116 Awaken. (1/2)
The air all around the panther trembled slightly just from the pressure it gave off as it prepared for battle. Despite being looked away here and having its life force sapped for an unknown amount of years, it still carried a tremendous amount of power within it. It wasn't a Divine Beast, but just by sensing the energy it radiated, Li Yang could tell that its bloodline was nothing to scoff at. Li Yang and Fang Ying locked eyes and gave each other a nod, Fang Ying whispering quietly.
”I'll take charge of the others, you can just run around and do as you always do.”
Fleeing was not an option here, they had broken the arrays on the doors, allowing the panther to just chase them if they tried to flee. Fighting it with just the two of them was risky, so it was best to gather together the power of everyone here to deal with the Demonic beast. Fang Ying placed her hand on Langshen's head, the two merging into one again as she quickly called out to the others.
”It'll chase us if we try to flee, join forces with me to take it down!”
The remaining 33 people in the room all turned to look at Fang Ying at the same time, nodding their heads in agreement. Fang Ying had the highest cultivation of anyone in this palace, there was no one more suited to leading them right now than her. While the other people quickly moved closer to Fang Ying, Li Yang took several steps back, his eyes fully focused on the panther, observing even the smallest movement.
Everyone here was a strong cultivator, so in reality, only around three seconds had passed since the panther first stood up and spoke to them. The one that made the first move after everyone gathered around Fang Ying was the panther, its entire body vanishing from sight. Despite it going invisible, Li Yang's eyes continued to stay on the panther, none of its movements able to escape him
Six people were suddenly flung back right after the panther turned invisible, just barely able to raise their defense before the attacks landed on them. They were quickly caught by the people around them before they could fly too far away, they could not afford to have their ranks thin too much now.
Fang Ying's brows suddenly furrowed, her left hand stretching out and poking space next to her, causing it to ripple like the surface of a lake. A man that had just caught one of the people that had been attacked suddenly vanished from his position, the floor where he had just been standing shattering immediately afterward. Five other people were immediately flung back, but unlike the man that Fang Ying had teleported away, these five were able to react in time and prepare their defenses. Fang Ying brandished her sword, a cloud of blood gathering in the cell as she spoke out and stepped forward.
”We can't let it force us into a defensive position, it'll just drain our energy and then pick us off one by one!”
The rain of blood stained the panther's fur and allowed the people in the room to see its location, but strangely enough, the blood vanished after touching the panther for just a second, forcing Fang Ying to keep the rain of blood going at all times so that they could keep track of it. After shouting out the order, Fang Ying charged forward, the bloody rain gathering around her and taking on a faintly pink color as it started to release the scent of apples.
The other people didn't stand around idle either, quickly gathering into three groups of 11 and forming the most rudimentary army array, one that would pool their powers together and allow them to borrow the strength of the others. The array was so common and simple that even the unaffiliated cultivators could pull it off after just receiving a few quick instructions.
The three groups quickly followed after Fang Ying, taking her as their center and acting as defense and supplementary attackers. The three groups launched their attacks at the same time, aiming for the head of the panther and forcing it to pay attention to them so that Fang Ying could attack freely.
And Fang Ying did just that. She vanished into a ripple in space and appeared above the panther, just behind the three attacks that it was currently blocking with its six tails. The moment the three attacks were blown apart after touching the tails, she lashed out with her sword, the pink blood turning into a thin layer that covered the blade.
The sword collided with the tips of two of the tails, the blood spreading onto the tails and causing a sizzling sound to spread through the room as the two sickle tips started to melt away. At the same time as she lashed out with her sword, the rain of blood in the room gathered together to form several crescent-moon shaped blades that flew at the panther. As for the blood that had already gathered on the floor, it rose up into a thick spike beneath the panther, aiming to pierce through its chest.
The panther quickly reacted, waving the two poisoned tails to blow away any of the blood that had gathered on the blades. It then let out a deafening roar that unleashed a shockwave that caused the spike of blood to be squashed to the ground and sent Fang Ying flying through the air. Had she not reacted quickly and teleported away she would have crashed into the ceiling at full speed.
It quickly jumped away to dodge the blades of blood but they simply chased it as it fled, each of them controlled by Fang Ying. She flicked her finger and caused some of the blades to vanish into a ripple in space, quickly appearing at different positions around the panther and closing in on it like a prison.
The panther glanced at the blades and let out a low growl, lowering its head and charging directly through two of them so that it could reach one of the three groups that were currently launching attacks to distract it. The blades left a cut on its neck and back, but they were far from being fatal just yet.
Thanks to enduring the two blades and the distraction attacks that hit it, the panther arrived directly by the leftmost group of 11 people. It let out a loud roar and lashed out with all six tails as well as its two front paws. The array the group had formed managed to last for a single second under the might of the tiger but then it immediately collapsed. Four people were bisected by the still-sharp tails, two more crushed by the tails which had somewhat melted under her poison. As for the three who failed to dodge its two paws, all the bones in their bodies were shattered and their remains sent crashing into the wall. Fang Ying furrowed her brows and waved her hand, space around the remaining two people rippling as she sent them to the other groups.
”Integrate them into the groups, don't leave them exposed!”
Despite there only being a single sub-realm in difference between her and the panther, one being at the late stage of the Immortal Rebirth realm and the other at the early stage of the Primordial Rune realm, the difference between these two realms was actually incredibly vast. Most early-stage Primordial Rune realm cultivators could easily kill most late-stage Immortal Rebirth realm cultivators. When the panther gave up on everything else and launched its attack, it was impossible for Fang Ying to react in time to save the people in the group.
The remaining blades of blood continued to fly at the panther, quickly surrounding it again. The panther only glanced at the blades before charging for the next group, aiming to endure four of the blades this time. But just as the first blade of blood crashed into its back, Fang Ying appeared out from the blade of blood, stabbing downwards with her sword and driving it deep into the wound that had just been created.
The panther let out a pained roar but then quickly tensed all the muscles in its back, preventing Fang Ying from pulling out her sword again. It then lashed out with its tails, forcing Fang Ying to teleport away and abandon her sword. Her body was stronger than the average person, but she had yet to properly start cultivating her body, she could not afford to let any attack land on her.
The panther then quickly used its four sharp tails to cut out a part of its own back, stopping Fang Ying's poison from spreading through its body. Fang Ying teleported away, but not very far. She appeared directly above the tails of the panther, who was still in the process of cutting out a piece of its own back.
She stretched out her right arm and opened her hand right after appearing above the tiger, a golden bolt of lightning tearing through the air and arriving in her hand, turning into a golden-purple sword. She immediately slashed out with the blade, drawing a golden-purple line through the air and unleashing a thunderous boom. The panther quickly spun around and lashed out with its right front paw, the blade colliding with its claws and resulting in a screeching sound as the air was forcefully pushed away.