Chapter 7: Stay or Die

Upon hearing the guard's report, Wen Jian went furious.

"Damn it! We truly ran out of luck this time! An Eight-Class Demonic Beast is stronger than a peak-level Qi Perfection Stage cultivator!"

Demonic beasts were monsters who achieved sentience and was able to manipulate the forces of nature with the qi they innately possess. All demonic beasts were classified into ten levels.

With tenth-class as the weakest, an eight-class was several times stronger than the tenth-class. Even a single Qi Perfection Stage expert, which is the pinnacle stage of the Qi Foundation Realm, wouldn't stand a chance against that beast.

Suddenly, Wen Jian and his group felt a huge tremor ahead of them. Without hesitation, Wen Jian ordered the guards.

"All of you, gather all the guards immediately and tell them to head towards that direction. Yao Tian and I will follow him and assist our men!"

"Yes patriarch!" the nine Qi Condensation Stage guards responded in unison and scattered.

Wen Jian and Yao Tian followed the guard to the battlefield. Minutes later, they arrived at the said area. They fell silent as they saw the monster in front of them.

"That's... That's a Poison Demonic Serpent!"

The Poison Demonic Serpent fought the Dantian Perfection Stage with ease. The bodies of the Wen Clan's guards scattered all over the area.

"We just f-fought it m-minutes ago... Yet it c-caused so much c-casualty...!" The guard said while trembling in fear.

"Tch! What a bunch of useless idiots! Why would they fight that beast while having a low cultivation leve!?"

Wen Jian looked at Yao Tian. Tian noticed the patriarch and immediately lowered his head.

"Yao Tian! Distract that beast! We'll buy our men some time to arrive here!"

Upon hearing the patriarch's command, Yao Tian picked the spear that was owned by one of the fallen guards. He threw the spear towards the beast with all his might, and the spear pierced on the serpent's skin.

To his surprise, the spear was too shallow to cause a discomfort on the serpent. But his actions was enough to divert its attention to him.

"All of you! Synchronize your attacks while the serpent's attention was on Yao Tian!"

The remaining twelve out of twenty Dantian Perfection Stage guards out of joined forces in order to deal the beast. But despite their joint attacks, it was weak enough to injure the Poison Demonic Serpent.

The serpent noticed the guards and halted for a brief moment. To their surprise, the beast spat a poisonous saliva and landed on the unsuspected Dantian Perfection Stage guards. Six of them immediately died on the spot.

"P-Patriarch... S-Save us...!" one of the guards said on his dying breath.

Wen Jian witnessed the horrible scene and went even more furious than before.

"Fuck! What took those damn guards so long to arrive here!?"

Wen Jian noticed some movements behind him and saw the remaining guards rushing towards him.

"Patriarch! We are here to assist you on the battle!" One of Qi Condensation Stage guard said.

"What are you still dawdling at? Assist those useless idiots immediately!" Wen Jian ordered them.

With the entire forces of Wen Clan's group, they fought the Eight-Class Demonic Beast ferociously. It was a hard-fought battle, with both sides struggling to survive.

Another hour had passed, and the battle was about to end. Wen Jian delivered the final blow.

"Take this! Sky-Rendering Sword Thrust!"

Wen Jian unleashed a huge qi manifestation, spending one-fourth of his qi reserve in order to kill the weakened serpent. With one huge blow, the attack destroyed the serpent's head. The serpent's body fell to the ground, and a huge tremor followed after its demise.

Out of the fourty-eight guards, only twenty-four managed to survive the battle. All nine Qi Condensation Stage guards was alive, suffering from some minor injuries. While the remaining Dantian Perfection Stage guards suffered severe injuries.

Yao Tian and Wen Jian didn't suffer any damages from the battle, but they were exhausted by their constant usage of qi.

"Huff... Huff... Damn it! Half of our men died from that battle!" Wen Jian shouted as he threw his sword away.

"Patriarch... We must hide from a secluded place in order to recuperate our injuries. We are too exposed here, and someone might ambush us!" Yao Tian told the patriarch.

One of the guards overheard their conversation and walked towards the patriarch while groaning in pain.

"Patriarch... W-While I was scouting around the area, I-I saw a small c-cavern ahead, not too far away from here. I-I suggest that we could h-hide there for a time b-being... Ngghhh!"

Wen Jian noticed that the guard's voice was shaking while talking to him. But he didn't payed any attention to it, knowing that it was too scared from the battle before, and the way he speaked to him was result of the trauma he experienced.

He paused for a moment, considering the guard's suggestion. Seconds later, Wen Jian stood up in front of his men.

"Right now, staying here might pose a threat to us. We must find a temporary shelter to recuperate our injuries! Luckily, he found a small cavern for us to shelter us temporarily!" Wen Jian said.

"Those who were still able to stand up, carry those who were gravely injured! Those who can walk by themselves, don't be a burden and follow him as he guides our way to that said cavern!"

All of them followed the guard without hesitation. They carried their companions and walked slowly.

...

The sun were past its peak, indicatimg that it was afternoon. They arrived at the said area and saw the small cavern that the guard told them.

"Check the cavern if there were any signs of beasts lurking inside! If you didn't notice any, you can place the injured ones and let them recuperate by themselves!" Wen Jian ordered.

The nine Qi Condensation Stage guards scouted the entrance, and signalled that there were no signs of wild beasts lurking at the cave.

Wen Jian ordered his men to rest inside the cave and entered along with them. The cave was dark, luckily they managed to bring soem torches and lit them. They placed the injured ones on the ground slowly and leaned them at the walls of the cave.

Wen Jian and Yao Tian rested at the rocks inside the cave. As they watched their men in silence, Wen Jian noticed that the guard who guided them from before approached them while trembling.

(Is that coward still trembling? Did he suffer so much trauma from the last battle?)

"Hey you! You should take a rest instead of walking around like a scaredy cat!" Yao Tian shouted.

The trembling guard noticed the patriarch and rushed towards them in a hurry. His pupils were restless and was looking around the cavern, as if it was wary of something.

Wen Jian snapped his fingers, and the guard was surprised by the sound.

"Eyes up here!" Wen Jian told the guard.

The guard's mouth was shaking, as if it was trying to tell something from the patriarch but doesn't have a courage to do so.

"Hey! What the hell are you doing?" Yao Tian told the scared guard.

"P-P-P-Patriarch... I'm really s-s-sorry... B-B-But h-he told me that h-he would s-spare me if I...!"

While the guard was talking, Yao Tian felt that the box where he hid the purple qi dagger was shaking.

(Hm?)

Yao Tian paused when he heard a loud thud on the ground. His attention was diverted from the box, and what he saw in front of him was shocking.

The head of the guard that was standing in front of him fell on the ground. The sound of its head dropping echoed throughout the cave, and it was rolling away at where he was sitting.

"Tsk-tsk. If you'd just followed my instructions like a good dog, I might truly spare your life, you know?" An unknown voice spoke.

Yao Tian noticed that the box trembled again for the second time. Before he could even react, all the torches began to dim in quick succession. The entire area turned dark in an instant.

Seconds later, the screams of the guards followed after the brief silence. It echoed throughout the cave.

"GRAAH!"

"AHHH!"

"GAHHK!"

Suddenly, a moment of realization struck on Yao Tian's mind. The sudden deaths of the guards and the box shaking uncontrollably, leads to only one answer: Ling was here.

"PATRIARCH! LING AMBUSHED US!" Yao Tian shouted.

"WHAT? LING WAS HERE ALL ALONG!?" Wen Jian exclaimed.

Wen Jian took out his sword and ignited the torches with the sparks created from his sword striking on the rock. He immediately swayed the torch around and saw a swift shadow ahead.

Jian noticed something fast heading towards him. He immediately parried it with his sword.

"Yao Tian! Hold this torch and lit the rest of those torches with it! I'll deal with his attacks!" Jian shouted.

Jian detected several qi threads rushing towards him, but he immediately severed them with his sword.

"Impressive, old man. If you used that weapon of yours before, we probably won't arrive in this situation."

Wen Jian swung his sword in the air.

"Humph. If I didn't took easy on you before, knowing the fact that you comprehended a technique that had the same level as mine, I would've used my full power in order to deal you!"

Ling paused for a moment upon hearing Wen Jian's reply.

(Same level? What the hell is he talking about?)

"Ling! What sort of trickery did you used this time in order to lure us here by using one of our guards!?" Yao Tian exclaimed.

Suddenly, Ling scoffs him upon hearing such stupid question.

"Pfft. And why would I answer that?"

"You...!"

Hours before Wen Jian ordered his guards to regroup, Ling detected one of them probing within the cavern's vicinity.

Ling captured the guard by wrapping its hands and feet using his qi threads, and gagged the soldier's mouth in order to prevent him from calling others.

Then, he placed a drop of his strange qi in the guard's dantian. The guard immediately felt a strong suction inside his body, and noticed that his qi reserve was reduced by half in a matter of ten seconds. He also felt that his vitality was losing at a faster rate.

Ling placed his hand on the guard's stomach and took half of the strange qi back to his dantian. The suction force weakened, and the discomfort that the guard felt before subsided.

"Now, I will tell you this clear and precise. You will follow my command that I'm about to tell you after this. Delaying it further or sabotaging me wouldn't be an option, as that suction force hidden inside your dantian will grow stronger over time, leading towards your doom. Do I make myself clear?" Ling said.

The guard nodded his head while shaking.

"Good. If you manage to pull this off, I will remove that thing inside you and spare your life."

Ling untied the guard and removed the gag from its mouth. He told the guard the task, and that is to lure Wen Jian and Yao Tian on the cave.

The guard walks away in silence. As the guard's figure vanished from the thick bushes around, Ling entered the cave and prepared for their arrival.

...

Ling was looking at the furious Yao Tian, amused by his reaction.

(Humph. I'm glad that Wen Clan's guard fulfill the task successfully, but sadly he made a blunder at the last-minute...)

Suddenly, Ling noticed that the entire cavern trembled, indicating that the conditions were met, and the door finally opened.

(Offering the bloods of fifteen people just to open that door? That door is greedy as heck!)

Wen Jian and the others also noticed the tremors and asked Ling about it.

"Hey brat! What the hell did you do?" Wen Jian asked him.

Ling raised one of his eyebrows.

"Why are you asking me as if I knew everything? Seek that answer to yourself!" Ling said and immediately ran towards the door's location.

"You fucking brat! Chase after him!" Wen Jian ordered his guards.

"Uhm... Patriarch. Only nine of us were left. The remaining fifteen guards were killed by Ling's ambush!" One of the guards said.

Wen Jian looked around and saw the lifeless bodies of his guards lying on the ground.

(Ling... I'll never forgive you for this!)

"Leave them and chase that brat! We'll capture him at all cost!" Wen Jian shouted.

Wen Jian, Yao Tian, and the remaining nine Qi Condensation Stage guards chased after him. Ling saw them and ran faster in order to outrun them. Upon entering the other side of the door, a bright, red light covered his entire body.

...

Ling slowly opened his eyes. As his vision became clear, he found himself lying inside a strange platform.

(Where... am I?)

Ling looked around and found the nine Qi Condensation Stage guards, Wen Jian and Yao Tian lying on the platforms similar to his.

(Wen Jian... What are they doing here?)

Ling stood up and tried to jump from the platform, but an invisible barrier was preventing him from escaping. He banged on the invisible barrier several times, but the barrier won't budge at all.

(I'll try breaking this barrier using the Three-Dagger Killing Formation!)

Ling used the Three-Dagger Killing Formation to break the barrier, but the result was still the same.

(What about my strange qi?)

Ling unleashed his strange qi, trying to corrode the barrier by absorbing it, but the barrier didn't show any signs of corrosion.

(Even with my strange qi, the barrier won't break at all!)

Suddenly, Ling heard someone calling his name from behind.

"HEY LING! WHERE ARE WE? DID YOU SEND US HERE? WAS THIS ONE OF YOUR TRICKERY!?"

Ling immediately recognized the voice and looked behind. He saw Yao Tian screaming at him loudly.

Ling didn't answer him and continued his attempt to break the barrier.

"HEY! ANSWER ME YOU FUCKING BRAT!"

"YAO TIAN! STOP SCREAMING AND BE QUIET!" Wen Jian shouted him.

Yao Tian fell silent upon hearing the patriarch's order. Tian sat on the ground while staring at Ling.

"You should train your dog how to behave better, old man..." Ling said while attempting to break the barrier.

Yao Tian heard Ling's taunts and went furious.

"You fucking..!"

Yao Tian saw the patriarch staring at him. He calmed himself and exhaled slowly.

"Patriarch... Where are we?" one of the guards asked Wen Jian.

"W-What is this place?" the other one asked him.

"Calm down. Wait for my further instructions. Even I... I don't know where we are right now..." Wen Jian told them.

Suddenly, the barrier began to emit a green glow, and all of them noticed that their injuries healed in an instant.

"This is..!"

Although Ling doesn't have any injuries, he felt that his vitality was replenished. He looked around and saw that the guard's injuries was healed, and Wen Jian and Yao Tian are no exceptions.

"Hah! It seems like we struck gold this time! This place healed us to restore our strength to its peak!" Yao Tian exclaimed.

"Alas! The heavens didn't abandoned us at all!" one of the guards exclaimed.

Out of nowhere, an object similar to a star in a night sky appeared in front of them. All of them fell silent, fixated by the sudden appearance of the object.

"What... is that?" one of the guards murmured.

Suddenly, strange lines emerged from the object and flew directly towards Ling and one of the guards. It permeated through the barriers easily, intersecting each other in quick succession. As the lines began to interact wich each other, they transformed into characters in no time.

One of the guards was puzzled by the situation and asked the guard beside him who received the characters which is words that can be read.

"What was written there? I can't read it properly from this angle!" the guard said to the other one who received the word.

"Uhh... It says... Stay or...Die?"