54: Chapter 54 The Hunted Beastmen

In the early morning, Guangming Village was shrouded in a thin layer of spiritual mist.

Wang Sheng woke up from Shen Xun'er's soft embrace and looked tenderly at the naked beauty beside him.

Last night's intimacy left a faint blush on Shen Xun'er's cheeks.

The sound of the Lingxi River was like an indefatigable musician playing the same tune, rushing past the east side of the village and carrying the emerald spiritual mist rising from the spiritual fields downstream.

The primary defensive wall cast long shadows in the morning light; the Savage Beast bones and Spirit Rune stones embedded in the wall shimmered faintly in the mist, like a circle of sleeping guardians.

Wang Sheng stood before the second-floor window of the Chiefs Tent; the chieftain's bedchamber had a primitive wooden window facing east, and pushing it open offered a panoramic view of the Lingxi River and the spiritual fields.

The morning breeze blew from the Lingxi River, carrying the crispness of the spiritual mist and the fragrance of the spiritual wheat, like a free gift from the savage world for every morning.

Morning cultivation was Wang Sheng's daily routine after waking up.

A Holy Light Warrior's cultivation did not require sitting cross-legged in meditation; his method involved circulating the Power of Holy Light through his meridians, and with each cycle, he could feel the Holy Light spiritual power within him becoming more refined than the last.

Since marrying Frost Mage Lin Shiyun and gaining the Frost Affinity talent, a trace of icy blue chill had been added to his spiritual power circulation; it was not that the Frost power had replaced the Power of Holy Light, but rather that the two had formed a wondrous symbiotic relationship in his meridians, like two rivers flowing side by side in the same channel, neither interfering with the other yet mutually enhancing.

The spiritual power of a Rank 4 Barbarian Warrior within his meridians was like a dormant golden beast, with every cycle accumulating strength to break through to the Rank 5 Barbarian Warrior stage.

Three days had passed since the end of the last Beast Tide; in those three days, he had balanced cultivation with handling the various affairs following the village's upgrade; although his cultivation had improved, he still had a ways to go before reaching the threshold of the Rank 5 Barbarian Warrior stage.

He withdrew his spiritual power and opened his eyes; his golden pupils looked like two pieces of amber ignited by the sun in the morning light, radiating the majesty and mystery unique to a Holy Light Warrior.

Zhao Linger's voice came from outside the window; the Spirit Sound Master's voice was like silver bells in the morning mist, crisp enough to pierce through half the street. "Big Sister Su Mengyao! Your spiritual wheat has grown its third crop! All three acres of spiritual fields have entered the maturity stage!"

"I know," Su Mengyao's voice, gentle as a spring breeze, drifted from the direction of the spiritual fields. "The first crop of spiritual wheat is being harvested today, and Big Sister Hua Jieyu said we can make spiritual wheat bread; it's even tastier than Savage Beast meat."

"Really? Then I…" Zhao Linger's words came to an abrupt halt.

It wasn't that she didn't want to speak anymore, but that her ears had suddenly pricked up; a Spirit Sound Master's hearing was the sharpest of all professions, capable of catching faint sounds from three miles away; at this moment, her ears were like a pair of furry radars, rotating rapidly in the mist, capturing abnormal sound waves coming from the direction of the Savage Beast Forest.

"Something's wrong!" Zhao Linger's voice instantly switched from cheerful to alert; the Spirit Sound Master's voice was now like a taut bowstring, every word carrying sharp penetration. "From the direction of the Savage Beast Forest, someone is running—no, not just one, at least seven or eight people—they are being chased by something."

Wang Sheng's figure moved behind the window, and he had already appeared at the entrance of the first-floor assembly hall.

A Holy Light Warrior's reaction speed was far superior to ordinary people; from Zhao Linger's alert to his body reacting, less than a single breath of time had passed.

The spiritual power of a Rank 4 Barbarian Warrior within him was like a lit flame; golden light faintly swirled beneath his skin, as if a dormant beast was ready to pounce at any moment.

"Direction?" he asked.

Zhao Linger closed her eyes; a Spirit Sound Master's perception was even sharper when eyes were closed, because shutting down vision pushed auditory sensitivity to the limit; her lips moved slightly, as if using the Spirit Sound Technique to analyze every detail of the sound waves. "Northwest direction, the perimeter of the Savage Beast Forest, about two miles away from us, approaching rapidly; there are at least twenty Savage Beasts in pursuit."

Her eyes snapped open, and the expression on her baby face shifted from alert to shock. "Wait! Those being chased, they aren't Human!"

"Beastkin." Liu Ruyan's voice came from the shadows of the defensive wall; the Phantom Assassin was always in a position no one noticed; her figure was like a flowing shadow in the spiritual mist, currently standing by the defensive wall's crenelations, her smoky, misty eyes looking toward the Savage Beast Forest in the northwest. "I can see the shadows in the spiritual mist—beast ears, beast tails—they are Beastkin girls."

Wang Sheng did not hesitate.

"Murong Xue, lead the combat team to the defensive wall and prepare to provide support; Frost Mage Lin Shiyun, cover the fifty-meter area outside the village entrance with Frost Spell and freeze the pursuing Savage Beasts; Shen Xun'er, prepare Moonlight Blessing to treat the wounded."

His voice was not loud, but a Holy Light Warrior's voice carried inherent penetration; the golden sound waves were like invisible commands, accurately reaching the ears of everyone who needed to hear them.

Within ten seconds, Guangming Village's defensive system switched from a daily state to a combat state.

Murong Xue was the first to jump onto the defensive wall; the Holy Light Knight's silver armor was like a mirror in the morning light, her brown ponytail fluttering in the wind, her fit and powerful figure standing on the gatehouse like a heroic statue.

Behind her, Xiao Yuqing had already drawn the Rainstorm Archer's Spirit Rune longbow, the spiritual power on the arrow shimmering like morning dew;

Tang Waner stood at the main gate of the village carrying a giant shield; the round-faced, big-eyed iron-wall shield guard looked soft and cute, but her eyes at this moment were like a war god guarding a fortress.

Frost Mage Lin Shiyun stood on the inside of the defensive wall, the Frost Mage's silver-white long hair drifting like snow in the morning breeze, cold light swirling in her icy blue pupils, her hands already condensing two orbs of deep blue Frost spiritual power.

The hem of her mage robe was slightly lifted by the wind whipped up by her released spiritual power, her long, straight legs appearing and disappearing beneath the hem like white jade soaked in morning light, but at this moment, the legs were not emitting a soft glow of beauty, but the biting chill of a Frost Spell about to be released.

Shen Xun'er stood beside the Ancestral Spirit Altar; the Moonlight Priestess's moon-white ceremonial robes looked like silver armor in the morning light, her jet-black long hair cascading like a waterfall in the spiritual mist, her watery almond eyes filled with calm and worry; her hands had already begun to circulate the spiritual power of the Moonlight Blessing, silver-blue light pouring from her fingertips like a gentle river poised to strike.

Wang Sheng vaulted onto the village gatehouse, and then he saw it.

At the end of the spiritual mist, at the edge of the Savage Beast Forest, seven or eight figures were sprinting toward Guangming Village.

The distance was too great to make out their faces, but he could see the features of those figures: the beast ears fluttering in the wind as they ran, the fluffy beast tails swaying behind them, and a physique different from Humans, carrying an interweaving of wildness and agility.

They were running for their lives.

And behind them, was a dense horde of Savage Beasts.

More than twenty Savage Beasts surged out like a black tide from the edge of the Savage Beast Forest; most were Iron-Backed Wolves and Red-Maned Cheetahs, but there were also three significantly larger Savage Beasts running at the very front.

Those three Savage Beasts had shoulder heights exceeding two meters, their bodies covered in dark red, coarse, hard fur, and every step taken by their four thick, pillar-like legs made the earth tremble slightly—they were Rank 3 Barbarian Warrior Red-Maned Berserk Lions!

Three of them!

Wang Sheng's pupils constricted slightly; Rank 3 Barbarian Warrior Red-Maned Berserk Lions were no ordinary Savage Beasts; they were one of the top predators on the perimeter of the Savage Beast Forest, usually operating in lion prides consisting of one male and multiple females.

Three appearing at once meant these were the males of a complete lion pride, and the reason they were hunting the Beastkin girls was likely that the pride's territory had been invaded, or...

No, the reason was not important.

What was important was that they were running toward Guangming Village.

And he would not let any pursuers step into his territory.