Chapter 197: Blood Crystal
Translator: Cynthia Editor: Lis
Although the beam of light was thin, it had devastating destructive power. Compared to it, the bloody light surrounding the ant was like fragile paper and was immediately pierced. The beam shot straight into the back of the ant, penetrating through it and out of its abdomen. Afterwards, there was a narrow yet deep hole left behind in the ground.
The blood-traced ant’s shrill scream resounded through the air. The bloody light stirred violently like water, and its cold, compound eyes turned scarlet.
A cloud of red mist erupted from Lou Lan’s spraying pipe. Though most of the mist evaporated upon contact with the bloody light, a small amount managed to bypass the light and reach the back of the ant.
The pepper water made with the new formula did not smell as spicy as before, but it was more effective.
With this attack, the ant began to roll frantically on the ground, tossing sand and detritus in all directions. Under its devastation, the rigid ground underneath it was fragile. Its eyes scarlet, blood from its abdominal wound spilled out and spread the sweet and fragrant smell of blood poison into the air.
In a flash, Ai Hui flew past the flying sand and detritus, the Dragonspine Inferno trembling slighitly in his hand.
His concentration was at its peak, and everything in his vision seemed to slow. He could even clearly note the trajectory of the detritus flying past his cheeks.
The rage in the blood-traced ant’s eyes was dying down, which indicated that the pepper water was losing effect.
There was an insufficient amount of pepper water, and even less reached the ant. Despite that, he felt fortunate that it worked. After all, the blood-traced ant was far larger than an ordinary blood ant.
The world around him was clearly reflected in Ai Hui’s mind. He knew he had only one chance.
[Big Dipper] was fully activated, and the elemental energy in his body was flowing at an unprecedented speed. The strand of elemental energy immediately took shape between his hand and foot palaces.
[Crescent Moon]!
Ai Hui used his most powerful killing move without hesitation.
A sword ray like moonlight flew out from his Dragonspine Inferno.
As soon as Ai Hui’s strike hit the ant’s body, nearly half of its back was cleaved off.
But it was not dead yet. Its bloody body dashed recklessly towards Ai Hui, driven mad from the severe pain of losing half of its back.
Seeing the ant rushing at him, Ai Hui used his tiptoes to retreat rapidly.
Ai Hui was fast enough, but he still smelled a sweet fragrance and watched as a bite rapidly came at him.
At that moment, a green twining twig extended from the ground and suddenly appeared in front of the ant.
In its mad dash, the ant was unprepared and lost its balance. Instead of rushing towards Ai Hui, it was rolling towards him now.
Good chance!
Ai Hui’s eyes lit up. The ingrate was making good progress. The trip was a small trick but proved effective with its timing. He grasped the chance and halted his retreat. Instead, he slashed at the rolling ant that approached him with the Dragonspine Inferno in his hand.
A snow-white spear shot at the ant with an imposing aura, like a white whale breaking the surface of clouds.
Shi Xueman shoved her Cirrus into the ant with amazing power before Ai Hui was able to.
Puff!
The spear once again pierced the blood-traced ant.
Nevertheless, Ai Hui’s expression twisted as he realized that the situation was not as good as they thought.
The ant, regardless of its injuries, hung onto the now-bloodstained white spear and crazily rushed at Shi Xueman. The scissor-like mandibles emitted sounds of sharp winds as they readied to bite into Shi Xueman’s arm.
Despite Shi Xueman’s adaptations to combat, she didn’t expect that even after incurring deadly injuries, the ant would still be able to attack them ferociously. Her face paled.
Bang!
In a flash of inspiration, Ai Hui’s slash became a slap. The Dragonspine Inferno was used as a stick and impacted the mandibles with great force.
Sparks flew in every direction!
Hand trembling, Ai Hui tightly gripped the hilt of the sword that almost ricocheted. Under the rebound’s power, he gave a muffled groan while he was sent flying backward. He originally intended to take advantage of the ant with a slash, but never did he expect for it to become a direct confrontation of power. He lost control of his body and was thrown into the sky.
Just as he was about to hit the ground, the spraying cart rushed to him.
"Ai Hui, Lou Lan is here!" Lou Lan said happily. As soon as Ai Hui heard this, his body immediately relaxed.
The spraying cart transformed into a sand net that caught Ai Hui precisely.
The sand net then turned into a palm that placed Ai Hui at the helm of the cart, which had previously been a spraying pipe.
The ant, on the other hand, was like a ball hit by Ai Hui and slid out of the Cirrus.
Shi Xueman was dumbstruck. She stared blankly at the blood-traced ant that was getting farther and farther away in the sky.
The spraying cart carried Ai Hui closer and stopped beside Shi Xueman, who was still absent-minded. Ai Hui said lightly, "Don’t get too close to a dying beast unless you want to die with it."
As soon as he saw Shi Xueman’s spear pierce the ant, he’d realized it was far from good.
Whether human or beast, the final attack before its dying breath was always the most ferocious and powerful because it carried the combined force of its hatred and desperation.
Then, turning his head, Ai Hui spoke highly of Duanmu Huanghun, "Hey ingrate, your move was really tactful."
Duanmu Huanghun’s face froze.
Ingrate….
He must’ve said that so loudly on purpose!
Duanmu Huanghun at once felt as though everyone was staring at him.
Damn it! Bastard!
Anger grew in Duanmu Huanghun, his blue veins standing out starkly against his temples. He wanted to rush at Ai Hui and bash his head with a brick many times, but as soon as he remembered that he really owed money to this bastard, he struggled to restrain his impulses.
He was a perfectionist, and he couldn’t bear a stain like this in his life. He had no problem starting a fight without any reason since he had done so many times, but he could never beat up a person to whom he owed money.
He hardened his resolve. As soon as he left this place, the first thing he’d do is pay off his debt.
And the first thing after that would be to beat this bastard to death.
Definitely! Undoubtedly!
Duanmu Huanghun clenched his fists tightly and visualized Ai Hui kneeling in front of him, wailing and whining bitterly. He immediately felt more at peace.
The supervising elementalist descended from the sky, and as soon as he landed, he staggered slightly.
His elemental energy was nearly consumed from the Light Binding Arrow.
"You’ve made another contribution." He glanced at Ai Hui, who had displayed courage and accurate timing in this battle. This student had managed to outperform him, a veteran.
Recalling that Ai Hui used to be a laborer in the Wilderness, he couldn’t help sighing for him.
He believed Ai Hui was born for fighting.
Troubled times were a disaster for most, but for a small number of people, it was the best stage.
They were born for this era.
That was the feeling Ai Hui gave him.
Thank you, sir, for your support," Ai Hui said with deep respect.
The light arrow carried a power that Ai Hui had never witnessed in his life. So long as it hit a critical point, the enemy was guaranteed to die. He remembered the inheritance of Sky Edge Division that Shi Xueman had once told him about and realized the power of the Thirteen Divisions that was beyond his expectations. He suddenly gained confidence. If an ex-serviceman of the Thirteen Divisions was so strong, how amazing would the fighting capability of the elite force be?
The powerful Thirteen Divisions against the Blood of God. They had a chance to win against them.
Perhaps the future of the Avalon of Five Elements was not as dim as he imagined.
He caught sight of the blood-traced ant in the distance. It sported fatal injuries but continued to twist bitterly on the ground. Everyone was amazed at its tenacious vitality. A sweet and extraordinarily tempting smell lingered in the air. Although the students were aware of the blood poison’s terror, they still became eager when they smelled the fragrance.
Devils always walked together with temptation.
Ai Hui and his teammates waited to approach it until they were certain it was dead and unmoving.
The ant’s blood clotted, and the fragrance in the air gradually dissipated.
"Ai Hui, the blood clot is becoming solid," Lou Lan said. A yellow light shined in his eyes.
Solid?
They were all surprised. Ai Hui found a small wooden stick and poked the clot with it.
Sure enough, the blood clots had completely solidified.
"It’s crystallization," Lou Lan said.
"Crystallization? What’s that?" Sang Zhijun asked.
"The nature of the blood clot is changing into a crystal," Lou Lan explained.
They could see that the clot was turning into a dark-red crystal that finally became as clear as a gem. Ai Hui knocked on it with the stick, producing a sound as if hitting against glass.
"Is it poisonous?" Ai Hui asked Lou Lan.
"No." Lou Lan shook his head.
Ai Hui’s eyes lit up and looked at the body of the blood-traced ant as if it was a dead dire beast. To him, this was a hill of gold. During his time in the Wilderness, he was fighting against dire beasts for the majority of the time, and each part of a dire beast was useful, including the hair, fur, flesh, bones, tendons, and organs.
In other words, there was not a single part that could not be exchanged for money.
Would the body of a blood fiend be of similar value?
Look at how clear the blood clot was! It had to be expensive.
"Sir, can we take the blood-traced ant’s body back for further study?" Ai Hui took the initiative.
The elementalist couldn’t help but laugh. "This is a blood crystal. We’ve found similar things after killing other blood-traced ants. Only they have blood that crystallizes, not the ordinary blood ants. The mayor’s residence has been studying it for some time, but the results show that it has nothing to do with our elementalists. The carapace of the blood ant is solid but becomes soft after its death, and the same with its bones and muscles—they easily become broken once the ant dies."
"Let us have a try, sir. Can we take it?" Ai Hui asked insistently.
"You can take it all." The supervising elementalist smiled generously. "We don’t know how to use it anyway. Don’t worry, after crystallization, the blood of the blood-traced ant is no longer poisonous. Maybe you’ll find a way to utilize it."
At once, Ai Hui said, "Thank you, sir," and quickly collected the blood crystals on the ground.
After retrieving all of them, he ordered the team to step forward. During the battle, the elementalist and Ai Hui were the ones to use the most energy, while the others were still hale. The supervising elementalist also remarked that there would only be one blood-traced ant within an area.
A blood-traced ant was like the king of an ant colony, and a king would always be lonely.
Shi Xueman commanded the team to continue tearingdown the houses.
To all onlooking students, the performance of the A-1 unit was shocking.