Immortal Path Space

Chapter 403: Returning to the Base

Wang Hong had just dashed past this Demonic Beast, and another three-tiered Yao rat came charging at him, crashing into it with sheer force, ending the beast's life without it ever understanding how it met its demise.

This Demonic Beast failed to obstruct Wang Hong but managed to buy him some time.

Wang Hong continued to navigate through the group of Demonic Beasts, using his agile footwork to evade various attacks. As he maneuvered through twists and turns, he gradually approached the group of Human Clan cultivators coming to his aid.

After a brief escape, he noticed something strange. For some reason, these three-tiered Demonic Beasts seemed unusually persistent, always chasing after him.

In this short span of time, several three-tiered Demonic Beasts had started pursuing him.

Among the over a hundred cultivators present, many were bulkier than him, and bullying Golden Core cultivators would have been more satisfying than relentlessly chasing him.

He didn't dare to stop and inquire about the Demonic Beasts' intentions. Instead, he employed all his skills to flee for his life.

The cultivators waiting for him ahead were now in sight, and with a final burst of effort, he would soon reach them.

At this moment, six Golden Core cultivators had escaped from the group and rejoined the team of cultivators coming to his aid.

Seeing this, Wang Hong grew even more frustrated. These three-tiered Demonic Beasts behind him seemed to ignore the opportunity to catch much larger prey and were fixated on chasing him.

If it weren't for his nimble footwork, he wouldn't even know how many times he'd have died by now.

As he was about to merge with the cultivators ahead, he noticed a three-tiered Demonic Beast standing right in his path, waiting for him to collide with it.

He quickly estimated that he could make it through this obstacle if he charged forward, as he didn't want to take any more detours.

He reached for a handful of Talismans and held them in his hand. With his cultivation level, he could currently activate ten second-tier Talismans simultaneously.

He threw ten second-tier Talismans ahead, which soared toward the three-tiered Demonic Beast, equivalent to the combined power of ten Foundation Building cultivators attacking at once.

Seeing the barrage of Talismans coming towards it, the Demonic Beast couldn't risk taking them head-on. It raised its scales as a defensive measure against the Talisman onslaught.

Seizing this opportunity, Wang Hong swiftly passed by the beast.

By the time the Demonic Beast reacted, Wang Hong had already returned to the group of cultivators ahead. The beast was infuriated and turned towards the Human Clan cultivators, charging at them.

Once Wang Hong was back among the crowd, he noticed that Sloppy Old Daoist was also present. He immediately flew behind him and shouted, "Uncle Chu, save me!"

At this moment, Sloppy Old Daoist summoned his Lifebound Magical Treasure, a massive black cauldron.

Wang Hong had only seen Old Daoist use this cauldron for cooking and hadn't thought much of it. However, he was astonished to discover that this giant black cauldron was incredibly powerful in battle.

The three-tiered Demonic Beast, which had been chasing Wang Hong in a rage, had barely covered a few steps when it was suddenly enclosed by the descending black cauldron.

The Demonic Beast struggled within the cauldron, but to no avail.

The cauldron gradually shrank and was pulled back by the old man. When he flipped it over, the three-tiered Demonic Beast inside had shrunk countless times and was frantically spinning.

"Hahaha! A three-tiered Mountain-Piercing Scaled Fruit, what a rare delicacy.

Remove the scales, clean the innards, cut it into small pieces, stew it with three-tier Spirit Fire for five hours, and it will be ready to serve."

Sloppy Old Daoist exclaimed joyfully, having already planned out the recipe upon seeing the Demonic Beast.

Furthermore, the Demonic Beast inside the cauldron could hear Sloppy Old Daoist's voice, and by now, it was trembling with fear.

At this point, the large Flying Boat that Wang Hong and the others had been riding had been shattered by the horde of Demonic Beasts.

Out of the over a hundred cultivators who had returned, only a little more than thirty had survived, and they had now merged with the group of cultivators responsible for their rescue.

The Demonic Beast horde had shifted its focus and was now launching attacks against the group of rescuers.

"Retreat!" shouted a Golden Core cultivator from within the crowd.

As they defended against the Demon Clan and slowly retreated towards the city wall, they eventually reached safety. It was only then that Wang Hong could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

After a frenzy of attacks by the Demonic Beasts beneath the city wall, they slowly withdrew.

Upon returning to the city wall, the Golden Core cultivators took possession of all the demon-hunting trees and Spiritual Herbs brought back from the secret realm.

In this operation, Qingxu Sect had gained a bountiful harvest of Spiritual Objects from the secret realm. However, it had come at a steep cost, with over two hundred Foundation Building cultivators and five Golden Core cultivators lost, along with a large Flying Boat.

Most of the Spiritual Objects brought out from the secret realm had been lost during the battle.

Considering the outcomes and consequences of this operation, Qingxu Sect held discussions and analysis, ultimately coming to a consensus that there must have been a traitor within the Human Clan leaking information.

The Demon Clan had become aware of the main objectives of the Human Clan's operation, which led to their fanatical assault on the Flying Boat.

Surprisingly, during the investigation within the Human Clan, more than ten traitors were indeed apprehended.

During interrogation, these traitors remained stubborn and denied leaking specific information about the operation. However, after severe torture, they eventually confessed to their involvement in conveying information to the Demon Clan.

The entire process of gathering information and secretly passing it to the Demon Clan was revealed.

Indeed, with sufficient coercion, one could extract confessions even for actions the accused initially denied. Those who didn't confess only indicated that the torture hadn't been intense enough.

The results of the interrogation left even the high-ranking members of Qingxu Sect impressed by the cunning nature of these traitors.

After dealing with the traitor issue, it was time to reward the participants of the operation. Despite the substantial losses suffered in the mission, contributions had to be rewarded.

According to the original plan, the Disciples who had entered the secret realm would have been selected into the two best-performing teams for rewards. However, with only a little over thirty Foundation Building cultivators returning, there wasn't much to select from.

In the end, they decided to grant significant rewards to all the surviving Foundation Building cultivators. Many rewards were also distributed for their contributions in the battle.

Wang Hong received the rewards provided by the sect, which turned out to be various types of Pills and a precious bottle of second-tier Spirit Wine. In the current resource-scarce period, these items were indeed invaluable.

If given to other cultivators, they would have locked themselves in and celebrated for days after receiving such a substantial supply of resources. Unfortunately, Wang Hong had no need for these items, especially the Spirit Wine, as his Space was already filled with it.

Fortunately, he also received twenty thousand points of merit, which could be directly exchanged for valuable items, including those needed to attain the Golden Core realm.

Word had it that someone had set up a merit ranking list, although it was unclear where that person had obtained the specific information.

Since Wang Hong and the others returned, the Demon Clan had intensified their attacks on the defensive line. They seemed to have sent their main forces now.

The Demon Clan was relentlessly assaulting the city wall day and night, leaving many defending cultivators with no time to catch their breath before meeting their demise.

This led to increasingly challenging defense of the city wall, first due to resource shortages and then a shortage of manpower.

[Read at /shanefreak, and heartfelt thankyou for your support!]