Chapter 9: Blood Soul Stone (Part 2)

Guo Shier wanted to see what kind of strength these masters from the advanced continents truly possessed. He shouted, “Fat Yang, Xuan Ai, come down! You’re in charge of attacking! I’ll make sure the Mad Lion doesn’t escape.” With that, he jumped off the scorpion’s back, followed by Fat Yang and Xuan Ai. Guo Shier used the Dark Winged Demon Scorpion to block in front, preventing the Mad Lion from pouncing—after all, the beast was incredibly fast.

The Eagle Demon reached for the talisman pouch at his waist and produced a large shield over a person’s height. He hid behind the shield, used his feet to propel it, and the shield rushed forward like a speeding car, slamming into the Mad Lion. With a loud crash, the mutated Mad Lion roared, but the Eagle Demon managed to block its charge, though he was forced to retreat repeatedly. This mutated Mad Lion was six or seven meters long and possessed astonishing strength. If the Eagle Demon hadn’t been a high-level Talisman Martial Artist, he wouldn’t have dared to charge head-on.

The Eagle Demon roared, “Hold it off!”
Lan Hu darted to the side of the Mad Lion. She didn’t dare attack directly but instead pulled out a talisman bow and shot arrows to distract and disorient the beast. Sun Min’er, on the other hand, was far less effective. He was at least twenty meters away from the Mad Lion and just waved his talisman sword, shouting loudly to bluff.
“…Kill… kill it…”
Sun Min’er shouted fiercely but refused to move forward, his sword movements dizzying to watch. Guo Shier felt both annoyed and amused.

Guo Shier sensed something was missing. Suddenly, he spotted Peng Yuanwang appearing and disappearing in the gray mist, realizing that guy hadn’t come at all. He wondered what Peng Yuanwang was doing in the distance. If not for Guo Shier’s Vision Clearing Spell, he wouldn’t have noticed Peng Yuanwang hiding in the mist.

Xuan Ai summoned his life talisman book, tapped it, and ordered, “Stab!” Dense clusters of black dots rose from the book and soared into the air before descending rapidly with his hand gestures. They were countless steel-like spikes covered in talismans.

The Eagle Demon shouted, “Kid! Aim better!” He raised his talisman shield above his head, and soon, a series of loud crackling sounds came as over a dozen spikes landed on the shield. Lan Hu rushed forward angrily, shouting, “Where are you shooting at?”

Xuan Ai replied repeatedly, “Oh no, I forgot… I used the wrong talisman! I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

The fourth-level mutated lion was six to seven meters long and about two meters tall, covered in golden fur. It was very different from the lions Guo Shier saw in his past life—aside from a slight resemblance in appearance, it was countless times more ferocious. When the talismans were thrown at it, the lion merely shook its body slightly; its golden fur rippled like waves, shaking off the talismans without even damaging its fur.

But this attack enraged the lion. Its blood-red eyes fixed intently on Xuan Ai, which roared loudly and sent a wave of wind toward him. Xuan Ai panicked and shouted, “Quick, block it!” Yang Qi cried, “Watch me!” He then launched an attack, tapping his life talisman book, and a large flame erupted. Guo Shier shouted, “Don’t use fire! I want that fur!” The entire scene was in chaos.

Yang Pangzi’s hand trembled, and the flame fell to the ground. Eagle Demon cursed angrily, “Damn it… all of you are useless!” He struck the lion from the side again, preventing it from lunging out. Caught off guard, the lion tumbled sideways. As it got back on its feet, it targeted Sun Min’er from the Big Hu family not far away, roared, and charged at him. Eagle Demon had been guarding against the lion attacking Guo Shier and didn’t expect the beast to target Big Hu’s man. He quickly shouted, “Be careful!”

Sun Min’er waved his talisman sword, pretending to be brave: “Kill it… hurry up and kill it… Oh my god…” He turned and ran at extreme speed. Guo Shier said, “Damn, he’s running faster than me!” He hadn’t intervened yet to assess the team’s combat strength, and now he was completely desperate.

With such combat capabilities, if they encountered a slightly more advanced mutated talisman beast, at least half of the team would die. They certainly didn’t resemble professionals. At the Northern Talisman Sect, every master had fought countless battles, their combat strength far exceeding that of Xuan Ai and the others.

“Wangwang… save me…”
“Min’er, you bastard! Oh my god…”

Everyone was stunned as they saw Sun Min’er and Peng Yuanwang fleeing frantically, with a golden lion chasing closely behind them in the gray mist. Eagle Demon said with a bitter smile, “Idiots! Can’t you run separately?”

Guo Shier said, “If you’re smart, run toward us…” He didn’t want to go over at all; he wanted to see how the two of them would handle it. If they failed, not only would they suffer themselves, but they would also doom the entire team.

“Xuan Ai, Yang Pangzi, do you have any powerful talismans? Don’t hide them. Don’t hesitate when it’s time to use them—or it will be you who die!”

Xuan Ai slapped her forehead and said, “Actually, I have a highly powerful talisman, but I forget it whenever I get nervous!”
Yang Pangzi agreed, “Yeah, that’s right… When you suddenly shouted, I didn’t know what to do. I have a highly powerful talisman, but the elder who gave it to me said not to use it unless it’s a life-threatening situation…” His voice was loud, and he seemed quite convinced of his stance.
“Help! Twelve, help us…”
Guo Shier just took a glance and said, “A high-level Talisman Martial Artist, even a beginner one, should have enough strength to run a long distance… Let’s wait for them to come.”
Eagle Demon shook his head and sighed, “These two fools are already shouting for help but still not running here… Why take detours? I get it—they’re afraid of getting lost, right?”
Guo Shier smiled and said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, tell them to take a few more detours. We haven’t finished setting things up here yet.”
Eagle Demon knew Guo Shier was deliberately teasing them and laughed, “It’s fine. I think these two have good potential and plenty of strength to run. Hehe.” He raised his head and shouted, “Sun Min’er! Wang Wang!” Guo Shier’s legs turned weak as he thought, “Uncle is really strong too. Sun Min’er Wang Wang? Is he calling the dogs?”
“Keep running, take more detours. We’re still getting ready!”
Sun Min’er, also known as Da Hu Zi, shouted, “I can’t run anymore… Hurry up… I’m exhausted…” Though he claimed to be exhausted, he kept running fast. His strength was roughly on par with Peng Yuanwang’s, so they ran side by side. Peng Yuanwang panted and said, “Should we split up and run?”
Sun Min’er replied, “No… we can’t split up. Run together!”
Peng Yuanwang asked, “Why? If it weren’t for you attracting the Mad Lion, I wouldn’t have had any problems…”
Sun Min’er said, “Anyway, the Mad Lion kept chasing… chasing me… If you run away… maybe it will target you instead… So… run together. If… if it catches up, we can fight it together…”
The two kept running while constantly discussing. Peng Yuanwang thought it made sense—what if the Mad Lion chose to chase him instead of Sun Min’er? That would be deadly.
“Wang Wang, I… I can’t run anymore!”
“Okay… Min’er, hold off the Mad Lion… I’ll go get help…”
“You… can’t you go and hold it off? I’ll… I’ll go get help…”
“That’s not possible… I can’t defeat it!”
“Just keep running…”

The voices of the two as they talked were very loud, and Guo Shier and the others standing not far away could hear them clearly. Guo Shier shook his head with a wry smile and said, “Alright, I’ll assign tasks. Uncle Eagle Demon and Xiao Lanzi are responsible for holding them off—this is essential. No matter what method you use, make sure to stop the Mad Lion.”
Eagle Demon nodded. “No problem.”
Guo Shier said, “Xuan Ai and Yang Pangzi, get ready. Once Uncle Eagle Demon has held off the Mad Lion, your attacks must be precise—don’t fire randomly…”
Eagle Demon said, “Yeah, they almost hit me just now. Accuracy in attacks is the most basic requirement… I don’t know how you guys practice.”
Guo Shier said, “Alright, hurry up and get ready! Hu Zi and Wang Wang can hardly hold on anymore! Uncle Eagle Demon, let them run over—heh, they really run well!”
Eagle Demon, holding the one-person-tall talisman shield, shouted, “Sun Min’er, Wang Wang… run over!”
Sun Min’er was already in a daze from running but kept sprinting frantically. Peng Yuanwang, on the other hand, heard him. He turned around and ran toward the group at wind-like speed. But the mutated Mad Lion completely ignored him and continued chasing Sun Min’er.
When Peng Yuanwang reached the group, he didn’t care how dirty the ground was and collapsed like a limp noodle. He lay there gasping heavily and said, “I… I’ve lost so much… so much… Huhu, I should have run out earlier… Huhu…”
Guo Shier saw that Sun Min’er was at his limit. Having endured so much fear and shock, his ability to hold on so long showed his strong desire to survive. He said, “Uncle Eagle Demon, go save him!”
Eagle Demon cursed, “You little brat, you can’t fight, but you run fast. Fine… I’ll go get him back!” With that, he put away his talisman shield and dashed off toward the ground.
Guo Shier said, “Wang Wang, move aside so the battle doesn’t affect you… Heh…” He couldn’t help but laugh too, as Peng Yuanwang lay there like a dead dog.
Peng Yuanwang gathered his strength and slowly got up, stepping aside one by one. After all, he had a strong body and recovered quickly. After gasping for a few dozen seconds, he regained some strength.
Eagle Demon was much faster than Sun Min’er. He flew diagonally into Sun Min’er’s path of running and grabbed him by the collar. Then Sun Min’er screamed in terror, “Help! It bit me! I’m going to die! Ah…” Eagle Demon shouted, “Damn it, shut up!”
Only then did Sun Min’er realize he had been saved. Stammering, he said, “Ah… Oh, th-thank you…”

The Eagle Demon snapped, “Don’t move around! You fool! Can’t you fly? Do you have to run so desperately?”
Sun Min’er was on the verge of crying. He said, “M-Master… I… I was so scared… I forgot…”
The Eagle Demon shouted, “Get ready! The Mad Lion is coming!”