Stomping hard on the ground, Qingfeng rushed forward. Closing in on the mutant boar, he managed to land three consecutive punches on the boar's hiney and completed the execution of the first three stances of the Tiger's Fist Art in an instant.
At the same time, Lu Tai, Wu Haoran, and Chen Zhiyu also managed to execute the three stances in one swift motion.
After landing three strikes, they all backed up. Wu Haoran retreated a bit further than the rest.
Squealing, the boar began to thrash around and then ran straight at the nearest person, Chen Zhiyu.
Chen Zhiyu raised his spear and swiped the spearhead at the boar while dodging to the side.
The boar, enraged after failing to impale anyone on its tusks, turned around and charged at them again. Storming towards them, the boar snorted as if declaring a war cry.
Seeing the mutant boar rush at the three of them, Wu Haoran arrives before them and hacks down with his halberd.
As the halberd chops down, the boar swings its head wildly.
The Halberd clashes with the boar's tusk, causing a sharp scraping sound to resound.
Immediately after the halberd made contact with the boar's tusk, the boar ground to a halt while Wu Haoran was flung backwards.
Flipping over his head, Wu Haoran plunged the shaft of the halberd into the ground. After the halberd dug a short trench in the grassy plains, Wu Haoran came to a halt.
Meanwhile, the boar, whose right tusk now had a deep groove in it, seemed somewhat scared of Wu Haoran. It began scraping its hooves on the ground, before letting out a series of quick snorts and started to charge at him again while ignoring the rest of the group.
Seeing the boar's attention focused on Wu Haoran, Chen Zhiyu, Lu Tai, and Tian Qingfeng ran forward to impede the boar's charge. Each slashing out with their sword and saber, Lu Tai and Tian Qingfeng dug their soles deep into the ground as they clashed with the boar's tusk. Chen Zhiyu's spear spun and shot straight at the boar's right eye.
The boar, while still struggling to continue charging, lowered its head, causing Chen Zhiyu's spear to glance upward and cut the thick skin right above its eye. Chen Zhiyu pulled back his spear and stabbed out again. This time, cutting the boar's nose and piercing into the flesh. Over and over again, he stabbed out and pulled back his spear while Lu Tai and Tian Qingfeng were barking against their weapons to stop the boar from moving.
Eventually, the boar managed to throw the three of them to the side before continuing to stampede towards Wu Haoran.
At this point, he had gotten back up on his feet and had raised his halberd high into the sky, ready to split the boar's skull.
As the boar got closer and closer, Wu Haoran loosened his muscles while his gaze honed in and focused on the incoming boar.
Having just gotten back up on their feet, Lu Tai, Chen Zhiyu, and Tian Qingfeng watched as the boar rushed at Wu Haoran, who stood firm, preparing to deal the finishing blow.
As Qingfeng watched the boar get closer and closer to Wu Haoran, out of the corner of his eyes, he saw a streak of black zip towards them at an impossible speed.
"Watch Out!"
Right as Qingfeng yelled out a warning, the boar slammed into the ground while the dirt cratered outward, creating a deep ditch in the dirt. Chunks of grass and dirt sprayed everywhere as it splashed towards them.
After the detritus settled, Tian Qingfeng looked over at the crater and froze.
Standing in the crater was a giant beast. Its fur was black as the night sky, with bulging muscles and sharp claws. There were several deep gashes on its sides, leaking some dark liquid.
Everyone instinctively took a step back from the crater as the panther eyed the party. Within the group chat, Wu Haoran's voice rang out in their ears.
"Step back and retreat slowly. This should be the beast that has escaped in our direction."
Following his directions, Tian Qingfeng and gang slowly retreated from the crater. Seeing that they had retreated, the panther lowered its head and began gnawing at the boar's carcass.
As they slowly retreated, Chen Zhiyu whispered to them through the voice channel.
"Did you guys see its blood? There were wisps of grey smoke coming off of it." he hissed
"Yeah, no doubt this is a corrupted beast." Wu Haoran replied.
"What should we do?" Lu Tai asked
"Why don't we call the teachers and notify them of it while slowly retreating?" Tian Qingfeng suggested. "They could then tell all the other teams to retreat?"
"Good idea," Wu Haoran agreed.
They were already about 9 meters from the crater's edge, so they decided to stop inching away and headed to a meeting point a ways away. While retreating, Tian Qingfeng got in touch with the Teachers and explained the problem.
"Got it. Stay safe and come back to camp." Teacher Su said before hanging up the call
"Alright, let's head back to camp then." Chen Zhiyu said, relieved.
Right as they were about to depart, they saw, in the distance, the corrupted black panther crawl out of the crater and glance in their direction. The next second, it headed in their direction. Seeing this, Wu Haoran made a quick decision.
"Lu Tai, you are the fastest among us. Go get the other team and call the teachers for backup."
Stepping forward, he grabbed his halberd and threw it at the panther like a javelin before reaching out into the air before him and grasping at the void. Instantly, a spear with two crescent blades attached to either side of the spearhead gradually materialized from the specks of golden light.
Taking a step forward, he ran towards the corrupted beast. A few words trailed behind him.
"Chen, Tian, help me hold it back."
The two looked at each other before brandishing their weapons and following Wu Haoran.
"We're counting on you, buddy!!" Chen Zhiyu yelled at Lu Tai as he passed him.
Lu Tai, with a sombre face, nodded and ran in the other direction as he started to punch in the teacher's number into his astral link.