173: Chapter 173: The Beast

Black mist spread through the forest; wherever it passed, the leaves turned black and curled, and the rotting leaves on the ground hissed as they were corroded.

The few captains did not dare to be negligent, simultaneously pulling back. Their figures tapped rapidly against the tree trunks, and they retreated dozens of meters in one breath before stopping.

Their expressions were not very good—a Late Stage Fourth-Grade cultivation could walk sideways in front of ordinary Vicious Beasts, but the poisonous mist of this Black-Armored Lizard was clearly not something a Fourth-Grade could withstand. If they touched even a little, they feared that even their Internal Energy would not be able to block it.

However, the two Elders did not retreat a single step.

Elder Wu, with his white hair and beard, slapped away the black mist surging toward him with one palm. The palm wind tore an opening in the poisonous mist, and he charged through it. His right hand formed a fist, the surface wrapped in a layer of pale cyan Transcendent energy, and he smashed it fiercely against the Black-Armored Lizard's side ribs.

The other, Elder Sun, approached from the left side, his hands forming claws. The Transcendent energy emanating from his fingertips left five faint streaks of light in the air, and he clawed repeatedly at the Black-Armored Lizard's nape and eye sockets.

The gap between the Fifth-Grade Transformation Realm and the Fourth-Grade Dark Energy was vividly displayed at this moment—the figures of the two Elders wove through the black mist. The Black-Armored Lizard's poisonous mist sprayed onto them but was steadily blocked by the layer of Transcendent energy shield on their bodies, not even staining their robes in the slightest.

The few captains watched anxiously from afar, but they could not intervene at all.

They did not have the Fifth-Grade Transcendent protection; charging into the poisonous mist rashly would only cause trouble for the Elders.

Team 1 Captain Jiang He gripped his sword hilt, his knuckles turning white, his teeth clenched tightly.

Team 5 Captain Meng Ping's fists clenched until they cracked, and he tried to rush forward several times, but was forced back by the poisonous mist.

Lin Tian did not rush.

He took the cold moon bow from his back.

Holding the bow with his left hand, he drew three cold iron arrows from his quiver with his right. He did not rush to release them, only pulling the bowstring to half-draw, his gaze piercing through the gaps in the poisonous mist, locking firmly onto the Black-Armored Lizard's head.

That beast was being caught in a pincer attack by the two Elders. Although its movements were violent, its rhythm had already been disrupted. Every time it shook its head to bite, the Elders dodged, and every time it whipped its tail to sweep, the Elders blocked it head-on. Its attack rhythm began to show gaps.

The gap arrived.

The Black-Armored Lizard was struck on the chin by Elder Wu's fist, its entire head thrown high, and the scales beneath its neck were completely exposed at that moment.

The scales there were a circle smaller than those on other parts, and slightly lighter in color; it was the weak point of its throat vital.

Lin Tian's bowstring was instantly pulled to a full moon, and as his fingers relaxed, the three arrows flew off the string, tail-to-head.

With the Meteor Arrow Technique fully deployed, three cold lights stretched into a straight white line in the dim dense forest, accurately nailing into that weak point.

The arrowheads spun as they drilled into the gaps between the scales, penetrating the subcutaneous muscle and embedding firmly into the throat bone.

The Black-Armored Lizard let out a heaven-shaking scream, its massive body stiffening suddenly.

Elder Wu seized this fleeting opening, his fist momentum surging, and he struck the same scale three times in a row, forcefully smashing that basin-sized black scale until it caved in.

Elder Sun took the opportunity to reach out with a claw, his five fingers hooking into the scale gaps on the Black-Armored Lizard's nape, and the Transcendent energy penetrated through his claws, tearing fiercely—a piece of scale along with a chunk of flesh and skin was ripped off.

The Black-Armored Lizard's screams rose by another three degrees, and it kicked off the ground with its hind legs, fleeing wolfishly into the depths of the dense forest. Along the way, it knocked down several bowl-thick trees, the rumbling sound growing further and further away until it finally disappeared into the depths of the forest.

The black mist gradually dissipated, and the two Elders walked out of the poisonous mist; their robes were stained with a bit of black ash, but they were unscathed.

Elder Wu pointed at the arrows on the ground and nodded slightly to Elder Sun. Elder Sun turned around, his gaze falling on Lin Tian, and a hint of approval appeared on that face that was usually stern and humorless: "Little guy, well done."

The few captains all looked at Lin Tian, their expressions each carrying their own complexity.

Jiang He set aside his previous coldness and nodded slightly toward Lin Tian.

Captain Liu Yun sheathed his long sword, walked over, and patted Lin Tian on the shoulder: "Not bad, Captain Lin. That arrow just now, your timing was more accurate than any of ours."

Lin Tian hung the cold moon bow back on his back and smiled, not saying much more.

The group rested in place for the night. Elder Wu sat cross-legged on a towering rock, responsible for keeping watch, his sharp eyes scanning the surroundings in the night without blinking.

Lin Tian picked up the arrows one by one from the path where the Black-Armored Lizard had fled, wiped off the blood, and stuck them back into his quiver, then leaned against a large tree and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.

The few captains divided into two shifts to take turns keeping watch, each shift holding their weapons, ready to deal with sneak attacks at any time.

The next morning, the group continued to advance.

Following the trampled bushes and torn vines left behind when the Black-Armored Lizard fled, they tracked for nearly half an hour before the path ahead suddenly opened up. A huge cave yawned with a pitch-black entrance beneath the cliff wall.

The trees around the cave entrance had been snapped in half, and there were traces of sharp claws everywhere on the stones, with quite a bit of dried, blackened blood scattered on the ground.

The Black-Armored Lizard was no longer there, and the depths of the cave were empty, with only a fishy, foul odor still lingering in the air.

Elder Wu crouched beside the bloodstains, extended a finger to dip a little, put it to the tip of his nose to smell, stood up, and looked around. Suddenly, his gaze tightened—on the muddy ground in the corner of the cave, there were clearly several footprints imprinted.

Those were not beast claw marks, but the patterns of boot soles, clear and distinct.

The few captains gathered around to look at those footprints, their expressions changing simultaneously.

Jiang He gripped his sword hilt, his voice somewhat tight: "These footprints are human."

"Someone had been to this cave before us—could it be that this person controlled the Black-Armored Lizard and made it attack the Yunhai Fishery?"

Once these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.

Before coming, they had two guesses: first, that a Beast King had been born in the mountain range capable of commanding numerous Vicious Beasts; second, that someone was secretly using some method to drive the Vicious Beasts.

There was no Beast King in the Black-Armored Lizard's lair, but there were human footprints.

The weight of the second guess outweighed the first at this moment.

Elder Wu straightened his body, patted the mud off his hands, and his gaze swept over the five captains present: "To be able to drive a Fifth-Grade level Black-Armored Lizard, such a method—within a thousand miles of the entire Yunzhou Prefecture, there are no more than three forces capable of doing this."

"Although our Qixia Sect has some methods for cultivating Spirit Beasts, that is from raising them since they were young, a skill accumulated over time."

"But to drive multiple Vicious Beasts in a short time, and for Vicious Beasts of different species and different habits to fight together, even we cannot do it."

He paused, his voice deepening a bit, "Only the legendary Demon Cult has such methods."

The two words "Demon Cult" fell into the air, and the expressions of several captains changed.

Team 3 Captain Liu Yun blurted out: "Demon Cult? Wasn't the Demon Cult wiped out long ago?"

Team 5 Captain Meng Ping shook his head, his brows locked tightly.

He was an old-timer from Jinxia Peak, and his information was better than others': "I heard that the Demon Cult has signs of a resurgence recently. A while ago, there was news that traces of the Demon Cult had appeared in the Heishan City area."

Heishan City.

After saying these two words, Meng Ping froze for a moment himself, then suddenly turned his head, his gaze falling on Lin Tian.

The others' gazes also turned over together—Lin Tian's hometown was in Heishan City.

Jiang He hesitated for a moment and asked: "Junior Brother Lin, aren't you from Heishan City?"