Zemirah quickly broke away from her stunned state caused by the roaring sound thanks to her stronger-than-average soul and her treasure artifacts that protected her.
However, not everyone is as lucky as her.
From her peripheral vision, she saw the man bleeding from his seven orifices. Even with the flowing blood, the man didn't break from his trance until his vitality was gone.
The bloody appearance of the cultivator who died without fighting back and knowing what happened made Zemirah's hair stand on end.
Though she had already seen deaths before, the situation she faced right now where her enemy was unknown while the deaths were so bloody made her feel bad.
She quickly activated a talisman on her hand, a Soul Protecting Talisman she bought when wandering around the Azure Oak City. She didn't expect to use it immediately in this kind of situation. She bought it with the intention of studying, who knows it will be used to defend herself.
After activating the talisman, she felt the pressure that was pressing on her soul disappear, making her breathe in relief.
Zemirah dared not stay in her place, so she quickly used her footwork to hide away from this place of danger.
As she was about to hide in a nearby tree, she passed by the tamer of the Iron Armor Beast who was also bleeding. She can see that he was struggling to fight the soul suppression so she decided to lend a hand.
Activating another Soul Protecting Talisman, she pasted it on the man before escaping after seeing his eyes regain clarity.
Simon, who woke up in his trance, saw the talisman on his body and the escaping person. He did not speak much as the situation was urgent but he remembered the favor.
The Soul Protection Talisman was an expensive talisman that was not very popular since danger related to the soul is quite rare. Most of the cultivators never bought one while some relatively well-off have some in case of emergency.
Simon is the latter, but the crucial point is that one must be able to use it to save one's life. The situation he was in didn't allow it, so the talisman was useless.
But the act of the person who activated and gave the talisman to him was a life-saving grace.
Thinking about the fact that he almost died without knowing his enemy, Simon burned with anger. He held his azure flute then a mysterious but dangerous song sounded throughout the forest.
The Iron Armor Beast, who was frozen amidst the beast roar in his soul, gained control of his body. The Iron Armor Beast remembered and understood what happened, making it roar back in anger.
"ROAR!"
The huge beast was surrounded with gold and brown energy, its height becoming taller and its armor was shining with metallic sheen.
The people behind his back who were affected woke up from their daze, while the ones who died early limp in their places.
Out of three hundred people, less than two hundred woke up alive.
The rest died when the roar shocked their soul into a daze that they never got out of. The cultivators, both casual and art cultivators, saw the shocking scene where people beside them were bleeding with no breath.
While Simon, the music cultivator of the Iron Armor Beast, was confronting the beast roar that was trying to get into their soul. They instantly understood what happened, making them gain their composure.
"Enemy attack!" A burly man shouted despite the blood flowing in his eyes, nose, and ears. His hand held the sword out of its sheathe as he vigilantly looked for the enemy hiding in the dark.
The people who managed to wake up alive were no pushovers, they also used their methods to find the enemy.
The man with the calligraphy brush waved his hand in the air, wind energy converged into two words, Wind Whisper. The man seems to have received the whisper of the wind in the area as he pointed to a place.
"In the east! There is a group of demonic cultivators and demonic beasts in ambush!" His words seemed to be the trigger as the place he pointed rustled.
Everyone narrowed their eyes, the enemy knew that they were exposed so they were going for a head-on confrontation.
No one was afraid though, as long as there were no more mysterious attacks on the soul or spirit, they could fight back.
A group of casual cultivators stood up, standing in a specific formation. Zemirah recognize that it is the army formation that can help cultivators increase their strength if used right. This army formation is rare in the dynasty, as the Aeros Empire made a name for themselves in this aspect.
She did not expect to see one and from the casual cultivators at that.
What Zemirah didn't know is that the rarity of army formation is much more than she imagined. The people in front of her are not the casual cultivators in her mind.
This misunderstanding came because of Zemirah's lack of understanding of the world of cultivation. She only found out the truth at a later time.
The other cultivators stared at the army formation of the group of fifteen cultivators, their eyes flickered with the unknown. Despite this, everyone still understood the fact that the enemies wouldn't wait for them to prepare so they also seized the time to take out their weapon artifacts and other items that could save their lives at a critical moment.
Zemirah stopped paying attention to her fellow passengers as she stared deeply at the depths of the forest. She intuitively felt the fast movements of dangerous creatures coming closer to their side.
This danger reminded her that she needed to be cautious, so she took out a stack of talismans from her storage ring. Holding them on hand for faster activation, she also started using her spiritual energy to accumulate power in her sword.
The sword energy full of star power flickered in the sword artifact. The beauty didn't cover its fatality.
The Twelve Constellations Sword Method has four moves and Zemirah's lesser mastery has already surpassed the majority of her peers. She is capable to defend herself and even kill others with her sword.
The [Purple Heaven Butterfly Sword] shined brightly in Zemirah's hand.
Not long after, a red smoke can be seen with blood-red eyes hidden on it. The familiar disgusting and evil aura made Zemirah frown.
In her heart, these demonic cultivators are worse than the demonic beast like the Iron Armor Beast. She even felt it was an insult for the demonic beast to be compared with these people.
The demonic cultivators didn't surpass their number of people, but everyone could see that their quality was superior to theirs. They have uniformed cultivation techniques and artifacts, making people doubt that they are from the same organization.
A man whose face was distorted like a monster from her childhood nightmare spoke with ill intentions, "Hehehe, what a good blood sacrifice."
The people who were called the blood sacrifice changed their expressions, some full of fear, some anger, and some in contemplation.
Zemirah's face remained indifferent as her mind moved quickly. These people are different from those who ambushed Roch in the Teal River and Lovers Rose Garden. Those people are not uniformed like scattered sand forcibly put together to deal with Roch.
While these people seem to be similar to the demonic cultivators she always heard when she's in the Teal River Town. They always ambushed cultivators and attack mortal towns for blood sacrifice.
Zemirah was disgusted with these people who commit evil for cultivation. Although cultivating immortality is to go against the heaven, what they are doing is outrageous not only to heaven but also to all living beings in the world.
The distorted face of the man seems to be the side effects of his cultivation technique, which further convinced her that these people's cultivation is angering the heaven.
Simon, who was still playing in his azure flute, suddenly changed his tune. The music stopped gathering and strengthening the Iron Armor Beast, the notes became sharper and confusing.
But this sharp and confusion traits can only be felt by the enemy he targeted, which proved the man's excellent control of the art of music.
Zemirah understood these things because of her lover, a person who is excellent in everything in her eyes.
The Iron Armor Beast roared in anger after seeing the demonic cultivators, it intuitively sense that the pain he encountered in his soul earlier was caused by these people.
As if a signal was heard, everyone immediately attacked. Various techniques and skills was used, opening Zemirah's eyes once again.
Her sword was also not idle, as long as she saw the opportunity, she will slash the sword energy full of destructive power of stars. But this actions was on the prerequisite that her safety is guaranteed.
Various hiding talismans was activated by her, making her an assassin on the field.
"Someone is making a sneak attack!" A demonic cultivator whose face was distorted to the point of losing his facial features shouted before his head was cut off from his body.
The shout attracted the attention of the people in battle, especially the demonic cultivators on the dead man's side. Their expressions changed but they did not become timid but more courageous.
In Zemirah's eyes, these people seems to be… seeking death.
Zemirah was not exposed even with the shout as her footwork allowed her to move quickly. Like a flickering star in the bloody chaos, she can come and go as pleases.
On the other side, the people who formed the army formation faced the greatest attacks as they have the largest number compared to to individual cultivators.
Like a tiger crouching above their heads, the formation blessed the people in the formation with unpararreled attack and speed. Like a meat grinder unafraid of enemies, they already killed enemies twice the number of their people.
Zemirah didn't dare put her eyes on their side as the scattered flesh and blood made her stomach churn.
From the corner of her eyes, she saw the man with calligraphy brush hiding behind Simon as he keeps muttering poems while waving his calligraphy brush that was dripping in ink.
The spiritual power surged as the poems he was reciting was written in the wind. His attack power was incomparable to the othe cultivators in the field.
The wind surge, cutting all malicious people coming in their way. Green energy full of wind formed a blade, killing enemies full of evil.
It seems to be amazing, but the man with calligraphy brush seems to have forgotten something with the tense battle situation.
His every move was powerful but it also have corresponding price. The spiritual energy it needed was huge that after attacking for more than ten moves, his spiritual energy in his dantian was threatening to dry.
"Not good."
This made him pause in his actions, as he hesitated whether to stop and conserve energy. But he forgot that there is one rule in battle that one must never forget.
Don't be distracted, or it will cost your life.
Simon's eyes darkened when he saw the man's actions, along with an evil power surging behind.
"Behind you!" Simon shouted as he was about to order his Iron Armor Beast to block the incoming attack when someone made a move first.
Zemirah saw everything that happened so she quickly responded when she saw the demonic cultivator sneaking on them from behind.
A talisman was activate and a huge crimson flower grew out from the ground, its tentacles reaching to the figure full of demonic energy. The attacking person was delayed but not the attack thrown.
Zemirah didn't have the stupid idea of blocking the attack with her body for a stranger she didn't know. But the situation made her have an idea that she didn't have time to think through.
Waving her thin sword shimmering in star energy, the sword slashed towards the bloody dagger with smoke in the shape of skulls and bones.