32 Battle At The Vagrant Woods Five (1/2)
The group led by the flame commander of Bluecloud City killed their way into the Vagrant Woods. The flaming halberd cut through spirit beasts with ease as their superior numbers failed to get the upper hand. Many surviving cultivators joined them along the way.
”It's only a matter of time before we clean this up. Did they find the frenzied queen?” The flame commander spoke with the dignity of an expert, his whole aura exuding might as a veteran of countless battles.
”The scouts are returning,” the pure white-haired elder from the White Clan spoke.
”Reporting, sir! We found the lioness, it's feeding on a group of cultivators!”
”Humpft, vicious thing, you dare eat humans in front of me? Men, pick up the pace, I will discipline anyone that falls behind!”
”Yes, commander!” The men didn't doubt his words. Soon they reached a clearing with dead bodies of spirit beasts and humans. Some trees had claw marks, and many were broken. A three-headed lioness fed on a body, growling. It raised the head slightly with the newcomers but returned to eat. The other spirit beasts stood a bit further to avoid bothering the lioness.
”Three-headed... didn't the reports say it had two heads? Cultivation is indeed at the fourth layer,” the white elder said.
”So what? Three or seven heads, I'll cut them all off!” The commander grabbed his halberd and pointed at the beast, ”Take care of the others, I'll have fun with this one!”
The white elder raised the hand to say something but gave up. He gave the order and the cultivators from the White Clan set up traps. Unlike the ones from the loose cultivators, those traps were of much higher quality, some even ranked as the White Clan specialized in hunting and warfare. Putting aside a few newbies brought in for experience, the others had plenty of battles under their belt, the leading elder even fought in province wars before. The cultivators looked tough and powerful.
The city lord's men wore body armor, carried long spears, and looked seasoned, ready for anything. While the White Clan set up traps, they stood guard for any ambushes. The flame commander bolted forward, igniting the flaming halberd with Qi. The three-headed lioness struck with the tail but he parried it before cutting downwards. The tail came back to block, and the commander got pushed back.
”...!” He knew from the exchange the beast was not below him.
”Fierce...” The white elder became apprehensive. Spirit beasts commonly had better battle efficiency than human cultivators, and this one looked especially dangerous. The commander had low-grade first rank battle armor and weapon and still lost the exchange. The other spirit beasts stood their ground, waiting for the result of the duel between leaders.
”Hahahaha! Good, give me a good fight!” The flame commander got more excited as the battle progressed, with a sadistic look of joy on his face.
”What a madman!” The white elder shook the head. Spiritual energy surrounded the commander, feeding the inscriptions on his weapon. He swung down, creating a powerful burning slash.
[Earth-grade Body Tempering Realm Art - Flame Slash!]
The lioness jumped nimbly to the side, avoiding the blow, then countered with a leap forward, aiming to tear the commander apart with its claws. He blocked the attempt with the halberd, and once more got pushed back.
”Commander, I'll help you.” The white elder shouted.
”I'll kill you if you dare, elder! This little cat is mine!” The commander slashed several times and got countered by the tail each time. He became more aggressive, but the lioness seemed unfazed. The flame commander stood at the seventh layer of the Spirit Sea Realm, possessed the earth-grade art flame strike, low-grade first rank equipment, and yet his cultivation law was only peak grade human rank at the Body Tempering Realm. His Qi flowed inefficiently and slowly. The spirit beast had the advantage in a prolonged fight.
After a few more bouts, the commander breathed heavily, and the lioness had no change, even looking more imposing than before. He made a few errors in judgment and almost got stabbed to death.
”This is no good, at this rate…” The white elder wanted to act but couldn't enrage the other party. Just then, the stubborn commander finally gave him a slight nod. The white elder was about to move...
”Huh?” He felt his entire body wrapped by thin Qi threads and couldn't take a single step forward, ”This is… be careful, there's something else here!”
Too late. The spirit beasts who only watched before attacked together, ignoring the traps, some dying straight away. The cultivators fought back but lost in numbers. A bloody battle ensued.
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”The crossbows, hurry!” In despair, the white elder commanded a small group that carried spirit crossbows to attack, but before they could act the same Qi threads had already bound them.
”What is this!” The elder tried to revolve his cultivation law and use spiritual energy to sever the threads but failed. He felt faint and his Qi dissipated, unable to maintain its form. A large monstrous figure stealthily stepped out of the shadows, walking in what seemed to be thin air. Almost invisible thin threads of Qi already spread everywhere, and this part of the forest became its domain. The figure had the body of a spider, the tail of a scorpion, and sharp legs like mantis arms. Its dozens of eyes twirled around almost as if crazy.
[Giant Spider-Chimera, Peak Sixth Layer of the Spirit Sea Realm, Triple Monster Cores]
The flame commander and white elder shivered. They could take on the lioness with some difficulty, but this spider was too strong. The lioness also changed, becoming much more aggressive than before, its vicious attacks putting the commander in a defensive stance. The other cultivators fought the remaining spirit beasts, and the white elder was sealed. The spider-chimera used its legs to twirl the elder, and the cultivators bound by the thread into a cocoon.
”The elder!”