Plundering the Heavens - Chapter 113

Xu Linyun would use her knowledge and common sense to determine what she was seeing, but Fang Xing was different; whenever he was faced with something strange, he would always use the [Book of Revelation]. Because of this, he knew almost immediately that these two stone golems were no "demonic beasts", but were actually puppets summoned with a spell, with combat power between the seventh and ninth tier.
The reason why their combat power was between the seventh and ninth tiers was because these stone golems had no actual cultivation, and thus their strength could only be estimated based on their battle prowess. Their raw strength was enormous, and every strike had over a thousand pounds of force, on par with the full force of a ninth-tier cultivator. However, because of their slow movements and lack of intelligence, they were not extremely difficult to defeat; one simply needed to find the correct method and pattern. Furthermore, a true demonic beast had to be thoroughly destroyed to be killed, whereas an Earth Puppet was only able to exist due to the Earth Qi of the talisman inside their body. Once the talismans had been exhausted, these puppets would vanish as well.
After taking one of the stone golem’s arms, Xu Linyun commanded all of the Qing-Yun disciples to immediately leave the vicinity. The Danxia Valley disciples—although they had a short moment of delay—acted on her command, even if they took a final grab of whatever Illusory Soulgrass they could snatch up while dashing towards the valley entrance. As for the other three branches, they were reluctant to leave such a large fortune behind, and someone yelled out, "Let’s kill them together!"
The golems let out loud roars after their confrontation with Xu Linyun before they began to wave their clubs violently in an effort to smash her, and the golem that had had its arm chopped off before even regrew the lost limb as though it had never been damaged. Xu Linyun was also surprised by this sight, but she clenched her teeth and continued to fight with the golems in order to stall for time so the disciples could escape. She was like a butterfly or beautiful fairy, her movements as light as a feather.
‘The amount of combat power a flying mount brings is just amazing….’ Fang Xing could not help but sigh. With her white crane, Xu Linyun was able to freely move in the air, and the increase in her combat power was enormous. It not only allowed her to have the ability to fight battles in the air, but boosted her speed as well. This was even more the case since she had had the white crane since its birth, and the crane could understand each and every one of its master’s actions. In battle, it was as though they had effectively become a single entity, allowing for a massive overall improvement in power.
After seeing the non-Danxia disciples hesitating to leave the place—with some even wanting to try their hands at dealing with the golems—Xu Linyun became furious. "Have all of you lost your desire for life? Hurry and leave now! Something strange is going on here, it’s not just these two stone golems…."
It was only then that both Pi Junzi and Feng Qingwei loudly yelled as well, "Retreat from the valley!"
The rest of the disciples snatched up a few more Illusory Soulgrasses before running towards the entrance, although there were still some who showed hesitation even now. At this precise moment, a loud rumble rose up from the back of the valley as smoke and ash rolled down from within. A dozen more giant beasts soon appeared displaying a threatening viciousness.
Following the beasts’ appearance, a cold laughter broke out. "Gyahaha, since you’re all here, why not stay…." As the laughter continued, an eye-blinding ray of golden light shone from the top of the valley. It was as though a miniature sun had appeared from out of nowhere and dropped into the valley, its presence so powerful that it spread into every corner like a violent smog. It was especially intimidating to the disciples with a lower fifth-tiered cultivation level, and their jaws dropped without the ability to let out any sound. It was as though the air itself had been frozen in time, preventing them from breathing.
"My god, is this a Foundation Stage beast?"
"It— it talks…. This… this is a Foundation Stage beast!"
All of the disciples—even those who had been indecisive before—dropped everything and ran for towards the entrance for their lives. Even Xu Linyun’s face was drained of color as the white crane beneath her dived with her towards the valley’s entrance. At Spirit Stage tier eight, Xu Linyun would not be able to harm even a single hair of this Foundation Stage beast.
Until Foundation Stage, beasts would typically keep their original forms with little to no intellectual ability. However, once a beast broke into the Foundation Stage, they would usually cultivate a "human" self, gaining the ability to morph their physical appearance into that of a human alongside a large increase in intelligence and thought. Furthermore, such beasts would also be able to study the human language. This beast that looked like a miniature sun was able to speak their language with a clear pattern of thought; coupled with the pressure and presence it exuded, it was a Foundation Stage beast without a doubt.
Yet, when such a being had revealed itself, Fang Xing had stood up as well with his gaze locked on its form. He’d activated the [Book of Revelation] out of habit even while thinking he’d probably not be able to identify its cultivation level since it was in the Foundation Stage, but he was surprised that when he looked, the beast’s tier was presented clearly right before his eyes. The presence of its Demonic Qi was so powerful, yet its level of cultivation...
… was actually tier six!
But it clearly had the presence of a Foundation Stage beast. Why did the [Book of Revelation] say it was in tier six?
Dumbstruck, Fang Xing blinked again and merged Qi into his pupils while focusing hard on the bundle of light. Soon, the golden ray dispersed from his eyes, and inside it… was a giant bird. Its physique was stout and strong, at least a size larger than Xu Linyun’s white crane. Its body was covered in golden feathers with its wings folded proudly in front of its chest and its pupils shifting as though it was in the middle of a scheme….
It… it was a giant golden crow!

Such a thing nearly left Fang Xing completely bewildered. It was clearly a sixth-tier golden crow, so how did it have such a strong presence?
Fang Xing stared once more before realizing a golden talisman had been stuck to the golden crow’s chest. It seemed as though the blinding light had been released by the talisman, and it was also this talisman that had released the presence equivalent to that of someone in the Foundation Stage.
"Divinity Dupe Talisman?" Fang Xing nearly spat out blood when he had appraised the talisman’s name. "What the hell is that?"
"Quick, run!" Xu Linyun managed to block a few more of the stone golems’ strikes as she flew towards the valley’s entrance, trying to gain more time for all of the disciples and herself. By now, almost half of the Qing-Yun disciples had made it out safely, but this was as much as she could do; if she were to stay any longer, it was likely she would die under the hands of that Foundation Stage beast. For this reason, she had decided to immediately leave while alerting the seemingly dumbstruck Fang Xing in passing.
Without a doubt, never in her mind would she even consider that this "Foundation Stage beast" was in fact just a beast in sixth tier Spirit Stage. Of course, if someone were to tell her this, she could have also merged Qi into her pupils to see what the beast looked like beneath the light, but she did not have any time to do this right now.
Just as Xu Linyun gave those words of warning, Fang Xing realized what was going on and rolled his eyes. He displayed a perplexing grin and waved his saber before righteously yelling out, "Shijie Linyun, you leave first. There are still a good dozen of brothers and sisters inside the valley; I will stay behind and rescue them!"
Then, with a wave of his saber, Fang Xing dashed right into the valley.
"Are you insane?" Xu Linyun was left extremely surprised by his action; she didn’t think he was the type to act all heroic at a time like this. In her mind, she was a Qing-Yun core disciple and she had to accept the responsibility that came with it, which is why—when there were disciples who still didn’t want to leave after she’d warned them a total of three times—she continued to brave the dangers and fight with the stone golems in order to earn more time for these hesitant disciples. But this was her limit, and those that were unable to make it despite the extra time she’d fought for would only have themselves to blame when they died.
Xu Linyun hadn’t expected that even when she was thinking about fleeing, Fang Xing would decide to throw his life away in the face of danger in order to support and rescue the remaining Qing-Yun disciples. The impression she had of this young boy suddenly grew quite a significant amount in her heart.
Woooosh….
Xu Linyun bit her lips as she sent a thought to her white crane, which turned her around. She was a responsible person, and after seeing that even Fang Xing did not wish to abandon these remaining disciples, she had decided she would give her last attempt as well. If they could save even one more, it’d be one more life saved. Any disciples left behind otherwise would assuredly face nothing but death.
As for the dozen or so disciples that had been left behind, there were a couple from Duanzhen Valley. They had been frightened by the presence of this Foundation Stage beast and had merely stood in place crying and trembling in fear. They’d lost sight of any kind of courage even as the stone golems began to clearly make their way towards them from the back while over ten other beasts pinned them in from the front.
Just as they were about to be crushed between the stone golems and beasts like a meat patty, a familiar sound shot furiously to their ears, "You bunch of Duanzhen bastards, your grandpa Fang is here to rescue you. Get the f*ck right out of there!"
SWISH
Right before the disciples were jumped by the beasts, a silhouette with a large blade swept past. The blade’s golden flame was displayed like a huge flag that covered the foremost beasts, and by the time the flame had faded, only a few black crumbles remained.
It was then that these Duanzhen disciples finally understood the urgency of the current situation. When they realized it was Fang Xing, all three of them nearly burst out in tears as they cried out, "Shixiong Fang—"
"—Get the f*ck out of here!" Fang Xing yelled at them with the saber in hand, his presence impressive even without him turning his head towards them.
"Thank… thank you, Shixiong Fang. For saving our lives..." all three disciples loudly shouted, holding onto each other before making their way to the valley entrance. The stone golems that had been stalled began to chase after them, but after Fang Xing’s actions had cleared their minds, the disciples evaded the golems’ strikes as much as they could. Xu Linyun fortunately arrived as well, and with the longsword in hand, she was able to keep the stone golems busy to give the Duanzhen trio the opportunity to leave.
With their eyes wet with tears and their noses running uncontrollably, the trio made it out alive.