175: Chapter 175 The Demonic Cult Attacks

Lin Tian and his group withdrew from the valley and ran for dozens of miles in one breath. Only after confirming there were no pursuers behind them did they stop in a sheltered mountain hollow.

Moonlight leaked through a gap in the rock wall, shining on several uneven bluestones, and everyone found a place to sit and catch their breath. Elder Wu sat cross-legged on the highest rock to keep watch, while Elder Sun squatted by the stream to wash his face.

The captains' robes were soaked with sweat and stuck to their bodies, but no one had the time to change.

After catching their breath, everyone spread the spoils of war they had searched from the Demonic Cult Martial Artists onto the bluestone: silver notes, Medicinal Pills, several black iron tokens, and five or six scrolls.

The captains each picked up a scroll and unfolded it, reading the contents by the moonlight and fire starters. After reading a few lines, Captain Jiang He frowned and threw his scroll on the ground—it recorded an evil Cultivation Technique that used the fresh blood of living people to temper blade techniques.

Captain Liu Yun also put down his scroll, saying it was a Cultivation Technique that relied on devouring others' Internal Energy to increase one's own cultivation level; practicing it to the third level would inevitably lead to Qi Deviation and the total rupture of one's Meridians.

After cursing a few times that the Demonic Cultists were truly insane, they stopped looking at those scrolls.

Lin Tian also picked up a scroll, untied the cord, and unfolded it. The material of the scroll was not paper, but a specially tanned animal hide that felt cool and smooth to the touch.

The handwriting on it was dense, but it was completely different from the scrolls he had read before—there were no bloody diagrams of cultivating, no recipes for human bones or blood. The very first line of text made his heart jump violently: "Beast Taming Technique."

He continued reading calmly. The scroll recorded in detail a complete set of Beast Taming methods, from how to use specific frequencies and incantations to shock the Vicious Beast's mind, to how to soak the Vicious Beast's feed in medicinal liquid to make it dependent on the practitioner, and finally, how to use one's own essence blood to plant a Restriction within the Vicious Beast to make it unable to resist.

The further he read, the clearer the images of The Black-Robed Men in the valley pouring dark red liquid for the Vicious Beasts and the silver-edged leader chanting incantations became, overlapping with the text on the scroll.

So, the reason those Vicious Beasts attacked the Yunhai Fishery together was that their minds had been completely controlled by someone using this technique—first using medicinal liquid to weaken the Vicious Beasts' will, then using incantations to implant commands into their consciousness, and finally using essence blood Restrictions to completely lock them down.

Vicious Beasts that had been planted with a Restriction would not retreat even half a step, even if ordered to charge into a sea of fire.

He was so absorbed in reading that he didn't notice Captain Liu Yun leaning in next to him. Captain Liu Yun craned his neck to take a look at the scroll in his hand, first stunned, then suddenly raised his voice: "Eh? Is this actually the Beast Taming Technique?" This shout drew everyone's attention.

The several captains immediately put down what they were holding and gathered around Lin Tian. Even Elder Wu, who was keeping watch on the high rock, jumped down and walked over with Elder Sun.

Elder Sun took the scroll from Lin Tian's hand, unfolded it, and read it through, then nodded: "It really is the Beast Taming Technique, genuine. No wonder the Black-Armored Lizard and White Bird could attack the fishery together—with this method, different species of Vicious Beasts can indeed be controlled by the same person."

Elder Wu also leaned in to take a look, his brows slightly furrowed: "This set of methods is extremely complex. The incantations alone have several sections, and the formula for the medicinal liquid requires several types of rare Spirit Medicine; it cannot be understood in a short time. Forget it, let's take it back and let the Fishery Master decide."

He collected the scroll along with the other useless evil Cultivation Technique scrolls into his bosom, clapped his hands, and said to the group: "Entering the mountains this time to discover that the Demonic Cult was the mastermind, and even seizing the Beast Taming Technique, is already a great achievement. When we return and reward merits, you captains will all receive the top credit."

Then he distributed the silver notes, Medicinal Pills, and Vicious Beast Materials found from the Demonic Cult Martial Artists to everyone.

Lin Tian received several thousand taels of silver notes and a small bundle of Vicious Beast Materials—scales of a Black-Armored Lizard, fangs of an Iron-Backed Gray Wolf, and several tiger bones of a Red Flame Tiger, all heavily stuffed into his package.

Come to think of it, this trip was not in vain. He weighed the package, calculating in his heart that these things, plus the silver, were enough to buy quite a lot of Medicinal Pills for Cultivate.

Just as they had rested and were preparing to set off again, Elder Wu suddenly raised his hand to stop everyone.

In the dense forest in the distance, a dense and rapid sound of breaking wind through clothes was approaching them quickly. It was not one person, but a group, and their cultivation levels were not low.

Elder Wu's expression changed drastically: "The Demonic Cult has pursued us, run!"

But it was too late. The dense forest exploded, and an old man wearing a black robe with gold-trimmed edges dove down from the treetops, followed by dozens of dense The Black-Robed Men. The aura of this old man was far from comparable to that silver-edged minor leader in the valley.

As soon as he made a move, it was a palm strike, the palm wind turning into a wave of black Qi that boomed towards everyone.

Elder Wu met it with a palm strike, and the two palm forces collided in mid-air, the exploding air waves uprooting the surrounding trees. Elder Sun struck at the same time, entangled with another Demonic Cult expert who rushed out from the side.

The Black-Robed Men surged in from all directions like a tide, their numbers several times more than in the valley.

The captains drew their blades to fight back, but soon realized they couldn't win—there were at least three Late Stage Fourth-Rank high-level The Black-Robed Men, one of whom was a Peak Fourth-Rank, and the ordinary The Black-Robed Men were all at least Fourth-Rank.

The two Elders were entangled by the opponent's gold-trimmed Elder and could not spare any hands to support them.

Elder Wu forced the Demonic Cult Elder in front of him back with a punch, turned his head, and roared sternly to the captains: "Split up and run! If we stay together, we'll be wiped out! Rely on your own abilities, save as many as you can!" Elder Sun also roared: "Regroup at the fishery! Run!"

The captains looked at each other and turned at the same time, charging in different directions. Captain Jiang He slashed through the bushes blocking the way and rushed east; Captain Liu Yun burrowed into a pile of chaotic stones and ran wildly west; Captain Meng Ping sent two The Black-Robed Men flying with a palm strike and charged straight down the southern slope.

Lin Tian's body swayed, the Cloud Shadow Step was fully exerted, and his whole person stretched into a blurry purple shadow, speeding towards the depths of the dense forest in the north.

Several The Black-Robed Men immediately chased after him. But Lin Tian's Cloud Shadow Step was much faster than ordinary movement techniques in the dense forest—he used the tree trunks to bounce off, slid sideways through the crevices of rocks, and drilled through the vines, leaving the trees and gravel along the way further and further behind him.

The The Black-Robed Men chasing him had not even chased for a mile when they could only see a purple light occasionally flashing through the tree shadows ahead. Chasing a bit further, even the purple light could not be seen.

Several people stopped, panting and looking at each other, one of whom cursed in a low voice: "This kid has such fast speed."

A cold voice came from behind them: "You go chase the others, leave this person to me."

The The Black-Robed Men turned their heads and saw a thin, tall black shadow sliding silently down from the treetops. That person was also wearing a black robe, but the material of the robe was different from theirs, with a blood-red dark pattern embroidered on the collar.

He was not wearing a bronze mask, and his exposed face was thin, long, and pale, with sharp cheekbones and sunken eye sockets. There was almost no white in his eyes, only two deep, cold black pupils.

"Demonic Shadow!" The The Black-Robed Men bowed at the same time, their voices filled with a bit of awe. One of them whispered to his companion: "Lord Demonic Shadow's Shadow Movement Technique is the best in the Fourth Rank, his Shadow Movement Technique ranks high in the entire branch; with him taking action, that kid won't be able to escape." Another nodded: "Let's go, let's go chase the others." The The Black-Robed Men turned around one after another and scattered in different directions.

Demonic Shadow raised his head, his pitch-black pupils locking onto the direction Lin Tian had disappeared. Then his figure swayed, and he disappeared on the spot—not running, not jumping, but melting into the shadows cast by the treetops.

The moonlight passed through the branches and leaves, casting mottled light and shadows on the ground. His body shuttled silently between these light and shadows, each flash just avoiding a piece of moonlight, and each landing stepping on a shadow, his speed faster than The Black-Robed Men Lin Tian had shaken off before by who knows how much.

Lin Tian was speeding through the dense forest.

The Cloud Shadow Step was pushed to the extreme by him, his toes tapping on the bluestone and shooting out several zhang away, his body drilling through the vine bushes, ignoring the fact that his sleeves were torn by thorns.

But he could feel that the aura behind him had not disappeared. Not only had it not disappeared, but it was getting closer and closer.

He suddenly made a sharp turn into a rocky ridge, snaking through the craggy, strange rocks.

Then he drilled through a dense, impenetrable bush of vines. Those vines were covered with sharp barbs, and he gritted his teeth and forced his way through. The barbs made a hissing sound on the skin protected by the Dragon Roar Iron Shirt but could not leave any wounds.

He chose the densest, most difficult paths, but the aura behind him remained like a poisonous snake, biting him tightly and not letting go. After chasing for a while, the distance between the two not only didn't widen but instead shortened from dozens of zhang to more than ten zhang.

Lin Tian squeezed sideways through the gap between two ancient trees, and his eyes suddenly brightened—the dense forest had come to an end, and the front suddenly opened up. The moonlight spilled down without obstruction, shining on the sparkling water surface.

It was a lake, the lake surface so wide it was almost boundless, a thin layer of night mist floating on the water, and the mountain wall on the opposite bank gleaming with a faint blue-gray color under the moonlight.

He couldn't stop his momentum under his feet, leaving a string of footprints on the sandy beach by the lake, and stabilized his figure.

Behind him, a thin, tall figure slid out silently from the shadows cast by the treetops. Demonic Shadow stood on the roots of a crooked old pine tree, the moonlight shining on his pale, thin face, his thin lips slowly curling into a cold arc: "Kid, you can't escape anymore."