In the main plaza…After most of the people had shown up, the head master briefed the crowd about what happened in the Silent Hills, and told them not to step foot in there until further notice.
"What? Nine disciples had died in the outer area of Silent Hills…in one go?! What in the world is happening?!"
"The Silent Hills are not that far away from the Sky Cloud Martial School. I guess it is an eventful year for our Sky Cloud Martial School."
"What are you afraid of? It is only beasts. I wish the leader would gather us to kill the beasts. I have not really been in a battle for a while."
"Don’t be overly confident. There are one or two rank 7 beasts in the deepest part of the mountain. One of them had been confirmed as the Ghost Face Demonic Cow, while the other remains unknown. Some say it was a rank 6 tyrant beast, while the others say it was also a rank 7 beast."
"Two rank seven beasts, it sounds tricky indeed. The good thing is that we have two peak level Early Astral Reaching Realm warriors and brother Ye, no, Great Master it is."
Everyone was discussing, and they were quite curious about what was happening in the Silent Hills.
"Alright now, go home. Remember, without orders, no one is allowed to step foot in the Silent Hills. Otherwise, even if you survive, you would be punished according to the school rules." The head master waved his head and dismissed the crowd.
Shoo!
Right at that moment, a white shadow flew over the sky above the Cloud Catching Mountain, disappearing into the clouds. The head master had seen it clearly, it was indeed Great Master, the Cloud Dreamer.
"Is the Great Master heading to the Silent Hills? I wonder how it will turn out?"
One day later...
Cloud Dreamer had returned. No one was able to tell what had happened judging from his expression, there was no joy nor distress.
On the Cloud Catching Mountain.
Thunder Freer asked, "Cloud Dreamer, is everything okay in Silent Hills?"
"I had battled the rank 7 beast, the Demonic Ghost Face Cow. It is indeed more powerful than ten years ago. The good thing was that it was not ‘it’. Otherwise, with you and me fighting together, it might be hard to kill ‘it’, blowing ‘it’ back at most." Cloud Dreamer sat on the stone bench, sipping on the tea from the cup.
"You had just fought against the demonic cow? Anything else?"
Cloud Dreamer looked a bit serious, "I wonder if it was just me, but I feel like half of the Silent Hills is covered by a black mist. I think, it should be the reason why the beasts are gathering from other places and becoming so short tempered. Unfortunately, I was not able to identify where it has come from yet. And, I think it might be above my level."
"Black mist, I see... Strange!" Thunder Freer thought about it for a while, then said, "I will go check it out. Maybe I will be able to find out where it is coming from."
"Good. Let’s take turns. Once Ye Chen is out of his closed up training, then we can go search it together."
After one month, Thunder Freer and Cloud Dreamer entered the Silent Hills one after another, looking for the source of that black mist. However, that black mist seemed to have spread out evenly, so it was extremely hard to figure out which part was thicker. They ended up not finding out anything. Soon, they started to get anxious. Lately, the beasts on the outer part of the hills had kept on walking out and attacking the villages and towns nearby. As the true governing party around here, the Sky Cloud Martial School indeed had the responsibility to take care of them. If they did not have the power to keep their own people safe, how would it affect their credibility?
"Remember. Although our Sky Cloud Martial School is one of the top five martial schools, we should not bully or underestimate the other martial inst.i.tutions or disciples. If someone breaks the rules, he or she will be punched according to school rules. Do you hear me?" On the plaza of the main mountain, the management of the school seemed serious about the matter. The matter had been regarded as a small beast wave, and even if it was not as serious as a small beast wave, it should be taken seriously. For this, they had already notified all of the martial inst.i.tutions and leaders of families and some of the small martial inst.i.tutions. They were planning to build a united army to fight those incoming beasts to ensure the mortals’ safety.
"Understood!"
Because of the Jin Huang incident, no one was afraid of this small beast wave. They were somehow a bit excited, and wished they could go there and kill them now.
…
In a blink of an eye, another month had come and gone.
This month, everyone in the Sky Cloud Marital School had lived a productive lives. There were a huge amount of beasts which would wander in the Silent Hills, attacking villages and towns. Everyone from the Sky Cloud Martial School was fighting along with other people against the beasts, protecting the people.
Cloud Dreamer and Thunder Freer were taking turns to go to search. Of course, they had not joined the fight yet. The small beast wave was not very dangerous, and it would be a great training opportunity for the disciples. Sometimes, there would even be times that there were not enough beasts for the people to kill.
Seeing that, everyone was relieved. They were glad that it was all under control. Technically, a true beast wave, even just a small one, would be extremely intense. Every appearance could cost a lot of people their lives. So, there should be a particular reason for those beasts to gather around here. Otherwise, it would not make sense.
Inside a city that was very close to the Silent Hills, Cloud Dreamer smiled. Although the black mist was indeed strange, as long as it was not causing too much danger, there should be enough time to take care of it.
In the afternoon, a horrifying hysterical scream cried out from the outer part of the Silent Hills. Soon, the sky darkened, and was covered in black clouds. The sun and sky were nowhere to be seen.
"Demonic cow… No, it is the other rank 7 beast." Cloud Dreamer’s heart contracted a little bit. He burnt his zhen yuan, ready to attack.
Soon, a hundred-meter-long dark, huge snake swam over at an extremely fast speed. It was covered with palm-sized scales, while a bent horn grew on top of its head. Black Qi seemed to have wrapped over his horn, which had stimulated all the beasts around it to become even crazier.
"Black Qi! It is indeed the Sky Demon Snake!"
Cloud Dreamer had a bad look on his face. The defense on the Sky Demon Snake was very powerful. It was almost unbeatable among the same level beasts. If it were a rank 6 beast and even if it were a tyrant rank 6 beast, it would still be way more powerful than the Wind Wolf. If it were a rank 7 beast, then it would automatically be a tyrant rank 7 beast. The ancient Demonic Dragon bloodline it carried would allow it to shoot out black flames, that were almost similar to dragon breath once it reached rank 7. Nothing would survive in that flame. It was so horrifying that even peak- Mid Astral Reaching Realm warriors would not be confident in front of it. The tyrant among the same level beasts should be illogically powerful, not to mention the ancient bloodline.
The Sky Demon Snake lifted up half its body and shot out a bucket-sized dark light at Cloud Dreamer. All the trees and the ground that had been touched by the light were annihilated, leaving a deep ridge on the ground.
"Break it open!"
Burning his zhen yuan, a sword appeared in Cloud Dreamer’s hand as he threw out a sword attack towards that dark light. As for escaping, he had not even considered it. Ten thousand people lived in that city behind him.
Boom!
The dark light had been shattered while Cloud Dreamer was pushed back by around ten meters in the air.
The eyes of the beast were locked on Cloud Dreamer the whole time. As it sizzled its tongue, black flame leaked out, burning the sky out and leaving a vacuum s.p.a.ce.
"I cannot believe it! There is a rare Sky Demon Snake in the Silent Hills. This beast must have just reached the rank 7. Otherwise, it would be impossible for it to stay undetected." The Sky Demon Snake was the kind of beasts that were born at rank 5 level. It would grow to rank 6 when it was young, and rank 7 when it reached maturity. Once it was fully matured, it would turn into a rank 8 beast. Unlike a normal beast, once it reached maturity, it would become extremely brutal and bloodthirsty. Wherever it went, it would be covered in blood. It was born to have such characteristics. Ever since the ancient times, it was regarded as a symbol of brutality and bloodl.u.s.t.
"I cannot handle a rank 7 Sky Demon Snake by myself. Fighting alone would not help me save the city. I think I would have to fight with brother Thunder."
Considered its urgency, Cloud Dreamer led the snake to an area close to the Sky Cloud Martial School. Then, Thunder Freer would definitely notice him. Once he arrived, they would be able to stall it for a while. But of course, Cloud Dreamer had something else in his mind as well. Ye Chen had been in closed up training for six months now, and he should have made some progress. With the three of them fighting together, it should be more or less enough to kill the beast. And judging from the situation, it might be the only chance, so disturbing Ye Chen from his training seemed unavoidable.
"Cloud Break Cut!"
With those thoughts in his mind, Cloud Dreamer yelled out loud. He poured his burning zhen yuan into his great sword, slicing out an angled sword Qi.
Boom!
The sword Qi bounced away from the scales on the surface of the Demon Snake’s body, leaving only a tiny gap. Cloud Dreamer was happy about how the Sky Demon Snake seemingly had only just reached the level, so his defense was not that horrifying. And now, their chance of killing it was even bigger.
The Sky Demon Snake was furious, sliding swiftly towards Cloud Dreamer.
He attacked as he backed out, and slowly, he was drifting away from the cities.
Over hundreds of miles, one man and one beast were fighting intensively. Wherever they pa.s.sed was left in a huge mess. Countless mountains had been shattered, and rivers had been broken into two. However, the Sky Demon Snake had still not shot out the black flame yet. It seemed like it had reached the seventh rank not long ago, so the black flame was still limited. That was why the beast was still saving it.
"Alright, here we go!"
In another ten miles, they would reach the Sky Cloud Martial School. Cloud Dreamer stopped moving and started to seriously fight against the beast. Sword Qi and dark light shot out everywhere.
Siiiiiii!
Cloud Dreamer was too fast, so even though the beast had the advantageous position, it seemed almost impossible for him to hit him. The beast turned again, opened its huge mouth and shot out a huge pile of black flame towards Cloud Dreamer. The flame looked like it was alive, blocking Cloud Dreamer’s way.
"Cloud Dragon Nine Twists!"
Twisting his body, Cloud Dreamer flashed eight times before he was out of the blockade of that black flame. However, his long robe had caught fire and started to burn. Cloud Dreamer thought fast and cut down the burning robe, since the black flame was extremely deadly. If he gave it a chance, it would spread over and burn his entire self in no time
The mess and sound they had made were way too intense. Thunder Freer, who was in the Sky Cloud Martial School, had sensed Cloud Dreamer’s aura. His expression changed, and he flew out before saying anything.
In the distance, Thunder Freer saw the humongous Sky Demon Snake. He pushed his Heavenly Great Thunder Art and started to burn his zhen yuan, forming a Heavenly Thunder Armor in front of him, "Cloud Dreamer, I got your back!"
"Alright, be careful of its black flame!"
…
Over on the Shocking Cloud Mountain…
Ye Chen, who was sitting on the stone bench, let out a breath. It was way more powerful than the last one, and had punctured straight through the secret chamber, reaching almost to the edge of the mountain.
"It has been six months. I am afraid I will not be able to reach the thirteenth level in a short time. But, it should be enough. I will no longer need to be afraid of Mid Astral Reaching Realm warriors."
Standing up, Ye Chen waved his hand, opening the door. His body flashed once before disappearing completely.