Chapter 32 - 30 Backbone
“—Ah!”
“Run, there’s a monster!”
It wasn’t just Han Ye and his group, many of those who had gone up the mountain were also being attacked by various unusual, exotic beasts.
In addition to the Xue Owl, there was a gigantic snow owl four or five meters high, spreading its wings and circling, stirring up gusts of bitter cold winds, freezing everything in its path into ice crystals.
There was a rumbling from the ground, and a ferocious beast, resembling a crocodile and thirty feet long, suddenly rushed out from underneath! Its short, sturdy front limbs knocked over every tree in its way, unstoppable!
Many people stood in shock, but one man managed to react, holding a large knife and trying to sneak attack the beast from behind.
“Beast, die!”
With pure courage, he plunged onto the back of the massive crocodile-like beast, one hand gripping its scale while the other wielded the knife, hacking forcefully at its back.
— Clang Clang!
However, the beast’s back armor was like cast-iron, showing no signs of damage despite sparks flying off the knife.
“Eyes! Aim for the eyes!”
Various people anxiously shouted out reminders.
The man was swaying on the thrashing beast, almost falling off and getting crushed to death. But his strong will to survive fired up his strength, and he stabbed the beast’s crimson eye with his knife.
“Whoosh!”
Yang. The knife tip plunged in, and blood gushed from the beast’s right eye.
However, it only served to provoke the beast to full fury.
“Roar!!”
A deep and restless roar echoed through the entire forest.
The beast flung its head, tossing the man off its body. The man flew through the air and collided with a sturdy tree trunk, spewing a mouthful of fresh blood.
Fortunately, having tempered his physical body, the man still survived, despite his cultivation being sealed. His strong body withstood the hit, saving his life.
However, he suffered multiple broken ribs, and both his arm and leg were shattered. He had entirely lost his ability to move.
Realizing that the man was still alive, the beast hurriedly turned its neck, its hard scales pointed outwards. It charged at the helpless man like an iron mountain, ready to crush the insignificant human.
In this life and death situation, the man couldn’t escape and, gathering his last ounce of strength, he shouted,
“I give up!”
Faced with the brink of death, he had no choice but to give up the third challenge. However, facing imminent death, he wasn’t sure if he would be rescued.
If he were to die here, he wouldn’t be willing to accept it.
“Whoosh!”
At this moment, the sound of a sword tearing through the air echoed, and a flying sword, parallel to the ground, sped towards them like a meteor, as fast as lightning.
A trail of red sword qi was drawn out long in the air, sweeping across the sky. It swallowed and spat out the Heavenly Earthly Spiritual Qi, leaving a ripple in its wake. It seemed as if it could slay everything in its path.
Whoosh!
The sword qi directly slashed across the giant crocodile-like beast’s scales, sending it flying away, and several scales fell off its body.
Several Inner Sect disciples dressed in blue Taoist robes arrived, hovering in the air. Their bodies were circulating with magic power, their sleeves fluttered, and fierce flames continuously danced within the three-feet radius around them.
An indomitable strength was silently imprinted in everyone’s hearts.
After arriving, the Inner Sect disciples casually glanced at everyone, helped the man leaning against the tree trunk up from the ground, and prepared to leave.
“Such powerful cultivation.”
“Is this the Divine Skill?”
“Is this the might of an Inner Sect disciple?”
The participants exclaimed in awe after witnessing the spectacle. Meanwhile, the giant crocodile-like beast stood up again, shaking its head as if disoriented by the hit.
“Oh no! It’s coming again!”
Someone frantically pointed at the crocodile-like beast, his eyes wide open.
Apparently, the duty of the Inner Sect disciples was only to rescue people, everything else didn’t concern them.
All of them, a group of ten or so people, were blocked by this ferocious exotic beast at the foot of the mountain. There was no way for them to climb up, and they were no match for the beast. They almost lost their lives.
Everyone anxiously shouted before the beast charged at them:
“Wait, I also give up!”
“Me too!”
“Even if I have to give up, my life is still more important!”
Meanwhile, on another side.
Han Ye and his group stared anxiously at the circling shadow overhead, looking for an opportunity to strike.
“Damn it! This Xue Owl can fly and the wind and rain it releases keeps hampering us. How are we supposed to climb the mountain this way?”
Gao Qichang could only clench his teeth and glare, apparently having no solution for the owl.
These exotic beasts’ hide and feathers were too tough, and an ordinary iron sword would not affect them.
Han Ye was stroking his chin, remaining incredibly calm, and thinking about a strategy.
“As long as we can get it down, I have a solution.”
“Knocking it down is easier said than done.”
Liu Lingqi frowned.
“So we just need to chase it down?”
Carpenter Li Chong wiped his nose and patted his chest, saying,
“Then, watch me!”
He took out a slingshot from nowhere and loaded it with a package of red powder.
“This is Beast Lust Scatter. It can stimulate any barbaric beast’s lust, exciting them. After that, it will naturally come down.”
“Whoosh!”
He shot the slingshot, and it hit the Xue Owl without causing any harm.
The red powder then scattered into the sky, looking like fireworks exploding.
In just a short while,
The Xue Owl’s call suddenly went off-tune, becoming more high pitched, and it also began to fly lower and lower.
On the ground, Han Ye and Wang Da Niu were both standing on a tree, preparing to act the moment it landed.
The Xue Owl was eventually entirely affected by the Beast Lust Scatter. Its flapping wings suddenly stopped, and it fell sideways from the air.
Those around hurriedly spread out, waiting for it to fall.
Boom—
The Xue Owl’s landing stirred up a large cloud of dust.
In the midst of the smoke and dust, a burly figure rushed forward, leaped up, and with both hands outstretched, forcibly grabbed the wings of the Xue Owl.
After scattering, everyone realized that Han Ye was already riding on the head of the Bewitching Eagle.
His arms bulged with veins, his hands like iron clamps, firmly gripping the Bewitching Eagle’s neck.
“Yiya!”
The Bewitching Eagle, weighing upwards of a thousand pounds, began to roll, trying to shake Han Ye off.
But Han Ye’s arm was like a pillar holding up the sky, not moving an inch.
“Such great strength…”
“Is this normal human strength?”
“Quick, kill it!”
Despite their shock, Gao Qichang, Liu Lingqi and others were not too busy to remind others to help.
Han Ye gritted his teeth. Controlling the Bewitching Eagle was extremely strenuous; after all, it was a rare and precious exotic beast.
But the Dragon and Tiger Breath in his chest rose slowly, supplying his body with power.
Wang Da Niu alone held down one wing, while the other bodyguards together held down the other. Liu Lingqi and Gao Qichang, each holding a weapon, struck the Bewitching Eagle’s body. There were two “dingding” sounds, but they caused no harm at all.
“It can’t be pierced?”
Liu Lingqi had not expected that even the Bewitching Eagle’s vulnerable neck area would be so hard.
Just then, the Bewitching Eagle suddenly raised its head, opened its sharp beak, and aimed at Liu Lingqi’s face, intending to completely eat her head.
“Stay down!!”
At the critical moment, Han Ye roared, his momentum like thunder, and punched the Bewitching Eagle on its head.
The Bewitching Eagle’s head swiftly hit the ground, leaving behind a large pit like a spider’s web. Mud and stones flew everywhere.
A normal barbarian beast would have died after taking this punch from Han Ye.
It would already be dead.
He had changed from before; a casual punch could produce a force of thousands of pounds.
But this Bewitching Eagle only bled from its eyes. Its head no longer moved, but its wings and body were still jumping about wildly.
“Give me the sword!”
Seeing Han Ye’s cold shout, Liu Lingqi did not hesitate and threw her own sword to him.
After receiving the sword, he thrust it with all his strength, directly into the Bewitching Eagle’s left eye.
He stretched out a leg and picked up a dagger, stabbing it into the Bewitching Eagle’s right eye.
Both hands held onto the sword and dagger.
Stirred with all his strength!
The mixed smell of mud and rainwater, along with the Bewitching Eagle’s mournful screams, the bloody traces on the ground, everything ended completely within ten breaths.
After a long while, the Bewitching Eagle, with a sword and dagger stuck in its eyes, no longer moved.
Everyone sat on the ground, panting heavily, their eyes filled with shock.
Han Ye picked up an iron sword and chopped a few more times on the Bewitching Eagle’s head.
“Brother Han Ye is really strong, this Bewitching Eagle should be completely dead.”
Seeing this, Gao Qichang chuckled.
“Let’s rest for a while before going up the mountain. There’s no time limit anyway,” Han Ye suggested, relieved.
“No problem.”
“I’m also too tired, this beast is too strong.”
“It’s stronger than a woman’s, I almost couldn’t handle it.”
Zhao Jin also chimed in, trying to lighten the tense atmosphere.
But he found that the atmosphere was off and no one was bothering to reply, so he could only smile awkwardly.
Han Ye scanned the misty mountaintop and glanced at the Bewitching Eagle’s corpse, pondering,
“I have a feeling there may still be a test waiting for us on the mountain.”
“Oh? Brother Han Ye, why don’t you share your thoughts?” Gao Qichang asked curiously.
“This exotic beast was already very difficult to deal with. Could there be something else unknown?” Liu Lingqi asked doubtfully, her eyes focused on Han Ye.
After experiencing this crisis, for some unknown reason, everyone unconsciously looked at Han Ye as their pillar of support.
One by one, they all turned their gaze to him
Han Ye explained, “Think about it, why wouldn’t this exotic beast block our path halfway up the mountain instead of standing guard at the foot?”
“This suggests that there are certainly other things on the mountain that forbade them from climbing, thus discouraging their intention to go up.”
Everyone agreed and pondered at his words.
“Brother Han Ye, what you’re saying makes sense and seems probable.”
“This makes sense, indeed.”
“If this is really the case, then what could be blocking them?”
Just as everyone was regrouping, a series of calls sounded from the sky.
“Guh!”
“Guh!”
A massive shadow appeared. Han Ye looked up and saw a gigantic Xue Owl whose large wings carried a dreadful cold air, directly swooping down.
“Really? It’s back?”
“What do we do now? We had a hard time dealing with one, and now comes another.”
Seeing the Xue Owl, everyone fell into a downtrodden mood, sighing heavily.
Han Ye’s brows furrowed, his fists clenched, ready for another fight.
“Tick tock.”
At this moment, a small sound rang out, like footsteps on a lawn.
A figure in a white Douli hat and veil arrived on the hillside, her name was Chu Xianyu. Her delicate fingers gripped the emerald sword sheath, her demeanor tranquil and calm, unhurried and graceful, as she walked steadily forward.
Warm sunlight shone on her veil, her beautiful facial contours, dense eyelashes and shoulder-length black hair barely perceivable.
Beneath the veil, her clear eyes were filled with innocence.
“Guh!”
Faced with the Xue Owl’s strident call,
Her countenance changed not a bit.