154: sneak attack

They had long awaited this moment. Without hesitation, they immediately circulated all their spiritual energy, their bodies glowing brightly, preparing to break through the encirclement of Imperial Fighter Jets together.

Meanwhile, Su Xia, aboard the starship, had been closely monitoring the battlefield. Seeing their actions, she instantly understood the thoughts of the three men.

Su Xia inwardly cried out, "This is bad! We absolutely cannot let all these Yiqi Realm Experts escape."

"No, these three are trying to escape! A Zhi, quickly send out your fighter jet squadron too!" Su Xia shouted to A Zhi, her expression grim and her words rapid.

"Understood!" A Zhi responded crisply and quickly, issuing orders for his fighter jet squadron to attack.

Su Xia had already made up her mind. Today, even if she had to use her last trump card—the starship's main cannon—she would at least keep one Yiqi Realm Expert.

After all, the purpose of annihilating a top sect this time was to test the strength of Yiqi Realm Experts and acquire the orbs within them.

At this moment, Xue Yue and the other two, who had been struggling to break through the encirclement and were on the verge of success, suddenly found more than a dozen fighter jets swiftly appearing, cutting off their escape route once again.

The three men's faces instantly became extremely unsightly, as dark as if covered by heavy storm clouds.

"Damn it, how are there still more of these things!" One of the Yiqi Realm Experts couldn't help but curse loudly, his voice filled with anger and helplessness.

"I knew it. Fortunately, I didn't decide to fight to the death with them just now." Xue Yue felt a surge of lingering fear, looking at the dozen or so additional fighter jets that had arrived as reinforcements, immensely grateful for the decision he had made earlier.

If he had impulsively chosen to fight the enemy to the death just now, he would probably be truly 'dead fish' now, while the 'net' would still be perfectly intact.

Xue Yue knew the situation was irreversible. Though filled with unwillingness, to preserve the last foundation of the sect as much as possible, he channeled all his spiritual energy and shouted towards the starship suspended high in the sky.

"Your Excellency, let this conflict end here! Our Fenghua Sect is inferior in skill and has already lost. We are willing to pay the price for today's events. We humbly request Your Excellency to show mercy and cease hostilities!"

His shout was powerful and resonant, spreading across the battlefield, and naturally, it clearly reached the ears of the scouts secretly observing from the periphery.

"Has the Fenghua Sect surrendered so easily?" A scout whispered, his face full of surprise and disbelief.

Another scout beside him curled his lip, responding disdainfully, "What else? Didn't you see they brought in another group of formidable flying machines? If they keep fighting, the Fenghua Sect will truly face certain death."

At this moment, a voice with a contemptuous tone spoke up, "Hmph, is this what a top sect of the Evil Path is like? I think they're nothing special..."

Before he could finish speaking, someone immediately glared at him and sternly reprimanded, "Hey, you'd better watch your words! Don't think that just because you're from the Righteous Faction, I wouldn't dare do anything to you! This isn't your Righteous Faction's territory; this is our Evil Path's domain! You won't be allowed to act so presumptuously here!"

Hearing this warning, the Righteous Faction scout's heart tightened. Though displeased, he ultimately remained silent. After all, he understood the principle that 'a strong dragon cannot overpower a local snake.' A single outburst to vent his emotions was enough; if a real conflict broke out, his group would not gain any advantage in this Evil Path territory.

Inside the starship, Su Xia also clearly heard Xue Yue's surrender. She frowned slightly, falling into a brief contemplation. A moment later, a strange smile slowly appeared at the corner of her lips.

Immediately after, Su Xia responded loudly to Xue Yue through the starship's broadcast system, "Alright, I accept your surrender."

With that, she unhesitatingly issued the command to cease attack.

The Gene-Modified Warriors and Imperial Soldiers, receiving the new orders, uniformly stopped their attacks.

In an instant, the battlefield, which had been filled with roaring energy and shouts of killing, suddenly fell silent, leaving only the lingering smoke and dissipating spiritual energy fluctuations.

This sudden ceasefire caused the remaining Fenghua Sect disciples to let out a collective sigh of relief. They knew that if they continued this unwinnable battle, death was almost certain. Now, being able to save their lives by surrendering was a blessing in disguise for them.

Xue Yue was quite surprised to hear Su Xia agree to the surrender. He had originally been secretly planning that if the other party didn't agree to stop, he would seize the opportunity to lead his two companions in a desperate escape.

He hadn't expected the other party to agree so readily. Of course, this outcome was the best possible for him. After all, this way, the sect he had painstakingly managed would at least not be completely annihilated.

Although the sect had suffered heavy losses and most of its disciples were casualties, as long as the sect's foundation remained, there was still hope for a resurgence.

However, Xue Yue, who was always cautious, did not immediately relax his guard. His gaze was sharp, fixed on the surrounding Imperial Fighter Jets. He watched as they slowly turned around and flew towards the colossal starship in the sky.

Only then did the tense string in Xue Yue's heart truly loosen. He turned slightly and said to his two companions, "Let's go down. First, let's tally the losses, and then..."

However, before Xue Yue could finish speaking, the Imperial Fighter Jets, which had already begun their return journey, suddenly all turned their noses and frantically fired annihilation beams at the three of them at an extremely high speed.

The attacks came overwhelmingly. The three unprepared individuals, seeing this sudden fatal assault, had no time to make any effective dodging movements.

"Damn it!" Xue Yue couldn't help but curse, his eyes filled with anger and alarm.

The three of them unhesitatingly channeled all their spiritual energy, attempting to counteract the overwhelming annihilation beams with a torrent of spiritual energy.

However, this attack was too dense and fierce, rushing at all three of them simultaneously. Although they were Yiqi Realm Experts with deep spiritual energy reserves, it was incredibly difficult to withstand such a locust-like attack in such a short amount of time.

"Ah!" A shrill scream pierced the sky. The Yiqi Realm Expert, other than Xue Yue and the Vice Sect Master, ultimately failed to withstand the fatal blow.

An annihilation beam precisely struck his vital point, and powerful energy instantly ravaged his body. His face instantly turned ashen, and he subconsciously clutched his wound, desperately using spiritual energy to try and repair the damaged meridians and organs.

But the annihilation beam seemed to carry some strange power; no matter how hard he tried, the wound still bled profusely, and his spiritual energy appeared so pale and powerless before this force. Finally, his eyes gradually dimmed, and he tilted his head, falling straight down from the sky like a kite with a broken string, stirring up a cloud of dust.