Even from a distance, he was sure his eyes weren't deceiving him. Now, instead of one spirit beast with snake limbs, there were eight. Each had a different face and complexion. One had red skin, one black, one green, one blue, and the others had equally unnatural skin colors. Their ears also differed, each resembling a different kind of fruit. There were apples, avocados, bananas, oranges, and other strange fruits. Honestly, their appearance looked ridiculous, but as some cackled madly, some laughed silently, and others smirked, he could feel the boundless qi emanating from each of them. They still felt like they were in the Core Splitting realm, but each was stronger than Elder Xia Juetian.
Then, as if trying to kill him with a heart attack, the pink worm also shone with a golden aura and split itself into eight different worms with different faces.
Liu Xing's heart almost stopped beating. This was bad, really, really bad. Two of them were enough to kill every single person in Second Gray Cloud City, and now there were sixteen of them.
He had a gut feeling that these spirit beasts would start wreaking havoc in the Twelve Sun Empire, killing people and stealing bloodlines. But the most terrifying thought was that each spirit beast, after eating a sufficiently strong cultivator, could split itself.
This meant there was actually a high chance the Twelve Sun Empire would be annihilated.
"This is not my fault," Liu Xing tried to reassure himself.
While this was happening right in front of him, he needed to steel his heart and sincerely believe it wasn't his fault. This way, he couldn't be weighed down by the irrational guilt spreading in his heart right now.
"I need to report this. I need to warn everyone!"
Reporting them to the Purple Moon Sect was the best course of action. The direct method would mean he'd need to return to the sect and bring disciples from the inner court to deal with them, or even an elder, while the indirect method was for Liu Xing to run straight toward the capital of the Twelve Sun Empire, warn the royal family about these spirit beasts, and create a team to subdue them while also reporting to the Purple Moon Sect.
The second method is better, and he nodded, thinking about doing just that when he suddenly felt a strong qi coming from behind him. The qi prickled his skin, and the amount was as if he had suddenly drowned in a lake of qi.
Turning his head, he came face to face with one of the newly born spirit beasts. This spirit beast was standing on the back of a floating golden tiger. It had golden snakes as its arms and legs, its skin was pitch black as if submerged in ink, its wriggling teeth were yellow, its nose was as big as Liu Xing's fist, and its ears were made of two green coconuts. The arm jutting out from its chest was also pitch black, but that yellow eye was the same as the original spirit beast's.
It smiled so widely at him, as if it were a greed-filled emperor finding fertile soil occupied by a simple and traditional tribe, ready to be conquered.
Liu Xing was still invisible, but it seemed this spirit beast either had a really high sense that could feel his thin presence, or it had deduced his position using his shield. Either way, Liu Xing knew, beyond doubt, that he was in deep trouble!
As his heart beat so fast that he felt his chest bursting, his still transforming muscles ready to leap at any moment, he felt the other spirit beasts begin to move. At first, he thought they were coming for him, but he soon realized that they were splitting up and moving in pairs in every direction. As he felt their qi move away, he felt relief, then sudden realization knowing they would kill many people, and then irrational guilt for letting them go.
Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.
Still, his eyes were laser-focused on the spirit beast floating atop the golden tiger's back in front of him. He tried to clear his mind and purge every useless thought, focusing on one thing and one thing only: Survival!
The spirit beast began chuckling, covering its laugh with a golden snake as if it were a fan concealing a maiden's smile. Still, this chuckling, while soft, came from a spirit beast that would undoubtedly kill him. In the end, Liu Xing deduced that there weren't many things he could do to survive. He needed to run. But he also felt that if he moved, he would die instantly.
For a moment, he and the spirit beast faced each other. The wind grew stronger each second, making his black hair flutter. He was still robeless, and beads of sweat on his skin were blown by the wind, making his back feel as cold as if caressed by a winter breeze.
After a moment, the spirit beast stopped chuckling, then smiled so wide, showing its wriggling teeth and black tongue. Then a golden snake emerged from its mouth, its body slimy and soaked in a disgusting yellow liquid. It opened its mouth and a wind ball surrounded by golden energy formed in front of it.
Seeing this, Liu Xing knew that he had to take action. He activated his lightning blade and slashed. His slash was lightning fast, powered by the body still forged by the Diamond Pills as well as the adrenaline coursing through his body. It soon arrived right below the snake's mouth, but when it hit the snake's lower jaw, he didn't dare hope to split its head in two, but he at least thought his attack could shut its mouth. Instead, his blue lightning blade shattered as if made of glass.
Liu Xing's eyes widened, and the snake launched its golden ball toward him. Liu Xing reflexively jumped backward as hard as possible. The wind rushed around him, and when the golden ball was right in front of his nose, he dismissed his shield and resummoned it right in front of his face. The shield arrived just in time. The golden ball hit his shield, and a golden explosion erupted, accompanied by a loud tiger roar. His shield hit his face with such force that it made Liu Xing fall like a meteor from the sky.
In just a mere fraction of a second, his back hit the ground. The earth around him surged, he spat out a mouthful of blood, and he bounced several times before coming to a stop.
He felt his body tremble, his nerves in shock. But he didn't dare to dally. He stood right back up, reactivated his Lightning Cloak, checked his surroundings, and kicked the ground so hard his kick made a spider-web crack in the earth.
The forest made of white bones soon became blurry. He embraced this blurriness. It was a sign that meant he was moving as fast as possible, and hopefully, his speed was enough to escape that spirit beast.
He zigzagged left and right, trying to make it hard to follow him, while his brain tried to digest what had just happened.
The golden ball shot by the golden snakes and the orange tiger made of golden aura looked like Elder Xia Juetian's technique. This was concrete proof that this spirit beast really did steal bloodlines and could use them!
As he thought that, a roaring tiger sound could be heard. He stopped running and looked up. A giant golden tiger made entirely of qi leaped down toward him. This giant golden tiger had ferocious eyes, and it opened its mouth, baring its fangs. Its tongue was a golden snake, which also bared its fangs.
Seeing this, Liu Xing's eyes widened so much they looked like they would pop out of their sockets. He began to run straight ahead. His heart beat so fast, his brain screaming at his body to move faster!
From an outside perspective, this giant golden tiger looked like it was about to crush a fleeing flea. When it crashed to the ground, a loud explosion could be heard.
Liu Xing turned his head and saw a wall of earth extending dozens of meters into the sky decorated with white bone trees surging toward him like a tsunami. A shockwave so strong hit his back, and he was flung like a ragdoll thrown by an angry child.
He rotated his body in the air, using his shield to maneuver around. When he saw several giant bone trees hurling toward him, he used his lightning blade to slash at them, but a branch of white bones hit him in the back, making him lose his balance. Soon, Liu Xing was bouncing like a ball, hitting several rocks and bones and even anemone-like structures made from veins.
He tried to regain his balance, only for the spirit beast with pitch-black skin and golden snake limbs to appear dozens of meters from him.
It laughed slowly, its mouth curved like a crescent moon, with a stance to unleash a simple punch with its golden snake.