Chapter 456: Xia Chaoge's Call for Help

The Northern Snowfield spans thousands of miles, and traveling without a spirit beast is extremely difficult. Spirit beasts are intensely loyal; they would never abandon their masters unless their masters were in dire straits. What's more, a sentient spirit horse like this white one would not easily abandon its master unless it was absolutely necessary. The fact that Xia Chaoge's spirit horse was here alone could only mean one thing: she had run into danger.

He immediately leaped forward, dispatching the pursuing Beast King with a sword-controlling technique. Then, he restrained the spirit horse. "Don't run! It's me!" he said.

The spirit horse recognized Jiang Fan and, to his surprise, spoke in human words, "Pervert?"

Jiang Fan froze. "Are you talking to me?" he asked.

"My master said so," the spirit horse replied.

Jiang Fan was utterly bewildered. Xia Chaoge called him a pervert? Where did that even come from? He had always strictly adhered to the proper boundaries of a junior disciple towards her, never overstepping. How could she slander him like this in front of her own spirit beast?

"Alright, that can wait," he thought. He asked urgently, "Why are you here? Where is your master?"

The spirit horse's eyes grew anxious. "Quick, quick, let me go," it pleaded. "My master sent me back to Sunset City to deliver a message. In Severed Sky Gorge, there's an army of over a hundred demonic beasts, all of them Beast Kings! Their strongest leader is at the fifth level of Core Formation!"

Jiang Fan was startled. Just how many demonic beasts had slipped through when the defenses were last compromised? Aside from the black-armored, mid-Core Formation Beast Kings he'd encountered before, now over a hundred more Beast Kings had emerged? Even Jiang Fan himself would have no choice but to flee if faced with such a large group.

"Where is your master, then?" Jiang Fan asked.

"My master fought her way through, creating an escape path for me to run first," the spirit horse urgently replied. "But she's surrounded now. I can't waste any more time; I must hurry back to Sunset City."

Jiang Fan placed a hand firmly on it again. "What good would it do to go back for reinforcements now?" he asked. "By the time you return, at least five or six days will have passed. Will help arrive just to collect your master's body?"

The spirit horse whined, "Then what should I do?"

Jiang Fan whistled to Xiaobai, who was still in the distance. "Lead the way!" he commanded.

The spirit horse blinked its large eyes in confusion. "What good would it do for a pervert like you to go?" it asked.

A vein throbbed on Jiang Fan's forehead. He tapped its head. "Less talk! Let's go!" he commanded.

The spirit horse winced in pain and quickly galloped forward. Xiaobai quickly followed. As it passed a demonic beast's corpse, it paused, pierced the beast's belly with its horn, and burrowed its head inside. In a moment, it pulled out a large chunk of spirit meat and a demonic core. It quickly caught up to Jiang Fan, obsequiously handing him the demonic core while happily savoring the spirit meat itself.

Jiang Fan took the demonic core and praised, "My fondness for you wasn't wasted."

The spirit horse turned its head to look at Xiaobai, its eyes widening in surprise. "Sister Bai, you... you've broken through to the fourth level of Core Formation?" it exclaimed.

As fellow spirit beasts from Sunset City, they were naturally familiar with each other. Yet, not long ago, Xiaobai had only been at the third level of Core Formation. How had it advanced so quickly?

"With Big Brother Jiang Fan looking out for me," Xiaobai boasted proudly. "The fourth level of Core Formation is nothing; sooner or later, I'll break through to the fifth level!"

After previously consuming a piece of clam meat, Xiaobai had already been on the verge of reaching the fourth level of Core Formation. In the past few days, it had been devouring the spirit meat of mid-Core Formation demonic beasts as if they were mere snacks. If it hadn't broken through to the fourth level by now, it would be truly unfair.

The spirit horse immediately drooled with envy. While leading the way, it turned its head to look at Jiang Fan on its back, a pleading look on its face. Xia Chaoge had also given it a good amount of spirit meat, but it was nowhere near enough for it to break through its current second level of Core Formation.

Jiang Fan rolled his eyes. "You call me a pervert every other word, and yet you want treats from me?" he scoffed. "What are you thinking? Focus on leading the way!"

The spirit horse grumbled indignantly, "But my master said it."

***

In the center of Severed Sky Gorge, a dense, seemingly endless throng of Beast Kings packed the narrow canyon, resembling an unbroken mountain range. In their midst, three humans appeared as faint, struggling candlelight in a black torrent, ready to be swallowed by the surging tide at any moment.

Liang Feiyan's face was pale, and the arm gripping his sword trembled constantly. The sword techniques he wielded could barely kill even a second-level Core Formation demonic beast. It was astonishing, considering he was a third-level Core Formation martial artist who practiced sword arts, the strongest offensive technique among the Nine Sects. The reason was simple: his spiritual energy was completely depleted!

"Junior Sister Xia, my spiritual energy is exhausted," Liang Feiyan gritted his teeth, desperately swinging his sword to push back the attacking demonic beasts. "These demonic beasts must be commanded by something. They're using a 'wheel battle' strategy, constantly deploying the weakest Beast Kings to deplete our spiritual energy. When our spiritual energy runs dry, that's when whatever's behind this will make its move."

Xia Chaoge, with a single sword stroke, killed a Beast King approaching from another direction. She still had spiritual energy, but not much left. Her gaze remained as calm as ever as she said, "We can only wait for external help."

Jin Zhongming also killed a Beast King attacking from another direction with a single punch. As a body refiner, he didn't rely on spiritual energy, but his stamina was nearly depleted. He couldn't hold on for much longer.

"It's all Liang Feiyan's fault for being a bit weaker; otherwise, we could have broken through this encirclement," Jin Zhongming complained bitterly.

Hearing this, Liang Feiyan bristled with anger. "How dare you blame me?" he retorted. "You were the one who ignored warnings, chasing a few Beast Kings deep into the gorge and getting us surrounded! We got trapped trying to save you!" If he had known this would happen, Liang Feiyan thought, he should have just let Jin Zhongming die in the mouths of the demonic beasts.

"Now is not the time to argue," Xia Chaoge interjected. "Try to slowly break through towards the back. If there's backup, it will also reduce their pressure."

Hearing her words, both Liang Feiyan and Jin Zhongming's faces showed deep bitterness.

"Backup?" Liang Feiyan scoffed with a bitter laugh. "Where would backup come from? Sunset City is three days away from here. By the time they arrive, it'll be five or six days later, and we might not even last five or six hours."

Jin Zhongming also seemed resigned. "Even if backup arrives," he said, "the beast group behind us numbers forty or fifty. Who would dare to intervene?"

The few of them fell silent. Reinforcements from Sunset City were out of the question. Their only hope lay with disciples performing tasks nearby. Yet, facing such a massive swarm of Beast Kings, those disciples would barely have time to hide; anyone who dared to intervene would surely be seeking their own death!

Just then, the Beast Kings behind them suddenly became agitated. An astonishing burst of spiritual energy erupted not far away. The three of them trembled simultaneously.

Backup? How was that possible?