Five cultivators, most likely those who came on the first trip of the Cloud Ship, waited near the small lake where the flying ship just landed. Shao worried that they would ambush him and Ren as soon as they left the ship, but a quick investigation revealed that neither Gao Long nor Gao Linyu were present among the waiting group. He wondered why they were waiting there rather than going up ahead.

A man wearing the black-and-white robes of the Wei Clan waved over to the group of ten who had just left the Cloud Ship and, loud enough for everyone to hear, said, “Honorable aspirants, we have decided to use this as a staging area in preparation for our attack on the Southern Gate. If we join forces, that will increase all our chances of getting past Wei Fenhua.”

“Would you look at that? A sane cultivator,” Shao whispered to himself.

“Great idea.” Ren answered the Wei man. “We’ll wait here with you.”

Ren and Shao walked out of earshot from the group of thirteen cultivators. They moved to stand in the shade of a nearby copse of trees. Shao was somewhat worried that all of them were lower-realm Lianqi, but he could have had worse allies. He had to remind himself that, compared to mortals, these cultivators were superhuman.

“Do you mind if I ask you a question?” Shao asked Ren once he was certain the other cultivators couldn’t hear him.

“Shoot,” Ren answered as his eyes subtly scanned the foliage undergrowth surrounding them.

“What was that about us knocking out Wei Fenhua with the help of those lower-realm Lianqi? I thought you said we had no hope of beating her. How can a few four-stars change that?”

“I lied to them.” Ren seemed too distracted for his usual euphemism-laden speech patterns. “The pills I gave them will cause them to enter a frenzy and attack Wei Fenhua with reckless disregard for their own safety. They’ll serve as an excellent distraction while we run through the gate.”

“Isn’t that a bit… deceptive?” Shao said with obvious distaste.

Rather than respond, Ren merely shrugged his shoulders. Shao wondered whether, under other circumstances, he would have fallen for Xiahou Ren’s deception. In another world, would he die that day with a frenzy pill in his stomach and a blade in his throat?

Shao barely had any time to consider how he felt about Ren’s deception before the scholar turned without warning and viciously lunged toward something in the undergrowth. An instant later, he emerged from a nearby bush dragging a flailing man dressed in colorful robes.

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Gao Linyu struck Xiahou Ren’s leg with his fist, but the scholar barely seemed to register the attack. The difference in their strength was simply too great. Ren reached down and grabbed Gao Linyu by the throat and, with one swift motion, pulled him to his feet.

Shao barely had time to move away from the trees before Gao Long and the unnamed third man appeared from the foliage. They took a few steps forward, but their advance was halted by a statement from Xiahou Ren.

“Stop, or I’ll crush his neck.”

The two men stopped in their tracks, and a long beat passed in silence. The other cultivators stared at the ongoing fight, not willing to get involved in a conflict that was undoubtedly fraught with danger and blood debts.

Gao Linyu attempted to squeak out a retort through the immense pressure being applied on his neck. A mortal’s neck would have snapped already, but he was just barely hardy enough to withstand the rough treatment without injury. “I’ll kill your entire…”

Ren silenced Gao Linyu by applying just enough pressure to compress his windpipe. With a look of suppressed rage, Ren looked directly in Gao Tan Linyu’s eyes, dragged him close, and said, “If not for your family name, I would have snapped your neck already. Now, all you have to say is, ‘I swear on the power running through my body that I will drop this grudge,’ and we can all go back to living in peace. Do you understand? Speak, and if I hear anything else come out of your vile mouth, I will kill you without hesitation.”

A long moment of silence passed as steady breathing from Gao Linyu’s lungs informed Yang Shao that he was capable of speech. Fear intermingled with anger on Gao Linyu’s face, and several guttural enunciations escaped from his damaged throat.

“I… I…” Gao Linyu began to say as a battle raged within his mind. It seemed as if he was making the hardest decision of his life. Shao wanted to laugh out loud at the absurdity of it all. When given the choice between saying a few offensive words and instant death, Gao Linyu truly had a difficult time deciding.

Just as the scion of the Gao Tan family began to speak the second word, he was drowned out by the deafening sound of a wolf’s howl. Everyone present turned toward the source of the sound to see two massive wolves standing next to the stairs leading up to the Southern Gate. One wolf had pure white fur, and the other’s fur was pure black. At a glance, Shao could tell that both were about fifteen cun long.

“Divine beasts?” The unnamed enemy cultivator spoke, breaking the momentary silence. “They’re not supposed to be this close to the temple.”

Mere moments after the wolf’s howl finished echoing across the promenade and beyond, countless gray figures began to appear from the untamed forest surrounding the staircase up to the Southern Gate. Dozens of wolves, each nearly the size of a small person and each carrying a vicious look in its eyes, began to slowly approach the congregated cultivators standing at the base of the path.

There must have been fifty of them, and their movements were unlike any wolf or wild dog Shao had ever seen. His suspicions were soon confirmed by a fearful utterance from Xiahou Ren.

“Every single one of them is a divine beast.”