Chương 128: Horde?

The next morning, I ended up standing in front of the giant iron gates for the outer disciples' beast grounds with Wei Lin and Lin Mei again like we did a week ago. Except this time around something felt off. It could have been how the morning mist was looking thicker than usual or maybe because all the birds were acting quiet for some reason, or maybe I was being paranoid.

"So," I said while breaking the quiet silence sitting between us, "how do you guys feel about hunting something a bit more challenging today?" Wei Lin instantly narrowed his eyes at me. I had to admire his survival instincts because they were getting a lot better.

"How much more challenging are we talking about here?" I couldn't stop myself from smiling.

"I was thinking maybe a Stage 6 Qi Condensation beast." Wei Lin's eyes grew so wide I was seriously worried they were going to pop straight out of his skull.

"Stage 6? But you're only at Stage…" He abruptly cut himself off when I let out a tiny little fraction of my aura.

"You... you..." Wei Lin started sputtering while pointing his finger at me like I grew a second head or something.

"How is that possible? How many breakthroughs is that now?" I gave a shrug and carefully pulled my aura back in. Although doing that wouldn't fool anyone sitting at my level or higher, there was no reason for me to broadcast my strength to everybody below my cultivation base. But I didn't see any point in hiding it from my friends since they were going to see it in action soon anyway. Wei Lin dramatically dropped down onto his knees and threw his hands up toward the sky.

"Thank you merciful heavens for blessing this humble cultivator with a monstrously talented friend!" A couple disciples walking past us gave him some weird looks but most of them hurried along since they were already used to Wei Lin acting theatrical. Lin Mei rolled her eyes at her boyfriend acting like that, but I could see a tiny smile tugging on her lips.

"Congratulations," she told me as a more serious look appeared on her face.

"But Ke Yin, I know we have the tournament coming up, but you don't need to rush your cultivation so you can protect us."

"You don't need to feel guilty about it," I assured her.

"I'm not rushing my cultivation for you." Which was technically true because my rapid advancement was about my own survival more than anything else. When you are stuck in a cultivation world with protagonist-level characters running around everywhere, you can't afford to take the slow scenic route to gaining power. Lin Mei studied my face for a second before she gave a nod.

"Well, I won't press you on the issue. You know your own limits better than we do." She took a pause and then added while sounding thoughtful, "But I'm surprised some elder hasn't swooped down to claim you as a personal disciple yet." I kept my face looking neutral but inwardly I was thinking about Elder Chen. If he doesn't decide to make his move by the time the Outer Sect Tournament ended, I was pretty certain the other elders would start showing their interest.

But I preferred Chen Yong more, since his laid-back attitude and his formations mastery aligned up with my own goals.

"Speaking about breakthroughs," I said to change the subject, "congratulations to both of you on reaching Stage 4." Wei Lin who finally picked himself up off the dirt instantly slumped his shoulders down.

"I was so excited to tell you all about my breakthrough," he groaned.

"Now it seriously feels about as impressive as me successfully putting my shoes on in the morning." I reached out and put my hand on his shoulder.

"Hey, none of that complaining. Everybody progresses at their own pace, and comparison is the thief of joy." I waved my hand at the big gates sitting in front of us.

"And you guys are both doing exceptionally well for being first-years. How many of our fellow disciples do you see going out to challenge stage 5 beasts?"

"I suppose so," Wei Lin admitted while he straightened himself up a little bit.

"I'll admit I have been spending a lot more time cultivating lately. Seeing you advance so fast is motivating." I glanced back and forth between him and Lin Mei while failing to resist doing a small smirk.

"I don't think you both need any extra motivation to go do dual cultivation." Lin Mei's face instantly turned this ridiculously impressive shade of red as she grabbed something out of her robes and hurled it straight at my face. I easily caught it in the air and looked down at what turned out to be a small little pouch. This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

"What is this?" I asked her even though I could easily guess what it was from the heavy weight and the distinctive spiritual resonance leaking out of it. Lin Mei's huge blush faded away as she managed to compose herself again.

"That's your share from selling the Jade-Crowned Serpent Tiger corpse." I opened the pouch up and counted it, it was fifty spirit stones. Which wasn't bad at all for a Stage 5 beast assuming they split the reward evenly three ways, but something about the look sitting on Lin Mei's face was making me feel suspicious. Before Wei Lin could stop her with his frantic hand gestures, Lin Mei said, "We only took twenty-five spirit stones each."

"Why did you do that?" I asked her even though I had a pretty strong feeling I already knew what the answer was going to be.

"Without your help, we had no chance of defeating a Stage 5 beast," they both admitted. I thought about arguing with them about it, but I saw the stubborn look on both of their faces. Some battles weren't worth fighting at all. I slipped the little pouch into my storage ring and gave them a grateful nod.

"Thank you." Wei Lin's face turned thoughtful.

"You know, I heard all about Wu Kangming deciding to challenge you. Originally, I didn't think you had much of a chance to win but now..." He trailed off, clearly recalculating the odds in his head.

"It's best if you stay away from him," Lin Mei advised me.

"He seems unstable."

"I already managed to clear that misunderstanding up," I explained.

"He doesn't think I'm actively trying to steal his woman away anymore."

"Then why did he challenge you?" Wei Lin asked, looking baffled. I gave a shrug.

"I guess because of face." Wei Lin nodded sagely, he didn't need any further explanation about that. Face explained about ninety percent of all conflicts that happened in a sect. I seriously wondered sometimes if there was some cosmic cultivation technique out there that converted lost face into murderous rage.

"Well, the good news is," I added while smiling at them, "it's not a death match." Lin Mei let out this huge relieved sigh that probably added years back onto her lifespan. I decided it was time to get back to our actual business.

"So, about that Stage 6 beast..." Wei Lin paled a little.

"I won't have to be sitting on the front lines this time? I barely managed against the Stage 5 beast and that was with you helping me."

"Actually," I told him, "I was thinking we would try doing something different this time. I'll take point on doing the attacking while you two provide me with support." Wei Lin's sudden relief was almost palpable.

"That... I can do that." I reached out and put my hand onto the authentication stone. The massive iron gates immediately began swinging open while making their usual ominous grinding sound. We ended up heading deeper into the beast grounds this time even though we were still technically sitting inside the outer region. The trees out here were older, with their trunks being wider and their branches looking gnarled up.

"Azure," I sent my thoughts inward, "do you see anything promising around here?"

"I have successfully located an early Stage 6 beast sitting around half a kilometer ahead of you," Azure replied, but then his tone instantly changed.

"Wait, Master... something is wrong."

"What is it?"

"The beast... it is fleeing away. It's running like its life depends on it." Well, that was not a good sign. Spirit beasts, and especially ones sitting at the higher stages, weren't known for running away without having a good reason to do it.

"What's causing it to run away?"

"There is a peak Stage 6 beast rapidly heading this way." I considered it for a second. It was not ideal, but it wasn't impossible for us either. Because with all my current capabilities, I could probably manage to handle a Stage 7 beast if I had to do it.

"Well, that doesn't sound too bad…"

"That is not the concerning part," Azure cut me off.

"There are multiple Stage 5 beasts following behind it. And there are more of them sitting at Stages 4 and 3." My eyes got wide. A beast horde. Spirit beasts normally didn't cooperate across the different stages unless they were already a pack, or maybe something else was controlling them.

"Do we have enough time to escape?" I asked him, already knowing what the answer was going to be." You might be able to," Azure replied.

"But your friends won't." I spun around to look at Wei Lin and Lin Mei.

"What's wrong?" Lin Mei asked, instantly alert. I immediately into my storage ring and pulled out my formation drawing equipment. The Symphony Shield formation was complex to do, but it was still easier to draw it out on dirt than trying to weave it together using pure energy.

"There is a beast horde heading our way."

"What are you doing?" Wei Lin's voice shot up in pitch.

"We need to run away!"

"We have no time to run," I told him while I kept drawing out the formation patterns on the ground. All the lines began glowing with bright spiritual power when I channeled my energy into them.

"This formation should protect us." I could feel them wanting to argue with me about it, but they must have understand the serious expression on my face and it made them hold their tongues. Which was good because I needed to concentrate on doing this. The Symphony Shield formation was a masterpiece but just like every masterpiece out there, it took a lot of time to properly create it.

"Ke Yin..." Lin Mei's voice was barely a tiny whisper when she pointed her finger into the thick mist. I had just finished inscribing the last line when the mist sitting in front of us seemed to grow thicker and darker, while it swirled around into this ominous huge mass. And then one by one, bright glowing red eyes began appearing in the darkness. There were dozens of them. At their center, something moved, it was something big.

As it emerged from the swirling darkness, I realized we might be in more trouble than I'd thought.