“Comrades!”
Seeing the situation growing increasingly dire, Zhutao struggled to rally their spirits, his words resounding with determination.
“How many of the fuel inside this barrier are our comrades who were killed by the bat demons?!
These damned bat demons have oppressed us for two hundred years! Two hundred years!
Now, we finally have the chance for revenge! The more fiercely these bat demons attack, the more it proves our methods are working!
If we can hold on, these bat demons will surely perish without a place to bury them!
Don’t you want to avenge our fallen comrades? Don’t you want to wash away the humiliation our Qingzhu Clan has endured for these two hundred years?!”
“Revenge!”
The nineteen men following Zhutao ignited with resolve in their eyes, desperately maintaining the barrier.
After holding on a while longer, the bat demons frantically trying to break free from the barrier began to lose their initial ferocity…
Soon, several small bat demons fell into the raging flames, burning to death without even a sound!
The deaths of these small bat demons greatly boosted everyone’s morale.
They strained to uphold the barrier, soon witnessing more small bat demons plummeting into the fire and perishing.
The two leading large bat demons also began to weaken, their flight becoming unsteady.
A surge of joy filled the group, and their focus wavered slightly.
But in that moment of relaxation, the two bat demons, seemingly at their last gasp, suddenly shot upward with all their remaining strength and slammed into the barrier.
“Hold the barrier!” Zhutao shouted urgently, sensing the danger. The group’s nerves tightened again instantly.
The two bat demons collided violently with the barrier, the impact causing the fifteen men maintaining it to feel a sharp pain in their chests, blood trickling from their lips.
The green barrier dimmed, teetering on the brink of collapse.
Zhutao’s heart pounded as he stared unblinkingly at the movements inside the barrier.
He knew their limits. If those two large bat demons launched another fierce assault, their barrier would undoubtedly shatter!
But luckily, the two large bat demons were also severely weakened by the fire and smoke inside the barrier!
After that violent collision, they seemed to have exhausted their strength, their wingbeats growing slower until they too plummeted straight into the sea of flames below.
Having learned their lesson from the earlier lapse, the group didn’t dare relax even as they watched the two large bat demons fall into the fire.
They kept their eyes fixed on the blazing inferno until the flames began to die down.
Zhutao was the first to withdraw his power, and the barrier surrounding the bamboo house vanished.
All that remained of the bat demons were piles of ashes on the ground—and the hardened wings of the bat demons amidst the cinders.
“They’re all dead?! That’s great! Haha!” Someone was the first to react, laughing in relief.
“Whoo! Whoo! Whoo!” The others quickly joined in, cheering loudly.
“Don’t celebrate too soon!” Zhutao panted, his handsome face tense with worry as he looked toward the bat demons’ lair.
The cheering crowd fell silent.
“We don’t know how Flower King Yun Qingxue is faring…
Moreover, our earlier intelligence suggested that some bat demons had left the forest.
Now that their two settlements in the forest are on fire, the bat demons that flew out must have gotten word by now!
And if they know, they’ll surely return to rescue their kin.
Yet after all this time, we haven’t seen any reinforcements arrive…”
“Maybe they haven’t made it back yet?” an optimistic voice chimed in.
Zhutao shook his head. “Logically, they couldn’t have gone far! They should have returned by now.
But they haven’t come to rescue these small bat demons…
That leaves only one possibility…”
“They went to the other lair!” someone gasped.
Zhutao’s gaze hardened. “We can’t let anything happen to Flower King Yun Qingxue! Everyone, follow me!”
“Let’s go!”
“Hurry!”
Realizing the potential danger Yun Qingxue might be facing, the group didn’t pause to catch their breath and immediately raced after Zhutao to rescue her.
Just as Zhutao had guessed, Yun Qingxue was currently caught in a dire situation, besieged from all sides.
However, compared to Zhutao’s group, Yun Qingxue had an advantage—her cultivation had improved significantly since she began her training.
The barrier she alone maintained with her magic was far stronger and more effective than the one Zhutao and his fifteen men had upheld.
But… the force assaulting her barrier was also much fiercer than what Zhutao’s group had faced!
Though Zhutao’s barrier was weaker, they only had to contain a group of small bat demons led by two large ones.
Yun Qingxue, however, was dealing with a swarm of fully grown bat demons—each cunning and formidable!
Moreover, with fires raging in both locations, the bat demons that had gone out to track them earlier had rushed back to their main lair to rescue their kin.
By the time Zhutao and his group arrived, Yun Qingxue was struggling to maintain the barrier alone.
The little fox, Liuli, crouched vigilantly beside her, occasionally launching attacks at the bat demons to protect Yun Qingxue.
Dai Se and the other eight Qingzhu clansmen were fighting desperately against the returning bat demons.
Everyone bore injuries!
“Comrades! If we eliminate these old bat demons, we’ll have our revenge and our freedom!”
Zhutao shouted, his eyes burning with fury.
“Kill them!”
“Kill them!”
His comrades roared in unison, charging into the fray.
Inside Yun Qingxue’s barrier, the old bat demons glared with blood-red eyes, relentlessly slamming against the barrier.
Several bat demons already lay motionless on the ground within.
Zhutao silently positioned himself behind Yun Qingxue, joining Liuli in guarding her.
Inside the barrier, bat demons continued to fall, unable to rise again…
The old bat demon who had injured A’dai was now directly facing Yun Qingxue.
Through the barrier, his eyes burned with venomous hatred as they locked onto hers…
Behind Yun Qingxue, the few bat demons not trapped in the barrier fought desperately to reach her.
If she fell, the barrier would break, and they could save their leader!
Both sides fought with everything they had, the battle reaching a fever pitch.
The old bat demons inside the barrier rammed against it ceaselessly, while Yun Qingxue strained to hold on.
Just as the stalemate seemed unbreakable, another large bat demon staggered out from the depths of the lair.
This bat demon flew unsteadily, clearly on its last legs—seemingly ready to collapse like its comrades at any moment.
Out of the corner of her eye, Yun Qingxue noticed something clutched in the wobbling bat demon’s claws—two translucent orbs!
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