Dual Cultivation God Returns

Chapter 712  Forms of Strength

Ko Fuan's eyes shook. For a moment his world stood still, as his mind frantically sped up to try and keep up with the sudden developments. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

It was true that it was a blessing for him and the local cultivators that backed him, but he could not predict what would happen next. While those who were here were smart enough not to fall for small tricks, they wouldn't be here at all if they weren't at least somewhat ambitious and willing to be reckless if they stood to profit.

Now that the situation shifted so drastically, it wasn't like they had no way to benefit from this fight between bigger enemies.

As evidence, even after the old man's proclamation, no one moved from their spots, full of reluctance, sending hesitant looks to each other and lingering on the spot. It was clear that everyone here was now calculating their next moves.

And as this situation reflected in the eyes of Ko Fuan, he gulped, and clenched his fists, making his decision, "City Guards! Attack anyone who tries to interfere in the battle!"

His shout send another bout of shockwaves and murmurs, this time through his own camp of local cultivators.

"T-The Three Pillars Sect will help the Silver Wing City!", the Elder who recognized the old man leading the beauties raised his voice next, and soon after, several groups made the proclamation in support.

"Those little-...", the Seven Scars Guild squad leader with the horizontal scar across his face gritted his teeth, sending a look full of anger toward the locals.

"Tsk… that brat's meddling… again!!!", the Elder of the Crystal Wood Sect also clenched his fists in even bigger fury, his ambition to pay back his Sect's humiliation in the Silver Wing City crumbling before his eyes.

From his perspective, not only was he unable to pacify his wounded pride and restore the Crystal Wood Sect's reputation, but this impertinent brat, who was partly responsible for that embarrassment, was now actively trying to make him experience another humiliation.

By keeping the locals in check, he allowed this mysterious new party to fight without having to be constantly wary of being struck in the back, and thus concentrate on the Crystal Wood Sect and Seven Scars Guild.

"Free Cultivators who sided with us today, if you wish to receive the reward for your cooperation that I offered before, leave the area and head for the city with us now, those who remain here will not be able to obtain that reward! In addition, you may face retaliation from the City Guards!", Ko Fuan's further words made many faces sour, on both sides.

"You damn brat!!!", the Elder of the Crystal Wood Sect roared with a reddening from anger face, and rushed toward the locals, but was intercepted by the sword of the old man.

Right after, the group of mysterious beauties clashed with the Seven Scars Guild and the remaining members of the Crystal Wood Sect.

And while the free cultivators and some of the lesser local groups were still hesitant on whether to try and still profit from the situation, [Wise choice…], a disembodied voice resounded on the plateau, seemingly reverberating through the surrounding air without any definite source, [A small bit of advice as a reward, it would be better to travel in a larger group. If you spread your Spiritual Sense a bit further you might already feel it… there's a wave of Demonic Beasts rushing here…]

"Huup-...?!?!", someone in the crowd gasped as they heard the warning and upon expanding their Spiritual Sense as far into distance as they could instead of concentrating it in the vicinity, they could indeed sense massive fluctuations in Spiritual Qi. The Demonic Beasts were still too far to detect even with spreading their senses wide, but the disruption of Spiritual Qi preceding them was an undeniable sign.

Not to mention there were some smaller packs, and individual Demonic Beasts heading toward the plateau ahead of the main wave.

Shivers went through the cultivators who finally understood that staying was not just reckless but outright suicidal. Ko Fuan also paled, and at the same time a look of realization appeared on his face.

'I wondered why the Iron Claw Group who always snoop around didn't show up… don't tell me… were they caught up in the Demonic Beast Wave?', he thought as cold sweat covered his forehead, clenching his fists and hurriedly commanding, "City Guards, follow me, we're returning to the City!"

The other groups quickly followed, free cultivators already starting to flee with pale faces distorted by fear.

"Khh! Damn you!!! Are you planning to die here together?!?!", the Elder of the Crystal Wood Sect who obviously also heard the warning shouted in rage as his opponent's sword forced him to fight back instead of running away with others, "What blasted grudge do you have against us?!"

"Heh, this old man has nothing to say to you", the 'leader' of the mysterious group of beauties only chuckled in response.

"What's up with these wenches?!?! How are they keeping up with me…?", the rowdy-looking squad leader of the Seven Scars Guild clicked his tongue in frustration as he was kept in check by six of the veiled beauties, three of whom wielded their distinctive spears, while the other three supported them with ranged ice attacks.

He was undoubtedly far more powerful, and even his basic speed was higher than them, but all his advantages were nearly completely neutralized by their flawless cooperation. Not to mention, that each of them exhibited a power far above their actual cultivation realm.

He wasn't completely helpless, in fact he still had some leeway, and able to pay attention to the situation around, but he couldn't break away from them or overpower them as his every move was countered, and they didn't give him any opportunity to claim the initiative with constant attacks.

His eyes briefly darted to the side, where his colleague was pushed back worse than him by a similar group of six veiled beauties.

They were roughly equal in strength, but while the rowdy-looking man had Earth Attribute, that could counter Ice that the beauties used on equal grounds, his horizontal-scarred companion had Fire Attribute which was restricted by the ice.

His Spiritual Sense then picked up on the fact that the rest of the beauties were pressuring the rest of the Seven Scars Guild members and Crystal Wood Sect people.

However, what stood out to him was that the Seven Scars Guild was attacked more aggressively, their Mortal Transcendence Realm members already on the brink of death, while the Crystal Wood Sect was merely held in check.

'Tsk… so they don't want to antagonize a big sect completely but it's fine if it's just us, is that it?' ran through his mind angering him even more as he lifted large rocks to shield himself from icicles, which were then shattered by two spears.

However, as he was organizing his thoughts and trying to come up with a plan, his eyes came across a masked man who leisurely stood at a distance with the one called Qian, looking in his direction as talismans were floating around him, along with several glowing array circles.

'Huh? That guy… I didn't pay much attention to him, but now that I see him like this something feels off… I should-...', the rowdy-looking squad leader suddenly felt chills as he seemed to catch on to the fact that he somehow misjudged the situation, but at that moment, his thoughts were interrupted by a giggle of a beautiful voice by his ear.

"Hehehe, you're smarter than you try to look, and more problematic for our precious snow fairies to deal with… or so Darling says…", a crimson glow of cold eyes abruptly appeared behind him while a sensation of cold steel plunging into his neck threw his mind into a frenzy.

He belatedly made a maneuver, avoiding his neck to be completely be sliced open, darting to the side and slashing with his saber as he turned around, but his blade struck air, as the mysterious attacker only left a rapidly dispersing black cloud, and a cute-sounding giggle.

"I guess your relative competence to your colleague backfired", the voice noted as if speaking to no one in particular.

"Shit!!! Who-", but as he covered the gushing with blood, giant wound on his neck, with his free hand and shouted, two spears pierced him from his side and from his back, and an icicle pierced his neck, instantly freezing and shattering it, his shout cut off mid-word still lingering in the air.

On the other side of the small skirmish…

A little bit before the rowdy-looking squad leader received a wound to his neck, the Elder of the Crystal Wood Sect was struggling against his opponent.

"Damn! This old man is nothing much… I'm certain I could win…!!! If not for these damn talismans I would've already be on my way to the Silver Wing City!', he thought while gritting his teeth.

Several talismans floated around him, made array barriers and small attacks at precise timings, supporting the old man.

'I guess it's no wonder they appeared out of nowhere… that Talisman Master is not strong, but exceptionally skilled', ran through his mind as his eyes made a quick look to the masked man standing in the background.

None of the attacks or barriers were any problems for the Elder on their own, he was certain that he could slaughter that Talisman Master in a matter of moments, but the timing and coordination with the old man he was fighting were simply exceptional.

It was enough to cripple his fighting potential and force him to be pushed around by an otherwise inferior opponent.

And then, he was suddenly rushed by a barrage of ranged attacks from three veiled beauties.

"Crystal Growth Shield!", his Spiritual Qi spread in the direction Icicles were coming from, and formed crystallized forms, seeming as if they were growing one out of the other until a wall made of Spiritual Qi in the form of crystals rose to shield him.

The Icicles shattered against this defence, but a similar attack from the opposite side forced him to evade, slashing his way through several array barriers made with talismans.

That was when the old man fighting the Elder made a powerful downward vertical slash that he was charging up, "Furious Tempest Strike!"

The attack was timed perfectly, and aiming for the spot he was fleeing to, so the Elder had no choice but to put up a hurried makeshift defence, only raising his sword with as much Spiritual Qi as he could squeeze out in that short instant.

*Clang!*

"Khuh!!!", the Crystal Wood Sect Elder coughed up blood from receiving an internal wound while retreating.

At the same time he heard a shout full of both anger and fear that was abruptly cut off, and a chill caused him to shiver since he saw one of the two Seven Scars Guild squad leaders lose his life against the opponents he was seemingly slightly superior to.

"Wha-...", his mouth stained with blood involuntarily muttered in a slightly incoherent manner, as his mind grew cold, 'What in the world happened? He was okay just a moment ago!!!'

He could see similar expressions of fear and confusion mixed up on the faces of his own Sect Members and what remained of the Seven Scars Guild, who seemed to all have been distracted by their battles to witness what transpired.

But as they were filled with despair…

*Rooooaaaarrr!!!*

A loud roar cut their thoughts, as the tremor shaking the ground that appeared not long ago and was gradually growing over the course of the skirmish reached a point that it was hardly different from an earthquake.

Presences of massive numbers of Demonic Beasts were approaching, which seemingly left the group of beauties led by the old man distracted for a moment.

Elder of the Crystal Wood Sect didn't miss that moment, rushing to flee, followed by all of his allies.

"Tsk, we're out of time huh… don't pursue them, prepare for the Demonic Beast Wave!", the old man seemingly expressed his regret, stopping the beauties who made movements to intercept the fleeing enemies, and then dismissively chuckling "we can finish off these rats if we encounter them later, I suppose they were lucky today"

His words were spoken to his allies, but they were clearly meant for the fleeing group to hear as well.

The horizontal-scarred squad leader was left with only two of his subordinates from the Seven Scars Guild, giving a vicious glare as he turned to give those on the plateau a last look.

The Crystal Wood Sect lost three Sect Protectors, leaving only the Elder and two Disciples, all with various degrees of wounds, cursing in their thoughts without turning.