The ground outside was dyed red, and as snow began falling, the snowflakes absorbed the redness as soon as they touched blood. It was a strangely serene scene as I stared at the mutilated corpses of the monstrous beasts below.
But I was interrupted by the sound of sothing cracking. It was the yellow barrier surrounding the town, and it seed like it had reached its ti limit.
Thankfully, the monstrous beasts were gone, and there were no roars in the distance or strange creatures staring at us from behind trees.
"Hell yeah!"
"We won!"
"Nobody even had to die!"
The warriors celebrated; so breathed sighs of relief, and others cried. Even the two clans, while separated by their colors, celebrated with so hugging each other and yelling out at the top of their lungs.
There was no longer any of that sophisticated feeling about them, and they now seed like just any other person happy to be alive another day. They would get to see their families again.
Even the clan leaders exchanged glances, which were too short to tell if it was a coincidence, and they happened to be looking at each other at the sa ti. But they also smiled and nodded, seemingly happy with how everything had turned out.
The governor looked happy too, though he stared in the distance with a complicated glint.
I understood where he was coming from. Despite first appearances, this seed like our victory. If one looked at the bigger picture, we were just a fly who fell into the spider's net and struggled harder than others. We were safe for now, but that wouldn't be much longer.
This was no victory; we were just delaying the inevitable at this rate. We no longer had a high-level barrier to protect us, so any other attack from now on was going to be a massacre. Just like we had done today, except the chances of it still being in our favor were slim to none.
Neither the governor nor I said it out loud, but I was pretty sure that barrier had been a single-use thing. The old governor ripped that card to activate it, which was usually done only to activate single-use arrays. Otherwise, he would have saved the key to activate and deactivate the barrier.
I shook my head and dismissed such thoughts. Now was not the ti to analyze every little thing and try to make so grand discovery.
Approaching the governor, I whispered, "I can put a barrier around town that will look just like the previous one."
Though our conversation should have been drowned out by the noise of celebration, I still decided to whisper my words. Also, putting up a sound-canceling array would just raise more brows.
"That looks like it?" The governor asked, making sure he heard right.
"Of course," I nodded with a polite smile.
Neither of us needed to say it out loud. But the only barrier I could create that would cover the whole town would be a bluff. It would look like the previous one but have zero defensive capabilities.
Also, just the barrier being there would raise morale.
"What do you need?" The governor asked; his confirmation of my plan was already evident.
"I need so monstrous beast corpses, blood, beast cores, and a couple of hundred spirit stones," I said.
Sure, the barrier would just be a bluff, but it was still a big barrier. Also, I really needed so spirit stones. I was running low on them.
"Done," he nodded and looked on ahead.
Wait, did I ask too little? Judging by how casually he acted, I asked too little. Oh well, if I needed more spirit stones, I could just ask Song Song. She probably had a lot lying around.
I looked around in the distance, and no monstrous beasts were in sight. I could only hope it stayed like that. Many unknown factors were at play here, but I was confident that the monstrous beasts wouldn't attack for a while. Especially when I put that yellow barrier up again.
That was the weakness of having a cautious leader.
We needed to get Song Song and reinforcent here and let her handle the rest. She could enjoy a good battle.
"Also, can you bring so monstrous beast corpses to my mansion as soon as possible? I need them for so of my research," I said.
He nodded, "Sure, I will co and visit you soon. We can talk about so things I have been aning to tell you about. Your showing in this battle was nothing short of flawless."
The old governor no longer addressed as a subordinate or sobody he could use as a tool. He knew that with the power I had shown, even he wouldn't be able to order around.
It was hard to tell if I could defeat soone like him in a face-to-face battle. Since he could have many hidden techniques or artifacts, and due to being at a higher stage than , he was stronger physically and had much more Qi than .
But it wasn't like I was the kind of guy who fought fairly, either. If I wanted to eliminate soone, the last thing going through my mind was to fight him on fair grounds. Also, the soldiers and clan leaders had seen what I could do. Whether he was stronger or not, I had undoubtedly shown the most impressive results. I was the biggest contributor in this last battle.
"I will be going then," I jumped down from the wall and walked into town.
Stolen novel; please report.
So of the civilians looked at as I walked amongst them. Their looks were filled with reverence, and it was not the kind of looks soone gave to a fellow human.
It felt weird. However, at the sa ti, I understood them. After all, we cultivators had protected them from the roars of monstrous beasts they had heard. No doubt they would be more amazed once they saw the corpses of said monstrous beasts, and so were the size of houses or bigger.
I reached the mansion, and the lone guard in front of the gate nodded at . As I walked past him, he called out, "S-Sorry for interrupting you, honorable cultivator. But since you are here, everything is alright on the front lines?"
"Yes," I nodded and was about to continue walking. But while my words sowhat alleviated the guard's worry, there was still so anxiousness in his gaze behind that helt.
I never bothered thinking about who these guards were. They were just so guys the governor had picked to likely keep an eye on and nothing more. It wasn't like I needed a mortal guard.
Despite that, these guys were still people. Soone who had a family and had lived a whole life before ending up here.
"What's got you so worried?" I inquired.
"Ah," he looked surprised and partly worried when I asked him that. "The other guy, the gate guard who protects the mansion is my brother. He was there helping with carrying supplies to the wall."
"Don't worry, nobody died in this round," I reassured him. "We had an overwhelming victory against the monstrous beasts. Your brother will probably get a big paycheck since we killed a lot of monstrous beasts, and we can sell them as ingredients. You only need to worry about which expensive restaurant you should bug him to take you as a celebration."
He breathed out a sigh of relief, "Thanks..."
I walked into the mansion with a lancholic smile on my face. As an older brother, I knew how annoying younger siblings could be. For the first ti, I got a paycheck after working my first job; I bought a wedding cake for my brother's birthday. It was not that good when it ca to taste, but it was good enough to throw at him.
After getting so blank papers and a notebook from the mansion, I entered the courtyard. I sat on the wet grass, leaning against the mansion's wooden walls.
I began writing down formulas and different mathematical equations as I tried calculating the barrier size I needed to erect. It was a complex job for soone at my ager level of Array Conjuring.
At least Speedy was taking this whole situation well, without a clue in the world. He was just walking on the green grass and would return and stare at the pond every now and then, which suspiciously lacked any fish.
What? Was he waiting for the fish to respawn? Sadly for him, this was not a ga. But I had a better al prepared for him. Sothing that would tire those little jaws of his.
As if sensing my gaze on him, Speedy turned toward and began approaching. He was pretty fast for a turtle and lived up to his na.
Once he was close enough, I patted his head and scratched his chin. The little guy's head had grown bigger than my fist, and it seed he would no longer fit in the wooden backpack.
This was abnormal growth, and I knew enough about monstrous beasts to understand what was happening. All those pills I had been feeding him had taken effect, and Speedy would soon sprout into a fully-fledged monstrous beast.
But just as we were relaxing, the sound of wooden wheels dragging against the ground in the distance awoke . I looked at the front gate, where horses and armored n dragged five carriages with bloodied-up monstrous beasts on them.
The guard at the front gate was talking to one of the armored n.
"Heh, you're alive? Did even the monstrous beasts find you too hard to digest?" asked the guard, whom only I could assu was his brother. They all looked kind of the sa with that full-body armor on.
"Well, I guess I'm not taking you for drinks then."
"Wait? How much did you get paid for a cold-headed cheapskate bastard like you to be so generous?" asked the gate guard with mock confusion.
They continued their verbal banter as the other guards opened the gates of the mansion wide and dragged in the monstrous beast corpses. About a dozen of them.
Monstrous beasts often resembled normal animals, with sothing extra to them. In this case, so cows had four horns and were the size of a truck. There were also others like three-headed dogs and such.
However, I didn't know their exact nas, as most were annoyingly long. I knew that these monstrous beasts did not have poisonous flesh or anything dangerous to consu.
"Send my thanks to the governor for such a fast delivery," I told the guards.
They bowed down to their waist, and one amongst them said. "Yes, honorable cultivator!"
Then they walked out and left alone with the monstrous beasts and Speedy.
"How about giving it a taste?" I grabbed Speedy and dropped the little guy before the monstrous beast corpses.
Speedy bit into the cow-like monstrous beast's thigh without a second thought. But due to its tough skin and flesh, Speedy made no progress. So I had to draw my daggers and cut up the thigh of the monstrous beast into smaller chunks of flesh that Speedy ate without a care in the world.
Monstrous beast flesh was good for humans too. Well, most of it was, as there were poisonous monstrous beasts. Or monstrous beasts that were essentially trees and were not edible. Anyway, monstrous beasts eating other monstrous beasts also helped them cultivate.
After all the pills I had given Speedy, and with this too, he should be close to ascending into a monstrous beast himself.
It was only a matter of ti, but how long would it take?
My thoughts were interrupted in their midst as I looked at Speedy. Where before his head was just bigger than my fist, it was now bigger than two fists and almost the size of a human head. Also, its body had grown proportionately.
I rubbed my eyes, making sure that I wasn't seeing things. Thankfully, I wasn't.
Holy shit! My Speedy was growing at a visible rate!
A sense of excitent rose in my chest. Was this what it felt like seeing your children grow up?
But before I could get too excited, I ca to my senses and imdiately turned my senses to their maximum. Then, I concentrated on the little guy.
What I sensed was nothing short of bewildering. Sohow, the bones were growing at a visible rate, and joints and ligants were expanding in ways that did not make sense at all.
What the fuck was this shounen ani bullshit physics? Nothing grew like this!
But despite its lack of sense, it was exciting. It was like watching a magician's trick. It really seed like there was nothing out there that couldn't be achieved using Qi.
Though it looked like the little guy would grow indefinitely, he stopped his growth once he reached my knee. But Speedy kept munching without a care in the world.
I was so concentrated on him that I almost missed a powerful Qi signature getting closer until they nearly reached the mansion's entrance. That brought out of my thoughts, and I turned toward the newcor.
"Governor, I did not expect you to co and visit so soon," I said.
The old man took out a sack, and I could sense the abundant Qi inside the spirit stones in the sack. He walked up to the table on the corner of the yard and put the sack down, "This is three hundred spirit stones. I added so extra for a job well done during the Beast Wave. Also, you will get a large cut from the earnings we make from selling the monstrous beasts. Just as large as the clans."
After that, carriages ca through the gate, and the guards carried barrels that reeked of blood.
"This is the monstrous beast blood you asked for. I brought it here as soon as I could," the governor said.
He worked pretty fast; no wonder this town was so prosperous under his rule. "Good. I will make the barrier as soon as I recover from the battle."
The governor nodded and opened his mouth like he was about to say sothing, but then he caught sight of Speedy. He frowned and looked confused. But then he shrugged and dismissed his concerns, "Anyway, there is sothing I wanted to talk to you about."
Ah, with all the rewards he had co with, it felt like he would ask for sothing troubleso. Which I was ready to refuse.
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