Chapter 308: A Frightening Massacre
Jiang Chen took a few steps back and hid his body within a crack of a random rock outcropping.
The scene he’d just witnessed cooled his head.
Based on his visual estimation, the strength of the fire ravens just now were the equivalent of the human first level spirit realm. If it was just the two of them, then they weren’t much of a threat.
However, according to Jiang Chen’s speculation, if this wondrous flower brimming with spirit power was indeed the companion of another spirit creature, then it wouldn’t just be two fire ravens guarding it.
He was basically certain that the two fire ravens were just the small fry.
For two fire ravens equivalent to the first level spirit realm to only be pawns, then most likely, an incredibly frightening level of existence was hidden within this mountain face.
“It looks like I can only use wits instead of brute force. I’ve also got to investigate how many more fire ravens are hidden within the mountain face.”
As a stranger in a strange place, although Jiang Chen had his sights set on the flower, he didn’t give in to his impulses.
If there was a nest of fire ravens within the mountain face, with their strength and agility, they were a group that even Jiang Chen was unwilling to irritate.
So he decided to observe for a moment and wait for the right moment.
The fact that the first two mountain climbers had been burned to death didn’t dampen any of the candidates’ fervor. After a few more hours, a batch of practitioners swung into view.
It looked like they’d come prepared.
“Hmm? Coming in a group? Now this is strange.” Jiang Chen was rather surprised to see a group of more than ten together.
He had seen too much slaughter and battle along the way.
These fellows could actually set aside their differences and form a group. It seemed that no enemy was forever, only profits were eternal!
Jiang Chen decided to conceal himself. Since they had come in a group, then let them try their luck first. Whether they could or not, at least Jiang Chen could get a better handle on the situation.
As the old saying went, the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
If this group of people somehow succeeded in taking that flower, then Jiang Chen didn’t mind being the oriole and taking it from them instead.
If they failed, then Jiang Chen would at least know roughly how many fire ravens were hidden within the mountain face.
They would’ve accomplished something if they could flush out the trump cards of the fire raven army.
This group of people had obviously absorbed the lessons of before. They set up camp for a long while beneath the mountain face and discussed their plans, in no hurry to make a move.
Below the mountain face was a deep mountain valley below, with there was several hundred meters between the deep valley and the wondrous flower.
Jiang Chen utilized Ear of the Zephyr in an attempt to hear what they were discussing.
The clouds within the mountain valley could block vision and affect his God’s Eye, but there were no obstacles within these vast plains for his Ear of the Zephyr, so he could actually make out some words.
They were indeed discussing how to pick the flower.
One of them said, “We must first pick this flower and then fight over it according to how we discussed before. Now, let’s draw straws to make this fair.”
“Then let’s draw straws. Four of us will climb and the others will cover them, fighting the fire ravens.”
Although a distance of several hundred meters was quite large, it was still no problem to the practitioners unless it was a completely vertical climb with no footholds.
Even so, when one reached the spirit realm, one would be able to climb as long as there was the slightest area to push off from. One would be more limber than a monkey.
What they feared were the attacks from the fire ravens.
If it hadn’t been for the fire raven ambush, the two climbers from earlier still would’ve been able to land safely as long as they could grasp onto the slightest area and slid down the mountain face.
Therefore, as long as they had cover, those climbing up wouldn’t face much danger.
Even though this was the case, there weren’t that many willing to take this risk.
After all, no matter how small the risk, it was still a risk. What if there was not just two fire ravens here, but a nest of them?
What if these so-called comrades felt they were outnumbered when they saw the true numbers of the ravens and retreated?
A hastily thrown together team in which everyone didn’t know the identities of the others naturally wouldn’t be that reliable. It was obvious to see that no one would lay their lives on the line for others.
Everyone was quite unwilling to take this risk, so they could only draw straws in the end.
The results were quickly revealed, with four practitioners chosen. They were all a bit unwilling, but had to toe the word of the agreement they’d agreed to earlier. If they didn’t, they would become everyone else’s enemy. They could only drag their feet and start making their preparations.
The others all breathed a long sigh of relief when they weren’t chosen and rushed the four onwards.
When the rushing got slightly out of hand, one of the four said, “Stop rushing us. I’ll speak frankly before we go up. All of you must swear that even if there are too many fire ravens later, you must cover us until we land before fleeing. Otherwise, if you flee first and leave the four of us, we’ll be dead without a doubt.”
His words reminded the other three, who all nodded in agreement.
“Right, these words are spoken truly. All of you must swear not to get cold feet, or we’re not going up to be cannon fodder.”
“Makes sense, swear! You must swear to the heavens and earth, or there is no power behind the oath and you can leave us behind at any time. What use is a verbal agreement?”
It was normal that no one trusted anyone else in a newly formed team.
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Although the others weren’t happy about it, in order to make the four climb up, they all had to swear oaths that they wouldn’t leave their companions behind in the face of any danger. They would cover the four until they landed safely on the ground and then flee.
If they broke their word, they would be condemned by the heavens.
In the world of martial dao, the oaths to heaven and earth were the most secure.
It was said that whilst one may deceive the human heart, it was impossible to do so to the heavenly law. Whoever did so and went against their oath would have an exceedingly gruesome downfall.
Seeing that their companions had all taken oaths, the four could no longer find any excuses to delay.
They started climbing carefully, holding a weapon in one hand and climbing equipment in the other. In actuality, with their strength, they didn’t need any climbing tools at all.
The climbing equipment was simply there as additional insurance. If the fire ravens attacked, these tools could be leveraged to stabilize their bodies in midair, freeing up their hands and feet to handle the fire raven attacks. They wouldn’t be killed without trying to defend themselves.
Jiang Chen appraised them from a distance. There were more than a dozen people in this group and they were going about their activities with great fanfare. They all also looked to be first level spirit realm.
It looked like they were outer disciples of the four sects.
However, no one could make out anyone else behind the masks. The most incredible thing was that the masks could also conceal everyone’s voices, so everyone spoke with the same voice.
Of course, Jiang Chen suspected that even through the masks, uniforms, and change in voices, disciples of the same sect could still communicate through previously agreed upon signals.
Thus, if there were disciples from the same sect in this group, they’d still hold the advantage.
Even though this was a loud and noisy group, seeming to have strength in numbers, Jiang Chen still had a hunch that this group would find it difficult to succeed.
He looked at the four people who’d kept climbing. They’d already reached two thirds of the way to the flower.
They’d be able to close in on the wondrous flower burning with holy fire if they climbed a little bit more.
At this moment —
Chirp, chirp, chirp.
Countless ear piercing cries sounded.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Fiery streaks shot out from the mountain face in a neverending stream .
One, two, three… ten… hundreds… thousands.
Thousands of fire ravens had shot out in almost an instant, covering the skies above the mountain face and forming red clouds, transforming the sky into a flaming red ocean.
Jiang Chen wasn’t unfamiliar with this scene at all.
When he’d commanded the Swordbird Army above the Second Crossing in the Eastern Kingdom, its scale had been thousands, tens of thousands greater than this.
But he’d been the master, the ruler of the Swordbirds then.
And now, he was a bystander who could just as easily become the victim.
These two feelings were absolutely disparate.
The sharp bird cries broke through the air. The ear piercing sound waves created by the thousands of fire ravens cawing at once formed a massive force field.
The sharp sound waves were shapeless blades as they sped towards the candidates.
The candidates were also obviously scared out of their minds. They didn’t even have time to raise their weapons before the randomly intersecting bird cries cut them into fragments of flesh and blood.
The four on the mountain face didn’t escape either. The tumultuous sound waves formed an ocean, locking down the entire vicinity of the area.
This scene was as if the candidates had been thrown into an enormous blender in midair. The density of the attacks rendered them completely helpless.
Jiang Chen’s scalp tingled with numbness from this sight.
Even a sky spirit realm practitioner would have to avoid such concentrated attacks, much less those of the small spirit realm.
One would easily die with regret if they weren’t careful.
Perhaps only the origin realm old monsters could make use of their incredible origin realm aura to make mincemeat out of the fire ravens.
Otherwise, even at the peak of the spirit realm, one would likely still be unable to withstand this sound wave force field.
“Tsk tsk, to think that the fire ravens would have such a strong force field attack apart from fire. They’re a meat blender! It was a good thing that I wasn’t impulsive, or I would’ve suffered as well for my haste.”
Jiang Chen felt all his hairs stand on end as he suppressed the impulsive feeling in his heart.
He observed for a bit and noticed that even through the fire ravens were strong, their king had yet to appear.
This meant that an even stronger ruler of these fire ravens had yet to reveal himself.
A king who could control such a large flock was destined to be different.
Just as he was observing, Jiang Chen felt a frisson of warning as the fire raven army then flapped their wings in unison. Each seemed to have been trained as they turned their heads towards the mountain face, continuously nodding their heads as if paying their respects.
They were as reverential and in awe as if they were welcoming their king!