Chapter 1209: Demon Beast Stampede
At the same time Xuan Hao was learning about the dangerous situation that the Chun Family found itself in, somewhere far away from the frontier city of the Astorion Empire inside the primeval jungle, a group of people covered from head to toe in dark robes silently landed at the edge of a steep ravine. Ignoring the group of demon beasts only a few meters away from where they landed.
Roaar-!
Ro-
Bang!
Before the demon beasts had a chance to do much more than roar at them, one of the people casually extended his hand and directly crushed one of the demon beasts, who in turn froze on the spot for a short moment before turning around and escaping in the opposite direction of the group of strange humans that had suddenly appeared in their territory.
Although something like this wouldn't have been enough to scare them off under normal circumstances, as most of the demon beasts in the group were rather weak, it just so happened that the demon beast being crushed in a single move was none other than the leader of the group of demon beast.
Not bothering with the demon beasts after they ran away, the person who had crushed the demon beast just a few seconds earlier walked up to the edge of the ravine and looked over it down towards the bottom of the ravine that seemed to be covered in a blanket of moss.
"That thing is indeed in hibernation here..." Whispering this to himself as he saw the blanket of moss at the bottom of the ravine, the person slowly took a few steps back before signaling for the others to get ready.
Rustle~
Not a second later, the group of people all took out a bunch of small rocks with dozens of talismans attracted to them.
"Looks like we just have to wait for the signal now..." Seeing that everyone was ready, the person who had gone over the edge and confirmed the situation in the ravine earlier, took out a communication talisman as he proceeded to wait with the rest.
Inevitably, a sense of nervousness pervaded among the group, as all of them understood how dangerous their current task was...
"Now!"
However, before they had a chance to second guess what they were about to do, the voice of the person holding the communication talisman woke them up-
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
Causing all of them to throw the small rocks covered in talismans towards the ravine before jumping into the air and escaping in the opposite direction of the ravine, some even directly choosing to use a blood burning technique to forcibly increase their own speed above that of the others.
BOOOOOM-!
The reason for this soon became known to the fearful demon beast observing the group from a distance, as a loud explosion echoed out from inside the ravine, causing the ravine itself to start collapsing in on itself-
ROOOOOOOOOAR-!
However, before the ravine had a chance to fully collapse a terrifying and almost prehistoric roar echoed out from inside it. Leaving all of the demon beasts close enough to hear it shivering, as an almost primordial fear emerged from the depths of their souls.
Although the demon beasts had no idea what the roar just now belonged to, they inherently understood that they would stand no chance of survival if faced with the owner of the roar.
RUMBLE-!
And it was at this moment it happened-
CRACK-!
The rocks tumbling down from the sides of the ravine about to bury it were forcibly broken apart as a massive snake over a dozen kilometers in length emerged from the ravine.
Covered in thick scales with a similar texture to stones with moss growing on top of them that made it almost impossible to detect under normal circumstances and a pair of horns growing on top of its head, the snake demon beast turned its massive head in the direction that the group of humans had disappeared in-
ROOOAR-!
WHOOOOSH-!
And letting out an almost draconic roar, it unfurled a pair of large wings attached to the side of its body before soaring into the sky in the direction that the group of humans had escaped in. Showing that it wasn't just an ordinary snake, but instead one in the process of transforming into a dragon, but... More important than all of that, its strength had clearly reached the Dao Seed Realm!
...
ROOOOOAAAAR-!
ROOOOOAR-!
MEOOW-!
At the same time that the massive snake demon beast took off chasing after the group of humans, similar situation was playing out across the outer part of the primeval jungle located close to the Astorion Empire, as over a dozen powerful demon beasts ranging between the later stages of the Soul Ascension Realm and the earlier stages of the Dao Seed Realm all began rushing in the direction of the frontier city filled with killing intent-
Roooar!
Rooar-!
Roar!
In turn, the sudden reaction of the powerful demon beasts all rushing in the same direction caused the weaker demon beasts watching the things from below got riled up... And with the help of some special incense and poison that had been spread beforehand, they all began following behind the more powerful demon beasts with an even greater killing intent...
"D-Demon beast stampede!"
"Why is there a demon beast stampede now of all times!? Didn't the recent examination of the primeval jungle state that there was no need to worry about another stampede for the next dozen or so years!?"
"What does it matter!? We need to get out of here and enter the frontier city before it's too late!"
In the end, the first people to discover this large number of demon beasts suddenly rushing in the direction of the frontier city was none other than the weaker cultivation clans and families that had left the frontier city not too long ago to escape from the brewing storm inside the city.
Unfortunately, most of the people hiding around the outskirts of the primeval jungle were on the weaker side-
"Ahhh! Why did this happen now of all times!?"
"Nooo-!"
"Grandfather! Don't leave us- Ahhhh!"
Resulting in most of them being unable to escape from the incoming horde of demon beasts, while the few strong enough to do so were forced to leave behind their families as they fled in the direction of the frontier city before they too ended up being torn apart by the large number of demon beasts.
...
"Hm? This is..."
Back at the frontier city, Xuan Hao frowned visibly while turning to look in the direction of the primeval jungle. Given the strength of the demon beasts and the fact that they had no intention of hiding themselves while chasing after the group of humans daring enough to disturb their slumber, Xuan Hao noticed them the moment they entered the area covered by his divine sense.
"Is something wr- Ah!?" Being weaker compared to Xuan Hao, Chun Hua's grandfather could not help asking him filled with confusion before a serious expression appeared on his face. Having also sensed the large number of powerful demon beasts rushing directly towards the frontier city that they were located inside.
"What is it?" Not capable of sensing the powerful demon beasts rushing towards the frontier city, Chun Hua could only tilt her head in confusion before asking this. Not understanding what had caused her grandfather and recently acquired master to suddenly become so serious all of a sudden.
"It looks like the noble family targeting your family has already made their move. Attracting quite a large number of powerful demon beasts in this direction. Hm? Not just that, but it also looks like they used something to attract the weaker demon beasts to the city..." Explaining the situation to his newest disciple, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing his eyes further after discovering that a large number of weaker demon beasts were also rushing towards the frontier city.
"Huh!? T-they really caused a demon beast stampede!?" "Yes... And from the looks of things, the people they sent out to cause trouble are about to reach the frontier city..." Nodding his head in response to Chun Hua's shocked expression, Xuan Hao could not help narrowing his eyes as he focused his attention on the close to one hundred people covered from head to toe in dark clothes that made it hard to discern their identity.
This group of people were undoubtedly the people behind the demon beast stampede, something that was rather clear from the dozen or so powerful demon beasts who were all chasing after them filled to the brim with killing intent.
Not only that, but every single one of these people had at least reached the Domain Lord Realm with a little over a dozen of them having reached the Soul Ascension Realm. Even for a large noble family in an empire like the Astorion Empire, they were a force that encompassed at least a third of their powerful cultivators below the Dao Seed Realm!
Now... Wouldn't it be unfortunate if something happened to them before they had a chance to hide away inside the frontier city...?