Front Line of the Beast Tide, Part 9

This day, they replicated the process and killed six Soul Beasts.

By the time the last two Soul Beasts attacked, everyone was much dimmer than when they emerged from underground that morning.

Now, under the threat of the Soul Beasts, the situation was even more precarious.

One Soul Beast immediately rushed towards Rainbow, who had the highest brightness.

Rainbow raised her wooden sword and, with a loud shout, charged at it.

Meanwhile, the other Soul Beast lurked behind, glaring maliciously at the group.

Its abdomen suddenly shuddered and began to rapidly convulse.

Surging purplish-black demonic energy, like a turbulent flood, poured into its body.

This creature was gathering strength.

“Not good!”

Indeed, with a low roar, that eerie black mist spewed from its throat, moving so quickly it was almost impossible to react.

In an instant, the dense demonic energy, like a swarm of snakes, lunged menacingly at the frontmost member of the team.

That member had no time to react. Her body suddenly stiffened, seemingly controlled by the demonic energy, and she froze in place.

Rainbow saw the bad situation and rushed out from the struggle with the other Soul Beast, pushing her to the rear.

Other members quickly came to assist.

Even so, that member still took a solid half-hit, and her body was instantly permeated with dense demonic energy.

Purplish-black mist spread along her hands and feet, heading straight for her chest. Her limbs gradually stiffened and turned black.

Although her face was indistinct, she trembled with an expression of extreme terror.

Through today’s battle, Su Qing had largely understood the relationship between heart-fire and demonic energy.

Amidst the other person’s trembling gaze, she suddenly grabbed the now necrotic hand and placed it on her own chest.

Countless crimson-white heart-fire instantly attached itself to her limbs, continuously burning the demonic energy.

Soon, the demonic energy was temporarily forced back. At this point, the others also gathered, each sharing their already scarce heart-fire, forcibly pushing the scattered demonic energy to the limbs, saving her life.

However, the flame in her chest flickered extremely weakly, as if another gust of wind would extinguish it.

But everyone present had little vitality left to share with her, not to mention two menacing Soul Beasts still unsolved. If they didn’t kill the Soul Beasts first, everyone would die.

“We can’t cure her with our current strength; we can only stabilize her and immediately take her to the Healer.”

Others quickly said to Su Qing, “You stay here and take care of her. Be careful not to let the demonic energy spread to her chest. We’ll go support Rainbow now and deal with that Soul Beast!”

Su Qing nodded, “Understood.”

Perhaps it was because she had acted swiftly to help, perhaps because she was very reliable in her actions, or perhaps the situation was critical and there was no time to think too much.

Everyone confidently left the injured person to her, all showing resolute expressions, and charged forward.

The injured person’s name was Danyue. Her alias suggested she was a pill cultivator, but unfortunately, in this world, no matter what kind of cultivator one was, it was useless.

Everything depended on lifespan and vitality to resist demonic energy.

Due to everyone’s departure, without the suppression of heart-fire, many purplish-black patterns gradually reappeared within Danyue’s body, slowly spreading towards her chest.

After all, she was too seriously injured.

“Cold…” she murmured, “So cold.”

“Am I going to die?” Danyue no longer had the strength to even lift her hand, and gave a bewildered, bitter smile. “I still have two hundred thousand spirit stones in my storage bag… if you can send my body back to my sect, they’re all yours, okay?”

As expected of a pill cultivator, truly wealthy.

Su Qing placed her palm on Danyue’s rapidly dimming heart-fire, “If I had two hundred thousand spirit stones, I wouldn’t bear to die.”

No one around paid attention to her; it was a critical moment again.

Su Qing frantically circulated the jade-like object within her body, absorbing the demonic energy from Danyue’s body into her own.

The purplish-black demonic energy, upon entering her body, was like ice, chilling her blood until it almost froze, if she could have blood in her current form.

But soon, this icy demonic energy transformed into scorching heat under the conversion of the jade-like object.

A drop of silvery-white liquid entered her chest, as if the demonic energy had been forcibly purified and compressed.

The heart-fire, upon contact with the white liquid, immediately burned fiercely, and even the flame grew a small circle larger.

The originally dim Su Qing instantly brightened by one degree.

She decisively transferred the excess heart-fire back to Danyue. This demonic energy had circulated once within her body, successfully completing self-production and self-consumption.

This method was viable.

There were still many injured individuals lying on the ground.

Su Qing tested it on them one by one, forcibly pulling them back from the brink of death.

Although the converted heart-fire was quickly transferred out again, Su Qing wasn’t entirely without gains.

The flame in her chest seemed to have become a bit more resilient. Although it was still a small cluster and not very bright, it wasn’t as easily extinguished.

However, the amount of demonic energy she could convert at one time was very limited.

Currently, it was on par with her heart-fire storage. If it exceeded that, the jade-like object in her body would stop functioning.

Su Qing was not disappointed.

Instead, she felt a slight relief: at least she had an additional means to survive.

And she was a body cultivator.

Years of body tempering had taught her a truth.

Human potential was limitless.

Mere demonic energy could also be used for body refinement.

If her current form could be considered having a body.

Seeing that the injured’s condition had greatly improved, Su Qing then had the leisure to observe the battle.

At this point, one Soul Beast had already been killed by Rainbow, but in return, she had lost half of her body.

She flickered intermittently like a malfunctioning light bulb; her situation was very bad.

But Rainbow was not flustered. She calmly gestured to everyone, directing the next encirclement.

At this time, still no beast cores were being replenished. Su Qing frowned, guessing: ‘The beast cores most likely cannot be absorbed directly; they need to be burned and purified again by a vigorous heart-fire, just like the jade-like object in her body.’

At this point, the other Soul Beast had been enraged.

It originally had no material brain, and in its fury, it became even more insane.

The team members almost effortlessly lured it onto the trap.

The thin turf and branches on the trap were deliberately collapsed, revealing the empty space below.

Rainbow, having absorbed the light transferred by everyone, once again brandished her light-sword and charged.

She forcefully used the light’s momentum to push the Soul Beast downwards, making it fall into the trap.

The trap was immediately filled with dense black mist, and the Soul Beast’s roars reverberated in their ears.

But the team members did not hesitate.

Instead, they roared, and like white birds spreading their wings, they successively jumped into the trap.

Su Qing’s expression stiffened. She understood what they were doing.

But understanding was one thing.

When she saw the light below blaze brightly, forcefully overpowering the swirling mist, even overflowing from the cave entrance and dispersing the clusters of demonic energy in the grass, she was still shocked.

The greatest characteristic of light is its ability to instantly fill space.

The smaller the space controlled, the better the effect.

The team members actually sacrificed themselves, using the light from their own bodies to forcefully eradicate the darkness of the Soul Beast in the confined underground trap.

How harsh must this environment be, to force people to use themselves as weapons, choosing to gamble their lives, fighting with life for life?

She was filled with awe.

Soon, the cave entrance quieted down, and there was no sound from below.

Gradually, a figure climbed out. She was already very dim, but fortunately, the heart-fire was still burning.

After emerging, she lay by the cave entrance, pulling out her dying companions one by one.

The last one to emerge was Rainbow. She held a glistening beast core.

Although her aura was weak, she was in good spirits.

Today’s harvest was good; they could last a few more days.

While Rainbow was counting the injured, she was surprised to find that the injuries this time were not serious.

There was no need for those who could still move to squeeze out and share more vitality.

Her already good mood improved further.

“Team up, return to camp.”

At this point, it was already approaching evening, and the sky had visibly darkened.

However, because the teams were all battered after a day of fighting, with little vitality left, hanging on by a thread, they weren’t targeted by Soul Beasts on their way back.

But the increasingly dense demonic energy further weakened the team’s vitality.

Everyone just huddled together, feeling each other’s faint but strong sources of light, trudging towards the camp.

Soon, they entered a tunnel entrance, returning to the lightless but remarkably reassuring underground world.

After this day, Su Qing had been acknowledged by this team.

Conversely, the Swordsaint was dejected. He would probably change his name when he returned.

“Twenty-Six, you did very well,” Rainbow said. “You have talent. In moments of crisis, talent is needed even more. I want you to stay in our team.”

Su Qing softly said, “Can I stay in the team even if I’m not a genius?”

Rainbow nodded, “Of course.”

She said, “Actually, training here is greatly beneficial for the spirit. I can tell you’re a body cultivator, right? Body refinement emphasizes internal and external cultivation. Internal cultivation mostly refers to the refinement of internal organs, bones, and so on. External cultivation, on the other hand, is about tempering the limits of the physical body, challenging its extreme boundaries, and enhancing strength, speed, endurance, etc. But do you know, there’s another saying about internal and external cultivation?”

“That is, internal cultivation refines the spirit, and external cultivation refines the physical body.”

Rainbow said solemnly, “Tangible things are easy to refine, but things like the spirit, which are unseen and intangible, and which even cultivators at ordinary realms may not be able to perceive, are very difficult to refine. Correspondingly, if the spirit is refined well, there are many benefits. Techniques like soul-splitting, soul-separation, puppetry, etc., can be cultivated at will, and there’s even a greater chance of becoming a soul cultivator or ghost cultivator after the physical body dies, or lying low and seeking another opportunity.”

She paused there for a moment.

Su Qing understood her meaning. She continued, “Provided one can leave here alive, right?”

Rainbow smiled, “You are very smart.”

Su Qing modestly said, “Not bad.”

“I knew you were smart from the start.” Rainbow ignored her modesty, her gaze emotionlessly sweeping over the Swordsaint’s cowering figure. She said calmly, “Actually, the first thing all newcomers do when they find this place is to seek out their own sect, or a familiar sect, to group together. But only you asked nothing and did nothing.”

Su Qing was surprised, “Perhaps it’s because I’m a rogue cultivator, or my background is not worth mentioning?”

Rainbow confirmed, “You are not. It’s because you’re smart. You understand that the more dangerous and cruel a place is, the less it tolerates forming cliques. At least in this world, we cannot ask about origins or resumes. We must all unite as one rope, my life for your life, your life for mine, only then is it possible to survive.”

Su Qing agreed with Rainbow’s point of view. In fact, among the two thousand-plus Sword School members who came to the beast tide front lines, she couldn’t be the only unlucky one.

It was estimated that quite a few people were forced to enter.

However, she didn’t reveal her identity immediately, largely because she was afraid of disrupting the existing balance.

Of course, she was more concerned that as an outsider, her outcome wouldn’t be good.

She thought, ‘No wonder they weren’t allowed to use their real names here. On one hand, there might indeed be some taboo, and on the other hand, it also prevented any possibility of forming cliques.’

But then again, it was only here, under these circumstances, that the concept of ‘no distinction between us and them, no questions about background’ could truly be realized.

Because every life was important; one more person alive meant one more possibility for others to live.

After a long while, they returned to the camp. By this time, nearly half the people had returned.

Everyone was much dimmer than when they left in the morning, looking exhausted and ethereal. Fortunately, they were still alive, and as long as they were alive, there was hope.

The remaining third of the people gathered to transfer fire to the team members.

They had cultivated peacefully here during the day, illuminated by the rootless fire, and had accumulated some residual fire.

This residual fire was the best nourishment for treating the injured.

As for those with very serious injuries, especially those with demonic energy having entered their bodies and whose lives were hanging by a thread, they were treated by the Healer and her assistants.

She took out the rootless fire, carefully drawing out several fire threads to connect to the injured individuals’ chests.

Using her fingertips, she pinched the heads of the fire threads, picking out and burning away the demonic energy bit by bit.

Su Qing wasn’t seriously injured. She quietly watched the Healer’s figure, trying to find some familiar shadows on her.

But even she had to admit that too much time had passed, and perhaps everyone had changed.

With all elements like appearance, age, voice, and external identity blurred, what could she use to recognize her?

After Danyue recovered from her injuries, she also sat beside her and thanked her, “I was disoriented during the day. Thank you for sharing your fire and saving me in time. Otherwise, I might not have kept this life.”

Su Qing thought of Rainbow’s teaching, “It’s what I should do. Your survival is good for me too.”

Danyue acknowledged this statement, her expression relaxing somewhat. “But I should still thank you properly. When we get out, I’ll treat you to drinks.”

‘She can’t drink that. She gets drunk with half a cup.’ Su Qing changed the subject, “Do you know how that rootless fire came to be? Does everyone contribute a bit of fire and nurture it day and night, making it so vibrant?”

The greatest characteristic of this fire was its ability to leave a person’s chest and burn independently.

This made it very interesting.

Danyue indeed knew, and because of this, her expression became somewhat complex.