northernbook Chapter 72 Chopping Wood and Starting a Fire
Chapter 72 Chopping Wood and Starting a Fire
"Instructor Xueyan, won't cutting down tree branches anger this giant tree?"
"For it, it was no different than being touched." This pine tree was so big, really so big. The branches that were cut down to make torches didn't even amount to the amount that it grew in just a few minutes.
She rushed to the trunk of the pine tree, where a huge trunk, as thick as dozens of people could hug, stood there. Just seeing it made people uneasy. Compared to the canopy that blocked out the sky, people's first reaction upon seeing the trunk was to silently pray that it would hold up and not let "the whole sky" fall down.
At this moment, Xueyan's expression finally turned serious. She stopped in front of the tree trunk, and everyone else stopped as well.
"Form battle formation."
Everyone looked bewildered; they hadn't practiced combat formations before.
Matt was the first to react, quickly giving orders: "We'll hold the left flank, second team, you hold the right flank, and the rear will be handled by the third team, how about that?"
The second captain reacted a beat too slow, regretting in his heart how he had let Matt seize command authority, but he had no choice but to agree.
As for the bell ringing...
"Crack! Crack!"
Even after two hard slaps, Yue Kaishan remained sound asleep, showing no signs of waking up.
Left with no other choice, Chen Dahai had to continue suffering. Not only was the range of the crossbow's movement greatly reduced, but half of Chen Dahai's vision was also blocked by Yue Kaishan's large head.
"Captain Cuihong, push them back a bit." Xuanjing pulled out a row of talismans from his pocket, holding them in his hand like he was playing cards, ready to throw them at any moment.
“Let’s agree on a code. When you shout ‘Three against three,’ I’ll throw out two explosive talismans. When you shout ‘Three against three,’ I’ll throw out four. ‘Four against four’ means two smoke talismans, and ‘Five against five’ means a paper defense talisman….”
Zhong Ming was stunned by these names. "Isn't this code unnecessary? Can squirrels understand human speech?"
"I hope Instructor Xueyan doesn't want us to fight with pine trees."
No sooner had she spoken than Xueyan disappeared into a hole in the trunk of a pine tree. A terrifying aura erupted from her, an aura far beyond that of a Qi Refining stage cultivator. Its oppressive power sent shivers down everyone's spines, making it impossible to muster any desire to resist.
The entire pine tree shook violently, its needles colliding in the air like clashing weapons, taunting the enemy with fierce fighting spirit. The pine cones rattled and popped on the tree, a naked threat.
A violent earthquake seemed to tear this small crater apart, and whirlpools appeared in the small lake next to it, sucking all the lake water underground and then gushing out in several places around it.
This land has become a veritable swamp, with lake water clinging to the soft soil. Several huge cracks have silently appeared under the cover of dead pine needles, like simple leaves covering a burrowing trap.
All of this happened so suddenly that someone tried to run away, but Matt grabbed him.
"No one is leaving without further orders from the instructor! Hold your positions!"
Going it alone is suicidal. The instructor made it very clear that this is a tree demon at the peak of Qi Refining. We weaklings at the third to sixth level of Qi Refining have no choice but to stick together.
The oppressive aura gradually dissipated, and Instructor Xueyan's own aura began to rise, contending with the tree demon's aura.
If the oppressive feeling of the tree spirit was like a mountain looming over the hearts of the new recruits, then the snow goose was like the sharp wings of an eagle soaring through the sky, shattering the mountain into pieces.
Time passed slowly, and the two sides' momentum clashed back and forth, making the new recruits, whose skill levels were not high, extremely uncomfortable.
Zhong Ming's hands were filled with spiritual energy, which he could inject into his storage bag at any time to retrieve the mother and child swords. He bent his legs slightly, assuming a posture for rapid movement.
His eyes were fixed on the hole in the pine trunk, hoping that Instructor Xueyan would appear and tell them with a relaxed expression that everything was resolved.
She appeared.
It wasn't as pleasant as everyone imagined.
She retreated step by step, her steps heavy and slow, her back leaving the tree hole first, one step after another, quite cautiously.
Once she had completely exited the tree hole, she immediately said, "Everyone, launch an attack with all your might, and do not retreat an inch."
As soon as he finished speaking, countless squirrels jumped down from the trees, letting out screams that no one had ever heard before.
Xueyan snorted coldly, "I never said Xueyan was my name, that's my Taoist name."
With arms outstretched, countless ice feathers appeared before him, thin, sharp, and crystal clear.
"Hurry!" With a command, the cold and ruthless magic transformed into a tornado carrying a blizzard, with large amounts of ice crystals and snow feathers swirling around the group, slicing any enemy who dared to attack into thin slices of flesh.
The cold and darkness are a perfect combination; before the last warmth of the setting sun has dissipated, the blizzard mercilessly swallows it all up.
However, tornadoes have one unique characteristic: there is no wind in the eye of the storm. Pine cones hanging from the pine branches directly above the crowd suddenly fell, plummeting like meteorites and exploding violently upon impact with the ground.
Countless splinters of wood fly, easily cutting the frail human body.
"Do it!"
At Matt's command, the array cultivators quickly set up a defensive formation, creating a thin barrier of light for the new recruits.
"Those without suitable attack methods, come here and channel your spiritual energy!"
A formation plate was locked on the ground. When one's cultivation level is not high, wealthy formation cultivators often use formation plates as a medium to improve the efficiency and strength of formations.
Instructor Xueyan roared, "I'm telling you to attack! Attack!"
Zhong Ming shouted, "Three bombs! Blow them away!"
Several talismans were thrown out, and a violent explosion immediately covered the area above them. Chen Dahai fired several explosive arrows, working with his comrades to tear apart the darkness above.
The other cultivators hesitated for a moment. It wasn't that they didn't want to help, but rather that they didn't know how. Dealing with the squirrel would be simple—just kill it. But these were trees that blotted out the sky. What were they going to do? Was an attack that consumed a lot of spiritual energy just hitting the branches? Destroy trees that were less than one ten-thousandth the size of the tree demon?
Xueyan had no intention of explaining; orders from officers didn't need explanation. But considering these were all new recruits, she could only say, "The tree spirit believes an invincible enemy has arrived, but it doesn't believe I can save it. It thinks I'm not qualified enough. Let's teach it a lesson and let it know that destroying it is as easy as turning our hands!"
Upon hearing this, everyone no longer doubted that the swordsman had drawn his sword and was traversing the sky, drawing graceful arcs as he sliced countless pine trees into pieces.
The fire cultivators of the second team went all out, and flames filled the sky. The pine tree spirit had a lot of resin in its body, which ignited when it came into contact with the fire, and the fire immediately spread.
These two can be referred to as the "firewood chopping and fire-making" duo.