Chapter 5: Chaos (Part 2)

Lu Ning was furious, his eyes blazing with anger. The hunting carts had too much of an advantage—able to attack or defend, making it impossible to fight back. It was then that he realized what was happening and shouted, “Retreat! Let’s go!”
Guo Shieru, hiding in the distance, said quietly, “Idiot, it’s too late to leave now… There’s no way out—both the front and back paths are blocked. Where can we run?”
Luo Jie smiled bitterly. “It’s a pity I only realize this now. We’re not worse than those people. What we lack are talismans, spells, and equipment… If we had the same gear, we might not be inferior to them! Ah, if I had enough spirit talismans and ancient talismans, or the true spirit talismans and true ancient talismans Li Ran mentioned, we wouldn’t have to fear them at all!”
Guo Shieru replied, “Unless we can go to their continent, it’s impossible for us to learn those techniques.”
“How can we get to their continent?” Luo Zhan asked softly.
Guo Shieru shook his head. “I don’t know. But since they can come to this secret realm, they must also be able to return. We just need to figure out how they get back. Heh, there’s still a chance.”
Luo Jie said, “Forget about going to their continent for now. Our top priority is to find a way back to our own continent.”
Qi Nanshan said, “There’s no way. This is our first time in this secret realm, and we don’t know its rules. All we can do now is wait.”
The battle grew more intense, with more and more people from the Mu Fu Gate dying. Guo Shieru said softly, “Ah, although the people from Mu Fu Gate are all bastards, I’d rather kill them ourselves than see them killed by those people!”
Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan agreed, and even Luo Zhan nodded repeatedly, saying softly, “Yeah, those guys are truly despicable.”
As night fell, only the area where Lu Ning and the others were located was illuminated by the lights from the hunting carts. The ground was covered with corpses, and many injured people lay there groaning in pain. Several hunting carts sped across the plain, and over a dozen people jumped out, quickly grabbing the injured and taking them back onto the carts.
“Slaves!”
Luo Jie said, “They’ll become loot!”
Indeed, the people from Mu Fu Gate continued to fall, but the hunting carts didn’t shoot them—they captured them and took them back.
Lu Ning, the Great Beast Sorcerer, had fewer and fewer people around him, with only a dozen powerful beast warriors left. Six of them acted as his bodyguards, his last line of defense.

He was a Great Beast Sorcerer. As the beast talismans in his life talisman book were used up, his options became fewer and fewer. Watching batches of Spirit Beasts being killed, he roared in anger, grabbed his life talisman book, tore it violently, ripped out a page, and threw it away.

Luo Jie trembled and said in a low voice, “He’s going all out!”

That silver-colored page from the life talisman book flew out spinning. Lu Ning shouted, “Destruction!”

A silver flash appeared, and the page instantly turned into fragments. Along with a mouthful of blood spat by Lu Ning, those blood droplets scattered into fine threads in the air, merging with the silver fragments to form countless grotesque beasts that roared as they rushed in all directions.

Guo Shier opened his eyes wide in shock and asked, “What the hell is that?”

Luo Jie replied calmly, “A Great Beast Sorcerer’s life talisman book is crafted from the essences of countless beasts. It takes at least tens of thousands of beasts to create a single page. Once combined with the sorcerer’s blood, it forms extremely fierce Spirit Beasts. These Spirit Beasts are different from any ordinary beast in the world, and their power is terrifying.”

Qi Nanshan said, “Here they come again… Look!”

Guo Shier looked up and sighed, “It’s really beautiful…”

Hundreds of hunting vehicles, adorned with colorful stripes, flew across the dark night sky. Guo Shier suddenly said, “That’s another group. They’re not with those fighting!”

Luo Jie observed carefully for a moment before asking, “You mean the colors of the hunting vehicles?”

Guo Shier nodded. “Yes! Uh… Damn! So powerful!”

In just a few minutes, Lu Ning’s desperate efforts paid off. With that single attack, he destroyed over twenty of the enemy’s hunting vehicles. The people inside were only slightly injured, but all the vehicles were ruined.

With another roar, the Great Beast Sorcerer Lu Ning tore out another page from his life talisman book. This time, he spat blood on the page before throwing it away.

This was Lu Ning’s true trump card. With the hunting vehicles approaching and no way to escape anymore, he had no choice but to go all out.

“Mutated Talisman Beast Essence!”

Luo Jie almost screamed. In horror, he said, “This guy is absolutely terrifying! He actually has the essence of a Mutated Talisman Beast!”

Guo Shier had seen how powerful Mutated Talisman Beasts were—even a dying Mutated Earth Dragon possessed terrifying attack power. For this guy to be able to absorb the essence of a Mutated Talisman Beast and turn it into a page of his life talisman book was indeed a sign of great strength.

It was a mutated lynx with dark cyan fur, glowing eyes, and a relatively small body, about two meters long. As it was formed from a spirit, it could hover in the air for a while. The moment it appeared in the air, the temperature around it dropped sharply. It was a mutated ice lynx.

Luning roared, “Kill them all!”

The ice lynx suddenly accelerated and struck a hunting vehicle like lightning. In an instant, a thick layer of ice formed on that vehicle. The ice lynx let out a sharp, shrill cry, and the vehicle plummeted from the air, crashing to the ground and shattering. A few people struggled to climb out.

Countless magic arrows and spears were aimed at the ice lynx, but its speed was astonishing. Its ability to maneuver nimbly in the air, along with its dark cyan fur, made it hard to spot.

Dozens more hunting vehicles kept harassing Luning and his group, using magic arrows and spears to restrict their movement and prevent them from running fast. Meanwhile, other vehicles began surrounding the ice lynx.

Guo Shier smiled bitterly. “Those hundreds of hunting vehicles are probably chasing after us!”

Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan took a quick look and immediately grew solemn. Guo Shier was right—it was indeed the same hunting vehicles that had been tracking them. It had been almost half a year already, and those guys had persistently pursued them without slowing down. They had only been temporarily blocked here, and those people had already followed.

Hundreds of new vehicles… “There are at least three hundred hunting vehicles!”

“Hey! What are you people from the Fuye family doing here? This is prey belonging to our Dazhou family. You’ve crossed the line!”

“Sorry, our Fuye family has been tracking them for almost half a year. They killed members of our family! Please stop. This is our prey!”

“Nonsense! This is loot belonging to our Dazhou family! Back off! Stop provoking us!”

Guo Shier muttered under his breath, “Fight! It’s better if they fight! Dogs biting each other… full of fur, keep cursing!”

Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan couldn’t help but laugh, knowing the other side had the wrong target. Qi Nanshan whispered, “Pass the message along—everyone should hide well and never expose themselves!”

Word was passed one by one. The twenty-three of them lay quietly in the forest. As long as the other side didn’t search deliberately, they were unlikely to be discovered. Only after Luning’s group was completely defeated and those hunting vehicles left would they have a chance to flee into the mountains. They couldn’t take any action now.

After destroying dozens of hunting vehicles, the ice lynx could finally hold on no longer; its spirit was shattered by the hunting vehicles and it disappeared into the air. By this time, Lu Ning was also at his limit—he had torn off two pages from his life talisman book, causing him severe damage to his vital energy. Things were different now from when he first entered the secret realm; back then he had prepared a large number of beast talismans. Half a year had passed, and without the ability to replenish them, his strength had declined greatly. He no longer had even the low-level beast talismans needed to ride beasts and escape, otherwise he could have fled on them and wouldn’t have been trapped on this narrow plain.

The hunting vehicles surrounded them completely, and one person shouted, “Surrender! Your strength has earned us respect. If you’re willing to surrender and pledge loyalty to our Da Zhou family, you won’t have to be a slave!”

Lu Ning, the Great Beast Sorcerer, roared in anger, “Shut your fucking mouth! Even if I die, I’ll never surrender! Come on! Let me see what the hell else you guys can do besides relying on numbers!”

Guo Shier didn’t hold back his praise, “What a real man!”

The people of the Fu Ye family remained silent. It seemed the Da Zhou family was extremely powerful. Although the Fu Ye family had more hunting vehicles, the Da Zhou family didn’t seem to care at all.

Lu Ning, the Great Beast Sorcerer, said, “Xiao Peng, you guys can surrender. If you keep your lives, you might be able to return to your hometowns!”

The beast martial artists firmly shook their heads. One of them said, “We’ll never surrender! Let’s die instead! Haha!”

There were many people from the Da Zhou family on the ground—they had all been knocked off their hunting vehicles.

It was common knowledge that no master should be insulted lightly. Advanced professionals were extremely rare, like phoenix feathers and unicorn horns. Most of them were proud and arrogant, a demeanor ingrained in them from childhood as they constantly surpassed others and achieved success. They had strong self-confidence and were accustomed to feeling superior, so how could they possibly submit to others?

The Da Zhou family really wanted to subdue Lu Ning. The formidable strength he displayed was highly attractive; even among them, he was considered an extremely skilled fighter.

All attacks ceased. Lu Ning and his companions were surrounded completely. Hunting vehicles circled in the sky, and hundreds of skilled fighters surrounded them on the ground. Lu Ning no longer had any beast talismans left—only his life talisman books. Unless he tore more pages from them, he had no other means of attacking. But Lu Ning didn’t dare to keep tearing the books anymore. Each page of his life talisman book was his life; tearing too many would not let him live long.

Unless things reach their absolute worst and despair sets in, no one is willing to risk their life. Lu Ning still had a glimmer of hope, so he had no intention of risking his life for now, because he had discovered a secret—a secret that could allow him to take advantage of the situation.
“Come out! Stop hiding! Don’t think you can get away just because we’re all dead!”
Luo Jie and Qi Nanshan’s expressions instantly changed. Guo Shier whispered, “Damn it, how did he discover it?”