Path Of The Dragon (A Dark Fantasy Cultivation Wuxia Xianxia Progression Series)

Chapter 74 The Fate Of Dreams

"You want me to kill them?" Jie asked.

"Is that a problem?" Pan Tian asked.

Jie looked at the placid-looking bird creatures and swallowed hard as her palms started to sweat. She'd killed magical beasts before as part of the exam, she reminded herself.

"No problem," Jie said stiffly.

She clenched her hands into fists and used more of her speed. She zipped ahead of Pan Tian and slammed her fist into the neck of one of the Vruthka. She didn't waste her qi on a dragonfist, and instead relied on raw physical strength. Its neck shattered under the force of her knuckles and with a wave of her hand it vanished into her storage ring before it even hit the floor. Then, she moved on to the next Vruthka and the next.

It made her feel sick to kill like this, but she told herself that every part of the magical beast would be used. So could she really object to it and yet still consume them herself for food? She focused on killing each one as quickly and painlessly as she could and tried to ignore the flecks of blood that splattered her face and robes.

Pan Tian and Ithilix picked up their pace, but it was easy enough to slaughter the relatively weak vruthka and collect them in her rings while staying ahead of her friends. A few were vastly stronger. Even a couple at the Expert rank, but she still didn't even have to use her qi for them.

It didn't take long for the vruthka to notice her and scatter in every direction. But, between Jie's higher cultivation and her lightning step skill, she chased down and killed them with little effort. As she did so, she kept an eye on her friends, ensuring she was always close enough to assist them if needed.

"Woah! You're even stronger than I thought," Pan Tian said.

Jie didn't keep track of how many magical beasts she killed, but as they approached the tower, the vruthka scattered further and further. Until Jie would have to venture too far to chase them down. So, she fell back to Pan Tian and returned to her place in their formation rather than getting distracted chasing the beasts.

In truth, Jie was somewhat relieved at the excuse to stop killing the creatures.

"Good job," Pan Tian said, "they're not all that valuable, but you got so many and we didn't even slow down. At this rate, we'll catch up in no time. Some of those you killed would've given the rest of us trouble even working together. You're almost as strong as an elder, Jie. This is going to be the best Crimson Valley Treasure Hunt I've ever had. My brother is going to be so jealous that he couldn't come with us."

"Thanks," Jie said, "do you want to divide them up?"

"No sense in wasting time with that. The treasure is counted for our entire team, and speed is what matters. We can always divide the treasures up after the event is done. I trust you," Pan Tian said, "now stay close and be alert. There could be other students waiting to ambush us. Though it seems like Chen Huo couldn't get out of there fast enough when he saw you, Jie."

"This one thinks he does not wish for more broken bones," Ithilix said.

Jie almost felt guilty, but the images of what Chen Huo had done to Pan Tian and Pan Zhanshi were burned into her brain. No. He deserved what he'd got. A thousand times over.

The base of the tower had low, broken walls around it that might once have been houses or other buildings. Most of which were overgrown with vegetation and chunks of broken stone that looked like they could fit into one of the massive, floating rings above them. Jie sent wary glances upward after seeing those.

They spread into a looser formation and searched the area around the base of the tower but found nothing.

"Keep looking," Pan Tian instructed, "there's almost always something near the tower and I don't want us to have to backtrack later."