Volume 5 Chapter 83
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Volume 5 Chapter 83: Growth (Part 2)
Earlier, when everyone fought against the group of Beast Madness cultivators, there were twice as many Beast Madness cultivators as they had, and their powers were not any weaker. During the battle, everyone felt they were clearly at a disadvantage and that they could fall at any moment.
At that time, everyone was feeling hopeless, thinking they would end up like countless others over the past seven years, torn to pieces by the Beast Madness cultivators and left with no complete body. But just then, Xu Qingfan suddenly appeared and, within moments, gathered those who were about to die, helping each other and giving everyone a chance to breathe.
Although in gathering everyone, Xu Qingfan accidentally redirected the attacks of the Beast Madness cultivators onto four people he couldn’t rescue, leading to their instant deaths, since he could save himself, these losses could be overlooked; after all, it wasn’t him who was killed.
After that, under Xu Qingfan’s arrangement, the previously shaky defense became stable. The once troublesome Beast Madness cultivators were quickly reduced by nearly half under Xu Qingfan’s strategy of concentrating their strength to take them down one by one. Moreover, those eliminated Beast Madness cultivators were among the strongest.
First, stabilize the defense, then focus the strongest four against one Beast Madness cultivator, making it easier to deal with them. Eliminating them one by one was also very efficient, and they might be able to wipe out the entire group of Beast Madness cultivators. After all, these Beast Madness cultivators, while strong in power and number, lacked intelligence and couldn’t adapt.
This plan seems simple and after doing it, anyone could think of it. But the fact is, before Xu Qingfan proposed this simple strategy, everyone was only thinking about how to defeat the Beast Madness cultivators on their own or escape from their attacks. This seemingly simple strategy had not occurred to anyone.
Such is life; the answer is often right beside us, yet most people look in the wrong direction.
The so-called wise person differs from others in this way. Xu Qingfan may not be considered wise, but he enjoys reading and thinks many human schemes are impressive. However, most people in today’s cultivation world only focus on longevity and their own strength.
Xu Qingfan’s way of commanding was just borrowed from a battle in the ordinary world.
However, even so, the others looked at Xu Qingfan with a little more complicated respect. In this small team with Xu Qingfan, there were famous elders from different sects or young talented disciples who had grown up with honor and praise. No one wanted to admit they were not as good as him, but after Xu Qingfan appeared, the situation changed instantly, and this was an undeniable fact.
Thinking of this, looking at Xu Qingfan who was frowning and thinking, everyone felt a sense of "I am not as good as him."
Although with the honors and praises Xu Qingfan had received over the past seven years, he no longer cared about those feelings.
Among the crowd, only Jin Qinghan did not have these complicated thoughts. To him, Xu Qingfan would always be just a brother and a friend, not a rival to compete with. At this moment, he was only thinking about making a strong effort to defeat all the Beast Madness cultivators attacking them. He was about to attack the outside Beast Madness cultivators under Xu Qingfan’s command like before, but he found that Xu Qingfan was no longer giving directions on where to attack or how to attack, nor instructing Xu Xiurong and the others to open a gap in the defensive circle. He was taken aback and looked at Xu Qingfan in confusion, and then asked, "Senior Brother Xu, what’s wrong? Are we not continuing to attack?"
Xu Qingfan glanced at Jin Qinghan. The struggles of these years seemed to have little effect on him; he still appeared proud and indifferent. Yet, when facing Jin Qinghan, his expression remained sincere, just like it was after he saved him that time.
Hearing Jin Qinghan’s question, Xu Qingfan smiled bitterly and said, "How much Spirit Qi do you have left inside you now?"
Jin Qinghan replied, "I have less than thirty percent left…"
As he spoke halfway, Jin Qinghan understood. Among everyone on the field, he was the one with the highest cultivation level. If he only had thirty percent left, the others probably had even less. The Spirit Qi consumed during the previous chaotic battle with the Beast Madness cultivators was immense. Just now, they had all exerted themselves fully, and the pressure and Spirit Qi consumption on Xu Xiurong and the others defending would have been even greater, so they were no longer able to attack like before.
When they looked at the others, they indeed saw pale faces and trembling bodies. The recent attacks had drained the last bit of strength from Lv Qingshang and the others. The only comforting thing was that their efforts had eased the pressure on Xu Xiurong, Dongfang Qingling, and the others. With the rotations of Lv Ziqing, Li Yuhan, and the rest, they could still hold on for a while longer.
"What should we do now?"
Since he understood the situation, Jin Qinghan stopped insisting and simply asked.
"Wait," Xu Qingfan said briefly. At that moment, everyone was under attack by a group of Beast Madness cultivators. Although the pressure had lessened, the situation was still tense. As Xu Qingfan spoke, a hint of a mocking smile, which shouldn’t have been there, showed at the corner of his mouth.
Over the years, Xu Qingfan gained considerable fame in the entire cultivation world, both good and bad. Although various rumors surrounded him, those who had worked alongside him found him humble and polite, quite different from what some tales suggested. However, the cold smile at the corner of Xu Qingfan’s mouth made people feel a chill and reminded them of the unflattering rumors about him.
By the way, originally Xu Qingfan’s team only had cultivators from the Jiuhua lineage, but now only five remained: Xu Qingfan, Jin Qinghan, Lv Qingshang, Dongfang Qingling, and Sheng Yushan. The other cultivators had joined recently and, although they followed Xu Qingfan, they didn’t know him well. Even people like Lu Ziqing had mostly just heard rumors about Xu Qingfan over the years because they belonged to different teams.
Jin Qinghan had a different relationship with Xu Qingfan. Seeing the cold, mocking smile on Xu Qingfan’s face, he did not feel the same reservations as the others. He asked, "Senior Brother Xu, what do you really think? Please tell us. Even if we kill some Beast Madness cultivators, the situation is still not in our favor. At least we need to know what to do."
Xu Qingfan looked at Xu Xiurong and the others as they bravely defended against the attack from the Beast Madness cultivators. Occasionally, someone was replaced by Lu Ziqing or Li Yuhan. He slowly said, "We are not a match for those Beast Madness cultivators. That was clear from the start of the chaotic battle. Even if we just took down most of their fighting power, we have no strength left to attack again. I directed you to attack earlier to relieve our defense pressure, allowing Junior Martial Sister Dongfang to hold on a bit longer, and to show others that there was hope if they helped us, perhaps earning the chance to mock me as their savior. But if we don’t eliminate the strongest of the Beast Madness cultivators, they won’t dare to help us."
"The others?"
Hearing Xu Qingfan say this, Jin Qinghan and the others understood.
Xu Qingfan’s team had thirty people, but at that moment, only fifteen were being attacked by the Beast Madness cultivators. After counting the seven who had died in the earlier fight, eight people were still missing.
However, Jin Qinghan had already sent out a distress signal, and Xu Qingfan came to help when he saw it. The other eight should have seen it too, but at that moment, they still hadn’t shown up.
Clearly, those eight had also seen the signal and rushed over like Xu Qingfan, but they were too afraid of the Beast Madness cultivators’ strength and hid instead of coming to help. Xu Qingfan, however, used his strength to kill the strongest Beast Madness cultivators and reduced their power to a level that the eight could handle, which made it safe for them to join the fight. After all, in the Righteous Alliance, it is a big taboo to ignore a partner in danger.
Thinking of this, Jin Qinghan wore a mocking smile, just like Xu Qingfan.
Although Xu Qingfan led this small team, it was made up of four or five incomplete groups, and those eight originally belonged to one small team. They were not very happy about Xu Qingfan leading them and had opposed his commands during past missions. Rescuing Xu Qingfan from the Beast Madness cultivators could harm his reputation, which was a great temptation for them.
Yet, the smile at the corner of Jin Qinghan’s mouth quickly vanished, and he looked thoughtfully at Xu Qingfan beside him.
In his memory, when had Xu Qingfan ever schemed against people’s hearts like this? When had Xu Qingfan ever smiled so coldly?
Normally, Xu Qingfan was still so humble, polite, calm, and refined, but Jin Qinghan knew that in some ways, Xu Qingfan had changed. Since a certain event, he had unconsciously started calculating other people’s hearts.
Especially those eight people must have reminded Xu Qingfan of that event.
Just as Jin Qinghan was thinking this, as Xu Qingfan had imagined, eight powerful attacks suddenly struck towards the Beast Madness cultivators around them. In an instant, eight Beast Madness cultivators were shattered!
