143: Chapter 142: Male and Female Giant Rats [Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets] 143: Chapter 142: Male and Female Giant Rats [Seeking Subscriptions and Monthly Tickets] PS: Five days after the launch, Old Du reports on the performance.
It’s stronger than Meow Shadow, but compared to Sword Disciple and Sword Soldier, it falls a bit short.
Not to mention the overall rankings; after the first month of launch, I’m afraid it will hardly climb the charts in the Immortal Cultivation sub-ranking, which is a bit awkward.
The biggest reason is that favorites and subscriptions are out of balance.
Nearly 70,000 effective favorites, but only just over 3,000 premium subscriptions, which is three percent…
That is to say, out of a hundred people who read the book, only three are willing to pay for the official version.
Old Du tries his best to make the book interesting and hopes that readers will support the official version on QiDian, to give Old Du some motivation.
Actually, speaking of payment, it only costs as much as breakfast for a month, just a few cents a day, which you wouldn’t even bother to pick up if it dropped on the ground…
Persisting in paying for the official versions supports the industry; otherwise, one day, there will be no books to read.
Old Du here earnestly requests everyone’s support.
Registering a QiDian account is not difficult and takes only a few minutes of your time.
The quality of this book is decided not by the author, but by you, my patrons.
Asking for subscriptions, asking for monthly tickets, thank you, everyone.
Seeing that dozens of Rat Demons had been slain, approaching thirty percent of the total population in Yinling according to Huang Xiaoxian’s estimation, the number of Rat Demons emerging seemed to be decreasing.
Wang Mian thought simply, “Are these demons afraid?
Would they rather suffocate inside than come out?”
Huang Xiaoxian furrowed his brows, “Rat Demons aren’t usually like that.
Although they can stay in their burrows for a long period, they cannot stay submerged in water indefinitely.”
Fang Yazi, with a hunter’s intuition, said, “In the beastial realms, this also might indicate a possibility that a powerful Demon Beast is about to emerge!”
Everyone’s gaze turned to Hou Niao, who was the planner, commander, and leader of this operation, as well as the backbone.
“Huang Senior, summon all the forces of nobility.
Let’s give up on the Rat Demons roaming around and just focus on eliminating those above Suqiu.
That should suffice,” he said cautiously.
Huang Xiaoxian was reluctant as he still wanted to kill as many as possible; if too many escaped, it would put great pressure on his weasel clan.
However, he still chose to obey because this human Cultivator gave him a completely different impression: seemingly ordinary at first glance but acting with overwhelming power and often achieving unexpected peaks.
Hou Niao’s feeling was similar to Fang Yazi’s; both possessed a hunter’s intuition.
The only difference was that Fang Yazi always hunted beasts, while Hou Niao hunted humans during his Criminal Investigation days, but the fundamental concept was the same: prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
The rain finally began to lessen, but the water level was not yet receding, and the exposed part of the top of Suqiu was still nearly a hundred feet in diameter.
If several Rat Demons emerged simultaneously, surrounding and killing them would be quite difficult.
A Rat Demon showed itself, and the nearest member of the weasel clan leaped towards it but was instantly gripped by the throat!
Huang Xiaoxian shouted, “That’s Wahaha!
Everyone, be careful!”
Before the group could surround it, another Rat Demon burst out.
This time, a nearby wolf demon from the Huang Family did not dare to pounce too fiercely.
Its caution spared it from a fatal strike, but it had no chance in a fight and had to flee.
“That’s Ping Duoduo!”
Huang Xiaoxian was terrified.
His information had been incorrect; he thought the two Tongxuan Demon leaders had left Yinling, but for some reason, they were still here.
Was it intentional, or just coincidental?
Hou Niao leaped into action, “Old Huang, hold one of them for thirty breaths for me!
The rest of the Huang clan, continue the interception!
Wang Mian, Yazi, follow me up!”
Huang Xiaoxian felt helpless; what it truly wanted to do now was to turn and flee, then lead the ferret clan to escape from Yinling due to the presence of the two giant rat demons.
Staying in Yinling meant facing certain extinction.
It was the rational choice—yet, for reasons unknown, it strayed from its usual temperament and bizarrely obeyed the instructions of this human cultivator.
It hoped this wasn’t the end.
When demon beasts reach the Tongxuan Realm, humans call it ‘having a Beast Pill.’ In reality, for demon beasts, it meant that the Beast Pill had formed and that they could regurgitate their Demon Core to absorb the essences of the sun and moon—a qualitative leap not to be underestimated,
Huang Xiaoxian also possessed a Demon Core, but for the ferret clan, the supernatural abilities obtained after the Demon Core is formed were not as combat-focused as those of the giant rats.
In terms of cultivation, the ferret clan’s direction was more in line with traditional cultivation, but purely in terms of combat, it was inferior to the rat demons.
Leaping upwards, it spewed out its own Demon Core.
To stall the enemy, it couldn’t rely on supernatural powers but resorting to the most dangerous method—the Demon Core—might buy it more time.
Once a demon beast spit out its Demon Core, it could no longer perform supernatural abilities.
This was making the best out of its weaknesses—though Huang Xiaoxian’s strengths weren’t much to speak of either.
Intellectually, the ferret clan indeed surpassed the rat clan.
Huang Xiaoxian risked its life to choose the most direct confrontation; it just didn’t know the outcome yet.
When the two Demon Cores collided, a bright light erupted at the point of impact; Huang Xiaoxian’s Divine Soul shook violently, it staggered back and, unable to hold it back, spat out a mouthful of fresh blood which somewhat relieved its pent-up frustration; just that one collision made it realize that the gap between it and its foe might be even larger than imagined.
…Three Quanzhen patrollers went straight for Ping Duoduo; unlike the ferret nest, they had no hesitations, attacking as if they were facing a mere rat demon.
This was the courageous spirit of a sword cultivator: to be strong against the weak, and formidable against the strong!
At the same Realm, they are naturally superior to demon beasts!
They are sword cultivators and never retreat!
The trio coordinated perfectly.
Wang Mian was at the forefront.
His sword turned into a long rainbow, using the Gold Power of the longsword for the first time; the entire blade was filled with cutting energy.
The spirit of the Gold Element and his Sword Qi seamlessly merged into his strongest strike.
In a battle with the demon beasts, techniques mattered little if one couldn’t break through their protective barrier!
Ping Duoduo showed disdain, these humans had incited it to kill, the main culprits of this incident, and the consequences they caused had deeply hurt it.
Not killing them would not appease its anger.
It didn’t even consider this gold sharp energy worth noting; human cultivators are so arrogant, really thinking that the difference in realm was just for show, allowing them to kill beyond their own levels?
Wanting to quickly end the battle to allow its descendants to escape from underground, it didn’t want to waste time.
Ignoring the falling longsword, it swung its front claws; you strike your strikes, I sweep mine… The outcome was that the sharp Gold Sword Qi created sparks on its coarse hair, as if striking iron!
But as it swung its claws, Wang Mian was knocked away like a rubber ball, his fate unknown.
Fang Yazi, a hunter by training, had adopted some hunting habits, such as sneakily attacking the vital parts of the giant rat from behind; from this perspective, he understood combat better than Wang Mian, at least knowing the principle of targeting vital spots.
But while he remembered the vital spots, he forgot that behind them was a tail!
Before the longsword could pierce Ping Duoduo’s buttocks, a thick tail swept him away like a whip, his fate uncertain.
Hou Niao was only a moment behind the other two; he was deliberately controlling his timing, not because he was using his friends’ lives to clear a path, but because if this attempt didn’t succeed, no one would be able to escape!
Everyone had a responsibility to pay a price, including himself!
Among the three attacks, his was the least graceful.
Wang Mian confronted the enemy head-on, full of fearless valor; Fang Yazi’s was a stealthy back-attack, utterly pragmatic.
And he was skimmed close to the ground.
When Ping Duoduo raised its front claw, and swung its tail, he suddenly darted into Ping Duoduo’s abdomen;
He didn’t swing his sword but simply dragged it across the field like a knight in battle, using the momentum of his entire body to maintain the continuity of his sword momentum.
Ping Duoduo suddenly realized it temporarily had no weapons to counter this cultivator, the claws weren’t enough, the mouth couldn’t reach, and it only had one tail; as for divine powers, how could it use them beneath its own belly?
It decided to crush this man to death!
As for human swords, it hadn’t considered them at all, certainly not as sharp as the first cultivator’s, lacking even Sword Qi, this was its perception, and it couldn’t be wrong.
Thus, Ping Duoduo felt only a tickling sensation on its belly, as if a louse was crawling across…