Chapter 421: The Old Site
Wang Hong had never anticipated that the location where the intelligence had indicated the presence of only one third-tier Demonic Beast would unexpectedly yield five of them.
Although they had managed to take advantage of the element of surprise and focus their efforts to slay one of them, four still remained, and they were not foes that could be easily dealt with.
Facing the Purple Flame Lion as it unleashed a blazing torrent towards them, Luo Zhongjie led the East Zhou squad in invoking their defensive Spiritual Weapons to shield themselves.
The entire East Zhou team had formed a defensive formation, restraining the continued assault of the remaining Purple Flame Lion.
Meanwhile, Zhang Chunfeng led the Revival Battle Team to confront the Demon Monkey.
The majority of them were still at the Foundation Building stage, all in the early stages of Foundation Building cultivation. This was their first battle at this cultivation level, and they hadn't yet fully tapped into their own strengths. Despite having more members, they weren't gaining any significant advantages.
The remaining Demonic Beasts, an Ice Wind Lion and a Black Jiao, were left for Wang Hong and Little Peng to deal with.
Little Peng confronted the Black Jiao, as Roc Birds naturally had an advantage against snake-like creatures like the Jiao.
At this moment, an Ice Wind Lion across from Wang Hong continuously spat out ice orbs towards him, forcing Wang Hong to evade by using his Shifting Positions technique repeatedly.
He had no spare energy to retaliate against the creature. While evading, he released his Poisonous Bees from his sleeves. Due to limited space, he maintained a population of just over ten thousand Poisonous Bees. Now, all these Poisonous Bees swarmed around the Ice Wind Lion.However, when these Poisonous Bees crawled onto the Ice Wind Lion, they were slowed down by the extreme cold, moving sluggishly on the beast's body.
With a shake of its body, the Ice Wind Lion dislodged them all.
Seeing this, Wang Hong realized that the Poisonous Bees had met their natural enemy, and he would need to cultivate and strengthen them through special means in the future. For now, he had no choice but to recall them and give them a brief respite before sending them to support other teams.
He needed to come up with a different strategy. Wang Hong carefully observed while evading the ice orbs that whizzed past him. These ice orbs made him shiver uncontrollably, and he had been hit a few times, damaging several pieces of his defensive Spiritual Weapon.
He watched the Ice Wind Lion as it opened its huge mouth, spewing out ice orbs one after another.
An idea crossed his mind, and though it might not directly kill the beast, it could certainly affect its ability to fight.
Using the power of Space, he transported numerous poisonous substances directly around the three-tier Ice Wind Lion.
Items from his Space could appear anywhere within his Divine Sense range when taken out. In previous battles, he had been cautious not to reveal his secrets to higher-tier cultivators, but now the chances of encountering one in the vicinity were close to zero, and he no longer had such concerns.
Whenever an opportunity presented itself, he would inject some highly toxic substances into the Ice Wind Lion's mouth.
The Ice Wind Lion was now poisoned, and all they had to do was keep it engaged until the poison took effect.
Meanwhile, the Revival Battle Team was facing trouble of its own. Their opponent was the Demon Monkey, an incredibly fast and agile adversary that seemed to appear and disappear at will.
Despite their greater numbers, they couldn't even lay a finger on it, and they were finding it increasingly difficult to combat the creature. Sometimes, it would infiltrate their ranks and injure their members.
Already, three of their team had fallen, and several others were wounded.
Just moments ago, when they had spotted the Demon Monkey ahead, everyone had summoned their Flying Swords and attacked, but by the time their blades reached their target, the Demon Monkey had already vanished without a trace.
Zhao Ning led a small squad, launching a full-scale attack. However, at the same time, the Demon Monkey's figure suddenly appeared beside them, breaking through their outer defenses and lunging at Zhao Ning.
The Demon Monkey extended its claws and grabbed Zhao Ning, catching him off guard. It tore a large chunk of flesh from his abdominal armor in a single swipe.
As the Demon Monkey withdrew from its initial strike, it carried away a sizable portion of Zhao Ning's flesh.
But just a few steps after the Demon Monkey's attack, countless lightning bolts descended upon its vicinity.
Remarkably, the Demon Monkey managed to evade the majority of the dense lightning strikes, with only one-third of them hitting its body.
While this one-third of the lightning caused minimal harm to the third-tier Demonic Beast, it left its limbs numb, slowing down its speed.
The Demon Monkey's greatest asset was its incredible speed, and any pause in its movements exposed it to numerous attacks.
"Jia, quickly! Use lightning to keep striking it! Avenge Captain Zhao!" urged one of Jia Liang's teammates.
Jia Liang had been surprised by the effectiveness of his previous attack and promptly unleashed another lightning-based Magical Art, aiming it at the Demon Monkey.
The Demon Monkey, now realizing that it had narrowly escaped a dire situation, attempted to flee the area rapidly. However, it found itself surrounded by many Spiritual Weapons and couldn't escape.
It lunged to the side, its claws piercing through the body of a Foundation Building cultivator.
At that very moment, another barrage of lightning struck the Demon Monkey, causing its recently recovered body to go numb once again.
The entire battlefield had been divided into four sections, with the unexpected outcome of Little Peng being the first to defeat his opponent.
The Black Jiao now lay lifeless on the ground, with Little Peng pecking at it fiercely to ensure it was truly dead.
After confirming the Black Jiao's demise, Little Peng took flight and headed towards Wang Hong's location.
With Little Peng's assistance, it didn't take long for Wang Hong to defeat his adversary, the Ice Wind Lion. They then used their numerical advantage to help deal with the remaining two Demonic Beasts.
After they joined forces to defeat the Purple Flame Lion, the remaining Demon Monkey made a direct escape.
They chose not to pursue it, as there was a risk of being ambushed again, complicating matters further.
With the five third-tier Demonic Beasts defeated, the smaller Demonic Beasts posed no significant challenge and were swiftly dispatched.
After clearing the battlefield, they began their ascent towards the peak.
Along the way, they encountered several spirit fields that had become overgrown with weeds, with the occasional low-tier Spiritual Herb still surviving.
Most Demonic Beasts did not cultivate spirit fields. They relied on their long lifespans, innate bloodlines, or foraging for a few Spiritual Herbs in the wild, which they devoured directly.
As they climbed towards the peak, the quality of the spirit fields they encountered improved significantly, but they were all abandoned and in disarray.
Wang Hong couldn't help but feel a sense of regret as he looked at these neglected spirit fields.
"East Master, there are so many spirit fields here, and the Spirit Qi is excellent. Shouldn't we consider relocating here?" Skinny Monkey suggested.
"No, this won't work, at least not for now. This place is too conspicuous; it's likely to be discovered by Demonic Beasts," Wang Hong replied, vetoing the idea. While he was tempted by the Spirit Qi and the quality of the spirit fields, he knew that it would only be a matter of time before the Demon Clan found this place, and they would be left waiting to be besieged by Demonic Beasts.
When they finally reached the mountaintop, they were greeted by a vast expanse of dilapidated buildings.
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