The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 3251 The Unexpected Collapse

The night was as dark as ink, and time slowly passed amidst the boundless darkness and the crackling of the flames; every minute and every second felt like torture.

The warriors in the camp all looked exhausted, their eyes bloodshot. A night of high vigilance had left them physically and mentally drained. Yet the howling of the shadowy figures in the surrounding darkness never ceased; instead, it grew more intense and impatient, as if containing endless anger and resentment, staring intently at all the warriors, ready to pounce.

It's almost dawn.

Although the shadowy figures launched frequent sneak attacks that night, causing considerable panic, they managed to kill fewer than ten martial artists.

For the numerous shadowy figures, such results were far from enough. They seemed to have some kind of obsession, wanting to wipe out all the mobile warriors in front of them before dawn.

The wall of flames burned fiercely, the fire raging on the ground. Layer upon layer of wood burned, flames leaping several meters high, dispelling the surrounding darkness for several meters, forming an indestructible wall of fire that prevented the shadows from getting close. They could only roar and dart around in the darkness, but could not find a way to break through, and were as anxious as ants on a hot pan.

Chen Mo stood beside the flames, his gaze piercing through the darkness, calmly watching the movements of the dark figure in the distance.

At this moment, the number of shadowy figures had increased to nearly a hundred, densely packed in the darkness, moving back and forth like ghosts. Their eyes, glowing with an eerie green light, were fixed on the warriors in the camp, filled with a bloodthirsty desire.

However, as the number of shadowy figures increased to nearly a hundred, the number of shadowy figures converging on this side from other places gradually decreased, and there were only about a hundred shadowy figures in this space.

Even if there are only a hundred or so, they would be enough to kill all the martial artists.

Everyone knows that each of these merged shadowy figures is roughly at the first level of the Innate Realm. Nearly a hundred shadowy figures at the first level of the Innate Realm charging at the same time would be enough to destroy the entire camp instantly, and no martial artist could withstand them.

Even Qian Ying and Zhou Zixing couldn't withstand the sneak attack of more than a hundred shadowy figures.

Of course, it's still possible for Qian Ying and Zhou Zixing to escape.

If it weren't for the raging flames acting as a barrier, completely blocking the shadowy figure from the outside, the warriors in the camp would probably have already become victims of its claws.

Previously, the shadowy figure could use the explosive force of his injured companion to break through the wall of flames. However, now, because the flames are too large, it is no longer possible to use the explosive force of his injured companion to break through the wall of flames and then rush into the gap to ambush the martial artist.

So the shadowy figures could only howl anxiously in the darkness, frantically darting back and forth, but they could not find any way to break through the wall of flames. They could only watch their prey in front of them helplessly, unable to make a move. That sense of powerlessness added a touch of despair to their howls.

Therefore, this strange balance gave the martial artists in the camp area hope of surviving until dawn.

Meanwhile, Qian Ying and Zhou Zixing were still busy near the buildings close to the main hall. While dealing with the sneak attacks from the shadowy figures, they were also attacking the barriers on the buildings to obtain more wood to keep the fire burning in the camp.

The aura of innate masters permeated the air. With each swing of their innate short swords, the two could easily slash through the shadowy figures and drive them away. However, dismantling the barrier on the building was still extremely difficult.

Every component of these buildings is protected by a barrier, and destroying the barrier requires a great deal of energy and time.

Just then, Qian Ying found a pillar in front of the corridor and stabbed the barrier on the pillar with her innate short sword.

With a crisp "crack," the defensive barrier on the pillar was broken. But just as he was about to further damage the pillar and obtain the wood, a dark shadow suddenly darted out from the darkness, bringing with it a biting cold wind, and lunged straight at Qian Ying's back with astonishing speed, clearly premeditated.

Qian Ying reacted extremely quickly, almost instinctively dodging to the side. At the same time, she swung her innate short sword backhand, unleashing a sharp sword aura that slashed fiercely at the shadowy figure.

With a soft "whoosh," the dark figure was slashed by the sword energy, letting out a shrill roar and staggering back a few steps, its body instantly igniting with faint flames. Clearly, it had accidentally come into contact with sparks from the burning wood nearby during its sneak attack.

However, Qian Ying's sword strike was extremely powerful. Combined with the momentum from dodging to the side, the short sword not only struck the shadowy figure but also slammed into the pillar in front of the corridor.

With a loud "Boom!", the pillar whose barrier had been broken was cleaved in two by Qian Ying's sword. Losing its support, it slowly tilted to one side.

As the pillar collapsed, a chain reaction occurred instantly. The eaves in front of the porch lost their support, and like dominoes, a series of loud rumbling sounds followed. A large section of the eaves, along with the rafters, tiles, and other items on it, collapsed in an instant, sending dust flying and rubble flying everywhere.

The sudden collapse startled Qian Ying and the injured shadowy figure who were facing off, causing them to instinctively retreat and avoid being hit by the collapsing building parts.

Even in the darkness, the shadowy figures who were preparing to ambush Qian Ying again stopped instantly, watching the collapsed building warily, not daring to approach easily.

The collapsed building components landed on the ground with a dull thud, scattering burning timber in front of the corridor. A large section of the once-intact firebreak was instantly missing, revealing a huge gap.

Fortunately, only Qian Ying and Zhou Zixing were in front of the corridor at that moment. The other martial artists who were responsible for moving the timber had already returned to the campsite, so the collapse did not cause any casualties.

Qian Ying and Zhou Zixing looked at the collapsed mess in front of them, both showing surprise on their faces.

They had always assumed that each component of these buildings was protected by a protective barrier, and that to dismantle them, they would have to break the barriers on each component one by one. However, they never expected that simply cutting off a single supporting pillar would cause the entire roof of the porch to collapse.

At that moment, Qian Ying suddenly understood. Although the roofs, rafters and other components of these buildings were protected by barriers, their support points were still those pillars. Once the pillars were destroyed and the support was lost, the roof would collapse on its own. There was no need to destroy the barriers of those components one by one. In this way, the speed of demolishing buildings and obtaining timber could be greatly accelerated.