"Giant crocodiles!"
"So many giant crocodiles!"
Exclamations of shock erupted from the crowd. They had encountered these giant crocodiles on the second level before.
These giant crocodiles were powerful, with thick, tough hides, immense strength, and high speed. It usually took several people working together to kill even one.
Now, there were at least a hundred of them in the lake. How could they possibly fight back!
Many instinctively wanted to flee, but the thought was immediately dismissed. Their escape routes were blocked; there was nowhere to run.
"Everyone, when paths cross, the brave prevail! We have nowhere to retreat, only to fight to the death!"
At this moment, the scarred man stepped forward and shouted loudly.
Through their interactions over time, Xiao Fei had learned that this scarred man was Ji Wudi from the Ji family of Star Moon City.
Ji Wudi was highly respected among the scions of the many families in Star Moon City and was considered a legendary figure.
Ji Wudi's original name was Ji Qian. He felt this name was too subtle and changed it to Ji Wudi at the age of twelve.
At that time, he had vowed, "A true man standing between heaven and earth should be a dragon among men, invincible under the heavens!"
The elders of the clan were greatly astonished by this declaration, believing that the child was destined for greatness.
They then cast Ji Wudi into the cattle pens to temper his spirit.
Ji Wudi spent his days among the lowly laborers, yet his ambition remained unchanged. He wrestled with the wild oxen daily, honing his strength to that of nine oxen and two tigers.
The clan elders had no choice but to release him from the cattle pens. Ji Wudi ventured alone into the mountains with a single sword to cultivate, battling demonic beasts daily...
At this moment, Ji Wudi let out a great roar, gripping a golden greatsword in both hands, and charged into the horde of giant crocodiles.
A giant crocodile lunged at Ji Wudi. Without dodging or evading, Ji Wudi brought his greatsword down, cleaving the tough skull of the crocodile in two.
Inspired by Ji Wudi, the others unleashed their magical artifacts and bombarded the giant crocodiles.
Xiao Fei and Zhu Yu also summoned their magical artifacts and joined the fray.
After cooperating for a few days, they had developed a degree of synergy.
When facing a giant crocodile, Zhu Yu would use her flying sword to lure it, while Xiao Fei would use his entanglement technique to restrict its speed, after which they would attack together or wait for the crocodile's poison to take effect.
However, in this environment, poison was less practical. Not only could it easily harm allies, but the giant crocodiles were more resistant to poison than cultivators, making it inconvenient to deploy.
Facing a common threat, no one slacked off; everyone brought out their best skills.
But the sheer number of giant crocodiles was overwhelming. Previously, it took several people working together to defeat one.
Now, it was the reverse: one person had to face one, or even two or three giant crocodiles. How could they possibly win!
In just a moment, several cultivators had already lost their lives.
Perhaps the giant crocodiles had poor appetites, as they did not devour the slain cultivators. Instead, they left the corpses where they fell and moved on to attack the next target.
During the battle, the Soul Nurturing Pearl on Xiao Fei's chest glowed faintly. Xiao Lan, transformed into a black shadow, had already merged into a nearby corpse.
Devouring other souls was the instinct of a vengeful spirit, and it was an effective way for them to grow stronger.
Living beings possessed strong yang energy, which could easily harm spirits. Without immense power, it was impossible to directly devour the souls of the living.
Only the souls of the deceased, whose yang energy had dissipated and whose residual souls were not powerful, were suitable for Xiao Lan, a vengeful spirit at her current stage, to devour.
However, once a soul was devoured, there was no chance for reincarnation.
Xiao Fei harbored no particular fondness for these family cultivators and allowed Xiao Lan to devour them.
The vengeful spirit, Xiao Lan, moved stealthily among the corpses, continuously devouring the residual souls of the fallen.
Those engaged in combat were entirely focused on the giant crocodiles, with no energy left to notice this.
As Xiao Lan devoured souls, her strength rapidly increased, now on par with cultivators in the late Qi Condensation stage.
Furthermore, as the devoured souls were digested, her strength continued to grow.
Xiao Lan's rapid increase in power simultaneously signaled the steady defeat of the cultivators.
In less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, more than half the cultivators had fallen, leaving only about twenty people huddled together.
The number of giant crocodiles slain was less than ten, with half of them killed by Ji Wudi.
Over a hundred giant crocodiles still surrounded them.
It seemed inevitable that the human cultivators would perish.
Xiao Fei had taken out several wax pellets, preparing to use poison. At the same moment, Zhu Yu glanced at Xiao Fei, seemingly having the same intention.
"Can everyone protect me for ten breaths of time? I have a method to kill the giant crocodiles."
Seeing they were outmatched, Ji Wudi said this after fiercely slaying a giant crocodile.
His words immediately made Xiao Fei and Zhu Yu abandon their plans to use poison.
The use of poison was highly frowned upon in the cultivation world. Renowned poison masters rarely had friends.
Throughout the cultivation world, regardless of enmity, everyone wished for poison users to meet a violent end, as it brought them a sense of security.
Moreover, the effectiveness of poison lay in its surprise element. Once its users were known, it would be difficult to employ in the future.
Therefore, in public, it was best to avoid using it if possible.
"Alright! I am willing to protect fellow Daoist!"
"If fellow Daoist has a method, please unleash it fully!"
"We will surely protect fellow Daoist."
The remaining twenty-odd cultivators declared their support simultaneously. Ji Wudi was now their only hope.
As one cultivator loudly declared his support, he was bitten in half by a giant crocodile, meeting a tragic end.
This made their assurances seem rather hollow.
Ji Wudi could not afford to pay attention to such matters. He gritted his teeth, sat down on the ground, and propped his golden greatsword before him. He then took out a golden talisman.
"Talisman Treasure!"
Xiao Fei had seen this talisman at the auction of the Myriad Treasures Pavilion. It had been sold for tens of thousands of spirit stones, and he was surprised to find it in Ji Wudi's possession.
Ji Wudi held the talisman in his hand, channeling all his internal mana into it.
Talisman Treasures contained one to three tenths of the power of a Golden Core cultivator's life-bound magical artifact. While normally requiring only a small amount of mana to activate, for a Qi Condensation cultivator, even this small amount of mana was like a mountain, difficult to move.
In this brief moment, another cultivator was killed by a giant crocodile.
Xiao Fei continuously threw out Iron Thorn seeds, casting his entanglement technique to impede the giant crocodiles' advance. A region of iron thorns had already formed before him.
At a critical juncture, Zhu Yu produced a formation disk, inlaid it with ten spirit stones, and then cast a spell, forming a small formation on the spot.
Seeing this, the remaining cultivators scrambled into the formation.
A light barrier on the formation's perimeter protected everyone within. The giant crocodiles, with their brute force, repeatedly slammed against the barrier, causing it to shake violently, threatening to shatter at any moment.
"Everyone, take this opportunity to rest for a moment. This formation should last for at least five breaths," Zhu Yu transmitted telepathically to everyone. Time was of the essence, and even a single sentence took one to two breaths.
Xiao Fei took out a handful of Iron Thorn seeds and distributed them to several cultivators skilled in the entanglement technique.
Other cultivators also shared their means, and Xiao Fei received several Fireball talismans.
Under the threat of imminent death, these twenty individuals could only unite, displaying the utmost solidarity.
Zhu Yu's formation lasted only four breaths before being breached by the giant crocodiles.
At this point, there were still three breaths remaining until Ji Wudi's required ten.
The cultivators, having had a brief respite and shared some treasures, were in slightly better condition, but cultivators continued to die.
By the ninth breath, only twelve cultivators remained on the scene.
Xiao Fei and Zhu Yu had, by chance, survived among the twelve.
However, the few talismans in his hand were all used up, and his Iron Thorn seeds were dwindling.
Just then, a golden light rose from Ji Wudi's hand, transforming into a small golden sword in the air. It streaked through the horde of giant crocodiles like a beam of light.
Wherever the light passed, all the giant crocodiles were cleaved in two.
The might of the Talisman Treasure was truly terrifying!