Lin Huangfu and the Forest Clan fought relentlessly, dozens of spirit beasts corpses on the ground. In a scenery of blood and destruction, spiritual energy flashed everywhere.
“Patriarch, w-we need to retreat!” One cultivator shouted in fear.
The more they fought, the fewer the hope of leaving alive. Patriarch Lin Huangfu and the second elder took down the furious roaring red lizard and triple slashing dragonfly but had no time to rest as spirit beasts kept coming.
They had to retreat, but how? The spirit beasts cut off their retreat. Many cultivators lost consciousness, but no one died yet. With each passing breath their fighting force dwindled and wounds piled up.
“Don’t retreat, stand your ground! Reinforcements from the other clans will come!” The patriarch raised morale despite his own doubts. He was weaker than the flame commander and the White Clan elder, but not by much. The other clans would also be in trouble.
A strong presence terrified the battlefield when something jumped from the trees in front of the group, a big green ape with an armored body, carrying a long spirit beast spine as a weapon. The other beasts lowered their heads in reverence to the green armored ape king, peak of the sixth layer of the Spirit Sea Realm.
Spirit beasts varied in intelligence and wisdom. Some of them, even without higher intelligence, mimicked humans and used weapons.
“Be careful!” The group changed to defensive positions right away yet the beast didn’t attack. It looked at them and snorted as if finding insects in its path. All the other beasts retreated with a single glare of the ape. It then rose the weapon and struck.
“It’s coming!!” The second elder roared and blocked the attack, protecting his body with a layer of spiritual energy. The patriarch did the same with the axe, but the large spirit beast spine moved irregularly. It was over five meters long, with dense spirit bone, and attributes comparable to a first-rank middle-grade weapon.
The second elder and patriarch together couldn’t block. The attack hit them and some cultivators behind, tossing them into the nearby trees.
Such a powerful strike!
“What’s going on!? That’s not the spirit beast we saw!” The Forest Clan scout trembled. The beast belonged to the same realm at the peak of the sixth layer of the Spirit Sea, but the one from before wasn’t such a powerful existence. He would never lead his clan to such a spirit beast.
The ape raised its weapon and struck downward. The patriarch dodged, but one cultivator got smashed to a pulp.
Lin Huangfu pressed on the attack, hacking with [Woodland Fury]. He and the second elder were the only ones capable of resisting the monster. Without them to hold it back, everyone would die. The spirit beast parried using the weaponized spine with no trouble since the patriarch’s axe was only a high-grade unranked weapon.
The second elder attacked its sides with [Leaf] and all his might, almost depleting his entire spiritual energy, reaching a strike at the peak of the Spirit Sea Realm. The beast screamed in pain but took no visible damage.
“Impossible!” The second elder still looked dumbstruck when a strong monster hand hit his chest and sent him straight to the ground, blood dripping from his mouth.
“We’re doomed!” The scout cried, and it seemed as if the heavens heard him. A fierce-looking red lizard-like bipedal spirit beast with three horns and two tails came, cultivation at the peak of the middle stage of the Spirit Sea Realm.
“T-that’s the one!” The scout recognized the beast, “Three horned salamander!”
The patriarch gritted his teeth as hope vanished. The green armored ape raised the weapon to strike again but suddenly shook in fear and glanced sideways, even taking a step back. The three-horned salamander did the same.
Lin Huangfu and the others, “????”
The ape then shook the head as if thinking “only my imagination” and raised the weapon again, shivering once more and jumping back even further. The salamander hissed and retreated.
“What is going on? Are they… afraid? Is another powerful spirit beast coming?” Lin Huangfu held the axe and thought about taking advantage of this moment but one look around and he gave up. The second elder stood with difficulty, body battered with a single strike, and most of the other cultivators had many wounds.
Lin Huangfu had a dejected look. He didn’t do right as the Forest Clan’s patriarch, leading so many people to their deaths to try to save his son. He had to hold those beasts back no matter what, his determined eyes wanted to burn every bit of blood essence and fight. At that moment, some figures rushed from the forest with great speed, stopping in front of him.
Elder Lin Dong clasped his hands and bowed, “Lin Dong greets forest patriarch, second elder!”
Lin Qiang did the same, “Junior Lin Qiang greets forest patriarch, second elder!”
Ming Ren stood behind them but only clasped his hands and said nothing.
“Lin Dong?” Hope flashed across Lin Huangfu’s eyes, “Little Fu…?”
“He is fine. He’s coming with the others, they couldn’t keep up!” After greeting the patriarch, Lin Dong turned around and glared at the green armored ape and the three-horned salamander, no sign of fear in his eyes.
“That’s east elder? And Qiang’er?” The second elder couldn’t believe his eyes. Peak of the third and second layer of the Spirit Sea Realm?!
A week before Lin Dong was only at the peak of the Body Tempering Realm, unable to break through. Lin Qiang and the others were at the Body Tempering Realm. What kind of heaven-defying encounter they had?
The green armored ape glared at Ming Ren, feeling a familiar aura. This youth’s aura scared it before. A weakling like him?
But, no matter how much they increased their strength, Lin Huangfu thought it was still nothing in front of those two powerful spirit beasts, “East elder, you grab Little Fu and run with the rest of our clan! I’ll hold this beast back!”
The second elder also stood, “I’ll hold the other one! Everyone, run away with all your strength!”
“No need!” Ming Ren stepped forward, taking out his sword, “Forest Patriarch, join that elder and kill the three-horned salamander. Lin Dong, Lin Qiang, follow my lead!”
“Yes!” Lin Dong and Lin Qiang answered in unison.
“Wait, what are you doing?!” Lin Huangfu almost went crazy. Nevermind Lin Dong’s sudden surge of power, now a boy at the sixth layer of the Body Tempering Realm took the lead against such a powerful spirit beast? Did the world go crazy?
“Snort, young man, who do you th-” The second elder never got to finish his sentence. The green armored ape struck first, swinging down its weapon at the three newcomers. Lin Dong favored blocking but sidestepped to avoid the blow. Ming Ren and Lin Qiang dodged to the same side, starting the [Sword, Beast, and Fist Trinity Battle Formation].
Lin Dong dashed forward first, revolving the joint spiritual energy within the formation to increase his power to the limit, striking with [Branch] at the green armored ape. The ape didn’t bother with dodging. He withstood a strike from the second elder at the peak of the Spirit Sea Realm, why would he fear someone at the third layer?
It didn’t take long for him to regret it.
The burst power from the formation far surpassed what one could expect. Ming Ren’s lesson still echoed through their minds, “Listen, true elements are not as simple as people believe, their potential is endless. Lin Dong, true wood is known to be useless in battle but that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Spiritual Qi nourished with the wood element can flow outside the body, but it also has uses inside. Aside from some healing, it will help your body withstand greater force.”
Lin Dong reinforced his meridians and channels with wood element spiritual Qi, lessening the impact of power that surpassed his realm and reducing damage. With his newly tempered body, he was the best candidate to receive bursts of power. Lin Qiang used wind element spiritual Qi to increase speed, step on pure air and double jump, or to speed up the flow of Qi inside the body. Earth element turned Qi tougher, working as a good physical protection layer which extended to Lin Dong and Ming Ren.
Using a true element on others was difficult, as the user had to consider the time it took for the Qi to flow and reach the other party. The range also limited effectiveness but the path within the formation worked flawlessly for that end. The combination consumed a lot of spiritual energy, but with teamwork their power rose to new heights.
When [Branch] hit the ape, Ming Ren activated the [Divine Light Dragon Physique], skyrocketing the power. The strike shattered the spirit beast’s natural armor and ripped some flesh.
‘Not deep enough!’ Lin Dong clenched his teeth. The patriarch and second elder almost fell in shock.
JUMP!
Everyone in the area of strike received Ming Ren’s spiritual sense transmission before the ape staggered and struck sideways. Some cultivators didn’t follow the warning and got hit. Lin Dong, Lin Qiang, Lin Huangfu, and the second elder had better reflexes. The latter couldn’t understand how the voice got to them but instinct told them to jump, avoiding the strike.
Lin Dong lost no time and grabbed the ape’s arm with a jump forward, forcing a battle of strength. The three-horned salamander ran to stab Lin Dong in the back.
INTERCEPT!
The forest patriarch and second elder blocked its advance, preventing the spirit beast from hitting Lin Dong.
DODGE THE TAILS!
They threw themselves to the side, dodging the salamander’s tail attack.
STRIKE!
Their bodies moved forward right away as if in a spell. The patriarch attacked with [Woodland Fury] and the second elder with [Branch]. The salamander got hacked by the axe then flew back with the punch, receiving a lot of damage.
“T-this…?” Lin Huangfu looked lost. The voice echoed in his head and he followed out of instinct, but what the hell was he doing?
Elder Lin Dong did his best to hold back the green armored ape but still lost in raw strength. Ming Ren flickered with [Flash Step], slashing at the beast’s eyes, making it roar in pain. Lin Qiang also made her move, the young lady thrust with precision at the wounded spot on the beast’s chest, summoning a scaled greenbeast, a flood mantis, and a saber-toothed cat to support.
“Summoning energy?!” The patriarch and second elder almost went crazy.
The scaled greenbeast took the ape’s blows head-on. If its defenses were already frightening at the sixth layer of the Body Tempering Realm, what about them at the second layer of the Spirit Sea Realm, and powered by summoning energy and the [Beast God’s Blessing]?
The flood mantis and saber-toothed cat excelled in offense and took turns harassing the ape. The green armored ape, a mighty beast that even the forest patriarch and the second elder couldn’t match, looked so feeble and powerless. The trio completely dominated it.
‘It’s that youth!’ Lin Huangfu noticed Ming Ren controlled everything, and every hair on his body stood up. The youth used a mystic art to relay commands, predicting spirit beast’s attacks, and immediately planning strategies to fight back. He did not understand how this was possible but one thing was certain:
Their chance to survive had come!