Chapter 88: Mutual Destruction

Tang Wan turned her head in astonishment. Within the flashing circle of icy blades, the mottled leopard bit down hard on a Tianshan disciple’s neck. Its head ducked, dodging a frosty sword, then sprang toward another target with terrifying speed.

“Wretched beast!” Lu Tiannan shouted in rage and panic, hastily manipulating his defensive spiritual artifact to redirect its assault, aiming it at the leopard, which was now wheeling around and lunging at another Tianshan disciple.

Moments ago, the mottled leopard had been charging at Lu Tiannan, but it suddenly landed, its three paws pounding the earth, doubling its speed. Instead of attacking Lu Tiannan, the bulky leopard twisted its body and appeared beside a Tianshan disciple, jaws agape, sinking its teeth into his throat.

With a dull clang, the frosty sword controlled by the disciple fell to the ground before Lu Tiannan. Having rescued the sect master, the disciple lost his own life; the blade still emanated chilling energy, but its master had already perished in the leopard’s bloody maw.

“Wretched beast!”

Shouts of fury and terror erupted in succession as several Tianshan disciples witnessed their comrade slain, anger surging in their chests.

With a hiss, three spiritual weapons gleaming with cold light darted forward, one leading, two following, alternating as they struck at the rapidly moving leopard.

A pang of regret pierced Lu Tiannan’s heart. The Tianshan disciple who’d just been killed was only at the seventh level of Qi Refinement—the weakest among them. He hadn’t expected the mottled leopard to be so cunning, feigning an attack on himself to draw everyone’s attention, then suddenly accelerating to fell the weakest member.

Lu Tiannan’s Li Shui Frostlight Sword in his palm flashed with a chilling violet glow as he lunged at the darting leopard. With the disciple’s death, the Li Shui Frost Array was broken; now, the Tianshan disciples could only fight alone.

“This position was supposed to be Meng Lu’s,” Lu Tiannan thought, remorse cascading through him as he considered the difficulties ahead on the monster-hunting path. Meng Lu had failed to slay the Huashan disciple and died instead; his second brother, Lu Xiya, disappeared without reason, leaving the Tianshan sect short-handed. In the Li Shui Frost Array, Meng Lu’s spot had to be filled by a weaker disciple, and unexpectedly, this became the array’s fatal weakness.

The array required high cultivation—four cultivators at the peak of Qi Refinement could drive it; with those above the fourth layer, at least six were needed. This monster hunt, Tianshan sent six experts: three at the peak, one ninth, one eighth, one seventh layer. The numbers were just enough, but now, with one lost, the array was broken.

The mottled leopard, having killed a seventh-layer cultivator, retreated swiftly, its beastly mouth emitting a triumphant cry.

With a crack, the lightning-fast leopard paused, then teleported beside another disciple, jaws snapping onto his neck.

...

On the battlefield’s edge, Tang Wan watched from afar, stunned as Tianshan disciples were felled one after another by the leopard’s sudden burst of speed—bitten, killed, wounded...

...

Panting heavily,

Lu Tiannan knelt on one knee, hands pressed to his Li Shui Frostlight Sword thrust into the ground, his body heaving with deep breaths. Not far from him, another Tianshan disciple, one arm severed, also knelt, leaning on his frosty sword and gasping for air.

Between them, the mottled leopard’s massive body lay sprawled, riddled with countless wounds, each oozing blood.

Around them, several Tianshan disciples lay scattered, their swords thrown about in disarray—everywhere lay...

“Sect Master, what do we do now? Second Brother is dead, several disciples are dead. Without the Li Shui Frost Array, we can’t possibly go on!” the one-armed disciple said weakly to Lu Tiannan.

“We have no choice but to go,” Lu Tiannan replied, brows tightly furrowed. Though they had slain the leopard, unease gnawed at him, yet he couldn’t pinpoint its source.

“We’ve killed this monster and obtained its beast core. According to the catalog, this should be a mottled leopard—its core can offset ten others. Combined with the one we previously hunted, we still need nine more to complete our mission. Without the cores, we can’t leave the monster-hunting battlefield.”

Lu Tiannan explained, breathless, scanning the battlefield as if expecting something to burst forth and threaten him.

“What should we do, Sect Master? Ahead, monsters will only be more numerous. With just the two of us, we’ll barely survive.” The one-armed disciple’s face was pale with fear, his tone frail. The battle with the leopard had terrified him; though he was at the peak of Qi Refinement, it was his first time in the monster-hunting field, and he hadn’t expected to encounter a top-grade beast that, in its dying frenzy, killed four disciples.

“We’ll scout the outskirts first. If we find a low or middle-grade beast, we’ll deal with it. Once we have enough cores, we’ll try to reach the Carnivorous Flower Valley.” Lu Tiannan comforted him. Normally, he would have slapped his timid disciple, but this was the monster hunt. Another newly advanced peak cultivator had died for the leopard, so now he could only rely on this timid companion to escape.

“Why has my junior lost his nerve?” Lu Tiannan rose, irritably brushing dust from his clothes, his agitation dulling his perception of the surroundings.

...

In the distance, Jiang Yan sat cross-legged, fingers forming a sword before his chest, silently controlling seven Greenwood Arrows as they crept toward Lu Tiannan and the one-armed disciple. Tang Wan watched, tense, afraid the two would notice the anomaly.

...

Above Lu Tiannan, three transparent Greenwood Arrows drifted closer, inching toward the agitated sect master. Before and behind the one-armed disciple, two more arrows hovered, slowly approaching his chest and back...

“Junior, hurry and extract the beast core. We must leave soon—twelve hours aren’t far off.” Lu Tiannan, frustrated, glanced at the suns overhead and ordered his companion.

The one-armed disciple sighed, looked at the sky, and tried to stand, leaning on his frosty sword. But blood loss overwhelmed him, and darkness swept across his vision. Staggering, he tried to steady himself.

With a sharp gasp, before he could take a step, the disciple suddenly felt a chill in his chest, then searing pain flooding his body. He looked down to see two bleeding wounds, blood streaming out and outlining a round arrow shaft.

Arrows whistled through the air.

Suddenly, his back burned with pain as two bloodied arrowheads burst out through his chest...

“Ambush...” the disciple croaked, warning Lu Tiannan.

“Junior!” Lu Tiannan’s heart froze. Someone was lurking nearby—his first thought upon seeing the arrows protruding from his companion’s chest.

Lu Tiannan unleashed his spiritual sense, quickly sweeping the area. Though a Qi Refinement cultivator’s sense was limited, within ten meters he could detect what the eye could not.

“There are no invisible weapons nearby.” Lu Tiannan breathed a long sigh of relief; evidently, the attacker planned to wound the weak first, then deal with him.

...

In the distance, Jiang Yan’s spiritual sense tightened. His finger-sword traced circles before his chest, and he muttered, “Swift.”

Above Lu Tiannan, three invisible Greenwood Arrows suddenly flared with a misty green light, then plunged downward, targeting Lu Tiannan as he bent to help his injured companion.

With three sharp thuds, the arrows pierced Lu Tiannan’s back in succession.

“Ah…”

Lu Tiannan cried out, his body recoiling, vanishing a dozen meters away, leaving a trail of blood behind.

In that moment, his spiritual sense revealed three faintly glowing arrows lodged in his shoulder.

He had been bending to help his junior sit up, and as he bent, the three arrows struck his back. He was grateful—if he hadn’t bent, they would have pierced his head...

“Junior, I’ll search for the assassin…” Lu Tiannan shouted mournfully, retreated several yards, then fled toward the path the Tianshan disciples had entered the forest, not once looking back.

“Senior!” the one-armed disciple bellowed, fury and injustice in his voice. Even a fool could see Lu Tiannan was abandoning him to save himself. The direction Lu Tiannan fled was the way they’d come, which had already been cleared—no enemies there...

With a sputter, the disciple, angered by his senior’s escape, felt his throat sweeten and spat blood, his life ebbing away.

PS: Keleiyu is truly relentless—three chapters, my thanks…