FIGHT BACK, DON'T GIVE UP!

Ming Ren's command echoed into their souls, raising morale, and the wounded cultivators found the will to fight again. Mustering the last of their forces, most of them answered the call. The patriarch and second elder also snapped out of their daze and focused on fighting the Salamander. Knowing when the attacks would come gave them an overwhelming advantage.

'We need to finish this ape…' Ming Ren's body ached and his spiritual energy almost depleted. Activating his powerful physique, even for short bursts, took its toll. He also had to pay attention to the whole battlefield and command through spiritual sense, which put a lot of strain on his mind and soul.

The green armored ape king went completely crazy, swinging the spine without aim, creating a destructive spiral of madness. Dust and shattered wood flew everywhere, yet Lin Dong was fearless. He coated his body with wood Qi and Lin Qiang's earth Qi layer, protected his internal organs and meridians with wood Qi, and charged the beast. The spine hit his sides, but he stood ground, growling in pain, and grabbing the weapon firmly.

"True Element of Wood!" Lin Huangfu and the second elder gasped.

The scaled greenbeast summon helped Lin Dong hold down the weapon. Lin Qiang, the saber-toothed cat, and flood mantis struck at the ape's hand, while Ming Ren jumped and pierced its left eye. The ape let go of the weapon growling in pain.

Ming Ren channeled the formation's power into Lin Dong, who grabbed the spine and launched a flurry of blows, each one with tremendous strength. The powerless ape king was battered to death under its might. They routed the remaining spirit beasts with ease, none of them could resist Lin Dong's strikes. With the king dead, the followers scattered. The other cultivators from the Forest Clan stared in awe, envy, and relief.

"It suits you!" Ming Ren told Lin Dong before sitting to recover using pills. He threw him and Lin Qiang some, and they also sat down.

Lin Dong had the worst wounds and all of them spent a lot of spiritual energy. He looked at the dead ape king, then at the weapon in his hands, pride filling his soul. The patriarch and second elder killed the salamander while taking no damage. Lin Huangfu stared at Ming Ren in admiration, unable to say anything for some time.

"East elder, you even found a true element?" The second elder couldn't believe it. Someone stuck at the Body Tempering Realm for many years broke through and even found a precious true element?

"I have been fortunate!" Lin Dong smiled. He didn't draw attention to Lin Qiang as it would be dangerous to leak news regarding such talent. She was also much better at hiding her true element Qi activation.

"Our Forest Clan is the most fortunate one!" The patriarch envied Lin Dong but felt happy for the clan, as it finally had a true element cultivator. Lin Qiang even mastered a rare energy, adding to the joy.

"Father!" Little Fu, Lin Yin, and Lin Shu reached them, staring wide at the destruction around.

"Fu'er!" Lin Huangfu worries disappeared, "Thank the Heavens you are well!"

"Hahahaha, of course, Father! with me around, how could we not be fine?" Little Fu cried scared while running here, but as soon as everything was fine his shamelessness acted up again.

Ming Ren, Lin Qiang, Lin Dong, Lin Shu, Lin Yi, second elder, and the others: "?????"

"Hahaha, as expected of my son!" A doting father unable to see the truth from lie.

"East elder, what happened to you? I can't believe my eyes!" Another cultivator asked directly. Only Lin Dong and Lin Qiang cultivation rose, seeing as the others were still at the Body Tempering Realm.

"There's no time to explain, we need to leave. This isn't over," Lin Dong warned them.

"Do you know something?" Lin Huangfu asked.

"Everything is a trap, someone wanted to lure the clans here. Those powerful spirit beasts are tamed!"

"What?! How is that possible? Taming such powerful beasts, who in the world could do that?" The second elder shouted, "Aren't you mistaken, east elder? frenzied beasts are common, what would they want by luring us here?"

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"Not at all, I am sure! We don't know what their goal is but staying here is too dangerous," Lin Dong continued, "We must leave!"

The other cultivators nodded as they couldn't wait to get out of that mess.

"If what you are saying is the truth, then the other groups are in danger," Lin Huangfu said, "We can't leave them behind."

"The spirit beasts are swarming the northeast, almost all of them are converging there," Ming Ren chimed in.

"The northeast? How do you know that, young man? Who might you be?" The second elder frowned.

"We saw it with Little Red!" Lin Qiang acted quickly.

"That's where the City Lord's and White Clan's forces are," Lin Huangfu remembered.

'White Clan?' The White Clan was Bai Xun's home. They had no direct hand in the demise of the Bright Clan, so Ming Ren bore no ill feelings towards them.

"Why should we help them? Snort, did they ever help us? Those bigger clans only care about themselves!" Little Fu shouted. He bore a grudge against bigger clans ever since they took his mother.

"It's not that simple, Little Fu. Those clans are a lot stronger than us, what would happen if we survived while they died?" Lin Huangfu asked.

"That has nothing to do with us! Who would expect us to help them, anyway!"

The second elder shook the head, "If we ran instead of helping, the other clans and City Lord of Bluecloud city could turn against us!"

"What? Why? It's not our fault!"

"Does it matter? All they need is an excuse to tear us apart. Do you think we can survive if Bluecloud's City Lord and the White Clan put their sights on our clan? Even the City Lord of Redwater Town would turn tail and run," Lin Huangfu explained. Ming Ren agreed with their thoughts, they might even say the Forest Clan was behind the attack to seize their a.s.sets.

"We will aid them, even if this is truly a trap. We have no choice. Second elder, you take east elder and the wounded and leave. I will take some of the others with me."

"Father, no!!!" Little Fu cried.

"I refuse!" The second elder stood his ground, "Let east elder go. The other clans will find fault if I'm not there."

Lin Dong glanced at Ming Ren. The youth had a bad feeling. His body needed rest and low-quality pills couldn't replenish it completely but the number of spirit beasts converging there made it likely to be the true target. It would be dangerous to go but if the Forest Clan suffered a big setback, his efforts would also be lost. Besides, Lin Dong would never let the patriarch go alone, and Lin Qiang would likely refuse to. Their strengths increased but without Ming Ren it would be impossible to fight beasts stronger than the ape king.

'It seems I won't be able to rest,' he looked back at Lin Dong, nodding. Lin Dong clasped his hands and bowed to the youth, imprinting in his mind yet another debt of grat.i.tude.

"Patriarch, together we'll have a better chance. Little Fu and the others will go back," Lin Dong said. Lin Qiang stood behind him looking ready to go. Lin Huangfu hesitated. Before coming to the Vagrant Woods, he ranked himself as the most important member for the future of the Forest Clan. Everything changed after seeing Lin Dong and Lin Qiang.

He guessed the earth Qi in the formation belonged to Lin Qiang even if they said nothing. The youth was only at the Body Tempering Realm, and it would be unthinkable for Lin Dong to possess two elements. Rare energy and a true element? Those two would become the backbone of the clan now, could he risk losing them here? And yet their faces showed it all. They wouldn't back down, no matter what.

"Fine! But if something goes wrong, the priority is to save yourselves," Lin Huangfu said while looking at Lin Dong and Lin Qiang. Little Fu protested and refused to leave but the others convinced him to go. Ming Ren harvested the spirit beast cores without complaints, as they understood the mysterious youth played a big part in the battle. Lin Huangfu and the second elder even thought he was the offspring of some powerful clan but as they were reluctant to share his background, they didn't insist.

"You're coming too?" The patriarch asked Ming Ren.

The youth nodded, "I will see it to the end."

Lin Huangfu had many questions but knew he would have no answers right now. As long as they received instructions their battle prowess increased tremendously, so he felt much safer with the mysterious youth around.

"Let's go!" Without wasting time, Lin Huangfu led the second elder, Ming Ren, Lin Dong, Lin Qiang, and a dozen of the Forest Clan cultivators to rescue the other clans.

*

In a hidden cave away from the Vagrant Woods.

A group of six masked dark-robed figures sat in cultivation. One opened his eyes and frowned behind the mask.

"Ape king, dead," he said without emotions, "Lioness died a while ago."

"What's going on? There shouldn't be anyone capable of killing the ape," another figure said.

"I don't know, you know I can't look through their eyes from this distance. I only know it's dead."

"..." The leader pondered silently. Was there a Spirit Gate cultivator in the forest? Unlikely, there shouldn't be anything of value to someone at that realm on the outskirts.

"…Shouldn't we interfere?" A soft feminine voice echoed.

"No, we will stick to the plan. The last beast is difficult to deal with," The leader said.

"But the young lord's plan…"

"Is exactly why we will not interfere! This is a small step to his plan, and you want to risk exposure to kill a few more cultivators? No matter what, we will accomplish our mission. For our lord!"

"For our lord!" The rest of them chanted in unison.