"Those who cultivate the earth element, please step forward."
Four disciples came up to the front, awaiting instructions with bated breaths. The thought that they would be able to take part in taking down a Behemoth filled them with excitement and pride.
Qinghe instructed them, "As we all know, there is not enough water in the river below to contain the Behemoth, so we will create a wall of earth downstream and block the water from flowing out of the canyon. Our goal is to fill up the chasm as much as possible. Can you do it?"
Even if they couldn't, Qinghe had plenty more plans in his arsenal, not to mention that he himself could easily take out the beast if things got desperate.
Thankfully, the disciples nodded, some with more conviction than the others.
A girl hesitantly raised her hand and voiced a doubt. "Senior Brother Feng, we've never worked with each other like this before. Can I ask you to elaborate? I'm not sure how we will all coordinate on such a large scale…" Her voice gradually faded out as she lowered head seemingly in embarrassment.
A couple of the other earth-wielders nodded to show that they had the same doubts.
Qinghe praised her, "Junior Sister, that is a very reasonable question. The fact that you are asking for clarification itself means that you are taking this very seriously! I'm glad that you asked me rather than keeping quiet. So please do not feel ashamed."
The girl lifted her head and stood a bit straighter, though her plump cheeks were still dyed red.
"Here's what you can do: One of you can start constructing the wall. The others can supplement that person's depleting spiritual energy and make sure the supply is steady. Or you can all take turns and build on top of each other in layers. Whichever way you choose, start building from the bottom and reinforce each step before proceeding, or else the currents might knock out the dam prematurely. But most of all, remain calm. If there is a problem, call for me and don't panic. Once you're done, come and inform me. I have faith in you all."
The four teenagers nodded resolutely. En, they wouldn't let down their senior martial brother!
The disciples departed soon to carry out Qinghe's instructions, taking along the three fire-wielding disciples and the five wind-wielding disciples for protection. If they constructed the dam too close to the Behemoth, it might simply just smash it, or maybe a stray attack during battle would crack it. That was why they had to leave to carry out their task at an appropriate distance.
"Those of you left cultivate the water element, correct?"
Six juniors nodded, also eager to take part.
"You will have a lot of work to do, so please remember to pace yourselves," Qinghe began.
The disciples bobbed their heads again.
"Now for your instructions. For now, please try to slow the water flow as much as possible. We should finish implementing the first stage quickly and for that, I need you to help so that the others finish the dam as soon as possible. Can you do it?"
This was a relatively simple task that did not necessitate cooperation all that much, so the disciples nodded promptly.
"Then please proceed."
With this, all the juniors had been assigned tasks. And as Qinghe and Jing Shui were nearby, the disciples working directly on the water wouldn't need any more protection.
Since they didn't need to keep distance like the previous team, the water-wielders just went to the nearest part of the canyon's edge and began working. No matter which part of the river they slowed, the result wouldn't change. Soon, the sound of the river's rushing noticeably quietened.
The Behemoth edged forward, almost reaching the middle of the canyon.
While the group had crossed the canyon, they had used flight spells so their speed had been very much faster than when they were on land, and also faster than the Behemoth's walking pace. Since it had still taken them two hours, it would be reasonable to assume that it would take the Behemoth longer.
That was why Qinghe felt safe taking his time to instruct and advise his juniors regarding their tasks. It had taken a little more than an hour to finish the arrangements for the first stage, which was to elevate the water level so that Jing Shui would have enough to work with.
Within another half an hour of hard work on both the water-based and earth-based disciples' sides, the water level showed a marked increase. After fifteen more minutes, the earth element team returned along with their protectors.
They looked exhausted due to the drain in their spiritual energy, but happy at having accomplished their objective smoothly.
"Any troubles?" Jing Shui surprisingly took the initiative to ask.
The disciples were surprised but then shook their heads no with a goofy grin. Ah, it was really good to work under these two senior brothers! They had learned so much from the time they spent with them. They could return to their sects with their chests puffed with pride and boast about their experiences and flaunt their connection with these dependable and considerate seniors!
The second he had seen the returning juniors, Qinghe had started walking towards the edge where the water-wielding disciples were working to give them a new set of instructions.
"You can stop for now. Please take a break to replenish your energy and begin speeding the water flow next. We need you to draw in as much water from the water source as possible to more quickly fill up the canyon."
The disciples nodded and joined the others to rest. The moment they stopped intentionally slowing the flow, the river's suppressed currents rapidly sped up, the accumulated water gushing quicker than before.
Jing Shui had already started distributing some spiritual power replenishing pills to everyone who needed them. The Golden Sun Sect was in charge of trading and acquiring goods among many other things, which made them the wealthiest sect. So it was only natural for them to allot more resources for each disciple than the other sects usually did, not to mention that Jing Shui was the sect master's head disciple who would one day gain the title of sect head. So he had quite a lot of pills and potions for various things in his spatial storage, all gifted by his sect for the purpose of completing his tasks in the hidden realm smoothly and with minimum damage.
The juniors who had worked hard started rapidly recovering their spent spiritual energy.
The Behemoth loomed over the landscape like a translucent mountain, seemingly unreal. Most spiritual beasts didn't develop intelligence until they rose to the eighth or ninth realm. Since this Behemoth had only reached sixth realm, its comprehension abilities were still quite lacking. It did not perceive any danger despite the rising water level and simply continued wading through to get to Qinghe's group.
As they waited for the pills to replenish their energy, Junior Brother Wen, who had previously left with the earth-wielders on protection detail, finally found another point to harp about, albeit a bit politely this time.
"Senior Brother Feng, why did you have us wait so long before building the earth wall? We could have started the moment we arrived, but you made us wait until the Behemoth started crossing the canyon. What if we run out of time because of that?"
Brother Wen was very proud of his argument this time, having thought this carefully through while he was away guarding the earth-wielders. There was no particular reason to wait this long, was there? He must have been showing off!
The other juniors and even Jing Shui looked at Qinghe expectantly. They, unlike Junior Brother Wen, did not believe that Qinghe would have wasted time on purpose. There must definitely be a reason!
Sighing, Qinghe decided to explain, "I have calculated properly, so Junior Brother Wen need not worry. We will have enough time. As for the reason I waited, it was because we couldn't be certain from which area the Behemoth would cross. If we built the dam in the wrong place and it got damaged, I'm afraid we would have been in a lot of trouble."
Everyone nodded in understanding. En, this was indeed reasonable! Brother Feng's foresight was praiseworthy.
Junior Brother Wen could only shut up with a belly full of grievances. He had nothing more to say.
Clapping his hands, Qinghe said, "Now that we have cleared that up and had time to recover some energy, let's continue."
By this time, the canyon was already one-third full and the Behemoth had traversed three-fourths of the distance.
The water-based cultivators hurried to the canyon edge and started pulling in more water from the waterfall, speeding up the rate of the water level's rise by several folds.
After fifteen minutes of work, Jing Shui deemed that it was enough, so Qinghe let the disciples return and rest again.
The junior disciples had done their part, now it was the senior disciples' turn.