Animals needed access to Qi in some way to be considered monstrous beasts. While humans had Qi and didn't change much appearance-wise, monstrous beasts were the opposite. When encountering a monstrous beast, one could usually tell by their size and features unless it was an extremely rare case.

Despite having Qi and its effects on their bodies, it didn't mean they could consciously use it. Doing so required more than just instinctual intelligence.

Of course, I had read this in books, but it was something I had yet to see or prove for myself. Just like with every rule, there were exceptions, and there were Qi Gathering monstrous beasts that could use Qi too. If a couple of such monstrous beasts existed among those that surrounded us, then we were done for.

I slammed my palms on the ground before any of the monstrous beasts started attacking. A web-like light spread out onto the ground, and a burst of mist exploded, obscuring the vision of anyone in the area. Except for myself, since the array was made by my own Qi, I could sense every slight movement within the mist.

Monstrous beasts didn't have the same training humans did, so despite being physically stronger than humans of the same stage, they couldn't sense Qi.

I put my hand on the Lu Clan Leader's shoulder and quietly guided him away while trying to make as little sound as possible. Thankfully, he understood what was happening and didn't say anything either.

But two steps into our plan of escaping this mist, the monstrous beasts charged. At first, I thought it was a mad charge without a goal, which would be expected of monstrous beasts. Instead, what we got was all the monstrous beasts charging toward us with pinpoint accuracy, none of them even a little off.

Immediately, we set off, and I whispered, "They can sense us!"

The Lu Clan Leader's eyes widened before he looked at me and followed along as we tried to run toward the town.

The implications of what was happening were terrifying.

These monstrous beasts could sense us? Not just one or two of them could do that; all of them could, almost as if they were trained to do this.

However, despite the realization, I felt strangely calm as I tried to think of how we should play this out. My chances of survival were relatively high, especially since I could just throw the other guy under the bus as he was slower than me. But that was not something I would like to do, despite how annoying the Lu Clan and Hong Clan Leaders were.

"Shit," the Lu Clan Head cursed under his breath as a frog monstrous beast the size of a car opened its mouth and had its tongue wrapped around the Clan Leader's leg.

Without hesitation, I turned around and swung my arm as if I were scratching the space before me.

Falling Moon Claw!

The air where I had swiped and aimed with my Qi twisted and turned before a condensed slash of wind shot toward the frog's tongue, easily cutting through it and allowing the Lu Clan Leader to escape.

But before the monstrous beast could retract its tongue, I grabbed onto it and swung it around like a bowling ball on a string. It hit the other monstrous beasts, landing on a bat causing it to fall from the sky, land head-first into a tree, and skewer itself. But at the same time, my new weapon also suffered some damage due to now becoming nothing more than a clump of bloody flesh.

What a shame; I thought it would have a stronger body as a monstrous beast. But soft-fleshed creatures like frogs usually had weaker defenses, even as monstrous beasts. They made up for their weakness with long-range or poison. However, this one seemed to be still developing and hadn't reached that stage yet.

This stunt of mine had pushed several monstrous beasts away. But it had also given others the time to get closer. From what I could sense, the Lu Clan Leader hadn't gotten that far away, as his movement technique was quite slow.

I was about to turn around when I noticed that while some monstrous beasts were clustering, they were getting in each other's way.

They might be able to sense and perhaps even use Qi. However, they were still unable to communicate with each other and do complex maneuvers while working together.

At that moment, I decided to put escape on hold as an idea came to mind. Though I kept running away from them, it was slower than my max speed, and they would catch up to me soon enough.

The first one to reach me was a human-sized praying mantis-like monstrous beast, and it swiped one of its blade-like arms toward my head. But I sensed the attack and crouched down, swiping at its midsection.

Falling Moon Claw!

I bisected the monstrous beast, kicked its lower body away, and grabbed its upper body before it could fall to the ground. It almost surprised me that despite its injuries, this bug could survive quite a bit longer than normal creatures who took this much damage.

But since I had grabbed onto its neck, I didn't dodge its attacks and instead just moved it around like a rag doll, causing all its attacks to miss. Then, I shot another invisible slash at its arms and used its arm as a sword against a kangaroo-looking creature with deer antlers.

The creature tried to block, but my new weapon only ended up slicing through its arms and neck like they were nothing.

No wonder cultivators hunted monstrous beasts to create cultivation materials and weapons. These mantis' claws were sharper than anything I had seen before.

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Then I used the mantis' arm to pierce through its beady eyes, ripped off its other arm, and used it as an improvised weapon. Holding onto the scythe-like appendages was uncomfortable and inconvenient, with mantis blood sticking to my palms and making my grip quite slippery.

As the monstrous beasts were clustering closer, now would be an excellent time to turn around and run away. But there was an idea stuck in my mind that even if I risked my life, I wanted to try it out. It wasn't often that I had live targets to practice on.

The countless beasts charged toward me with maddening hisses and roars. Some were even drooling as a hungry glint shone in their eyes.

It was scary, but I was calm. Such a contradictory feeling.

Concentrating, I gathered Qi into my hands and tried to imbue it onto my weapons. This was quite a few steps above what I usually did with Qi control. But unlike usual, I had an incentive to make this happen beyond just entertainment. Because if those monstrous beasts were not culled, then there was a good chance I would die.

Somehow, the Qi poured into the mantis' arms, but it was inefficient and spilled out way too much.

Imbuing Qi into inanimate objects was already hard, but doing so in the body of a creature that used to have its own Qi was harder. Their body would naturally fight the foreign Qi.

That was why I didn't linger for long, tightened the grips on the fleshy parts of the mantis arms, and swung them like curved swords.

Falling Moon Claw!

Once again, the earth-grade technique was activated. But this time, it wasn't by hand, but by some sharp weapons. There was a fifty percent chance it wouldn't have worked, but it seemed like the coin flip had landed on my side.

Two invisible slashes flew off; the only proof they existed was the Qi imbued into them and the shifting winds. But despite the monstrous beasts sensing my attack and most likely being fast enough to dodge, it was a new method and slower than usual when I used it with the mantis arms.

However, the monstrous beasts were so clumped together that even as they tried to move out of the way of my attack, they just ended up bumping into each other. Two monstrous beasts were bisected immediately, and the force behind the attack weakened. However, some monstrous beasts were behind and still got injured.

But despite the drawback, I couldn't help but smile a bit. These weaknesses in the technique were only there because I was new to using this with weapons in hand.

"Just a bit more practice, and I have this in the bag," I muttered.

Yet whatever plans I had were interrupted as something jumped at me. The creature was too fast for me to see its figure clearly, so I quickly pulled my guard up and brought the mantis claws to protect my vital parts.

A clanging sound rang out, and I was pushed back, leaving a trail on the ground as my feet dug into the wet dirt.

My hands shook, my elbows were in pain, and it felt like my shoulders were about to pop out of their sockets. But at least I had protected my vital organs.

Yep, this was a good sign to get the fuck away from here.

Before I could turn around, I caught sight of my attacker, and it was one of the giant snakes. The monstrous beast stared at me with its cold eyes, coiling onto itself, and its body shook as every one of its muscles tightened.

Was it about to jump at me again? I was not going to stick around and find out.

Using Qi to reinforce my legs, I jumped back as far as possible. While mid-air, I maneuvered myself and turned my back toward the monstrous beasts while keeping my senses sharp in case they decided to take advantage of this. I crouched mid-air, and my thighs swelled as all the muscles on my lower body expanded to an unnatural degree.

As soon as my feet touched the ground, the earth below me cracked, and I shot forward like a bullet.

Rushing Bull Step was the perfect technique for this because I soon reached the field, and then it was just a straight path forward. It didn't take long before I had almost caught up with the Lu Clan Head, who was still running with his mediocre movement technique.

I looked back, and the monsters were still chasing us.

It was a shame I was not strong enough. Otherwise, I could have experimented some more and tried other moves. It wasn't like I got the chance often to practice on live targets where I could go all out against them.

Within a dozen seconds, I caught up with the Lu Clan Leader, who had been a disappointing deadweight until now. As I got closer to him and looked at his face better, I couldn't help but frown. The guy was pale and looked scared.

What was up with that? Why was he panicking? He was the veteran here.

"Everything okay?" I asked, trying to see whether he was poisoned or anything like that.

The Lu Clan Leader shuddered. "Your theory might have some merit. The monstrous beasts did not fight or feel like their usual wild selves."

What?—I frowned.

I recalled how the clan leaders and governor agreed that my hypothesis was reasonable. Why was this guy reacting like he just...

Ah, he hadn't believed my claims all along. He had just agreed so he would get on my good side. Were the governor and other clan head like this too? Had they sung my praises just so they wouldn't get on my bad side?

That was annoying...

Now I understood why Song Song liked honesty so much despite how often I had gotten under her skin.

Just like before, the monstrous beasts were slowly catching up to us since I was moving at the same speed as the Lu Clan Head.

I glanced at the Lu Clan Head and contemplated leaving him behind. When I thought of Qi Gathering Cultivators, I thought of them as useful fighters. But with how it was going, they seemed nothing more than dead weight.

I also valued my life enough that I wouldn't be willing to put it on the line for every hobo out there. More importantly, I wouldn't like my life to be left to someone incompetent.

These guys did not inspire the confidence Song Song exuded. If she was around, I wouldn't have to even think about worrying about my life—not like this guy, who would have been better off if I hadn't taken him along to spring this trap.

Sighing, I stopped again and turned to face the approaching monstrous beasts.

Perhaps I was judging him too soon, and this was his first time facing monstrous beasts like this. But in the future, I should calculate how much I would be willing to sacrifice to keep these guys alive. Putting my life on the line for them was not worth it.

If I had learned anything from Song Song, it was that there were times in someone's life when they needed to be cold and logical.

I slammed my hand on the ground, and a translucent purplish barrier rose. Some monstrous beasts ran in without hesitation and immediately became wobbly and sleepy. Most slowed down, and a few fell asleep.

Huh, it seemed they hadn't been trained to handle certain arrays. So, my Sleeping Array was quite effective. Good...

I turned around and decided not to attack the drowsy monstrous beasts as they could wake up at any moment. Just an instinctive discharge of Qi would break a simple and weak effect like sleep.

As soon as we reached the wall, I jumped up in one swoop. The Lu Clan Head did the same. While his movement sucked at speedy escapes, it had good maneuverability, as he seemed to almost dance on the wind as he climbed up.

In the distance, the monstrous beasts awoke. But instead of continuing to give chase, they retreated.

"How did everything go?" asked the old governor.

I turned toward him and then glanced at the Clan Heads.

Having someone else on the team, even someone close to Song Song's cultivation could still be a liability. With how the Lu Clan Leader had acted out there, I couldn’t trust this guy to peel a potato, much less handle a war against a dangerous enemy.

Note to self, not everyone was Song Song.