The earthquake struck with a loud noise. Qin Mo opened his eyes and gazed outward with great solicitude.
Wuzhou City seemed to tremble. Qin Mo knew the monthly siege was about to begin. He nodded to Ling Yun beside him, and with a single movement, appeared on the wall with the others.
There was a vast open field between the city and the surrounding forest. This field was full of beasts. Suddenly, a violent roar filled the sky, and the entire city seemed to shake.
Everyone sucked in a deep breath. Even though this attack occurred every month, now everyone saw something magnificent. Though they did not panic, their faces grew tense.
"Sha. . ." the wind alerted to the arrival of a red figure behind Qin Mo. She glanced toward Ling Yun, who was dressed as a servant, and said to him with a smile, "Senior Liu, these are the beasts that attack first. Their strength is around Qi Refining and Foundation Building."
"Everyone, don't panic." Just as Wan Xiang opened her mouth, a roar came from the middle of the wall. The noisy crowd quieted.
"Everyone here is strong. So long as we work together, we'll drive these beasts out of our territory!" The man who spoke wore a golden robe and stood atop a flying sword, looking down at the crowd with burning eyes.
This was Wu Yongxing, the city's owner. Although his words were simple, they were inspiring. The owner was great at making the public believe what he wanted.
When Qin Mo glanced at the man behind the owner, his brow wrinkled. He could clearly see intense hostility in the man's gaze, but he had never seen this person before.
Then he understood. Qin Mo looked at Wan Xiang beside him, the target of the man's burning stare. He sighed. The beautiful woman was a disaster.
Wan Xiang was transparent. She saw through Wu Yongde's thoughts at a glance and said with a smile, "The man in green is Wu Yongde, the city master's younger brother. He and I. . . have some history."
Qin Mo responded with a single "En" and didn't ask much about it. He turned to look at the beasts head
Wan Xiang gritted her teeth She had tried her best to attract the attention of this Senior Liu over the past few days, but he didn't have even a lick of interest in her.
Wu Yongde saw the grief on Wan Xiang's face and thought of what he wanted but couldn't get yet was abandoned by someone else. His face became even uglier, and he angrily said, "He really doesn't know what's good."
His brother's expression remained unchanged despite hearing his words. His eyes dropped, and he whispered, "The one treated so well by that shrewd Wan Xiang shouldn't be simple, be careful."
Wu Yongde said nothing else but stared at Qin Mo with strong killing intent. He hated Qin Mo to the extreme.
"Ao!" The horde of beasts below rushed in the city's direction.
The figures on the wall rushed forward to intercept the rioting horde. In the blink of an eye, the beasts and cultivators clashed.
Qin Mo gathered power in his palm as the beasts approached and cut one down. He could feel the spirit fluctuation leave its body as it died.
He took a breath, and a spherical object appeared in his hand. He could feel its energy and presumed it to be the demonic core Wan Xiang mentioned.
The little fox voiced in his ear, "Qin Mo, use your lightning to refine the demonic core, you can directly absorb it."
Qin Mo's eyes brightened. He discovered, on touch, that the core had mixed spirit bower. He could absorb it, but it would take a lot of effort.
The light in his palm flashed, and a cl.u.s.ter of purple flames wrapped around the demonic core. Under the burning lightning fire, it gradually became transparent and flowed into his body.
His eyes narrowed. He could clearly feel the slight increase in his inner strength.
Qin Mo rushed into the horde below. The hands under his sleeves continued forming seals, and brilliant purple fire bloomed around him. It instantly destroyed the beasts in Qi Refining and Foundation Building as it touched them.
Everyone stared at Qin Mo's bravery in amazement. They didn't expect this mysterious man wearing a cloak to have such strength. No wonder he dared to steal Wu Yongde's woman openly. Ling Yun clenched his fists and joined Qin Mo in battle.
Wu Yongde stared at Qin Mo from atop the wall and snorted, "Only just that." But his cold pupils were steeped in fear and jealousy. This black-cloaked man was not simple.
Although the beasts' numbers were high, the cultivators in the city could not be underestimated. Soon the crowd blocked the offensive horde.
Just when everyone's faces seemed to relax, Wu Yongxing's expression shuddered, and he whispered, "They're here." His sword s.h.i.+fted, and he appeared above the crowd, staring dead ahead.
Wu Yongde and the other two followed close behind, watching with vigilance.
Five oppressive figures emerged from the depths of the forest. They were huge and ran straight for the city, followed by powerful beasts.
"There are five beasts at Spirit Solitude!" Wu Yongxing's face flashed with a hint of horror. Unexpectedly, these beasts were stronger than any before.
Wu Yongxing grasped his weapon and pushed forward on his flying sword, rus.h.i.+ng straight for the giant eagle, the strongest of the five. He yelled, "I'll handle this one, the rest of you handle the others."
Behind him, the three looked at each other and rushed towards the beasts.
Qin Mo also took on a Spirit Solitude beast. With his current strength, it was easy to deal with, and he needed the Spirit Solitude beast to improve his base.
Dark intent flashed in Wu Yongde's eyes, and he slowly approached Qin Mo.
Brus.h.i.+ng past, he poured a colorless powder from a jade bottle onto Qin Mo.
He turned and quickly left, staring at Qin Mo coldly. "You can enjoy this beast attracting powder."
The beasts burst into a rampage, and the shocked cultivators amped up the intensity of their attacks.
The ones they couldn't stop rushed for Qin Mo, and even the Spirit Solitude fighting Wu Yongde rushed for him. With two Spirit Solitude beasts, many other monsters joined their attack, increasing the pressure
Qin Mo glanced at Wu Yongde, who had escaped to a distance, and realized what he had done. At the moment, he didn't care.
Strong, rich energy lingered around him. He extended his right hand, and a long silver chain appeared in it. This was the chain Liu Zhongchi used to tie Qin Mo up, and it was a magical treasure that had fallen to his hands.
Qin Mo flew past one of the Spirit Solitude beasts, chain in one hand, and formed seals with the other. Thunder flashed, forcing the weaker monsters to retreat, and the silver chain tied up his target.
Ling Yun appeared beside Qin Mo. He blocked the Foundation Building and below beasts with a long sword and whispered, "I'll handle these, you concentrate on the Spirit Solitude beasts."
Qin Mo nodded and tightened his grasp on the chain, causing it to tighten around the beast as well. The powerful beast uttered a cry but could not break free from the shackles.
The chain wound tighter and tighter. Then beast exploded, leaving behind only a slippery demonic core in Qin Mo's hand.
The chain in Qin Mo's hand swerved and wrapped around the other Spirit Solitude beast. Like this, he gained another demonic core.
Using his lightning fire to burn the cores, Qin Mo absorbed the enormous power into his body. Worthy of Spirit Solitude beasts, the process improved his strength to the Ninth Layer of Foundation Building.
Wu Yongde watched Qin Mo deal with the beasts so easily, and his face turned blue. He stared at the silver chain with greed in his eyes. "I didn't expect him to have a magic treasure."