Chapter 250 – Cultivators Approaching
The team was waiting after the drop of ambient Qi. As the clouds started to gather, the Heavenly Disaster was now upon them.
Umbra waited in the shadows with Wanshu. They were waiting for the first wave.
And in waves, they came. Many Cultivators entered the forest that was littered with traps, but fortunately for the team, they had no cooperation.
Umbra and Wanshu were able to kill them off one by one without any issues. The smaller groups were left for later, since it would be bad if the lone individuals banded together or with the bigger groups.
The deathly silence permeated through the forest. Everyone could hear everything, yet they heard nothing.
There were no fancy Arrays blocking the sounds. It's just that all animals, no matter how big or small had either hidden or ran away
The Heavenly Disaster brought along the pressure of the Heavens, which all animals feared. They didn't dare to move or make a sound, making the whole forest completely silent.
Umbra silently sneaked around, slicing the throats of unsuspecting Cultivators. So far things went easy as all of them were either weak Cultivators or oblivious idiots.
Wanshu, despite being slower, had a far greater mastery of stealth, which made her even more formidable than Umbra. The thing that held her back was naturally her speed, but since everywhere was dark, she had no issues moving around.
...
They murdered the Cultivators like this for a whole week, but then things changed.
More powerful Cultivators arrived at the forest and the pair of Shadow Foxes were forced to battle for days on end just to keep them in check. They were now on the losing end, but fortunately, the absurd amount of traps they prepared helped even the odds.
The pair had even lucked out in finding some poisonous herbs, which when applied to their ropes and needles, helped them further slow the advancing Cultivators.
This allowed them some breathing room and time to rest.
The Blood Fox was not as stealthy, so she had to stay at the entrance of the cave. She acted as a sort of guard Fox, so that none that slipped past Umbra and Wanshu, would be able to slip past her.
The Blood Fox was more battle-oriented than Umbra and Wanshu, so she would have an easier time like this.
The forest fell silent as the Cultivators retreated. The place was pretty much littered with corpses. Unfortunately, neither Wanshu nor Umbra knew how to extract Souls, so this was pretty much a wasteful battle, but one that they had to do.
...
Things changed at the dawn of the next day. A flying ship greeted them haughtily. They could not defend themselves from the skies and were completely defenceless as they watched the flying ship pass above their heads.
Fortunately, the forest was vast and it would take a while for the ship to arrive at the cave entrance. They still had time to regroup.
The Heavenly Disaster surged above the mountain. It was now much bigger and for some reason it was getting even bigger.
Suddenly the ambient Qi dropped even more, staggering all Cultivators.
"What the hell is that Heavenly Treasure doing?!""Shut up you clueless bastard! The Heavenly Treasure needs to gather Qi to awaken! This is the best opportunity to tame it! Charge!""Are you crazy!? Don't you remember how many traps are inside the forest?!""So are we just going to pass on this Heavenly Treasure?!""No! Lead the way!""Stop! You will die!"
A group of Cultivators bickered and shouted at each other. The duo shook their heads as they waited for the inevitable.
*Creak**Crack*
A strange noise came from the sky and everyone looked up.
To everyone's horror, the large flying ship was falling to the ground.
All Cultivators immediately scattered away from the crashing ship.
The duo also scattered, but they were a lot slower. Fortunately for them, they were a greater distance away, but the aftershock of the crash still hit them and sent them tumbling.
"Ugh." Umbra winced, her body had many small wounds that she patched and some of them opened during this fall.
"Are you alright?" Wanshu was not much better, while her stealth was superior, her speed was much slower.
"Somewhat..." Umbra whined softly. "I hope Aiko wakes up soon, this is getting harder and harder each day..." She sighed, bandaging her wounds.
"Hoy, you bastard! Can't you even fly the ship properly?!" A booming feminine voice spread throughout the forest as she shouted at the Cultivator flying the ship.
"Oh shut up! I'm already overworked since you wanted to arrive as soon as possible!" The male Cultivator shouted back. "How was I supposed to know that this place had flying restrictions in place?!" He snorted disdainfully at the female Cultivator.
"It doesn't have flying restrictions! The Saintess made sure of it!" The female Cultivator snorted.
There was a brief silence, before the male Cultivator spoke. "You must get that Heavenly Treasure since it has an abnormal flight-restricting effect!"
"I know!" The female Cultivator shouted and stood at the front of the ship.
She looked around and could hear gasps from nearby Cultivators that did not belong to her Sect. Some of them even cursed their luck that they would not be able to get that Heavenly Treasure since that demon arrived.
The female Cultivator was called Fiend Wang. While she was not a Fiendish Cultivator, her actions made that hard to believe, especially when she was out collecting treasure. This earned her that nickname that she was so proud of.
She was a devilish beauty in her own right. The long silky fiery hair. The supple thighs and thin waist. Everything screamed buxom beauty about her... except her face. She always wore the face of a demon, distorted and ugly from her exploits. As such, nobody underestimated her or belittled her.
Most Cultivators that were trying to enter the forest gave up at this point. There was no point in going against this fiend as it would only end up in their deaths.
Fiend Wang was satisfied with this reaction and commanded her Sect's disciples.
"Scout the Forest and find the Heavenly Treasure! Whoever finds it will get 100,000 Spirit Stones and personal teaching from one of our Sect's Elders!" Fiend Wang shouted and roars spread throughout the crashed flying ship.
She smiled like a devil, but that smile did not last long. Her face distorted when she saw those idiots pull out their flying swords and jump on them.
She did not say anything as she watched half of her Sect's disciples fail to fly and crash to the ground. None of them were uninjured and anger spread throughout her whole being, distorting her face even more.
"You brainless fish!" She roared and the forest shook. "Did you idiots forget what happened to our flying ship?!" She kept shouting on and on. "Do you think that all of you are that amazing, you can just bypass that restriction?! You think that you are better than a flying ship built by the best craftsmen?!" She kept shouting like an angry child.
"Recover these idiots, they will be punished later. Offer them basic healing and regroup. Scout the forest PROPERLY this time!" She huffed her fist beating on the railing of the ship making numerous cracks like it was made out of tofu.
She angrily turned around and went inside the ship to check on the damages.
...
The duo looked at each other. It seems like they will have some time to recover before this battle. They had barely used their healing Pills preserving them for when they were needed, and they were glad they did.
The duo would be fully healed before this devastating battle. They just hoped that that shouting person would not participate. Her pressure pretty much paralysed them.
They sneaked away, back to the cave to rest and use healing Pills on their wounds.
Fortunately, the Pills were either High or Perfect Grade, which meant that they had absurd effects with very few impurities. This would allow them to fight sooner than with the common Pills.
...
The day turned into a night and night into a day.
The flying ship recovered its defensive Arrays and Inscriptions, making it into a fortress. It would be impossible to invade it.
The disciples were recovered and offered basic aid from their fellow peers.
The disdain on their fellow peers' faces could not be concealed, which angered the brainless fish.
Before any fight could erupt, the tension between them froze once Fiend Wang appeared.
"Damages?" Fiend Wang asked for reports.
"Most of our disciples have broken bones, only some survived without broken bones, but their muscles tore and it would take about the same time to recover." One disciple briefed Fiend Wang on their status.
"Tsk." Fiend Wang clicked her tongue. "How long before we begin scouting?"
"We will be finished by tomorrow morning with the treatment." The same disciple said softly, while keeping his head low.
"Tsk." Fiend Wang once again clicked her tongue. "Make sure to scout properly!" She commanded them before leaving.
None had the will to continue fighting. They were just glad that they were not punished immediately by Fiend Wang.
...
The duo of shadow foxes recovered their wounds and went back inside the forest.
They were in high spirits since Aiko was able to crash the flying ship. They knew that she didn't do it on purpose, but their morale still soared high!
They waited another day before the disciples finally went inside the forest. Unfortunately for the duo, unlike the nobodies before, these Cultivators or at least the group leaders had some skill.
Most traps were uncovered by them and while some were restrained or poisoned by the traps, their wealth could not be compared to that of lone Cultivators.
They would immediately pop a healing Pill or Detoxifying Pill into their mouths. Making their progress much faster than the previous advances.
Umbra and Wanshu had no chance to kill any of them since the groups were too large and their teamwork was too good. They would have to wait until they were further from the flying ship and the groups were more dispersed before starting any battles.
The duo were still worried about that powerful Cultivator residing inside that ship. They didn't want to tempt their luck with her and would bide their time for the time being.
