Heavenly Dao Engine
Chapter 437 - 437 0309 Not Worth Mentioning_2

Chapter 437: Chapter 0309: Not Worth Mentioning_2 Chapter 437: Chapter 0309: Not Worth Mentioning_2 The natives would never have guessed how quickly their comrade would die in the hands of Qi Tian. They didn’t even look back at their comrade’s situation after leaving one man to deal with Qi Tian. Instead, they ruthlessly pursued the cultivator in front to ensure that no one got away.

This wasn’t the first encounter with cultivators from Wanjie City in the secret realm. The natives had gone from initial panic to seeing these foreign cultivators as prey.

Just as the cultivators from Wanjie City yearned to discover the spiritual stone veins in the secret realm, the native cultivators now eagerly awaited more foreign cultivators. They sought to capture all of these cultivators, use them as slaves or learn their cultivation methods. There was even a slim possibility of learning the secret to breaking through to the Gold Core Stage. Should they find out how to escape from this secret realm from them, that would be even better.

Because of these expectations, as soon as the native cultivators encounter anyone from Wanjie City, they grew fearless of death. Each of them fought bravely, hoping to kill a few more like Qi Tian, thus gaining greater rewards.

At present, these native cultivators had superior strength and extremely high morale compared to the group from Wanjie City. They didn’t fear death while those from Wanjie City were cowards and were weaker. The outcome was apparent. After a brief resistance, more than half of the Wanjie City group was killed by the native cultivators, and the remaining two became prisoners, degradingly wearing collars with chains around their necks, like dogs led by their masters. They returned the way they came in total humiliation.

They soon returned to where they first encountered Qi Tian. After a thorough search, they found no traces of him. Exchanging a few words together, they decided that Qi Tian must have escaped with their comrade but didn’t kill him outright, intending to capture him alive as a slave, so he went after him.

Believing so, they had no concerns for their comrades and did not go to assist them, fearing that they may be mistaken for trying to share their prey. In the meantime, they just escorted their two captured cultivators from Wanjie City and continued forward, totally oblivious that Qi Tian was leisurely following them below.

After a while, they flew over a valley and descended their flying swords towards it. Qi Tian glanced from a distance and saw that once they entered the valley, they did not come back out. Thus, he deduced that these native cultivators probably resided in this valley.

Qi Tian maneuvered his flying sword at low altitude, carefully approaching the valley. He used the Heavenly Dao Engine to scan his surroundings, avoiding any traps set by the native cultivators while searching for a good and hidden viewpoint.

After some difficulty, Qi Tian managed to locate a satisfactory observation point that met his requirements. He hid there, observing the valley ahead.

Looking ahead, what Qi Tian saw made his head break out in cold sweat. The valley seemed oriented east-west with a mountain on each side, north and south. Standing on a more southern mountain on the southern side, he had no idea about the conditions of the southern mountain, but he saw numerous cave entrances on the face of the northern mountain. The countless entrances, numbering in the tens, had native cultivators frequently coming in and out.

Qi Tian estimated that, at a conservative guess, there were over five to six hundred native cultivators. He used the Heavenly Dao Engine for an initial, not very accurate, inspection of their cultivation levels. The results were not too bad since more than half of these cultivators were at the Qi Cultivation Period, and only the rest were at the Foundation Establishment Stage and Half-step Golden Core.

What dumbfounded Qi Tian was the number of Half-step Golden Core cultivators in the valley, which was far from few and definitely not fewer than ten. If he were to charge in, he would absolutely be courting death.

Qi Tian was a bit frustrated. Had he known that this valley was so dangerous, he would have charged out earlier and intercepted those native cultivators instead of just watching helplessly as he was now.

Qi Tian remained in the observation position for two full days. During this time, he did not eat or drink. He wanted to understand the situation in the valley and see if there was an opportunity to stir the waters. After two days of observation, he found that the circumstances in the valley were even more dangerous than he had anticipated. The southern mountain seemed to be harboring quite a few cultivators as well.

Qi Tian did not know whether the number of cultivators gathered in the valley exceeded a thousand, but if not, it was close, around eight hundred. Among them, there were at least fifteen or sixteen at the Half-step Golden Core stage.

With such a large number, Qi Tian really did not have the confidence to rush in and escape unscathed.

During the two days that Qi Tian covertly observed, he never figured out exactly what this valley was, he initially used the Heavenly Dao Engine to probe the situation at the foot of the mountain, but sadly, he found nothing within the limits of the Heavenly Dao Engine’s detection range.

As Qi Tian contemplated whether to leave, he suddenly noticed something unusual. A dark cloud was swiftly moving towards the valley in the distant sky. Before Qi Tian could make out what it was, a sharp blare of a horn echoed from the valley. All the native cultivators in the valley stirred. Those at the Qi Cultivation period retreated into the caves, leaving only the Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators and those at half-step Golden Core.

In just a short while, that dark cloud flew over. Qi Tian now clearly saw that it was not a cloud at all, but a troupe, a troop composed of nearly a thousand cultivators from Wanjie City. They were uniformly clothed and bore a flag, not of Wanjie Commerce, but of an equally prestigious Bear Paw Group. The flag depicted a ferocious black bear with an unusually large paw, inspiring awe at a mere glance.

The Bear Paw Group’s troop was clearly prepared. Upon reaching the outer rim of the valley, they halted. Then, the cultivators of Bear Paw Group began to take action. They were organized, archers and mages launched their long-range attacks at the native cultivators in the valley. At the same time, others began to assemble larger magical tools in mid-air, preparing to initiate long-range strikes against the native cultivators.

The native cultivators, of course, weren’t about to sit and await their fate. They began their counterattacks. However, their strength lay in physical prowess, not spells. In this sudden offensive and defensive battle, they started on the back foot. But these native cultivators weren’t the kind to lay down and die. Upon realizing they were at a disadvantage in spellcasting, a group of them took flight, charging towards the Bear Paw Group.

The mages of Bear Paw Group immediately redirected their attacks toward the incoming native cultivators. Their assault was fierce and highly efficient, clearly not a group incited at the last minute. It was obvious that they had undergone extensive training before entering the secret realm; there was nothing makeshift about them.

Soon, the native cultivators were suppressed. The batch that charged was met with a catastrophic assault, with the majority of their forces wiped out.

Qi Tian’s eyes widened as he watched. This was the first time he’d seen a large-scale battle between cultivators. Compared to this, the fight at the Tongmen West Pass seemed hardly worth mentioning, just child’s play.