Bi Fan and w.a.n.g Zhong had a very good reason to hold their positions, and not indulge themselves in fights with the Devil’s race Beasts, because at the moment, they were in a very convenient position to make a dash for the Ogre flower, as and when the opportunity presented itself.
The martial artists, who were standing at the periphery of the battleground, were now being forced to fight with the beasts, since the beasts weren’t giving them much of an option.
This was a huge disadvantage for these people, because when the rush for grabbing the Ogre flower would reach its peak, these men would have an awfully difficult time getting rid of the beasts they were fighting, since the beasts, unlike humans, had no interest in the flower.
The men who were closest to the Ogre flower, were the cream amongst the elite martial artists, and so, naturally, had faced each other several times in the past. These people, continued to strategically advance closer to the flower.
However, no one was willing to take the initiative of taking the first petal, as the person in question was very likely to become the target for a mult.i.tude of arrows.
w.a.n.g Zhong and Bi Fan, meanwhile had squeezed a little closer into the battlefield to avoid the beasts, and, were now standing in the middle of the fray.
At present, Bi Fan and w.a.n.g Zhong weren’t worried about their position at all, as the two of them were very confident that they could make their way to the flower whenever they saw fit.
Since the involvement of the Devil’s Race, the fighting had become a lot more intense, and several martial artists had lost their lives; obviously the count of the dead beasts was pretty high too.
At the moment, the situation between the humans and the beasts, had turned into a dog-eats-dog contest, in which everyone was wildly trying to beat the other side.
It was for this reason alone, that w.a.n.g Zhong and Bi Fan had ventured a little deeper into the battlefield, since the fighting at the periphery had become far too violent.
On top of that, both ethnicities, humans and Devil’s Race, were flocking into the battlefield in a constant stream of flow. And if this continued for long, then, there was no saying when this fighting would finally end.
There were a few ‘transformation’ layer martial artists, in the inner most parts of the battlefield, who were beginning to get very restless, and had already started casting out strong moves to force their through the crowd.
“Crucifix Deception Sword!” Gu Feng cast out the same technique that his late Brother Tian Feng had; obviously, his attack was a lot stronger than his Brother’s.
In one single move, Gu Feng pushed back all his opponents, and taking advantage of their retreat, he charged towards the flower.
At least a dozen or so men, matched his actions, and charged wildly for the flower.
They continued to swing at each other as they rushed to the flower.
Everyone wanted to take the flower for themselves, and simply didn’t want the other party to get anything, or interfere in their business.
The Ogre flower, realizing that a lot of strong men were about to a.s.sault it, threw away the man it was busy sucking the life out off, and redirected its shoots towards them.
“Cross Deception Sword!”
“Shaking Heavens!”
“Five Thunder Blade!”
…. …..
The big boys had used their best tricks, and had managed to cut off the Ogre flower’s tentacles very quickly.
And even though Bi Fan was busy fighting someone, he still, was keeping an eye on their movements as well.
‘Five Thunders’ School’s special technique, ‘the five thunder blade’ caught his eye in particular. The sharp edge of the sword appeared like bolt of lightning, as it flashed through the air, and cut down at least a dozen or so tentacles, in a single strike.
Bi Fan realized that since so many strong men, had launched so many strong attacks at the flower, the flower at this point, would definitely be a little more vulnerable to raiders.
“Brother w.a.n.g, you start attracting some attention, and I’ll take care of the flower!” Bi Fan called the plan into action.
Bi Fan had this plan in his mind the whole time. He was going to use the two armors that he was wearing, the soft one that he had bought from Ting Feng valley, and the wisteria armor that Ling Xin Ya had given him, to defend himself, as he charged through the battlefield.
“Brother Bi Fan, you be careful okay!” w.a.n.g Zhong’s tone reflected a hint of concern.
s.n.a.t.c.hing petals from the Ogre flower was going to be a very tough task, since Bi Fan would probably have to face a very strong resistance from several very strong contenders.
Bi Fan had taken the initiative, and had undertaken the tougher job on his head, leaving w.a.n.g Zhong to support him.
“GO!” Bi Fan and w.a.n.g Zhong, simultaneously, got rid of their opponents, and charged towards the center of the battlefield.
“Arghh!!!” w.a.n.g Zhong cast out the ‘defying domination’ technique, and attacked several men at once.
Bi Fan, quickly taking advantage of the diversion that w.a.n.g Zhong had provided, forced his way through the opening that had been created for him, and rushed towards the Ogre flower.
“Someone is trying to steal the flower again! d.a.m.n it!” The two of them had already attracted a lot of attention from the other martial artists in the vicinity.
Several angry men launched fierce attacks, in the hope of stopping, and killing, Bi Fan.
Bi Fan, agile as a loach, managed to dodge most of the attacks; the few attacks that did manage to land on his body, didn’t cause any harm, owing to the defensive capabilities of his armors.
The Ogre flower realized that it is being closed down by another strong fighter, and so, it called the remaining of its shoots into action, and redirected them towards Bi Fan, in the hope of wrapping them around him.
‘The Rising Sun!’
Bi Fan was smart enough to conceal his ident.i.ty once again. He had already changed his appearance before entering the fray, and was now using a technique which was the trade mark of a Sect, to which he had no relation.
Bi Fan was still weak in the eyes of some, and so, he still needed to tread cautiously in this world.
“The flower is mine!” Bi Fan’s excitement was visible, as he inched closer to his prize.
Bi Fan managed to cut off most of the tentacles, which the flower had shot at him.
At this point, several other men, replicated his actions, and charged towards the flower.
Obviously, there were a lot of people present, who didn’t have the spine to attack the flower on their own, and hence, had been waiting for someone to take the lead.
‘A snap of the fingers!’
Bi Fan popped a few stones to break off the remaining tentacles.
‘Prancing Tiger!’
Bi Fan cast out his most powerful boxing technique to fend off the tentacles that were within arms-reach.
“Boom!” A loud noise emanated from the collision, as the flower’s shoots wilted under the force of Bi Fan’s attacks.
Bi Fan had come fully prepared, and he took out some mountain rope, which he had procured from his senior, to pull the flower closer, and he threw it over to grab the flower.
Bi Fan had made a very smart move; he was going to use the rope to pull the whole flower towards him.
“Boy! You think you can take the whole flower! You are going to die now!”
“Boy, leave the flower, or we will kill you!”
…. ….
Bi Fan’s actions had managed to infuriate several men, who wantonly charged at him.
Bi Fan didn’t flinch for even one second, and continued to carry on his set task, and covered only the most vital parts of his body.
The Ogre flower’s defenses had been defeated altogether. So now, if Bi Fan left the flower behind for the others to take, then it would be a very expensive form of charity.
“Zhumm….” Successive hits befell Bi Fan’s body.
Thanks to his armors, Bi Fan didn’t suffer any serious injuries; but nevertheless, the force of the attacks, was enough to imbalance him.
Bi Fan had almost managed to grab the flower, but this unaccounted intervention, caused the rope to slip from his hands, and the flower slipped away from him.
Fortunately, w.a.n.g Zhong had managed to pin down several men, otherwise Bi Fan would have been sent flying due to the sheer force of the attacks.
“Grab it!”
“The Ogre flower belongs to me! Don’t you dare touch it!”
There were a lot of young martial artists present on the scene, and all of them were confident that they could take the flower for themselves, without letting anyone dip their hands in the pie.
Several such youngsters, charged towards the flower.
Obviously, there were others who wanted to obstruct them, and launched fierce attacks to achieve their objective.
Suddenly, a very strong gale breezed through the Devil’s Abyss, and swept away some of the petals from the Ogre Flower with its tide.
There were hundreds of people inside the battlefield, battling for the prize, but most of them had been blocked out from entering the inner territory by the students from bigger martial arts sects.
But now, since the petals were beginning to get blown away with the wind, they simply couldn’t hold back anymore, and they collectively charged at the front lines of the defense that the big schools had set, which had been keeping them at bay until now.
“Charge! Grab it! Take it!….” Several men yelled as they rallied together.
After all, collectively, these men were far more in number, and were far stronger; and so, they weren’t exactly afraid of taking the risk anymore.
“Stop them! Make sure they don’t get in!” the elite martial artists that were at the core of battlefield, shouted orders at their comrades; they were beginning to panic now.
If so many strong men charged at them, collectively, then even the strongest of fighters may not be able to protect themselves, and could possibly fall prey to the sheer number of incoming attacks.
They had all undertaken this adventure in the hope of obtaining a petal from the coveted Ogre flower; no one wanted to die here.
But it was too late already, the fighters who were charged with the responsibility of maintaining the barrier, had already been overrun.
A huge crowd of people charged into core of the battleground; and the confusion on the battlefield, took to another level.
The innermost areas of the battlefield were flocking with fighters from different sects, who were randomly teaming up against strong fighters, while others were trying to get to the Ogre flower.
Hundreds of men had launched this new a.s.sault, and the first layer of the defense that the big sects had set was already torn to pieces. Some managed to run and concentrate resources at the center; while the ones that were slightly slower, died.
w.a.n.g Zhong quietly retreated to the other side; prepared to rescue Bi Fan at a moment’s notice.
Bi Fan stood up, picked up his rope, and readied himself for another bout.