Southwest of the Leopard Hills lay a vast stretch of rolling land covered in forests, where spiritual herbs, spiritual fruits, and spiritual plants grew in abundance.
After Liang Zhaohuang and the others led their forces to conquer the Leopard Hills, several commandery clans that had followed them jointly took this southwestern forest region. Now was the time to harvest resources such as spiritual herbs and spiritual fruits.
Within these forests, the various commandery clans each marked out their own territories and harvested resources.
One day, a group of more than a dozen cultivators arrived from afar aboard a Flying Boat.
A cultivator from one of the commandery clans emerged from the forest and called out, "Halt! This is the territory of the 'Azure Moon' Chen Family. Please identify yourselves."
In response, several wind-and-fire attacks blasted down from the Flying Boat, heavily wounding him and sending him crashing into the forest.
"Enemy attack!"
Azure light swirled around the cultivator's body. Though severely wounded, he still managed to send out a warning in time. Raising a hand, he released a signal that shot into the sky and exploded, revealing a crescent azure moon—the mark of the 'Azure Moon' Xu Family.
"Kill!"
Seeing that they had been exposed, the dozen or so people aboard the Flying Boat showed not the slightest fear. At a low command, they charged into the forest.
As they did so, startling transformations began to appear on their bodies. Some sprouted feathered wings from their backs, some grew scales across their bodies, and some became covered in thick bristles. One by one, they looked more like monstrous beasts than human beings.
"Who are you?"
"How dare you..."
Angry shouts rang out from the hilly forest. Cultivators from the various clans, having received the warning, emerged to meet the enemy