"Let's have a look. I will pay you the treasure's price if it's truly valuable."
As they got close, Diana managed to find the tunnel Henry mentioned.
"I can feel the tunnel. My perception is halved there as the wind is weak inside; Ken, we will rely on you this time."
Diana reported and adjusted their route directly to the entrance. She canceled her detection technique and concealed their presence. Unfortunately, she couldn't conceal everyone while using her detecting technique.
"Don't worry, my perception isn't affected by solid objects."
As they got close, Ken started feeling the presence of bloodlust underground. Soon, he was able to sense it accurately.
"It might be a real treasure. I can feel 7 presences, and I believe they're fighting against each other."
"Can you tell us anything about their cultivation bases?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"I'm not sure. I think that one of them is a beast and there are 2 groups of 3 cultivators. If I had to guess, they're all at the Lower Nascent Soul Stage."
Ken could at least tell that the beast was beyond the Core Formation Stage, and the cultivator's bloodlust felt similar to Miles'.
As for Henry, the man exuded no bloodlust, and Ken doubted his skills as a result. The cultivation world wasn't forgiving enough to let its residents live peacefully.
"Nascent Soul? we can't fight them!"
"Not at peak form, but they won't be at peak form. When two tigers fight each other, one is bound to be wounded. We can deal with one or two wounded tigers, hehe."
Jane chuckled excitedly as she thought about fighting someone of a higher stage. Ken agreed with her words, although not with her feelings.
"I agree. We can take advantage of their fight and ambush the winners if they aren't from our sect."
"What if they're from the real Divine Sword Sect?"
Diana asked worriedly. She didn't want to get into trouble with a top 5 sect inside their territory; even their Phoenix Feather Sect wouldn't be able to save them.
"Hmm, it's risky. We can't tell whether there's an elder watching the fight or not. Let's all wear masks and raid them, leaving the disciples alive. If they're from the other sect, we can kill them."
Ken took out three masks he had purchased for the trip and gave two of them to the girls. Diana got a white fox mask while Jane got a black cat mask. As for Ken, he wore a bloody red demon mask.
'Ahh, I can feel the urge to kill someone just from wearing the mask.'
Ken almost sighed out loud at the feeling against his skin. He was conditioned to expect prey when he wore a mask.
"Let's wait for them to battle it out. We can storm in once they're done."
Diana gave her opinion and the others agreed. Since they were busy fighting, it was unlikely they will be able to sense their presence while hidden.
To Ken's surprise, he stopped sensing Miles. Henry always slipped under his radar because of the absence of bloodlust, but it was the first time Miles disappeared as well.
He glanced at Diana but couldn't tell her expression under the mask. He assumed she was unaware because she couldn't use both her detection technique and her concealing techniques simultaneously. Unlike Blood Sense, her technique probably wasn't related to the soul.
The 3 waited patiently, waiting for Ken's sign that the battle was over. Soon, Ken felt the beast's bloodlust vanish along with one of the humans, indicating a mishap of the cultivators.
-------
"Gabriel, block the Four Seasons pests with me, Jonah, you put an end to this pangolin!"
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThe 3 members of the Divine Sword Sect have found the Chinese pangolin guarding the special stone in its burrow. The burrow of a fifth-rank beast was the size of a tunnel, and the pangolin itself was over 130 cm tall and 2 meters long.
Its sturdy armor kept bouncing their sabers and spears back, and the only one who managed to deal substantial damage was Jonah who used the mace as his weapon.
The armor couldn't effectively protect the beast from the heavy blunt blows, and it accumulated internal injuries from Jonah's strikes throughout the battle. One could find many dents in the beast's armor if they inspected it.
While they were fighting the beast, a party of three disciples from the Four Seasons Sect noticed the commotion and joined the fray, disrupting the battle against the pangolin.
To prevent the beast from attacking them, they'd send medium-range attacks against the stone, forcing the beast to protect its precious treasure. However, the pressure from having to keep the beast at bay and the attention required to keep it away took a toll on them, and they were steadily losing the battle.
To get out of their crisis, their leader, Daniel, chose to finish off the wounded beast and then deal with the enemy disciples more easily.
Instantly after giving the order, Daniel opened a fierce onslaught on 2 of the enemies, using his spear to keep both busy as he thrust it without holding back his Qi expenditure.
A few meters away, Jonah swung down his saber and sent out a slash from the blade, forcing a woman from the Four Seasons Sect to dodge and retreat.
Gabriel used the chance to charge at the pangolin and smash down his mace. The pangolin tried to counter with its tail, yet the mace was longer than it anticipated. The beast's legs couldn't handle the pressure and it was squeezed between the mace to the ground, making it squeal with pain.
The mace was swung up again, ready to beat the heavily injured pangolin until it succumbed to death. The animal, in one final attempt to take revenge, concentrated its Qi in its tail, leaving the armor weak and vulnerable.
If Gabriel attacked again, it would be a mutual kill, a deal he was not willing to take. He wanted to step back and deflect the tail away.