Chapter 1286-1287
Chapter 1286 – Emergency
Before heading out, Zhao Hai already understood that they would go hunting in the core battlefield for more than a day or two. The core battlefield was just too large. Moreover, with how many people were here, sneak attacks were quite common. And once a big fish arrives, people would immediately want to destroy them. However, such a case couldn't be done in one or two days, it would at least take ten days or even half a month. This was something that everyone knew.
This was also the reason why Yuan urged Zhao Hai to get more food before heading out. And this lies the disadvantage of those from the Machine Field. People from the Machine Field needed to eat while those from the other realms only consume fasting pills and similar medicines.
Also, besides the other inhabitants, one should pay attention to the Six Realms Battlefield's beasts.
The Six Realms Battlefield might sound like it was under the control of the Six Realms. However, this wasn't really the case. There were plenty of extremely powerful beasts in here. These beasts were different from Demons. Demons were those who practiced to the point where they gained a humanoid form. On the other hand, no matter how strong these beasts become, they don't have any humanoid form.
However, one should not underestimate these beasts just because they don't have humanoid forms. These beasts were extremely strong, they weren't any less powerful than those in the Six Realms Battlefield. These beasts control their own territories and are also united with the other beasts, forming the Beast Alliance. The territory controlled by the Beast Alliance was a place where nobody could just enter.
And this Beast Alliance was quite unusual. Not only do they control their own territory, they could also benefit and make use of their surroundings. There were multiple forbidden areas in the Six Realms Battlefield where a large number of beasts inhabit. If anyone from the World of Cultivation entered these places, then they would no doubt be slaughtered.
There are a lot of people in the World of Cultivation but they couldn't invest too much manpower in the Six Realms Battlefield. Once a group sent a large number of people to the Six Realms Battlefield, then the other realms would unite against them. Because of this, the core battlefield would only have small parties going around it. The size of a party would generally be below 100 people.
A team of 100 people would never in their right minds enter the territory of these beasts. These beasts couldn't be annoyed because of their formidable strength. Moreover, low-level beasts were fearless. Their fearlessness was no less than the Bug Race. Because of this, nobody dared to provoke them.
All realms in the Six Realms Battlefield have their own controlled territory. But at the same time, there were also territories that they didn’t fully control. Such places will become points of brutal fights.
People from other realms would go to these semi-controlled territories to cause trouble. Their purpose was to steal herbs and other resources as well as to kill people.
No which realm people came from, they would definitely be equipped adequately when they go to the Six Realms Battlefield. This allowed them to be ready for battle at any time. And to some extent, these equipment could be regarded as plunderable resources.
The equipment of those sent to the Six Realms Battlefield were no doubt top-tier. And because the dead don't need equipment, these top-tier items became a resource in the battlefield. Whether they were magic artifacts, spirit artifacts, or devil artifacts, these items were all made of the finest materials. With enough technique, these items could be reforged and refined once more. Because of this, besides mining for resources and picking herbs, people in the Six Realms Battlefield also resort to hunting other people.
Yuan was very familiar with the situation in the Six Realms Battlefield. So he advanced carefully. Each time they go some distance forward, they would stop and send scouts ahead. They were also resting much more frequently. Yuan wanted the team to maintain their best states as much as possible.
Yuan knew very well how dangerous the Core Battlefield was. It was impossible for one to know when they would run into an enemy. If your strength wasn't at its peak once you met an enemy, then you would have a very hard time.
Yuan carefully bypassed the beast territories while paying attention to their surrounding environment and keeping the team's combat power at its peak. It can be said that if one hasn't experienced multiple life and death situations in the Six Realm Battlefield, then they wouldn't have been able to do this. What Yuan has done wasn't easy.
Zhao Hai followed beside Yuan while also paying attention to the surroundings. The Six Realms Battlefield was really too big. Although the silver needles were mapping the battlefield for the past few days, it had yet to cover a significant amount of area. Moreover, Zhao Hai discovered that the map wasn't very useful in his current situation. A map may allow one to grasp a general setup of an area, it was still difficult for it to show the level of danger present.
While they were flying forward, Yuan suddenly stopped at a foot of a hill. Zhao Hai saw Yaun frowning, so he couldn't help but ask, "Captain, what's wrong? Why do you seem worried?"
Yuan looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Little Hai, how long do you think we've been out?"
Zhao Hai thought about it and said, "About 8 hours. Is there something wrong about this?"
Yuan nodded and said, "There's something wrong. The Machine Field still has control over the area four hours away from Lock Mountain Range. Beyond that is an area that we don't completely control. This area will be the start of the core battlefield. But generally, we would either spot an enemy or receive an attack two hours after heading into this area. At most, the peace wouldn't last for three hours. And now, from what you can see, we're already four hours in. This situation is very unusual."
Zhao Hai couldn’t help but stare when he heard Yuan. Then his expression sank. Although he doesn't fully understand the situation in the Six Realms Battlefield, from what Yuan said, then the situation was indeed unusual.
When he thought of this, Zhao Hai immediately looked at Yuan and said, "Captain, how about I send some Undead to scout the surroundings? If there's something wrong, then we would only lose the Undead. What do you think?"
Yuan paused for a moment when he heard Zhao Hai, then he nodded and said, "Alright, but can your Undead scout properly?"
Zhao Hai smiled faintly and said, "Captain can rest assured. My Undead are intelligent." Then he waved his hand and released five Demon Mice Undead. These were Hao Donglai and his team. Then Zhao Hai waved his hand once more as the five Mice vanished into the hill.
Yuan and the others dumbfoundedly looked at the Mice. Their injuries had disappeared, they didn't look like Undead at all. If they didn't see Zhao Hai kill them, then they would have believed that Hao Donglai and the others were still alive.
As Hao Donglai's group dug into the ground, Yuan finally responded as he looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Little Hai, were those Hao Donglai's group?"
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "Yes, they want to steal our thornweed so I turned them into Undead. It's appropriate for them to scout for us."
Yuan heard Zhao Hai and couldn't help but laugh. Then he patted Zhao Hai's shoulder without saying anything. At this time, Xiong Li and the others noticed what was happening so they approached Zhao Hai.
Xiong Li looked at Zhao Hai and asked, "Little Hai, what happened? Why did you send those Undead?"
Zhao Hai smiled and said, "Captain suspects that it has been too peaceful. It's not normal. So I sent some Undead to take a look. If something happens, then we would only lose those Undead."
Upon hearing Zhao Hai, Li Kuangren smiled and said, "So it's like that. We've been in the Six Realms Battlefield for several days already but my weapon has yet to be used. It's annoying really."
Dongfang Yu smiled faintly and said, "We'll certainly be able to fight. But we still need to be careful. After all, this is the Six Realms Battlefield. If we can't save Little Hai when the time comes, then we brothers will lose a lot of face."
Sun Fei chuckled and said, "I really want to try my new spells. But I haven't had the opportunity. In any case, I've been saved by Fifth Brother several times already, so I don't mind being saved once more. I'm actually getting used to it."
When they heard Sun Fei, Donfang Yu and the others couldn't help but laugh. On the other hand, Yuan and the others were somewhat confused. The Six Realms Battlefield was an extremely dangerous place. Even Nascent Soul Experts would tread these waters with caution. If they were careless for even a moment, then there's a good chance for them to be killed. But now, Dongfang Yu and the others weren't worried at all. Instead, they looked excited. Yuan and the others could see that this attitude was caused by their infinite confidence in Zhao Hai. This caused them to be puzzled.
At this time, a Demon Mouse came back and approached Zhao Hai. Then after hearing the situation, Zhao Hai's expression changed. He waved his hand to receive the Demon Mouse before turning his head to Yuan and saying, "Captain, a group of Machine Field Experts are being attacked by Sprites in the east. It seems like the situation is critical. What do we do?"
Yuan stared for a moment before he said, "Are you sure that they're from the Machine Field?"
Zhao Hai nodded and said, "The Demon Mouse that just returned said that the team leader is a man with a long blade. He has around 30 subordinates with him. On the other side, the Sprites have 50 people. The situation isn't looking so good."
Chapter 1287 – Trap
"Eight-star Liu Zhen"
Upon hearing Zhao Hai, Yuan's expression finally changed, "So it's Liu Zhen. They should need our help. Let's head towards them."
Zhao Hai nodded and then flew towards the direction that the Demon Mouse came from. While he stayed at Lock Mountain Range, he also heard Eight-star Liu Zheng's name being talked about.
Eight-star Liu Zhen was nicknamed such because he guarded Eight-star Peak of Lock Mountain Range. This person used a long blade. His blade attacks seemed infinite and his strength was extraordinary. 'Eight-star' was the name given to him by the other realms.
A character that was given a nickname like Yuan couldn't be a simple man. Therefore, Zhao Hai also paid attention to Liu Zheng. However, since Eight-star Peak was far away from Yuan's fort, Zhao Hai wasn't able to see him. Zhao Hai didn't expect to meet him at this time.
Everyone followed behind Zhao Hai. Not long after they began flying eastwards, they heard the sound of fighting in front of them. The group increased their speed before seeing all kinds of Sprites surrounding a group of Machine Field experts.
The strength of the Machine Field experts wasn't bad. They formed a circle formation with Mages in the middle. They were constantly casting spells while the Warriors weren't actually using their sword qi. Instead, they used their own weapons to defend against the Sprite summons.
Including their summons, the Sprites had 100 people all in all. Their summons looked like tree spirits. These tree spirits were very tall and huge. In addition to their humanoid forms, their entire body was composed of bark and tree roots. Their actions were quite robotic, but they were no doubt strong.
Meanwhile, on the periphery of the tree spirits were a group of Sprites flying in the air. However, these Sprites were different from the Sprites Zhao Hai had seen before. These Sprites were wearing full-body armor. At this time, the Sprites were talking with each other with no worry on their faces. It was as if they were already convinced of their victory.
As soon as he saw this, Yuan immediately wanted to rush forward. However, he was stopped by Zhao Hai. Yuan was stunned, but he knew that Zhao Hai wouldn't stop him for no reason. So he turned to Zhao Hai and said, "What's wrong?"
Zhao Hai pointed around as he smiled bitterly and said, "We've been tricked. This is a trap. They deliberately made Liu Zhen survive in order to lure us in."
Yuan looked around and found that tree spirits were beginning to appear around them. These tree spirits were the same as the tree spirits that were attacking Liu Zhen's group.
Besides these tree spirits, there were also Sprites surrounding them. They had fully encircled Zhao Hai's group.
Yuan's expression couldn't help but change when he saw the surroundings. There were now more than 200 opponents surrounding them. And just like the ones attacking Liu Zhen's team, Yuan and the others were being attacked by another team of 50 high-level Sprites. In terms of numbers alone, it was impossible for them to escape.
However, Yuan had experienced multiple life and death situations so he calmed down immediately. Then he looked at Zhao Hai and said, "Zhao Hai, attack with all you have. We need to unite with Liu Zhen before planning what to do next."
Zhao Hai nodded before letting loose a few spells. Then the group immediately started to move towards Liu Zhen.
Liu Zhen was also aware of the situation, so he made an effort to lead his troops to kill towards Zhao Hai and the others.
Meanwhile, it seems like the Sprites also wanted the two groups to meet. They didn't spend any effort to stop the two from uniting. Before long, Yuan's group and Liu Zhen's group met.
Once the two groups united, the circle formation became larger. More Mages were placed in the center while the Warriors went to the front to defend. However, the Sprites didn't make any moves. They just surrounded the group and stayed.
Liu Zheng looked at the situation outside before he said, "Brother Yuan, it seems like we brothers will be trapped here today. The Elves sent two Nascent Soul experts and also those that are at Core Formation. It will be very hard for us to leave with our lives. Haha."
Yuan smiled bitterly and said, "It seems like these guys have been planning for this for a long time. I just don't know if they planned to deal with the two of us together. But if they did, then this matter is more dangerous than we thought."
Liu Zhen understood what Yuan meant. There's no fixed schedule as to when a team would venture out to the core battlefield. Each action was up to each team leader. If the Sprites knew that both of them would appear, then the implications were too dangerous. This meant that someone from the Machine Field may have informed them.
Liu Zhen nodded before looking at the enemies surrounding them. The Sprites had yet to attack. This caused Liu Zheng to frown as he said, "What's going on with them? Why don't they attack?"
Yuan coldly snorted and said, "Who knows, maybe they're just showing off." And just as he said that, several Sprites flew towards Zhao Hai and the others.
These Sprites were wearing attractive full-body armor, this was especially true for the two Sprites in front. The Sprites weren't very tall, so their armors looked more like decorations with their hollow patterns.
With their armors looking like decorations, one might see that these armors don't provide much defensive capabilities. However, one shouldn't rely on their common sense while they're in the World of Cultivation. In this world, the appearance of an armor doesn't necessarily translate to defensive strength. Being able to cover the entire body wasn't as important as the materials and manufacturing method of the armor. Although the Sprite's armor had hollow patterns carved into them, as long as they're made of good materials and refined in a great way, then its defensive strength was certainly good.
The two Sprites looked quite old. Although their bodies were as youthful as the other Sprites, their eyes couldn't betray their age.
One could sometimes see a person's age through their eyes. A person who had lived through life couldn't have eyes as pure as a child's. Except, of course, if a person was mentally disabled.
Although the two Sprites looked very young, their facial expressions and eyes showed their wisdom and experiences. One could see from this that they were old.
The two Sprites led their group until they were 100 meters away from Zhao Hai and the others. One of the elder Sprites smiled coldly and said, "Liu Zhen, Yuan, I didn't really expect that we would catch two big fishes at once. Hahaha. Both of your hands are filled with the blood of my brethren. It's time for you to pay your debts."
Yuan looked at the Sprite and then laughed, "Look who it is, so it's the Old Wooden Sprite. What? You're here to avenge your apprentices?"
As soon as the Sprite heard this, his face turned blue as he coldly snorted and said, "Yuan, you don't have to sound proud. Do you really believe that you can escape today? I hear that you have attained diamond body. I want to see if the rumors are indeed true."
But before Yuan could retaliate, a loud yawn was heard. This captured everyone's attention. They all looked towards the source of the yawn – which was Zhao Hai. Seeing that everyone's eyes were on him, Zhao Hai shrugged his shoulders before saying, "I don't understand why you need to waste so much words before a fight. Do you really need to talk too much? Is this your way to feed your feeling of superiority? I don't understand. I really don't understand."
Upon hearing Zhao Hai, Xiong Li and the others laughed loudly. Then Li Kuangren said, "I reckon that they're feeling inferior because of their height. They always use this method to show that they're superior to us. Unfortunately, no matter what they do, they will always look like dolls to me."
And even bigger laugh came from Xiong Li as he added, "Fourth Brother has a point. However, they don't look like dolls to me. They look more like butterflies. I really want to catch a couple of them and place them in a cage. What do you think?"
Li Kuangren shook his head and said, "I don't like raising such things. If I keep them in a cage, then I would need to feed them. Moreover, I would have to clean the cage. It's a pain in the ass."
This solicited a louder laughter from Xiong Li. Even the anxious Yuan couldn't help but chuckle. In their opinion, if they really were to die today, then they might as well be like Li Kuangren irritating the Sprites as much as they could. And it seems to be working. The Sprites all had dark expressions on their faces.
The Sprites had indeed been insulted, especially the two elder Sprites. The two of them were well-known experts of the Six Realms Battlefield. But now, their faces were being slapped by some youngsters, so how could they bear it?
The Sprite who spoke before shouted, "Ignorant kid. I will let you die without a proper burial!"
Li Kuangren laughed and said, "Old fogey, if I don't insult you, then would you give me a proper burial? If you want to fight, then let's fight. If you don't want to fight, then unfortunately, I don't have the energy to grind teeth with you here."
The Sprite couldn't bear the insults anymore, so he shouted, "Kid, you're courting death!" Then he waved his hand as a tree spirit appeared in front of the team. Then the spirit proceeded to punch towards Li Kuangren.
Li Kuangren roared as he took out his axe. When the axe appeared, it instantly enlarged and chopped towards the tree spirit.
However, the axe was later deflected. Li Kuangren harrumphed. It was clear that he had suffered a loss in this clash.
The tree spirit didn't stop its attack as it continued to punch towards Li Kuangren. But at this time, Xiong Li took out his chained hammers and pounded towards the tree spirit. However, the tree spirit ignored it as its attack continued on.
Bang, bang. Xiong Li's chained hammers hit the body of the tree spirit. But the tree spirit remained unaffected, its fist was still headed towards its target. At this time, Lu Dingtian, Dongfang Yu, and Sun fei made their move. It must be said that their weapons were like the weapons from the Cultivation realm. These weapons could fly out and hit their enemies and also had the ability to enlarge and shrink. After the group continually attacked, the tree spirit could no longer stop them and was forced to head back.
The clash between the two sides occured in a blink of an eye. This time, without Zhao Hai's support, the brothers were able to move together and drive back a spirit of a Nascent Soul Sprite. This was an extraordinary feat.
In addition to their new Cultivation Methods, Li Kuangren and the others' weapons also played a vital role in this clash. Their weapons were all manufactured by Zhao Hai and contained the weapon shattering formation. This caused their attacks to be much more powerful than before. If it weren't for the weapon shattering formation, they wouldn't have driven the tree spirit back.
Although the tree spirit was driven back, this didn't mean that it was injured. However, this was enough to make Yuan and the others startled. Yuan didn't expect that Zhao Hai's brothers would also be formidable. One must know that a Nascent Soul Sprite's spirit wasn't just a normal puppet.
At the same time, the elder Sprite didn't expect Li Kuangren and the others to be this strong. What surprised him the most were the weapons used by Li Kuangren and the others. The weapons were actually the same kinds as the ones used in the Cultivation Realm.
"Has the Machine Field mastered how to use the Cultivation Realm's magic artifacts?" The elder Sprite couldn't help but think this. The reason why he said that the Machine Field has mastered the use of using the Cultivation Realm's artifacts instead of saying that the Machine Field has learned to make magic artifacts was because creating the Cultivation Realms magic artifacts wasn't actually that difficult. Besides the formation core as well as the formations that would be added by specific artisans, the Machine Field has all the means to create magic artifacts. So it wouldn't be surprising for the Machine Field to make magic artifacts of the Cultivation Realm.
On the other hand, the method to control magic artifacts was a very difficult thing to learn. Methods to control magic artifacts in the Cultivation Realm were tied up with someone's cultivation method. Without a cultivation method, then one wouldn't be able to control a magic artifact. This was also the reason why close to nobody in the Machine Field used magic artifacts.
Also, cultivation methods weren't uncommon in the Machine Field. When Yuan arrived in the Machine Field, he brought with him a lot of cultivation methods. However, the reason why these methods couldn't propagate in the Machine Field was because of spiritual density and lack of medicine.
The spiritual density in the Machine Field was much less compared to the Cultivation Realm. The Cultivation Realm's cultivation methods relied on this high spiritual density in order to progress. Even ordinary places in the Cultivation Realm couldn't support these Cultivation Methods. One would need to be close to a spiritual vein to progress. Moreover, in order to gain further results, a Cultivator would need the support of pills. And since these things were very rare in the Machine Field, the use of cultivation methods didn't become popular in the realm. And without the means to practice the Cultivation Realm's methods, magic artifacts in the Machine Field were useless. This is why nobody used magic artifacts in the Machine Field.