Legend of The Young Master

Chapter 118: It all hurts. Get it done, eh?

But the beast was far from defeated; it rose to its feet and growled menacingly, its golden-yellow eyes flecked with brown staring intently at the Red Daoist. Arrows flew from the bows of the archers. Most missed their mark, their hands trembling in fear. But a few Qi-infused arrows found their target, embedding themselves in the creature.

Undeterred, the Flying Serpent charged again, its taloned legs kicking up clods of earth as it bore down on the line of men. Its wings flapped for balance, its snout aimed directly at the Red Daoist's chest.

Jin was already reloading his crossbow, confident that the Red Daoist would protect him.

With a swift, calculated motion, the Red Daoist swung his halberd once more. The blade cut through the skin under the creature's jaw, stopping against its jawbone. The force of the creature's charge drove the blade deeper, almost severing its neck. This beast, though a lower spirit beast, was still five minor realms ahead of Wuyi's horse.

With its physical prowess, the beast could be said to have power somewhere between a High Qi Master and a Lower Qi Lord. Frantically shaking, the beast tried to free itself. The Red Daoist pulled out his halberd and moved back to build momentum.

Just when the warriors thought the battle was won and they were gaining confidence in the Red Daoist's prowess, the beast let out a loud, shrill noise. At that moment, another Flying Serpent barreled down from the sky. With swift motion, the Red Daoist smacked it with his halberd and leapt onto the newly attacking serpent, engaging it in mid-air combat

While the Red Daoist battled the newly arrived serpent, the first serpent growled, ready to pounce on the Red Daoist. But before it could, Baijian lunged from the side, burying his spear into the beast's shoulder to stop it from attacking the Red Daoist. The creature reared back, stumbling in its wounded state.

Seizing the opportunity, Yun Ming appeared in front of it, slashing at its breastbone with his sword.

Qi-infused arrows and barbs adorned the first beast's face and neck, each adding to its misery. As it turned to attack, it lost an eye to a long shaft. In that moment, its tail flicked, crushing an adept beneath its weight, folding his armor and breaking his back. Seeing one of the adepts being crushed, Shen delivered a two-handed overhead blow, crushing the beast's ribs.

Meiying stabbed it in the side with a spear, leaving the weapon embedded as she drew her blade. Qingyu Ni came to support Meiying and attacked the beast where the spear was embedded. Xuanli Ye, another Qi adept, slashed at the back of its other leg, while Baijian hammered it with repeated blows.

Losing its balance, the beast roared and turned on Qingyu Ni, biting down on the Qi adept's head. His Qi mask failed to hold, and his skull was crushed, killing him instantly. Meiying stepped over his lifeless body, planting her spear into the beast's jaw, only to be flung away by a flick of its neck.

Meanwhile, the Red Daoist had finished off the second serpent, severing its head from its torso with his halberd. He leapt back towards the first beast, his halberd slicing through the air, taking one of its wings clean off. As the beast turned to strike, Red Daoist smacked its head heavily without any delay. The beast's head collapsed to the earth, its baleful eye tracking the Red Daoist.

Red Daoist thrust his halberd forward, but the beast reared up, its remaining wing thrashing the men below.

The beast, on its last breath, was miserable. Wuyi felt miserable for another reason: he lamented that he could not absorb the energy of these two almost Qi lord-level spirit beasts to enhance the power of his statues. His statues would have greatly appreciated the energy.

Seeing the beast's last breath, the warriors didn't cease their assault. Yun Ming severed the head, Baijian took off one leg at the haunch, and two Qi adepts got the other leg at the knee. Meiying rammed her long spear into every joint repeatedly, while archers continued to loose bolts and arrows into the lifeless mound of its corpse.

They were all drenched in a peculiar ichor—dark, viscous, and tinged with an emerald hue, reminiscent of the bile from a freshly slaughtered beast. The substance was warm and had a corrosive quality that could ruin fine armor if it was not covered by Qi. As they regained their composure, they noticed that the Red Daoist had departed, signaling that the immediate danger had passed.

Wuyi reappeared. "Jia?" He looked for his attendant.

Some distance away, Jia was struggling to remove his mask. Ultimately, he failed and ended up retching within it. His spear and armor bore the stains of the Flying Serpent's blood."

Jin reloaded his crossbow, his gaze fixed on the lifeless forms of the two creatures. Around him, warriors of the faction were embracing, laughing, crying, retching, or falling to their knees in prayer. Others simply stared vacantly at the defeated Flying Serpents, which already seemed to be shrinking in size. This was the first time they had ever faced a demonic beast of such a level.

Wuyi moved to assist one of his faltering Qi warriors.

Yun Ming approached Wuyi, his visage aged by the ordeal. He had been with Wuyi from the start, facing many demonics, warriors, and beasts, but this was also a first for him. "Seven have perished. Qingzhi Song has suffered a broken back and requests your presence," he reported.

Wuyi made his way to Qingzhi Song, an elder warrior at the adept level. His armor was battered and twisted, and he lay in a heap, having been flattened and crushed by the tail and hindquarters of one of the creatures. Miraculously, he was still breathing.

"We succeeded, didn't we?" Qingzhi Song rasped.

"It was valiantly done, correct?" Wuyi knelt beside Qingzhi Song, taking in the battered armor and the pain etched on the older warrior's face.

"Bravely done, Qingzhi," he said softly, his voice tinged with admiration. These followers were his true braves.

"Heavens be praised," Qingzhi Song rasped, his voice thick with pain. "It all hurts. Get it done, eh?" Wuyi leaned down to touch Qingzhi's forehead and spoke, "You are not going anywhere."