"Next!" Steven shouted, and the formation masters activated the next formation.
Spikes of earth coated with Metal Qi rose from the ground, skewing the beasts above them mercilessly, creating an image of gore and blood. Dozens of beasts died directly from the spikes themselves while hundreds were slowed down due to the changed terrain and were stamped to death by those behind them.
"Next!"
Steven gave another command soon when multiple beasts of the fifth rank charged through the spikes, breaking them and flattening the ground again.
With the last command, the third and last formation was activated, and poisonous gas came from the ground. It was invisible and odorless, and even the disciples of the Phoenix Feather Sect thought there was a problem with the next line of defense.
However, it did not take them long to see the results. Many animals collapsed to the ground, dead. Those with stronger resilience to poison were stamped to death when they slowed down.
"Aaaoow!"
A wolf howled, and a strong gale swept through the field, clearing all the poison from the vicinity and changing it with new air. It was the most effective line of defense yet; over a thousand beasts already died, while hundreds of others were weakened. Even the wolf that cleared the field dropped dead, as it only noticed the poison when it was too late.
"Wait!" Steven shouted to the people on the ground, there were still a few waves of arrows to come.
On the wall, a fourth-stage cultivator specialized in bows held a longbow in his hands.
"Shoot!" He ordered, and everyone released their arrows, him included.
"Shoot!"
"Shoot!"
Three waves of hundreds of arrows covered the sky, like a deadly cloud that rained death. Screams could be heard from the horde of animals when they were injured or killed. The tide was unforgiving; being injured meant being trampled to death by the following beasts.
The beasts now were under 100 meters from the cultivators, and the clash was inevitable.
"Fight! Phoenix Feather Sect's disciples, bring down as many fifth-rank beasts as you can! Protect the city!"
ραΠdαsΝοvel.cοm Steven yelled and everyone dashed forward, bringing a storm of death upon the beasts. Fire, ice, wind, and more elements could be seen wherever cultivators fought, some of them coming from them while other attacks originated from the beasts they were hunting.
Steven leaped to the sky, his figure almost covered by the arrows that flew beneath him. He found his targets; a group of five fifth-rank wolves that led a large pack behind them. He dove to the ground and began the slaughter.
It was his time to use all the Qi he had been conserving. Luckily, the tide was created by the presence of a seventh-rank beast, so there were no sixth-rank beasts among the sea of animals.
They were powerful enough to keep their place in the forest by going out of the inner zone and banishing the weaker beasts from those regions. That was what caused the tide in the first place.
'Blood Frenzy.'
Ken deployed the same tactic again, causing the beasts to lose themselves in rage and turn on each other with their claws and fangs. They did not aim at him, so he could run by the crazed beasts' side and kill those that managed to stop them.
Miles was sending wide slashes of fire, burning groups of beasts in a single strike. The attack had a high Qi cost, but he deemed the Qi-kill ratio desirable.
Henry rained down palms from the sky, crushing to death a few beasts with every attack, while many others crashed into his defensive demonic Buddha technique and died.
Max and Jake cooperated with each other to bring down a large fifth-rank bear by inflicting many cuts on its body until it bleeds out.
"I wonder how the new teams do," Ken pondered and turned to look at them as he stood on a tall elephant that attacked everything in its proximity.
'Hmm, the Glacier clan members use Ice Qi just like Tiara, but their control over it seems much lower than hers,' Ken judged from the fight. Their stage was higher than hers, so it was hard to tell other differences between them.
The ice princess was coached directly by an elder of her family, so it made sense if she was stronger. Unlike Tiara, these members of the clans were only inner disciples of the sect.
Since he watched enough Ice Qi battles while traveling with Tiara, he diverted his attention to the Aspis clan.
The leading woman, Elodie, was using an interesting combination of two short sabers and Poison Qi, and a single wound from her blades would bring her opponents to the brink of death in no time when the poison seeps in. Ken's intrusive Sword Qi could not be compared to Poison Qi, it was inferior.
Her clan members did not all use Poison Qi. It was the main specialty of the Aspis clan, but just like not all the Sue clan's members used Sword Qi and Darkness Qi, not all the Aspis clan used Poison Qi.
The other four worked well with their leader, showing they were used to this tactic. They fought separately when facing fourth-rank beasts or below, but when faced against fifth-rank beasts, they'd use their other Qi types to corner the beasts into being grazed by Elodie one by one.
Once a beast was grazed, it'd turn sloppy and heavy as if chains were restricting its movements. When their minds also turned heavier, it'd mark the end for those beasts as the cultivators took advantage of the situation and decapitated them.
'That's the advantage of working as a group, unlike us.'
Ken observed his own group. A comparison could make one's heart ache. His team fought separately, knowing that if they tried to cooperate, they would only step on each other's toes. Henry's palms would hit everyone, Miles' fire would not differentiate between a friend and foe, while only Jake and Max would do fine with their smaller attacks.
'I should work on teamwork with my group once all of us assemble,' he concluded.
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