Maneuvering

The Netherworld Sect truly did not care whether Qi Refinement cultivators lived or died; they had not issued Earth Escape Talismans at all. The three cultivators who had escaped had brought Earth Escape Talismans themselves.

Seeing that the battle within the wagon formation had ended, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators did not dare linger in battle. Earlier, the Demon Beasts had kept their sights on the wagon formation, allowing them to slaughter the Demon Beasts from the sidelines.

But now that the wagon formation had been breached, they had become the Demon Beasts' only targets. Most ground beasts could do nothing to them. Only a small number could unleash a few long-range innate spells to attack the Foundation Establishment Cultivators flying on their artifacts, but they found it difficult to land a hit.

Demonic birds posed a far greater threat to Foundation Establishment Cultivators. Though cultivators flying on artifacts were faster than ordinary first-order demonic birds, when it came to maneuverability in the air, no cultivator below the Golden Core realm could match even an ordinary first-order demonic bird.

Surrounded by over a thousand late first-order demonic birds, with a second-order Black Eagle among them and long-range spell attacks from the Demon Beasts on the ground, these eleven Foundation Establishment Cultivators could very well perish here.

The eleven Foundation Establishment Cultivators immediately flew eastward through the valley, toward the place where Wang Daoyuan and the others lay in ambush.

But how could the Demon Beasts let them leave? Under the Black Eagle's command, the thousand or so demonic birds began pursuing and blocking the Foundation Establishment Cultivators.

The gray-robed cultivator flew at the forefront on his Flying Sword, while the other Foundation Establishment Cultivators followed closely behind, attempting to break through the demonic birds' encirclement in one stroke.

The Black Eagle did not clash head-on with him either. It merely flew ahead of the gray-robed cultivator, continuously unleashing its innate spells.

The other first-order demonic birds followed suit. Rather than confronting the Foundation Establishment Cultivators directly, they constantly released spells from all directions or swooped in close for sneak attacks.

To increase their speed, the Foundation Establishment Cultivators poured all their spiritual power into their magical artifacts, not daring to waste the slightest bit elsewhere.

Counterattacking would slow their flight and allow more demonic birds to catch up. Yet if they did not counterattack, the ceaseless barrage would batter them to death.

Left with no choice, they could only keep pulling out Defense Talismans and sticking them onto themselves, temporarily resisting the demonic birds' attacks.

But there were simply too many attacks. The Talismans were shattered the instant they were activated. If this continued, not one of the eleven would escape.

The gray-robed cultivator made a snap decision and shouted, "Break out separately!"

The eleven Foundation Establishment Cultivators each chose a direction and fled for their own lives.

Breaking out separately was indeed effective. Determined to eliminate every one of them, the thousand or so demonic birds split into eleven groups to block the eleven Foundation Establishment Cultivators separately.

Each group had fewer than a hundred demonic birds, and the Black Eagle was the only second-order demonic bird. Without a second-order demonic bird, fewer than a hundred first-order demonic birds found it difficult to trap a Foundation Establishment Cultivator.

The gray-robed cultivator was the strongest, so the Black Eagle joined in surrounding him. Before they split up, he had stood at the very front and still had strength to spare for self-preservation.

Now, with fewer than a hundred first-order demonic birds and one Black Eagle, he could not win in a head-on clash, but escaping unscathed was still easy enough.

He stood with both feet atop a Flying Sword, a whisk in one hand and a Talisman pinched in the other, while a thick golden light shield enveloped his body.

The spells of the first-order demonic birds struck the shield and caused only faint ripples. Only the wind arrow spells released by the Black Eagle's wings could dim the shield somewhat.

To break the shield would require at least ten wind arrow spells. Even a second-order demonic beast lacked the ability to unleash its innate spell ten times in a short span.

Without the all-around assault of a massive flock, his speed increased greatly. Among the demonic birds surrounding him, only the Black Eagle could keep pace; all the others were left far behind.

When the Black Eagle cast a spell, he took it head-on with his protective shield. When it swooped in for close combat, he drove it off with his whisk. When the "tagalongs" behind him caught up, he threw out several Talismans.

It could be said that this small flock of demonic birds could do nothing to him. Nor was he in a hurry to flee; instead, he led the flock around in circles.

In Wang Daoyuan's view, he was buying time for the others to escape. Once he fled, the Black Eagle would certainly go surround the others, and they did not possess the gray-robed cultivator's strength.

The gray-robed cultivator's efforts bore fruit, and the other Foundation Establishment Cultivators also found themselves quite relaxed. Without a second-order Demon Beast joining the fray, fewer than a hundred first-order demonic birds could not catch a Foundation Establishment Cultivator flying at full speed on an artifact.

Only a few Demon Beasts on the ground could use long-range spells, but fearing they would accidentally injure the demonic birds, they did not dare cast them.

Like the gray-robed cultivator, the other Foundation Establishment Cultivators did not hurry to leave the battlefield. Instead, they led their small flocks of demonic birds in circles.

Wang Daoyuan could not help finding it strange. After fighting for so long, the cultivators had been flying at full speed on their artifacts the entire time, so their spiritual power should have been nearly exhausted.

But the flight of demonic birds was innate and consumed no spiritual power at all. Flying for several days was nothing to them. If the Foundation Establishment Cultivators kept dragging this out, the moment their spiritual power ran dry, death would be inevitable.

The chase did not last long. Soon, a burst of bird cries and beast roars came from west of Returning Goose Valley.

A moment later, a flock of demonic birds flew in from afar. Four among them were flying as fast as the Black Eagle and were likely second-order demonic birds as well.

The four second-order demonic birds swiftly pounced on a Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivator. This cultivator had the lowest cultivation and weakest strength among the eleven; even facing one second-order demonic bird alone would have been a struggle.

This Foundation Establishment Cultivator had also consumed too much spiritual power. Besieged by four second-order demonic birds, he did not even have the strength to parry. After throwing out several Talismans, he died beneath the demonic birds' sharp talons.

Another herd of Demon Beasts rushed from the forest. Seven were clearly larger than others of their kind and were likely second-order Demon Beasts. Combined, the Demon Beasts and demonic birds numbered over ten thousand.

At this sight, the gray-robed cultivator laughed rather than grew angry. "The mission is complete. Withdraw!"

The remaining ten Foundation Establishment Cultivators stopped circling the birds and fled swiftly eastward.

The demonic birds held an absolute advantage; how could they let the matter rest? The more than three thousand demonic birds that had arrived later joined the previous thousand Demon Beasts and pursued the Foundation Establishment Cultivators relentlessly.

Three Foundation Establishment Early Stage cultivators ran short of spiritual power, were caught by the demonic birds, and died violent deaths. The remaining seven successfully escaped to where Wang Daoyuan and the others lay in ambush.

Yang Zhiyuan shouted, "Kill!"

The team under his command had over twenty Foundation Establishment Cultivators and more than three hundred Qi Refinement cultivators. They had lain in ambush for half the day, watching the caravan cultivators battle the Demon Beasts without being able to act, and had long been itching for action.

The cultivators from the other teams lying in ambush east of Returning Goose Valley attacked as well. Talismans and Flying Swords filled the sky. Caught completely off guard, the demonic birds lost five or six hundred in an instant.

The demonic birds immediately withdrew. The seven Foundation Establishment Cultivators escaped the pursuit, landed behind Wang Daoyuan and the other ambushing cultivators, swallowed pills, and meditated to recover their spiritual power.

Seeing the demonic birds retreat, Yang Zhiyuan immediately assigned tasks to the various Lineages: the Yang Lineage and seven other Lineages were to hold the flat ground on the hill's right flank; the Wang and Li Lineages were responsible for holding the small hill, preventing the demonic birds from escaping and supporting the right flank when possible; only two Lineages and over thirty cultivators were stationed at the cliff on the left flank to block any breakout by the demonic birds.

Since the demonic birds did not attack proactively, the Qi Refinement cultivators had few means of attacking them. Thus, stopping the demonic birds relied mainly on the Foundation Establishment Cultivators, while the Qi Refinement cultivators merely provided cover.