63 He Grabbed Them By The What!?

"Is that the famous beast tamer group, I see over there?" Hu Tao walked over with huge grin on his face.

"Leave us alone, Hu Tao. My faction will not be wasting our energy on fighting you."

"What's with the cold shoulder Hop? I'm just coming over to give my greetings as fellow disciples." Hu Tao lied with ease.

"Do you think we don't know? We know you have been hunting other factions in the Inner Court. Everyone knows. Don't expect a battle from any of the big factions either. Everyone is looking to avoid you in the Treasured Plains. Stay away from us." Hop's tamed spirit beast growled at Hu Tao.

"What a cute kitty. What's his name?" Hu Tao asked while getting closer.

"She's a girl and don't make me repeat myself Hu Tao. Leave us alone." Hop's giant Golden White Tigeress bared her fangs at Hu Tao, widening his smirk even further.

"Come on, are you really that scared of my greetings, Hop? A cultivator at the 5th stage such as yourself shouldn't be so scared of a 2nd stage like me." Hu Tao riled even further.

"Enough!" One of Hop's subordinates tried to kill Hu Tao by thrusting her staff towards his throat.

"Ooh a brave one. You got more balls than your own leader does." Hu Tao didn't even need to dodge, his chains blocked the strike for him.

"Shut your dog mouth you crazy bastard! I'm more than enough for someone like you!" She spat through her teeth.

"Ya Ya! Get back here now!" Hop commanded.

"But Hop! He-"

"Now!"

  Ya Ya hopped away from Hu Tao and the Heavenly Collectors walked away from him. If he tried forcefully engaging with them, he'd be too outnumbered. It would be a fun battle but one he wasn't sure was worth it. If they were willing to run away from him now, then they definitely would start running once he killed a few of them.

'Maybe the other factions would like to play with me instead.' Hu Tao smiled as he walked to the next faction.

  Hu Tao spent most of his time trying to get other factions to fight him but just like the first group, they ran away or took the brunt of his non-stop insults. None of them wanted to fight him! What kind of cowards was his sect raising if they couldn't even handle a little fight?! This was seriously going to get in the way of his fun if everyone he met ran away from him.

"It's time!"

"The first floor is opening!"

"Let's head inside! Quick!"

  The locked door from atop of the stairs slowly opened as everyone rushed towards it. Hu Tao wasn't as excited as they were, he casually strolled his way over. Being one of the last people to walk into the door, Hu Tao met the same view he saw a few years ago when he first entered this floor so many years ago. The Protecting Floor. If he wanted to make it to the next floor, he had to make sure that his side of the town suffered the least damage.

  The town had 3 sides that needed defending which were the front and the sides. Hu Tao was assigned to the front, the hardest place to defend. If he was the same person, he was a couple years ago, then he would probably die in this upcoming beast tide. But now, things were different. Hu Tao wasn't worried in the slightest about dying on this first floor.

  So, until the beast tide started, he decided to take a quick nap on top of the town's gates. Even if the others were completely useless and trash cultivators. He would still be able to ace this floor with his chains and metal ball. Nothing this beast wave could throw at him would be able to get past his weapons. And if that wasn't enough, his martial arts could easily handle the rest.

"I got this in the bag." He chuckled before dozing off.

  Those who were also assigned to protect the front of the village with Hu Tao were currently panicking. Being assigned to the front was an absolute death sentence as the beast tide often comes from the forest directly north of the village. Rarely does the beast tide ever come from the west or east side. Knowing this fact, everyone was trying to prepare the best as they could to defend the front or cry knowing that they would die soon.

"Spellmasters! Set up defensive formations on the front gates and walls! Those with healing pills or spirit tools that can help others, stay on the wall at all times! Those cultivator with no special talents, get ready to defend the wall from up top!" Someone started commanding.

"Hey, who the fuck are you to start barking orders at me?"

"The one who wants to make sure he gets out of this alive! Now either shut up and listen to me or get ready to die by nightfall."

"Tch. Fucking 9th stage Qi Gatherer. Who does he think he is?" The 8th stage Qi Gatherer complained.

"Anyone else got any complaints?! If not, start moving!"

  Nobody else spoke up and the cultivators started to prepare for the beast tide with no fighting at all surprisingly. If they needed any supplies, they would go inside the town and ask them from the citizens. The citizens weren't actual people but creations made by the tower. The beasts in the upcoming beast tide were similar in that regard. They didn't have real flesh, bones, or blood. Just a single spirit stone located somewhere within their body, giving them life and strength.

  The time for the beast tide was close approaching. Night was coming. All three sides managed to get their defenses in ready for the tide but everyone could see that the front side was the most heavily defended. Hu Tao peacefully slept during this frantic time and quite a few people noticed him. One of those people happened to be the handsome youth that took command of the front.

"Wake up!" The young leader clapped his hands in front of the snoozing Hu Tao.

"Huh?" Hu Tao slowly rose up.

  He got very close and personal with the young man and stared deeply into his eyes. The mask wearing young man quickly looked away before coughing into his hand and getting some space from Hu Tao.

"Do you not understand that we could all die tonight!? What are you doing resting in a situation like this!? Just because you're a Qi Consolidator that's at the 2nd stage doesn't mean that you'll be safe from this tide either! If you find yourself surrounded, even you would die from that many beasts!"

"You sure talk a lot for a guy. You sound more like a bitch than a man." Hu Tao casually stated while yawning.

He wore a black mask over his mouth and nose.

"Excuse me?!" Everyone's eyes found their way to them.

His body looked pretty slender and his hands looked tender.

"You do got some balls though to talk to me like this though. You're a noble aren't you?" Hu Tao started cracking his bones.

"What?! Why would you-"

"The fearless attitude, the shitty fucking perfume, and the lack of respect to someone stronger than you."

He couldn't respond back.

"Now, you got two choices here if you want to live. The first one is kowtowing to me while calling me Daddy Tao in front of all these weaklings or..." Hu Tao leaned in real close to their ear. "Tell me why you're hiding your identity." He suddenly cupped their crotch with his hand, feeling the smooth canyon in between their legs.

"You dare!?" Her face was entirely red and in her hands was a sword of good quality.

  She vanished from her previous spot and her sword appeared in front of Hu Tao's face, shining a deadly gleam. She was going all out and actually trying to kill him! She also stopped hiding her true cultivation and fully released it. She was 2 stages above Hu Tao! If she was a body cultivator instead of a qi cultivator, he would've actually just gotten his throat cut! But since she wasn't, he managed to sway his head out of the way in time and casually slapped her away.

"I'll kill you!" She screamed. As a barrier shattered in front of her. It must have taken the damage for his attack instead of her.

"I'm seeing a lot of barking and not a lot of biting from this bitch. Are you going to talk me to death or fight me, My Lady?" He sarcastically asked.

  The sword in her hands began glowing as she ran towards him again. She took a swipe towards him and Hu Tao saw her blade coming at him from 5 different directions! Above, from the front, left, right, and below! Just what was this martial art, he couldn't retreat! Hu Tao used his chains to block, he heard 5 distinct dings before being blasted away by the girl's palm.

"Not bad. Not bad. It's hard to find chicks from cultivating families that actually know how fight. Maybe we'll be able to continue this foreplay later but for now, I got a wall to protect." The bell around Hu Tao's neck softly rung. A yellow qi wave emitted from the bell and went directly into Hu Tao's body, using the injuries from that small exercise to refine his body into something stronger, using his qi as a medium to strengthen his flesh, organs, and bones.

"This isn't over! You will take responsibility for what you did! I will chase you to the ends of the continent if I have to!" She yelled.

"See you in a couple hours, Hairless." Hu Tao jumped off the gate and landed in front of all the defenses. The youthful young lady's face was blushed a deep red as she swore to get revenge on Hu Tao.