As though signalling the start of their hunt, the huge wall of water came crashing back down behind them as the cloud lions charged forward. Even then, Nie Hanchang did not waver one bit as he watched all four lions rushing towards him.
There was still time.
He made a drawing action and another arrow of energy appeared, nocked tightly onto his bow. Ignoring the stationary sky lion, Nie Hanchang turned his attention towards one of the four approaching cloud lions and released his drawing hand.
An arrow of energy shot forward, taking almost the exact same path as its predecessor.
Roar-!
The four cloud lions roared in unison. With their eyes locked onto Nie Hanchang, they naturally reacted the moment Nie Hanchang made his move.
Their eyes glowed with a blue light, and a layer of white vapour started to form around each of their bodies.
Even then, the arrow of energy was way too fast.
The vapour armour around one of the cloud lions had yet to fully form when the arrow of energy pierced through it, grazing past the side of its body. Had the cloud lion not taken evasive measures in time, the arrow would have pierced straight through its head.
Nie Hanchang was not done just yet. He quickly let loose another arrow of energy, which directly penetrated a fully formed vapour armour to strike another cloud lion on its shoulder. The cloud lion was sent tumbling backwards from the impact, immediately falling behind its three companions.
It was clear that in the face of the raw offensive power behind Nie Hanchang's energy arrows, the cloud lions' vapour armours were sorely lacking!
By now, the other three cloud lions were almost upon Nie Hanchang.
But just as they were about to enter striking range, numerous daggers suddenly flew out from all around them, forcing them to retreat a few steps in shock. As though that was not enough, clouds of green mist were released all around them, trapping them within an encirclement of gases.
The cloud lions looked around them in confusion, warily backing up against one another as they watched the green gas slowly spread towards them.
Roar-!
One of the cloud lions roared, and its vapour armour started to churn wildly. Visually, it was almost as though its white body had turned into an actual moving cloud.
All of a sudden, a pillar of white vapour shot out from the vapour armour within, turning into a thick whip that swept across the green mist.
It directly tore a path through the green mist, creating an escape route for the three. But the moment they moved to escape through this newly created opening, another flurry of daggers emerged, flying towards them through none other than the opening that they themselves had created.
The cloud lions immediately got to work, parrying the daggers with both their razor-sharp claws and white pillars of vapour that each lion summoned from their vapour armour.
As they got busy defending themselves, these cloud lions were left completely unaware that outside of the encirclement of green gases, Zhao Yunxiao had just descended upon their companion that had fallen behind earlier.
[Zodiac Scripture – Ox Aspect: Strength]
[Explode]
Boom-!
The explosion caused a black cloud of smoke to form around the injured cloud lion, shrouding its vision for just a moment. Unfortunately for it, that was a moment too long.
Pierce-!
An arrow of energy passed straight through its heart, ensuring that it never had the chance to beat again as the arrow exited from the other end.
One down.
Zhao Yunxiao did not even bother inspecting the cloud lion's carcass, directly sweeping it into his spatial pouch before turning his attention towards the cloud of green mist. He could see three white pillars tearing it apart from the inside, quickly dispersing every last hint of the venomous gas cloud.
[Earthen Clone Technique]
Zhao Yunxiao Two rose from the ground. But instead of charging towards the three remaining cloud lions, he dashed in the exact opposite direction to head towards the rock structure.
The reason for that was simple – the sky lion had begun to move.
In order to reliably take care of the remaining three cloud lions, he needed to hold back their leader for the time being.
After making a seal with his hand, Zhao Yunxiao slammed his palm onto the ground, causing a glowing emblem to emerge as a simple array buzzed into action.
Dozens of spears shot out from among the trees, headed straight for the three stationary cloud lions.
Red Devil Weapons Array!
Roar-!
The cloud lions roared in response, directing the cloud pillars to block the incoming spears.
In the face of the powerful cloud pillars, the spears did not stand a chance. Any spear that was struck by the cloud pillars instantly lost all momentum, deflected to the side as though they were mere toys.
But that was only the case for spears that were blocked by the cloud pillars. Unfortunately for the cloud lions, there were far too many spears.
Pierce-! Pierce-! Pierce-!
Five spears struck one of the cloud lions. Two of them were deflected by its vapour armour, but the impact from the collision still created an opening in the vapour armour. This allowed the remaining three spears to strike the cloud lion directly, burying themselves deep within its flesh.
The cloud lion raised its head and roared in agony, blood leaking from its wounds. Its eyes turned towards Zhao Yunxiao, instantly recognising him as the one responsible for its injuries.
It was impressive that a mere beast could instantly identify the one responsible for activating an array, but that mattered little this time. In fact, that was exactly what Zhao Yunxiao had been aiming for.
With its attention distracted by the newly inflicted injuries and the one responsible for causing them, the cloud lion had failed to keep track of the far more dangerous threat.
Boom-!
An arrow of energy slammed straight into the back of its head, completely blowing its head up in an instant. Bits of flesh and blood matter were scattered all over, along with a fountain of blood that spurted out from its neck.
Two down.
Zhao Yunxiao turned towards the remaining two cloud lions that were staring straight at Nie Hanchang.
Two to go.
Roar-!
The enraged cloud lions charged straight towards Nie Hanchang, whom they had recognised as the one responsible for killing their comrades.
Seeing how things were going exactly as they had planned, Zhao Yunxiao let out a faint smile before quickly giving chase.
***
[Xuanwu Movement Art – Invisible Snap]
[Zodiac Scripture – Horse Aspect: Acceleration]
[Zodiac Scripture – Goat Aspect: Balance]
Zhao Yunxiao Two charged forward without hesitation, covering large distances within a short span of time. At the same time, its eyes were locked onto the white lion in the distance.
In contrast to Zhao Yunxiao Two, the sky lion was walking at a leisurely speed, looking almost as though it was out on a simple stroll.
However, this seeming lack of urgency actually created a greater sense of crisis for Zhao Yunxiao.
Why was it moving so calmly?
Was it so sure that it would be able to rescue its companions? But two of them had already fallen!
Or did it not care about its companions, and was simply certain of killing the two of them as revenge?
How was it intending to do so?
Regardless, Zhao Yunxiao was definitely not going to take it lightly. After all, it was an opponent at the Peak Essence Physique realm.
They could not afford to be distracted against such an opponent. And in order to focus all their attention on the sky lion, he had to delay it as much as possible, or at least until they finished off all the cloud lions!
As expected, the sky lion's attention fell upon Zhao Yunxiao Two as the latter approached.
The light in its blue eyes glowed, and the stream behind it started bubbling once more. From within the stream, close to a hundred water swords slowly rose into the air, their tips aimed straight at Zhao Yunxiao Two.
The very next instant, the water swords shot forward to seek their target.
Zhao Yunxiao Two immediately hid behind the trees, only to find that the water swords barely even slowed down one bit as they pierced straight through any trees that were unfortunate enough to be in their way.
To achieve such a feat, one could imagine the sheer power behind each water sword. Not to mention the earthen clone, even his true body would be in real trouble if he were to be struck by one of these!
In that case...
[Earth Burrowing Technique]
Zhao Yunxiao Two decisively dove into the ground, using it to hide his presence. Just moments after he disappeared into the ground, dozens of water swords descended upon where he had been standing earlier, slamming into the ground in a fearsome barrage.
Dust clouds rose into the air as the surrounding trees fell one after another, the bottom of their trunks torn completely to shreds by the water swords. By the time the dust cleared, all that was left was a ground devastated with numerous deep slash marks.
All signs of life had been obliterated.
Not too far away, Zhao Yunxiao Two warily returned to the surface.
This attack was far more terrifying than he had expected. Thankfully, he had managed to get out of the affected area before the attack landed.
Unfortunately, he could not just remain hidden underground forever.
His job was not to survive, but to draw the attention of the sky lion. Since that was the case, he had no choice but to keep tempting fate in the open!
Zhao Yunxiao Two readied himself as the sky lion, along with the dozens of water swords remaining, turned to face him.
Now, it was just a matter of how long it could survive the onslaught of attacks from this fearsome beast!
***
Roar-!
The two cloud lions roared in frustration as yet another barrage of spears shot out from the trees.
Pierce-!
A spear managed to avoid the defensive white pillars to bury itself in the back of one of the cloud lions, joining two other spears that had struck it earlier. The other cloud lion was faring even worse, with four spears protruding from its body.
By now, the vapour armour on their bodies had gotten thin enough that the spears could directly penetrate it. Blood continued to flow from their wounds that were quickly turning black – a common sign of poison.
Their actions were slowing, resulting in more and more openings in their defences.
Zhao Yunxiao had his eyes closed as his spiritual sense carefully scanned the two cloud lions.
It's time!
Under the cover of the barrage of spears, he burst up from beneath the ground. A black shadow could be seen as the Penta-Edge Grimoire Halberd pierced straight through the vapour armour and into the underbelly of its unsuspecting target.
The cloud lion above him let out a roar that was closer to a terrified whimper as it was directly lifted into the air before being thrown to the ground. It never moved again after that.
Beside him, the other cloud lion immediately pounced upon Zhao Yunxiao with a ferocious light in its eyes.
In response, Zhao Yunxiao dug his heels in and swept out with his halberd. The three inscriptions on the halberd glowed in unison, drawing three paths of light that accompanied the trajectory of the black halberd.
[Explode]
[Disperse]
[Weight]
Boom-!
A loud explosion sent the cloud lion flying through the air as Zhao Yunxiao stood his ground. The cloud lion slammed into the ground not far away, with its newly detached front limbs falling right beside it.
Judging from its current state, it would not be an exaggeration to call it a bloody mess that emitted the smell of charred flesh.
Whoosh-!
An arrow of energy pierced its neck from behind to seal the deal, though the light in its eyes had faded away even before the arrival of the arrow.
Four down.
Zhao Yunxiao took a deep breath to calm his heart as he looked at the two carcasses around him.
Cloud lions might not exactly be known for their physical prowess, but being able to completely overpower an Intermediate Essence Physique realm spirit beast still gave him a great sense of accomplishment.
Although it was largely done by relying on his equipment, it was still a feat that Zhao Yunxiao could not help but feel proud of.
It would appear that at some point in time, his combat capabilities had taken a huge step forward!
At this moment, a trace of invisible matter escaped the carcasses of the two cloud lions to enter his spatial pouch, breaking him out of his daze. He promptly kept away the carcasses of the cloud lions before turning around to look into the distance – at the sky lion.
It was finally time to face the final boss.
As though agreeing with him, an arrow of energy screamed out from behind him, flying right past his head as it headed straight towards the sky lion.