Front Line of the Beast Tide, Part 8

Another newcomer assigned to Rainbow’s team took “Swordsaint” as his alias.

He was somewhat surprised to find that no one else shared his name; he was the one and only Swordsaint here.

“It’s just an alias anyway, so you might as well pick whatever sounds coolest,” he mumbled. “What do you call yourself?”

Since they were both newcomers, he instinctively grouped Su Qing into the same camp.

“Twenty-Six.”

“Twenty-Six, that’s so boring, isn’t it?”

Su Qing glanced at him and said nothing. She knew that the grander the alias and the louder the slogan, the easier it was to be humiliated.

Even Rainbow, a powerful figure here, hadn’t chosen such a name.

Although this newcomer’s cultivation was higher than hers, already at late Foundation Establishment, he probably couldn’t bear the title of Swordsaint.

The Swordsaint seemed to want to say more to Su Qing, but she had already turned her face away.

She followed Rainbow and the others, nimbly climbing out of the cave entrance above.

Outside was the interior of a dead tree, just like the entrance to the underground world she had stumbled into earlier.

Rainbow made a gesture, signaling everyone to follow silently.

This place was no different from the Myriad Beast Forest; trees were still gnarled, branches were dense, and there was no end in sight.

The only difference was that, compared to the good weather outside, this place was perpetually shrouded in purplish-black demonic energy, obscuring day and night.

The air was filled with dense mist, and visibility was extremely low.

As soon as Su Qing stepped out, she felt her body temperature instantly drop by several degrees, and even the flame in her chest trembled. However, compared to last night, the demonic energy was consumed much slower.

“Today we’re going to the third outpost.”

The twenty-person squad moved in an orderly fashion.

Su Qing, with lower cultivation, walked in the middle-rear of the team, a relatively safe position.

Rainbow walked at the very front; the light emanating from her was much brighter than Su Qing’s, indicating she was likely at Golden Core or even Nascent Soul cultivation.

The combined light of twenty people consumed vitality much slower than one person alone, but even so, Su Qing still felt her hands and feet slowly growing cold.

She lowered her head; the flame in her chest seemed to shrink considerably in the viscous mist.

But more than this, she was worried about the so-called Soul Beasts.

Previously, in the outer subsidiary city, the first squad also encountered Soul Beasts, but at that time, they had Thunder God Talismans, Tang Yueling’s fourth-tier earth fire, and a large amount of fine wine to fuel the flames.

Only then could they forcibly burn through the beast souls with intense heat and high temperatures, eradicating the Soul Beasts.

But now, besides the pitiful heart-fire in their chests, they had nothing. With this tiny, pitiful flame, how were they supposed to confront Soul Beasts?

She was here to be bait, not to be willing prey.

The light of twenty people was still insufficient in the black mist, but compared to the flickering light of a single person, they were more like a hazy lamp moving through the darkness.

The surrounding forest was very quiet, terrifyingly quiet.

The team’s marching speed didn’t slow down.

Su Qing noticed that the terrain beneath her feet was becoming more rugged, and about three-tenths of the trees here had not been completely infiltrated by demonic energy and still maintained their original green color, unlike the outside.

Rainbow stopped here. “We’re here.”

Su Qing looked around, not yet seeing anything different. The team members had already skillfully dispersed, some digging earth, others finding cover, each busily preparing.

Only Su Qing and the Swordsaint, as the two newcomers who arrived yesterday, were a bit at a loss.

Su Qing watched for a while, then started working like them.

She already understood what everyone was doing: they were making traps, first hollowing out the ground to create enough space, then covering it with firewood branches, and finally laying a layer of turf, perfectly camouflaging the opening.

The Swordsaint kept frowning, “What are we doing?”

His imagined method of capturing Soul Beasts should be more graceful and swift, like a game of chess, a battle of life and death, not such a primitive approach.

Rainbow explained, “This path isn’t the main one; usually, only stray Soul Beasts appear here. With our current numbers, we can’t deal with swarms of Soul Beasts; we can only target single ones.”

“When the time comes, you two just attract the Soul Beast’s attention from above the trap. I’ll handle the rest. You’re newcomers; the death rate is too high if you jump straight into combat.”

The Swordsaint questioned, “Making us bait, isn’t that very dangerous? Don’t you have any life-saving artifacts for us? If we’re bitten, how are we supposed to escape? We have nothing now; how can we ensure our safety?”

Rainbow said almost coldly, “Don’t overthink it; just do as you’re told.”

The Swordsaint irritably said, “This involves my life; how can I not overthink it?”

Su Qing understood the Swordsaint’s concern, but this was clearly not the time to be rational or discuss pros and cons.

Surviving was the top priority.

And to survive, one had to rely on the camp. When you needed help from others, what logic could there be?

Indeed, Rainbow didn’t waste any more words, only briefly saying, “Do as told, or leave.”

The Swordsaint looked into the depths of the dark forest, especially at the demonic energy that was almost solidified, and suddenly fell silent.

However, there was still some resentment in his heart, and he whispered to Su Qing, “I see there are still many people left in the camp. Why do we have to risk our lives outside?”

Su Qing didn’t bother to respond, “Mind your own business.”

Indeed, a third of the people remained in the camp, but the operation of this world was very simple and clear: in the face of overwhelming demonic energy, every moment of vitality meant a moment of consumption.

Even so, leaving a third of the people to wait underground to be consumed meant they surely had another important task.

They were all cultivators, not fools.

Su Qing didn’t believe the Swordsaint couldn’t see this. Since he understood, yet feigned ignorance with her and even fanned the flames, he must have ulterior motives.

But then again, he had named himself Swordsaint; perhaps he was just a simple idiot.

Soon, everything was ready.

Rainbow led Su Qing and the Swordsaint to a large, lush tree.

This tree had been largely infiltrated by demonic energy, but a small part of it still retained its normal appearance.

She broke off a fresh green branch, revealing the fresh, juicy cross-section of the branch.

“Bring out your heart-fire.”

Su Qing tried to sense it, and the flame in her chest surged upwards.

A small, bright spark of fire instantly lit up on her fingertip. She glanced at Rainbow, whose posture was very calm and composed.

Su Qing pressed this heart-fire onto the branch.

In an instant, the white flame drilled into the tree body, burning fiercely along the branches. A silent forest fire erupted on the tree. The scorching heart-fire collided with the tree’s vitality, burning into a larger flame.

The flames coiled around the branches, like flickering lightning.

Soon, the purplish-black mist was forcibly expelled, scattering into a cloud of smoke in the air.

Fresh, tender green branches and leaves continuously grew, and in the blink of an eye, the tree, as if reborn, suddenly radiated a vibrant light of life.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow in surprise, “Untainted heart-fire is indeed effective.”

She then had the Swordsaint do the same.

His lit tree, however, was much slower than Su Qing’s, even though his cultivation was above Su Qing’s. Rainbow was a little surprised, but not overly so.

After all, while vitality was closely related to cultivation, it wasn’t entirely dependent on it. Perhaps this female cultivator had a uniquely blessed destiny; it wasn’t impossible.

After the two trees were lit, a very faint but ominous sound soon came from not far away.

At this point, all the team members were already hidden, leaving only Su Qing and the Swordsaint standing in front of the trap.

Their task was to lure the Soul Beast into the trap.

The Swordsaint tensed his body the moment he sensed danger. His feet unconsciously turned outwards, showing a desire to run.

But he also knew that running would certainly not lead to survival.

Even if it was just to survive a few more days in the camp, he had to meekly follow instructions.

He sighed in frustration but eventually steadied himself.

Su Qing held her breath, observing everything around her.

Almost the instant the opponent made a faint sound, she noticed something was wrong.

Her eyes quickly locked onto the front, pupils slightly constricted, and a chill quietly spread in her heart.

She saw something vaguely wriggling at the base of a huge ancient tree ahead, through a mess of vines and withered branches.

It was a beast’s tail, formed from segments of white bone and soul qi.

Her gaze quickly corrected itself, meeting the opponent’s dark, hollow eyes.

The Soul Beast was pouncing—

Its speed was too fast. Indeed, after all, a soul body has no physical mass.

This creature’s body was extremely twisted, a medley of various beasts like wolves, tigers, and hyenas, several times larger than common wild beasts.

Its bones were exposed, like a framework woven from countless white bone fragments, yet without flesh and blood.

Instead, it was a continuously swirling mass of dense black mist.

Its tail was composed of segments of white bone spines. With a sweep, it could break saplings as thick as a hand.

But the most terrifying thing was its eyes.

It clearly had no eyeballs, only two dark hollows, yet Su Qing knew it was watching her with greedy, drooling desire.

The black mist had already surged forward.

The Soul Beast’s gaping maw was right before her.

Although she wasn’t actually bitten, Su Qing still felt countless strands of vitality being sucked away from her by that grotesque beast mouth.

Her heart-fire suddenly dimmed for a moment, and the glow of her limbs rapidly faded.

The Swordsaint saw the bad situation and immediately took off running.

It was fine when he didn’t move, but the moment he moved, he became the first target.

The Soul Beast swept its tail, its bone spines whipping like a lash.

With just that one strike, the Swordsaint was instantly sent flying.

He fell to the ground not far away, his heart-fire flickering, like a candle about to be blown out.

Su Qing’s vitality was far stronger than his. With her as an obvious target, the Soul Beast couldn’t be bothered to consume him.

Su Qing was far calmer than she had imagined.

She had played this trick with Moon, the Nether Wolf, in the back mountain.

The opponent was a wolf that could transform into wind, similar in nature to a Soul Beast.

She knew how to deal with it.

If she had spiritual energy, she could utilize her speed and weapon advantages, but now that she had nothing, she could only make good use of space, or in short: roll around on the ground.

Before the Soul Beast’s sharp claws could tear open her body, Su Qing suddenly rolled, lowering her center of gravity, and forcibly evaded its grasp.

The Soul Beast was furious, chasing her to bite. At this point, Su Qing had lured the Soul Beast around the trap; she had completed her task.

No sooner said than done, the moment the Soul Beast stepped into the area, Rainbow leaped from the tree.

She held a fresh branch in her hand, and the flame in her chest blazed furiously, spreading from her left chest to her left arm, left hand, and all the way to the tree-sword in her hand.

She herself transformed into a humanoid flame, charging straight at the Soul Beast.

Seeing someone willingly walk into its trap, the Soul Beast, unwilling to be outdone, opened its maw and lunged at Rainbow.

Its abdomen bulged and wriggled, as if something inside was changing.

This was accumulating power—

“Not good!”

Su Qing just shouted a warning when she saw Rainbow showing no panic.

She, along with her sword, forcefully plunged into the Soul Beast’s mouth, passing through layers of white bone, enveloped in the dark soul mist.

A scorching airflow suddenly ignited, and the soul mist expanded several times its size. A painful roar erupted from the beast’s mouth.

But its belly remained completely dark; had Rainbow been swallowed?

It was known that without light, one would die.

Su Qing, imitating what she had seen, took a fresh branch from a tree, wrapped it in heart-fire, and thrust it towards the Soul Beast’s abdomen.

But then, one of the team members suddenly appeared from the side, shouting, “Get away! She can do it!”

Su Qing, after all, didn’t fully understand the situation. She gritted her teeth and still chose to retreat.

It was also at this moment that the Soul Beast, swollen to several times its original size, suddenly froze.

The black mist desperately compressed, trying to suppress something, but soon, a dazzling white light burst out, shattering the black mist into clouds of smoke.

The Soul Beast let out a desperate shriek, and snow-white beast bones scattered, flying in all directions like snowflakes.

Rainbow walked out, carrying a glistening beast core. Her figure was very unsteady, and her entire being was dim, but a spark of light still burned in her chest. Her condition was not good.

Seeing her state, a team member quickly stepped forward.

She transferred half of her heart-fire to Rainbow.

Fire burning with fire, it grew brighter and stronger. Rainbow recovered at an extremely fast rate, while conversely, the person who transferred the fire became half as dim.

Su Qing watched all this and suddenly understood what the remaining third of the people were for.

They were fuel, and also reserved sparks.

Rainbow carefully put away the beast core. “This Soul Beast wasn’t strong. I could handle it alone. Continue.”