Chapter 486 : The Most Ferocious Strike Force (5)
Ning Xin's face changed then. Her beautiful smile looked a little forced as she quelled the anger that surged in her chest. Her forced smile was still frozen on her face as she turned to leave.
It was only after Ning Xin left them that the several Rui Lin soldiers heaved a sigh of relief.
"What was that smell on that girl? That strong scent almost gagged me." One of the soldiers rubbed his nose vigorously and the only thing he remembered about her was that overpowering scent that assaulted his nose, almost making his eyes tear when she was with them.
"Boss, do you think that lass has fallen for you? She was giving you the "eye" several times and she was even blushing to boot!" Another soldier "eyed" Long Qi with a laugh, poking fun at their general.
"Was she really blushing red? And not paled to white? When I looked at her before she left, there wasn't even any colour in her lips!"
"All of you stop all that gabbing." Long Qi gave the soldiers an "eye" of his own. "When we get to the Spirit Moon Lake, go immediately to find those Spirit Beasts and pay them off to send them off on their way."
Although the battle hardened Long Qi did not know much about the complicated relationship between a man and a woman, he was rather astute. He could see that although Ning Xin was just a young and youthful girl, her underlying intentions were not that simple. The way that she repeatedly tried to probe into their situation, was strictly taboo to a military man out on a mission.
"Yes Sir!"
.....
"Senior Ning, what's wrong?" Yin Yan hurried forward to ask as he stared at the pale faced Ning Xin, as she rejoined the team with a mouth twisted in rage. Even Lu Wei Jie noticed the abnormality in Ning Xin and turned his head to look at her.
Ning Xin took a deep breath and suppressed the rage within her.
[Who do those scoundrels think they are? She spared them a little courtesy and they think they are all that great? How dare they spurn her like that ! ?]
Ning Xin, who had always been used to being universally adored and fawned upon was really greatly angered by Long Qi's cold and spurious treatment.
She had never been slapped by such indifference and total disregard to her person before!
"There has been a change of plans. These people are just hopelessly stubborn and a bunch of boorish and uncouth men who don't know what's good for them!" Ning Xin said angrily as she flung out her sleeve, her usual smile disappeared, without a trace.
"What really happened? What had angered you so badly?" Lu Wu Jie hurried over to comfort the beauty. "I see those men as just brutes who possessed great power and I did not really approve of you consorting with those barbarians earlier. If they are not receptive to our kind intentions, just leave them alone. We, as esteemed disciples of the Zephyr Academy, would not need to miss that little bit of might they have."
Lu Wei Jie had initially agreed to Ning Xin's plan, but having been shown and rebuffed by Long Qi's cold and distant expression the whole journey, his proud and egoistic personality had not taken the rejection well. And now that even his beautiful Ning Xin had been similarly unceremoniously scorned and spurned, his feeling of displeasure was greatly intensified.
"Hmph! They chose to reject the proffered wine so we'll give them poison instead! They asked for it! They wanted me to lead them all this way and they think they can get rid of me with just a few high grade Spirit Beasts? I, Ning Xin, is worth much more than that!" Ning Xin's eyes narrowed and the gentleness in her eyes faded completely, suddenly replaced with venom and malice.
Yin Yan who was standing on the side, froze and did not dare say anything in answer. It was Lu Wei Jie who suddenly spoke instead: "What do you intend to do? If we end up having to fight them, I don't think we're their match."
If those men had not been so powerful, Lu Wei Jie would have thrashed them up so badly they would be picking up their teeth. But faced with Long Qi, he could only swallow his rage and repress the anger within.
Ning Xin laughed chillingly and said: "Why would we need to dirty our hands? The Battle Spirits Forest is filled with Spirit Beasts afterall."
"But they are even able to take down high grade Spirit Beasts....."
"What about those above high grade?" Ning Xin's mouth curled up at the corners slightly, as she turned her head back at the group of several men trailing the team, and her eyes almost dripped with venom.
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Chapter 487 : Guardian Grade Spirit Beast (1)
Jun Wu Xie followed behind Ye Sha to gradually catch up with Long Qi and his men. After traversing through a large area of the dense forest, they finally came to a hidden lake nestled within the thick trees.
The lake's surface reflected the sun's rays looking like a massive pool of silver, its ripples stirring up bright brilliant stars as they shimmered within, a resplendent sight to behold. At the edge of the Spirit Moon Lake, several Spirit Beasts had their heads lowered to the water to drink and at the moment that the presence of Jun Wu Xie and her team were felt, the Spirit Beasts bolted and scattered in all directions, running into the dark cover of the trees, disappearing without a trace.
"This is the Spirit Moon Lake? But..... Where are Ning Xin and the Rui Lin Army's men?" Qiao Chu peered to look all around but could not see any other figures besides the Spirit Beasts that had bolted.
Jun Wu Xie turned to look at Ye Sha and Ye Sha suddenly frowned.
"What is it?" Jun Wu Xie asked.
"The Ink Snake suddenly died. But just before death claimed it, it had followed that team of people past the Spirit Moon Lake. It seems that their destination was not to just come to the Spirit Moon Lake." Ye Sha reported all his findings immediately to Jun Wu Xie.
Just as all of them were still contemplating Ye Sha's words, a rumble shook the ground under their feet suddenly!
The massive trees that ringed the Spirit Moon Lake shook and rustled, all those Spirit Beasts that had hid themselves in the forest sensed the approach of a terrifying threat. They ran and bolted once again and the peaceful and tranquil scene at the lake was suddenly torn and shattered!
"What is happening! ?" A series of unidentifiable tremors under their feet made Fei Yan start to feel extremely uneasy.
Jun Wu Xie's eyes narrowed and she resolutely said: "Bring us to where the Ink Snake died."
"Yes!"
The team moved immediately and while they sped forward towards their destination, a ear piercing roar suddenly reverberated in their ears!
That thunderous roar sounded louder and more majestic than anything they had ever heard!
That sound alone was enough to make everyone's blood surge and boil within!
The roar continued to reverberate through the surrounding trees and the leaves rustled violently as the sound waves kicked up!
"Guardian Grade..... Spirit Beast....." Fan Jin's face turned white as a sheet. The magnitude of that roar made him feel a distinct impending sense of doom creep into his heart.
He had seen a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast once with his father and that experience had been deeply branded into his heart and he had never been able to forget it.
"What did you say?" Qiao Chu turned his head to stare at Fan Jin, his eyes wide.
Fan Jin replied with a deathly white face: "That was definitely a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast, it can't be anything else..... The Spirit Moon Lake sits right in the core of the vast Battle Spirits Forest and the water from the Spirit Moon Lake is the best nourishment all the Spirit Beasts can get. Hence, high Grade Spirit Beasts frequently roam in the vicinity of the Spirit Moon Lake, and even the rarely seen..... Guardian Grade Spirit Beasts."
No one in the Zephyr Academy had even dared to dream of hunting a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast. It is widely rumoured that the power of a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast far surpassed that of the pinnacle purple spirit! Not to only mention the disciples of the Zephyr Academy taking part in the Spirit Hunt, even if all the teachers and Masters of the academy were confronted with a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast, they would have no other option than to flee!
Fan Jin had never dreamt that he would ever once again see a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast!
"The direction that the roar is coming from, is exactly where the Ink Snake was killed." Ye Sha slowed down his pace a little to share that shocking piece of news!
Ye Sha's Ink Snake had secretly tailed Long Qi and his men right from the start and its sudden death had already been greatly suspicious, and now they just heard, at the location where the Ink Snake died, there was a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast! ? What were they getting themselves into! ?
Did that also mean that Long Qi and his men that the Ink Snake had been shadowing all this while were confronted with the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast!?
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Chapter 488 : Guardian Grade Spirit Beast (2)
Since the beginning of time, never in the Lower Realm had anyone heard that anyone was able to hunt down a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast.
Even the legendary purple spirit, which was the pinnacle of strength could only run when faced with a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast!
It must be known that the fact was no purple spirit user had appeared among the people for a long time! Even in the Rui Lin Army, none existed at that time!
Upon hearing that devastating roar, not only did Fan Jin's face look sick, but even Qiao Chu and the rest did not fare much better. They might not have known who the Rui Lin Army was, but after hearing of their heroic and selfless exploits, those men have earned respect from the teammates.
"Why would they meet a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast? All the Spirit Beasts here wouldn't initiate an attack unless they are first provoked or attacked, and then did they retaliate!" Rong Ruo said, her complexion not looking too well either.
After Rong Ruo said those words, the teammates all suddenly came to the same conclusion.
The men from the Rui Lin Army were all battle hardened and undergone much trials and tribulations, they would not be men that would be rash or ignorant in situations like this. They couldn't have possibly gone to provoke a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast that they knew very well they wouldn't be able to beat. And the only people who would possibly provoke the Guardian grade Spirit Beast could only be the people in Ning Xin's team who harboured evil intentions against the men from the Rui Lin Army!
"It's over! This time it's really over....." Qiao Chu scratched at his head furiously, his heart torn from the fact that the heroes he had heard about were about to be killed by such a vicious plot.
Suddenly, Qiao Chu had barely finished his sentence when a black figure whizzed past away from them!
Jun Wu Xie was seated upon the black beast's back, like an arrow shot from a fully pulled back bow. And Ye Sha immediately shot out from the group to catch up with Jun Wu Xie!
"Little Xie! What are you doing! ?" Qiao Chu and his gang suddenly realised what was happening as they saw Jun Wu Xie rushing towards the source of the roars, and their hearts all skipped a beat in shock!
Had Jun Xie gone mad? Judging from his actions, was he intending to go save the men from the Rui Lin Army?
What kind of a joke was that?
Having been with Jun Xie for quite awhile now, Qiao Chu and his gang knew what kind of personality Jun Xie had. He was calm and decisive and was never one to poke his nose into other people's business. Just what was it that made him decide now to risk everything and go save people they had never even met! ?
He must have known that by rushing to the men's aid, he was rushing to confront not just any ordinary Spirit Beast! But a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast!
Spirit Beasts were naturally highly resistant to poison and the poisons that Jun Xie was most highly skilled in would not work on a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast, his decision would most undoubtedly kill him!
"Damn! Has Jun Xie really gone mad! ?" Qiao Chu said through gritted teeth, and he had no time to think further on it but to summon Rolly to the fore.
The massive Yin Yang bear appeared suddenly among the teammates. It bent and lowered its back, all four of its paws on the ground.
Qiao Chu's tall frame quickly leapt onto its back. Hua Yao, Fei Yan and Rong Ruo quickly followed and mounted themselves on Rolly's back.
"Rolly! Follow them! Quick!" They would never allow Jun Xie to ride off into his doom on his own!
Having received Qiao Chu's command, Rolly sprinted immediately. The lumbering body moved amazingly quickly, with Rolly's massively wide strides eating up the distance, its speed seemingly like a little whirlwind!
Fan Jin stood in his spot, eyes wide and speechless as he watched Qiao Chu and his gang speed off after Jun Xie, his mind a complete blank.
Why would the men from the Rui Lin Army suddenly encounter a Guardian grade Spirit Beast? Everyone knew very well how that had happened, but not one of them spoke a single word about it.
Fan Jin was not that dumb either. He thought about it for awhile and he could guess what had really happened as well.
But that realization was a fact that he could not accept easily.
After struggling with his emotions a while more, Fan Jin finally clenched his jaw in determination, and ran towards the same direction that he had seen Qiao Chu and the others depart!
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Chapter 489 : Guardian Grade Spirit Beast (3)
Within a part of the forest, rows of trees were being felled and trampled into the ground. Shockwaves swept over the ground and the fallen leaves flew and billowed within the rush of the air kicked up, spinning and whirling in the howling wind.
The thick heavy scent of blood hung heavily in the air, as an immensely huge shape towered between the earth and the skies. Deafening roars erupted from the titanic beast, threatening to split the earth!
It was a Guardian Grade Spirit Beast of epic proportions and the claws on its four limbs were razor sharp. Nine long white tails swayed in the air behind the beast and whatever those tails touched, be it trees or rocks, they broke and crumbled easily before the overwhelming force. Two twisted horns curled on top of its head and its scarlet eyes were filled with rage.
The beast's body was white throughout and over its smooth radiant fur, a faint shimmering red totem glow could almost be seen!
A raging Guardian grade Spirit Beast could destroy everything before it!
Under the raining stones, Long Qi zipped around to haul an injured Rui Lin Army soldier to rest on a tree stump and told him to hide himself.
One of the soldier's arm had been cut by the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast's Wind Blade, a single cut nearly severing half of his arm off, almost hanging just from his flesh and sinew. The soldier had lost a great amount of blood and his face was drained of all colour, his body temperature dropping quickly.
"General, leave us..... You..... you should bring Rong Heng and the others away from here....." The injured soldier said, tugging at Long Qi's sleeve with his good hand.
"A Guardian grade Spirit Beast is not what we can take on. Bring Rong Heng and the others away from here while Little Wu and the guys are still able to hold the Spirit Beast back! Our deaths would not matter that much compared to the disciples of Master Mu. To the Rui Lin Army, those disciples are more important than anything else." The injured soldiers gasped heavily for breath after those words, his complexion looking worse than before.
Long Qi's expression was stern. Things had taken a sudden and unexpected turn that made this expedition unimaginably perilous.
A Guardian Grade Spirit Beast, he had never even seen one before!
"I will not abandon my brothers." Long Qi clenched his jaw tightly. His body was already covered in wounds and within the team, he was the strongest and most highly skilled. And it due to that fact that he received the most attacks in the battle with the Spirit Beast. If it was not for his weapon ring spirit's ability to transform into strong sturdy armour, he might not be still alive now!
Long Qi turned to look at the injured Rong Heng and his fellow disciples. There were three disciples from the Cloud Treading Peak on this expedition to the Battle Spirits Forest and when the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast attacked, all the men from the Rui Lin Army had quickly protected the three disciples with everything they had.
The soldiers were well aware that the Rui Lin Army numbered many more and it would not hurt the force much even if they lost the few of them. But the disciples of the Cloud Treading Peak cannot be allowed to come to harm. By protecting every single one of those disciples, they would be able to bring new strength to the soldiers of the Rui Lin Army in the future!
Rong Heng and his fellow disciples were in a dire situation. Although the soldiers from the Rui Lin Army were fighting to protect them with their lives, the shockwaves that swept through them from the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast were not what medical practitioners like them could withstand, unscathed.
"General Long, we have dragged you down with us." Rong Heng looked at Long Qi, his face pale. If it was not for them, their skills from being in the Rui Lin Army would at least allow them to escape from the Spirit Beast even if they could not defeat it.
"This has nothing to do with you, I was too careless." Long Qi narrowed his eyes and anger flashed menacingly.
"No one would have expected the young youths to harbour such insidious intentions against us. If they had not provoked and led the Spirit Beast to us, we would not be in such a dire situation! And all those hateful wretches had even run away after leading the Spirit Beast to us!" Another Cloud Treading Peak disciple spat out those words in disgust!
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Chapter 490 : Consecutive Slaps - Third Form (1)
A Guardian Grade Spirit Beast was something that no one dared provoke. Long Qi had initially agreed to hunt down five high grade Spirit Beasts for Ning Xin and her team and when they reached the Spirit Moon Lake, he had kept his word and went out in search for signs of high grade Spirit Beasts. Never had he ever thought that Ning Xin and her teammates would lead a raging Guardian Grade Spirit Beast right up to them! And after the youths led the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast to come right beside Long Qi and his men, they all took the opportunity to escape, dragging Long Qi and his group right into the abyss!
When that scene replayed through his mind, Long Qi was absolutely seething in rage, but the situation did not allow him time to continue dwelling on that!
Five Rui Lin Army soldiers were still battling the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast and their powers were absolutely no match for the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast. But in order to buy a little more time for Rong Heng and his fellow disciples to escape, they fought valiantly, laying their lives on the line. The tacit understanding developed over many years of battles between the men allowed them to hold out a little but they were all already badly wounded and they were all covered in blood. The blood dripped and scattered with their movements and the ground was soon covered in those scarlet splatters!
"I will need to trouble you men to bring my brother with you. The rest of us will continue to try to buy you more time." Long Qi handed the badly injured soldiers over to Rong Heng and his fellow disciples and rushed into the frenzied battle without even looking back!
"General !" The soldier looked on with despair as he stared at Long Qi's resolute back!
A distance away from the battle, Ning Xin was well hidden behind a cluster of dense trees. Her venomous eyes stared intently at the raging battle to the death and her lips curled into a vicious smile.
* Don't you just want to sometimes go into a story and punch someone a few times? Yeah that's me right now :( *
"Senior Ning, they are not a match for the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast." Yin Yan said standing beside Ning Xin as he watched the men from the Rui Lin Army being pushed back step by step by the Spirit Beast.
"I had expected them not to be able to handle it. The Guardian Grade Spirit Beasts do not eat people and it will leave after those men are dead. Those men had killed several high grade Spirit Beasts earlier and they are sure to have the high grade spirit stones on them." Ning Xin said with glee, her eyes shining with satisfaction.
Whoever dared embarrass her, would never escape her wrath!
That Escort Long had blatantly spurned her earlier kind offer and trampled on her pride. People like that only more than deserved to die!
Yin Yan lowered his head and remained silent. He was wary of Ning Xin's unbelievable viciousness. The team of men were outstanding in terms of strength and skills and just because they incurred the wrath of Ning Xin, they were led into a situation that they would have to pay for it with their very lives. Under that facade of a beautiful and sweet young lady, Ning Xin hid a venomous and malicious mind that terrified Yin Yan endlessly.
However, just at that moment, a commotion sounded from another direction caught Ning Xin's and her team's attention!
They saw two black shadows streak out from the trees, charging straight at the fully enraged Guardian Grade Spirit Beast!
"What is that?" Ning Xin was greatly surprised. The black shadows moved too quickly and she could not see what they were!
Struggling valiantly, Long Qi's back was torn by a swipe from the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast. The armour on his back was shredded along with his flesh and his whole back suddenly became one garish scarlet gory mess. Another Rui Lin Army soldier hurried to hold off the Spirit Beast while two other soldiers dragged Long Qi speedily away from the battle!
The abrupt and violent movements elicited so much pain that Long Qi suddenly saw stars before his eyes!
The Guardian grade Spirit Beast was able to even shred the strong armour his ring spirit had transformed into! That heaven defying power was truly not something any of them was able to take on!
As he looked on at the battlefield in despair, Long Qi clenched his teeth together tightly to keep himself conscious. But he knew for sure then, that all of them would not leave the forest alive!
And just when the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast had knocked the soldiers standing in its way, flying in all directions and was readying itself to pounce on Long Qi, a black shadow suddenly smashed into the head of the Spirit Beast!
A loud crash reverberated!
Strong shockwaves from the force of the impact threw everyone into the air!
Long Qi was sailing through the air when suddenly, in the next moment, he found himself caught by a strong force before he could crash into the ground!
* AHHHHHHH!!! sklsdnsnlfsldjowdoehfenfo... I'm so HAPPY on this part :) I love this scene *
* cries and fangirls profusely *