Chapter 31

It was a serious stalemate as the lion type demon beast felt that it would be a waste to just leave after battling the four for so long now which was clear to even Wei Yan and the others because it chose to remain in battle instead of trying to escape into its cave. This actually made Wei Yan feel much better because as the battle continued, he felt himself growing at a rapid pace in combat experience.

After five more exchanges between Wei Yan and the demon beast, Wei Yan realized that he was finally able to land a deep enough cut to cause the demon beast to begin bleeding. This surprised him greatly, because up until this point, every blow exchanged dealt not even a scratch on the demon beast's body.

Seeing that his attack finally caused some damage, the three demon beasts assisting him chose to give it their all as they all unleashed their strongest attacks one after another in an attempt to create even more openings that Wei Yan could take advantage of. However, the lion type demon beast's body finally transported several yards away before the attacks could land.

Wei Yan was the first to seem angry about this, but after he took a moment to take a breath, he noticed a strange pressure pressing down on his body. Focusing his senses more sharply, Wei Yan noticed small changes appearing around the lion type demon beast's body. Its dark brown fur after only a short period of time turned completely black as its two eyes radiated a strange looking flame type substance.

He Chao informed Wei Yan that the demon beast had an evolution of sorts when it felt like it has been driven into a life or death situation and that he should expect a vast increase in its speed and strength once the evolution was complete. The pressure that Wei Yan felt continued to increase as his body began to shake out of fear of being killed by the demon beast's sharp claws.

Or rather, that was what he wanted to pretend to show the demon beast because this was still all going according to the battle plan in order to slay the demon beast. He Chao explained that during this transformation of sorts, the demon beast's defenses would be completely removed since the transformation focused more on its speed and strength.

Therefore, all Wei Yan had to do was to continue trying to play the role of a defensive type warrior until He Chao appeared to land the final blow. If the demon beast did not transform during the battle, it was still possible to kill it, but it would be much harder compared to He Chao charging up his energy to just land a single hit which seemed like a much better alternative.

A short distance away on a large tree stood He Chao who was still observing the battle. He was standing on the large branch quietly and his ki was completely suppressed to the point where he was building it up, but no one under the Adept stage of cultivation could hope to sense him using a traditional method.

"It seems that soldier is hanging on quite well and even is becoming more efficient at using that weapon I made not long ago. Since that is the case, if we all end up getting through this battle alive, I will allow him to keep it. Still, such a weapon would be able to sell at a pretty decent price since I used a method that only level three formation masters are able to use proficiently."

Thinking about many things including the battle itself, He Chao was not wrong in feeling a sense of belonging when it came to the weapon he loaned Wei Yan for the battle. Using Senior Cao's teachings, he had mastered a way to use a level three formation master technique even though he would still be considered only a level two. The difference between an item made by formation masters by only one level was still fairly large when looking at the asking price.

But being too stingy, especially towards someone who would be able to grow their own foundation even without the assistance of a good quality weapon was something that He Chao could not afford to do as well. If Wei Yan survived and took all of the credit, it is true that he could leverage a new position incredibly well. However, if he also had a good weapon, he could increase that leverage by another tier over time.

He Chao did not care about this too deeply since the current Commandery they were in was rather weak, but he was now at the point where if he did not begin learning how to woo individuals into a friendship, there would be no way for him to become an immortal. And so, as he watched Wei Yan and the three demon beasts struggle against their opponent, He Chao decided that such things could be figured out at a later time as he concentrated fully now in charging up his ki.

Struggling would put it lightly, because the lion type demon beast seemed to have made a promise to itself that there was no reason for it to hold back any longer. After its transformation, it landed swiftly next to Wei Yan and landed a critical hit on his right shoulder that was almost deep enough to break it with the one blow.

The impact of the hit caused Wei Yan's body to fly backwards and the gorilla type demon beast was luckily close enough to catch him before hitting a large tree which had the potential to take Wei Yan out of the battle completely. As this happened, the other two demon beasts tried to hold the opponent back to give Wei Yan enough time to rejoin the battle.

Without wasting any time, Wei Yan and the gorilla type demon beast dashed forward once more to assist their allies. There was no telling how much longer He Chao needed, but right now the only thing that mattered was for the four of them to continue holding the enemy down without dying. This was much easier said than done, but the four entered into a defensive formation surrounding the lion type demon beast so for the time being, they hoped the stalemate would continue.