared in Yue Daoyu's sight; the hand he used to hold the flying sword had been sliced off directly by Zhang Fei.

Although this trial would end, as long as they could get out, they would receive treatment in the [Sacred Bathing Pod].

Under that powerful healing effect, this small injury was child's play, but the pain of a severed hand was not something these Card Masters who had just entered the Card Domain could bear.

The intense pain almost made Yang Haochen faint. Cold sweat kept pouring down, his eyes were bloodshot, and blood gushed from the severed hand. He hurriedly used spirit energy to seal his meridians to stop the bleeding.

"Don't move!"

The eighteen-foot serpent spear flashed with cold light, the tip of the spear like a venomous snake's tongue pressed against the other's throat. Yang Haochen knew he didn't dare kill him. Clutching his wound, he spoke weakly:

"We withdraw."

Gu Ye looked at his state. The right hand used for the sword was cut off; without the flying sword, he couldn't perform his other Immortal Path cards. He was no longer a threat, and Li Jie and the other were even less of a concern.

Gu Ye turned to look at Yue Daoyu. He was standing with his shadow, on guard against everyone. Only now did Gu Ye have a chance to recognize his card, Shadow. Its figure was almost identical to his own, faceless and formless.

Yue Daoyu was also cursing in his heart: "Where did this kid come from? How can his card be so bizarre?"

He smiled and was about to speak: "I..."

Before he could finish, a tiger's roar suddenly erupted, followed by the sound of wings flapping and air flowing from above. And it wasn't just one sound; there were countless sounds.

Several people looked up to see countless Bronze Rank-3 [Blood Bat Mecha] flying over the church, one of which was a giant Bronze Rank-7 [Blood Bat Mecha King].

On the church spire was a tiger-like creature. With the help of the moonlight, a giant tiger claw stepped out of the dark night, and a three-meter-tall Bronze Rank-8 [Double-Headed Black Tiger] roared at the sky.

Ye Suxuan's expression changed drastically: "Some of the monsters from the [Blood Fiend Mechanical Forest] have been summoned over by the [Gluttonous Ghoul]."

"To kill the [Gluttonous Ghoul], we have to deal with these monsters first. It hasn't appeared yet; it must be about to evolve." Yan Shuangling stood up and said:

"The Hidden Boss of the [Blood Fiend Mechanical Forest] is a very special existence. It is at its weakest and easiest to hunt when it first appears, but it usually hides during this time until it evolves into its second stage before appearing in the Card Domain."

Yan Shuangling added in passing: "When you first saw me fighting it, it was about to evolve into its final stage."

"Evolution." Hearing this word, Gu Ye knew that if they didn't quickly deal with these monsters, they would be in big trouble.

"Time is running out, let's start killing!" Gu Ye ordered Zhang Fei to take action.

"I'll handle those small fry; you guys go deal with those two bosses." After Chu Ling finished speaking, armor of the same style as Ye Suxuan's lit up with a blue glow and detached from him.

After a burst of "clack-clack" mechanical restructuring sounds, a pitch-black Gatling gun with a red-glowing barrel and white steam rising from it appeared before everyone.

[Namo Gatling Bodhisattva (Imitation)]!

"Six Roots of Purity Depleted Uranium Rounds, thirty-six hundred rounds per breath, Great Mercy and Compassion to Deliver All Sentient Beings."

Chu Ling murmured under his breath. At some point, he had pulled out a cigar and put it in his mouth. After lighting it and taking a deep breath, he looked like a tough, heroic man.

"Watch me deliver all sentient beings!" He roared, pouring spirit energy into the Gatling gun as if it cost nothing.

The Gatling gun's barrel instantly spun frantically, making a "vroom vroom" humming sound. One bullet after another, flashing with cold light, whistled towards the [Blood Bat Mecha] in the air, forming a dense fire net.

"Come on! You bastards! Hahahaha!" Chu Ling laughed wildly, firing with full force.

"Holy crap... is he trying to be that cool!"

Gu Ye was a little envious; he also wanted to be that cool.

The Gatling gun's strafing continuously took the lives of the [Blood Bat Mecha], and monsters kept falling from the sky. What Gu Ye didn't notice was that every time Chu Ling took a puff of the cigar, the spirit energy around him would recover slightly, just enough to compensate for the Gatling gun's massive spirit energy consumption.