Right after Luo Jie finished talking, Qi Nan Shan laughed loudly. He pointed to the distance and said, “Look! Those horses belong to the Beast Raising Fu Sect!" 12th immediately understood that his teacher wanted to steal the horses. The people of the Beast Raising Fu Sect came from another direction; they shouldn’t know anything about the sandstorm, meaning, their horses should not be exhausted.
Luo Jie said, “Luo Zhan, bring a couple men and follow me. Nan Shan, you go up front, and do not let them escape.”
Luo Zhan and four Fu Warrior Masters got onto their horses. Luo Jie and Qi Nan Shan took the lead. The seven of them rushed forward like a whirlwind, they did not care about the horse's energy levels, so they pushed the horses as hard as they could.
12th had already jumped off his horse, but he quickly climbed back on and stood up on the horse's back because he wanted to see how his teacher was going to steal the horses. 12th hated the people of the Beast Raising Fu Sect because they were immoral and inhumane; he did not feel any guilt from stealing their horses.
The plan to steal the horses went smoothly. Luo Jie floated in the air and exhaled his Innate Fu Book, and with a simple sentence, the Beast Raising Fu Sect group surrendered.
“Leave all the horses here and you guys can escape, if there is any resistance then there will be no survivors!"
This group of people from the Beast Raising Fu Sect had seen Luo Jie and Qi Nan Shan's attacks from before. They knew that these two were Great Masters. They understood that with their strength, they were not a match against the two Great Masters. Therefore, they immediately decided to leave without the horses when they heard Luo Jie's proposition. They clearly understood that if they resisted, the results would be death; there would not even be a chance to escape.
This group consisted of dozens of people with more than one hundred and thirty horses. They were all driven back by Luo Zhan and the four Fu Warrior Masters.
Luo Jie's group immediately changed horses and unloaded the supplies on the horse. At this moment, allowing the horses to run at their maximum strength was the most important. They relied on the horses to survive and did not want to put extra burden on them.
Now, there were twenty-five people with almost two hundred horses. Everyone was assigned seven or eight horses. Qi Nan Shan said, “Everyone pick two good horses first. The rest will be randomly assigned. Remember, to reserve the strength of the two good horses; they should only be used at critical moments."
Everyone got onto their horses and rushed quickly into the distant, not waiting for the sandstorm to arrive.
When Luo Jie's group rode pass the people of the Beast Raising Fu Sect, 12th shouted loudly, “We thank you for the horses……on behalf of the people who have died in the small town!” Afterwards, 12th saluted with his left hand moving across his throat.
The people looked at him in confusion, they did not know what 12th meant.
As the horses ran further away, someone from the Beast Raising Fu Sect asked, "What did that child mean?"
“Don't know, but from his tone......seems happy for our misfortune......"
“Look, the supplies we put on the horses are all on the ground, go pick them up!”
“Oh no, look, what is that?”
The ground trembled slightly and the people from the Beast Raising Fu Sect looked confused. Nobody reacted to the slow moving sandstorm yet, they continued to run towards the supplies on the ground.
In only ten minutes, the sandstorm could be clearly seen, the beasts who were running in the front of it were scattered about. They were really good at running, but they were beginning to feel exhausted. Some of the beasts were not able to continue and got devoured by the sandstorm from time to time.
The people of the Beast Raising Fu Sect finally understood why the two Great Masters took their horses and let them live. They also understood why 12th saluted them while moving his hand across his throat. They turned pale as they watched the slow moving sandstorm. One of them said in despair, "F**k......what is that?"
“Run!”
The people of the Beast Raising Fu Sect were not completely hopeless; they had useful methods for escaping. There was a specialized Beast Fu where the beast sealed within the Fu could be released, but this type of Fu could only be used once. Someone of the Beast Raising Fu Sect crushed a Beast Fu, and a huge wolf appeared. That person quickly jumped onto the wolf and ordered the wolf to run away.
Almost everyone within the Beast Raising Fu Sect group had Beast Fu, but not all of them had beasts which were good at running. Someone released a strong wild boar which caused others to look at him like an idiot. The wild boars were great at short sprints but were weak at long distance runs. They could not be compared to canine type beasts, but at that moment, nobody had time to talk because they were all trying to flee.
The person who released the wild boar was in the lead, but after ten minutes the boar slowed down and began to breathe heavily. The person watched as his companions ran further away, he shouted, "Someone give me a Beast Fu, I will buy it with all my money!"
Nobody answered him. What a joke, at this time the Beast Fu were extremely precious; each beast released could only be controlled for two to three hours. Afterwards, they would need to release another beast or wait for the sandstorm to catch up. Everyone understood the importance of the Beast Fu and were not willing to sell theirs.
Beast Fu is the lowest-level Fu of the West Fu Sect. Normally people only carried a few on them. Beast Fu were not valuable so nobody carried a lot. This meant that after losing the horses the Beast Raising Fu Sect group was destined to die because it was impossible to escape with so few Beast Fu.
……
Luo Jie’s group continued running through the night without stopping. They rested for forty minutes every four hours. It was lucky that they were able to acquire more than one hundred horses, otherwise they would not haave been able to run so far.
Early in the morning, after a night of running, half of the horses were exhausted to death. Most of the horses were already exhausted the day before. After running for the whole night, both the people and the horses were extremely exhausted.
12th’s face turned pale, the running was unbearable for him, but thanks to his incredible willpower he was able to hold onto the horse and closely follow the group without falling a step behind. Luo Jie was full of admiration for 12th. Even the adults were tired, but a nine-year-old child did not mutter a sound of complaint and was continuously boosting the morale of his teammates. The child's perseverance was truly admirable.
Huo Bao and the other teammates were truly exhausted, but when they saw 12th, who was even younger than them continue to move on and encourage them, they were also able to persevere. They could not be weaker than 12th no matter what because they had Fu Warrior's potential. Even though 12th's physical strength was not lower than theirsm after his FuZhou Knight's advancement, 12th was still younger than them.
“Take a rest! Get down and rest!”
12th's whole body was tingling; his whole body was numb. He slid off his horse with all his strength and leaned on it. After feeling the ground, 12th bumped on his horse. After riding for such a long time, he had grown accustomed to the balance of riding and didn’t feel comfortable standing.
Luo Jie said, “Luo Zhan, go take care of 12th’s horse and allow him to take a nap. This child is too tired.” He was afraid that 12th was going to faint from exhaustion.
12th firmly rejected. He knew that he had to strengthen his willpower and challenge his own limits. It would definitely be beneficial to his cultivation. How could he accept Luo Zhan's help? Also, Luo Zhan, himself, was exhausted too and still had other matters to take care of.
12th took out a bronze bowl, filled it with water, and let the horse drink. Then he took out the finest fodder and fed it to his horse. After taking care of his horse, he took out some braised meat and began to eat while drinking water. He fell asleep subconsciously while eating.
12th woke up when he heard Qi Nan Shan’s shout. 12th felt that his fatigue was swept away. A Child’s ability to recover was amazing. After half an hour of sleep, 12th had regained his strength.
Normally, the rumbling sound of the sandstorm could be heard after forty minutes of rest, but this time the sandstorm did not appear even after fifty minutes. 12th asked innocently, "The sandstorm is not here yet?"
After fifty minutes of rest, the horses also recovered their strength, and Qi Nan Shan said, “We will continue to run regardless of the sandstorm. We can ride slowly for a bit so the horses don't get exhausted too fast. Ok, get on the horses, we are moving!"
12th climbed on to his horse and asked Huo Bao, "Hua Boa, did you guys get any sleep?"
Huo Bao nodded, “All of us slept a little. Ah, I really hoped that we could sleep a bit longer; it wasn’t enough……” He yawned and laughed, “But, the short sleep was very good.”
The horses set off again. This time, they did not run at their fastest pace; instead, they just moved slowly.
Luo Jie called 12th to ride next to him and asked, “12th, do you feel better?”
12th said, “Teacher, I feel much better. Haha, but I am still hungry. I'm planning to eat while riding.”
Luo Jie said, “Then eat a little faster. Once the horses begin to run, you won’t be able to eat.”
12th nodded and took out the braised meat prepared by Auntie Xin from the Fu Hidden bag. They were all palm-sized pieces of meat; his stomach was rumbling and growling from hunger. The braised meat was well cooked by Auntie Xin. After listening to his advice, it felt like the curry beef jerky from his previous life, Auntie Xin made it even more delicious.
It caused Huo Bao’s mouth to water, he came over and asked, “12th, do you have more? Those were made by Auntie Xin, right?”
12th brought along a lot of braised meat. He took some out and distributed them to his teammates and said, “Eat as fast as possible; we will not be able to eat once the horses speed up.”
After moving for about two hours, the sandstorm still did not appear. The ground was beginning to show signs of life. Grass was scattered across the ground. Luo Jie took a deep breath and said, "It looks like we are out of danger!"
Qi Nan Shan said, “Elder, I think we need to reach that area to be consider truly out of danger.” He point to the mountain in the distance.
12th looked around. The surrounding was still silent; the only the sound that could be heard was that of the horse hooves. He asked, “Teacher, what was that sandstorm?”
Luo Jie said, “I don't know and don't want to find out. If the group got swallowed up by that sandstorm, only Nan Shan and I would have been able to escape, but everyone else would not have been as fortunate. Just think about why that land did not have any signs of life and you'll understand how dangerous that sandstorm was. Haha, we were lucky to be able to steal these horses, otherwise......we might still be running from that sandstorm."
Qi Nan Shan said, “Elder, we still have to be careful. Let’s leave this area first. I feel that this area is too bizarre."
Luo Jie thought for a little and said, “Yes, it does feel bizarre. We cannot relax. Sometimes it is that last moment which is the most regrettable. Let's move faster!" Luo Jie and Qi Nan Shan were full of knowledge and experience. The saying, “older people are less daring” is true.
The horses accelerated again. After seeing the mountain in the distance, the group did not worry about the horse's energy and moved quickly.
Even though the mountain was visible, it took a long time to get there. The horses fell one after another, and there were only half left when they arrived at the foot of the mountain.
Qi Nan Shan looked at the endless cliff and said, “We will split into two groups, walk along the cliff, and find a path to get up the mountain immediately!”
12th looked at the thousand meter tall cliff and could not help but exclaimed, “Truly terrifying! I wonder if this was caused by the sandstorm!”
The entire cliff was completely concaved in, there were no signs of life next to the cliff. Looking up, one can see a hint of green which meant that the top of the cliff was safe from the sandstorm.
The two groups rode in different directions trying to find a passage way up the mountain, about twenty minutes later a Signal Fu was launched into the sky. Luo Jie said, Good, we have finally found a way, let's go." Everyone was relieved because they saw a countless number of skeletons under the cliff, the skeletons belonged to the people and beast who fled towards the cliff, but were not able to find a way up.
Luo Jie glanced at the skeletons with regret because there were probably things of value within the skeletons, but they did not have time to look.
Running quickly along the cliff, the group soon saw a huge gap. This gap was formed after a section of the cliff has collapsed, Qi Nan Shan inspected the path and immediately understood that they had to abandon their horses because the horses were unable to climb up the path full of scattered boulders. He shouted loudly, “Bring all your belongings, abandon the horses! Do not wait! We do not have time to waste.”
12th looked at the 7 to 8 meter tall boulders and said bitterly, “I don't think I can climb up!”
Luo Jie smiled, “Your teacher cannot climb up too!”
12th wondered, “Teacher, don’t you know how to fly?”
Luo Jie shook his head and said, “I was not flying, I was just floating in the air, I cannot go higher than 5 meters, higher than that......your teacher don't have that ability. And also, one moves very slow while floating, Haha you think humans can fly like birds?"
12th has seen individual aircrafts in his previous life, so he knew human were capable of flight, even though they were not as flexible as birds, to 12th, humans could definately fly. 12th said seriously, "Yes, teacher I think humans can fly just like birds."
Luo Jie smiled lightly and said fondly, “Perhaps it will be developed by you in the future, Haha, teacher do not have the ability to fly like a bird……Nan Shan, go up there with 12th first.”
Qi Nan Shan agreed and quickly clamped 12th between his arm, he focused his strength on his feet, and suddenly flew up. He slapped on the boulders, turned his body, flew toward other boulders, twisted and turned among the scattered heap of boulders and flew upwards.
It took 10 minutes for the group to arrive at the gap within the cliff. Qi Nan Shan took out a bundle of rope from his Fu Hidden bag, held one end and threw the rest down. He shouted loudly, “Climb up with the rope! Luo Zhan, get some people to bring Huo Bao and the other 3 children up.” He then clamped onto 12th and continued climbing upward.
Under the help of two Fu Warrior Masters, Luo Jie also climbed up. Luo Zhan led a couple quick Fu Warrior Masters and carried the four children on their backs whiling climbing up. Nobody dared to slack off at this point. And soon, they reached the gap of the cliff. Fortunately, Qi Nan Shan left another rope there.
It took everyone over two hours to climb up to the peak of the cliff. Soon after they sat down to take a rest, they heard a rumbling sound. The Fu Warriors and Fu Warrior Masters gazed at each other in astonishment, they secretly admired Qi Nan Shan and Luo Jie. The consequences would be devastating if they wasted one hour.
Everyone stood along the edge of the cliff and looked toward the distance, they saw the sandstorm rolling forward. The sandstorm looked like it connected the sky and ground when they were on the ground, but when they stood on top of the cliff, the sandstorm resembled ocean waves, pushing across the land.
There were not many beasts running in front of the sandstorm now, only about a hundred or so and there were a few people who were riding on beasts. In their first encounter with the sandstorm, there were atleast ten thousand beasts running in front of it, the beasts has been swallowed up as time went on. The beasts which are currently still running in front of the sandstorm must be the most powerful beasts, most likely Fu Beasts.
Suddenly 12th’s eyes were wide opened and he pointed downwards while shouting, "My goodness, such a big lizard!"
Luo Jie looked at where 12th pointed and said in surprise, “There is actually an Earth Dragon here? That……that is a rare Earth Dragon!”
12th asked, “What is an Earth Dragon?” He thought to himself; this beast looks similar to the lizards of my previous life, only the size was different, this beast is about one hundred meters long. The Earth Dragon's size was terrifying large when 12th looked down at it from the top of the cliff, the other beasts were only small block dots.
Luo Jie’s eyes were shining, he said excitedly, “That is a rare Earth Dragon, it's a natural Fu Great Master…… the treasure of the Mysterious Lands……Damn, what is that sandstorm? Causing even the Earth Dragon to run away......" Luo Jie and Qi Nan Shan looked at each other; they could not help but show a happy expression.
The beasts were about two thousand meters away from the cliff when the Earth Dragon suddenly howled, afterwards a series of crescent-shaped blades of light flew out from it's mouth. Each of the light blades were about 60 to 70 meters wide. After flying out of the Earth Dragon's mouth it began to spin and quickly gained speed, it shot directly into the cliff causing a loud explosion.
Luo Jie shouted, “Be careful, do not get shook off!"
Fortunately the Earth Dragon attacked from far away, if the Earth Dragon attacked where Luo Jie's group was standing, it would be dangerous.
The Earth Dragon continued to launch a series of attacks, but it had little effect, only leaving many big holes on the cliff, it could break the huge rocky cliff.
The Earth Dragon was very smart, it stopped attacking the cliff and ran sideways trying to find a gap within the cliff. With it's large body, it was able to move far with minimal strength, and soon the Earth Dragon found a gap within the cliff and quickly ran towards it.
Luo Jie was suddenly startled, but was able to immediately react. The adult Earth Dragon wanted to flee into the gap, so Luo Jie shouted, "Nan Shan, bring a couple Fu Warrior Masters......that Earth Dragon is coming! We have to delay it's actions!" What a joke, once the Earth Dragon climbs up the gab, then Luo Jie's group would have nowhere to hide. The strength of the Earth Dragon was extremely strong, Luo Jie could not let it climb up the gap no matter what.
Qi Nan Shan led five Fu Warrior Masters and quickly went over to the opposite side of the gap. The mission Luo Jie gave him was very simple; to push the boulders down the gap to delay the actions of the Earth Dragon, Luo Jie wanted to make the Earth Dragon fall into the sandstorm.
Luo Jie told 12th and the others to stay at the top of the cliff and wait, they were not to participate in the battle, they were not even allowed to watch on the side.
But 12th thought of an idea, he led his teammates to a huge boulder next to the gap. They laid down on top of the boulder only showing half of their heads so they could watch the battle below them.
When the Earth Dragon changed it's escape route, the other beasts and people followed it. They also saw the gap within the cliff and even though there might not be enough time for them to climb up, it was their only hope.
12th saw a beast which looked like a lion, it was probably a Fu Beast and it was swept by the Earth Dragon's tail and flew in the air like a rubber ball. The lion-like Fu Beast rolled hundreds of meters away, but even after that, the beasts continued to run frantically behind the Earth Dragon.
A thousand meters away, the sandstorm has begun to clash against the cliff causing an earth-shattering boom, the entire mountain began to quake. As if it was getting whipped, the Earth Dragon quickly jumped forward and reached the gap, right after, the Earth Dragon stood up like a human and crashed into a pile of boulders trying to climb up. Looking at the Earth Dragon's agile movements caused 12th to be amazed.
Chen Hong could not help but move closer to 12th, the Earth Dragon was too terrifying. Huo Bao continued to mutter, "The Earth Dragon have a lot of meat......Ah, if I could kill such a huge Earth Dragon the meat would be enough to feed my hometown for half a year......Gee......"
Chen Bing’s hands were scrambling against the rocks, he stared at the Earth Dragon while biting his lips. His body was slightly trembling, he was both excited and nervous as he stared at the Earth Dragon.
Hong Shi asked quietly, “12th, is Grandpa Luo going to kill the Earth Dragon?”
12th said, “They cannot kill it…….it is too big and is a very rare attack-type Fu Beast, Hmm, it should be a Variant Fu Beast, Teacher and Grandpa Nan Shan……will be very difficult trying to kill it, unless there were a few Zhou Great Masters.”
Hong Shi did not understand and asked, “Then why are they going to kill it?"
12th said, “They are not trying to kill it, they only want to stop the Earth Dragon from running. Only the sandstorm can kill it!"
Hong Shi still did not understand and said, “If they could not kill it, then why are they attacking……” Just as he finished asking he felt something wrong. 12th said patiently, “Once the Earth Dragon escapes up the cliff, we will all be in danger. That is the reason why they have to attack it."
Chen Hong said quietly, “12th, do you think Grandpa could stop it?”
12th sighed and said, “I don't know either, I hope they can or else……we will get completely annihilated, Haha, no one will leave this Mysterious Land alive.”
Chen Hong was frightened and cover her mouth while Huo Bao could not help but turn pale.
Luo Jie stood on a boulder at the edge of the cliff's gap with several Fu Warrior Masters holding onto Fu shields blocking in front of him. His Innate Fu Book floated in front of his chest and he looked at the Earth Dragon with an unusual severe expression. Luo Jie has been into many different Mysterious Lands before, but this was the first time he has ever seen such a huge Variant Earth Dragon.
Qi Nan Shan, together with a couple Fu Warrior Masters were pushing huge boulders, forming several piles of boulders near the gap. At the time when the head of the Earth Drago entered the gap, Luo Jie shouted, "Nan Shan!"
Qi Nan Shan mercilessly pushed off the boulders.
Luo Jie did not directly attack the Earth Dragon because it would not be as effective, he was truly a FuZhou Great Master, he had an abundant of combat experience. His target was a large slope above the Earth Dragon.
The Earth Dragon weighed about a thousand tons, when it rushed into the cliff's gap the effects of the boulders would increase. As the boulders pushed by Qi Nan Shan rolled down the slope, Luo Jie launched an Explosion Attack Fu, causing the slope above the Earth Dragon to suddenly burst open.
Countless boulders rolled down as the Earth Dragon howled desperately. It's four thick legs trampled on the rocks in disarray. Even the boulders which were seven to eight meters in diameter could not be stabilized and rolled down. The sandstorm rushed over from behind and was only a tens of meters away.
The Earth Dragon suddenly turned around and roared in despair as it saw the sandstorm approaching.