54 Victory

"Tear me to pieces? The problem is… can you?" Kael gave a slight grin.

Kael clearly showed that sometimes it wasn't just about the disparity in cultivation levels that mattered. Tactics and the know-how of using appropriate Spirit Arts or Magic Arts for the situation played an equally important role.

Though the Venomancer was much more stronger than him, Kael was able to utilize his experience and wide berth of Spirit Arts to keep the Venomancer tied in a deadlock with him.

However, that being said, Kael, despite using all of his abilities, was only able to nullify the Venomancer. He wasn't able to threaten the Venomancer's life. That was because the Venomancer's balls of poison could act as a strong offense and defense concurrently. He could also shoot many balls of poison in succession, making contact with the Venomancer an almost impossible task given Kael's cultivation level.

This part of the battlefield was thus stuck in a stalemate.

Technically speaking, the Venomancer had an advantage in spiritual energy reserves. He could shoot more balls of poison than Kael's Frost Bolts. If he continued attacking, Kael would be forced to retreat eventually.

However, he didn't choose to do that. That was because his real enemy wasn't Kael, but the Principal who didn't appear as of yet. The Venomancer chose to save his spiritual energy for any unforeseen circumstances that might happen.

Thus, the two sides were stuck in a staredom. They were looking at each other, making sure that neither party could move to affect the entire battlefield.

This deadlock lasted for another 15 minutes before a new pattern emerged in the battlefield.

Wallie Dawson, as expected, managed to defeat the Black Line Drake, which decided to fly away back into the Black Heart Forest with severe injuries all over its body. Seeing his companion's retreat, the other Black Line Drake also retreated and disappeared into the forest.

The Vice-Principal then joined up with Richard Duran and Patten Eagle to kill off the Snow Wind Apes.

The Herald Rank demonic beasts were either killed or beaten back. Many of the demonic beasts seemed to have detected the change in the flow of the battle and the bloodlust in their eyes receded. Subsequently, they also chose to retreat, leaving the battlefield.

There was nothing the Venomancer could do as well about this. Sure, he could threaten them, but it wouldn't have a great impact on these beasts who were more aware that they would end up dead if they stayed on the battlefield long enough.

The cause was lost, and the Venomancer knew that. Wallie Dawson, Richard Duran and Patten Eagle joined up with Kael and stared at the Venomancer.

The Venomancer hissed. "It seems to be my miscalculation this time around. I never expected for a foreigner to meddle with the affairs of the Myriad Domain. Next time, I will be more prepared…" He turned his body and started to slither away.

"Wait." Wallie Dawson stopped the Venomancer. By this time, all the demonic beasts were already dead or retreated. Only the Venomancer was left on the battlefield. He turned around and looked at the Vice-Principal with deadpan eyes.

Wallie Dawson took out the hybrid core from his item bag and showed it to the Venomancer. "You want to pillage the city and kill the cultivators for our cores. However, we have a solution to this. Why go through all the hassle? We can always provide you with hybrid cores like this - in this way you still get what you want, on the precondition that you never lay hands on the cities in the Myriad Lower Region again."

The Venomancer's eyes widened. "This scent.. It's a monster core. However it has the essence of a human cultivator…"

"That's right. We can come to a deal with this. You promise peace, while we gift this to you on a periodic basis." Wallie Dawson said.

The Venomancer couldn't smile due to the shape of its mouth. However, he cackled eerily. "Heh heh heh… sure thing. You should've said this earlier before the battle. Now many demonic beasts died for nothing."

"If we offered you this deal without showing our prowess, you might just decide to attack us once again."

"That's true as well. Alright. I want 100 of these Herald Rank Lower Phase cores every quarter. Anything less and the beast horde tide will come again."

"Deal." Wallie Dawson was happy on the inside. This was a good deal. Rallying all the neighboring cities, each city only needed to produce 20 cores every four months. That was a pace which wouldn't cause the cultivation progress to stop.

"I will come back personally four months later. Prepare…" With that, the Venomancer turned around once again and disappeared into the depths of the Black Heart Forest.

Seeing the leader of the demonic beast horde leave, the City Lord army and the student cultivators all cheered in joy.

They had finally beaten back the beast horde tide!

For the army, it was the first time they withstood the attack as an individual city. For the student cultivators, it was their first time experiencing such a beast horde tide.

It was a happy occasion that they managed to beat off the horde tide. Furthermore, there were hardly any fatalities on their side. It could be said to be a complete victory for Fledgling City.

"Long live Fledgling City! Long live Fledgling City!" The crowd was totally immersed in celebrating their victory.

In the midst of the deafening cheers, Kael turned towards Wallie Dawson. "I guess this is our victory this time."

Wallie Dawson grinned. "Indeed it is, and it is all thanks to you."

Kael waved his hand in dismissal. "I merely guided the people. They have the potential in the first place. That is what matters."

"Still, without your guidance, we wouldn't be able to achieve this." Wallie Dawson was insistent on the pleasantries and exchange of formalities.

Kael couldn't say anything else but nodded in assent. "Alright, let's head back into the city and discuss what to do next."

The rest agreed and the throng of human cultivators slowly returned back to Fledgling City.