NOVEL NEXT Chapter 182 - Training Exercise 30
As the journey continued, the Starlight Team had to stay on guard not only against attacks from desert beasts but also against people who kept appearing out of nowhere to create various obstacles for them.
They thought they were the only ones having such a rough time, but they didn’t realize that every team entering the desert area was facing the same difficulties. In fact, every Imperial University team that entered the desert suffered from misfortune—except for the Phantom Team.
The Phantom Team had been traveling without any issues, only encountering desert beasts along the way. It wasn’t until the last two remaining members of the superpower Team stumbled upon them, looking completely worn out, that the Phantom Team learned there were human assailants in the desert.
Wang Zhelan and Li Nanxi were in a terrible state. Both girls were seriously injured, and after pushing themselves to reach the Phantom Team, they collapsed in unison.
The Phantom Team members hurried over to lift the two girls onto a large rock. Mai Dongzi checked their physical condition and found that they had collapsed from extreme exhaustion and were also suffering from significant internal injuries.
“Yiyi, Xinhe, give them some water,” Mai Dongzi instructed.
The two girls were severely dehydrated, their lips cracked and bleeding.
Since Wang Zhelan was more seriously injured, Mai Dongzi treated her first. However, with her current wood-type ability level, she could only heal about one-third of Wang Zhelan’s injuries. Still, that partial recovery was enough to stabilize her condition.
As long as Wang Zhelan didn’t engage in any more fights and took proper care of herself, she could slowly recover even without medication. Moreover, in a day or two, when Mai Dongzi’s wood ability was fully restored, she could continue the treatment.
During the healing process, Wang Zhelan regained consciousness. Her internal injuries were severe; it seemed she’d taken a heavy blow to her abdomen.
“Thank you, Junior Mai,” Wang Zhelan said softly.
Though Mai Dongzi had previously “raided” their team, it had felt more like a playful exchange, as they’d actually just swapped supplies.
“What happened to you? Where are the others?” Mai Dongzi asked.
“They were all eliminated. Last night, we were attacked by a group of unidentified people who were really out for blood. Wei Bangdi and some of the others were shot during the fight. Finally, our instructors intervened and took down the ringleaders, which scared off the attackers. Only the two of us managed to escape in the chaos,” Wang Zhelan explained with a bitter smile.
By all rights, the human attackers had been dealt with by the instructors, and Wang Zhelan and Li Nanxi hadn’t survived by their own strength alone. Technically, they should’ve been eliminated, too. But since the instructors didn’t mention it, neither would the Phantom Team. After all, these two were their senior classmates, and they didn’t feel the need to be so coldly pragmatic.
“There were over thirty attackers, and the instructors only dealt with the leaders. The others escaped, so be careful. They’re ruthless,” Li Nanxi added.
Li Nanxi’s injuries, though less severe than Wang Zhelan’s, were tricky; her right hand was fractured. Mai Dongzi used a primitive method, binding her fractured hand with two dry branches and animal hide.
Her wood ability wasn’t enough to heal broken bones; she could only mend damaged tendons and soft tissue. After that, it was a matter of rest and recovery.
The group rested through the night, but new challenges arose at dawn.
The Superpower Team One was now down to just Wang Zhelan and Li Nanxi.
Given the situation, the Phantom Team had to decide what to do with these two senior classmates.
With their current injuries, leaving them here and parting ways would essentially be forcing them to quit. These two seniors, carrying such severe injuries, had made the difficult journey to seek help, clearly indicating they didn’t want to be eliminated.
Even though the captain had treated their injuries, they were still quite severe. Without medication, they would need several days of proper rest to recover. If they tried to keep up with the Phantom Team’s quick pace, it would likely worsen their injuries.
But asking the Phantom Team to slow down to accommodate their pace wasn’t ideal either. Over the past few days, they had hurried along and managed to make up for much of the distance they had lost back in the hilly terrain.
The presence of these two seniors meant that the Phantom Team could no longer travel at full speed, causing them to fall behind on their journey and risk not reaching their destination on time. This didn’t sit well with them, as these seniors weren’t even part of their team.
Even Mei Dongzi felt conflicted. Li Nanxi, who only had an injured hand, could still manage to travel, but Wang Zhelan’s internal injuries meant she should avoid much physical activity.
“We’ll go separately,” Wang Zhelan said. “You’ve already done so much for us by treating us and letting us rest overnight. We’re really grateful.”
There was no sign of weakness on Wang Zhelan’s face, though her pale lips betrayed the extent of her injuries.
“We’re not on the same team, so we don’t have a reason to stay with you,” Li Nanxi agreed.
“Let’s stick together,” Mei Dongzi said firmly.
In her past life, she had never left a teammate behind, and although these two seniors weren’t exactly part of their team, they were still her classmates.
With the captain’s decision, the Phantom Team immediately fell into line, figuring out how to travel together.
“I can carry Senior Wang on my back,” volunteered Wang Yiyi.
“If Yiyi gets tired, I’ll take a turn,” offered Yu Lan.
“Me too. We can rotate between the three of us. We’ll be fine,” Chen Xinhe added.
“Alright, let’s move out,” Mei Dongzi said decisively.
This would likely only set them back a day. By tonight, Mei Dongzi could give Wang Zhelan another round of treatment, which would heal her internal injuries enough to let her walk on her own by tomorrow.
However, barely two hours after they set off, Mei Dongzi spotted something in the distance—about five kilometers away, two groups of people were engaged in a brutal fight.
One group looked like bandits, while the other seemed to be a team of mercenaries.
Mei Dongzi’s attention focused on a young man in the mercenary team, an impressive dual cultivator who looked under twenty. His metal-based powers were already at mid-level five, though his martial arts level was only mid-level four.
Yet his combat skills were excellent, and something about his fighting style struck Mei Dongzi as familiar.
After his team killed five opponents and completely overpowered the remaining bandits, the young man spoke up: “Tell your leader that if you keep attacking those student teams, we’ll wipe out your entire base.”
But then Mei Dongzi was distracted by an attacking group of desert beasts and missed whatever response the bandits gave.
When they finally fought off the beasts and Mei Dongzi looked again, the bandits had vanished, and the young man was leading his mercenary team toward their location.