Chapter 24 Chaos

"CHARGE!!!"

GRAAAOOWR!

The word burst from Zhao Lingfeng's throat as the bear roared, exploded into motion, and abandoning all pretense of stealth. Its powerful legs propelled them forward with great speed, each impact leaving the chamber floor to resound in rumbles. They barreled straight toward the exposed nest, moving faster than anyone would have thought possible for such a massive creature.

It was not the fastest speed.

But it was wild and domineering!

The chamber erupted into chaos.

"What in the—"

"Is that a BEAR?!"

"Where did—"

But Zhao Lingfeng couldn't focus on their reactions. Everything narrowed to the next few seconds. The beetle was still mid-recovery from its dodge, the nest was exposed, and for one crucial moment, all their careful planning and failed stealth attempts had led to this perfect storm of opportunity.

The bear let out a roar that shook loose stones from the ceiling, its battle cry a grinding sound like mountains deciding to go to war.

They had one shot at this.

And by the heavens, they were going to make it count.

"SSSHHHRRRRKKK!"

"Hold the beetle back!" Tan Rei's voice cut through the chaos, showing none of the shock visible on other cultivators' faces. His spear flickered with practiced grace as he shifted position, already moving to intercept the beetle coming in his direction.

Qin Yi's eyes narrowed, a sharp glint reflecting the chamber's scattered light. He was no less aware than Tan Rei when it came to what was happening. A cold snort escaped his lips as he barked out his own command:

"You heard him! Stop that beast! Don't let it reach them!"

The chamber erupted into motion.

Two younger cultivators were the first to react, their spiritual techniques launching swift but uncoordinated attacks. One's hastily formed sword light scattered harmlessly against the beetle's carapace, while the other's enhanced strike went wide, missing entirely as the massive insect's lightning-fast movement forced them to dive aside.

"Useless!" a third cultivator shouted, gathering spiritual energy into his palms. "You have to—" His voice cut off in a yelp as the beetle's passing charge made him stumble, his gathered energy dispersing uselessly into the air.

Through the growing chaos, Fan Wei moved with the practiced efficiency that had earned him his position as a respected senior brother among the outer court disciples' trash. Unlike the others' panicked reactions, his movements were measured, calculated. He quickly took one of his emergency pills. Spiritual energy gathered around his sword as he imbued it.

He performed a rudimentary sword technique forming a curtain of blade light that threatened to entangle the beetle's legs.

It may be rudimentary and hardly can be qualified to be a technique, but Fan Wei had been practicing it diligently.

Had they been facing a normal beast, or had Fan Wei been of higher cultivation, the technique might have succeeded in slowing its charge.

But this was no ordinary beast, and Fan Wei was still only at the sixth level of Qi Refining.

In the eyes of the beetle, it did not bother to spare a glance. With just its horns crackling with electricity, it shattered the sword light like glass. The backlash sent tremors through the chamber floor, and Fan Wei was forced to roll aside as his own technique scattered around him.

"Brother Wei!" Junior Brother Liu rushed to help him up, his face pale. "Are you—"

"Focus ahead!" Fan Wei snapped, already regaining his footing. But even as he raised his sword for another attempt, he could see the gap widening. The beetle's charge had already carried it past their position, its speed far outpacing their ability to intercept.

"But there's nothing I can do…"

The words of his Junior Brother Liu fell on deaf ears.

He was only twelve years old, and was even worse than Zhao Lingfeng in cultivation level being only at the second level of Qi Refining. In terms of talent, he was still much better than Zhao Lingfeng.

He could only watch helplessly as his senior brother refused to give up, chasing desperately after the beast.

Tan Rei's group moved next.

They spread out in a loose pattern, attempting to create a net of intersecting attacks that would force the beetle to either slow down or risk serious injury. They raised their weapons and launched their strongest techniques, filling the air with crackling energy...

The frontline cultivators were a little slow, but they gradually moved as one. They appeared to seamlessly merge with Tan Rei's group. Their earlier rivalries forgotten in the face of immediate danger.

Most of them knew instinctively where to position themselves, their bodies remembering the beetle's devastating reach even as their minds raced to process the chaos unfolding before them. Those who were late on the uptake, only needed to fill in the gaps.

"Formation Three!" someone shouted from the right flank. Whether it was one of Tan Rei's people or Qin Yi's didn't matter anymore. They were all moving on instinct now.

Spiritual energy flared in succession as cultivators launched their strongest techniques. A young woman with a scratch across her cheek, who had been fighting since the first assault, poured her remaining spiritual energy into a strike aimed at the beetle's left horn. Next to her, a burly cultivator whose robes bore scorch marks from previous lightning attacks coordinated his axe to strike from the opposite angle.

More attacks followed, each well-timed.

Three cultivators who had been conserving their pills for a crucial moment nodded at each other in unison. They gulped the medicine down. Without a moment of delay, their fingers flashed basic hand signs as they intertwined with pure spiritual energy with their talismans.

In the next moment, a barrier of force was formed that would at least slow the beetle's advance. Others, their techniques exhausted, threw various talismans in hope that it could do something to restrict the movements of the beetle.

The combined assault lit up the chamber like daybreak. Spiritual energy crackled through the air, the coordinated attacks far more impressive than their earlier efforts.

Then the beetle's horns blazed...

The three cultivators holding the barrier paled at the sight. They saw the beetle rush towards them, its power charged at them.

One of them lost their composure and appeared to be ready to escape.

"Don't RUN!!"

Tan Rei's voice forced that cultivator to stand his ground.

The three cultivators closed their eyes, their fingers desperately holding the talismans.

BOOM!!

The charged lightning struck the barrier with a loud boom.

When they opened their eyes…

Their eyes widened.

The barrier of interwoven spiritual energy didn't immediately shatter! Instead, it bent and warped. The combined power actually managed to redirect the beetle's lightning for a crucial moment.

"It's working!" someone shouted. "Keep Hold—"

The word died in their throat as cracks began spreading through their spiritual barrier like frost across a pond, causing the three cultivators to desperately drain their spiritual energy dry in an attempt to maintain the barrier.

Yet even as the defense began to fail, Tan Rei burst forward.

His spear moved with lethal precision, striking not at the beetle's carapace but at the space just before it. The technique wasn't meant to wound but to disrupt the beetle's gathering spiritual energy.

The beetle's lightning dispersed, its momentum faltered, and the barrier stabilized.

Then everything went wrong.

The beetle's horns suddenly pulsed with intensity that turned the air white. This time, the lightning didn't strike their barrier directly. Instead, it arced downward, shattering the stone floor beneath the cultivators' feet. Shards of electrified rock exploded upward, breaking their stances and disrupting the delicate balance of spiritual energy maintaining their defense.

The barrier began to collapse inward, its structural integrity failing as cultivators lost their footing. Even the stronger 7th level Qi Refining cultivators were not an exception to this.

Yet Tan Rei didn't retreat.

His spear blurred as he struck again and again, each hit precisely aimed to disrupt the beetle's gathering power.

But he was only cultivator actively able to fight in this moment, and the beast's lightning was everywhere.

"Senior Brother Tan Rei!" someone screamed as a particularly violent discharge threatened to catch him mid-technique.

Whoosh!

A crimson blur cut through the chaos.

Qin Yi moved like flowing fire, his sword trailing burning light as he inserted himself between Tan Rei and certain death. His blade met the lightning in a display of perfect timing, the energy dispersing around them both.

"Tcchh!"

Enduring the feeling coursing through him, he forcefully spun into another strike that forced the beetle to adjust its stance, buying precious seconds for others to recover.

The beetle's speed had only been momentarily checked, and scattered arcs of electricity still danced across Qin Yi's sword arm.

"Senior Brother Qin—" Tan Rei began, his voice carrying a note of genuine gratitude.

Qin Yi didn't even turn to look at him.

"Save it."

He was already moving striding forward, though his steps weren't quite as steady as before. Small sparks occasionally jumped between his fingers where they gripped his sword.

"You..."

Tan Rei's eyes narrowed as he caught the minute tremors running through Qin Yi's frame. The lingering spiritual lightning hadn't dispersed properly. Instead, it seemed to be working its way deeper into his meridians.

"Shut up and chase," Qin Yi snapped, his voice sharp but lacking its usual edge. "Or did you want to let that beast reach them first?"

Without waiting for a response, he surged forward, leaving Tan Rei little choice but to follow. Behind them, those cultivators still capable of movement struggled to their feet, their barrier in ruins.

But the vast majority of those ones had given up on the chase.

Yet, when they saw Fan Wei run past them, some of the sixth and seventh level cultivators grit their teeth and followed after them.

How could they relax here when someone deemed weaker than them was going forward? Their pride wouldn't allow them to stand idle while others gave chase.

A moment ago…

For Zhao Lingfeng, the world had narrowed to a single point of golden light. The Thunder Silk nest pulsed before him, each strand seeming to contain captured lightning. The bear's charge had carried them through the chaos, through the sound of battle and pursuit, right to this moment of treasure.

They stood at the threshold of their goal, close enough that Zhao Lingfeng could see the individual strands shifting and coiling like living things. Each fiber thrummed with power that made his skin tingle, the gathered essence of many electrical ores woven into beautiful golden silk.

The bear's heavy breathing echoed in his ears as they both stared at their prize, captured by its radiance.

As Zhao Lingfeng was mesmerized for a moment, he suddenly felt something slimy dripped onto his shoulder…