Chapter 37: The Aggregate

After the crowd nimbly cleared a space, Li Weixuan unbuckled the sword at his waist.

A peak Tier 4 swordsman—his strike was not to be taken lightly.

With a crisp, dragon-like hum, the longsword left its scabbard. There was no brilliant flash of light, nor was it as lightning-fast as one might have expected. Li Weixuan’s sword tip moved as if it were bearing the weight of a mountain, pressing slowly against the barrier.

In that moment, everyone seemed to hear a thunderous roar from the heavens.

When the roaring subsided, sword energy surged outward, and those standing nearby were sent flying by the violent blast of air. Everyone instinctively looked toward the point where the blade had made contact.

This...

The invisible barrier remained unscathed; there was not a single crack, not even the slightest tremor. This strike, which should have been capable of sundering anything, had failed to elicit even a ripple.

How could this be?

*Snap!*

A series of brittle sounds echoed. Cracks like a spiderweb appeared on the longsword in Li Weixuan’s hand, followed by it shattering into fragments the size of fingernails. The power of that single strike was too great for the weapon itself to withstand.

If even an attack of this caliber was insufficient to break the barrier, were they truly trapped here to die?

Everyone looked at each other, an uncontrollable sense of despair rising in their hearts. Was it truly impossible?

Standing to the side, Fu Qian sighed. Although he had instinctively felt it wouldn't be that simple, the fact that such a terrifying blow had left no mark at all was still shocking. It almost certainly meant that this thing could not be broken by force and that other methods would be required.

Li Weixuan stared at his broken sword, dazed for a moment. Never in his career had he encountered such a bizarre situation.

"Try the top."

Someone in the team shouted.

Right! The top!

This suggestion reminded many that the barrier might not cover every direction; perhaps they could bypass it from above. One member of the team, whose weapon was a bow, immediately unslung it, notched an arrow, and aimed at the sky.

Fu Qian stood by, watching the developments quietly. He did not tell them he had already tested it with air bullets. Trying more options never hurt.

*Snap!*

Predictably, the expensive arrow soared through the air, climbed a short distance, and then slammed into an invisible barrier, snapping into several pieces.

...

The light in everyone’s eyes dimmed rapidly. The archer hesitated, then pulled out another arrow and aimed in a different direction.

Another wall.

Another arrow...

By the time the quiver was empty, someone stepped forward and held the archer’s trembling hand. The ground was littered with broken arrowheads. The only takeaway was the confirmation that the barrier grew higher toward the edges, roughly forming an arched dome.

Li Weixuan had regained his composure by now. This exploration mission could not continue. Just as he was about to issue an order, a series of clear, crisp chimes rang out in the distance.

"Follow me."

Everyone was startled. Li Weixuan issued the command decisively and was the first to bolt forward. Those were the Academy’s specialized arrow-bells, used exclusively by students to signal for help when in danger.

There were two more teams in the ruins!

Seeing Li Weixuan dash away, the students scrambled to keep up. They couldn't get out, and there were eerie monsters inside; following Dean Li was the safest option regardless of the situation.

"Thank you!"

As she passed by Fu Qian, Ji Liushuang tilted her head and whispered her thanks. If not for Fu Qian’s warning, no one would have realized the team had been trapped in a desperate situation so early on. While they still had no clue how to escape, being prepared in advance was always better.

Fu Qian nodded without speaking, accepting the thanks with a clear conscience. He had even helped her deal with an assassin along the way.

The others were not as graceful as Ji Liushuang. Most of them had held some resentment toward Fu Qian, and for a group of twenty-somethings, swallowing their pride to offer thanks or apologies was difficult. Fortunately, with Li Weixuan’s orders, the group buried their heads and marched on, running with all their might, subconsciously trying to put distance between themselves and Fu Qian.

To their despair, they soon realized that no matter how fast they ran, Fu Qian remained right there, showing no signs of being left behind.

They had forgotten that this guy was a Tier 6 transcendent!

The sight made them realize the truth: he was a genuine mid-tier powerhouse. Thinking they could shake him off was, frankly, a sign of a lapse in judgment.

Luckily, the distance wasn't great, and the awkward journey soon ended. When they arrived, they saw Li Weixuan, who looked like a god, using his hand as a blade to whip out dozens of sword beams from all directions at... a hand?

Indeed, Li Weixuan’s target was an enormous palm, densely covered in dozens of fingers. Surrounded by these many fingers, the palm moved with incredible speed; each finger was like a spear, darting in and out, sending rubble flying.

Li Weixuan’s indestructible sword energy instantly severed a cluster of fingers, tearing open shocking, gaping wounds. Struck by this heavy blow, the hand trembled violently, yet no blood flowed from it. Sensing Li Weixuan’s prowess, the remaining fingers skittered across the ground, quickly ducking into a pile of rocks and vanishing in the blink of an eye.

How disgusting!

The form of that creature dealt a psychological blow to everyone present. It wasn't until Li Weixuan landed that they finally snapped back to reality. The team under attack was the second group, and unfortunately, they weren't as lucky as the first; by the time Li Weixuan arrived, two members had already perished at the hands of the palm.

"Action halted. Everyone rejoin the group. Send a signal for the remaining team to come over."

Faced with this, Li Weixuan’s expression was as cold as iron as he issued the orders. Things were spiraling out of control; a routine exploration mission had resulted in casualties. The finger-creature was severely wounded, but it was not dead.

Of course, the most terrifying predicament was not this, but the barrier outside.

Li Weixuan immediately went to check on the injured. In the short time it took, word of their entrapment had been relayed to the team that had been attacked.

The entire ruin was sealed off by an unbreakable barrier?

The rescued team, whose spirits had slightly recovered, saw their morale plummet once more.

"We were resting when that hand suddenly lunged out. Senior Brother Wang was killed instantly. We tried everything to fend it off and found a chance to fire the arrow-bell..." a wounded girl described the event in a rush.

"Not a hand. To describe it accurately, it should be a collection of arms."

Fu Qian tossed something onto the ground. It was one of the "fingers" Li Weixuan had severed. Some had rolled under the cliff, while others were scattered about. He had been the first to observe them and had discovered something intriguing.

"Here, look closely at the tips."

Are you a pervert?

The crowd took a moment to realize what he had tossed on the ground and were all startled. It was such a repulsive thing, and he had nearly thrown it at them.

"This is an arm, not a finger."

Ji Liushuang’s expression was grim as she poked at the mass of flesh. Only then did the group see the true nature of the thing. The "giant fingers" they had seen earlier actually had another five fingers at their tips! These five fingers were the size of a normal human's, though they were now withered like chicken claws.

*Ugh!*

Finally, someone couldn't hold it in and began to retch.