Surviving in the chaos of war begins in the wilderness.

Chapter 80 Successful Escape

By this time, Zhou Ye had a much better understanding of the three men's strength. They had indeed reached a certain level of cultivation, and their martial arts skills were quite good; among ordinary martial arts school disciples, they could be considered outstanding. They might even be frequent winners in sparring matches. But they lacked much experience in life-or-death combat.

Even the least experienced was Senior Brother Liu, who seemed to have no idea what was happening. On the contrary, Senior Brother Huang, the Swift Swordsman, turned around and attacked first, his slender sword already aimed at Zhou Ye's left chest, trying to rescue the Junior Brother with the Heavy Swordsmanship.

Of course, the difference in strength between the two sides was not that great. In order to ensure that one of them was killed first, Zhou Ye could no longer care about this quick sword move.

When Zhou Ye beheaded his junior brother, who was wielding a heavy sword, he tried his best to shield the direction of the fast sword with his fish-scale shield, slightly blocking it. However, the fast sword senior brother, Huang, immediately changed his move, his rapier sliding across the edge of the shield and directly piercing Zhou Ye's left shoulder.

A series of clanging sounds followed, like metal snapping. Zhou Ye's chainmail broke off one after another, then pierced through a layer of leather armor, only to be partially blocked by a thin layer of qi and blood armor on his body. This was one of the qi and blood techniques he had learned before. Having broken through to the late stage of the Qi Refining realm, Zhou Ye had essentially mastered it all.

Therefore, despite the numerous obstacles, the rapier finally managed to leave a long gash on Zhou Ye's left shoulder, but the wound wasn't very deep.

Zhou Ye couldn't help but feel fortunate. Luckily, his strength had already reached +6, and wearing chainmail no longer affected his agility. So he wore it the entire time he went hunting. Furthermore, the gash was just a flesh wound, which wouldn't affect his performance. Therefore, this risky attack was quite worthwhile.

But at that very moment, Senior Brother Liu's heavy sword was already upon them.

This time, Zhou Ye didn't dare to confront them head-on. He deftly deflected their force and immediately used his agility to fight back against the two men.

However, once the two began to coordinate their attacks, Zhou Ye immediately found himself at a disadvantage. Two swords, one heavy and one fast, unleashed a barrage of deadly strikes. In an instant, Zhou Ye found himself in grave danger…

"Prepare to die, you brat!"

Although they had already exchanged dozens of blows, the two fighters grew increasingly fierce. They had now entered their comfort zone, simply parrying each move without any fancy tricks, a direct clash of raw strength. It seemed this troublesome young man was on the verge of defeat, with no chance of a comeback. Why not strike while the iron was hot?

Sure enough, Zhou Ye staggered, seemingly unable to hold on any longer. The two men exchanged a quick glance, then attacked from both sides, instantly sealing off all of Zhou Ye's vital points. No matter which side Zhou Ye defended, he couldn't protect the other.

Just as Senior Brother Liu was about to strike Zhou Ye's blade again, Zhou Ye suddenly withdrew his blade and instead threw it forcefully at Senior Brother Huang, who was using the fast sword.

The sudden throw sent the thick-backed sword flying with a "whoosh" towards Senior Brother Huang, who was swift-sworded. Startled, Huang quickly dodged to the side.

In reality, this is a battle of wits, a contest of courage between the two sides.

If Senior Brother Huang, the Swift Swordsman, hadn't dodged or evaded and had instead parried with his rapier, the sword might have broken and he might have been injured, but given his skill, he would certainly have been able to avoid a fatal blow.

On the contrary, Senior Brother Liu, who possesses the strength of Ming Jin, can launch a full-force attack. Relying solely on the shield on his left arm, Zhou Ye cannot hold out for very long.

But by dodging just like that, an opening was created.

Zhou Ye produced several more spheres. When he threw them into the middle of the three people, they heard a series of "pop pop pop" sounds, and a cloud of colorful mist about five zhang in diameter appeared in front of them.

Seeing the colorful mist and hearing the faint pungent smell, Senior Brother Mingjin Liu immediately darted far away, shouting at the top of his lungs, "That kid's poisoned it again—!"

Seizing this fleeting opportunity, Zhou Ye immediately increased his speed to full, boosting his agility by 11. As long as he found a chance to escape, the two of them simply couldn't catch up.

Who says a battle has to have a winner and a loser? Even though I lost, I still managed to escape after killing one person!

But what happened next almost made Zhou Ye burst out laughing. Seeing him run away, the two of them just stood there dumbfounded, watching him leave?

Perhaps those two martial arts school disciples had never experienced such a life-or-death struggle with its many tricks up their sleeves. They were like flowers in a greenhouse, and when they encountered an unexpected situation, they were unable to accept it and did not know what to do.

Since that's the case, Zhou Ye didn't stand on ceremony. He casually passed by the spot where the thick-backed sword had fallen and took the sword, now stuck in the ground, with him. Then he quickly vanished without a trace…

More than half an hour later, Zhou Ye had returned to his very secluded temporary camp.

He hurriedly removed his armor and outer garment, sprinkled wound medicine on his wounds, and carefully bandaged them. This wound medicine was purchased at a discounted price from Wang's Pharmacy, and it was the best quality he had chosen, not the inferior kind he used to get.

After finishing all that, Zhou Ye restored some of his health points. Health points increased by 10, and he felt the internal injuries beginning to heal. Even the external wound on his left shoulder started to stop bleeding.

Only then did Zhou Ye finally breathe a long sigh of relief.

Actually, the battle just now broke out too suddenly, and I didn't even have time to use many of my methods.

Furthermore, Zhou Ye discovered that his basic Concealment Technique had finally reached mastery, significantly enhancing his ability to hide. He had also mastered the intermediate Sword and Shield Technique and gained 1 free attribute point. He currently has 2 free attribute points remaining.

Furthermore, my agility is +11, far exceeding the +7 and +8 of the other two. As long as I don't get entangled with them, even if I can't beat them, I can still escape, right?

Zhou Ye had already hardened his resolve. Even if he couldn't kill them, he would at least take a few pieces of flesh from them. Anyway, there was nothing more to say; this battle had only just begun.

Upon arriving at the temporary camp, Zhou Ye dug out a package from under a large tree. After opening the package, he took out the military steel crossbow and three quivers filled with bolts.

Zhou Ye did not carry his crossbow with him during the hunt. However, he brought it to the temporary camp as a precaution against any unforeseen circumstances.

Next, he put on his leather armor. His chainmail was damaged, so he didn't need to wear it anymore. Then he shouldered his bow and arrows, javelin, and took out a dozen or so spare spheres from his backpack in the tent…

He armed himself from head to toe. Zhou Ye sat cross-legged, and, with rice wine from his gourd, began to devour pieces of dried meat...

After about fifteen minutes, Zhou Ye felt he had rested enough. He leaped forward and stealthily headed back towards the direction of the battle...