The sound of something crushing and scratching against rock resonated beneath my ear. Something was moving underground, and the noise was growing louder. It meant one thing: whatever it was, it was getting closer!
No longer wanting to sleep, I opened my eyes and took Speedy out of my backpack. Placing the little creature on a rock and my backpack beside him, I settled down and ceased movement.
Closing my eyes, I attempted to sense the Qi around me, but it proved challenging. Although I could perceive the dreary Qi in the vicinity, my senses weren't honed enough to detect deep underground.
"Everyone! Wake up!" I yelled out loud.
There was a possibility the sound was merely something passing by, but I wasn't willing to take chances. I'd rather face the embarrassment of being wrong than the consequences of being right.
The other disciples woke up and gathered together, looking startled but displaying little panic. It wasn't unusual for the White Tiger Continent, locked in a perpetual struggle between humans and monstrous beasts, to face attacks from such creatures.
What concerned me was the underground threat, a vulnerability of my detection array. It couldn't warn us against subterranean assaults.
Glancing toward our leader for guidance, I was about to speak when I noticed Song Song's smile as she met my gaze. "Congratulations, your senses are exquisite for someone at the Body Tempering Stage."
Before I could respond, an explosion occurred about twenty feet away, sending rocks flying. I leaped back, dodging the projectiles, while squinting to discern the source within the dust cloud.
Yes, I could sense it now.
Song Song acted swiftly, her palm generating a strong wind that dispersed the dust, revealing a scorpion-like creature with three tails and the head of a bull. Its scales resembled unpolished rocks, emitting strange clicking noises.
This was a monstrous beast!
Before I could recall the information I had read about scorpion-like monstrous beasts, Song Song darted past me like lightning.
I could sense her Qi, but I could barely see anything more than a flash of her form!
She halted in front of the scorpion-like creature and delivered a powerful kick, causing half of the creature to disintegrate into a red smudge on the ground.
"Well, aren't you a tough one," she chuckled, as the scorpion still had two tails left, which shot toward her.
Though immobilized, the monstrous beast attempted one last-ditch attack. However, it was futile. Song Song caught the pincers on the tail, swinging the creature around before slamming it onto the ground. The rocks beneath cracked, forming a crater around the monstrous beast's body.
Unlike humans, monstrous beasts possessed greater resilience. Despite enduring relentless punishment, the scorpion-like creature twitched until Song Song delivered her final blow by stomping on its head, crushing it with a wet splat.
"Be careful. What if it had acidic blood or venom?" I cautioned Song Song.
She arched a questioning brow, implying whether a Body Tempering Cultivator with no experience should advise her.
She had a point. I smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of my head. "Apologies, that was thoughtless of me."
While I had picked up bad habits from this life due to Liu Feng, I also retained habits from my previous life, like cautioning youngsters against dangerous things. Despite her eccentricities, Song Song was likely nineteen or in her early twenties at most—still too young in my eyes.
During those years of my previous life, I had engaged in numerous reckless acts.
Despite my apology, Song Song continued to regard me with expectant eyes.
What did she expect me to do? I had already apologized.
"I thought you could sense the others too," she suddenly remarked, glancing into the distance. "For a moment, I forgot you weren't even a Qi Gathering disciple. Yet, you're more skilled than most of them."
I was momentarily perplexed until the translucent alarm barrier turned crimson red, and the sound of ringing bells filled the air. Soon, many more bells chimed incessantly, signaling the intrusion of numerous enemies into the detection array.
"Now, this is interesting. Finally, something exciting during this dull journey," Song Song muttered before launching herself into action.
"Wait!" I called out, but she departed without a care.
Despite my enhanced vision, it was still dark and difficult to see into the distance. However, our adversaries soon showed themselves—stone scorpions akin to the one Song Song had dispatched effortlessly. Although she had made it seem easy, each of these creatures was at least stronger than the average seven to eight-star Body Tempering Cultivator.
"Damn it!" exclaimed one of the team members as he drew his sword.
Others followed suit, with one inquiring, "Where did the leader go!?"
"She's battling the creature leading these things," I replied, opting not to disclose that it was merely my guess. For all I knew Song Song could have run away to get a better view of us getting slaughtered.
More concerning than the ongoing battle was the realization that something was orchestrating these monstrous beasts.
Why was there only one scorpion-like monstrous beast underground? It seemed as though they were testing the capabilities of my array. Their synchronized attack indicated they had waited just outside the barrier. Perhaps the leader possessed considerable Qi sensitivity, discerning the zone when there was an array.
An intelligent entity leading such a dangerous enemy...
A bead of sweat trickled down my brow, and my heart quickened its pace.
This was dangerous. They might have even laid a trap for Song Song.
During winter, monstrous beasts tended to be more ferocious and dangerous, as they became hungrier and formed hordes to attack human settlements for food. During autumn they were less hungry with smaller groups and a more cautious approach.
The thought of chasing after Song Song crossed my mind for a fleeting moment. Yet, just as quickly as it emerged, I dismissed it. After all, the rest of the team was equally at risk, and Song Song seemed capable of surviving whatever trap lay ahead.
"Flesh is my stone," I muttered, half-chanting, as the tips of my fingers ignited, and white blobs shot out, ensnaring my teammates. Before they could panic, I reassured them, "These will aid you in the fight."
The translucent white liquid expanded and enveloped them, forming a mucus-like armor around their bodies. Due to the stony environment generating a certain kind of Qi, these protective barriers were sturdier and more resilient than usual.
However, these miniature shields were inherently unstable. I clasped my hands together, and a translucent white pulse emanated from my chest, coalescing into a large spherical barrier-like construct. The scorpion-like monstrous beasts hesitated momentarily before crashing against my barrier. Yet, their efforts were in vain; instead of encountering resistance, they passed right through.
This wasn't a containment barrier; rather, it served to stabilize the armor worn by my companions—a remote method of Qi manipulation. Though imperfect and likely to falter within minutes, it was among the best arrays the librarian had taught me.
While intelligent monstrous beasts might be among our adversaries, I doubted they possessed knowledge of arrays or how to break this particular one, given its intangible nature.
"We face this together, as a team! My arrays show we are surrounded, with no room for escape!" I proclaimed, seeking to bolster the resolve of my fellow disciples.
Though I couldn't confirm whether we were indeed encircled, we confronted a dozen monstrous beasts before us. The last thing we needed was for someone to succumb to fear and break formation, endangering us all.
As the stone scorpions collided with us, most disciples were sent flying. Fortunately, thanks to my array, no blood had been shed thus far. However, the ominous thud of bodies crashing against rocks in the distance hinted at dire consequences. I had no opportunity to assess the others; a scorpion stood before me, its bull-like head aiming to impale me.
Seizing the monstrous beast by its husks, I used the Rushing Bull Step at maximum power. The ground beneath us cracked like a spiderweb.
Typically, I would have surged forward like a bullet, but this time, our momentum stalled, leaving us locked in place.
The stalemate didn't last long as its three scorpion tails shot toward me.
"Chain, Diverge, Dancing Sunlight! Thunder Dome!" I chanted. Four pillars rose from the ground, trapping us both within their midst, and lightning crackled along the stone pillars.
"Hopefully you're ready to get the shock of your life, big guy," I had no idea if the monstrous beast in front of me understood human language. But one thing was for sure: it could instinctively tell it was in danger and tried to move back. Even though it was difficult and my arms shook, I held it tight in place by its horns.
The stone pillars shone brightly, charged with resident Qi.
I specialized in defensive arrays. Since that was what the librarian had experience with. But that didn't mean I was horrible at attacking.
If there had been a lightning storm around Lightning Dome Array would have been more effective. But it wasn't like I had many options here.
The stone pillars began cracking, and even though this was my array, I felt a bit nervous.
This electricity that was about to come out would harm me too, and I had no control over it. This was the downside of not using my own Qi to form these arrays. Without the electricity being controlled by my Qi, it would move in its own natural way.
Suddenly, the four pillars exploded, and the wild electricity shot out in the middle.
There was one interesting thing about electricity: it was a very lazy energy and wouldn't move through something non-conductive. Instead, it would follow the path of least resistance.
A simple barrier, one without chant or hand seals, formed around my body. Technically, barriers didn't conduct electricity, so the lightning moved past me and hit its target... the scorpion-like monstrous beast.
There was a loud screech of electricity, a bit too loudly for my liking, and the horns in my hand twitched. But I held onto them to keep the monstrous beast from moving away.
Horns were nonconductive to electricity, so I held onto them without trouble.
When it was all over, there was a smell of burning flesh, and the monstrous beast collapsed to the ground. That was when I let go of the horns and punched the monstrous beast.
Sonic Fang Fist!
I gently tapped the beast's head, and not even a second later, it exploded into a shower of gore. After the blood and guts fell to the ground, I released my basic barrier, with my clothes still clean.
Turning toward the others, both monstrous beasts and disciples were looking at me.
While the fight had felt like an eternity, in their eyes, it had happened in a split second.
"C'mon now, what're you all waiting about?" I asked the monstrous beasts. "There are many arrays I still need to test out."
As expected, these monstrous beasts didn't understand human speech and charged at me. Instinctively, they had deduced that I was the biggest threat to them.