Immortal Path Space

Chapter 357: Mountain Cave

As Wang Hong rode on the back of Little Peng, they entered the airspace filled with a horde of Demonic Beasts. The sky was swarmed by countless malevolent birds, all attacking relentlessly.

Little Peng spread its massive wings, resembling two enormous blades, and cut through the flock of malevolent birds, creating bloody paths as their bodies rained down.

Wang Hong, sitting comfortably on Little Peng's back, didn't intervene at the moment. Instead, he took out several bottles, each carefully sealed.

In a previous battle with the Demonic Beasts, he had used a bottle of Red Powder Skull Flower pollen, and its effects had been remarkable. However, he had limited quantities of this pollen, which was why he hadn't used it until now. This time, he had brought out his entire stock.

While Little Peng rampaged through the flock of malevolent birds, Wang Hong sat steady, slowly sprinkling the pollen from the bottles into the midst of the beast horde.

Meanwhile, in the distance, the Beast Tide was approaching, and the outlines of the front row of Demonic Beasts were becoming visible. The thunderous roar of countless Demonic Beasts running sent shivers down the spines of those witnessing it.

"Retreat! Fall back!" Wang Hong shouted to the people at the stronghold as he rode Little Peng back to the city wall.

Finally hearing Wang Hong's order to retreat, the cultivators within the stronghold felt as if they had been granted a reprieve. They abandoned their opponents and turned to escape.

Seeing this scene, Wang Hong couldn't help but sigh inwardly; all their days of training had seemingly gone to waste. However, he was fortunate that the elite cultivator teams he personally led were still maintaining some semblance of formation.

The dosage of poison he had administered this time was substantial, causing the tens of thousands of Demonic Beasts beneath the city wall to stand frozen in a bizarre manner. Only a small portion of them, the ones currently attacking the city, remained active.

Fu Li didn't attempt to escape on his own. He believed his chances of survival would be greater if he stuck with Wang Hong.

As they left, he looked back at the forest-like horde of Demonic Beasts standing there, and a chill ran down his spine. The tens of thousands of Demonic Beasts that had pushed them to use all their abilities had been subdued in an instant.

Wang Hong led the group in breaking out of the stronghold and retreating towards the direction of the second defense line. By now, there were still roughly over a thousand cultivators following him.

Of the over two thousand Qi Cultivation Stage elites he had organized earlier, only eight or nine hundred remained here, while some other cultivators had chosen to follow Wang Hong.

"Quick! Lower the Flying Boat!" Luo Zhongjie shouted from within the Flying Boat.

Originally, they had arranged for numerous Foundation Building cultivators to pilot the Flying Boat, intending to provide aerial support. However, they saw that countless malevolent birds from behind were being lured toward their direction by the Flying Boat. They quickly lowered the Flying Boat.

They had no choice but to retract the two Flying Boats. Flying in the sky at this moment would make them a prime target for flying Demonic Beasts. Running on the ground still provided some cover, and with so many targets on the ground, not all of them would be focused on the group.

The groups that managed to maintain their original formations were swiftly moving in a battle formation, while those without organization resorted to activating their own defensive measures.

As the pursuing malevolent birds flew above them, most continued forward, while only a few chose to attack, swooping down from above.

These descending malevolent birds were scattered by the brilliant light emitted from the numerous Magical Weapons released by the crowd. Their pitiful cries upon dying attracted even more malevolent birds to join the fray.

They continued their advance, attacking as they went along. Along the way, individuals occasionally fell, but those who did were mostly isolated cultivators.

It seemed like these malevolent birds knew that isolated cultivators were easier prey, as most of their attacks were aimed at them.

For organized groups of cultivators, some were responsible for defense while others focused on cutting down the approaching Demonic Beasts.

However, the isolated cultivators, now running for their lives, had no energy left to fight the malevolent birds. Their efforts to fight off the birds only drew the attention of more malevolent birds, resulting in an increasing number of them in the sky.

In this short time, over three hundred individuals had fallen. When the isolated cultivators were mostly gone, the malevolent birds shifted their focus to the more challenging targets—the organized groups.

Most of these groups were composed of Qi Cultivation Stage elites that Wang Hong had assembled, but under the relentless onslaught of the malevolent birds, they were gradually faltering.

Each person had replenished their Spiritual Energy several times, but it still couldn't keep up with the intense consumption.

Finally, a defensive shield jointly raised by a group was shattered by the malevolent birds, and they were swarmed by countless malevolent birds.

Yang Tiezhu arrived with a group to rescue them, but out of the original forty-plus individuals in the group, only a dozen or so remained.

"Qi Cultivation teams, focus on defense and advance!" Luo Zhongjie shouted.

Upon hearing this, the Qi Cultivation teams stopped killing the malevolent birds and activated their defensive Magical Weapons, forming layered defenses resembling turtle shells.

So far, out of the original over a thousand, there were now only slightly over eight hundred left, but the casualties were mainly among Qi Cultivation stage cultivators.

Just then, hundreds of cultivators rushed toward them from the front. As they got closer, it became clear that these were Wang Hong's subordinates who had been stationed at other strongholds. Unexpectedly, they had crossed paths here.

"About ten miles to the left, there's a large Mountain cave. We can hide inside," one of the approaching cultivators said to Wang Hong.

"Good! Let's temporarily take shelter in the Mountain cave. Lead the way!" Wang Hong replied.

By now, most of them were at their limits, and if they persisted for much longer, the casualties would undoubtedly increase significantly.

The few hundred who had come to assist immediately turned back and led the way through the malevolent bird attacks, with the others following closely.

At this point, everyone had their defenses fully activated and dared not engage with the malevolent birds in any way. If they fell behind, it would almost certainly be a death sentence.

After pushing forward with all their might for over ten miles, they saw a conspicuous Mountain cave entrance on the side of a half-peak. The area around the peak had sparse vegetation, mostly bare rocks, making the dark cave entrance stand out.

At this moment, everyone ignored everything else and rushed towards the Mountain cave entrance.

"How is it inside the Mountain cave? Have you explored it before?" Wang Hong asked one of his subordinates.

"Don't worry, East Master. We retreated here earlier, and we came here to rest and wait for you when we heard the sound of battle from your direction," the subordinate explained while using a massive wooden shield to fend off the approaching malevolent birds.

The Mountain cave entrance was quite spacious, over a dozen feet wide, allowing several people to enter side by side. Everyone quickly rushed into the cave.

Once everyone was inside, Wang Hong tossed dozens of array plates at the entrance. When activated, a large stone appeared, completely sealing the cave entrance.

[Read at /shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]