The moment the first hunter staggered, the formation lost its rhythm.
That single disruption spread instantly.
What had once been a seamless lattice of Qi now flickered unevenly, each hunter forced to compensate manually instead of relying on synchronized flow.
Li Feng didn't hesitate.
He stepped forward.
Fast.
Not reckless—calculated.
The nearest hunter tried to stabilize his stance, hands forming a seal to reinforce the collapsing structure.
Too slow.
Li Feng's hand touched his arm.
[Consumption Initiated]
The hunter's body jerked.
His Qi didn't explode.
Didn't resist violently.
It simply… unraveled.
"—!"
He tried to speak, but the words collapsed in his throat as his cultivation destabilized from within.
[Dao Fragment Acquired]
[4/10]
Li Feng released him.
The body dropped.
Not dead.
But empty.
The remaining hunters reacted instantly.
"Reform outer ring!"
"Reinforce core!"
Their voices overlapped, but the coordination wasn't perfect anymore.
That one break had done its job.
Li Feng moved again.
This time, they attacked directly.
Three hunters closed in from different angles, their strikes layered—not individually powerful, but structured to restrict movement and force reaction.
Li Feng stepped into it.
Instead of avoiding the attacks, he intercepted them.
Palm met Qi.
[Consumption Initiated]
One stream collapsed.
He shifted.
Second stream—partial collapse.
Third—
It held.
Li Feng's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…Better."
The third hunter had reinforced his structure faster, adapting mid-combat.
But that didn't stop Li Feng.
It only slowed him.
He stepped closer.
Contact again.
[Consumption Initiated]
This time—
The structure broke.
The hunter's expression twisted as his Qi fragmented.
[Dao Fragment Acquisition in progress…]
The formation flickered violently.
Half the lattice disappeared.
The leader finally moved.
Not rushed.
Not panicked.
But decisive.
He stepped into the battlefield, his presence instantly stabilizing the remaining hunters.
"Fall back two steps," he commanded.
They obeyed instantly.
The formation restructured.
Smaller.
Denser.
More controlled.
Li Feng paused.
"…So you can rebuild."
The leader looked at him calmly.
"Of course."
Then he raised his hand.
The ground beneath Li Feng shifted again.
This time—
Sharper.
Instead of a wide suppression field, a focused pressure zone locked directly onto Li Feng's position.
[Targeted suppression field detected]
[Efficiency reduction: 71%]
Li Feng's movement slowed again.
More than before.
This wasn't a general restriction.
It was precise.
The leader stepped forward.
"You adapt quickly," he said.
"But not faster than a system designed to counter you."
Li Feng tilted his head slightly.
"Designed?"
The leader didn't respond.
Instead—
He attacked.
Not with a wide technique.
Not with a formation.
A single strike.
Condensed.
Refined.
It cut through the air with almost no visible distortion.
Li Feng raised his hand to meet it.
Contact.
[Consumption Initiated]
For a moment—
Nothing happened.
Then—
The impact exploded outward.
Li Feng was forced back half a step.
Not injured.
But displaced.
His eyes sharpened.
"…So direct consumption doesn't work cleanly on you."
The leader lowered his hand.
"Because I am not relying on external structure."
A pause.
"My Qi is already integrated."
Li Feng processed that instantly.
No loose structure.
No exposed layers.
Everything condensed inward.
Harder to dismantle.
"…Then I just take it apart slower."
He stepped forward again.
The pressure increased.
But he didn't stop.
The remaining hunters re-engaged, striking in coordination with the leader this time.
This was different from before.
Not a formation.
A hybrid.
Controlled chaos guided by a central point.
Li Feng moved through it.
Not perfectly.
Not cleanly.
But effectively.
Each contact chipped away at them.
Each interaction destabilized something.
[Dao Fragment Acquired]
[5/10]
Another hunter dropped.
Then another.
[6/10]
The battlefield shifted.
Less control.
More collapse.
The leader's eyes narrowed slightly.
"…So this is the threshold."
Li Feng didn't respond.
Because he felt it too.
Something inside him was changing.
Not just increasing.
Expanding.
His perception sharpened beyond wind.
Beyond movement.
He could now sense the weak points in techniques before they fully formed.
Not clearly.
But enough.
The system flickered.
[Warning: Host instability rising]
Li Feng ignored it.
He moved again.
Another hunter fell.
[7/10]
Now only a few remained.
The formation was gone.
The structure broken.
Only the leader stood steady.
He exhaled slowly.
"…Enough."
The word wasn't loud.
But it carried weight.
The pressure in the area spiked suddenly.
Not from the hunters.
From beyond.
Li Feng paused.
For the first time in the battle—
He felt something different.
Something heavier than this unit.
His gaze shifted slightly.
"…More are coming."
The leader didn't deny it.
"You were never meant to survive this."
Li Feng looked back at him.
Then smiled faintly.
"…I wasn't planning to stop here."
He stepped forward again.
And the next phase of the fight began.