The Pastoral Life of a Cultivation Master

Chapter 3299 Efforts Were Useless
It's a long story, but actually quite short.

From the strange noises emanating from the depths of the circular hall to the emergence of swarms of dark, monstrous figures that formed a crescent-shaped formation and charged toward the group, the entire process took less than five minutes.

In a short moment, it became a life-or-death situation for the group of martial artists outside the hall who had no time to retreat. The martial artists in Qian Ying's team were being chased by the black shadow and had reached a critical moment of life and death. The martial artists ran ahead while two Xiantian elders blocked the black shadow from behind.

Unfortunately, there were too many shadowy figures, forming a crescent-shaped formation, and the fleeing warriors were almost caught up with them on both sides of the crescent.

The obstruction of two innate martial artists was like a reef stopping a giant wave. However, other places could not stop it.

The few martial artists lagging behind at the back of the group heard Qian Wantong's anxious shouts. They gritted their teeth, poured all the remaining energy in their bodies into their legs, and ran desperately toward the open door of the main hall.

With only a few dozen meters left to the palace gate, and the hope of survival within reach, everyone was frantically urging themselves to go a little faster and take a few more steps.

However, one's cultivation level is already fixed, and the limits of one's physical body are there. No matter how eager one is, it is impossible to suddenly burst out with a speed that exceeds one's own cultivation level. Even if one forcibly pushes one's blood and qi, damaging one's internal organs and shattering one's heart and lungs, it is difficult for one's pace to improve further, and one's acceleration will not be much faster.

"Watch out!" Zhou Ke was about to enter the main hall when he turned around and glanced behind him. Suddenly, he caught sight of a dark, sharp claw carrying a chilling wind, already approaching the back of a lone martial artist. He immediately shouted a stern warning.

The moment the martial artist heard the sound, the wind whistled past his ears, a chilling tingling sensation ran down his back, and the coldness of death shot up his spine to the top of his head. A thought instantly surfaced in his mind: I'm doomed.

But his survival instinct drove him to refuse to give up. He was only a few dozen meters away from hiding in the fire-lit hall, and he could have survived if he had just ten more seconds.

He clenched his teeth, his blood and qi surging violently, and a thin protective shield of blood and qi instantly formed around his body. This was the foundation upon which a martial artist relied to save his life, and he tried to rely on this barrier to withstand the deadly attack from the shadowy figure.

While the shadowy figure was no match for top experts like Chen Mo and Qian Ying, it could easily defeat ordinary acquired martial artists, creating a vast disparity in strength that seemed like an insurmountable chasm.

The shadowy figure darted swiftly through the flickering firelight, its sharp claws reflecting a cold, glint as it reached for the fleeing warrior's back.

The martial artist's face turned red from holding his breath, and his blood and qi surged uncontrollably. The blood-red light of his protective shield flickered on and off, and in his chaotic state of mind, he was unable to stabilize his qi circulation.

He kept urging himself to speed up, his legs struggling desperately, but he could never escape the deadly claws that were right behind him.

A muffled sound of flesh being pierced suddenly rang out, and sharp claws pierced straight through the martial artist's back, protruding abruptly from his chest with dripping blood.

"Ugh, save me!" The martial artist's body convulsed violently as the black shadow lifted him up in mid-air with a single claw. Mouthfuls of blood gushed from the corners of his mouth, and his cries for help were broken and intermittent. Before he even hit the ground, he died instantly.

With that muffled thud of death, several identical sounds followed in succession around him.

"Puff, puff, puff, puff!"

In the blink of an eye, four more martial artists who were unable to escape were caught up by the shadowy figure. The shadowy figure's claws pierced through their bodies from behind, killing them instantly.

In a short moment, the lives of five martial artists vanished under the claws of the dark figure. Scattered blood flowed slowly along the cracks in the rocks, appearing black in the dim firelight. "Damn it!" Qian Ying, who was locked in combat with the dark figure, caught a glimpse of his fallen teammates out of the corner of his eye, and his heart surged with rage.

Under the cover of night, the square was completely visible thanks to the flames of the burning wood.

The shadowy figures were agile and incredibly fast, making it nearly impossible to stop their sudden attack. There were simply too many of them; even though he and Zhou Zixing managed to hold off dozens, it was to no avail.

Furthermore, to kill a shadowy figure, he, as a Xiantian martial artist, would also need to expend some Xiantian power.

The shadowy figure's skin was incredibly smooth and tough; even a casual slash with the innate short sword could barely penetrate its skin. A forceful chop would only leave a shallow wound, and when the shadowy figure used its speed to retreat, it was difficult to pierce its body.

Only by activating innate power to create a domain that imprisons the shadowy figure's body and locks off its escape route can the sword pierce through its flesh. However, even if the outer skin is broken, it will be difficult to completely kill the shadowy figure if it doesn't hit vital organs such as the head or heart.

What troubled Qian Ying the most was the black shadow's self-destruction characteristic. Once the beast's body swelled, it was a sign of impending self-destruction. If one couldn't dodge in time, even a Xiantian expert would be corroded and damaged by the exploding black water.

Previously, when faced with the black water bursting from the shadowy figure, if it weren't for the protection of his domain, he would have been corroded and torn apart if he had been touched by the black water. Just like some martial artists in the past, who were corroded and their flesh was mangled when they were touched by even a small amount of black water.

Therefore, during the battle, Qian Ying had to pay close attention to the changes in the shape of the surrounding shadows, and dared not let the strange beasts get close, so he was always restrained.

"Bang!" Qian Ying channeled his innate true energy and cleaved the two black shadows that had surrounded him with a single sword strike. He then turned and shouted to Zhou Zixing, who was fighting fiercely on the other side, "Elder Zhou, let's join forces, fight and retreat, and get back into the main hall!"

Zhou Zixing was already covered in sweat. Countless dark shadows were rushing towards him one after another, and he also had to be wary of the strange beasts suddenly exploding. He was extremely cautious with every sword strike and his mind was on high alert.

Upon hearing the shouts, he immediately moved to Qian Ying's side. The two of them resonated with each other's innate domains, their swords flashing and crisscrossing as they continuously slashed and thrust, forcing back the surrounding shadows.

These strange beasts are like killing puppets without feeling pain. Even after being injured, they do not stop, but continue to roar and attack wildly. Only by attacking their vital points can they be killed.

The two fought together for several minutes, exhausting all their strength to kill only about ten shadowy figures. However, because they killed so many, their innate power was also significantly depleted. Although this was not a problem relative to their total dantian energy, the sheer number of shadowy figures meant that even if they continued to attack, they wouldn't be able to kill them all, even if they exhausted all their innate power.

Killing a shadowy creature is extremely difficult. One must both deploy a domain to trap it and use innate power to wield an innate short sword in order to kill it quickly. At the same time, one must be careful that the trapped shadowy creature does not inflate its body and explode.

Furthermore, these dozen or so shadowy figures are still unmerged; once they merge, they will be even more difficult to kill.

At the entrance of the main hall, Qian Wantong and Zhou Ke fought desperately to break through the encirclement and finally staggered into the hall.

Seeing the blazing firewood inside the hall, the two relaxed slightly. They immediately grabbed the burning firewood beside them and hurled it forcefully into the dark square outside. The burning firewood traced fiery arcs through the air before falling to the ground and continuing to burn. The pursuing shadowy figures, fearing the open flames, instinctively scattered and gave way, briefly halting their pursuit.

At the entrance of the hall, another martial artist who was about to step across the threshold failed to dodge the sneak attack from behind and was instantly killed by the claws of the black shadow.