Chapter 403: Coco’s Deterrence (2/2)

“They’re not bad if they’re able to keep up with us to this point.” Lu Yin glanced behind.

Feng Shang looked back as well. “One’s from the tabloid, and another’s from Shamrock Enterprises. The last is unknown.”

Kuang Wang glanced back. “It’s the spirit hunters.”

These words caught Lu Yin’s attention, as the spirit hunter teams had always existed in the trial zones. These groups were mostly formed from members of the great powers, but they did not bother with the training grounds. Instead, they focused on hunting down war spirits.

“What’s their goal?” Coco asked.

Kuang Wang replied, “To hunt down war spirits, but no one knows why. Before I came to the Astral Combat Academy, the Divine Grade Hall ancestor told me that if I couldn’t fight for the position of the academy leader, then I should form a spirit hunter team.”

“He didn’t tell you why you should hunt the war spirits?” Lu Yin asked.

Kuang Wang shook his head. “I’ve heard that it’s related to the trial zone’s inheritance, but despite so many years passing, I’ve never heard of anyone obtaining any inheritance from hunting war spirits. At most, the hunters will get to experience the battle techniques of former powerhouses. There are many inheritances in the trial zones, and one can encounter them just by roaming around. So logically, there should be no need to specially hunt the war spirits.”

“It should be related to the actual phenomenon. The formation of the war spirits involves the trial zone’s greatest inheritance. Everyone wants to obtain it, so investing effort towards it isn’t a waste,” Feng Shang said.

Lu Yin looked at the spirit hunter team. They did not know the reason behind their actions, but he did. They were definitely hunting the war spirits to better sense the Rune Technology that the trial zones were created with. They were trying to use this method to obtain the Rune Technology’s inheritance. However, their method was not very productive. Instead, it would be better to directly ascend the Sky Platform. Of course, even the student leaders weren’t capable of doing that, so there was no need to consider the spirit hunters. It was a rigid method, but it was also the only method.

Those ancestors from great powers had instructed their members to form spirit hunter teams, so did that mean that they also knew about the Rune Technology Civilization?

A day passed, but the shore of the Ocean of Death still could not be seen. Despite that, Xia Luo still looked fine, seemingly not at all affected by the ocean’s dissolving effects.

Feng Shang and Kuang Wang exchanged shocked looks, as they had been discussing who would replace Xia Luo next. But now, they had discovered that Xia Luo did not need anyone to replace him, which was quite strange. This person’s power definitely surpassed the other students’.

They had not paid much attention to Xia Luo, as it was very normal for a few students in the Astral Combat Tournament to be able to rival Area Masters. However, they now had to reevaluate their view of Xia Luo, as a normal Area Master was not capable of this.

At this point, there were only two boats still following behind Lu Yin’s group. One was Shamrock Enterprises’, and the other was the spirit hunters’. Wu Da’s group was nowhere to be seen.

“It’s beginning,” Kuang Wang warned sternly.

They all looked at him.

“The illusions are about to start,” Kuang Wang warned.

Coco was afraid, and she leaned up against Zora.

Lu Yin’s eyes flashed, and he started silently reciting the Stonewall Scriptures. He had long since developed a habit of reciting the Stonewall Scriptures whenever he encountered an unpredictable situation, as this strange scripture often had mysterious effects.

A wave passed through the void, causing Lu Yin and the rest to look behind them. The boat belonging to the spirit hunters gradually disappeared; a war spirit had appeared beside them.

Their team was definitely not weak, as one of them was at least as strong as an Area Master. However, they still found it hard to defend against the war spirit since it had the strength of a Realm Master.

In this region of the Ocean of Death, it was quite common to encounter a powerful war spirit.

The boat carrying the team from Shamrock Enterprises was the closest to the war spirit, and Lu Yin and the others helplessly watched on as the war spirit attacked them. Tu Bo attacked the spirit first, but his attack passed right through the war spirit before fading into nothingness.

“It’s an illusion!” Kuang Wang shouted in a deep voice.

They were all shocked and looked back again. The spirit hunters’ boat was unscathed, but the other students were looking at Lu Yin’s group with strange expressions. On the other side, Shamrock Enterprise’s boat showed no abnormalities either.

Lu Yin frowned. If that was an illusion, did that mean that the Stonewall Scriptures were useless as well?

“In that illusion just now, if Tu Bo had not attacked, what would have happened?” Xia Luo asked.

Kuang Wang’s eyes went sharp. “One of us would have died.”

Coco’s face turned deathly white.

Lu Yin’s brows rose. “A transferred attack?”

Kuang Wang replied, “I don’t know. I’ve been to the Ocean of Death multiple times, and I’ve encountered such a situation before. The illusion seemed to attack Tu Bo, but it was actually attacking one of us. If a person is struck by the illusion, then the spiritual force of that person will be completely eradicated, and they will die.”

Zora hugged Coco, as girls were more inclined to be uncomfortable in such strange scenarios. Zora then unconsciously looked far across the Ocean of Death, as she wanted to see if the end was in sight. The moment she turned her head, a pair of bloodshot eyes appeared right next to her and intently stared back at her.

Fresh blood flowed down from the eyes and onto Zora’s hand. The blood was cold, and Zora’s entire body was frozen. Her pupils shrank to pinpricks, and she shrieked in terror.

Lu Yin and the rest looked over, but they saw nothing.

Coco also jumped in fright, and she reflexively hugged Zora. “Sister Zora, what happened?”

Everyone else also looked at Zora.

Zora was still in a panic, and her pupils flickered as she panted raggedly. Her pale face was completely drained of blood. “I- I saw a pair of bloody eyes.”

Kuang Wang replied. “It was an illusion. Remember, you must defend yourself against any illusion’s attack. If you freeze, you’ll only find death awaiting you.”

Lu Yin frowned tightly. This was troublesome. Was there no way to sense the illusions before they appeared?

He suddenly thought of something. Star energy surged into both of his eyes as he looked at the Ocean of Death. Now, the ocean transformed into countless rune lines, and many were gradually converging behind Coco.