Front Line of the Beast Tide, Part 11

This was easier said than done, but it was almost impossible because the demonic cultivators’ strength was far superior to theirs.

Su Qing broke off a branch of leaves, and silvery-white heart-fire surged from her chest, rapidly enveloping the branch, forming a light-sword interwoven with wood and fire.

When it came to fighting for one’s life, there was no time to consider holding back. That was a concern for after survival.

Surviving in this godforsaken world was already hard enough; just living brought constant fear for one’s life, not to mention the occasional harassment by Soul Beasts.

Now, even demonic cultivators had appeared.

Su Qing gritted her teeth in bitter hatred. ‘To live, why are there so many obstacles?’

The battle was imminent. The moment they encountered the demonic cultivators, everyone knew there was no option to escape.

They were far from the camp.

If they retreated without fighting from the start, they would probably be eroded by demonic energy during their escape, their strength greatly diminished.

Meanwhile, the demonic cultivators would be nourished by the demonic energy.

This would turn an already unfavorable battle even more in favor of the demonic cultivators.

Therefore, there was only battle, no retreat.

Upon realizing this, Su Qing’s expression involuntarily grew serious.

The two sides immediately engaged in battle.

The demonic cultivators skillfully utilized the terrain.

Under their manipulation, black mist spewed out in dense clouds, like coiling venomous snakes, biting at the luminous parts of people’s bodies, leaving a deep, dark hole that was difficult to remove.

And they specifically targeted people’s weak points, striking with extreme ruthlessness.

Rainbow, the strongest in the team, was the first to engage the leading demonic cultivator.

The others also swarmed forward.

Their strength was already no match for the demonic cultivators; if they didn’t rely on numbers, there was a possibility of total annihilation.

Su Qing, this time, still chose her old rival, Blood Thorns. Danyue and another female cultivator in the team named Quanjue dealt with her together.

She didn’t have Man Qing’s heavy sword, nor a powerful physical body to command, and her voice and face were completely erased.

Blood Thorns only saw her as a never-before-seen stranger and didn’t recognize her at all.

But Su Qing had already fought her once and had a rough understanding of her usual methods.

This person was cunning and malicious, meticulous in thought, and loved to put on one act while doing another, always making double preparations, a troublesome enemy to be wary of.

Blood Thorns’ natal magic treasure was the Binding Immortal Rope.

Seeing that her usual artifact was gone, she simply condensed black mist into a long whip.

Her knuckles had been tainted a dark purplish-black by demonic energy. When she held the long whip, the two seemed to merge into one, indistinguishable.

Indeed, the demonic energy in her hand was as supple as an arm, as flexible as a living creature, as fast as lightning, and like a swimming snake.

In the blink of an eye, it tore through the air, striking towards Su Qing’s face.

By the time the whip shadow appeared before her eyes, it split into three again, sweeping directly towards her eyes, neck, and chest.

Blood Thorns’ first move was a killing blow.

If these three whips landed anywhere, not to mention instantly killing Su Qing, they would at least claim half her life.

Fortunately, Su Qing was well prepared.

Her feet never stopped moving.

She used the Illusory Step technique taught to her by Old Lady Liu.

In an instant, her luminous figure flickered between solid and illusory, moving with extreme lightness and agility.

The moment the three whips attacked, she immediately adjusted her posture and, using this footwork, flashed out of the attack range.

Since she didn’t have a physical body, getting injured couldn’t be used for body tempering, which was a bit disadvantageous

It was better to be cautious.

All martial arts emphasize speed.

As long as she dodged fast enough, no matter how strong the attack, it couldn’t harm her.

But it must be said, outside, she would pin Blood Thorns to the ground and beat her, yet here, the opponent was several realms stronger than her, which was quite frustrating.

Just as Su Qing flashed out, Danyue was also ready.

She took out a bow, drawing it full like the moon, and the tip of the wooden arrow nocked on the bowstring condensed a cluster of scorching heart-fire.

She closed one eye tightly, aimed at Blood Thorns’ joints, gritted her teeth, pulled her fingers back forcefully, and five light arrows shot out simultaneously, piercing the air like meteors.

In an instant, they penetrated the dense black mist, leaving five white trails.

“Swish, swish, swish.”

Quanjiu silently chanted a mental art. With her blessing, the flames actually grew a few times larger.

The light arrows were extremely fast, aimed directly at Blood Thorns’ knees, elbows, wrists, and ankles—her most vulnerable joints. Logically, at least one of the five arrows should hit.

Blood Thorns sneered, her black figure grew a few sizes, and demonic energy gathered around her like a whirlwind, forming a storm-like vortex, like a thick cloak or an indestructible armor.

The five light arrows plunged into the dense black mist around her, quickly fizzling out. The wooden branches fell, corroded into puddles of acid.

But the heart-fire consumed by Danyue and Quanjue was real; both of them dimmed a bit, their faces looking very bad.

Too difficult to deal with. Danyue cursed, “Damn demonic cultivator!”

At this moment, Su Qing had finished observing the terrain. Her eyes flickered, and she made a decision.

With Danyue and Quanjue’s cover, Su Qing lightly tapped her foot and charged forward again.

It was already a tough fight; if she didn’t strike while her opponent was vulnerable, there would be no chance of victory.

The light arrows had somewhat pierced through the black mist’s defense.

Su Qing followed their trajectory and stabbed in with her sword.

Blood Thorns hadn’t expected her to be foolish enough to walk into a trap, but the enemy was weak and she was strong, so she wouldn’t refuse such a delicious meal delivered right to her.

The black mist was burned open by the heart-fire, but it did not reveal the true form of the demonic cultivator.

Instead, countless long whips surged out, coiling around Su Qing’s neck, hands, feet, and waist, forcibly pulling her into the mist.

Her luminous figure was instantly entangled with black threads.

Blood Thorns, like a venomous spider catching prey, forcibly pulled her back into its nest with a net, to slowly digest her.

Danyue’s face changed dramatically.

She raised her hand, swiftly extracting half of her heart-fire from her chest, condensing it into a dazzling fire bead.

After the fire bead left her body, her figure also rapidly dimmed.

But at this moment, she couldn’t care less. Danyue violently waved her hand, and the fire bead shot out, heading straight for Blood Thorns’ chest. She shouted, “Don’t dodge!”

She said this to Su Qing. In fact, this fire bead would not kill the demonic cultivator; it was actually meant to support Su Qing, allowing her to hold on for a little longer.

And Su Qing was already ablaze with flames all over her body, forcefully breaking through the black mist, reaching Blood Thorns’ true form.

The evil cultivator’s body was already nearly one-third forcibly distorted, scattered within the mist, almost unrecognizable as human.

Su Qing also had no time to be disgusted. She struck to restrain her neck and shoulder, forcibly suppressing her backward.

Demonic energy invading her body was truly unpleasant, but she was accustomed to pain and adept at enduring it.

The jade-like object hummed within her body, transforming wisps of demonic energy into streams of flame.

Blood Thorns finally recognized her in this series of familiar moves.

Her pupils constricted. She shrieked, “It’s you?! You’ve fallen here too?”

This person was the body cultivator who, that day in the Yan family army camp, shamefully pinned her to the ground and injured her.

If this body cultivator hadn’t injured her, she wouldn’t have been at a disadvantage while pursuing that naturally born demonic bone in the Myriad Beast Forest, leading to her being dragged into this hellhole!

If she had gotten the demonic bone back then, how could she have fallen into such a passive state now?

Blood Thorns’ thoughts surged, and the more she thought, the more she hated.

She even chuckled softly in anger, “Good, good, good! This is excellent! Heaven helps me! Outside, I couldn’t defeat you, but here—do you think you still have a body of steel and iron?”

She fiercely urged the surrounding demonic energy.

The heart-fire in her chest dimmed further, showing signs of turning black and purple.

With her as the center, the black mist violently surged, demonic energy rushing forth.

Darkness covered the sky, devouring all light sources. The air was filled with a pungent smell of decay, like the stench of death.

Su Qing was momentarily controlled by her, unable to move an inch.

But at this moment, a crimson fire bead passed through layers of black mist and directly struck into her body.

Her chest burned, and her entire being ignited, light blazing brightly.

Her cold, stiff limbs regained strength. Su Qing released ninety percent of her heart-fire.

The arm shackling Blood Thorns’ shoulder and neck did not loosen in the slightest.

She once again employed the Illusory Step.

Her figure instantly vanished from the spot, pushing Blood Thorns’ dark form and swiftly darting over ten steps, forcibly throwing her into a hollow giant tree.

Immediately after, she herself plunged in.

This was an experience she gained while learning to hunt. If the light was too small, then compress the space as well.

Danyue and Quanjue were stunned on the spot, never expecting Su Qing to make such a crazy, reckless move.

When they came to their senses, they found their bodies instinctively rushing towards the giant tree.

They vaguely saw through the cracks the dense black mist inside, almost solidified, with no trace of light.

‘She’s dead?’

Danyue trembled.

She herself wasn’t afraid of death, but she couldn’t bear to see a companion die, especially so suddenly, without any warning.

She uncontrollably allowed her heart-fire to overflow, attempting to push back the black mist and find the familiar figure.

Quanjue stopped her futile actions.

Three of the six demonic cultivators had died in the blink of an eye, but two others still watched them menacingly, and their side had already lost half its personnel.

“The dead cannot be revived.” Her voice was hoarse. “But we must live.”

Su Qing, who had been deemed dead, was actually still alive. It was just too cold, like falling into an icy river, with a solid sheet of ice above, offering no possibility of escape.

Her spirit was subjected to repeated trials in this endless cold.

The demonic energy on Blood Thorns’ body gently and viscidly enveloped her; it was trying to feed.

Su Qing, meanwhile, silently absorbed and digested the demonic energy entering her body.

She was also trying to feed.

How to put it? They were basically in a state of mutually consuming each other. Now it just depended on whose appetite was better.

Su Qing chose Blood Thorns as her opponent for a reason.

The other party should have entered the Myriad Beast Forest around the same time as her, and their cultivation levels were similar.

The situation was dangerous, with the possibility of death at any moment.

Su Qing couldn’t afford to slowly digest the demonic energy; she wanted to use the extreme body tempering method favored by body cultivators to try and expand her limits.

It was just too cold, truly too cold.

So cold that it made her think of Tian Ning.

She wondered if an ice spiritual root user would also react to the cold. She hoped not, otherwise it would be too excruciating.

It wasn’t unbearable, after all, she had tempered her body with earth fire for five years, constantly enduring burns and scabs, without ever crying out in pain.

But this cold directly affected the spirit, making it even harder to endure than physical pain.

Her thoughts became bizarre and fantastical, suddenly shifting to a world of ice and snow, where a half-grown child, wrapped in a rabbit fur scarf and wearing a beast hide hat, was frozen purple, tirelessly searching for something in a snowdrift.

She told her to wait, but she just walked away by herself.

Su Qing’s thoughts gradually ceased.

This seemed somewhat dangerous, but it could also be considered finding peace.

However, at this moment, a wisp of heart-fire from the outside entered her body.

This wisp of flame, though originally vigorous, had become as faint as a thread after passing through layers of demonic energy to reach here.

It was this thread that awakened Su Qing, like a needle prick, making her suddenly feel heat, and thus feel cold.

So cold, so cold. Such a cold and wretched hell was not where she wanted to stay.

Someone was waiting for her, many people.

Her body grew hot, as if her blood was boiling.

Thus, the distraught Danyue discovered that this dark, gloomy tree actually began to burn fiercely from the inside out.

Halos of light spread out in circles, replenishing the flames in Rainbow and the others’ chests, and even the pressing demonic cultivators showed expressions of pain.

Rainbow was shocked for a moment.

She wiped her face, and hope ignited in her heart. This was the first time she had felt such tangible hope since coming here.