Star Beast Tide

From what Aarvan had seen, Max seemed like a good guy.

He was friendly and respectful.

Seeing Aarvan nod, Neel let out a breath and added.

" Aarvan stay inside, Even if someone knocks, don't open the door unless it's me."

After making sure everything was settled, Neel walked out and headed toward the village wall.

Upon climbing the wall, Neel saw it was made entirely of solid stones, resembling something out of a magical fantasy anime. The Gurkha Village wall, though it seemed strong, but he could see cracks around the wall.

He looked around.

Just like him, five Star Refiners were standing there, waiting nervously for someone.

Immediately, Neel understood, they were the village guards.

One guard turned to a middle aged man.

"Captain, any news about the Village Lord?"

Hearing the question, the other guard also turned toward the captain.

But the captain shook his head solemnly.

"This…"

"We're in big trouble then. How are we supposed to face elite Star Beasts with our strength?" the guard said, his face turning pale.

The other three guard's expressions also darkened with fear.

The captain felt the same and fear rose in his heart.

but he was their leader and more importantly, he had a family depending on him.

So he composed himself and turned to other guards.

"What are you afraid of? Hmph! Do you want your families to be eaten by Star Beasts?"

"We should give our lives to protect Gurkha Village! Do you understand?"

The captain's angry shout snapped the four guards out of their fear.

They looked at each other and shouted in same time.

"Yes, we understand!"

They realized that if they let fear take over and ran away, they might lose their loved ones forever.

So they quickly suppressed their fear and turned their gazes toward the road where the Star Beasts might come and prepare themself to fight.

Neel, watching from a short distance and he truly was moved.

These guards, who hadn't even reached the peak of First Star Core Realm were prepared to die for their families.

Meanwhile, he, who had just broken through to peak First Star Core Realm.

He had been thinking about fleeing the village.

Neel felt ashamed.

He also felt curious about the captain.

While the other four guards had only filled 10 to 20 percent of their star cores, the captain was just one step away from the peak of First Star Core realm.

Just as Neel was about to approach the guards.

Swish!

A massive pressure suddenly descended around him and Neel felt suffocation.

he was stunned to see an old man flying in the air.

More importantly, the old man was staring at him coldly.

As their eyes locked, a cold shiver ran through him, and sweat streamed down his forehead like rain.

He quickly looked away.

"Greetings the Village Lord!" the five guards shouted.

They clapped their hands together in a triangle shape as they bowed respectfully to village lord.

"Hmm." The Village Lord nodded slightly.

His eyes then shifted and he looked into the distance.

After a moment, he shook his head and sighed.

Neel noticed this clearly.

Based on the direction the Village Lord had glanced toward, it seemed to be the direction of Treasure Palace.

Could it be.

he's waiting for Max?

Neel couldn't help but wonder.

From what Neel had seen so far, Max must be in Third Star core realm or even higher.

What surprised Neel even more was that the Village Lord wasn't just a early of Second Star Core Realm.

But he was at the early of Third Star Core Realm.

Neel let out a relieved sigh, grateful he didn't have to face the elite grade Star Beast since the Village Lord would handle it.

"Are you here to defend the village?"

Neel was deep in thought when the Village Lord suddenly appear in font of him.

Startled, Neel hurriedly nodded and bowed at the village lord.

The Village Lord stared at Neel for a moment, then looked away.

Neel was nervous and fearful of the Village Lord.

He sensed the Village Lord had a second thought for a moment but quickly changed his mind.

After bowing at the village lord again.

He quickly moved toward the guards to take his position.

On the third floor of the Treasure Palace, Max stare at the Village Lord and shook his head in pity.

Then his gaze landed on Neel.

He frowned.

"How could he advance to the Second Star Core Realm so quickly? Yesterday, he was still at the peak of the First Star Core Realm!"

"Was I wrong? Impossible."

"No, I wasn't wrong. Neel has just broken through to Second Star Core Realm."

But how?

Max was taken back.

In this place, it was rare for anyone to become a Star Refiner.

Yet Neel had reached Second Star Core Realm.

Could Neel be extremely talented?

But then, why would a talented man come to this remote village?

Or maybe... he had some treasure that helped him break through?

For the second time since arriving in this village, Max felt genuinely curious.

.....

Boom!

Neel who was standing on the village wall, he felt village wall shaking.

The clear sky suddenly began to darken and the sky covered by black clouds.

Roarrrrr!

A terrifying roar echoed from the distance, shaking the sky and sending chills down the spines of everyone standing on the wall.

Neel, the guards and even the Village Lord frowned.

This terrifying roar was different, it didn't feel like it came from an elite grade Star Beast.

Could it be a leader grade beast?

"Everyone, get ready! I'll take on the leader grade Star Beast. You all handle the ten normal grade Star Beasts!"

"Leader grade star beast had only 10 normal grade beasts?"

Neel frowned and quickly reached a conclusion.

"This leader beast must have recently advanced. It hasn't had time to gather other beasts under its command."

But why had it come to this remote place?

Leader grade beasts have some intelligence, so they don't attack places at random.

Neel wasn't the only one confused.

Even the Village Lord and Max were puzzled.

Boom! Boom!

Soon, a giant boar that the size of a one story house appeared in distance.

It had three crown like horns on its forehead and two massive boar trunks.

Then, it roared again at the village wall and it charged forward.

It was followed by ten smaller boars, each the size of a tiger, with a single crown like horn on their foreheads.

"Leader grade Stone Boar" the Village Lord muttered with a frown.

Then he flew toward the stone boar.

Boom!

When he collided with the Stone Boar, sand scattered in all directions and the earth trembled.

Whoosh!

The Village Lord was pushed back slightly and the boar stopped its charge.

Without wasting time, the Village Lord grabbed its tail and flew away from the village to fight it farther away.

Before flying off, he turned back to the wall.

"Charge! Kill the stone boars!"

"Kill!"

Neel was the first to charge.

He took out his excellent grade Flame Copper Sword and rushed at the largest of the ten normal grade Star Beasts,

The one nearly at the peak of First Star Core Realm.

He poured star energy into the sword.

The sword glowed red, and flames shaped like a snake wrapped around it.

Slash!

Neel felt like he was cutting through something soft.

He had expected a tough battle, but he had underestimated the power of the excellent grade Flame Copper Sword.

He hadn't realized that an excellent grade weapon was overkill for elite or normal grade Star Beasts.

"This…"

Roar!

He was jolted by the dying cry of the Stone Boar.

Looking around, he saw the boar had been cut clean in half.

The other boars, hearing the cry, rushed toward him.

Neel quickly stored the corpse in his storage ring and turned to face the incoming beasts.

Just like before, he cut one clean in half.

This time, he didn't stay still.

After taking down one Stone Boar, he immediately charged at the next, then the next, cutting through them one after another.

"Die, beast!" Neel roared as he slashed the final boar.

With a final death cry, it too fell on the ground and Neel stored it in his ring.

The guards, who had been watching from a distance, were stunned.

They had never imagined someone from their village could take down ten Star Beasts so effortlessly.

They exchanged wide eyed glances, unable to believe what they had just witnessed.

Even the guard captain was left speechless.

They had expected to die today.

Aside from a few scratches, none of them were hurt.

After Neel killed the first boar, the other boars ignored the guards and targeted only him.

As they calmed down, they felt envy watching Neel store the corpses.

Star Beasts were valuable, their meat contained pure star energy, which were very useful for cultivation.

Although they were envious, none of them had any ill intentions toward Neel.

First, he had saved their lives.

Second, he was far stronger than them.

Neel, after storing the last boar, looked around and realized he had killed all of them.

He got so caught up in the fight, he didn't even notice that he had killed every single Stone Boar by himself.

He felt a little awkward but he quickly turned to watch the fight between the Village Lord and the leader grade beast.

Boom!

The Village Lord slammed the Stone Boar left and right again and again, until its tail was torn off.

Roar!

The boar cried in pain, then formed a star vortex in its mouth and launched a huge boulder at the Village Lord.

"So, that was your last move? Fine. Let me end this, Elephant Stomp!"

As the Village Lord shouted, a giant elephant phantom appeared and stomped down, pinning the Stone Boar beneath its massive foot.

Boom!

The Village Lord's kick landed directly on the Stone Boar's body.

The kick was so powerful that it shattered the Stone Boar's stone armor.

Roar!

The beast cried in pain, spat out black blood and collapsed on the ground.

The Village Lord checked the Stone Boar for a moment.

Seeing no movement and assuming it was dead, he turned and began walking toward Neel.

Neel watched as the Village Lord turned to him but something felt off.

Staring at the stone boar, chill ran down his spine.

He quickly looked at the Stone Boar.

That's when he saw it, black smoke rising from its body.

Suddenly, the Stone Boar's eyes snapped open, now it was pitch black like endless voids.

Even the blood on the ground had turned dark as ink.

Just moments ago, the beast had been motionless.

But in the blink of an eye, it was behind the Village Lord.

Puff!

Neel, even from a distance, clearly saw the Stone Boar's giant horn pierce through the Village Lord's chest from behind.

"Father!" the guard captain cried out, rushing toward the Village Lord in panic.

Neel's eyes narrowed.

He had already sensed something was wrong and was already moving before the Stone Boar attack landed.

"Die, evil beast!"

Neel slashed his Flame Copper Beast Sword at the corrupted Stone Boar.

Puff!

The sword cleanly severed the beast's head from its body.

Even though the Village Lord had been ambushed, he had tightly held onto the boar, giving Neel a perfect opening to strike.

Neel wiped the black blood from his blade.

"Village Lord, how is your injury?"

He stepped closer, his eyes scanning the Village Lord's injuries.

But the sight made his heart sink.

Blood poured from the wound in the Village Lord's chest.

His body was soaked in red and the blood flow showed no sign of stopping.

He was so badly wounded that he couldn't even speak, his lips trembled as he took a breath.

With shaking hands, he reached into his storage ring and pulled out a round pill, which he quickly swallowed.