Chapter 1: Rescue (Part 2)

Ezek said, “We wait! I think… the captain will surely receive my signal!” Judging by the time, he was convinced that Li Ran’s team had already entered the Fengtai Continent.
Meili let out a soft sigh, her soul trembling again. “We were careless…” Anger flashed in her eyes. By her temperament, those people deserved death; once they broke free from the Trap Formation, she would kill them all without hesitation.
Just then, someone above the canyon said, “Can we talk?” Their tone was full of mockery.
Meili rolled her eyes but was too lazy to reply. Ezek, as if he hadn’t heard, remained crouched in the canyon, gathering his strength.
Hall was frustrated—the two trapped spirit beasts ignored him completely. He spoke in a slightly stricter tone, “Talking would benefit both of us… I know you can understand me. With your wisdom as a top-tier spirit beast, you should be able to grasp my words.”
Boom!
Ezek spat. Now in his true form, a single spit shattered a huge rock. He saw no need to respond. Out of pride, he would never yield, even in death. Intelligent Aberrant Symbol Beasts all had their pride. The others weren’t professionals from the Spell World—they were Beast Tamer clans, natural enemies of Ezek.
Hall’s expression changed slightly, showing a hint of annoyance, but he quickly smiled again. After all, the spirit beasts were trapped, and he believed he would succeed in the end. “If that’s the case, don’t blame me.”
Ezek’s soul trembled slightly. “Come down to me.”
Meili stubbornly shook her head. “I’ll wait for them to come down! I can’t bite them to death!”
…
Li Ran and the others moved quickly because they had the coordinates of their destination. By the time they reached the canyon, three days had passed. By the time Guo Shier heard faint thunder in the distance, it was already the early morning of the fourth day. The sky was still dark, but with the thunder, faint lights could be seen flickering.
Qi Wuzhen said, “That must be it!”
Guo Shier said, “Ezek and Meili seem fine. As long as they’re still fighting, we can still rescue them… I just wonder who could trap Ezek and fight him? Those two are quite strong.” He couldn’t figure it out. He believed that if Ezek and Meili wanted to leave, no one could stop them—those two with their abnormal bodies were even beyond his ability to stop.

All members of the squad were gathered this time, eager to contribute to rescuing Ezek and Mei Li—Halechi no exception. Though he was annoyed by Mei Li’s constant interference, he wouldn’t stand by idly while his teammates were in danger. In the world of spells, professionals might be deceitful or ruthless, but outside, they instinctively stuck together. After all, they were part of the same squad and would never ignore each other’s lives.

Li Ran said, “It seems we’re indeed trapped. Interesting—there are such powerful people here.” He still didn’t know that Ezek and the others were trapped by a formation, but if someone could trap them, their strength must be considerable. He added, “We might need to take this seriously this time. Everyone, be careful.”

After flying along the mountains for a few minutes, Li Ran and the others clearly saw the encirclement as well as a group of people pointing at each other in midair. With just one glance, Li Ran understood everything and said, “So that’s how it is! They set up a trapping formation. Hmph… Only that fool Ezek would be helpless!”

Guo Shier looked closely and said, “It’s actually a spell formation… No, there are other methods involved too…”

Qi Wuzhen sneered, “It’s still fundamentally a spell-based trapping formation. Right, Ezek and Mei Li are just a pair of fools. This kind of formation is far too crude. Any altar-level expert in spellcraft can break it… Even if they can’t break it, they can at least protect themselves… How could these two be beaten so badly?”

Zhen Wuji said, “After all, they are mutated spell beasts… They probably didn’t inherit any formation techniques, so it’s normal for them to get trapped.”

Ezek was covered in blood. The attacks from the formation weren’t very strong, but the enemy used some kind of force that drained his energy, causing him to lapse into confusion and thus fall victim to the attacks. To protect Mei Li, he tried to stay calm as much as possible. Meanwhile, using Mei Li’s power as cover, the two took turns attacking, barely holding on until now. But at this point, they were almost at their limit, able to last only a few more days at most.

Guo Shier asked, “How do we fight?” They were all battle-hardened professionals and wouldn’t charge in blindly.

Li Ran narrowed his eyes and stared into the distance. There was a huge stone wall in front of them, so those experts from the Beast Master clan hadn’t noticed them yet. Meanwhile, the group from the Beast Master clan continued to use the formation attacks, eager to defeat the spirit beasts—this was the moment of harvest for them.

At first, the Beast Tamer tribe was quite wary to avoid interference from outsiders, but as days passed without any issues, they gradually relaxed their guard and focused entirely on the Beast Trapping Formation.

Hall was so excited that his hands and feet tingled, and his greed was impossible to conceal. He said, “Everyone, push harder! The spiritual beast is about to give out.” Inside, he shouted, “I’m about to succeed! Haha, this is a top-tier spiritual beast… Haha! I’m so lucky!”

The skilled members of the Beast Tamer tribe were filled with envy and jealousy; they didn’t even dare look at Hall, fearing he might notice their feelings. They knew that although they could receive compensation from Hall, what they got compared to the spiritual beasts in the valley was far from proportional.

Of course, they weren’t stupid enough to try to steal Hall’s prey—that would be suicide. With Hall’s strength, killing them would be effortless. In this world, if you’re not strong enough, it’s better to stay humble if you want to survive.

Hall and his group had no idea that there were human companions among the spiritual beasts in the valley—professionals from the Spellcraft World, who were extremely powerful. Among all human experts, those from the Spellcraft World ranked among the top three strongest races.

Among the intelligent races of the Star Worshiping World, humans were the strongest, and due to their diverse backgrounds, their combat skills varied. Although the Beast Tamer tribe was also a powerful race, they were far inferior to the professionals from the Spellcraft World. Perhaps their top experts could compete with ordinary professionals, but against the best from the Spellcraft World, the professional gap meant the Beast Tamer tribe had no chance.

Hall and his group had no idea they had provoked a group of top professionals from the Spellcraft World. What was worse, these professionals didn’t understand the strength of the Beast Tamer tribe, which meant they would go all out.

Li Ran and the others were discussing how to deal with these skilled Beast Tamer warriors, with very serious expressions. It wasn’t surprising—experts who could defeat Ezekiel and Mei Li so badly couldn’t be underestimated under any circumstances. Everyone shared this view, taking it very seriously. That’s why they didn’t charge in immediately but carefully planned their approach.

Guo Shier said, “There must be top experts among this group. From the information we’ve got, this seems to be the territory of the Beast Tamer tribe. Ezek and Meili… well, it seems their goal isn’t to kill them but to tame them. That’s probably why they’ve been able to hold on so far.” His analysis wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t realize that the opponents weren’t actually that strong.

Qi Wu Zhen said, “They probably have exotic beasts… I only saw one. If they release all their exotic beasts, their strength should be considerable.” She too was wrong in her estimate. Most of the spiritual beasts among this group had already been killed by Ezek and Meili, with only a few elite Beast Tamer warriors still having them.

After analyzing for a long time, Li Ran and the others grew increasingly concerned. After careful observation, Yao Zebusong said, “There are a total of eighty-seven people, divided into four groups. It seems they’re controlling a trap formation. Strange… why do they need so many people to control such a simple formation?”

Goha said, “They’re not professionals from the Spellcraft World. The fact that they can use a trap formation already surprises me. Their strength likely lies not in formations but in controlling beasts. I wonder what other skills they might have.”

Guo Shier thought for a moment and said, “Speculating like this is useless. We’ll have to fight to find out.”

Li Ran nodded. “That’s right. We’ll only know after fighting…” He observed the Beast Tamer tribe members in the distance again. After a while, he said, “It’s clear that the group above the trap formation is the main force, while the other three groups are supporting. That group above… you two take care of it. You three, take care of the other groups. Divide the work among yourselves.” He nodded at Qi Wu Zhen, signaling that she should be in his group.

Halechi said, “Okay, I’ll be in a group with Guo Shier.”

Yao Zebusong said, “I’ll be in a group with Goha.”

Zhen Wu Ji couldn’t help but look troubled. “Sigh, I’m the only one left. I’m not sure I can defeat so many people.”

Li Ran said, “You don’t need to win. Just keep them occupied. Also, go deal with the group on the left—they have the fewest members.”

Zhen Wu Ji gave a wry smile. “Hmm, keeping them occupied shouldn’t be a problem.” He wasn’t confident because he had no idea about the combat strength of the Beast Tamer tribe. He didn’t know what tactics they had or whether he was stronger or weaker than them. All he knew was that he was alone against nearly twenty of them.

Li Ran said, “After Xiao Zhenzhen and I deal with the people above, we’ll come down and join He Ji to take care of the ones he’s dealing with. I think… as long as nothing goes wrong, we should be able to handle them. Even if we can’t kill them all, we can at least drive them away. Well, with saving people as the goal.”
Guo Shier said, “We’ll sneak in. Brother Li Ran, you start the attack first, and then we’ll follow.”
Li Ran thought for a moment and said, “Let’s get a little closer. We’ll teleport straight over and launch an attack immediately. Remember, go all out! It’s best to catch them off guard.” As usual, he rarely resorted to ambushes; he preferred head-on battles.
Guo Shier laughed and said, “Ambush? I like it!” Whether it was a frontal attack or an ambush, any method that achieved the goal was a good one. So he agreed right away after Li Ran finished speaking.
Qi Wu Zhen said calmly, “Then let’s get started.”
Everyone immediately dispersed. Li Ran and Qi Wu Zhen formed a team and quietly advanced. Guo Shier and Halechi moved toward the side, advancing cautiously. Zhen Wu Ji sighed and also flew out. Yao Zebusong and Goha exchanged a glance and flew to the other side.