"Ieek!!", a girl beside Mu unintentionally let out a shriek out of fear.
"I expected for this expedition to be dangerous but it seemed that I still underestimated it.", Patriarch Lei didn't know if it was proper to laugh in that situation but one thing was sure, he regretted not being prepared.
Patriarch Yun did not respond and just focused on handling the three beasts in front of them. Since one of them can hold two Grade 4 Beasts at the same time, they held advantageously against these three beasts.
What was important was that none of these five beasts held a special bloodline that can empower them and what's worrying is those other incoming three beasts.
Because of the sudden report about incoming three new Grade 4 Beasts, the Elders and the guardians who were finishing off the two dying Grade 4 Beasts to keep them off from recovering took haste. Their blood pumped and gave them more energy for the time being. Some of them used weapons to preserve their energy for the other beasts. However, it was dangerous as these beasts can still move. Any solid hit from them will still leave anyone an injury. It is fortunate for them that its agility pummeled down because of its injuries. As of now, the four-meters-high beasts had their skins either charred off from the lightning or tore off from the vicious snake tornado. Blood covered the grass underneath them.
Finally, after some successful attacks to the beast's injuries, one of the beasts let out a dying roar before it plopped to the ground, its final line of life snapping.
Although the danger had yet to sink in their minds, they were quite happy that they accomplished to defeat one successfully. Only one more and they could help the Patriarchs and then they can deal with the three more that was approaching.
"Is there nothing we could do?", one of the youngsters calmly asked. Every one of them is talented, if not, then they don't deserve to be chosen to partake this expedition. They know when to keep their cool.
"No, it's not like we can damage them with our cultivation and we'll just get in the way.", not Brother Zhe or the other girl of the two top students replied but Mu had. Lei Mu wanted to help but she had her head strangely cool, largely different from a month ago. She didn't know but she does not have a bad feeling about this and thought that everything will be fine in the end. Maybe because of her faith to the Elders and the Patriarchs.
Zhe looked at Mu and was simply surprised. He didn't realize that Mu was part of the Expedition. Now, his priority had been set.
The girl besides Zhe nodded, "Even we can't do anything to damage those beasts. You may not know but Zhe and I are already on the verge of stepping onto the Third Step of the Earthly Realm."
"So we could only watch...", the youngster that calmly asked earlier murmured.
"We should only watch, this kind of battle is far from our abilities.", Zhe corrected but then smiled at the boy, "The reason we are brought here is to spectate and learn so that in the future we may be the one fighting against them."
"....", the boy just nodded and rolled his eyes to the battle and saw that the Elders had now successfully killed the second beast.
On the other side, Patriarch Lei already noticed that the Elders were coming to aid them, he then looked at Patriarch Yun and said, "Let's do it.", their energy has been refilled by now.
They jumped once again and performed the same techniques as before. However, the ten consecutive flashes of lightning Patriarch Lei threw and the white shattering tornado that Patriarch Yun created made less damage since it was shared by three Grade 4 Beasts.
"Hmph!", Patriarch Lei harrumphed in confidence when he saw that their attacks didn't make the beasts fall on their knees and whispered, "Fifth Offense: Lightning Cloud", after which, dark static clouds formed, which surrounded the three beasts, that bound them and continued to strike them with countless smaller lightning.
A desperate roar was heard when the three beasts couldn't move a single muscle as another effect, paralysis, from Patriarch Lei's technique.
"Patriarch Yun, I think we shouldn't make a scene. If more beasts approached us then it will definitely be bad news.", Patriarch Lei calmly said after he breathed deeply and wiped his sweat.
Patriarch Yun nodded and read another passage but this time, it was directed to the north.
The Elders knew what this meant. The Patriarchs left the three beasts for them to finish them off. The Elders from the Lei Clan were more confident as they knew that their Patriarch performed their Clan's Fifth Offense of the Bloodline, Thundering Wolf Techniques. They were sure that these dark static clouds were enough to pulverize one Grade 4 Beast. They were only spread out that it didn't make such effect but it will make them unable to move and could only wait for their death to come.
"Then, I'll leave the two in the north to you, Patriarch Yun, I'm out of energy for now. I'll handle the other one from the east and try to refill my energy.", Patriarch Lei huffed as he said.
Patriarch Yun heard it clearly but didn't respond, he was reading a passage from the book he was holding quietly. This one took longer and signified that it will be different from before.
The book Patriarch Yun was holding and he lit up white brightly, his white robe floated as if he was underwater, "Sky Snake's Acrimony: Sky Snake King", the light that was surrounding the book and Patriarch Yun created a head of a transparent white snake as big as meter diameter with its eyes red. It hissed loudly before it slithered away. The white light continued to produce the snake's body fifty meters long before the light vanished. Like its head, the snake's body was transparent and had white scales.
The white snake went down and quietly slithered through the woods to the direction of the approaching two beasts. It stayed and waited for the beasts to arrive and when the snake spotted the four metered beasts, it bared its fangs and hissed. The white snake's ambush made the two beasts unable to react and made the white snake easily went passed through them with its transparent body akin to a ghost walking through walls. However, although it looked like the beasts were not touched, it painfully cried but the white snake didn't let it make any more noise. As if being controlled by Patriarch Yun, the white snake looked like it had the intention to eat the beasts' heads but it just went through them and its transparent body slid with the beast's heads inside.
Over time, the part of the beasts that were inside the transparent body of the white snake eventually melted and blood came spurting out.
The beasts struggled hard to escape but their bodies were unable to respond. This is the Sky Snake King, one of the top techniques the Yun Clan has to offer for having the bloodline of a Sky Snake. It looked like it is ethereal but it was a body filled with energy that was composed using the bloodline of a Sky Snake that it took its form which made it more convenient. A normal Sky Snake Beast has no way of producing such results on their own body that they will become untouchable and will melt anything on its path. This is a technique that was practiced over and over only in the Yun Clan. Only a few people knew this technique. It transcends what a normal Sky Snake can do and therefore it was called Sky Snake King.
Patriarch Yun was constantly losing energy as long as the Sky Snake King hasn't finished its attacks and let its prey melted to death by its unstably compressed energy of a body. His breathing was getting rapid more as time passes while his forehead was heavily wrinkled.
On the ground, the Elders with the help of the guardian had already finished one of the three beasts and was trying all of their means to defeat the remaining two while Patriarch Lei was waiting for the last beast to arrive so he was trying to replenish as much energy as he can in the meantime but it didn't take too long before the last Grade 4 Beast arrived at the scene.
"To think that we are still far from the foot of the Sacrifice.", Patriarch Lei smiled as he pulled out his sword and took the attention of the last beast, "Maybe there are more Grade 4 Beasts up ahead. This is making me itch more to learn what is waiting for us in the Sacrifice. Will there be a Grade 5 Beasts that is thought to be a legend?", he laughed as he thought that the Sacrifice was not getting enough attention but it sure will now.