By this time, the disciples who had gathered at the lakeside had already set up camp. This lake was almost in the very center of the entire forest, surrounded by nothing but trees on all sides. However, they were scattered in twos and threes, with only a handful of people from each sect, making it nearly impossible for them to find the exit of the dense forest. Therefore, they had no choice but to cooperate.
They first set up camp on the spot, using the lakeside as their base, and then each sent one person back to the dense forest to investigate.
But unexpectedly, this investigation took an unexpected turn!
First, a female cultivator from the Jade Maiden Sect hurriedly ran back from the forest and whispered something to the other three female cultivators, as if afraid that others would hear. After the four of them finished their whispered exchange, they sneaked into the forest together.
A moment later, a female cultivator from the Hehuan Sect also ran out of the forest, shouting loudly, "Don't just sit here! I just discovered several monster caves deep in the woods! The monsters are all sleeping! Hurry up and go get some points!"
Good heavens, after that shout, everyone was in an uproar. They all expressed their gratitude and then rushed into the woods.
Liu Jinghong, munching on sunflower seeds and with her legs crossed, leisurely watched them pass by under her tree one by one.
"Hurry up! The Jade Maiden Sect will pick up all the leftovers in no time!"
"No wonder all four of them suddenly went into the forest! Turns out they found the monster's cave!"
"How dishonest! They look down on the Hehuan Sect, but the female cultivators of the Hehuan Sect are far more righteous!"
"Alright, after all, it's a competition, and everyone is a competitor, so it's understandable that they act this way."
"Yes, let's kill as many monsters as possible while they're sleeping. Who knows, we might be able to overtake the Blade Sect outside."
As Liu Jinghong listened to their discussion, she picked up the spiritual tea on the table and took a small sip, her eyelashes lowered to conceal the thoughtful look in her eyes.
The points leaderboard on the jade tablet kept scrolling and refreshing.
The female cultivator from the Jade Maiden Sect got another 500 points, and the cultivator from the Joyful Union Sect got another 50 points. Penglai was the luckiest, probably because they raided some kind of gregarious insect-like monster's nest, getting over a hundred 50 points in one go, instantly soaring to the top of the list.
The Sword Pavilion disciples outside, who had been firmly in first place, were cursing. They thought to themselves, "These guys were all at 0 points not long ago, how come they've suddenly gone on a killing spree! Are Golden Core demon beasts so easy to kill?!"
As dusk approached, the sun was nearing its setting, leaving only a small portion hidden behind the clouds, casting a few streaks of light. The miasma was also gradually thickening…
The disciples finally realized something was wrong, hurriedly used their spiritual power to defend themselves, and dared not wander in the forest any longer. They grumbled and swear as they hurried back.
As soon as it gets dark, the miasma will arrive, and who knows what other dangers might arise? So let's go back to the campsite by the lake first, where we can all stay together and help each other out if anything happens.
Back at the camp, everyone took out their magical artifacts and set up formations. Working together, they managed to get through the night, and things shouldn't be too difficult.
"Hey? Look over there, isn't there a bubble?" a female cultivator from the Jade Maiden Sect asked, pointing to the lake not far away.
"Really? Does that mean there are actually fish in the water?"
"Haha, you must be kidding, right? A blister that big, how big must it be—"
Before the words were finished, a series of bubbles rose up, followed by a huge black shadow.
*Whoosh!* Two enormous, blood-red light bulbs lit up on the giant shadow's face!
"It's an octopus!"
"Run!"
It was too late. A slippery tentacle, thicker than an adult's waist, burst forth from the water! In an instant, it pierced the female cultivator's chest!
The female cultivator vanished in the next instant.
Outside the secret realm, the female cultivator fell heavily to the ground. The elders of the Jade Maiden Sect quickly helped her up and poured an entire bottle of Rejuvenating Blood Pills into her mouth.
Thankfully, just before the tentacle pierced her heart, the jade pendant was triggered, transmitting the information in time and narrowly saving her life.
Meanwhile, chaos had broken out within the secret realm.
The sudden disappearance of the prey that was about to be eaten enraged the octopus, who roared, causing a gust of wind and an earthquake!
In the blink of an eye, eight tentacles shot out simultaneously, sweeping over like a tidal wave!
"Help!"
"Form ranks! Form ranks!"
Within seconds, several more people fell out of the secret realm.
After the initial panic, the disciples finally came to their senses, scattered to their positions, and each did their part. The array cultivators quickly formed a binding array to restrain the rolling tentacles, the sword cultivators thrust their swords, the Jade Maiden Sect's many sound cultivators either launched long-range sound attacks or played war music to buff themselves, and the Heavenly Mystery Pavilion's talisman cultivators took out talismans—fire talismans, thunder talismans, explosive talismans—and pelted the octopus's tentacles with stacks of them as if they were free.
From her treehouse, Liu Jinghong looked out the window and saw red, blue, and white lights exploding and exploding, like fireworks.
He smiled slightly, a silent laugh spreading across his face.
The main event is finally about to begin.
Indeed, he had anticipated this.
Even the most poisonous miasma is not fatal to cultivators; it only affects their minds, causing hallucinations and making them manic and bloodthirsty. The same principle applies to demonic beasts.
There were no monsters in the forest, not a single one.
Miasma is lurking during the day and emerging at night; how can we be sure it's not a demonic beast?
At night, the monsters, affected by the miasma, rush out and fight each other, returning to their caves to rest and heal their wounds after being exhausted during the day.
He had only made a guess, but the sleeping monster they discovered perfectly confirmed his conjecture.
Over there, Octopus Brother, after all, was only at the early stage of the Golden Core realm. Faced with the encirclement and attack of numerous disciples, he was ultimately overwhelmed. Seeing that another tentacle was about to be cut off, he gave up and tried to escape. But suddenly he discovered that his main body had been trapped by an array at some point and was unable to dive down at all!
Several Penglai disciples exchanged glances, their hand gestures changing instantly! The spiritual energy flowing within the formation condensed into fine threads, tightening abruptly! In a mere instant, Squidward's skin was torn open!
It roared in pain! It struggled desperately! And then the earth shook violently again!
However, it was all in vain.
A thunderous explosion rang out, sending a crimson wave of blood soaring thousands of feet high! A mixture of flesh, blood, and organs crashed down! Everyone dodged in panic, but were still drenched to the bone!
"vomit--"
"Ugh—so disgusting—ugh—"
From afar, Liu Jinghong watched this scene, instinctively covering her nose with her jade-bone fan and shrinking further into the soft couch.
That's it, these young people are doomed.
By the lake, everyone was frantically throwing cleansing spells everywhere.
The demon core fell into the hands of Feng Sili, the eldest disciple of Penglai, and was worth five hundred points.
But the disciples from other sects objected, saying that everyone had contributed, so why should one of them get the reward?
Feng Sili had the highest cultivation level among them, at the early stage of the Golden Core realm. He had also contributed the most in the monster-fighting, and if it weren't for him leading the others to stop Octopus Brother from escaping, the Octopus Brother would have run away long ago. However, Feng Sili, like his master Le Zheng Chang'an, was good-tempered, so he gave each of the other three sects a Foundation Establishment stage demon core, which was equivalent to fifty points.
After the spoils were divided, they finally had a chance to sit down and recuperate. After such a fierce battle, everyone was severely depleted of spiritual energy.
However, the next second, the earth shook again! The deafening sound of beast hooves came from the forest! And it was getting closer and closer!
It's a beast tide!
It was Squidward's roar and the smell of his flesh that attracted it!
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