Bodies tore right through the thick cavern walls, throwing large pieces of flesh followed by fountains of blood sprayed onto the floors. Grunts and the clanking of metal against hardened bones and flesh reverberated throughout the large cavern. Men and women rolled sideways, narrowly dodging humongous Frankenstein pieces of mangled flesh and blood. Ugly little things, shaped like living pieces of sewage sewn together with human-like flesh and blood, dashed toward the brave cultivators.
Their mouths were open, spitting a low-pitched sound that gnawed against Long Wei's ears. His sensitive ears noticed the eerie resemblance to the neighing of a horse, the barking of a dog, and the squeamish meowing of a cat. Qi rushed to his ears under his command, blocking the sounds around him. The technique; it was all that mattered. Long Wei didn't mind the chaos spreading around him. It didn't concern him. He breathed in, and out.
Qin Yan's ears rang. Everything went to shit in an instant. One moment they were investigating the mysterious ponds in the cavern they were in; the next moment they were battling for their chance to remain in the trials against an endless flood of devil-like creatures. At first, the battle was simple. His Mortal Transcendant cultivation base allowed him to tear through their numbers with ease. A blast of qi from him wiped out a few hundred in a single second. Just when he thought all was well and they were going to win, countless more creatures came flooding into the cavern. Those ones were far stronger with most of them being in the Heavenly Step Realm.
He and his unlikely allies cleared through those numbers relatively fast. But more came, far stronger than the previous batch. The cavern they were in was flooded with filthy creatures. He felt their blueprint all over, from their stench to the mysterious sweat-like substance sloshing onto the floor.
The creatures outnumbered them one to a hundred. They only lived this log thanks to their cultivation base and even then the situation was bleak. He only had a few bits of qi left. He estimated it could only last him an hour at his current fighting pace.
He ducked, dodging a large fist that wanted to wipe off the cold expression on his face. He slid his sword out, meeting the fist, still on its course behind him. Blood splattered onto his cheeks. The forearm fell onto the ground with a thud. A painful howl shook his mind. Everything blurred. His body crashed against one of the walls, tearing right through. His vision came back. He was in another cavern. Blue drenched all objects. Another pond? He thought.
A fist landing squarely on his jaw shot his idle thoughts out into the open. He grabbed it in front of him. His fingers squashed the warm flesh of the creature. It writhed in his grasp, but he squeezed, channeling all his qi into the grip. Warm blood splattered everywhere. The crimson liquid drenched his white robes. He stood up, seeing his comrades flying through the cavern walls. Some of their pendants lit up upon impact.
"Everybody. Blast them with all you got. Where are my formation masters! Alchemists where are you?" He shouted with all his being.
The creatures formed a never-ending stream that surrounded them in all directions, pushing them further back into the cavern. Everyone listened to his impromptu commands, throwing various spirit qi attacks at the creatures with all their might. The Mortal-Transcendents showed off their abilities to the extreme. Heavenly Palaces appeared one after the other, drenching the blue hue birthed by the glowing pond in a thick layer of golden light. Space was locked in the presence of these Heavenly Palaces. Some of the creatures stood still, feeling primordial fear rip their relentless courage apart.
Those that saw themselves as Formation Masters hid behind the assembly of Heavenly Palaces that inspired a sense of majesty in those below the Heavenly Door Realm. On their last legs, the cultivators attacked with all their might. Qi blasts of all colors blasted against the creatures. Sword lights, saber lights, fist aura's and, many more rushed towards the creatures, turning most of them into gory meat paste. But those that had bodies that stood toe to toe with Heavenly Door experts remained where they were.
"Don't Stop!" Qin Yan shouted, dashing into the army of enemies.
His sword flashed constantly. Each flashed to the lives of hundreds of creatures. He dodged, and slid his sword to the left, killing a few more creatures. At other times he slid onto the floor, waving his sword around, killing countless more.
"Brother Qin Yan! At least we tried!" a lady down to her last shouted.
She pushed a few of the creatures back with a blast of wind and sliced a few more with her qi-covered hand. She went on a rampage for a few more seconds before a group of creatures surrounded her and pummeled her into the ground until her pendant glowed.
"We are not going to make this!" A group of men slipping and sliding amongst the creatures said in a depressing tone. With every ten creatures they killed, a hundred more rose to replace them. The creatures seemingly had no end to their numbers. How could they win this?
The battle continued for another thirty minutes. The creatures forced everyone into the tight cavern space, spelling their eventual doom. Everyone was so busy battling the creatures that they never thought to notice the man silently meditating near the pond. The splatters of blood, tearing of limbs, or decapitation of heads occurring around him didn't qualify to make him open his eyes, let alone stand up. Not a drop of blood stained his black robes.
As long as the creatures didn't disturb him, he wouldn't bother with them.
Qin Yan breathed heavily. The battle was far from over, yet his qi was on the verge of running out. He blocked a few attacks from a bone sword and sent a wave of qi toward the direction the bone sword came from. Sweat soaked his clothes, and his muscle's ached like they have never before. But he fought on.
"You! Yes you! moive to you left and kill those dastardly creatures. You! take a friend and mive to towards the left of the cavern. You guys! don't conserve qi! If we all get forced out of the trials then everything we've gone through will before nothing! Remember we fail the moment our pendants light up!" Qin Yan barked orders, pointing at the random people he saw.
They started out as a large group of about two thousand. And only a few hours in they were no more than seven hundred squeezed into a tight spot by little mindless creatures. Where did they go wrong? They couldn't absorb the qi to replenish their reserves, yet they had to battle an endless flood of enemies. Were they meant to fail this trial before it even started?
"Brother Yan!"
A large halberd struck against the head of a creature that managed to sneak up against Qin Yan. Flesh and brain matter, belonging to the creature, splashed against the floor. Qin Yan rolled forward, dodging a giant claw that came crashing from the air. A hand wrapped around his wrist and pulled him away from another attack that nearly claimed his chance at entering the sect.
"Thanks, Sister Baohai!" Qin Yan wiped the sweat off his face and dashed off into the distance.
"Thank me for surviving to the end. We can do this!" Sister Baozhai's cute voice was jarring to hear among the grunts and screams of people at war against time and an endless flood of creatures.
Qin Yan tried his best. He pushed his Heavenly Palace to the extreme, drawing more than half the qi left in both his qi and dantian to summon his most powerful attack. Swirling masses of brightly colored qi dashed to the tip of his blade. He dug his feet into the ground, planting them like the thick roots of an ancient tree. He swung the sword behind him and then brought it in front. He did that a few more times as Qi built up at the tip of his sword.
"Don't hide your trump cards! Nowe is not the time," Qin Yan shouted, " Mortal Transcendants! After Me!"
Heaven;y Palace pulsed as large amounts of qi were drawn out of each of their ponds. The creatures were relentless in their assault. The Heavenly Door and Heavenly Step cultivators did their best, slinging as much of their bright-colored spirit techniques as they could at the things to buy enough time for the Mortal Transcendents to finish charging up tier trump cards. Heads rolled. Blood splattered everywhere. Pieces of flesh stuck to feet, clothes, and cleavages. But the battle went on. Everyone who participated knew that this was their only chance to not be eliminated. Methods to recover their qi could be found later.
"Lets blast these pieces of shit with all we got! Fire!" Qin Yan Roared.