Bai Qi's confidence about their targets drinking spirit-tier wine and getting drunk had been correct. After Bai Ze killed the sole guard, and the nine of them entered the village, they had not been unimpeded by anyone until they reached almost the center of the small town.

"It seems I had been worried for nothing, huh?" Bai Qi murmured as he scanned all the 16 cultivators he could sense. Granted, his companions were 4th level Saint Beasts and so only equivalent to a 3rd level Warrior King at max, but...

"She's wounded, and her aura shows a strength no higher than a 3rd level Warrior King." Heise Zhao commented the obvious.

"Mmm. It should be that Ma Su, run her out of here, and capture her alive." Bai Qi's nodded first to Heise Zhao and then to Kass Shaa'r.

"Understood." Both responded almost in unison, and their auras began expanding, forcefully crashing against the location of Ma Su.

"As for you four, I trust that there is no problem in leaving you that side?" Bai Qi pointed towards the south, where his senses caught on six presences, all in different levels of the Warrior Lord realm.

"Are you sure you will be enough to deal with the rest?" Zhua asked as she examined the remaining nine presences and found two 1st level Warrior Lords.

"Even alone I would be, but I am not, right?" Bai Qi shrugged before adding, "And while that six are alone, the nine here have life signs around them, and I would prefer the mortals to avoid seeing you."

In truth, he was slightly surprised by Fan Jia's and Ye Su's decision to join, especially as they knew that it could be far more dangerous.

Bai Qi had thought about the peak Sage decision, and while it could look like an unethical one, he considered it not a worse path than any other.

Indeed, what kind of moral code could be so convoluted as making one join a bandit group and then leave it to fight to save some enslaved people?

"Who is it?! Who is so daring as to attack me?!" A shriek, followed by a weak 4th level Warrior King aura, exploded from inside the central building of the town.

"GO!" Ignoring the shriek and the other alarmed shouts, Bai Qi commanded, and the six Beastmen darted off.

The six had released their auras and so, practically, froze the weaker cultivators on Bai Qi's side.

Bai Qi grinned while turning to face the two ex-bandits, "Take care of the weaklings while they can not act. Rescue and gather everyone, don't allow the bastards to take hostages."

"Yes! As you command!" Ye Su almost saluted as she started towards the nearest source she could sense, a 5th level Sage.

"Mmm." Fan Jia mumbled something before running towards a house where two presences could be felt, both being peak Sages.

"Not a bad selection." Bai Qi murmured, although it was hard to understand who of the two he referred to, and then vaulted forward, extending his arms to the sides while covering them with the 'Ghostflame' claws.

He planned to deal with the Warrior Lords first, especially as they would be the first ones to regain mobility.

___________________________________________________________________

Heise Zhao and Kass Shaa'r decided to act as if this was a simple hunt, and while the former would assume the role of the hunter, the man-lizard took the hound one.

*CRASH*

Ma Su had only started to move, seemingly having been in meditation, and Kass Shaa'r had already leaped into the air, clad himself in his aura, and then crashed against the building.

*Swoosh*

As the building turned into a pile of rubble, at the last moment, a figure escaped it by crashing through one of the walls and flying out.

"Who the fuck is it?! Do you know who I am?!" Pushing the dust and small pieces of debris that flew towards her with aura, Ma Su shrieked. All while trying to understand who was so daring, and what reason they had, to attack her, one of the leaders of the [Sha Zhu Company].

She intended to shout something else but then paled with her mouth hung open.

She had been meditating indeed, trying to heal from a wound that she received a few weeks ago. The process wasn't going well, and no medicine had helped her close the permanently bleeding rip on her back.

Nothing more than a bite that Ma Su received from a large-eyed, strange-looking Beastman. Not only did it prove to be impossible to heal, but it actually had lowered Ma Su's combat prowess, something that had made the boss leave her here, in place of taking her along to what probably would be their most lucrative contract.

During her meditation, Ma Su had recalled her senses, so she only felt the strength of the auras that crashed against hers. Two auras similar to her current maximum were already bad news, but now, as she scanned the town, she found that there were nine auras in total. Four of which were on her level and two only slightly short of it.

But that wasn't the biggest shock to her, but the fact that the six auras did not come from cultivators but Saint Beasts.

And as she saw the figure that walked out of the rubble, her body started shaking. And her already pale countenance turned even paler.

The green-scaled lizard head turned up as it hissed, "Greetingss from the Ssteel Fang."

Sensing the beastman's intention to attack, only a single thought crossed Ma Su's mind. Still, if she started to fly away, there was no guarantee that they would not follow after her, so she had to at least stop them from doing so.

Not only her expanded senses, but even her bare ears were enough to understand that her men were already fighting, and even if they were not, they would shortly start to. Thus, Ma Su had to force the nearest one back, or she could not even think about escaping.

"I am unsure what you mean. I have never been to your region. Can this all be a misunderstanding? If it is, then let me allow to welcome you, and let's forget about it entirely." Ma Su forced herself to smile and said with the most welcoming tone she could, adding a slight note of indignancy.

"Hssss, and the poissonouss saliva that I ssmell from your body just fell on you from the sssky." Kass Shaa'r wasn't stressed or nervous at all, and his hissing actually came from him containing laughter.

"No, this is a wound inflicted to me by a local cultivator! Look, we can even go ask him!" Ma Su continued to act as if all this was unrelated to her, but in truth, she was gaining time to prepare an attack. Her sleeves hid several poisonous needles, and that poison was deathly for any being with a core. This concealed weapon was the one that saved her life in the [Steel Fang] region. And now, it would do so again!

As if motioning towards that local cultivator's location, Ma Su waved her sleeves, and six silver needles flew out.

*Swoosh* *Swoosh*

"Hsahahaha!" Unable to contain himself for longer, Kass Shaa'r laughed. And without any preparation, suddenly took the air.

Beastmen from non-flying races were quite limited in skywalk and soaring in the skies indeed. It came from two things, that their body balance differed from cultivators and that Beastmen fought and hunted on the ground, with their opponents and prey being Beasts as well.

Usually, this would be so, at least until a Beastman core reached the latter levels, and as equivalents to Warrior Emperors, they could fly with a simple thought.

Kass Shaa'r may have been ignorant about the enormous disadvantage this posed in a fight against an equal strength cultivator, but Bai Qi wasn't. And part of what Bai Qi had made Kass Shaa'r practice back at the [Seven Islands Plane] had been how to skywalk correctly.

Kass Shaa'r first jump had propelled him a dozen feet above the ground, and from there, with easy and controlled steps, he quickly gained altitude, rising to the same height of fifty feet that Ma Su maintained. Her aura controlled the needles, and so, while she was shocked, again, she did send them after him.

*Step* *Swoosh* *Step* *Swoosh*

But Kass Shaa'r only made a small step to avoid their attack from behind, and when they circled around, made another one, avoiding them again.

Ma Su's plan of poisoning or at least distracting the Beastman failed, and now, she could either try to outrun him or fight him in the hopes that the others would not finish before she did.

But she did not even manage to decide what to do, the man-lizard launching against her with claws extended.

"Screw you damn lizard!" Ma Su's shriek was heard probably by the entire town, and she summoned her weapon. It was a bizarre one-handed blade that resembled a small paddle made of green jade and with sharpened edges, but it gave the unmistaken feeling of a Spirit weapon and one of a high-tier as well.

Using her weapon, Ma Su released a slash infused with her aura. But it did not stop Kass Shaa'r from approaching, and as the attack grew close, he slashed with his claws in turn.

*Shatter*

Taught by Bai Qi to use an exact amount of aura to break such attacks in place of deflecting or stopping them, thus preventing the opponent from infusing more, Kass Shaa'r shattered the slash.

*Swoosh*

And he instantly propelled himself forward in an attempt to reach Ma Su.

"Jades of the Sky, Collapse!" Aware that she could hardly best a Beastman in close combat, Ma Su resorted to a skill to stop the beastman while quickly flying in retreat.

Small jade-like orbs appeared around here, shining as if they were stars, and on a command that followed almost instantly, flew towards Kass Shaa'r.

Beastmen could not use Martial Skills or Techniques as cultivators did, and their only means were physical combat or their innate abilities. Still, even though they could not make a combat circulation to activate a skill, it did not mean they could not find a way to imitate one.

Kass Shaa'r, with Bai Qi's assistance, had previously attempted to do so, but his cultivation before had not been enough for what he had imagined. But now, having advanced three levels and grown entirely accustomed to both his power and body, Kass Shaa'r could do it.

Kass Shaa'r made his aura quickly gather close to him, and while he hissed, "Ssshatter!" made it explode outwards, blocking the advance of the jade-stars and then forcing them back.

Not intending to give any opening to the woman to attack him again, Kass Shaa'r infused qi dangerously close to his limit and practically shot towards her.

A cultivator had many means of defense, and Kass Shaa'r was aware that a similar-level opponent would be not defeated by a single attack, but he had no need to do so either. His only task was to make her fall on the ground, and so, feigning an aura slash with his claws and making Ma Su surround herself with a defensive skill, he in place went above her and then hit her orb-like defense with his tail.

*Thump*

By using close to a third of his released aura, the impact was enough to send Ma Su falling on the ground.

She wasn't harmed, with her defensive skill only showing a few cracks, which made her think she was safe.

Regretfully, for her, she understood why the Beastman had not flown after her only as she crashed.

***

While Heise Zhao did not like to use deceit for combat, it was not as he would not do so. Using the moment that Kass Shaa'r grabbed all of the attention of their target, he had used a concealment talisman from their Desert spoils and started to follow the battle from the ground.

The man-lynx could only marvel at the amazing, at least for a Beastman, feats that the man-lizard showed. He was flying as it was nothing, used his aura in a skill-like manner, and the most impressive one - shattered an aura skill with such precision.

Occupied with this thought, Heise Zhao almost missed the moment that was the signal for him to act. But he did not, as otherwise, how could he have become the best hunter of the entire pack?

As the target came crashing against the ground, Heise Zhao flared his aura and lunged forward, his spear pointing in front of him. He used less than a breath to reach Ma Su, and he used it to infuse all the aura he could into the spear's point.

She also noticed the sudden attack, as how would she not with such an aura flare, but having activated a defensive skill, the only thing she could do was either infuse more into it or dispel it and use other means.

She chose the former option, and her greenish barrier shone brightly as her aura began gathering into it.

*Pierce* *Shatter* *Pierce* *Splatter*

Barrier-like defensive methods were always countered by piercing attacks. And while if the difference in strength was a significant one, Ma Su would block the spear anyway, it wasn't so right now. Thus, Heise Zhao's spear pierced the barrier, shattered it, then continued through the aura and qi cover she managed to summon, and in the end, the spearpoint poked out of her shoulder.

"Gah." She groaned, but before she could do anything else, she felt how both Beastmen's aura intermixed and pressured her, limiting her inner circulation. Not enough to suppress her, but enough to slow her down and for the cat-like one in front to land a heavy punch on her torso before she managed to defend herself.

*Blergh*

She vomited blood as she fell to the ground. The punch had landed on her unprotected body, and it was enough to make a mess of her insides.

And before Ma Su recovered enough to stand up or otherwise act, she found two different clawed feet on her back.

"You better not move, or we will cripple you." A growl entered her ears, and she could only curse inwardly.

***

"My lynx-brother Heise, you think she understood? Or she is planning something?" The lizard asked with a weird intonation in his voice a couple of minutes after the battle. Although, Ma Su had no idea why she considered the tone strange.

"Humans are devious, well, most of them, so probably the latter." The lynx answered, slightly surprised by the question.

"Hss, you are right. So, I think we just need to do..." Ma Su cowered inwardly, expecting anything to happen as she sensed that the lizardman crouched. *Click* "...this!"

"DAMN YOU!!!!!" She crazily shrieked as she felt how her cultivation disappeared almost instantly.

*Blergh*

And then, even though the two claws left her back began writing in pain and vomited blood again.

"I am amazed at how Bai Qi managed to improve the collar to work on someone of her cultivation." Heise Zhao half-whistled, feeling that such a thing served the woman right.

"He does not need to sleep or eat, so he has more free time?" Kass Shaa'r shrugged, although the same question as always crossed his mind,

___________________________________________________________________

At the same time as Kass Shaa'r and Heise Zhao were hunting, the other four Beastmen also had acted.

***

Bai Ze and Bai Rui did not need to fight the three Warrior Lords that they went after, but recalling how Bai Qi usually performed, they decided to offer them a chance.

A slightly evil thought, but which perfectly applied to the situation.

Bai Rui chose not to participate as to even the odds. And so, it had been Bai Ze alone to allow the three advanced Warrior Lords to attack her. Regretfully, what could an average, half-drunk, trio of bandits do to a descendant of the [White Tiger]?

In the span of ten breaths, they did not manage to touch a single of her hairs. And that was even without Bai Ze using anything but her physical speed. One of them tried to run as soon as he understood they would be killed and turned out to be the first to fall, to a small wind blade she released by waving one of her claws. The other two did not even run, simply falling on the ground while kowtowing and asking for mercy.

"Blame your group for attacking the Steel Fang. And thank that we do not prey on the families of the offenders as the human powers do." Bai Rui stated, and Bai Ze then killed both pleading cultivators.

***

Gi La had received only one target, a peak Warrior Lord cultivator. And while she did not like following Bai Qi's orders all the time, she did consider a task of Huo Laohu something she must complete with any means. And different from the others, she felt no need to act in any way except the most effective one.

Thus, as soon as she was in range, she had used half of her aura to lunge forward and land sixteen slashes with her claws in the span of a single breath.

Her opponent managed to barely defend by using his twin hook swords, but then Gi La followed with a full-strength tail swipe that sent him sliding back. Then, she bit at his neck when he lost concentration for a moment to regain balance.

*Ptui*

She spat out a piece of gore. And without saying anything moved away towards the place she felt Kass Shaa'r was.

***

Zhua had selected a pair of Warrior Lords located at the farthest part of the town. They had reacted to the presence of the Beastmen auras, not to enter combat, but actually to start running away. And they did so in different directions.

Thus, she had to spend a little more effort than she expected to reach her targets.

A skinny and short man tried to poke her with his spear as she overtook him but was quickly dealt with by Zhua's spear, that she had plunged into him using her tail while parrying his spear with her claw.

"Grr! Weakling done. Now to the main prey." She derisively growled at the 4th level Warrior Lord that dared to think he could win against her and rushed after the other one, an 8th level of the same Realm...