Among the twenty-odd figures were elders, middle-aged cultivators, and youths. Even the weakest among them had reached Fifth Layer Martial Emperor, while the strongest were three half-step Martial Saint elders.
A terrifying aura surged from every one of them, rolling unrestrained toward the spirit pool in an extremely overbearing manner.
Particularly eye-catching were three high-tier Martial Emperor youths.
The most striking was a grey-robed youth nearing thirty years of age at Ninth Layer Martial Emperor. His aura was extraordinarily powerful, and when his gaze swept across the crowd it carried blatant disdain, the kind that came from absolute confidence. His arrogance was on full display.
“People from the Jiang Clan of Western Hao Province! Shock appeared on the faces of Wang Qi and the others.
This location was in the southwestern part of Sacred Province. The branches of the Wang Clan, Tantai Clan, and Jiang Clan were all, in theory, not too far away.
Yet in reality the Jiang Clan branch was much farther from here than the Wang or Tantai branches.
Wang Qi had expected the Tantai Clan to appear, but the Jiang Clan’s arrival was unexpected.
They had travelled such a vast distance to reach this place.
It seemed the news had spread extremely widely.
“Now can we snatch something from you beast clans?” one of the Jiang Clan elders asked the Bimu elder in an domineering tone.
However, Wang Qi suddenly frowned and spoke. “Was the information about this place deliberately spread by you? Is the Zitan Spirit Lotus even real?”
His words stunned not only the Jiang elder who had just spoken, but also the Tantai Clan members and even the Wang family’s own people.
The news had been intentionally leaked by the Bimu and Spirit Phoenix Clans?
The Zitan Spirit Lotus might be fake?
Everyone present, including Lin Xiao, was momentarily unable to process this.
Yet the Wang family members, knowing Wang Qi’s intellect, instantly felt that something was wrong.
The Bimu and Spirit Phoenix members all revealed expressions of surprise.
The half-step Martial Saint spirit-phoenix elder exclaimed in astonishment, “Worthy of the bloodline of emperors. I never expected someone this clever among the Wang family.”
“However, the more you reveal your talent, the faster you may die in a moment!” the phoenix elder added coldly.
Everyone’s brows furrowed at that.
“What do you mean by that?” the Jiang elder who had spoken earlier asked in a low voice.
“Heh heh.” The Bimu half-step Martial Saint gave a cold laugh. “The Zitan Spirit Lotus is real, but it is merely bait we set for you humans!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, dozens of figures suddenly emerged from the willow thickets beside the spirit pool.
There were men and women, youths and elders among them. Every one stooped slightly, their skin sallow, their clothing tattered. They walked slowly and humbly, as though a gust of wind could knock them over. It was an extremely strange sight.
After stepping out of the willows, they merely raised their heads to glance at the crowd and said nothing.
“The Tianluo Spirit Snail Clan!”
Shock rippled through the humans. Many faces turned wary.
“So this is the Tianluo Spirit Snail Clan?” Even Lin Xiao was surprised. He had heard of them from Wang Qi and the others during the journey, but had received no detailed description.
Never mind their original form; after assuming human shape, every single one of them was hunchbacked?
“When the fighting starts, be extremely careful of these Tianluo Spirit Snails. They can unleash strangling power, and one of them is worth two ordinary cultivators in combat,” Wang Qi warned Lin Xiao in a low voice.
“Strangling power, and one worth two?” Lin Xiao did not understand.
He knew what strangling power was; his own Reverse Chaos Three Forms contained it.
But what did “one worth two” mean?
This was not the time to ask, however.
What puzzled him even more was the current situation: three great beast clans versus three great human clans. It did not seem the beasts held any overwhelming advantage.
Yet the beasts claimed they had laid a trap for the humans?
Or did they believe that, with the Tianluo Spirit Snail Clan added, the three beast clans together could suppress the three human clans?
The Jiang elder’s expression darkened slightly. With a hint of contempt he said, “Just the three of you beast clans alone dare to set a trap for us?”
“Naturally, it is not just our three clans!” the Bimu elder replied.
As he spoke, everyone’s gazes turned toward the horizon.
At that moment, the sky seemed to turn into a crimson tide. Countless figures poured in from one direction like a red flood.
“Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!”
Soon, the sound of uniform footsteps echoed through the air as thousands upon thousands of crimson figures marched in perfect order.
In that instant, every human’s expression turned grave.
Moments ago they had merely been cautious; they had not truly feared the three beast clans.
Even outnumbered, the three human clans would not have feared three beast clans.
But now another terrifying spirit-beast race had appeared, and they had arrived by the tens of thousands, advancing in perfect military formation like a crimson army of steel.
“These… are the Heaven-Tyrant Crab Clan?” Lin Xiao stared in shock at the perfectly disciplined force marching toward them.
Even though he had never seen a Heaven-Tyrant Crab before, he could recognise them instantly.
They retained their beast form, yet also bore some resemblance to humans.
Each stood roughly ten feet tall with two legs and two arms. They walked upright on their legs, while their arms ended in enormous crab pincers. Their bodies were covered in hard crimson shells.
In overall shape they were humanoid: four limbs and a torso, but far more robust than any human and encased in armour-like carapace.
Their heads were not human either, but shelled and helmet-like, as though wearing crimson headgear. Several crimson feelers protruded from the top, with small eyes, nose, and mouth at the front.
Because their entire face was shell, they displayed no expression. The entire force, numbering in the tens of thousands, marched forward in perfect unison. They truly resembled a crimson army forged of iron.
“Things have turned bad,” Wang Qi murmured beside Lin Xiao, frowning slightly. “The Heaven-Tyrant Crab Clan possesses terrifying defence and attack power, and their numbers are enormous. They cooperate with perfect coordination; they are a natural army. To bring over ten thousand of them here means they were fully prepared and deliberately lured us into this trap.”
