Although Cao Yun had not heard anything suspicious, he trusted the two demonic beasts' instincts. Not only were their hearings superior even to his but they were also used to this area and the nature around them. They could more easily detect unusual things. After his misfortunes in the Lunar Marsh, Cao Yun did not hesitate at all. As soon as he thought he was maybe in danger, he activated his Heart Star and circulated 'Dragon's Heart' at half its power. He could not sustain its full power for long period of times, but like that he could push it to the extreme at a moment's notice.
And that moment came right away. From beneath his feet, he felt a tremor and a vibration coming for him. Before trying to understand what was going on, Cao Yun jumped backward with all of his strength. The rocks beneath him exploded under his feet and just as they were blown away they exploded upward. A powerful wave of air pierced through the spot where Cao Yun had been only a moment ago. Only dust remained.
Unable to perceive any enemy from that spot, Cao Yun was looking all around him and pushing his senses to their limits. Feng'er and Huang'er also assumed fighting positions. Huang'er who was still sitting close to the egg could not move around as she wanted to protect it. However, Feng'er flapped his wings and flew in the air. As the tension was high, a very calm and composed voice resounded in Cao Yun's ear.
"What a pity. I wanted to kill you painlessly. But you will force me to become messy."
If a cultivator he could not perceive at all was talking to him, this was necessarily a Mortal Warrior. The voice was in his ear, not his mind, which meant it was transported to him through Qi. Only a Mortal Warrior could do so. But this also meant that the Mortal Warrior was close enough to feel what was going on. Cao Yun was not confident in fighting him. After all, he seemed to have prepared this attack. Most likely, he knew about him. That meant that this cultivator was very confident in his ability to kill Cao Yun. He was probably a middle Mortal Warrior or worse.
Right away, Cao Yun had no hesitation, he took hold of the small sphere Xiao Xuefeng had given him some time ago. In the Lunar Marsh he had not used it because it could only protect him and not his friends. But right now he truly feared for his life. The voice he had just heard had something inhumane in it. He couldn't really describe it but the man who had talked seemed like he lacked fundamental emotions.
Still waiting for the attack, Cao Yun was circulating his 'Dragon's Heart' to the maximum and holding the Spirit Condensation Barrier charm as well as his spear with one hand each. He was ready for anything.
Then, Feng'er screeched at him and Cao Yun had just enough time to see a giant green and red form jumping at him from higher up the peak. His brain almost did not register what was going on as this horrendous abomination attacked. But he instinctively crushed the shielding charm.
The sphere broke and blue lines left the broken pieces. Instantly, they completely surrounded Cao Yun forming many belts around his entire body. Up close, they looked like tiny sparks and each one seemed to be different from the others. After activating the barrier, Cao Yun realized that this was not just Qi that was in them. There was something more mysterious to them he could not yet understand. It was probably linked to the soul since Xiao Xuefeng had created this shielding charm.
And at the very same moment, in the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute, Xiao Xuefeng who was preparing the defense of the institute with Director Ge Ling and Spirit Master Hua felt something. She immediately knew that Cao Yun had activated his charm. As soon as she felt that, she got worried and left the room in a hurry. She had to try and contact Baziyun City. Their institute had very good ties with the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall. Maybe she could use them to send someone check on the boy, hoping it wouldn't be too late. Diverting the efforts of the hall in the middle of such a crisis was difficult but she couldn't just do nothing if Cao Yun was threatened. Moreover, it had to be necessarily linked to the stampede.
Thanks to the Spirit Condensation Barrier, Cao Yun survived the attack. The terrifying beast's attack got stopped by the blue sparks rotating as belts around the cultivator. Right in front of Cao Yun's eyes was a long and thin green leg with some kind of suction cup at the end. Such a view was indeed terrifying. With his knowledge, Cao Yun had recognized the creature right away, Red Flesh Camel Spider. Although it looked like a spider at first sight, it wasn't at all. This monstrosity was a 5-core demonic beast. Simply put, it could kill Cao Yun with a single move. If he had not used or had been too late to use the Spirit Condensation Barrier, he would likely be dead already.
The creature was as big as a female Soul Weaving Cyrtophora. And it kinda looked like a spider as well for someone who wouldn't be very careful. Even though it seemed to have ten legs, the two legs at the front were not legs at all, but pedipalps, similar to antennae. And with them, the beast could both feel around it and also catch preys or even attack. But this wasn't the worst attack from this demonic beast. Unlike a spider, it could not produce neither silk nor venom. But it had two giant chelicerae right in front of its mouth. They were enormous pincers looking similar to those of a monster crab. And not only were they a vibrant red, they were still covered in dried blood and bits and pieces of human and demonic beast flesh.
Just as the name suggested, the Red Flesh Camel Spider had a body as red as human blood and flesh. And the contrast was intense with its eight very green legs and its two pedipalps, all covered in eerie hair. The creature looked really exotic. And Cao Yun knew that it had several characteristics that made it deadly. Its pincers could cut through a human body as though it were paper, and it could even cut through the dense Wei Qi of a middle Mortal Warrior. With a single movement of its pincers, it could cut off Cao Yun in two as easily as if he was not even there.
Moreover, it was incredibly fast and could jump very high. And by rattling its pincers, it could produce a strident sound that was able to attack the mind of a cultivator or even produce sonic wave that could pierce through very sturdy material. Most likely, the attack Cao Yun had been able to dodge at the very beginning of the assault was that kind of technique. And as a 5-core demonic beast, it was performing a kind of instinctive Qi Manifestation. Not only did Cao Yun have no chance against this beast, he could not do anything against the demonic cultivator controlling it either. First of all, Cao Yun did not even know where he was, and he was probably a middle Mortal Warrior himself.
Thanks to his protection, Cao Yun would be safe for some time. As the beast was trying to tear apart the blue lines of sparks circling him, he assisted to the spectacle of its chelicerae moving back and forth in a shearing motion. The problem was now to try and run from the creature. His protection was able to resist even the attacks of a Spirit Warrior, so he could probably stay safe for several days or even more. Hopefully, he could find a way to get to safety. He knew the road back to Baziyun City and if he was smart enough, he could make it.
"Sir, your defense is indeed impressive. I assume Spirit Master Xiao gave it to you... Unfortunately, I will not be able to pierce through it in a reasonable amount of time."
What neither Cao Yun nor Can Mouye knew was that Xiao Xuefeng was already using all her resources to contact Baziyun City. If he could hold on long enough, help would be on their way. That being said, Can Mouye was very conscious that he had to be quick. He had tried to kill Cao Yun immediately. Leaving him a sliver of chance to make it out alive was a mistake. But against this defensive charm, he could do nothing. He had to find another angle.
"Those two fenghuangs looked extremely close to you. I wonder... What would you do to keep them safe? Chen Guo, I am only here to kill you. But I must say that my beast has become quite addicted to all the demonic beasts it ate on the way. I am not sure I could perfectly control it. If it were to devour both of those birds... and their egg, it could probably form a new core. So, I've come to wonder. If my beautiful beast attacked those poor creatures, what would be your reaction?"
Just as he talked, a thorny whip made of Qi hit the back of the Red Flesh Camel Spider. The beast let out a small groan of pain and turned toward the couple of Mountain Fenghuangs. Both of them were very aware that there was nothing they could do against such a demonic beast. They had almost been wiped out by a Muddy Bashe who was not even a 4-core demonic beast. Yes, it had attacked them when they were separated, but fighting together wouldn't change many things against this creature. Unlike humans, demonic beasts did not comprehend any battle formation.
Sensing the killing intent of the Red Flesh Camel Spider, the two birds reacted right away. Huang'er took the egg in her claws, flapped her wings and tried to gain as much altitude as possible. On the other hand, Feng'er flapped his wings not to jump upward but forward. He opened his wheel to the maximum in order to distract the predator and partially hide what his female was doing. In the same movement, it rushed toward the Red Flesh Camel Spider.
The demonic beast did not react at all. Instead, it simply waited where it was. Feng'er rushed toward it and at the very last moment tried to fly over it in the direction of Cao Yun. Still hidden, Can Mouye smiled. Feng'er was very smart. His goal was to buy time for his female and his egg to fly away while trying to make him believe it was putting up a desperate fight. It was completely the opposite. Feng'er was just trying to run but he also wanted to take Cao Yun with him. Can Mouye had been even more right than he had initially thought. However, Feng'er was still too naive about what a 5-core demonic beast could do.
In his entire life, the strongest demonic beast he had encountered only had four cores. Although his instincts were screaming danger, he still underestimated his opponent. Just as Feng'er tried to pass over the Red Flesh Camel Spider, the arachnid raised its pedipalps and caught the long legs of the fenghuang. Then, it moved its body violently while rotating and slammed Feng'er to the rocky ground. Instantly, one of his wings broke and bent to a painful angle. From the beak of Feng'er, both blood and pain got out. Painfully, Feng'er tried to move its long and slender legs, but it had not the strength to resist to such a powerful beast.
"Chen Guo, what are you going to do? Sadly, I won't be able to hold up my little friend for very long. But if you were to give yourself up, I could leave right away and your avian friend would be safe. Oh? And if you think the female and the egg are safe, I do fear that you are harshly mistaken."
Once more, a black whip appeared from nowhere and lashed out toward the female still clinging to her egg. This time Cao Yun tried to locate the origin of the Qi Manifestation and got a rough idea of where he was. Then, he suddenly activated 'Dragon's Heart' to its limit and struck toward the sky in order to stop the whip. Can Mouye had not used all of his strength because he only wanted to hurt Huang'er, not kill her. Thanks to that, Cao Yun's 'The Pillar Piercing the Sky' was powerful enough to cut the Qi Manifestation in two. The extremity of the whip directed toward Huang'er started to fade away.
"This isn't very nice of you... Because of your inconsiderate action, I shall be forced to exert less restraint."
Before Can Mouye could act again, Cao Yun moved behind the Red Flesh Camel Spider with 'The Moon Grounds the Sun'. Since it was still holding Feng'er who was trying to resist by moving all over the place, the 5-core demonic beast was not able to react in time.
'Imperial Throne'. By sweeping his spear around him, while maintaining 'Dragon's Heart' at eightfold, a violent gust of wind blasted all the rocks away and even forced the arachnid to move. Using this as an opportunity, Feng'er was able to gain a bit of freedom. Unfortunately, his wing was broken and as soon as he moved, an agonizing scream echoed. The Red Flesh Camel Spider had used both of its pincers. Feng'er's left wing fell to the ground in a gush of blood. But that wasn't all. On his right side, a gaping and bloody hole had appeared.
"Stop!"
Immediately after, another whip lashed out against the Red Flesh Camel spider. However, it was already devouring Feng'er's innards. After his first attack, one of Feng'er's core was visible and it had excited the demonic beast. Can Mouye's voice rose for the first time. He didn't want to kill the two birds right away. Unfortunately, his beast was just too hungry for blood. Ironically, Cao Yun and Can Mouye both combined their strength to try and stop the Red Flesh Camel Spider.
Indeed, Cao Yun finally used his most powerful attack, 'The Son of Heaven's Cavalry'. Once more, he focused everything. Under the urgency and the emotion, Cao Yun was able to activate his technique way faster than everything he had achieved before. In a fraction of a second, all his strength was already condensed at the tip of his spear. The rocky ground beneath his feet turned hot red, almost forming magma that immediately cooled down. The air around Cao Yun's spear also turned reddish. Then, a powerful sonic boom shook the surrounding.
Cao yun's figure almost disappeared. Even Can Mouye got shocked by his speed and his strength. The Red Flesh Camel Spider who had not cared for the whip lashes of his master sensed this violent attack toward its back and stopped eating Feng'er for an instant.