The First Event 5 (Final)

Gu Erin had thought he would be able to retreat and wait out the remainder of the beast tide, just thinking of his past self's arrogance made him unspeakably angry. Did his over confidence cause this? Gu Erin didn't know, but what he did know, was they were now in some serious shit.

Another pulse of qi went through the area, Gu Erin had long abandoned the clearing to try and find the source. This qi pulse was a sign, a sign that someone, or something was about to breakthrough. Its level of intensity and the distance it was able to travel told Gu Erin two things. One the beast was incredibly strong for its Rank, and two, it was about to breakthrough to the Rank 3.

Gu Erin had managed to kill two Peak Rank 2 beasts separately. Now however, if a beast broke through to the Rank 3, forget retreating into the protective formation. All the Rank 2 beasts wouldn't be able to put a dent in the amount of qi maintaining it. However, add a Rank 3 to that equation, and that protective formation would be lucky to survive two of its strikes, even if its just an Entry Rank 3 beast.

Gu Erin wove through the trees and brush his panic slowly starting to rise, as he felt the qi pulsating with far more frequency. Finally, Gu Erin entered another clearing, however once he did he paused. This clearing was not empty, instead there was a long wall cutting him off from looking further in. However, his gaze did not have to travel far before he saw a hole.

Judging by the claw marks it looked like this wall was ripped open. Granted he knew by how many claw marks lined the top of the walls it seemed like it really didn't deter much. His bloodline picked up on what happened before any other sense did. Gu Erin could feel the countless lives that had been reaped here.

Then the smell hit him, nobody enjoyed the smell of war and battle. It quite frankly smelled like shit. This was no different, but even then Gu Erin could still smell the strong scent of iron. Hell, Gu Erin could practically taste it. The number of lives lost here must be near a thousand.

Gu Erin knew that only a four or five thousand Earth Cultivators would be sent to each town, so this slaughter might have just taken care of most of his future competition. He had no sympathy for the lives lost. He already knew that there was probably no human left alive on the other side of these walls.

With silent steps and a restrained aura Gu Erin walked into he once human camp. What he saw, even if he had been expecting it, still twisted his guts. The disgusting sight of beasts tearing apart human corpses and eating them was not a sight that one wished to see.

Gu Erin averted his eyes from two beasts who were fighting over one particular corpse, one of a child, in the end the beasts tore it in half, its entrails spilling. Gu Erin even if empathetic, still felt slight pangs of anger, however he did not allow his emotions to rule him. Instead, he moved his gaze around the camp till he found his target.

He then held back the countless curses on his tongue. There in the center of the massacre were a pride of lionesses protecting a dark, pulsating cocoon.. These were Highland Lions; unlike regular lions and lionesses they had thicker coats to withstand colder temperatures. Their legs were strong and powerful, as they scaled mountains and hilly terrains on the daily.

Having such an opponent here was both a blessing and a curse. They were out of their element; however, they were still a pride of Rank 2 beasts that work seamlessly.. That and their alpha was in the midst of evolving.

Without waiting any longer, and not even bothering to hold back his aura Gu Erin charged the ten or so Rank 2 Lionesses. Cutting down the Rank 1 fodder along the way.

The lionesses stared down the approaching human with contempt, however, they would not take an intruder lightly, whether it be man or beast. This was a very important moment for their pride. If their alpha male failed, then they would be forced to seek out another pride.

So, with some dismissal, a young lioness charge Gu Erin. However, in the next moment the rest of the pack jumped into a heightened state. Because, the moment that young Lioness reached Gu Erin she was cut down near instantly. Although this was a major issue, the main reason for their newfound vigilance was that none of them saw the movement of the human.

Gu Erin did not wait for the lionesses to react, instead he attacked with his full strength, but it was still somewhat forced. Gu Erin had expended a lot of his strength in the past few hours. Right now, it would not be a lie to say that he was running on fumes. Even the metaphysical connection to his bloodline was starting to feel strained. Gu Erin did not have to be told that his bloodline energy was running out.

Gu Erin slashed down one lioness after another, however, none of his hits out right killed any of the Rank 2 beasts. This in his eyes was acceptable, because all he needed to do was to get to the evolving beast in the center of their formation.

Ducking under the last lioness Gu Erin stabbed his sword into the cocoon of the evolving beast. Instantly the qi in the area burst out wildly, as the cocoon burst wide, releasing large amounts of rampant and directionless qi.

This burst of qi sent Gu Erin flying back, his body and bloodline armor taking the brunt of the impact, leaving him in a daze. He was only thankful for this bloodline ability in his heart, as it blocked most of the rampant qi. However, this still left him in a very dangerous position.

He was exhausted, his bloodline energy drained, and his qi reserves near zero. So, Gu Erin did the only logical thing.

He ran.

He ran away from that settlement, most of the beasts still in a complete daze, certainly not the most courageous thing to do. But, Gu Erin wasn't planning on letting them go either. What he needed most was just a brief respite. A short break just to recover some strength to finish what he had started. He was not going to risk his life over some low rank beasts.

With his opportunistic disruption of the evolution that beast will no doubt suffer a backlash. Its hatred would be set on him, so Gu Erin knew the beast would find him eventually. All he needed to do now is wait for it to find him. While it tracked him down the beast tide should have subsided and the rewards for the first event distributed.

Gu Erin smiled weakly as he held back his diminished aura as he made his way through the woods with all due haste. Granted, that did not stop him from getting lost a few times. He had even run into a few errant beasts, but Gu Erin had managed to either lose them or outrun them.

By the time Gu Erin threw himself back into the formation he had a small pack of beasts behind him, and his legs felt more like jelly than actual flesh. Gu Erin laid back, panting, and laughing intermittently, this beast tide was truly a surprise. If he had known this would be such a close call he might have just considered fighting on the wall of the town instead.

However, just thinking about the rewards he would gain through his group's efforts sent his heart ablaze. In his last life he had killed two Rank 1 beasts, and he had received a one gold reward from the Heavens.

Gu Erin had learned the disadvantage of fighting on the walls in his past life, as all the beast's corpses were claimed by the town. If Gu Erin managed to keep those two corpses, he would have gotten far more than one gold. But now?

Gu Erin looked around the camp, there was nothing but a sea of corpses and materials, add in the reward from the Heavens and Gu Erin wasn't sure about the amount of wealth he might receive. To be truthful he wasn't even sure he would receive just wealth, he had heard rumors of some groups doing so well that they received alchemical goods, or martial techniques from the Heavens.

Gu Erin didn't mind the noise of his camp members fighting off the new pack, or that said pack of beasts beating up against the barrier. He was simply content with waiting for what he knew was coming.

Sure enough, a few minutes later the world was filled with aurora like lights that swirled through the destruction like it wasn't there, completely untouched by such impure things. Gu Erin watched as the Heavens was about to touch him, but before it did it…. Paused? Gu Erin wasn't sure, but he swore the Heavens hesitated to touch him.

This only lasted for the briefest of seconds, but Gu Erin was certain, however, such thoughts were put to the way side before he heard the voice of the Heavens within his mind.

[You Have Fought Valiantly And Survived]

[Evaluating Your Contribution For The First Event]