Chapter 155: Even Running Away Is This Graceful

"Clatter, clatter, clatter..."

The old port of Ilya was in utter chaos.

Just moments ago, the members of Y6 had been fleeing like stray dogs, but the instant they made landfall, they completely changed their tune and turned to deal the Holy Envoys' delegation a crushing counterattack, instantly plunging the scene into turmoil.

Lu Ye was leading his men in an ambush on an elevated gantry by the shore, keeping a close eye on the movements below through his binoculars.

Zhang Li asked, "Captain, when are we going to make our move?"

Lu Ye replied, "Wait a bit longer, and let them tear into each other first."

There was a young man among the Y6 faction who was exceptionally brave, wielding a staff with consummate skill.

With the tip of the long staff spinning to create a flurry of afterimages, he swept grandly in a wide arc to clear a path, escorting a mysterious woman behind him as they came ashore.

This woman radiated a powerful aura from head to toe. Although her face was veiled and her features obscured, Lu Ye felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of familiarity at first glance, as if some shared bloodline were echoing with his from afar.

Lu Ye could not help whispering softly to himself, "As expected of my dear mother, even her way of running for her life is so graceful!"

As for the young man wielding the staff, his exact relation to her remained unknown.

He managed, by sheer brute force of will and single-handedly, to push the surrounding members of the Holy Envoys' delegation back a full ten paces.

Cheng Qimeng followed calmly right behind him onto the shore.

Someone shouted at the top of their lungs, "Ignore the others! Take down their female leader first!"

Regrouping their forces, the Holy Envoys' delegation concentrated their numbers to encircle Cheng Qimeng.

The young man gave his long staff a shake, and the shaft extended by another section.

Well, what do you know—it was telescopic!

"Queen, I shall do my utmost to carve out a breakthrough. Leave me and go on ahead."

Beneath her veil, Cheng Qimeng's pretty face remained entirely unruffled as she gave a faint nod.

With a shout, the young man wielding the staff locked his gaze on a direction with comparatively weaker defense and charged forward. Like an autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves, not a single adversary could withstand even a single blow from him.

Cheng Qimeng suddenly tilted her head and glanced sideways in Lu Ye's direction, her curved eyebrows forming a captivating smile. Then, she calmly stepped forward, walking in a straight line along the path carved out by the staff-wielding youth.

Lu Ye estimated that the young man's martial prowess was likely at the ninth rank, and to describe him as invincible would be no exaggeration at all.

Almost none of the personnel from the Holy Envoys' delegation could withstand a single move or two from him...

Cheng Qimeng quickly broke away from the battle circle, coming to a halt before a warehouse door to watch the developments unfold.

The remaining members of Y6 reorganized their formation and launched a counter-encirclement against the Holy Envoys' delegation. This pitched battle raged fiercely for over half an hour, ultimately culminating in the total annihilation of the Holy Envoys' delegation...

Yet the casualties on the side of Y6 were not insignificant either; after all, the Holy Envoys' delegation possessed superior numbers, and not everyone among Y6 possessed the peerless, one-man-army prowess of the staff-wielding youth.

Cheng Qimeng offered a cold word of praise, "Wuying, well done."

The young man planted his long staff upright onto the ground, panting heavily as he smiled. "To receive a word of commendation from the Queen makes everything worthwhile."

"Let us fall back. The commotion here has been substantial, and reinforcements will likely arrive shortly."

"Understood!"

After counting the headcount, Wuying motioned for several men to enter the warehouse. After tinkering for a moment, they drove out a few vehicles, which presumably had been prepared in advance.

Wuying personally took the driver's seat of the lead car, while Cheng Qimeng sat alone in the rear.

Just as the engines roared to life, unusual movements erupted from both flanks...

Lu Ye issued a single command: "Attack!"

Including the Walking Apostles, six small squads completely sealed off their retreat routes from front, back, left, and right.

"Damn it, why are there still more people here?"

Wuying felt a secret jolt of alarm. This unidentified faction before them was armed to the teeth, evidently far more formidable to deal with than the Holy Envoys' delegation from moments ago.

Clutching his walkie-talkie, he barked an order, "Never mind who these people are! Just step on the gas and ram our way straight through the encirclement!"

Vroom, vroom, vroom!

The Bentley GT he was driving roared furiously, its tires spinning wildly in place before suddenly launching forward with a fierce bound.

Bang, bang, bang!

Before the vehicle could even gather speed, a series of muffled impacts echoed against the doors.

Through the side rearview mirror, Wuying could see several strangely shaped metal javelins adhering to the door panels, with faint electric arcs crackling across them.

Immediately afterward, a wave of intense electromagnetic interference broke out, frying every single electronic dashboard and device inside the vehicle, including the onboard computer systems.

"Chug, chug, chug!"

The powerful engine of the Bentley GT sputtered and coughed like a frail old man before dying completely. The other vehicles behind it suffered the exact same fate, instantly rendering their means of forced breakthrough utterly useless. They had no choice but to bite the bullet, disembark, and fight a bloody battle on foot.

Clang!

Wuying stepped out of the vehicle, the shining silver long staff in his hand extending once more as he pointed it straight at the young man ahead.

Lu Ye was currently wearing a mask that completely concealed his features; no one could possibly recognize him as a special envoy of Y6.

Seeing him draw a balisong knife, Wuying chuckled derisively. "Kid, do you know the saying 'an inch longer means an inch stronger'? You intend to fight me with such flashy trinkets?"

"Hummm!"

The butterfly knife spun and hummed as Lu Ye lunged forward directly.

Wuying took two steps back and brought his long staff down in an overhead strike toward Lu Ye's head.

"Bang!"

Lu Ye shifted his body slightly to the side, and the metallic shaft grazed past him to smash into the ground, instantly fracturing the concrete surface into web-like fissures.

"Swoosh, swoosh!"

In a mere exchange of blows, Lu Ye closed in on Wuying with ghost-like velocity, the butterfly knife flashing back and forth to leave two faint marks across his handsome face.

In close-quarters hand-to-hand combat, Wuying's long staff appeared somewhat clumsy by comparison, whereas Lu Ye exploited the fluid and nimble nature of the balisong to its absolute limit.

Wuying clutched the bloody scratch on his cheek, secretly startled. "You are also a ninth-rank martial artist?"

Lu Ye smiled without answering. He intentionally concealed a portion of his strength, suppressing both his physical power and speed to roughly the ninth rank, thereby creating the illusion for Wuying that they were evenly matched.

The others were locked in a chaotic melee with the members of Y6. The rhythmic clicking sounds of handcuffs locking around wrists rang out continuously, and Wuying finally realized that official agents had arrived to round up Y6.

The brutal slaughter with the Holy Envoys' delegation moments before had already severely sapped Y6's vitality; how could they possibly have any energy left to deal with this platoon of agents who had been lying in wait?

Although Wuying was Cheng Qimeng's personal bodyguard, he was not her direct subordinate.

He retreated sharply with a swift leap, adjusting the distance to maximize his long staff's optimal striking range. Violently unleashing a series of combo strikes with his staff to force Lu Ye back, he pulled out a flare gun and fired it straight up into the sky!

"Boom... Crack!"

A brilliant red flare burst open a hundred meters high in the air—this was Y6's emergency distress signal!

Following that, Wuying clenched his teeth and stood his ground defensively beside the Bentley GT.

He could die, but the Queen must under no circumstances fall into the enemy's hands.

This was the strict, do-or-die order given to him by the Four Holy Envoys of Y6 before setting out.

Leaning close to the car window, he said in a low voice, "We are surrounded, and the enemy possesses a ninth-rank master. I'm afraid only the intervention of the Four Holy Envoys will be enough to get us out of here."

Cheng Qimeng gave a slight nod. "Focus on dealing with them. I have the means to protect myself; there is no need for you to worry about me."

"Understood!"

Cheng Qimeng possessed tenth-rank strength.

Yet, just like Lu Ye, she held back thirty percent of her power, leaving Y6's members to believe her strength was merely around the ninth rank.

Even so, ninth-rank strength was undoubtedly more than sufficient for self-preservation.

From then on, Wuying had only one task to perform.

That was to fight to the death to guard Cheng Qimeng until the Four Holy Envoys arrived. Meanwhile, Lu Ye cooperated quite seamlessly, trading blows with him back and forth.

He even deliberately exposed a few openings to take a couple of strikes from Wuying's staff.

Being struck by that metallic staff carrying thousands of pounds of force looked utterly devastating on the surface, but in reality, it could not even injure a single hair on Lu Ye's head—much like back when he had used his ninth-rank strength to withstand Max at the tenth rank; some things simply could not pierce his defense!

Wuying successfully stalled for over ten minutes, by which time all the other Y6 members had been subdued, and everyone was standing around watching his single combat with Lu Ye.

Until four heavy motorcycles slowly drove into the old port of Ilya.

The riders removed their full-face helmets, revealing the faces of four middle-aged men.

These four corresponded respectively to the titles of Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, and Black Tortoise.

They were the Four Holy Envoys of Y6, the backers standing behind Cheng Qimeng.

Every single one of them was a tenth-rank grandmaster!

Azure Dragon let out a light command, "Wuying, stand down."

Wuying immediately withdrew his long staff, taking several steps back to steady his posture.

However, Lu Ye showed not the slightest intention of stopping. He thrust his butterfly knife straight forward, intending to finish Wuying off right then and there to save himself from having to deal with another formidable opponent later on.

"Swoosh... Clang!"

A pebble hurtled through the air, striking with pinpoint accuracy to snap the blade of the butterfly knife in Lu Ye's hand—a blade that had been forged from sturdy titanium alloy.

Lu Ye cast a sideways glance.

Azure Dragon fixed his gaze upon him and murmured in a deep voice, "Kid, I advise you to release them early and save yourself unnecessary trouble."

"To have advanced to the ninth rank at such a young age means your future prospects are boundless. There is no need to throw your life away here."