"THWACK"
A branch snapped as Wang Tian ran across the Hissing Forest. The 10 Squads had already begun running through the forest, separating as they entered. Currently Wang Tian was at the rear of Squad 3 following closely behind his fellow disciples.
Naturally retreating into the Hissing Forest was a viable yet risky tactic. Firstly the disciples would have to deal with the various beasts on the way. Luckily that hadn't been much of a problem for Squad 3, but that wasn't all.
Since at the end of the day, the other Sects just wanted to commit a slaughter they only needed to send their stronger disciples out meaning their speed would be much higher in comparison to the Skyward Sword Sect disciples. Due to this the disciples had to be alert at all times, as they never knew when a possible group of 10 8th Layer Qi Refining enemies may appear.
Time ticked by slowly as the disciples ran through the forest, the sun was beginning to set over the horizon and the disciples had grown tired. "Can we even survive this?" One of them sighed. This feeling was spreading like wildfire throughout Squad 3.
They were outnumbered and outclassed, so much so that even their Sect Leader told them to retreat effectively abandoning the Sect grounds leading a lot of their thoughts to be in disarray. 'Whatever, all I know is we need to keep running, I am sure there's a way out of this.' Wang Tian thought as the group reached a cave.
"We'll rest here for the night. Tomorrow at dawn we'll need to change location again. I'll be on night watch, then..." Fang Boqin explained, before one by one the disciples took out some rations and began to eat their dinner.
As the disciples began talking amongst themselves, Fang Boqin approached Wang Tian with a map in hand. Seeing this Wang Tian looked at him with questioning gaze. "In case I die, you need to make sure to take all the survivors here in 6 days." Fang Boqin explained while pointing to a random location in the forest.
Hearing this Wang Tian furrowed his brow. "Is there something special here?" Wang Tian asked curiously. Fang Boqin had pointed to a seemingly random patch of grass within the forest, it didn't look like anything special at first glance.
"You'll know when we arrive there, its more than what meets the eye. All you need to know is under no circumstances are you to go there before the appointed time. Even if I die and there's only you and 10 1st Layer Qi Refinement Juniors left you have to wait until 6 days from now." Fang Boqin warned.
Pausing briefly he then smiled. "Well hopefully it won't come to that, after all I have no plans on dying." He chuckled before moving on to talk to some other disciples about other miscellaneous matters.
Frankly Wang Tian was quite shocked to say the least. 'He was so casual about dying..... I guess that's why he was appointed as the leader.' Wang Tian pondered, he still had much to learn.
The next day Squad 3 rushed through the Hissing Forest in another random direction, but this time they weren't so lucky.
"ROAR!"
They had come across a Blue-Eyed Tiger. Seeing it something within Wang Tian stirred but he didn't think much of it, he then swiftly approached it his fist shooting towards the tiger. "Tiger's Ferocious Charge!"
"BOOM!"
As Wang Tian's fist collided with the tiger's face the beast was immediately thrown backwards its skull caved in. "Clear!" Wang Tian declared before the Squad continued onward. His fellow disciples were stunned at his prowess.
After all they knew Wang Tian was strong, but they didn't know he was THAT strong. Unfortunately they had no time to praise him, as the tiger's roar and subsequent defeat would not only attract other beasts, but also possibly give away their location. Because of this the disciples ran at full speed in a zig zag path to cover their tracks as best they could.
As they ran through the forest, a rustling sound was heard coming from a nearby bush. Immediately Wang Tian set his sights on the bush getting read to fight.
"SWOOSH!"
Out of no where an arrow shot through the air from another direction piercing a disciple's forehead killing him instantly. To make matters worse as they looked towards the downed disciples a saber slashed out of the bush with extreme power.
They had been fooled. The saber slashed forward fiercely, but luckily Wang Tian managed to deflect it in time saving his fellow disciples from death. "RUN AWAY!" Wang Tian roared his fist trembling after the collision.
At this point only 9th Layer Qi Refinement cultivators could pose a challenge to Wang Tian, meaning it was obvious how strong this man was. "Hehe, you think you can run?" He sneered, immediately 3 other disciples walked out each clad in deep red robes.
Simultaneously another arrow flew through the air, which was then swiftly deflected by Fang Boqin. "Wang Tian you know what to do! All 7th Layer and above disciples help me fend off the enemies!" With that Fang Boqin shot towards the 3 Mountain Shaking Sect Core Disciples as his sword drew a dazzling arc.
Immediately the 3 disciples in turn slashed towards Fang Boqin, causing him to retreat 2 steps as his hands trembled. Seeing this Wang Tian was stunned. 'Does he want me to run away?' He questioned, as the 7th Layer and 8th Layer disciples charged out to help with the fight.
"What are you still doing here? Go retreat with the others, that's an order!" Fang Boqin demanded before focusing on the 3 disciples once again. Immediately the 3 slashed out with various techniques, each one deadlier than the last.
The air quaked and the ground trembled and a dust cloud formed. Fang Boqin slashed his sword out, while his fellow disciples used various techniques in an attempt to count the 3 to no avail. They were all forced back with their arms trembling heavily, their robes filled with cuts.
Seeing this as an opportunity, Wang Tian shot out using Tiger's Ferocious Charge, his fist hurtling towards one of the Mountain Shaking Sect Disciples.
"BOOM!"
"What in the...." Wang Tian muttered, a saber had collided with his fist leading to a stalemate. This had never happened to him before. Even before when he had deflected the attack, his power was lower cause he had been caught off guard, but this time it was his full strength and he was stalemated. He simply couldn't believe it.
"Is this the last stand of you Skyward Sword Sect Disciples? Petty tricks!" The man mumbled before applying more power sending Wang Tian flying away. What Wang Tian had failed to realise due to the dust was that this wasn't any of the 3 but rather another person entirely.
"Shit! RUN WANG TIAN! PROTECT THE DISCIPLES!" Fang Boqin roared as the dust settled. He gazed upon the new figure and knew that this fight was now pointless. "Is that Gong You?" An 8th Layer disciple muttered in horror.
He stood at 2.7 meters tall, his head completely shaven while his face was full of scars. His body from head to toe was full of large bulging muscles which contained power far beyond anything these disciples had ever seen. This was Gong You the Mountain Shaking Sect's strongest disciple.
Picking himself up out of the rubble Wang Tian gazed at Gong You in amazement with a trace of fear. To send him flying with such power, it shouldn't have been possible. After all Wang Tian was almost as strong as Su Wu during the trial in the Hidden Space.
Either way, now wasn't the time for useless thoughts. Fang Boqin was right, this battle was lost, these 4 were too strong for them to handle and there was still the archer who had yet to make an appearance.
Turning towards the retreating disciples Wang Tian looked back one last time at his Senior Brothers who were fighting valiantly against the Mountain Shaking Sect. "YOU BETTER MAKE IT BACK ALIVE YOU BASTARDS!" Wang Tian screamed before chasing after his juniors, it was now his responsibility to lead them.
Hearing this Fang Boqin smiled before pointing his sword at their enemies. "You've heard your junior brother right? We have to make it back alive." Fang Boqin chuckled before slashing ahead. He knew this situation was hopeless, but if he didn't even try to survive then he'd definitely die here.
The rest of the disciples smiled lightly before heading into the battle as well. On the other hand Gong You was furious. "Zhang Xue catch that bastard and kill the rest of them while you're at it!" Gong You roared before his saber slashed towards Fang Boqin.
Zhang Xue wasn't any of the disciples currently engaged in battle but rather the archer, which meant that Fang Boqin and the others couldn't stop him. 'I hope you can handle him Wang Tian.' Fang Boqin thought as he clashed with Gong You.
"SCHINK!"