Little White disappeared and reappeared next to the falling crow monster. Her claws swiped the head of the dead crow. A small white stone flew out from within the crow’s head and was swallowed by Little White.

The next moment, Little White reappeared on Shen’s shoulder and acted as if nothing happened.

Shen was distracted momentarily by the white fox’s action. It did not take long for him to be surrounded by a full twenty or so crow monster beasts from all directions.

Shen once again brandished his sword against the monster beasts. However, he was quickly overwhelmed by the large number of attacks and was reduced to defending.

All around Shen, other cultivators were engaging in their own battles. Flashy magic arts and powerful spirit tools were being used. It was normal for a Nascent Soul cultivator to own a spirit tool.

Shen did not cultivate a magic art, therefore he could only hack and slash while blocking and evading some attacks.

Luckily, he was only surrounded by Core Formation stage monster beasts and was not in any danger. He had sustained some scratches but was holding up quite well for his first combat. Of course, he only employed spiritual power and was not using chaos power at all.

The number of crows did not seem to be reducing as the total number of monster beasts far outnumbered the cultivators. Little White would obtain a beast core whenever a flying beast died.

Soon, the Core Formation stage monster beasts receded from those who were simply too powerful. There were some casualties in the human camp with others covering those retreating into the barrier when unable to continue fighting.

A lot of early Nascent Soul cultivators were now inside the barrier with only half the original number of cultivators remaining outside the barrier. Roughly one fifth of the Core Formation monster beasts have been eliminated.

Shen started to encounter Nascent Soul stage magical beasts. Those were much more intelligent than monster beasts and would cooperate in groups.

The number of Nascent Soul stage flying beasts were a lot less than Core Formation stage beasts, which are now attacking the barrier with their full strength.

The remaining 600 or so cultivators were still occupied by the Nascent Soul and higher stage flying beasts.

Soon, Shen became unable to hold on with using pure spiritual power. Therefore, he decided to head back into the barrier.

“Big Brother Shen, you could have used chaos power to kill all the monsters.”

“Yes, Xue’er, I could’ve easily done that. But taking a life is not something I enjoy doing. Some of those beasts are just as smart as humans. They too are merely trying to survive in this harsh world.

Plus, I’ve had enough practising how to fight a little. I will try a different opponent for next time.”

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Shen had scratches and cuts all over. He was wearing clothing Xue’er had bought for him back in Jade Leaf city. He felt rather bad to have damaged the clothes from Xue’er. The top-grade flying sword Shen used had cracks all over. It would not last much longer before disintegrating, indicating the fierce battle fought.

The cultivators inside the barrier would send their magic tools and spirit tools to defend against some of the attacks by the beast horde. The couple talked while surrounded by the surreal sight of the battle around them.

However, the number of beasts were far greater than the total number of cultivators present. It was only a matter of time before the barrier was depleted.

At this moment, a sharp loud cry was heard over the battlefield, encompassing all other sounds. All flying beasts simultaneously stopped. The cultivators looked towards the direction of the cry.

The three half-step False Immortal eagles could be seen retreating back to the mountain peak in the distance. The leading eagle has signalled the retreat. The eagles did not have their proud demeanour like when they had arrived. A lot of feathers were missing and bloodstains all over their wings as they flew away wearily.

The two Earth Immortals did not give chase. Their current appearances also looked rather poor with cuts all over with untidy hair and bloodstains on their robes. They did not seem to have suffered any serious wound from looking at their eyes filled with spirit.

The massive group of flying beasts also retreated rapidly towards the mountain peak after the signal.

All cultivators sighed breaths of relief. Although their casualties were much less than the monster beasts, over ten Nascent Soul cultivators had fallen in battle with numerous injured.

The ship soon started moving again. Most of the ship was in a jubilant mood except for a few whom had lost people in the battle.

The Earth Immortals had tidied up and started purchasing all beast cores.

The next few days were uneventful with a lot of injured cultivators retreating into their rooms to recuperate.

Shen and Xue’er passed the time leisurely as usual.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are now approaching Blue Cloud city and will be landing soon.”

The announcement woke Shen and Xue’er from their sleep. Xue’er still had the habit of tangling up with Shen during their sleep.

Blue Cloud city was on a larger scale than Jade Leaf city. The average cultivation level of the cultivators in the city was at least one large stage higher.

The background of the city was a part of the black mountain range. A steady stream of people could be seen coming to and from the mountains.

Shen and Xue’er disembarked the flying ship. The two spirit beasts were in their usual positions. The group looked around everything with curious eyes.

The city was surrounded by walls and had two gates in total. The ship had landed at the opposite side of the mountain range, outside of the south gate. The walls and the gate were not particularly grand looking, or tall. It was probably due to the nature of cultivators and monster beasts being able to fly, which made the walls rather useless upon a siege.

Shen and Xue’er entered the city after paying a fee. Similar to Jade Leaf city, there were small houses littered all around the outskirts. There was a large market area in the centre of the city.

Shen and Xue’er walked around aimlessly for half a day until Xiao Yan complained that he wanted to eat something.

Unsurprisingly, there was a branch of Green Bamboo Manor in the city, albeit on a larger scale.

Everything was the usual as the group ate and drank. “Xue’er, let us find a place to stay for now. We don’t know how long we’ll be here.”

“Ok, Big Brother Shen. Should we try an inn or rent a cave mansion again?”

“Let’s go with cave mansion. But this time we don’t have to get the really expensive one.”

The cave mansion rental office was much the same as the one they went to in Jade Leaf city. It was manned by two young women who were chatting behind the counter.

Shen had gotten a mid-grade cave mansion this time around, costing him 100 mid-grade spirit stones per week.

“Here’s 400 mid-grade spirit stones, we’ll rent it for four weeks first.” A wooden badge was passed to Shen. The cave mansion was located near to the northern gate.

Just as the group exited the market area towards the north gate, a large building came into view. Above its wide gate, a signboard read in gold letters “Mercenary Guild”.