After Shen Lin and Dong Jin took their men and left, there were no more than one thousand people, including the Yangs and the s.h.i.+s.
Not more than five hundred warriors who to stay with the Yang family. Old people took a big part of this group. However, they didn’t have a profound realm or an excellent competence.
Yang Tian Emperor stood idle. He exhaled, then his lips convulsed. Later on, he said indifferently, "Good then. It’s good anyway." Apparently, he seemed distressed. The sadness of Shen Lin and Dong Jin’s departure couldn’t be dispersed just yet.
Those people had vowed to devote their lives to the Yang family the year they had joined this force. However, when they left, they were so determined. They didn’t hesitate at all.
Their situation was similar to Shen Lin"s. They used to have no place to return to in the entire Endless Sea. Some were expelled by their own families, while the others had a strong enemy they couldn’t counter. To avoid death, they had joined the Yang family.
That year, Yang Tian Emperor had been frank and generous enough to bear their debts. He had helped them solve their problems. He even took revenge for them, which gave them face.
Their departure made Yang Tian Emperor recognize people’s hearts. Now he knew that even if he could provide them more, it would never be a sufficient weight to hold them.
Roooaaarrr!
The demonic beast roaring reverberated like a beating drum hitting people’s hearts. They all felt tenser.
"Anybody else wants to leave?" s.h.i.+ Yan got up as if he didn’t see the beasts coming closer. He said faintly, "If you leave now, you still have a chance to live. If you linger, perhaps you have to stay here forever."
"Kid, don’t be wordy!" Ling Ming bit his lips. His aura was fierce like a beast escaping its cage. "If we decide to stay, we don’t hold on the thought of being lucky again. Stop talking nonsense!"
One-third of the crowd surrounding the lake had their eyes bloodshot. They were ready to have a b.l.o.o.d.y battle with the beasts.
s.h.i.+ Yan cracked a smile as he nodded in his heart.
It wasn’t that they didn’t have a consciousness and didn’t know how to repay favors. Ling Ming and the five hundred who stayed had decided to be with them at the deadliest time, the time they knew they would die, but they didn’t hesitate to come forward.
s.h.i.+ Yan was touched. His att.i.tude towards them became tender, much better than when he talked to Shen Lin and Dong Jin. "Don’t worry, uncle Ling. Everybody’s going to be safe. If we survive the great catastrophe, we will have happiness later. Wait until we defeat the demonic beasts, I think we all harvest something."
Ling Ming was surprised. He looked at the young man suspiciously, his face odd. "Do you think we will survive?"
"Of course, we will."
"Perhaps one-fourth of our one thousand people here can survive. It’s good enough." Ling Ming was solemn and stirring, smiling quietly. "Anyway, I’m sure I will not be one of them. I’m old, and my realm can’t be developed further. I have no bright future even if I continue to live. I should save the chance to survive for the young generation."
"Master Ling!"
"Uncle Ling!"
Many young warriors couldn’t help but have tears linger in their eyes. They were stirred up, shouting and thundering. They crossed their hearts to stay and collaborate toward the common goal.
"No no no no," s.h.i.+ Yan shook his head continually, talking more seriously to the others. "Not one-fourth. Believe me, everybody will survive. Moreover, you will have a better life."
Everybody was bewildered, looking at him disbelievingly, as they thought that he was so scared of the beasts that he had gone crazy. Even Yang Tian Emperor couldn’t resist the beasts and got hurt. The level 8 beasts would absolutely be the formidable ones!
Spirit Realm warriors couldn’t deal with beasts at this level. Moreover, the coming herd didn’t have only two beasts, but almost a hundred of them!
"Young Master Yan, you shouldn’t stay here. Your future would be much brighter, you know," said a Shura King, Mo Dun Huan emotionlessly. "You should live and clean all the ones who have betrayed us today. In the future, just wors.h.i.+p us with their heads."
Ling Ming nodded continually. Obviously, he agreed with Mo Dun Huan.
s.h.i.+ Yan was stunned for a while, then he laughed. "Don"t worry, Uncle Mo. I won"t shoot the arrows aimlessly. Level 8 demonic beasts aren"t that dangerous."
"Alright, let’s scatter. You guys go there and wait." Finally, Yang Tian Emperor spoke up. He pointed at the stone buildings behind the lake and a.s.signed the other low-realm warriors. "Old Mo, Little Ling, you guys follow me," he nodded to Mo Dun Huan and Ling Ming.
Mo Dun Huan and Ling Ming were suspicious. They exchanged looks, then followed Yang Tian Emperor in silence.
Yang Zhuo, s.h.i.+ Jian, and s.h.i.+ Tie were ready. When they wanted to step forward and support s.h.i.+ Yan, he stopped them and smiled. "Grandpa, don’t go there. You guys stay here and protect them. It’s not as serious as you thought."
s.h.i.+ Jian’s face was gloomy as he advised s.h.i.+ Tie, "You guys go back." He rolled his eyes at s.h.i.+ Yan persistently and grunted, "Do you think your grandpa is an obstacle now? Do you think my cultivation base is too low and that I can’t help you with anything?"
s.h.i.+ Yan had a headache. He shook his head immediately. "No, no, grandpa. If you want, just come here."
Yang Tian Emperor, Mo Dun Huan, Ling Ming, s.h.i.+ Yan, s.h.i.+ Jian took a hundred Nirvana Realm warriors, lining in front of the forest.
s.h.i.+ Yan squinted, releasing the War Devil and taking out his Sky Destroyer divine sword. He started to urge and acc.u.mulate the power in his body.
Rumble Rumble Rumble!
Amidst the noisy, annoying sounds of the beasts moving through the forest, ancient trees were broken easily as breaking a dried branch. Dust rose everywhere, and smoke shot aloft. The unique, bloodthirsty and brutal aura of the demonic beasts permeated the place from the thick smoke.
Mo Dun Huan, Ling Ming, and s.h.i.+ Jian became tense. They immediately took out the secret treasures to join this b.l.o.o.d.y battle.
Their weapons were a hook, a spear, and a broadsword. At first glance, s.h.i.+ Yan knew they were just Rank 3 Spirit Grade treasures. They didn’t have a formation or a strange rippling energy.
"Uncle Mo, Uncle Ling, grandpa, later on, you guys should give me your secret treasures that you are using. I’m going to help you refine them."
Before the beasts arrived, he still had the mood to laugh with them. This kid didn’t care about his life indeed!
Mo Dun Huan, Ling Ming, and s.h.i.+ Jian were stupefied as they couldn’t make head or tail.
Yang Tian Emperor was moved. His eyes brightened. He asked gingerly, "You know how to refine treasures?"
s.h.i.+ Yan nodded.
Yang Tian Emperor smiled dazzlingly. He nodded to s.h.i.+ Yan.
At this moment, roughly hundred demonic beasts at various levels appeared in their visions.
The leader of this group was a Fierce Flame Gold Lion, around one hundred meters tall. The red fur on its body was almost one meter long, which made it look like a bunch of flames. Gold rays of light radiated from the lion as it was releasing an intensive heat.
Standing next to the Fierce Flame Gold Lion was a python with four curled horns. Round black and white patterns appeared distinctively on its body, which was like a mountain of flesh. This was the level 8 beast called Silver-horned Great Python.
The Fierce Flame Gold Lion and the Silver-horned Great Python were the level 8 beasts. They could transform. Although these two hadn"t changed yet, the light of wisdom in their eyes was obvious.
Before the change of heaven and earth energy, level 8 beasts with intellect weren"t ordinary. After the great change, their intelligence was no different from that of human beings. They had become high-grade creatures. Not only they could reason, they also knew how to use the powers in their bodies.
After the two level 8 beasts arrived, they stopped and observed the situation. They didn’t hurry.
s.h.i.+ Yan cracked a smile. He let the War Devil release the furious, murderous aura while he was acc.u.mulating his energy. s.h.i.+ Yan secretly let the Death Domain expand. The quiet but desperate aura had scared all the beasts on the opposite side.
Yang Tian Emperor arched his brows. His blood and aura both were boiling up, giving people an extreme feeling of danger.
The two level 8 beasts didn’t say anything. They sensed for a while, as if they were considering whether to have a b.l.o.o.d.y battle or not.
"My master said that this area is under his authority. You have one month to leave here. Otherwise, my master will kill you all."
The Fierce Flame Gold Lion contemplated for a while and then thundered. Its giant mouth, as big as a pond of blood, spitting out fiery flames. Heating waves shot out torrentially.
Level 8 beasts could understand human languages. They had enough faculty to communicate with high-grade beings.
Yang Tian Emperor had dragged the fierce Flame Gold Lion and the Silver-horned Great Python here. They had thought that they could kill Yang Tian Emperor. However, now they had two unknown factors. s.h.i.+ Yan and the War Devil.
The two members of the Monster Clan changed their minds, but they didn’t want to lose their power and prestige, so they had to scare the others using words.
"Master?" s.h.i.+ Yan smiled, "Who is your master?"
"Master Flame Dragon!" Fierce Flame Gold Lion and the Silver-horned Great Python proudly answered in unison.
"A level 9 Flame Flood Dragon," Ling Ming reminded him.
s.h.i.+ Yan was enlightened. He nodded and talked to the Fierce Flame Gold Lion and the Silver-horned Great Python. "Alright, we got it. We will discuss a little bit. Perhaps we will visit your master and tell him something he’ll be interested in."
"My master doesn’t like humans. He won’t meet you. You’d better leave early." Fierce Flame Gold Lion knew that they couldn’t get what they wanted today, so it could only leave with the Silver-horned Great Python with rage.
A herd of hundred beasts at various levels followed those two and left quickly.
"That Fiery Flame Flood Dragon has just reached level 9 recently. He’s a dangerous factor in this Perpetual Night Forest." Ling Ming sighed, knitting his brows. "But the Fiery Flame Dragon isn’t the most dangerous one. There are more tremendous beasts in the Perpetual Night Forest. Moreover, they have their own territories. Our shelter’s in the territory of the Fiery Flame Dragon. I heard that there’s a beast which is about to reach level 10 in the Secret Domain. Even the seven ancient factions couldn’t do any harm to it."
s.h.i.+ Yan slightly changed his countenance. "It seems the situation of this Perpetual Night Forest’s really complicated."
"Of course, it is," Ling Ming beamed a forced smile. "Otherwise, we wouldn’t see many heartless and cruel people."
Yang Tian Emperor nodded, swinging his hand. "No need to talk about it. Before we get the ability, it will only hurt us."
Ling Ming and Mo Dun Huan became stern, as they understood the situation well.
"Great Grandpa, please give me all the cultivating materials of the Yang family. I want to refine weapons on a ma.s.sive scale. I want to improve everybody’s competence. I want to enhance your secret treasures and weapons within half a month. I want to strengthen those who decided to stay with us!"
s.h.i.+ Yan took a deep breath and then thundered.