King of Creation
Chapter 112: Chapter 110 Golden Advice (Additional Chapter for 60 Monthly Tickets)
"Listen, what’s that sound?"
Almost the instant Che Tiejun’s voice sounded, a silent hissing of liquid spray erupted.
"Striped Winged Tigers!"
"Ah... It’s the Striped Winged Tiger Serpent!"
"Poison!"
"Help, I... I’ve been poisoned!"
In an instant, screams of agony and cries of terror resounded among the party of over a hundred people. Everywhere you looked, flying snakes were rushing out of the depths of the forest.
"Retreat, retreat quickly, get out of this forest!"
"We’re surrounded, there’s no escaping, fight!"
"Fight!"
For a moment, the sounds of screaming, flashing sword lights, blade glows, fist winds, and the hissing of Striped Winged Tiger Serpents merged into chaos. Ye Zhen joined the battle between humans and serpents without a moment’s hesitation.
Executing Chasing Star Step to dodge the poison sprayed by the Striped Winged Tiger Serpents, Ye Zhen’s Sky Crystal Sword unleashed Sword Gang with each strike, bisecting a serpent with every slash.
However, there were simply too many Striped Winged Tiger Serpents, and even with all the martial artists fighting with all their might, they couldn’t be killed off in a short time.
Moreover, the venom of the Striped Winged Tiger Serpents was incredibly fierce; those sprayed would turn black with poison and die within ten breaths.
The Striped Winged Tiger Serpent, a Human-Level Middle Level demon beast, was no less terrifying than a Human-Level top demon beast.
Besides its horrific venom, the most important thing was that the Striped Winged Tiger Serpent was a social creature, appearing en masse as a serpent clan group.
A serpent clan group, at the bare minimum, had one or two hundred members. A larger group of Striped Winged Tiger Serpents easily numbered over three hundred.
The group of Striped Winged Tiger Serpents assailing the team from all sides was one with numbers exceeding three hundred.
What did it mean to have three hundred Striped Winged Tiger Serpents spraying venom at once?
It was practically an indiscriminate area attack; even Shihe’s Monster Yan Shan, a Mid-stage Spirit Summoning Realm being, couldn’t avoid it.
Fortunately, no matter how numerous, the Striped Winged Tiger Serpents were still just Human-Level Middle Level demon beasts. Martial artists of the True Essence Fourth and Fifth Stage and those in the Spirit Summoning Realm could easily kill them in seconds.
Even so, it took more than 15 minutes to kill all three hundred Striped Winged Tiger Serpents.
After those 15 minutes, nearly half of the martial artists in the team, particularly those from the Che Family, lay fallen, with severe casualties.
The original party of over a hundred people was now reduced to standing figures of less than sixty.
The Che Family clan members were the ones who died the most.
Even the martial artists whom Che Tiejun had hired at a great cost suffered injuries.
Especially Shihe’s Monster Yan Shan, who was at the forefront, was attacked by at least thirty Striped Winged Tiger Serpents at the very instant they struck.
His left arm was bitten by a Striped Winged Tiger Serpent, swelling up high, turning dark and purplish. He was lucky to have the cultivation of the Spirit Summoning Realm, and also had a Detoxification Pill on hand to suppress the venom; otherwise, he would have been finished by now.
Xie Shao’s face was deathly pale with a bite wound on his thigh. However, his reaction was incredibly fast; the moment he was bitten, he sliced with his sword, severing the flesh and the snake cleanly, thereby avoiding poisoning.
But his thigh was bloody and horribly painful.
"Quick, quick, Shan still has breath, someone come save him!" the Che Family’s Sixth Elder cried in agony, seemingly holding his son who had been poisoned.
The face of Che Family Patriarch Che Tiejun was as pale as death, struggling to accept the heavy casualties among his clan members. Hearing his elder’s cry, he hurried over.
One look and his face turned tragic.
The black poison had already spread throughout the body, leaving no hope for survival.
"Sixth brother, Shan... Shan has passed away..."
"Shan, Shan, you’re my only son..." the Sixth Elder screamed in despair.
The next moment, the tearful Sixth Elder of the Che Family suddenly looked up, his eyes filled with a venomous gaze towards Ye Zhen, and roared at him.
"Why, why didn’t you tell us earlier that there was a group of Striped Winged Tiger Serpents here? Why!"
Ye Zhen’s face darkened.
"I previously suggested taking a detour, were you deaf?"
"I said there were demon beasts here, did any of you believe me?"
"I’m not a god, how could I possibly know for sure that there was a group of Striped Winged Tiger Serpents hiding here?"
Out of regard for your grief at losing your son, I won’t hold this against you!"
Seeing so many people die, Ye Zhen felt some sorrow, for many families would be destroyed. But when he had listened earlier, he only heard a few small animals say that a large number of demon beasts had come into the forest and that they needed to be cautious, not knowing it was a group of Striped Winged Tiger Serpents.
Had he known it was a group of Striped Winged Tiger Serpents, Ye Zhen would have desperately tried to stop everyone from entering.
After Ye Zhen’s scolding, the Sixth Elder, mourning the loss of his son, was stunned, his angry gaze then turned towards Shihe’s Monster Yan Shan, who was busy treating his own poison.
Yan Shan’s heart sank, his old face flushed red as he hastily avoided the Sixth Elder of the Che Family’s stare. It wasn’t just Yan Shan; Xie Shao, who was grimacing in pain, also hung his head low, somewhat ashamed.
His face was burning, wishing he could find a burrow to hide in.
Just a moment ago, they were questioning and mocking Ye Zhen; now, the Che Family’s clearing team had suffered a severe blow.
They had lost face big time.
"Young Hero Ye, it was my oversight for not heeding your wise words, leading to such a vast number... such a vast number of casualties among our clan members! I... I am filled with regret..."
Snap!
In a moment of deep regret and guilt, the clan leader Che Tiejun actually slapped himself hard, producing a resounding smack that left the corner of his mouth bleeding.
The instant the sound of the slap rang out, Shihe’s Monster Yan Shan, Xie Shao, and the martial artist who had just questioned Ye Zhen all twitched at the corners of their mouths, as if the slap had landed on their own faces.
A demon beast attack had caused the Che Family Clan Members to suffer over forty casualties, most of whom, like the Sixth Elder’s son Che Shan, perished from the onset of poison after being bitten; very few were killed directly by the Striped Winged Tiger Serpent.
After delegating ten clan members to transport the bodies, the group, now reduced to half its original size, continued on their journey, surrounded by a somber atmosphere.
Once they were back on the road, Ye Zhen’s opinions were given unprecedented attention, and every time Che Family Patriarch Che Tiejun sought Ye Zhen’s advice, Xie Shao and Shihe’s Monster Yan Shan felt particularly awkward.
Especially Shihe’s Monster Yan Shan, who had been hired by the Che Family multiple times before. He bore a great responsibility for such significant casualties on this occasion, shaming him immensely.
However, on the journey that followed, they never again encountered a group of demon beasts like the Striped Winged Tiger Serpent. They did come across three or four groups of Human-Level top-tier and Lower-grade Earth Level demon beasts, but the numbers were not large, and they could be easily handled.
Ye Zhen was not foolish enough to constantly warn them about demon beasts ahead. If Ye Zhen could always predict the presence of demon beasts, it might bring new troubles upon himself.
As long as the danger wasn’t too great, Ye Zhen would not offer a warning; at most, he would let the leading martial artists scrambles a bit in response to the threat.
All the way, Xie Shao, who had been targeting Ye Zhen, kept his mouth shut obediently.
By noon the next day, the group finally arrived at the Che Family’s ore vein. After a brief rest and a hasty meal, they began to clear the mining site.
"For this Purple Copper Ore, we have opened up three mine shafts, but there are connecting passages between each of them. Due to the deaths of a few miners, the scent of blood has attracted quite a number of demon beasts.
When we evacuated half a month ago, we estimated that about sixty to seventy demon beasts had entered, with over half being Lower-grade Earth Level demon beasts. That’s why we’ve asked for your assistance.
The tunnels are quite narrow; too many people would make it difficult to maneuver. My proposal is to include our two Che Family elders in your group, making up a team of nine. We’ll form three groups of three, with each group responsible for clearing one mine shaft.
I will lead the clan members to guard the three mine shaft exits to prevent any demon beasts from escaping or new ones from rushing in. Additionally, we’ll need to burn incense to block the scent of blood spilled when you slaughter the demon beasts."
Having said that, Che Tiejun looked at Ye Zhen, "Young Hero Ye, what do you think of my plan?"
"Very good!"
Che Tiejun’s arrangement was well thought out.
"So, how shall we divide the groups?" Fast Sword Cao Bufan asked.
"Why don’t us three old fellows take the lead?" suggested Shihe’s Monster Yan Shan, pointing at the Red-clothed Venerable and Fast Sword Cao Bufan.
As soon as Fast Sword Cao Bufan nodded in agreement, Yan Shan and the Red-clothed Venerable made their move, each pulling a Che Family elder to their side, hastily picking their teammates.
"I’ll take an older one and a younger one. Young Hero Xie Shao, how about joining me for this venture?"
"The honor is all mine."
The two Che Family elders were both at the Mid-stage Spirit Summoning Realm, and together with Yan Shan, who was also at that level, it made a powerful and safe combination, an arrangement no one would complain about.
The Red-clothed Venerable also directly chose Shadowless Hand Huang Qi, leaving Fast Sword Cao Bufan standing there in a daze.
It seemed that in the blink of an eye, the strong ones had been picked by Yan Shan and the Red-clothed Venerable, leaving them wary of having Ye Zhen and Gao Xiong in their groups, lest they slow them down.
After all, when it comes to fighting demon beasts, raw power is what truly matters.
"Well... since it’s like this, Young Hero Ye, Hero Gao, how about the three of us form a team?" Fast Sword Cao Bufan felt a bit morose, clearly dissatisfied with Yan Shan and the Red-clothed Venerable’s behavior in choosing their teammates.
Ye Zhen, of course, had no objections, as he was fully aware of his own combat power and didn’t mind either way. But Iron Palm Gao Xiong looked visibly downcast.
Not only had he been left as a last choice, but he also had to be in a group with Ye Zhen, whose strength was only at the True Essence Fourth Realm, something he was not happy about.
In life-threatening situations, sometimes, the strength of a teammate could determine one’s survival.
Having a team member who could not only fail to help you when it mattered but also often needed your care was certainly not a good thing.
In Gao Xiong’s eyes, Ye Zhen was exactly such a burden.
Especially since his own strength wasn’t high, having joined a small sect, he was just over thirty and had barely entered the Early-stage Spirit Summoning Realm.
"Our group’s strength..."
Gao Xiong’s brows furrowed, unsettled by the thought of two Early Stage Spirit Realm individuals accompanying a True Essence Fourth Realm member, compared to the other groups, all of which were in the Spirit Realm, and Yan Shan’s group even having two at the Mid-stage Spirit Realm—the disparity was too great.
However, no one paid any mind to Gao Xiong’s concerns.
No one wanted to switch team members and weaken their own group.
Because one wrong switch could cost them their chance to survive.
"Ha, isn’t Ye Zhen a top disciple of the Qiyun Sect? With Ye Zhen here, what’s there for Gao Xiong to fear?" Xie Shao did not miss the opportunity to mock Ye Zhen.
"Hero Gao, you see..." Che Tiejun said with a troubled face.
"It can only be this way..." Gao Xiong looked deeply discontented.
"Shall we head into the mine then?"
"Sure!"
With that, Ye Zhen took a quick step forward and entered the mine shaft on the right first, "Old Cao, shall we choose this shaft to clear?"
"Okay!"
Fast Sword Cao Bufan called out to Iron Palm Gao Xiong, who entered the right mine shaft somewhat reluctantly.
Ye Zhen’s lips, however, curled into a sly smile!
Who would really lose out and who would benefit remained to be seen!(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)

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