46: Chapter 46 Bait

Qin Ce was like an elegant yet cold hunter, riding the Azure Phoenix in irregular trajectories above the jungle. Each brief pause was accompanied by a precise and ruthless Wind Blade, "marking" the deeply hidden Shadow Monkeys from their hiding spots, startling or wounding them, and then... letting them escape or driving them toward the territory of nearby squads.

His actions quickly caught the attention of all five squads.

A ridiculous sense of frustration began to spread through the jungle.

"What is he doing?"

"Is he playing with us?" someone couldn't help but ask.

"It seems like... he's helping us find the monkeys?"

"Bullshit! Look at where he attacks every time! It's always near us! This is clearly a deliberate attempt to startle them and drive the monkeys toward us, or to expose our positions!"

"Damn, this kid is too devious!"

"No," a squad leader stared at the sky, his expression grave, "he's telling us—he finds Shadow Monkeys faster than all of us combined."

This statement left everyone in silence.

It felt like a slap in the face to the mockery they had just displayed.

The group soon realized that Qin Ce wasn't attacking blindly. He was consciously using his high-altitude vision and some kind of detection ability they couldn't understand to destroy the Shadow Monkeys' concealment and draw the focus of the battle toward the various squads.

This behavior, which seemed to be "helping" by exposing targets, was actually filled with provocation and a sense of disruption.

The squads were both annoyed by Qin Ce's interference and forced to admit—his efficiency in finding Shadow Monkeys was startlingly high!

He truly had a way to find Shadow Monkeys easily.

If he wanted to, he could have completely killed fifty on his own to finish the mission.

But he didn't.

He only forced the Shadow Monkeys out, scared them off, and then continued to find the next one.

It was as if... he was showing off on purpose?

"Damn, how arrogant!" A crew-cut boy spat, his anger flared. "If you have the guts, come down and compete with us! What are you acting so smug for up in the sky?"

Just as he finished speaking, Qin Ce suddenly lowered his head and glanced at him.

That gaze was calm and devoid of emotion, yet it sent a chill down the crew-cut boy's spine.

The next second, the Azure Phoenix flapped its wings and flew toward the deeper parts of the jungle.

Qin Ce ignored these squads. His gaze was fixed on the denser points of life light in the depths of the dense forest.

In the vision of Nine-Star Insight, at least a hundred Shadow Monkeys were active in the further regions, including several noticeably stronger auras—likely the small leaders of the Shadow Monkey troop, Black Iron High-grade, or even close to Bronze.

The corners of Qin Ce's mouth curled slightly.

You all think one person's clearing efficiency is low?

That's because you don't understand what efficiency means.

...

The Azure Phoenix traced a long arc above the jungle, with Qin Ce's gaze locked on the deeper parts.

"Azure Phoenix, lower your altitude and fly close to the canopy."

With a command, the Azure Phoenix's wings folded slightly, and it dove down like an arrow from a bow, almost grazing the highest branches and leaves.

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Three Wind Blades shot out in a triangular formation, accurately hitting three Shadow Monkeys lurking on the middle branches of the Hemlock trees.

This time, Qin Ce let the Azure Phoenix release them, deliberately controlling the power—the wounds were shallower but more painful, enough to provoke but not enough to be fatal.

"Screech—!!"

The shrill cries were exceptionally piercing in the silent jungle.

The three attacked Shadow Monkeys leapt up in a rage, their claws flashing with a metallic cold light in the moonlight as they pounced toward the Azure Phoenix. But how could they catch up to the speed of the sky's overlord?

The Azure Phoenix simply performed a graceful side-roll, leaving them dozens of meters behind.

However, this was only the beginning.

The cries of the wounded Shadow Monkeys acted like a signal, and the monkey troop around the Hemlocks was startled. Branches and leaves shook violently as grey-brown figures leapt from their hiding places, their angry shrieks rising and falling.

Five, ten, twenty...

Qin Ce didn't stop. He guided the Azure Phoenix to circle around the Hemlocks, Wind Blades falling like raindrops. Each strike accurately hit a non-vital part of a Shadow Monkey—tails, hind legs, shoulders. Not fatal, but painful enough and humiliating enough.

The troop's rage was completely ignited.

"Screech, screech, screech—!!"

A Shadow Monkey, noticeably larger with a tuft of white fur on its chest, leapt from the top of the canopy. It let out a long howl toward the sky, its voice carrying the unique pressure of a bronze low-grade beast.

This was the small leader of the monkey troop.

Following its command, dozens of monkeys began a collective pursuit of the Azure Phoenix in the sky, their angry screams echoing through the night sky.

The noisy commotion once again attracted the attention of others.

Below, Zhao Rui, the leader of the Gale Squad, was the first to sense something wrong.

"What's that sound?" He pricked up his ears.

At first, it was just faint screams, but soon the sounds grew closer and more frequent, accompanied by the crashing sounds of branches and leaves being trampled and broken on a large scale.

"Something's wrong..." the female squad leader wearing glasses said, her expression changing. "It sounds like... a beast tide moving?"

"A beast tide? Shadow Monkeys are solitary or live in small groups—" Zhao Rui's words stopped abruptly.

Because he saw it.

In the canopy about two hundred meters ahead, a blue shadow glided past elegantly. Behind that blue shadow, dense grey-brown figures surged like a tide, causing branches and leaves to tremble wildly wherever they passed, their monkey cries shaking the heavens!

"Holy shit..." The crew-cut boy's mouth hung open.

The other squads also discovered this terrifying scene one after another.

"Is that... Qin Ce?"

"What is he doing?! He's lured a whole troop of Shadow Monkeys?!"

"Looking at the number... there's at least eighty of them!"

"Is he crazy?! One person luring so many Black Iron High-grade beasts, plus a Bronze Rank leader?!"

Shocked, confused, and even slightly fearful gazes all turned toward that figure in the sky.

Qin Ce seemed completely unaware of the gazes from below.

He maintained that same moderate speed, tracing large circles above the jungle.

The monkey troop behind him pursued relentlessly, their angry screams making the entire jungle tremble.

But his flight path, whether intentional or not... only circled around the vicinity of the various squads.

"What does he want to do?" The leader of the Mountain Team, a burly man, tightened his grip on his battle axe.

No one answered.

But everyone subconsciously began to gather.

The squads that were originally scattered in various places moved toward the direction of the sound by unspoken agreement. Some were curious, some wanted to see how Qin Ce would handle the situation, and others faintly smelled an opportunity.

"He... he's mobbing?!" a team member cried out, his voice full of disbelief.

"Crazy! He's mobbing so many by himself? Does he have a death wish?"

"No... look at his position and flight path!" Another observant squad leader's pupils constricted.

They saw Qin Ce riding the Azure Phoenix, not charging into the monkey troop for a head-on clash, but maintaining a subtle distance and speed, flying in complex arcs above the jungle. The massive monkey troop behind him was like being pulled by invisible threads, frantically chasing, climbing, and trying to surround him, yet always falling just a bit short of truly forming a circle. Instead, they were being pulled by him, gradually moving through the jungle!

Qin Ce was like a master kite-flyer, using himself as bait and the Azure Phoenix's superior speed and maneuverability as the string, flying a "death kite" composed of nearly a hundred ferocious Shadow Monkeys!

And in the process of moving this "kite," it would inevitably pass through or approach the areas where the other squads were located.

...