They were doing hit and run tactics. As soon as their attack had landed, they rushed away again.
Usually, Lin Xiao would be using his staff, but today he was using a sword. He had both sword and staff at his disposal, but he preferred using the staff. Unfortunately, the hide of the boar was too thick and impossible to cause serious injuries with the staff, making him switch to a sword this time.
Lin Xiao was not as skillful with the sword as he was with the staff, but honestly, the current tactics did not require any elaborate skills.
He threw a single attack at the boar before he retreated faster than the eye could see.
By the time the boar turned around, ready to chase the two troublesome individuals that had appeared, he was stopped by a massive dog that had jumped on his back; sharp teeth sunk into its neck and sharp claws dug into its sides.
Blood flowed unceasingly from the boar’s body. It was impossible for him to stop the blood from flowing, and he started thrashing about, running into walls and throwing himself on the floor in an attempt to make Hei Gou release him.
After a bit of time, he managed to succeed. Hei Gou released him and retreated slightly, but the boar dared not show his back to Hei Gou again, causing yet another round of attacks from Lin Xiao and Bai Tianyi to land on his body.
This time, he did not turn around but kept facing Hei Gou. He glanced around looking for a place to fight where he would not be flanked from all sides and found that not far away was a corner of the hall. Most would not prefer being stuck to a corner like this in a battle against many opponents, as a corner meant he would have no avenues of retreat, but the bandit leader felt that it was more secure than the current situation where everyone was ganging up against him.
Xue Wei was observing the actions of the boar. He was not so eager to join the battle right away. His plan was to assist when they needed it, but looking at how the battle was panning out, no one needed his assistance right now.
Still, he could not just stand there doing nothing, so he moved forward.
Forbidden Rush!
Inner Might: Qi Zither Style!
Xue Wei used the Forbidden Rush to move to a place where there were almost no people. It was far away from the scene of battle, but he was still in range of them should they need his help.
Sitting at his position he sent out one melody infused with Qi after another, either assisting some students that were in a bind or further injuring the boar that was fighting for its life against his three comrades.
The sound waves were invisible but contained so much Qi that they could cause some severe damage – especially to the spiritual energy cultivators whose body cultivation was still at the Heavenly Warrior rank.
Although Xue Wei was not interested in stealing points from others, he was sometimes able to kill a few weaker cultivators, but no one really minded him stealing the points, as each and every one of his attacks saved lives and made things much easier for the rest of the students.
Xue Wei was curious, as his eyes gazed over the entire inside of the fortress. Everywhere he looked, painful and desperate battles were being fought.
The bandits still held the advantage of sheer numbers, but even so, they did not seem to have what it took to face off against the experts from the Garden of Shadows academy who had managed to raise their Qi levels to the Ordinary Knight rank.
Although this was the case, many of them were still fighting one against two, and although their bodies were harder to injure, they still felt that their advance had been slowed.
That was when Xue Wei noticed something odd. At the start, all of them had been allowed into the fortress easily and to advance as far as they wanted, but now it was as if the battlefield had been separated into two battlefields, one where Hei Gou, Lin Xiao, and Bai Tianyi were fighting against the boar and one where the rest were fighting against the students.
At the start, Xue Wei had been perfectly in reach of both battlefields, but now it felt as if he could barely reach both sides to support them as needed.
Had the bandits planned something for Hei Gou and the others? Xue Wei suddenly got worried.
He was not too caring about the academy students; it was not his job to look after them or help them increase their fighting prowess. He had already done more than what could be expected from him by helping them upgrade their Qi realms.
Since this was the case, he immediately dismissed the Qi zither from Inner Might. He rushed towards the boar and saw that the entire back of the beast was filled with wounds and cuts. Blood flowed from the wounds in the hide, dying the skin and even the ground beneath the boar bloody red.
"Finish it!" Xue Wei called out, sensing an ill premonition. "We need to finish this battle fast!"
Lin Xiao and the others were unaware of what might be the cause of Xue Wei's sudden rush, but they understood that he would not say something to trick them. Lin Xiao's face became serious.
The sword was replaced with another staff – a staff that Xue Wei had not seen before.
This staff did not seem like the one he used to fight with. It seemed as if it was made from a strange red kind of wood, and on the end was a moon carved from jade attached.
This was the tool that Lin Xiao needed to tame a Primordial Beast. Although he was a Diviner, there were certain things he needed when taming a beast and the beast staff was one of these items.
The staff he held was something that had been passed down through generations of Diviners. There was only one true Beast Staff in the world, but there were countless replicas of it.
The only real Beast Staff was in the hands of Lin Xiao, and it was much stronger than the other staves. In fact, it was in a league of its own.
Lin Xiao's eyes were serious as he looked at the boar in front of him. This boar was stronger than any other beast he had ever attempted to subdue, but he was not willing to give up. Rather, he was more than eager to give it a try. He wanted to see the strength of the Beast Staff he had casually swiped before setting out.
Lin Xiao closed his eyes and started mumbling strange words. The moon on the top of the staff started shining with a gentle moonlight-like glow and this glow started coagulating into a long line.
The line went from the moon straight into the eyes of the boar. Until now, the boar had been fighting seriously against the other three, but the moment the light flashed in front of its eyes, it stopped struggling. Its pupils widened and its body went limp.
Everywhere within the fortress, the sound of fighting slowly came to a standstill as they saw the strange phenomenon in front of them. What was happening to this bandit leader?
No one had the answer, but the moment they looked at Lin Xiao, fear and reverence was evident in their eyes. Some had greed in their narrowed eyes. The staff in Lin Xiao's hand was truly too magnificent.
Xue Wei was also curiously observing every change in Lin Xiao and the boar. This was the first time he saw a Diviner using his taming skill, and he was quite curious about it.
When he saw the gentle moonlight-like glow on the staff, his interest was even further piqued. It had an attractiveness to it that almost made Xue Wei want to reach out his hand and touch it.
The glow was alluring and tempting. It was almost dragging him towards it, but he managed to control himself.
Hei Gou seemed to feel the same as Xue Wei, but where Xue Wei had no problem controlling himself, Hei Gou had trouble from staying away, trembling meanwhile. His eyes were red and his mouth curled into a sneer, blood flowing from the corner of the lips.
It was clear that Hei Gou had a much harder time fighting against the allure of the light. Xue Wei frowned. This was not what he wanted. He did not want to see his good friend in pain.
Lin Xiao seemed to have noticed the predicament that Hei Gou was in and his face turned serious. He instantly stopped pouring his energy into the staff and with a flick of his hand, he stored it in his storage treasure again, after which he quickly took out a few scrolls.
Hei Gou felt much better the moment the staff had vanished, but the boar was not as fortunate. It had been under the direct influence of the light and its mind was blank and its body exhausted.
Lin Xiao rushed to the side of the boar and placed the yellow scrolls on the boar's forehead.
These scrolls were clearly talismans. After placing them on the boar, he sat down in front of it, crossing his legs and placing his hands in his lap. He closed his eyes and poured out a form of energy that Xue Wei had never experienced before.
He frowned. Although he had not seen this energy before, there was something about it that seemed slightly familiar, but he could not put his finger on what exactly it was.
It was not before he looked at Bai Tianyi that he realized that the familiarity came from his Sword Energy. The energy that Lin Xiao was using shared certain characteristics to the kind of energy that the Sword Energy was made from.
Could it be that what was behind the might of the Diviners was the power of a Dao? That would explain a lot of things, but at the same time also complicate others.
Xue Wei looked at Bai Tianyi with a questioning look. Bai Tianyi nodded his head and walked next to him.
"It is indeed the Dao," he said with astonishment. "It is not a pure Dao, but it comes from the Dao of Dependence. It manages to create a dependence inside the mind of the beast, enslaving it and making it impossible for the beast to ever harm their master. They will follow any order given by their master."
"I would never have imagined that I would encounter another Dao like this, especially not in the body of one so young," Bai Tianyi said with praise, but then his eyes turned sharp and he frowned.
"Actually, it is not a real Dao, as he can not control it without his tools. I imagine that he is somehow able to use a bit of the power through a welcoming ritual at the Diviner's main temple back in Chang'an."
"The reason he has so much potential is that he is very compatible with the Dao, making him even more important to the Diviners than what we previously imagined."
Xue Wei frowned. So it was a Dao, but not really a Dao. They used the rules of the Dao and the power of the Dao, but they could not wield it without tools. If the Diviners could do this, did it mean that he too was able to copy the Daos and make them into something that could strengthen his offense?