The ground shook as a stampede of wild Spirit Beasts rampaged across the small town. The guards did their best to hold the Spirit Beasts off while the noncombatant villagers ran for cover. Even with their squad of 50 men, the town guards were not able to stop the stampede for a breaths time.

In midst of the chaos, an ape rampaged into a house. Smashing everything in his path, he soon came across a family of three. The mother was terrified, her small child hugging her while sobbing uncontrollably. The father grabbed his pitchfork and inserted something inside it using his willpower causing the pitchfork to glow in a pale blue color.

"Ha ha, a mere Spirit Gathering Realm Lower Level dares to fight back??" the ape sneered. "The guards outside were of an Upper Realm and they still died. What can you possibly do?"

The dad didn't bother saying anything, but his actions implied that he was not willing to give easily. The mother and son tried to run away, however, a smaller female ape broke down the remaining house. She looked at the two feeble bodies.

"Leave the man to me. I will eat him, you take the boy and mother," her voice sounded.

The male ape grabbed the small boy from his mother. He held the boy's arms in each hand, his mouth opened to show two rows of jagged teeth. The mother screamed as her son's head was bitten off.

"NOOOOOO!!!!" the father stabbed out at the male ape with all his might. But sadly for him, before the attack even landed, the female ape grabbed him from behind and tore off the arm he was wielding the pitchfork with. Then she proceeded to break his other arm off and munch it down.

The man fainted from the blood loss as well as the pain. The wife also passed out from watching her two family members die a terrible death. The male ape did not give her time to think as he grabbed her by the neck and snapped it like a twig. The two humans were simply not their match. Besides the difference in their height and body composition, the two apes had also achieved a higher cultivation level. Both being at the Upper level of Spirit Gathering Realm.

Scenes like this were seen spread out through the entire town. No one could match these Spirit Beasts. This was no longer a defense battle to survive. This was a massacre. The humans were little lambs waiting to be feasted upon by the wolves which were the Spirit Beasts.

***

*

A small girl peeked out from the bushes. She stared at the town which was overran by the Spirit Beasts. Her age was roughly seven to eight, wearing tattered clothes. Her body was small and frail. It seemed that she had not had food in a good few days. Her dirty body also reeked of sweat.

"Wow... I finished throwing away the garbage only to come back to my town in flames...." the small girl said.

From her tone, one could understand that she has been through a rough time. But instead of fear in her eyes, there was hope.

"Maybe I can finally move away, but my biggest issue would be crossing the forest." The girl looked around to see if she could get away from the massacre.

After all, Spirit Beasts were not ordinary beasts of the forest. They had absorbed a small amount of spirit from the planet and slowly evolved into Spirit Beasts. One could fight a normal bear with a sword to a standstill if they are brave enough as well as possessing some amount of talent to wield a sword. But even fifteen bears could not fight a single Spirit Bear Beast. This showed how much evolved the beasts would become once they gather enough Spirit Energy.

"Oh no! The book is still in my house!" the girl remembered a very valuable item. The only proper item in her possession. "Looks like I will have to try my luck. At this rate, the book might burn to dust. I will try to save it."

She quickly ran from the bushes to the broken village fence. The fence was not too bad. It could ward off normal beasts, but they did not expect to be attacked by Spirit Beasts. Using the broken fence as a cover, she slowly ran to her house. When she got to the small hut which was her house, she realized the situation was much worse than she imagined.

Picking up some of the debris, she dug her way in.

***

*

"A stampede of Spirit Beasts in this area?" a boy who's age looked to be that of sixteen or seventeen spoke casually.

Just his words alone stopped the Spirit Beasts. His calm purple eyes scanned the area. Where ever it passed, the Spirit Beasts would stop what they were doing and look his way. Slowly they walked towards him in a semi circle. He stood without fear. Roughly 1.80 meters tall. He wore a dark blue outfit, looking like a mercenary. A wooden pole almost as long as he was tall on his back. He had two small hammers hanging on his waist. The Spirit Beasts looked at him with weariness in their eyes.

"What do you want boy?" a lion Spirit Beast spoke. He was of the Spirit Gathering Realm Peak Level. A much older lion stood next to him, extruding an aura that surpassed this younger lion.

"Well, I'm here to kill you all of course," the youth said with a smirk.

"Don't think you can bully us with your Spirit Building Realm. My uncle here is Half Step Spirit Gathering Realm. He is a mere step away from you. With us all supporting him, I don't believe its not impossible to kill you," the lion spoke with caution.

"Ha! Bully? What you did just now was bully as well. But knowing your kind, it will be called the strong preys on the weak. Therefore I'm not bullying you. I. Am. Simply. Preying. On. The. Weak." The boy laughed as he spoke the last words loudly.

The Spirit Beasts heard this and their face looked ugly. This CHILD was looking down upon THEM! How Humiliating! Doesn't he know a Spirit Beast force this size could easily destroy half a city if they gave it their all? Rage filled the eyes of the Spirit Beasts. They all howled in unison and charged at the boy.

"All bark and no bite," the boy grabbed the wooden pole behind him in his right hand. Spinning it as he drew it, the pole created waves of sharp winds. Each gust would leave scratches on the Spirit Beasts. Some of the weaker ones had deep gashes. After spinning it nine times, the boy slammed the wooden pole on the ground.

The pole stood there, perfectly perpendicular to the ground. As the pole landed, the force it brought out was devastating. Majority of the Spirit Beasts bodies crashed down to the ground. The stronger ones had their insides burst open. The weaker ones died instantly.

Just one move. It took just one move. All except the Half Step stage lion died. Even the younger lion. He was the closest and his figure ripped into shreds from the force.

"Wha- what are you. To be able to kill this many of us in one move, you are not at Spirit Building Realm! You are definitely at Spirit Refining Realm! Please spare me! I will be your slave!" the elder lion started kowtowing. The youth in front of him had made him realize how weak he truly was. In his horde of Spirit Beasts, he was a dignified figure. The strongest there was. But in front of this scary boy, he could barely survive one attack.

"I have no need for trash. And I am only at Spirit Gathering Realm Middle Level. You are simply too weak to compare. You focused only on the stage of your cultivation, not the quality. You were bound to lose," the boy spoke without emotion.

Raising his staff again, he slammed it down, but with much more force. The elder lions body exploded as it was forced into the ground, causing the ground to cave in.

Standing before the massive carnage, the boy put his staff away. Closing his eyes, he slowly started absorbing the blood essence around him. The villagers, Spirit Beasts, even the grass lost their vitality.

At this moment he opened his eyes and looked in a particular small hut. There he saw a small girl emerge holding a book between her hands. She looked like she had been through hell and back.

"Oh what do we have here?" the boy raised his hand towards her direction. The girl seemed to be in a trance as she watched a dark violet fog extend form the youth towards her.