Gu Qi’s expression was frigid as he watched the final struggles of the three sectmasters. He sneered at their stubbornness to resist unto death. “Our ancestors were absolutely right. The humans are a weak race.” A man of his cultivation had the absolute right to treat the three women with disdain.
“I’m not interested in bullying women. Surrender yourselves, or you’ll be subjected to a far worse fate once the prince becomes angry.”
The second sectmaster was livid. “A barbarian isn’t worthy of asking us to surrender!”
Gu Qi snickered. “You’re certainly the most stubborn of everyone here. Very good. I’ll make an example out of you first.”
Saying this, he unreservedly transformed into a burst of wind, hurtling toward the Moon God Sect’s setup. He was completely unafraid of the defensive matrix. He was very confident in his abilities and also had a crushing cultivation advantage.
Seeing that Gu Qi was heading for them directly, the sectmasters panicked. They focused on their teamwork, striking in unison with their weapons. They were great emperors used to fighting alongside one another. In fact, this was a regular area of practice for them.
Combining their strengths allowed them to hold their own against even the likes of Emperors Pillzenith or Peafowl. Unfortunately, that was still insufficient before Gu Qi.
There was a strange air current around the old man that made their attacks slide right off him. Gu Qi cackled menacingly, his bony palm almost touching the second sectmaster’s chest.
It was in that instant that something came out of the blue –
As Gu Qi’s palm was about to make contact with the second sectmaster’s breast, his ears twitched in anticipation of something. His face colored. His heart palpitated at the undeniable sense of danger. His instincts brought him in a sudden leap backwards.
In the next moment, a fearsome arrow shot out from nowhere. Its trajectory had ignored all principles of space, but it’d only managed to graze him thanks to his timely dodge.
A terrifying killing intent brought cold sweat beading down Gu Qi’s back. He was sure that if he hadn’t jumped back, the arrow had more than enough power to kill him on the spot. Despite his expertise, his proud expression was replaced with one of jittery astonishment.
The arrow grazed Gu Qi’s body, but wasn’t content to stop there. Residual force propelled it to pierce through a series of further targets. A row of Gunuo warriors were slain almost defenselessly by the arrow’s propulsion. It only began to subside after reaping more than a dozen lives.
The arrow disappeared in another flash. This bolt out of the blue awed every tribesman bearing witness.
“Protect the prince!” Gu Qi shouted. He jumped in front of Gu Tianqing to shield him with his body before everyone else. The other bodyguards originally involved in attacking the Moon God Sect ignored that task in favor of defending their master as well. Gu Tianqing was well-protected by bulwarks of flesh and blood.
These Embittered Savages respected Gu Tianqing a great deal. They didn’t care about any potential personal harm, forming a wall with their own bodies around their prince.
The Moon God Sect was ignored for the time being. The head sectmaster was decisive enough to notice this. “Look for an opportunity to retreat!” she transmitted.
She led the pack in cutting a way through, tasking the second and third sectmasters with bring up the rear.
“Everyone, follow closely!” she called out. As a first rank sect, the Moon God Sect’s disciples were disciplined enough not to be overwhelmed by joy. A retreat was organized in a very orderly way.
But Gu Tianqing wasn’t going to let these female cultivators escape under his nose. “Stop them!” he shouted furiously.
Because the Savages had the advantage in numbers, another batch of several tens of thousands pounced at the Moon God Sect at the prince’s command. As the sect was in the center of the things, there were many layers of savages surrounding them. It wasn’t going to be easy to break free from the encirclement.
Without an opponent that tipped the scales as heavily as Gu Qi though, the head sectmaster saw a sliver of opportunity despite the fearsome crowd. She wove a net of snow-white blade auras, dancing like a coiling serpent. Everywhere she went, swathes of savages were cut down.
Though the Embittered Savage Tribe was fierce, its normal cultivators had a long way to go compared to a great emperor like the head sectmaster. Only a small minority of the Gunuo experts had the ability to utterly overpower her.
If not for the throng of savages, the three sectmasters’ unified effort would have been more than enough to carve a path out.
However, these Gunuo cultivators were incredibly audacious. The high casualty rate didn’t faze them, nor did it throw their ranks into disarray. The ones who died were immediately replaced by their peers.
At this time, another arrow flashed forth from empty space.
Thump, thump, thump!
It stole away lives like a deity of death, bringing carnage and blood wherever it travelled. The lives of the savage warriors were snuffed out in droves. Furthermore, these arrows always struck in the most crowded places. The head sectmaster received a multitude of opportunities and openings because of this.
Even the usually brave and fierce Embittered Savages began to express some confusion. This two-pronged attack was rather difficult to deal with. If they were allowed to focus on fighting the Moon God Sect women, their numbers and courage could crush their adversaries through brute force. But they couldn’t manage the deadly arrows that came from outside.
These arrows were no common ambushes. Each missile carried immense might behind it. A single arrow was enough to kill a large group of Savages. Because these aliens enjoyed tempering their own bodies, their defensive ability was quite robust.
Alas, it was no help at all against these arrows. Their bodies were as fragile as pieces of paper when matched against the missiles, and a single wound from an arrow ripped a victim right open.
Gu Tianqing was supremely upset when he saw this as well.
“Who’s launching these sneaky attacks and interfering with my business?” the savage prince was completely upset. “Gu Qi, leave me. Seek out this deceitful bastard!”
As someone deeply loyal to Gu Tianqing, Gu Qi could do little other than incoherently mutter and hesitate. He wouldn’t comply with the prince’s demands.
“Your Highness, your safety is more important. These arrows are very scary. They’ll pound even the slightest sliver of weakness. I absolutely cannot leave you.” Gu Qi was very stubborn. No matter how much Gu Tianqing pestered him about fighting, he would only agree to remain as the prince’s most faithful guard and protector. The old man’s hawkish eyes sought the source of the arrow.
Gu Tianqing’s fury was manifest in his reaction. “A capable man should show himself. What courage does it take to ambush people from the unseen? Humans are a base and reviled race alright!!” His anger had been thoroughly kindled.
Whoosh!
There was no answering voice from the aether. Instead, another arrow shot forth.
The arrow seemed to be able to accurately lock on to him. No matter how well the other cultivators surrounded him, its killing intent was not in any way diminished by their defense.
“Protect the prince!” Gu Qi and a few other bodyguards activated their defensive treasures, forming several bastions around Gu Tianqing.
Boom!
This combined effort from multiple experts was barely enough to block the arrow. Upon failing to reach its mark, it disappeared in the breeze.
“Moving an object through the cracks of space with mere mental effort… this opponent must be knowledgeable with spatial techniques!” Gu Qi was rather astonished at this wondrous sight. If not for the potency of their defense, the results would have been catastrophic.
Gu Tianqing’s own strength was perfectly sufficient, but this lethal arrow was the closest he’d come to mortal peril. Cold sweat formed all over his body.
He’d thought he could roam uncontested in the human domain, especially after Xi Yuan had related certain information. He had been almost certain of the Embittered Savage Tribe’s advantage over the human race. But it seemed that his prior optimism had been a bit too blind.
“Stand fast. Each arrow must cost a lot of energy. I don’t believe that he can keep firing!” Gu Tianqing shouted loudly to his subjects.
Gu Qi echoed this sentiment. “The arrows are weakening already. Stay in formation and don’t panic!”
“Anyone who captures a cultivator from the Moon God Sect will be rewarded eighty million spirit stones. Anyone who captures a sectmaster, three hundred million!”
The sizable bounties were more than enough motivation for some. There were always those who valued money more than their lives. Moreover, the arrows’ kill counts had been minuscule at best compared to the size of the Embittered Savage’s army.
The head sectmaster was gradually opening a way up out of the encirclement. Unfortunately, she discovered upon getting about halfway that these savages had become more ferocious due to the price on their heads. No matter which way they charged, more swarmed forward to replace the cultivators they killed.
“Head Sectmaster, we can’t kill enough people to get out of here.” The third sectmaster was slightly depressed. “Does the arrow just now mean reinforcements are here?”
She desperately wanted that to be true. She found the density of the savages before them a painful thing to contemplate.
“Get them, get them!”
Savages welled like an inexorable tide. The ones that did this time weren’t ordinary cultivators of the tribe, but captains and leaders as well. Many were half-step great emperors. Coupled with their numbers advantage, this meant that the three sectmasters were matched to a certain extent.
