Ch. 249 - Hidden Threat Behind The Mantis

As Bai Zhuo finished speaking, everyone suddenly realized,

among the people trapped inside the barrier, none of the core disciples from the Chili Sub-Tribe were present.

All of them, including Chi Yi, had disappeared.

“So, you’ve figured it out.”

Just then, from outside the barrier, Chi Yi appeared with a group of people, calmly walking forward.

“High Chief Chi, what is the meaning of this?” Bai Zhuo demanded.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Chi Yi smiled. “I brought you here to make you fight the monsters, and each other.”

“You’re trying to destroy the rest of Nine Li Confederacy!” someone shouted in disbelief. “You’re the one behind the barrier?”

“Destroy the tribe? No, no,” Chi Yi chuckled. “Soon, the Chili Sub-Tribe will be the only tribe that matters.”

“You’d kill us all for that?” another person asked in shock.

“It probably has to do with the War God’s Nine Transformations,” Bai Zhuo said quietly after a moment of thought. “That whole ‘theft’, you staged it yourselves, didn’t you?”

“Chief Bai, I don’t always agree with your views, but I must admit, you’re sharper than the rest.” Chi Yi chuckled.

“Do you all remember the requirement to train in the War God’s Nine Transformations?”

“It requires immense amounts of vital energy and blood,” Bai Zhuo replied word by word.

“Exactly. Ever wonder why no one has ever fully mastered all nine transformations?” Chi Yi continued, looking around at the confused crowd. “They told you it was because your talents weren’t good enough, that’s a lie. The truth is, every single transformation requires a massive amount of spiritforce and blood to support it. And the deeper you go, the more it demands. Exponentially more. Now ask yourselves, where does all that energy come from? Killing monsters? That would take forever.”

“So you want to use us as fuel for your cultivation,” Yu Hong growled.

“Don’t act self-righteous. Are you going to tell me none of you ever killed another human while training the technique?” Chi Yi snapped.

“Maybe so,” Yu Hong said coldly, “but we at least showed restraint, we didn’t cross that line.”

“Restraint?” Chi Yi laughed and shook his head. “You’re wrong. When you’re dead, I’ll finally have the blood and spiritforce needed to master the complete Nine Transformations. I’ll become the first person in Nine Li Confederacy’s history to fully master the divine technique. Future generations will praise me as a peerless genius. You? You’ll be forgotten, just poor fools who died in a beast stampede.”

The crowd’s faces filled with rage and horror.

“Everyone, focus your strongest attacks on the barrier,” Bai Zhuo commanded. “Let’s try to break it together.”

Everyone nodded. A torrent of multicolored spiritforce surged through the air and exploded against the barrier,

But the barrier acted like a black hole, absorbing all the energy.

“It’s useless. Stop struggling,” Chi Yi said smugly. “This is a transference formation. Any energy you throw at it just gets redirected somewhere else. Unless your power exceeds the array’s maximum limit, you can’t break it.”

“There’s no need for this to be a slaughter,” said Feng Yu, leader of the Fengli Sub-Tribe, smiling thinly. “We’re all brothers and sisters of the Nine Li Confederacy. Why use our blood? There are plenty of cities and towns out there, we’ll bring you people from those instead.”

“That’s not a bad offer,” Chi Yi chuckled. “But it’s too late for talk. We’ve already burned the bridges, haven’t we?”

As he finished speaking, the people behind him threw dozens of sacks into the barrier.

When they landed, chunks of dark blue flesh spilled out, releasing a thick musk-like aroma.

“That’s musk-rat meat,” Bai Zhuo said, stunned.

Musk-rat meat had strong hallucinogenic effects, especially on monsters with sharp senses.

The Nine Li Confederacy often used it to trap beasts.

Now, with this meat scattered across the forest, the entire region became saturated with its scent.

“Everyone, run!” Bai Zhuo shouted in panic.

Before his words even finished, roars erupted from the forest.

Countless monstrous figures began charging forward.

The earth shook.

Ancient trees toppled.

These were beasts of every bizarre shape and form.

Three-headed snakes with bodies covered in spines, Eight-legged hyenas, Nine-nosed elephants…

Seeing humans in their territory, the monsters let out a thunderous chorus of howls,

Battle broke out within the barrier.

Outside, Chi Yi watched with satisfaction, enjoying the show.

A subordinate asked, “High Chief, shall we activate the formation?”

“Do it. When it’s done, check for survivors, leave no one alive.” Chi Yi said coldly.

The Chili Sub-Tribe members spread out and surrounded the formation.

They placed their hands on the barrier, pouring in crimson red spiritforce.

The barrier began to hum, the ground shook, and the surrounding world’s spiritforce began to gather at the center.

A pillar of divine light formed at the top of the array, expanding to cover the entire forest.

A terrifying energy surged within it.

“Chi Yi, what are you doing?!” someone inside shouted.

“Enjoy the gift I prepared for you all!” Chi Yi laughed madly.

The divine light descended like an executioner’s blade.

The space around them shattered.

Under that terrifying light, human or monster, it made no difference. They were annihilated before they could even react.

…

“Have you heard the saying, ‘The mantis stalks the cicada, but the oriole waits behind’?”

Just as Chi Yi was admiring his work, a calm voice rang out beside him.

He turned his head, a young man stepped out from behind a nearby tree.

“A survivor from the Baili Sub-Tribe?” Chi Yi asked, noting Xu Zimo’s white robes.

Xu Zimo smiled faintly.

From the moment he entered the forest, he knew something was off.

So he had retreated early and waited near the outskirts.

He had no interest in Chi Yi’s rewards, no reason to fight over a trap.

Now, as Imperial Meridian Realm power surged around him, Xu Zimo unsheathed Shadow Tyrant.

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