Chapter Ninety: Betraying His Own Teammates
At that moment, Gu Xiaopang had no mind to care about the war between the two clans. With Bai Ling’er in tow, he vanished in a flash.
He thought with relief that the Giant Shield Elephant clan had bought him a moment. Otherwise, even with his power over space allowing him to traverse the void, there was no guarantee that the enraged Golden Scale Tiger chief would not blast him out with a storm of void-force, or even knock him off course.
Within the void, space was boundless. With Gu Xiaopang’s present strength, he could only travel a short distance, and only through relatively safe regions.
If he were truly thrown off course and sent into a place where space ran wild, death would be all but certain.
...
The Golden Scale Tiger clan and the Giant Shield Elephant clan were evenly matched, and victory could not be decided in a short time.
But after both sides had fought themselves red with fury and suffered considerable losses, they finally, by mutual and grudging understanding, ceased hostilities.
They had begun quickly enough, and ended just as fast.
The human world was cruel; the world of mystic beasts was even more so.
The two clan chiefs knew full well that if the battle continued, both sides could easily be left gravely wounded, and in the end it was not impossible that they would be wiped out together by other clans waiting hungrily in the shadows.
At this moment, having lost the target he had been pursuing, the Golden Scale Tiger chief roared skyward again and again.
...
At the beginning, the Golden Scale Tiger chief had come here by accident, and discovered that this land was of immense benefit to those who cultivated metal-attribute power.
Though he had searched countless times and found no reason for it, he still decisively relocated his clan here in full.
Only after several rounds of conquest and chaotic warfare did they truly secure a foothold in this place.
It could be said that the Golden Scale Tiger clan’s territory had been won with great difficulty.
Yet on this very night, the moment the Metal Spirit Soul was stolen, it was effortlessly reduced to ruin.
...
Coincidentally, just as Gu Xiaopang stole the Metal Spirit Soul and fled, several high-level cultivators were also openly flying toward the interior from the edge of the Endless Forest.
“Honored seniors of the human race,”
“bringing my clan into the beast tide was indeed my fault, but didn’t we cause all that much damage...?”
“Do you really have to bully beasts with such overwhelming force?!”
...
Within the territory of the Berserk Ape mystic beasts, the Berserk Ape chief felt as though he could cry.
This was outright bullying of beasts, beyond any doubt.
First his treasury had been stolen by humans, leaving not a single feather behind.
Then, after following the beast tide out, the humans suffered not a single casualty, while his own side was even driven back by one of their elders at the fifth tier.
And now, at the very moment he had nowhere to vent his hatred, the humans had brazenly dispatched two Deity Transformation cultivators and several Nascent Soul cultivators, all descending together upon his territory...
They were taking far too high an opinion of him. This was sheer bullying, as though they meant to exterminate his entire clan!
“Hmph! Shut your mouth!”
“We are not here to settle accounts with you. You are but a puny third-tier creature; you are hardly worth such a grand expedition.”
“I ask you: why did your clans unleash this beast tide?”
“Hah? So it was about that? Honored seniors, why didn’t you say so sooner? You nearly scared me to death...”
“Why do you have so much nonsense?”
“Answer my question directly! Say one more useless word and believe me, I’ll wipe out your clan with a wave of my hand.”
“Yes, yes, yes. This time we joined the beast tide mainly because while we were out, a human sneaked into our treasury...”
“Hahaha, how amusing! Hahaha!”
After hearing the reason in full, more than a dozen human cultivators, including Chen Nanshan, were all laughing until they nearly doubled over.
“Hm? That’s not right. One clan being out, two clans being out, that’s one thing. But surely not all eighty-some clans were away?”
“Speak. What were you all doing out there?”
“Reporting to you, lords, we...”
“What did you say? Say that again!”
“Honored lords, every word I said is true. If you don’t believe me, you can ask the other clans.”
“If I hide anything at all, I won’t wait for you to act. I’ll end my own life on the spot...”
At last they understood why these mystic beasts had rioted twice, and why along the way not a single human disciple had been seen out training. The dozen or so human cultivators were all filled with rage.
And when the Berserk Ape chief saw that the honored seniors were truly angered, he instantly became even more timid, tears and snot flowing as he explained and swore his assurances to them...
“All right, get up. Take us to the place where you said that person issued the orders to you.”
“I-I don’t dare.”
“Hm? Then it seems you want to die right here and now?”
“No, no, that’s not it. Honored lords, may I beg one thing of you?”
“Speak.”
“Please capture the chiefs of the other clans as well. That way, afterward, that lord won’t come after only me to settle accounts...”
“Heh. Never would have guessed—you’re the sort who drags down your own allies.”
“As you wish!”
“You lot, move!”
“Understood.”
...
Not even a quarter of an hour later, the chiefs of more than eighty clans had all been thrown together like chicks being gathered into a pen.
“Move along. Lead the way!”
“Anyone who dares chatter nonsense, and I’ll cripple him on the spot.”
...
The party—more than ten humans and several dozen beasts—hurried swiftly toward the depths of the Endless Forest.
“You damned bastards, did someone leak the news in advance? Eh?!”
“Lord, we don’t understand. What exactly happened? Let’s speak calmly, my lord.”
“Several hundred li ahead, several fourth-tier mystic beasts have fully released their divine sense and are searching for something.”
“Huh? My lord, this is a misunderstanding! It must be a misunderstanding!”
“Yes, my lord. Even if you gave me a hundred times the courage, I would never dare play such tricks before all of you seniors.”
...
After the time it took to drink a cup of tea, when they saw more than ten humans escorting nearly a hundred third-tier mystic beasts in great force, several fourth-tier mystic beasts with their divine sense spread wide let out furious roars and threw themselves forward to attack without regard for death, even knowing that the enemy had two Deity Transformation cultivators among them.
The battle ended in less than a quarter of an hour.
Among the captives, in addition to the nearly hundred third-tier mystic beasts from before, there were now several more fourth-tier mystic beasts. The astonishing thing was that their clan treasuries had all been stolen clean, not a single hair left behind.
The dozen or so humans clicked their tongues in wonder, but they were also beginning to feel a little dazed.
Who on earth could be so bold, and possess such means?
The former was still understandable. After all, those beast groups had all been out hunting down the culprits, so their homes had been left empty and thus robbed.
But the latter? Several fourth-tier mystic beasts had been in their own nests at the time, and yet they were still robbed, without even seeing what the thief looked like.
If it were me, could I do it? Or would I dare to do it?...
Everyone, including the two Deity Transformation cultivators, was thinking the same thing.
...
Another hour later, the Golden Scale Tiger chief followed in the footsteps of the earlier fourth-tier mystic beasts, obediently joining the escort as they continued deeper inside.
What left the dozen or so humans speechless once again was that the Golden Scale Tiger chief, already at the late fourth tier, had indeed seen the thief—but only from behind.
...