Volume 1 Volume 5 Chapter 144

Volume 5 Chapter 144: Driving Beasts for Miles (Part 3)

The beasts surged forward, the earth shook, and the sky changed color. The over a thousand cultivators in the field all showed expressions of fear and despair.

Were they to die here before even starting to fight? Although their own strength was not weak, there was only Mr. Liu, a Mahayana Stage master, while the enemy had five or six demon beasts at the heavenly level. Could they possibly win, even if only two or three of those heavenly level demon beasts had come?

Among the crowd, only Mr. Liu remained calm as he watched the wave of demon beasts approaching. He floated quietly in the air, silently observing the vast black mass coming toward him, a hint of a smile playing at the corner of his mouth, almost as if he looked down on them.

Regardless of whether that smile was real or not, when countless demon beasts charged, everyone’s eyes focused on the only Mahayana Stage master present, and that smile gave some reassurance to the anxious crowd.

However, if one looked closely, they would see a trace of regret in Mr. Liu’s eyes, for he knew that the reason these demon beasts had discovered them was due to the earlier sound he had made, which caused a disturbance in the Spirit Qi, attracting the attention of a demon beast of similar strength. Mr. Liu felt he had to do his best to protect the over a thousand cultivators on "Wolf Howling Mountain."

However, even among the masters of the Mahayana Stage, Mr. Liu is very powerful, but he never thought there would be a demon beast with strength equal to his.

"Those guys left two days before me, why are they still not here?"

Feeling several powerful presences of the beast horde rushing towards him, Mr. Liu couldn’t help but complain deep inside, for a moment he forgot his earlier pride about arriving first because he left late.

"Form the formation."

As the demon beasts drew closer, Mr. Liu slowly said to the cultivators behind him.

As he spoke, the look of frustration in Mr. Liu’s eyes instantly disappeared, replaced by a strong determination for battle.

Hearing Mr. Liu’s words, over a thousand cultivators on "Wolf Howling Mountain" were momentarily surprised. In this situation, faced with the attack of countless demon beasts, the others knew that only by forming a formation and working together could they have a glimmer of hope, so Mr. Liu’s command was expected. However, although Mr. Liu said to form a formation, his meaning was unclear, and for a moment, everyone did not know what type of formation to create.

In the end, it was Xu Qingfan who reacted first, and he called out loudly, "Form the ‘Sky Star Array.’"

Upon hearing Xu Qingfan’s shout, the cultivators on "Wolf Howling Mountain" were slightly taken aback, not expecting Xu Qingfan to give the order instead of Mr. Liu. At this moment, Mr. Liu was focused on the numerous demon beasts slowly approaching and showed no intention of speaking again. Without a leader, they instinctively began to follow Xu Qingfan’s command.

The cultivation world has many sects, each with different formations and abilities. For example, Jiuhua’s "Nine Palaces Formation" is said to be the most powerful technique against a single cultivator in the cultivation world. Unfortunately, other sects have no understanding of the "Nine Palaces Formation." Powerful formations like the "Nine Palaces Formation" are secrets of each sect, and others cannot comprehend them at all.

Because of this, various advanced formations could not be set up. With no other choice, Xu Qingfan could only order everyone to set up the "Sky Star Array."

This formation is one of the simplest in the cultivation world and is also the easiest to set up. Everyone on the field knows it, so it does not waste time. The biggest advantage of the "Sky Star Array" is that it has no limit on the number of people needed to set it up or their positions. It relies solely on the cultivator’s reactions and responses, and its power increases with the number of participants, making it most suitable for the current situation.

However, this formation’s power was a bit too weak.

With Xu Qingfan’s command, chaos suddenly erupted at the top of "Wolf Howling Mountain." Over a thousand cultivators quickly dashed around, and after a moment, the formation gradually took shape, revealing an immense pressure start to appear. The force it generated could somewhat match the aura coming from the distant horde of beasts.

When countless demon beasts surged to the foot of "Wolf Howling Mountain," everyone finally succeeded in setting up the formation. Xu Qingfan felt a slight sense of relief as he looked at Jin Qinghan and Lv Qingshang standing guard beside him. Although the "Sky Star Array" is a relatively simple formation, it can greatly enhance the strength of the cultivators. With over a thousand cultivators being elite members of the Righteous Alliance, they would have some resistance even against endless demon beasts.

"At least it can hold until the other masters arrive, right?"

Xu Qingfan thought to himself.

Just then, a commanding howl of a fox suddenly rang out, echoing through the heavens and the earth.

As the sound of the fox’s cry rang out, Mr. Liu, who had been quietly floating in midair, leaned forward and dashed down the mountain with lightning speed.

At the same time, endless demon beasts had surged to the mountain top, starting to charge towards the cultivators at the peak.

※※※※

The Spirit Fox is one of the most common demon beasts in the cultivation world. It is a low-level Human Level beast with red fur, a small body, and is naturally skilled at controlling fire Spirit Qi. However, its power is not great. Besides having higher intelligence and a longer lifespan, it has no advantages compared to other low-level Human Level demon beasts. In fact, it can be considered a weaker one among them.

But the true strength of the Spirit Fox lies in its incredible potential for growth.

It is said that although the Spirit Fox is just a low-level Human Level demon beast, it has a lifespan of up to a thousand years. If it can kill and consume the cores of five low-level Human Level demon beasts from each of the five elements before its lifespan runs out, it can evolve into a two-tailed Spirit Fox of middle-class Human Level, with its lifespan increased to two thousand years. If it again eats the cores of five middle-class Human Level demon beasts from the five elements before its lifespan ends, it can extend its life to three thousand years and become an advanced Human Level demon beast.

In this way, the Spirit Fox can evolve almost without limit until it becomes a nine-tailed demon beast, reaching the advanced heavenly level, equivalent to the Soul Splitting Stage in human cultivators.

However, the Spirit Fox only has a thousand years for each evolution, and the cores it needs to consume become rarer and more precious. The owners of these cores are also getting stronger, and other demon beasts that reach the heavenly level have developed intelligence similar to humans. They know that the Spirit Fox needs to consume their cores to evolve, so they relentlessly hunt the Spirit Fox. Therefore, the existence of the nine-tailed demon fox is only theoretical. In fact, the most powerful Spirit Fox known in the cultivation world so far has only reached seven tails and has barely attained the heavenly level. That seven-tailed fox did not die from old age or human cultivators but was killed by the combined efforts of seven or eight heavenly level demon beasts.

From all this, it is clear how difficult and dangerous the growth of the Spirit Fox truly is.

Before truly facing the nine-tailed demon fox, Mr. Liu always thought it was just ignorant people exaggerating. How could a nine-tailed demon fox really exist? Even if it did, how could other heavenly level demon beasts coexist with such a demon beast?

So, when Mr. Liu actually saw the legendary nine-tailed demon fox, he was left in a moment of disbelief.

He saw that this nine-tailed demon fox, after evolving to its limit, was completely different from the ordinary Spirit Fox’s smaller size; it stood several dozens of feet tall, looking like a red hill from afar. Its eyes sparkled with a depth usually found only in humans, quietly watching Mr. Liu floating at the top of "Wolf Howling Mountain," as if it had already recognized its opponent.

Among a group of demon beasts, unlike the wild running of the other demon beasts, the nine-tailed demon fox walked gracefully, but it was faster than all the other demon beasts. In the blink of an eye, it reached the hillside of "Wolf Howling Mountain," surrounded by four unique heavenly level demon beasts.

Mr. Liu knew that with the power of these five heavenly level demon beasts, even if Xu Qingfan and the others had formed a strong formation, they would be no match for them. So, he gritted his teeth and rushed toward the five heavenly level demon beasts, intending to fight five with one!

In Mr. Liu’s view, the nine-tailed demon fox might have strength comparable to his own, but the other four heavenly level demon beasts only had the power of ordinary human Mahayana Stage masters. Even though he would be at a disadvantage fighting five, he believed he could hold on for quite a while until help from other masters arrived.

Mr. Liu was not wrong; the other four heavenly level demon beasts indeed couldn’t pose much threat to him. However, he was mistaken about the nine-tailed demon fox.

Perhaps stopping the nine-tailed demon fox and the other four heavenly level demon beasts from going up the mountain temporarily saved Xu Qingfan and the others, but that nine-tailed demon fox left Mr. Liu with an unforgettable memory for life.