nChapter 204: That Familiar Beast

n“Senior-martial sister Zhu, where do you think the demonic beast is hiding?” Yi Ling moved closer to her, and looked as though she wanted to discuss and analyze this situation with her.

nZhu Yao immediately stood up and walked away, not even giving her a single reply.

nQi Ling brought contempt upon herself, and her expression changed for a moment, before turning around to converse happily with Lan Qi. As for Lin Xiang who was actually talking to Lan Qi before that, she turned her darkened expression to the side.

nActually, Zhu Yao had nowhere else to head off to. She simply wanted to avoid making contact with Qi Ling. Qi Ling was like a chemical weapon, even if a person did nothing of note, she would still be able to push a large amount of aggro onto that person. After looking at her surroundings, she decided to walk towards Bai Yi whom she was familiar with.

n“Hey, make some space.” One must pick the softest persimmon to pinch on, and Zhu Yao decisively chased the fox out of the shade of the tree, squatting there herself.

n“Gr… Great deity!” Bai Yi, who was pushed off the shade, finally turned his line of sight back from Yi Ling’s face, and looked at her with a dumbfounded look. “Why… Why are you in this forest as well?”

n“…” This idiot actually did not know she was in the party all this time. So this was what people called caring nothing for what was happening outside, except for the person one’s interested in.

nTaking the opportunity when he had regained his senses, Zhu Yao decided to inquire about some gossips. “Let me ask you something. Is there something going on with that Lin Xiang and Lan Qi?”

n“Spiritual Master Lan Qi was once senior-martial sister Lin’s fiancé.”

nReally? She had never considered this aspect.

n“Was once?” She noted these words.

n“Spiritual Master Lan Qi was once engaged with senior-martial sister Lin. After that, Lan Qi was successful in condensing his Azoth Core. Since his cultivation level is now higher than senior-martial sister Lin, and he had even taken up the post of Sect Master, he was no longer compatible with senior-martial sister Lin. Thus, the reason he came to Blue Parasol Sect this time was to break off the engagement.”

nSo he was trash as well!

n“A mere Azoth practitioner can become a master of a Sect?” Zhu Yao casually asked.

nThe fox looked at her strangely, and said with a matter of fact. “The number of Spiritual Masters who formed their Azoth Cores are small in the first place. The Sect Masters of the various sects are all Azoth practitioners, and the same goes for Blue Parasol Sect as well.”

nWait a minute!

n“You’re saying that the Sect Master of Blue Parasol Sect is only at the Azoth level as well?”

nBai Yi nodded.

n“Then what about the three Sovereigns?”

n“They’re naturally at the Nascent Soul level!”

n“The hell!” Zhu Yao finally understood what was wrong. Because she was at the Foundation level, she couldn’t recognize the depths of the cultivation level possessed by people stronger than her. She kept hearing others calling them Sovereigns, so she had always thought that these so-called Sovereigns, like the cultivation world back then, were referring to Demigod practitioners, and that the Sect Masters were Nascent Soul practitioners. Never did she think that…

n“Then what about the Demigod stage? Are there no Demigod practitioners?”

n“What’s a Demigod?” The fox looked confused.

nThe corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched. “Are there no cultivation level higher than the Nascent Soul stage?”

n“Of course not.” The fox nodded. “If one possesses cultivation higher than the Nascent Soul stage, isn’t that akin to ascending?”

n“Has no one ever ascended?”

nThe fox chuckled, as though he had just heard a joke. “Ascending and becoming a deity are just legends, there’s no evidence to prove they exist.”

n“…” Hello, I am legend!

nShe couldn’t believe it. The level of cultivation of this world was actually this low?

n“Last question.” Zhu Yao asked softly. “Do you know why it’s better to have more Spirit Veins?”

n“The more Spirit Veins you have, the more mystic arts you can learn!” The fox said seriously. “If one only has a single Spirit Vein, then one can only learn mystic arts of that one element. For example, Fire Spirit Vein Holders can only learn arts of the fire element, so naturally, the more Spirit Veins, the better.”

n“Who said that?”

n“That’s how it is!” The fox raised his hand, and instantly, a ball of flames appeared above his palm. “For example, I have three Spirit Veins of Fire, Wood and Earth, so only have three types of spiritual energy in my body, which also means that I can only use mystic arts of three elements. It’s not possible for me to use mystic arts of the water element.”

nZhu Yao finally understood where the problem was. The people of this world did not know how to convert their spiritual energy! To put it more precisely, they did not hold the concept of converting their spiritual energy at all. Could it be that there’s differences in their physical bodies?

nZhu Yao silently circulated her spiritual energy for a moment, converting her wood spiritual energy into water spiritual energy. In an instant, several droplets of water appeared in her palm.

nSince the body was not the problem, then that meant that they simply did not know the matter about converting spiritual energy. It was no wonder they treated the Heavenly Spirit Vein as trash.

nIn battle, naturally, the more mystic arts one could use, the more of an advantageous position he would be in. Especially when your opponent possessed a Spirit Vein that countered yours, if you’re only capable of using mystic arts of a single element, you would suffer a definite loss.

nHowever, the mystic arts of the five elements reinforced and suppressed one another. The people of this world only knew about the theory of suppression, but did not understand the theory of reinforcement.

nZhu Yao, who unexpectedly found out the truth, could only say: Hoho!

nAs expected, an uneducated world was truly frightening!

nYou people deserve to have such poor cultivation.

nFortunately, she found out in time. Otherwise, when they were to finally encounter the demonic beast, and she were to habitually use her lightning-type mystic arts then, people would definitely surround her and treat her like Godzilla.

n“Yi Ling, you best not take things too far!” Suddenly, with a ‘pa’ sound, something fell onto the ground. Nearby, the girl Lin Xiang was presently glaring at Ms. Mary Sue with a furious look.

n“Senior-martial sister Lin, please, don’t be angry? If Ling’er has done anything wrong, isn’t it fine if I apologize to you?” Yi Ling sat on the ground with an innocent expression, teary light can be faintly seen in her eyes.

nZhu Yao turned her head to look. Was the catfight finally about to begin?

n“Lin Xiang, what are you doing?” The follower Qi Ping rushed over in an instant and pulled Yi Ling up from the ground. He then glared at Lin Xiang. “Why did you push Ling’er?”

n“I didn’t even touch her. She fell on her own!”

n“What a pack of lies! This place is a plain field, so how could junior-martial sister have possibly fallen on her own? Do you think we’re blind?”

nThe corner of Zhu Yao’s lips twitched. Mr. Follower, you’re really blind alright.

n“I don’t care if you believe it or not, I did not push her anyway.” Lin Xiang said, still in a furious tone.

nQi Ping became even more furious. “Lin Xiang, you have always been this unruly. Yi Ling has never bothered you, so why do you have to always attack her so?”

n“Me? Attack her?” Lin Xiang widened her eyes, her boiling anger drove her to laugh. “Just who’s the one attacking who, I believe she knows in the bottom of her heart!”

n“Senior-martial sister Lin…” Yi Ling was once again hesitant with her words, the expression on her face was filled with even more grievance.

n“Junior-martial sister Yi, you don’t have to care about her.” With an aching heart, Qi Ling consoled her. “She’s just spoilt by the Sect Master, that’s why she is this imperious.”

n“Qi Ping, speak clearly. Who’s imperious?”

nYi Ling: “Senior-martial brother, forget it.”

n“Senior-martial sister, don’t be afraid!” Qi Ping was now enraged as well, as he glared towards Lin Xiang. “If you dare to bully Yi Ling ever again, I will not be courteous with you.”

n“Do you think I’m afraid of you?” Lin Xiang instantly summoned her spiritual sword.

n“What happened?” At this moment, Lan Qi who went to investigate the area finally returned. He looked back and forth at the two people, and when he saw the wronged look Yi Ling had, his expression instantly sank. He hurriedly walked over, and instantly pulled Yi Ling into his embrace. “Ling’er, what happened?”

n“I…” Yi Ling did not speak, instead, she turned to glance at Lin Xiang at the side.

nLan Qi’s expression sunk even more, and without even thinking, he spoke to Lin Xiang. “Xiang’er, apologize to Ling’er!”

nLin Xiang was stunned, as she looked towards Lan Qi with a face of utter disbelief. “Even you believe that I pushed her?”

n“…” Lan Qi’s expression grew even sterner.

nLin Xiang suddenly laughed. Her laughter was filled with desolateness. She coldly glanced at Yi Ling, and took a deep breath, as though she was trying to suppress the anger in the depths of her heart. With emphasis on every single word, she said. “Fine. Yi Ling, didn’t you want him? If you like him, then go ahead, take him! From now on, the two of us are strangers.”

nAfter saying that, she turned around, and walked towards the forest alone. And not a single person present took a step forward.

nZhu Yao sighed. As expected, a large crowd of cannon fodders would always be laid behind every single Mary Sue’s back.

n“Senior-martial sister Lin will be fine, right?” Yi Ling suddenly asked with a worried look.

nJust as Lan Qi was about to console her, Zhu Yao, who had been watching the show the entire time, could no longer help but speak up.

n“If junior-martial sister Yi is worried, why don’t you chase after her to take a look?”

n“…” Yi Ling’s expression stiffened, and no longer spoke.

nZhu Yao silently rolled her eyes. She knew all along. If Yi Ling really wanted to have her stay, why would she wait till she had walked so far away before speaking up?

n“Wait! I’m going with you.” Zhu Yao deftly chased up to Lin Xiang.

nWhen she spoke, everyone present was stunned.

n“You…” Lin Xiang was even more shocked than the rest, as she looked at her.

n“I believe that you didn’t push her!”

n“Why?”

n“Because…” Zhu Yao turned to glance at Yi Ling, and meaningfully said. “I have experience when it comes to incidents like this, right? Junior. Martial. Sister. Yi!” When they first met back then, didn’t she use the same method?

nYi Ling’s expression paled, however, she acted as though she did not hear anything, as she buried her head into Lan Qi’s chest.

nZhu Yao did not care about her reaction either. She had long wanted to find an opportunity to leave the team. Compared to a fake lotus like Yi Ling, she was more willing to accompany an explosive lady like Lin Xiang. After all, she might become the next cannon fodder.

nRoaarr… Roaaarrr…

nBefore her plan to leave the team could initiate, a loud roar suddenly reverberated. A gigantic shadow suddenly appeared before their eyes. Zhu Yao’s heart sank, as she grabbed onto Lin Xiang who was nearest to her, and dodged to the side with her fastest speed.

nOn the plain field where they were resting on, a gigantic demonic beast was presently baring its teeth in the direction where the four people were standing.

nThis demonic beast was at least three storeys tall, and its entire body was covered in scales. Its outer appearance however looked a little like a bear, and there were even three metal blade-like horns on its head.

nThe hell, what happened to the promised fourth-ranked demonic beast?

nSeeing this beast, Zhu Yao simply wanted to say a single word: “Run!”

nShe picked up Lin Xiang in passing, summoned her flying sword, and soared desperately into the skies.

n“Senior-martial sister Zhu!” Just as she was about fly away, she was blocked by Yi Ling who was flying on her own sword, and even grabbed onto her hand. “Now that the demonic beast has appeared, we should be killing it with our combined hearts and strength, how can you flee before the battle even begin?”

n“Battle your sister! Move away, if we don’t flee now, we won’t be able to escape in time!” The hell, Zhu Yao even harbored thoughts of killing her now.

nYi Ling’s face however was filled with excitement. “Could it be that senior-martial sister Zhu recognize this demonic beast?”

nRecognize? She totally recognized it alright! Among all demonic beasts, Zhu Yao was most familiar with this one. After all… this was the Risefire Beast which crippled her all over back then in Tasyoluk!

nRoaarrrr~~~~~

nA loud roar once again reverberated. The gigantic figure that was on still on the ground earlier blurred, and instantly appeared before the two of them.

nZhu Yao’s heart instantly turned cold. Oh crap!

nYi Ling however turned about and cast an art, and a icicle instantly appeared in the air.

n“Don’t use ice!” Zhu Yao sent a slap towards her, instantly interrupting her from completing her art. Yi Ling’s feet became unsteady, and then, she fell from the sky.

nThe Risefire Beast had already pounced towards them, and Zhu Yao could only fly downwards with Lin Xiang in hand as well, barely dodging its attack.

n“Junior-martial sister Yi!” Qi Ping soared and caught the falling Yi Ling. With boiling fury, he began to lash out at Zhu Yao. “Are you crazy? Why did you interrupt her when she was casting an art? And you even push…”

n“Shut up!” Zhu Yao ruthlessly glared at Qi Ping, stunning him with her roar.

nZhu Yao did not have the time to care about him, because… the Risefire Beast disappeared again.

n“Everyone, prepare your barriers, hurry!”

nOther than Lin Xiang who followed her instructions, the rest looked confused.

n“Just what are you planning to do?”

nZhu Yao couldn’t care less, as she desperately released her divine sense to sense the position of the Risefire Beast. Unfortunately, the difference in their levels was too large, and she was simply unable to sense it at all.

n“Listen to her!” Lan Qi flew over, and his expression sank quite a bit. His cultivation level was the highest among the people here, so naturally he could sense that something was amiss. “That one is most likely not a fourth-ranked beast.”

nOnly then did their expressions change. Yi Ling then asked with a startled look. “If it’s not fourth-ranked, then what rank is it?”

nLan Qi turned to look at Zhu Yao.

nZhu Yao clenched her fists. “Risefire Beast, resistant to water and fire, sixth-ranked demonic beast.”

nEveryone present instantly held their breaths at the same time.

nSixth-ranked, it was comparable to an Azoth Paragon. Lan Qi, who had the highest cultivation level among them, had only just formed his Azoth Core. Adding that demonic beasts were naturally stronger than practitioners of similar cultivation level, they basically had no shot at victory.

nZhu Yao was someone who had truly fought against a Risefire Beast before. Back then, even with so many Azoth practitioners present, they still did not have an advantageous position over the Risefire Beast, let alone now when they were merely Foundation and Essence practitioners. That was why her first reaction was to flee, but that bitch of a Mary Sue…!

n“What do we do now?” Qi Ping was panicking as well, as he summoned his weapon and looked tensely at his surroundings.

nLan Qi did not reply, and instead looked towards Zhu Yao again. Everyone’s line of sight was guided over as well, as they all stared at her.

nWhat do we do? Wait for death, of course. This time, her master couldn’t save her, as he was still buried in the soil.

n“Junior-martial sister Zhu, you’re the only one here who has met this demonic beast before. How do you think we should approach this?” Lan Qi asked.

n“Buy time with the best of our abilities while ensuring our measly lives are intact.” Zhu Yao looked towards Yi Ling at the side. “You have a voice transmission talisman, right? Hurry and send a message back to the sect, have them dispatch a Nascent Soul practitioner here.”

nYi Ling’s expression changed, and meekly said. “But master is currently in isolation…”

n“Then we will just wait for our deaths!” Zhu Yao immediately interrupted her words.

nEveryone’s face ashened, and Yi Ling once again revealed that grievanced look. Though this time, no one bothered about her, as everyone was tensely waiting for the Risefire Beast’s next appearance.

nOnly then did Yi Ling unwillingly take out the voice transmission talisman. Raising her hand, just as she was planning to activate it, her sleeves slightly trembled for a moment. They were fluttering upwards, as though a light breeze had swept past them. Zhu Yao who had been focusing on the surrounding situation instantly noticed this.

n“Scatter!” Zhu Yao shouted out and pushed Yi Ling in the opposite direction, while she flew backwards on her flying sword with extreme speed. In almost a blink of an eye, a black shadow appeared from above, descending right towards the place where the few of them were before.

nAs she realized it in time, she had managed to dodge it. Yi Ling was also out of the attack radius due to her push. Lan Qi was after all an Azoth practitioner, so his reaction speed was the quickest. Bai Yi was after all a demon, so he was able to escape with his strong sense of danger. As for Lin Xiang, because Zhu Yao had grabbed onto her earlier and had forgotten to let go since then, so she naturally escaped as well.

nThe only one who did not react in time was Qi Ping.

n