Also, if he was lucky, there might just be a few with great potential. If they could reach Shang’er’s level, Lin Jin would be making a considerable gain.
By then, this group of monsters could stand up against a top-class expert like Corpse Taoist.
Like the boss of a mafia, how should his strength be gauged? By the number of his underlings, of course. There was a saying that a swarm of tiny mosquitoes could kill an elephant, and they weren’t kidding.
This was all thanks to the monster-locking pill. Without it, Lin Jin wouldn’t have dared to teach any random monster how to cultivate properly. With the help of these pills, the monster’s fate rested in his hands so he no longer had any worries.
He summoned Foul Wind and Fire Wind and he glanced at the three monsters.
“I have a few poison pills here, take them. I want you to feign retreat back to the cave and make a report. After you’re there, just crush the pills and feed them to the monster crowd. Remember, this is a test of your loyalty. Those who disobey my order shall not blame me for showing no mercy,” threatened Lin Jin.
Having experienced the physical torture after being fed the monster-locking pill, even the stubborn Foul Wind wore a frightened expression. Although he was reluctant, just the thought of having to experience that agonizing pain again made him sweat buckets.
Even if they were actively betraying their tribe, they only had one option to survive.
In Lin Jin’s hands, they couldn’t die even if they wanted to.”
“Right, Huang Qi, you’ve been very loyal so I’m giving you a might pill [1]that can boost your strength by several folds,” said Lin Jin as he tossed Huang Qi a pill, rewarding him in front of everyone.
The latter shook with excitement and gratitude.
Like a schoolkid who just got rewarded by his teacher, he felt a sense of superiority and pride.
Huang Qi knelt before Lin Jin to express his gratitude.
Everything was going according to Lin Jin’s plan.
“Go on. Once you’ve all contributed to my plan, you will be rewarded accordingly.” Having said that, Lin Jin looked to Huang Qi.
“Next time, I’ll perfect your transfiguration so you won’t have to scare anyone else with your half-human half-beast appearance.”
Huang Qi shuddered upon hearing this.
Transfiguration had been one of his weaknesses, and it was obvious. He had dreamed of perfecting it but competition inside Dark Wind Cave was vicious. Despite them calling each other family, these monsters were all wary of one another and no one was willing to guide their peers to success.
Upon hearing that Lin Jin could perfect his Transfiguration, thus completing his long-life dream, Huang Qi was even more grateful and became increasingly loyal.
Lin Jin waved and the three monsters went away.
The three monsters hurried out of Bull Village in silence, each bearing different opinions.
Huang Qi seemed intent on serving Lin Jin, so he kept his eyes on the other two monsters. Meanwhile, Foul Wind and Fire Wind felt conflicted.
“Are we going to become slaves to that human?” Fire Wind could no longer resist voicing out his thoughts.
They could tell that he was reluctant to surrender.
Foul Wind seemed intent to speak but stayed silent in the end. Huang Qi scoffed. “Why do you have to make it sound so terrible? Or perhaps you have another choice, Fire Wind?”
Yeah, do you?
Huang Qi felt that those who could adapt to changing circumstances would emerge as winners. Since they had no other choice, why did they have to trouble themselves with defying an undefeatable opponent?
“What’s more, we’re no better off at Dark Wind Cave. We always have to tread carefully around another’s temper. Besides a banner master title, we don’t get anything else. If we’re not careful, we might even get challenged by a monster brat and have our titles snatched away…” Huang Qi sounded mindful when he said these words.
He was giving advice but also stating his thoughts and experience.
Indeed, as he mentioned, survival of the fittest was the way of life in Dark Wind Cave. It was a brutal and bloody place.
The title of ‘banner master’ was not granted for life; should anyone want to replace a banner master, they could just issue a challenge. Losers either died or sustained heavy injuries that lasted for life. Frankly speaking, Huang Qi lived in fear every single day in Dark Wind Cave. He was terrified that a rising monster brat would suddenly take his place.
On the other hand, when he was by Lin Jin’s side, he saw a glimmer of hope, so of course, he wanted to seize it.
Upon hearing Huang Qi’s words, Fire Wind fell silent.
The pain brought on by the monster-locking pill was still fresh in his mind. He was also frightened by that mysterious expert’s incredible strength. Although he was reluctant to accept the loss, the thought of the consequences he would face for exposing this secret terrified him.
After their brief exchange, all three monsters never spoke again. Huang Qi had already decided to pursue his new bright future. As for the other two, Foul Wind didn’t speak so no one knew his thoughts, and Fire Wind’s eyes were filled with conflict and hesitation.
Just then, a monster’s wind came blowing from the front.
They saw more than ten monsters hurrying their way with Ominous Wind in the lead.
Following behind Ominous Wind was an eight-foot-tall brute. As his top was bare, one could see his large muscles and his massive waist.
It was Wild Wind.
At the sight of the three monsters, Wild Wind’s eyes lit up and he rushed over.
“Foul Wind, what’s going on? Ominous Wind said you guys were captured and she spent a huge amount of effort just to escape and inform us about it. How did you guys manage to break free?” Wild Wind inquired with his thunderous voice.
Dark Wind Cave had many tiger monsters including Foul Wind and Wild Wind. In terms of strength, Wild Wind was definitely in the top three. Many considered his strength phenomenal. He tended to care for his fellow tiger monsters in the cave, acting much like their big brother.
Foul Wind who had remained quiet the whole journey, screamed at the sight of Wild Wind, “Brother Wild Wind, run!”
Oh no!
Huang Qi and Ominous Wind were startled.
Both of them took out the poison pill without hesitation and crushed them immediately.
The next instant, miasma shot out, covering a radius of one hundred feet in the blink of an eye, encompassing all the monsters in the area.
Foul Wind held his breath, thinking he would be fine if he didn’t breathe it in. To his horror, the miasma was so strong that after taking just two steps, he felt his world spin before he fell to the ground.
The other monsters were the same. Only the strongest Wild Wind managed to struggle out of the miasma. However, he had breathed in quite a bit of the poisonous gas so after running a few steps, his body gave out and he fell to the ground.
The ones who fell included Huang Qi and Ominous Wind.
As Lin Jin hadn’t given them the antidote, they weren’t spared by the miasma.
More than a dozen monsters were sprawled on the ground. Some were unconscious while the ones with higher cultivation levels still maintained their consciousness. However, they couldn’t get up.
It didn’t take long for Lin Jin to arrive.
He had been observing the situation from a hidden location so he saw everything, including who was loyal and who had betrayed him.
Once he arrived, he cleared the miasma with a wave of his sleeve. He was pleasantly surprised by how powerful this poison pill he retrieved from the Feed Mill was. Even highly cultivated Rank 4 monsters couldn’t resist its influence.
As the pills were crushed instead of swallowed whole, their potency was higher than usual. Without a doubt, the poison pill was an item that could turn the tide of the battle during moments of desperation.
[1] Note: The author changed ‘might bean’ to ‘might pill’ here. Just a heads up!
