Seven Slaughters regretted the question as soon as he asked it. Where else would this meat come from, if not arcane beasts?!
There were no corpses here, just massive piles of meat and bones gnawed clean, as well as stacks of internal organs and hides.
The newly returned dukes were immensely indignant at the sight. Here they were, fighting for all they were worth on the rainbow bridge and tempering themselves against the arcane beasts. They balanced on the tightrope between life and death at every second, but the others were having a bonfire party??
Those who’d remained with Lu Yun were in high spirits and the ripples of energy coming from them seemed to have strengthened by a large amount.
“Did you guys do it?” Azureclad asked dumbly. “Did you guys kill the fifteen hundred arcane beasts?”
“Not us,” boomed a nearby cultivator. “Champion Duke killed a thousand with one stroke and the little princess handled another five hundred with less than half a breath. And take a look at our cultivation levels! Heh heh heh, it’s His Grace the Champion Duke and Her Highness Qing Ting who guided us themselves. How about it? We haven’t improved any less than you.” He smiled proudly.
…the cultivators who’d just escaped from the arcane beasts wanted nothing more than to curse everything in sight.
“I’m not going anywhere anymore! No more! No where! Screw this shitty trial and tempering, forget that stupid fighting! I’m not going anywhere anymore!” Blackclad plopped down and waved over a slightly charred piece of meat, chomping into it with gusto.
“Ooh, there’s wine here too. Hey little brother, will you share some with me?” He looked around and glimpsed Dragon Butterfly drinking with another cultivator. Blackclad quickly sidled up with a merry grin.
“Yeah, join us!” Slightly inebriated, Dragon Butterfly picked a jug and shoved it into the newcomer’s hands.
“I wasn’t the one who wanted to leave before, Qing Ting shooed me away!” Azureclad quickly protested when he saw Crimsonclad’s glare.
“Rest and recover, the arcane beasts are coming.” Lu Yun smiled ruefully when he noted the massive amount of building resentment. Despite that, the cultivators didn’t dare voice any complaints.
None of the titled dukes were fools, they were feeling a bit aggrieved, but didn’t really fault Lu Yun or Qing Ting. They were fully aware of the duo’s strength—what did killing a thousand arcane beasts matter when the two could rob more than three thousand half step kings in one go?
They ate and drank with enthusiasm, adjusting their minds and bodies for the battle to come.
Though more than a thousand of their number was gone, the arcane beasts had also paid a heavy price. There were less than six thousand of the ten thousand beasts that’d originally arrived on the rainbow bridge.
They possessed their own ways of tracking cultivators and were already crowding in around the edges, completely sealing off the area. No charge was forthcoming because they were wary of Lu Yun’s strength.
Most importantly was that the arcane beasts hadn’t fully eliminated all of the other cultivators on the bridge either. They were currently mobbing another tough target. Though it wasn’t as heaven-defying as Lu Yun and Qing Ting, it was also extraordinarily frightening.
It was still bouncing around with energy after killing more than a hundred beasts.
The rainbow bridge appeared large, but it wasn’t that big and was continuously shrinking. As it grew smaller, more and more cultivators and arcane beasts trying to slip through the cracks by hiding in the shadows were exposed and swiftly disposed of.
There were only three thousand cultivators, so they didn’t need to turn on each other, but there were so many arcane beasts that even if they killed all of the cultivators, they would have to then winnow their own ranks to progress to the next level.
Many arcane beasts, including the unicorn beast from earlier, had no desire to run into Lu Yun’s group again. But as the bridge shrank, they were forced into the same area. The kaleidoscopic radiance over the bridge dimmed until it completely vanished and all beings could clearly see each other.
“Eh? There’s still other cultivators around?” sounded a soft voice as a young woman roughly sixteen years old jumped out of a herd of beasts. Dressed in a pristine skirt, the slight baby fat of her pleasant features made one want to pinch her cheeks.
However, she wielded an enormous machete that was incredibly mammoth. More than two times her height, fresh blood streamed down it in stark opposition to the girl’s image. She looked blankly at the near two thousand cultivators in front of her. In her eyes, they should’ve all become arcane beast food by now.
Bleariness flashed through her face, as if she was still half asleep.
“It’s you!” Qing Di shrieked when he saw the girl. “You’re still alive!”
“When even a weakling like you is still alive, why would I be dead?” She swung her sleepy head with annoyance, not understanding why this large group was still alive. The arcane beasts on the bridge were inordinately savage and many descendants of arcane beast kings were among them. It didn’t make sense that so many cultivators were still alive!
“Is this the three thousandth person?” Qing Ting asked quietly. “Why do I feel like she has no idea what’s gone on before this?”
“She probably doesn’t.” Lu Yun nodded.
The arcane beasts had gathered together and drooled over the enormous group of cultivators. In a similar fashion, Lu Yun and the others were also ready to fight. The girl happened to be standing between the two sides.
“I’m Long Batian, who are you?” the young girl asked.
“We’re cultivators here for the Dragonling Assembly,” Azureclad answered. “I am the Azureclad Duke, at your service!”
“Azureclad Duke?” the girl shook her head with a yawn. “Never heard of you.”
Azureclad: ……
“Roar!” came a low growl from the arcane beast pack. The rainbow bridge was continuing to shrink and forcing them to move closer to the cultivators. They were all uneasy, highly uneasy—including even the children of arcane beast kings.
Lu Yun emanated a terrifying aura, forcing the beasts and even their kings into extreme anxiety when facing it full on.
“There are now one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine cultivators, including this little girl,” he suddenly said.
“My name is Long Batian!” she grumbled.
“Alright then, Long Batian.” Lu Yun swept a glance over the girl and continued, “You may now select one thousand and seven beasts to remain for the Dragonling Assembly. You can choose to fight each other, take your own life, or jump off the rainbow bridge… Whatever it takes, only one thousand and seven can remain on the bridge in the end.
“If Qing Ting and I have to make the choice for you… I can’t fully control my power yet, so I might just kill you all and leave no one behind.”
Hummm.
Cerulean-silver sword light flared from the Stellar Sword as a dragon shadow of the same color flashed past his side.
