Xiao Qiang let out a loud cry the moment he spotted the swarm of bats.
However, the swarm not only ignored Xiao Qiang's threatening cries but also accelerated towards Qin Shilei.
Xiao Qiang was now a Black Iron eight-star creature. Most mutated beasts would be terrified by its cry and turn to flee.
Whether these bats were fearless of Xiao Qiang or simply stubborn, they continued their advance.
Qin Shilei drew Blood Soul and said coldly, "If they insist on seeking death, we shall send them on their way."
Zhang Xiaoli also produced the Moon Sprite Staff, "Brother Qin, let me go first."
With that, she cast an Oak Shield on both of them.
"Flying Flowers, Falling Leaves!"
By then, the swarm of bats had entered their twenty-meter range. Zhang Xiaoli waved her hand, unleashing a group-attack ability.
Instantly, countless vibrantly colored flowers mixed with verdant leaves surged into the bat swarm, slicing them at high speed.
The bats possessed exceptional agility, darting left and right to evade the attack. However, the energy flowers and leaves were simply too numerous.
In the blink of an eye, dozens of bats were cut into pieces by the "Flying Flowers, Falling Leaves" and fell to the ground.
"Roar!"
A sharp screech erupted from the bat swarm, followed by countless bats opening their mouths and screeching in unison.
Qin Shilei heard no sound, yet he felt as if his head had been struck by a heavy hammer, leaving him dizzy and disoriented.
Ultrasonic attack.
Qin Shilei instantly recalled the term.
After two seconds, the discomfort gradually subsided.
Both Qin Shilei and Zhang Xiaoli were peak Silver realm experts, possessing a certain resistance to this soul-like ultrasonic attack.
But Xiao Qiang was less fortunate. After one strike, it seemed dazed and lost control of its body, plummeting vertically towards the ground.
Even worse, the swarm of bats had surrounded them, flapping their wings and attacking with their sharp teeth and claws.
Qin Shilei and Zhang Xiaoli, protected by the automatic defense of the Oak Shield, were momentarily safe.
Under the relentless assault of the bats, countless feather fragments flew from Xiao Qiang, and within mere seconds, it was heavily wounded.
Qin Shilei instantly embraced Zhang Xiaoli, then used Instant Transmission to approach Xiao Qiang and retrieve it into his pet space.
By this time, they had descended thirty to forty meters, and the bats were still attacking them relentlessly.
The Oak Shield was on the verge of shattering.
Qin Shilei executed several consecutive Instant Transmissions, escaping the bat encirclement, and then charged into the small forest below.
"Brother Qin, those hateful bats are still chasing us."
Zhang Xiaoli cast another Oak Shield on both of them and pointed towards the sky.
"They really think we're easy targets."
Qin Shilei pulled out his shortbow and loosed an arrow.
Immediately, a volley of arrows streaked towards the bat swarm.
The bats dodged nimbly, but the sharp arrows pursued them relentlessly.
Seeing that they could not evade the arrows, the bats surprisingly changed direction and screeched at the projectiles.
Under the influence of the sonic waves, the arrows, which had already lost significant momentum, suddenly stopped and then fell to the ground.
Of the dozens of arrows Qin Shilei fired, only a mere handful of unfortunate bats were killed, far less effective than even Zhang Xiaoli's "Flying Flowers, Falling Leaves."
Although the shortbow possessed an attribute of "inevitable hit," its power was slightly lacking against increasingly powerful mutated beasts.
Qin Shilei put away his shortbow and drew Blood Soul again.
By then, the bats had entered the forest and once again opened their mouths, unleashing their ultrasonic attack.
Qin Shilei focused his mind and endured the onslaught.
A second later, he suppressed the discomfort in his head and actively charged towards the bats.
"Thunderclap Stab!"
Sword light flashed, and dozens of bats were impaled and fell to the ground.
Zhang Xiaoli also repeatedly cast "Flying Flowers, Falling Leaves," killing hundreds of bats.
"Roar!"
The Bat King let out another roar from within the swarm, and instantly, the bats followed suit, opening their mouths to prepare for another ultrasonic attack.
Qin Shilei intently watched the source of the sound.
After one second, he regained control of his body and immediately charged towards the Bat King's position.
"Illusion!"
While running, he simultaneously summoned an illusionary clone. Two figures, using Instant Transmission, rushed towards the Bat King in mid-air.
Pushing through the dense swarm of bats, they finally spotted a giant bat with a wingspan of over three meters.
With another Instant Transmission, Qin Shilei appeared instantly beside the Bat King.
He and his clone simultaneously struck the Bat King from front and back.
Furthermore, the illusionary clone activated the "One-Punch Man" attribute on itself.
The Bat King seemed to sense its imminent demise. As it unleashed a powerful sonic wave attack, it folded its fleshy wings, coiling itself into a ball.
Struck by the ultrasonic attack, Qin Shilei coughed up a mouthful of blood, his body entering a stiff state, unable to bring Blood Soul down for another strike.
The illusionary clone, unaffected, landed a sword blow on the Bat King, sending it flying dozens of meters and crashing into the bat swarm below.
Following its aura, Qin Shilei instantly teleported over, only to see the Bat King had rolled nearly ten meters further and was now surrounded by a dense mass of bats.
As the illusionary clone teleported over again, it found itself surrounded by bats, but the Bat King was nowhere to be seen.
At this moment, Qin Shilei finally recovered from his stiff state, but his body was rapidly descending.
Looking around, he saw only bats. He couldn't locate the Bat King's position at all.
He had no choice but to use Instant Transmission several times to return to Zhang Xiaoli's side.
The illusionary clone, while still under the effect of "One-Punch Man," unleashed several "Thunderclap Stabs," killing nearly a thousand bats before also using Instant Transmission to descend to Qin Shilei's side.
"Did you kill the Bat King? They seem to be flying away," Zhang Xiaoli asked, pointing at the distant flying bat swarm.
Qin Shilei shook his head. "It was likely just severely injured."
Despite his mastery of Instant Transmission, he couldn't fly. Combat in mid-air had many inconveniences. Failing to kill the target in one blow allowed the Bat King to escape into the swarm.
Watching the distant bat swarm, Zhang Xiaoli asked with concern, "Brother Qin, that swarm of bats shouldn't affect our Hope City, right?"
Qin Shilei replied, "Our Hope City is to the west, and this swarm of bats is flying in a generally easterly direction. They shouldn't affect Hope City."
If the direction of the bat swarm's flight hadn't differed from that of Hope City, Qin Shilei would have pursued them, either to kill them or drive them away.
Seeing the bat swarm had flown far away, Qin Shilei summoned Xiao Qiang. He found it not only covered in wounds but also in a comatose state.
Zhang Xiaoli cast several healing spells on Xiao Qiang.
Xiao Qiang's wounds stopped bleeding, but it remained unconscious and did not wake up.
Zhang Xiaoli surmised, "It must be mental damage. It will take some time to recover."
Qin Shilei had no choice but to put Xiao Qiang away again. "Then we can only proceed by car."
Zhang Xiaoli suddenly said, "Brother Qin, why don't I drive?"
"Alright." Qin Shilei waved his hand, releasing a white sedan.
With a roar, the car shot forward like a lightning bolt.