Chương 138: Blood on the Mountain

The cultivator who materialized before him was Fang Jisheng, a Purple Mansion cultivator at the eighth level of the Fang family. Behind him, faint but unmistakable, over a dozen powerful auras followed behind him.

"How is the situation in the Blood Lion Mountain?" Fang Jisheng asked, his gaze settling on Huaijin. Huaijin gathered his thoughts quickly and delivered a concise account of the battle's events.

"Damn it!" Before Huaijin could even finish his report, Fang Jisheng's roar split the air. His figure blurred into motion, hurtling toward the Goldback Mantis like a thunderbolt unleashed. The moment Huaijin had mentioned Fang Tianyu's death, Fang Jisheng's composure had shattered completely. The Fang family had poured countless resources into nurturing a new Tier 3 cultivator and barely two years into his ascension, and now he lay dead, felled by beasts. Fang Jisheng could not, would not, abide by such an insult.

Those three early-stage Purple Mansion spirit beasts would pay with their lives. Their deaths would serve as the only fitting tribute to Fang Tianyu's departed spirit. Watching Fang Jisheng's silhouette vanish into the distance, Huaijin hesitated for a second. Then he swallowed a pill to replenish his depleted spiritual energy and gave chase. Behind him, the Tier 2 cultivators from both the Fang and Zhou families fell into formation and followed.

Huaijin set a measured pace, using the journey toward Blood Lion Mountain to recover what strength he could. Fang Jisheng, however, had no such restraint. His speed was terrifying. He caught the first-level Goldback Mantis within moments and dispatched it in less than fifteen breaths. The disparity in power was insurmountable, an eighth level Tier 3 cultivator against a first-level spirit beast was less a battle and more an execution.

Huaijin knew with certainty that the first level Blood Jade Spider would not escape Fang Jisheng's wrath either. All three early-stage Tier 3 beasts had pursued him for hundreds of miles, crossing deep into human territory in their frenzy. If they had simply retreated when they should have, they would have never crossed paths with Fang Jisheng. And indeed, a quarter-hour later, the Blood Jade Spider fell as well.

The Blood Jade Spider clan had lost a Purple Mansion Realm elder twenty years ago, and after two decades of rebuilding, they had finally nurtured a new one, only to see it slaughtered. The clan's fortunes plummeted once more. Whether they could ever produce another Tier 3 beast remained an open question... Half an hour passed before Fang Jisheng caught up with Fang Xinjin and Zhou Yuezi.

The two Raging Blood Lions, sensing the shifting winds of battle, wisely withdrew toward Blood Lion Mountain, summoning a tide of lesser beasts to shield their retreat. As Fang Jisheng closed in on Blood Lion Mountain's perimeter, he cornered the third level Goldback Mantis. The seventh level Raging Blood Lion sensed the threat and intercepted him instantly, trading several explosive blows to buy the mantis precious moments of escape. But even so, the Goldback Mantis could not escape unscathed.

Fang Jisheng's strike landed with devastating force, bones shattered, flesh ripped apart. The creature hovered at death's threshold, barely clinging to life. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. Still, it managed to stumble across the mountain's boundary, collapsing within Blood Lion Mountain's defenses with its last shred of vitality. Fang Jisheng's eyes blazed with uncontrollable fury.

His Silver Void Seal spirit artifact descended like a meteor hammer, raining destruction upon the Raging Blood Lion. The lion, already a level beneath Fang Jisheng and carrying wounds from previous battles, was no match for the onslaught. It yielded ground steadily, retreating step by step. But Fang Jisheng could not finish the beast quickly enough. In those precious moments, the Goldback Mantis had returned to the mountain's heart, and the spirit vein there had been temporarily stabilized.

Worse still, the Nine Star Black Glass Array had been partially activated. Spirit beasts were far more cunning than most humans gave them credit for, some among them had even mastered the art of array formations. The Raging Blood Lion hurled Fang Jisheng back with a desperate strike and retreated fully into Blood Lion Mountain's embrace. And then, a new presence manifested. The Dark Winged Tiger's aura erupted outward, unmistakable and suffocating in its intensity.

The appearance of two late stage spirit beasts made Fang Jisheng halt his assault mid-stride, his body going rigid.

"Black Tiger Cliff..." Fang Jisheng's face darkened, his gaunt features twisting with killing intent.

"You have no business interfering in Qingtai Prefecture's war. Are you trying to start a full-scale conflict?"

"Interpret it however you wish, human," the Dark Winged Tiger sneered, its voice dripping with mock innocence.

"I never claimed to hail from Black Tiger Cliff." Fang Jisheng's eyes narrowed to slits. All across the Qingtai Prefecture, spirit beasts had received orders to withdraw and converge upon Blood Lion Mountain. He had not anticipated the beast tide to deteriorate so catastrophically. The mountain they had held for decades, was now lost. The Raging Blood Lion clan had reclaimed its ancestral homeland, pushing the front line hundreds of miles deeper into human territory.

With the mountain once more under their control, the spirit beasts would breed and multiply at an alarming rate. And Blood Lion Mountain sat atop a Tier 3 Earth Vein, a font of spiritual abundance that, once restored, would nourish the land and generate a steady flow of priceless resources. The Raging Blood Lion clan's power would gradually recover and then grow beyond its former heights.

Unlike artificial Spirit Mountains, which required human craftsmanship, natural Spirit Mountains could nurture Earth Veins, subterranean rivers of spiritual energy that produced endless resources. Whether claimed by human or beast, whoever controlled such a vein held a treasure beyond measure.

"Fine." Fang Jisheng's voice was ice. He stared at the two late-stage spirit beasts, knowing there was nothing more he could accomplish here. Beyond them, two mid-stage Raging Blood Lions and the wounded third level Goldback Mantis lurked within the mountain's defenses. More Tier 2 spirit beasts were returning by the second, their auras converging on the mountain like moths to a flame. Fang Jisheng released a long, heavy sigh. He gave the order to withdraw. The situation had become painfully clear.

Qingtai Prefecture had suffered a crushing defeat. Blood Lion Mountain was lost, and there would be no retaking it anytime soon. Late stage Raging Blood Lions were not foes to be trifled with. And to compound the disaster, Demonic Cultivators had resurfaced across the region, spreading slaughter and chaos, stretching the combat power of every major sect and clan to its breaking point. Even if Fang Jisheng attempted to rally every faction in Qingtai Prefecture for a counteroffensive, no one would answer the call.

Not now. Not with their own territories bleeding. This beast tide had reached its grim conclusion. The human forces of Qingtai Prefecture had taken a devastating blow. Beyond Fang Tianyu's death, nearly twenty Foundation Establishment cultivators had perished, half of them at the late stages. The spirit beasts' Tier 3 powerhouses had been occupied in the higher-level battle, leaving their Tier 2 elites free to wreak havoc on the human ranks below.

If Huaijin had not emerged as an unexpected force of destruction, cutting down beast after beast with ruthless efficiency, the losses among the humans would have been even more catastrophic. After this battle, Qingtai Prefecture's overall strength would be set back decades. Every faction was bleeding. With reinforcements now arriving, the spirit beasts had hunkered down behind Blood Lion Mountain's formidable defenses.

The beasts that had been roaming the neighbouring mountains were also pulling back toward the blood lion mountain. Their primary objective was already complete. Now, all that remained to be seen was whether the Raging Blood Lion clan could hold onto Blood Lion Mountain when the next great conflict inevitably erupted…