"Perhaps, this what it means to be a genius,"
At four o'clock in the afternoon, in a dense forest.
Explosion-like sounds.
"Quick! Quick! Quick!" Li Yuan dashed through the woods like lightning, cursing himself for not having an extra pair of legs as he sprinted through the chaos of rocks and trees.
His speed had burst beyond 25 meters per second.
If it were an ordinary person, their speed would be halved in such complex terrain, but it barely affected Li Yuan.
That was why he had been able to escape so far.
"Roar!" Behind Li Yuan,
over a dozen humanoid aliens were crazily chasing after him, each of them moving at an incredible speed.
They were all over three meters tall with skin like hardened limestone, appearing like great rock humanoids at first glance.
Some wielded sharp stone weapons and wooden spears.
Others constantly picked up large rocks and, with thousands of kilograms of force erupting, hurled them like cannonballs towards Li Yuan, who was fleeing at the front.
"Rock Desert Tribe! The humanoids here are the legendary stone people," Li Yuan thought angrily, but he was helpless to do anything about it.
In Xia Country, especially in Jiangbei Province, the Fish Spirit Clan is well-known.
Similarly, so is the Rock Desert Tribe.
This is an extremely brutal alien tribe with rock-like skin, tough and durable bodies, towering in height, accustomed to living in desert and Gobi environments... They had caused tremendous damage to Xia Country in the past and were nicknamed the Stone People.
Li Yuan didn't expect that the humanoid aliens in the combat assessment at the Fourth Base would turn out to be the Rock Desert Tribe.
"Pom-pom-pom—" Li Yuan frantically dodged the bombardment of those large stones.
The boulders smashed into trees, creating huge gaps or even breaking them.
Li Yuan made inquiries at the first chance he got.
This group of Rock Desert Tribe members, most of them surpassed Level 13, the weakest being at 12.6.
Combined with their natural intelligence and proficiency with weapons,
if he were to fight head-on, even if he could kill a few, Li Yuan would surely die; he would at least need to call for backup.
So, Li Yuan's first choice was—to run!
What Li Yuan wasn't expecting, however, was that this group of Rock Desert Tribe would pursue him so relentlessly.
The forest wasn't their natural habitat, and the complex terrain greatly limited their speed, hindering them from utilizing their physical advantages.
But as time passed, the distance between them was closing.
"How much longer will they chase after running for several kilometers?" Li Yuan cursed in his heart, while also quickly scanning his surroundings, multitasking.
He wanted to find a suitable battlefield.
Preferably, it would limit the enemy's long-range attacks and their numerical advantage.
Finding such a place wasn't easy.
"Junior Brother, don't panic," a crisp voice whistled, exploding from a nearby cliff.
A nimble figure shot into the sky, with legs forcefully propelling her upward, charging like a cannonball towards the Rock Desert Tribe members rushing down—it was a woman.
In her hands were two short battle axes, resembling two small shields.
"Sister Qiu? Be careful!" Li Yuan instantly recognized her.
It was the 'sophomore sister' from President Li's class—Qiu Jing!
She was one of only two sophomore students at the Sixth Institute who had reached the Fourth Level of skill.
Her Physical Quality was at 12.9.
In the sophomore ranks of the eight major institutes, Qiu Jing's skill and combat ability were both in the top twenty.
Because of their close age, their strengths were more comparable.
Therefore, Li Yuan and Qiu Jing were quite familiar with each other and had a good relationship.
With a battle axe in hand and movements as fast as lightning, Qiu Jing swiftly dodged several times before directly confronting the strongest one among them, a Rock Desert Tribe member with a Physical Quality of 13.6.
The two sides clashed.
"Rumble—" The terrifying battle ensued with splashes of blood; several weaker members of the Rock Desert Tribe were decapitated, their severed limbs scattering.
A few powerful members of the Rock Desert Tribe roared angrily, preparing to retreat, realizing the terrifying combat prowess of the small-framed alien before them.
Their skills were too sophisticated; they couldn't lay a hand on her.
"Trying to leave?" Qiu Jing's voice was cold, as a Fourth Level master, she unified her Vigor in an explosive manner.
Slaughtering these Rock Desert Tribe members, who were close in Life Level, was a massacre.
"Rumble—" After more than a dozen clashes, accompanied by a dazzling axe glow, the strongest Rock Desert Tribe member's chest was instantly sliced open by the sharp battle axe.
Its head was then chopped off! It fell to the ground!
"Whimper! Boom!" The remaining Rock Desert Tribe members finally scattered frantically.
Qiu Jing quickly pursued them.
"So strong," Li Yuan couldn't help but feel impressed as he watched the scene.
In terms of skills alone, he was far superior to Qiu Jing.
But the gap in Physical Quality was too great; against this group of Rock Desert Tribe members, he could only flee.
Even with Fourth Level skills, the limitations to the moves and the bonus they offer ultimately had their limits.
Just half a minute later,
Qiu Jing, with her two bloodstained short axes, landed next to Li Yuan. Her body was smeared with blood, appearing like a War Goddess.
"Junior Brother, aren't you going to thank me?" Qiu Jing looked at Li Yuan, smiling, without a trace of the ferocity from the battle.
"Thank Sister," Li Yuan smiled. "Sister is really incredible, killing those Rock Desert Tribe members like slicing through vegetables."
"They are just captured and placed here without even proper weapons," Qiu Jing shook her head. "If they were real Rock Desert Tribe warriors, armed with Metal weapons, they would be much harder to kill."
Li Yuan nodded in agreement; indeed.
Many alien races of the Star Realm, especially humanoids, were as civilized as the Human Race, with a highly developed culture and a plethora of weapons for aid.
Physical Quality may seem the same, but the strength could be completely different.
"How did you manage to run into the heart of the Rock Desert Tribe's activity area?" Qiu Jing asked curiously.