Shi Lang and the people meditated before they reached the misty mountains. Many people had come to him during the ride to ask for advice regarding their strategy. The Terran helped all those he could. The people were impressed by the skills he showed.
Soon, they reached the misty mountains, and Shi Lang sensed that the atmosphere of this place was anything but calm. He could almost taste the tension. He asked, “Brother Bo, my blood is boiling.”
Bo Qingtan chuckled and said, “Says the one advocating that we stay calm and patient?”
Shi Lang held his forehead in his hand and said, “I do not know how long I will be able to hold back.”
Bo Qingtan chuckled and said, “You do not have to worry. You will get your chance.”
The Elder said, “Disciples listen up.”
Everyone became alert. The Elder said, “Go ahead and take your positions. The beast tide is supposed to begin tomorrow. Familiarize yourself with the terrain.”
The disciples all replied in unison, and they jumped off the vessel. The lowest realm they had among the disciples was Immortal Soldier. The core disciples were all Immortal General level,l, and Shi Lang were weaker regarding the cultivation realm.
After the inner court disciples jumped down, the core disciples followed. They all had divided forty teams into eight groups. Seven of them were looked after by the core disciples. The Elder himself handled the weakest of the disciples. At the same time, Shi Lang was given a group of five teams to look after.
…
Shi Lang sat on a boulder. He looked at the surroundings and then behind him. The teams were setting up their camps. The terran asked, “Who are the leaders of your teams?”
The disciples were confused, and Shi Lang said, “Think of your team as a body, and now imagine you have five heads who simultaneously give the body five different commands. What will happen?”
The people looked at each other, and one said, “It will confuse the body.”
Shi Lang nodded and said, “To avoid confusion, you must decide whom you will follow.”
The disciples looked at each other in confusion, and Shi Lang said, “Do not think that the strongest will be the better head. The one who is the calmest and can make quick decisions is the best leader. The decisions he takes will decide your life or death.”
He instilled the idea in their heads, and after discussion, they selected four young men to be the leader. The disciples were smart, too, giving power to the person who would serve as the backup member. Shi Lang nodded and asked, “Do you think this area is good for you all to fight with the spirit beasts?”
The people looked around, and they shook their heads. Shi Lang said, “Solution?”
One of the four leaders replied, “Put up traps?”
Shi Lang nodded and asked, “And?”
Another guy said, “Set up an early warning trap too.”
Shi Lang nodded and questioned, “Anything more?”
The guys shook their heads, and Shi Lang said, “Remove the trees. You need a clear line of sight to engage with the enemy in larger numbers. However, do not uproot them. Just cut them from the middle, and secure a line of sight. Please set up a barricade and reinforce it with array formations. Make the place become your base and easy to defend.”
The disciples were surprised, and then after thinking about it, they nodded and got to work. They quickly cleared the place and set up four walls from the tree trunks. Then they cast a few defensive arrays on the tree trunks, and they ensured that these walls were tough and strong by overlapping arrays.
Shi Lang nodded and said, “Good, now you have a base. Defend it like your life depends on it. I will watch over your safety.”
The people nodded and thanked him before they went to rest. Shi Lang sat on the boulder with his eyes closed. The teams selected four people for guard watch, all moving in shifts. They had been doing this from the start, so Shi Lang did not have to guide them.
Suddenly, in the dead of the night, there was movement. Shi Lang did not react, but a guarding disciple asked, “Who goes there?”
A human voice replied, “Fellow Daoist, wait.”
The young man said, “Come out, or I will attack.”
A few people stepped out of the shadows and seemed to have recognized the robes on the young man. An elderly man said, “Greetings, sir. We are cultivators from remote towns. We came here to gain experience. We did not mean to disturb you all.”
The young man said, “It is alright if you seek experience, but why are you spying on us?”
The person replied, “We were not spying, just curious about these walls you have made. Can you tell us the purpose of these walls?”
The young man turned to look at Shi Lang and found that the person did not react. It meant he could talk. The people talked to each other and learned a few details. These people were trying to venture closer to the depths when they discovered that no spiritual beasts were visible in the area. Sensing something wrong, they returned and found a few small family disciples who told them about the beast tide.
The young man nodded, and after the conversation was finished, the people left the place. They did not believe that the structure would help the people inside. The night they were passed silently. Even the morning was silent. The disciples were getting antsy, and Shi Lang said, “Calm down. Meditate.” 𝑂𝔳𝓛xt.𝓒𝒪𝐦
They all sighed and went to meditate. The effect of meditation calmed them down gradually, and in the evening, the ground trembled. Shi Lang said, “They are here.”
The disciples stood up and took positions. They had cast arrays in funnels. The spirit beasts around the distance of ten kilometers will rush through these various funnels and regroup at the four gates. They were not going after the beasts but bringing them to themselves.
The hordes of spirit beasts rushed down the mountain, and they were all quick. The ground was trembling from the charge, and soon the beasts came into sight. Shi Lang said, “Iron horn bulls.”
The young disciples breathed heavily, and Shi Lang said, “Attack the hooves. Contain the movement. Then, go for the guts.”
The disciples nodded, and Shi Lang stood up from the boulder. He was going to take action at any needed time. He did not wish to provide them with any help, but they were still rattled by the fact that thousands of beasts were rushing at them.
Soon the beasts hit the array barriers, and with terrible roars, they were redirected to the openings left in the barrier. The disciples at the gate were quick and slashed out sword energies on the hooves. The beasts did not expect such a thing, and with the tendon cut, they all fell to the ground. That was not all. The rest of the disciples slashed at the gut, and the beast was dealt with even before it had the time to think.
The team leaders exchanged thoughts, and one said, “Cast an explosion array on the corpses and throw them back. Let them explode and kill a few.”
An explosion array was a spirit-gathering rune that would explode if the object could not retain spirit energy. The task was easy. They all had learned such things on an early level. Shi Lang watched them working nicely and suddenly heard a roar. The beasts became agitated.
One of the disciples shouted, “Senior Brother, this must be a high-rank beast that controls the waves and behavior of these lower realm spirit beasts. Please stop it. If the beasts get agitated and start self-detonation, we will die.”
The terran nodded and said, “Very well.”
After a few moments, he looked around and located the roar’s source. He used a few probes from his communicator to monitor the disciples and vanished from his spot. The probs will allow him to shuttle back in case of emergency.
Shi Lang vanished from his spot and appeared outside the parameter. Everywhere he passed, he punched slightly, and the beasts fell. The deacons monitoring things from the spirit ship were shocked to see that Shi Lang’s team was having such a time, and then they saw Shi Lang charging out to deal with a high-rank beast. They were even more stunned. This guy did not even take out his sword to fight the beasts.
The young man was simply an enigma to them. Shi Lang walked around for five minutes and now stood before a bull twice the size of the rest. He took a gaze, and the beast roared. This bull had horns that put even bludgeons to shame. The sharp and pointy tip of the horns with a metallic luster.
The ground trembled as the beast thumped the ground with its hooves. Shi Lang sighed and said, “You gonna come or just build up the hype?”
