Chapter 102: Battle In The Sky Forest
As the sun crossed the horizon, the disciples prepared for another day of demon hunting.
The relief the disciples felt at having had an uneventful night was overshadowed by their fear and doubt. For a long time, only demon soldiers were seen in Sky Forest, which was the reason why the Sky Forest had become hunting ground for the disciples of Cloud Sect. The inner disciples could easily kill low-level demon soldiers, as these soldiers were simpleminded and not very strong.
But a demon general was more powerful than a demon soldier. And if demon generals were in Sky Forest, then all the disciples of Cloud Sect would become their prey.
Yesterday, Zen's team was not the only team to encounter a demon general. Disciples of Lady Peak had also come across one. Such a coincidence was rare and indicated that the number of demon generals in Sky Forest was far more than estimated.
It was common knowledge that it was relatively challenging for a demon general to sneak into and remain undetected in Sky Forest. The absence of the danger posed by demon generals in Sky Forest was one of the reasons why Cloud Sect selected the forest as the training place for its disciples.
But this year, the number of demon generals in the forest was beyond anyone's expectation. What drove them to the forest in such large numbers?
Although each of the disciples from Lady Peak and Drizzle Peak pondered over this anomaly, none could come up with a feasible answer. After all, White Emperor City formed a solid line of defense against the demons in the Shura Battlefield. How could these demon generals break through the defense line and sneak into Sky Forest?
Was something wrong in White Emperor City?
Needless to say, the disciples had many questions and doubts in their hearts and could not get answers or solutions. Thus, their concerns added to the anxiety they were already feeling.
They could not sleep well at night. When the sun rose, shafts of bright sunlight filtered through the green canopy and lit up the forest. The disciples collected their vitality, put out the fire, and continued on their way.
Although everyone was worried and tired, no one chose to give up. Besides, at this time, even if they wanted to give up, they needed to return along the same path. No one could guarantee that they would not encounter a demon on the way back.
Without another alternative, disciples of Drizzle Peak and Lady Peak decided to keep each other company and moved forward as per the original routing.
Since both peaks had encountered demon generals the day before, they proceeded with caution today. To prevent a demon general from lurking in the team by shielding under human skin, the disciples would act in groups. And every hour, Nina would test everyone with her Demon-revealing Needle.
In this way, they walked safely for around four hours. Suddenly, they heard a shout coming from ahead.
Then came the sound of explosions.
“There is a fight ahead!” Based on the noise, Cleve, who was walking in front of the team, surmised. He drew his sword from its scabbard as he prepared to join the battle. His previously relaxed expression now became serious. Without further delay, he instructed the team to get ready for battle.
On hearing the command, all disciples clenched their weapons firmly, regrouped to two teams by gender, and dashed toward the source of the explosion. They did not know who were fighting in the front, but they thought that this could be a battle between disciples of Cloud Sect and the demons.
When they moved closer, they could see what was happening in the forest. Their assumption was correct. The disciples of Cloud Sect were fighting fiercely with demons. For a time, the evil spirit being released by the several demons quickly dissipated the life vitality of the refiners. The evil spirit clashed with the life vitality, and the impact left the trees and grass around in chaos.
In the center of the battle, a young man with a black sword and a white sword in his hands attracted their attention.
Both his swords were simple in shape and forged in classic style. One was black, and one was white. They looked sharp in the young man's hands, as life vitality covered their blades. The young man swung his swords and generated layers of bright lights that bombed the area around him. He was fighting a demon general by himself, running neck-to-neck with his rival.
“Ah, he is Lenard Zhu! Lenard from Skytop Peak!” Nina murmured when she saw the young man.
Zen also noticed this young man from a distance. This inner disciple, Lenard Zhu, had remarkable strength among the disciples present. At the fifth grade of the nature level, Lenard could battle a demon general alone and had not been defeated so far. It was thus established that he was the most outstanding disciple.
There were many reasons why Skytop Peak was ranked the highest among the thirty-three peaks at Cloud Sect. One of those reasons was the outstanding abilities of its disciples.
It was uncommon for a peak to dispatch its best disciples during the trial to slay demons. But, Lenard from Skytop Peak was present this year. What was more surprising was that he was confronting a demon general by himself. That already showed the advantages of Skytop Peak over the other peaks.
Even with superior strength, the disciples of Skytop Peak were not fairing too well against the demons, as they were fighting two demon generals and dozens of demon soldiers.
Besides Lenard who was fighting one demon general, another three inner disciples were withstanding the attacks from a second demon general. Even though the three refiners were together, they could not match their rival and were struggling to keep the balance. If the demon general killed any one of them, the balance of victory and defeat would tilt. The situation was very dangerous for these disciples.
“Let's go and help them!” After saying these words, Cleve rushed into the battlefield and aimed his sword at one demon soldier. He summoned his life vitality, which enveloped the blade of his sword, thus making it glitter in the morning light.
The other disciples of Lady Peak and Drizzle Peak also ran toward the fight against the demon soldiers.
In previous trials, disciples would not intervene in a battle between disciples and demon soldiers as the situation was not dangerous enough to warrant interference.
But this time, the situation was different. They had come across a few demon generals and faced substantial loss. They were uncertain about the fate of the disciples from Blackrock Peak. Even though they knew that the likelihood of the disciples from Blackrock Peak surviving the counter was slim, none of the disciples from Lady Peak and Drizzle Peak were willing to believe it. Under such circumstances, they needed to cooperate.
The circumstances did not improve after the disciples of Drizzle Peak and Lady Peak joined the battle, as these disciples were not involved in the fights with the demon generals.
Since demon generals were exceptionally strong, a disciple's chances of winning rested on his concentration. An accidental interruption might break the current balance between Lenard and his opponent, the three disciples and their opponent. In such a case, the generals would be able to kill the disciples easily.
With such concerns in mind, the disciples decided to help in the battle against the demon soldiers. Only one disciple rushed toward the demon general. That was Zen.
His target was the demon general who was pinned down by the three disciples of Skytop Peak. As per his estimate, these three disciples were the inner disciples at the fourth-grade of the nature level.
From what he could see, their strategy had been to form a triangular barrier and build an exceptionally effective offensive. Within this barrier, through their close cooperation, they were able to fend off the demon general's attacks. Judging from their current actions and movements, these disciples seemed to be under the same mentor.
No matter how powerful the demon general's attack, the three could find an appropriate angle to ward off its blows.
In theory, if the three could cooperate closely together, they could be three times stronger than if they worked separately. And with such power, they could match the demon general's strength.
However, there was a shortcoming in this strategy.
Because the barrier required close cooperation, each of the three disciples had to be precise in their timing, control, and angle calculations. If any of the three made a little mistake, such as taking a wrong step, the barrier would have a leak. Once the demon general caught this leak and seized the opportunity to kill one of them, the balance would be broken, and the lives of the other two disciples would be at risk.
After frequent and tense changes of positions and gestures, a loophole finally appeared.
One of the disciples was very nervous under the pressure of the demon general, and so he took a wrong step and went too far away from the other two. By the time he realized his mistake and tried to move back, it was too late.
The demon general had been frustrated by the three's barrier and soon seized this opportunity. With a roar, the demon general stretched its tawny palm and grabbed the inner disciple who moved a little far away.
The disciple had known that there was something wrong with the barrier as it did not work any longer. When he saw the approaching sharp claws of the demon general, his face turned pale. He closed his eyes in despair. In his mind, there was no escaping certain death.
Similar to his assumption, the bystanders felt their heart sink when they noticed that the balance of the three would be broken. Although they were struggling to fight against the demon soldiers, most disciples still paid their attention on the fight with the demon generals. They understood that the two demon generals were the key to the battle. Now, seeing that the demon general had infiltrated the triangular barrier of the three disciples, they felt nervous and worried.
Once the demon general killed the three disciples, Lenard would be besieged by two demon generals. Even though Lenard was strong, there was a slim chance that he would be able to fend off the attacks of two demon generals. And if Lenard died as well, it would not be long before the two demon generals turned to the rest of the disciples..... Then, they would all die.
Most disciples had thought of this scenario and were now considering alternatives. Some disciples contemplated escaping at this critical moment. Their logic was that even if one disciple survived, it would be better than all being killed by the demons.
But just at that moment, a figure rushed toward the demon general.
The man moved closer to the demon without any indication of slowing down. He kept running to the demon general at full speed! Most disciples recognized this man to be Zen.
Normally, a human's body was soft, as it was mainly made of flesh and blood while a demon's body was as hard as steel.
If a human used his body to collide with a demon, the result would be like an egg hitting a stone. What was he thinking? Did he want to risk certain death?
Most disciples couldn't fathom why Zen would charge at a demon general.
Only disciples such as Cleve and Henry from Drizzle Peak understood why Zen was sprinting toward the demon general. His body was abnormally hard.
“Ah, Nina! Look at Zen! Does he want to die?” One of the female disciples from Lady Peak shouted in surprise.
Nina had been watching Zen. Seeing his desperate run toward the demon general, she felt confused as to his intentions. She did not believe that Zen, who was a half-step into the nature level, could kill a demon general. But at this moment, Zen dared to sprint toward a demon general. She couldn't help but be in awe of his courage!
This young man was very promising. She hoped that he would survive.
As Nina prayed for Zen's wellbeing, the demon general, who had been focusing all his attention on the three disciples, turned in Zen's direction. A mocking expression grew on his face when he realized what was about to happen.
The human heading his way was not even a nature creature! How could this human boy think he could charge at him like this? Did he want to die?
At this moment, the demon general and the disciples all thought that Zen was looking for death.
But when Zen's small body finally hit the huge and hard body of the demon general, the unexpected result astonished everyone.
“Bump!”
A dull sound followed the collision.
The demon general, who was as tall as three mature humans, flew back with the force of the impact. His body crashed through dozens of spruce trees before stopping.
However, Zen seemed unhurt. He stood up and patted the dust from his body as if nothing had happened...