(Third update, eight thousand words. Hammer has never worked this hard on updates before. Since I've made this little extra effort, fellow readers, could you spare me a few votes? The more votes, the more motivated I'll be to give you another burst of updates. What do you say, fellow readers?)
"Roar—" The two Qumao saw more than twenty human cultivators slowly closing in from two directions. From their mouths came a sharp, clear roar like that of the tiger, king of beasts. They rose with their bodies arched like bows, as if every muscle were coiled with power, ready to spring up and maul someone at any moment. Though these two demon beasts were only half again as large as ordinary adult cats and hardly imposing in stature, a demon beast's strength in the world of cultivation was not determined entirely by its size. No one dared underestimate these seemingly weak, exotic Qumao.
"One squad keep your eyes on one of them. Now, on my command—attack!"
At Su Qing's order, the two squads of more than twenty cultivators each brought out their magic artifacts. For a moment, swords, spears, blades, and halberds surged toward the two Qumao.
Lu Xiaotian did not hurry forward. He held a large shield in one hand and a long, green whip in the other. He had obtained both magic artifacts from the Black-Wind Demon Python's lair, and their quality was excellent. The shield in particular had been forged with a mixture of special metal- and earth-element materials. It had the weighty defensive strength of earth, while the spikes on its surface had the sharp offensive power of metal.
The other artifact, a green whip, was much like his Demon-Binding Rope—not particularly outstanding. He had plenty of better magic artifacts, but right now he was