The Last Primal

Giving a couple of minutes of respite, Aiden looked at the group still licking their wounds, consuming healing salves, and treating their injuries, he came before Tai Liu and said in a quiet, hushed whisper.

"[Reptilian] We need to leave. This is not a good place to linger… Or spend any amount of time."

There was less than an hour before nightfall.

Time was extremely pressing for the group from Azure Myst Sect. The longer they lingered in the valley, the more danger they would face!

Furthermore, what they faced earlier was just a group of Ancient Demonic Flies.

There were many other, far more fearsome ancient and variant beasts that had yet to appear. Aiden had a feeling that pure-blooded ferocious beasts would definitely appear once night fell!

At that time, the valley would be the literal nightmare for all these sects, clans, and all the other Martial Artists!

Tai Liu nodded at Aiden's suggestion.

However, just as she was about to speak, Juno Hian sneered with a contemptuous look on his face.

"[Reptilian] Heh… It's fine if you have such a strong, and supernatural physique and could continue on the journey for even longer. However, for us poor… 'normal' beings oh please my great lord…. you've got to consider the feelings of others!"

His voice was very loud as if he was intentionally speaking to others. Many cultivators looked towards Aiden with displeasure upon hearing that. Tai Liu hesitated when she caught sight of their expressions.

Noticing his scheme was working, he continued. Loudly, Juno Hian declared. "[Reptilian] Everyone, there's no need to be anxious! Resting a little more won't make a difference!"

Aiden smiled and did not say anything more. Instead, he turned towards their captains, sending out a quick message through their mental channels. Similarly, they did not show any visible reactions, however each of them seemed to be alert and ready to move at a moment's notice.

"[Reptilian] Hmm?"

Suddenly, as if he sensed something, a cold glint flashed through Aiden's golden eyes. Spinning around, he looked towards the back of the formation.

"[Reptilian] W-what? What's wrong?"

Tai Liu asked hurriedly when she saw Aiden's strange expression. Before she even finished speaking, the ground at the back of the cone-shaped formation began to tremble. Gradually, it turned soft and weak, showing signs of sinking in!

It was as if some terrifying creature was about to break out of the soil!

"[Reptilian] Make the call. We need to leave. Now." Aiden exclaimed, turning his attention towards his captains, and nodded.

Instantly, all of them sprung up with their weapons raised and looked towards their Master for the order. They didn't seem to care about this group of disciples at all, ready to leave them at any moment.

Tai Liu also sensed that something was amiss and yelled.

"[Reptilian] Everyone, follow Aiden! Let's leave this place quickly!"

*Boom!* *Boom!*

The ground at the back collapsed suddenly and dark bright crimson-colored slime-covered tentacles as thick as a water bucket shot up from beneath the surface, yanking the nearby disciples underneath!

"[Reptilian] T-this! This is impossible!" The elderly uncle exclaimed with shock upon seeing the scene.

"[Reptilian] W-what is it uncle? What are those?" Tai Liu asked with agitation in her voice.

"[Reptilian] Ancient Drill Wyrms!"

Ancient Drill Wyrms were not dragons despite their name and usually lived way below the underground. Although they were shaped like giant, oversized worms, they had no scales and their bodies were filled with spiral patterns instead. They were dark red in color with no eyes and were extremely sensitive to light and the slightest trembles on the ground.

There was a huge circular mouth on their heads with rims of sharp fangs within and they could grind any living beings into mincemeat with every squirm.

The most terrifying thing was that Ancient Drill Wyrms had an exceptional regeneration capability!

They were truly fearsome, horrible opponents to encounter. A true disaster followed their wake every time…

Even if they were cut into several pieces, they could recover to their original states as long as they dug back underground and rested!

Any living being that was dragged underground by an Ancient Drill Wyrm was most likely doomed and even other similarly terrifying ancient beasts were no exception! Not many could escape their drill-like jaws.

Although Aiden had warned them, most disciples at the back took it lightly and were completely defenseless; some of them even assumed a meditative position on the ground.

The moment the ground caved in, those disciples were dragged underground by the Ancient Drill Wyrms with only time for a single tragic cry for help.

Some cultivators soared into the air hurriedly but they were still devoured by the Ancient Drill Wyrms in a single mouthful they could react, causing blood to spray everywhere in a miserable manner!

Some other, braver disciples hurriedly reached for their swords or spears doing their best to cut the Ancient Drill Wyrms into two.

However, the Ancient Drill Wyrms did not die and still possessed extremely powerful killing power even with half their bodies left!

The ground was quickly covered with the thick stench of spilled reptilian blood.

"[Reptilian] Hurry, run!"

"[Reptilian] We have to get out of here quickly!"

A series of shouts sounded within the chaos. The cone-shaped formation was created once more, albeit somewhat scattered, and they rushed towards the valley under the grey robed man, Aiden's lead.

The disciples only managed to shake off the Ancient Drill Wyrms after a full 15 minutes of escaping and slowed down.

Most of the survivors were drenched in sweat with a mixture of fear and unease. This escape had too much of a toll on everyone's mental state and energy; even the usually calm Captain Dragha's forehead was covered with a layer of sweat.

Only one man looked normal, seemingly unaffected by the previous chaos.

Aiden's eyes were bright, his breathing was steady and his physique seemed unlimited like the vast skies and bottomless seas.

It seemed like everything that happened was insignificant to him!

Tai Liu looked down at the remaining Azure Myst Sect disciples with a sorrowful expression.

Azure Myst Sect only lost slightly more than a couple dozen people after breaking free from the Ancient Demonic Fly's swarm earlier.

However, they had only lingered for a moment longer at that place and half of their surviving force of martial warriors were now dead!

Recalling Aiden's suggestion, Tai Liu felt even more guilty. She bore at least half the responsibility for the deaths of over all the lost sect's brethrens!

If only she had been more decisive, perhaps… perhaps all of this could have been avoided.

Many cultivators glared at Juno Hian begrudgingly. If not for his actions, all of their lost brethren or half of their sect mates might not have died!

Knowing it was mainly his fault, Juno Hian didn't dare to refute them either. Feeling guilty, he coughed softly.

"[Reptilian] I-I didn't mean it either, I just wanted to let everyone get more rest."

Some disgruntled disciples could not help but laugh coldly.

"[Reptilian] Hah! So easy for you to say! More than half of our fellow disciples died here because of that remark of yours!"

"[Reptilian] T-That's because they weren't strong enough. Why did they follow us into the valley if they were afraid of death!"

"[Reptilian] Can you hear yourself now? 'Senior Brother'…" The disciple said with a mocking, cold tone. "…we're all from the same sect! How can you say something like that!"

"[Reptilian] That's enough!" Sensing that the tension was strong and that they were only going to argue more intensely, the elderly uncle hollered and stopped the commotion.

Feeling frustrated, Tai Liu raised her brows slightly and waved her hand.

"[Reptilian] Everyone, quieten down. It was my fault just now. I made the wrong decision earlier on."

She took a deep breath of air and came to Aiden's side, asking softly.

"[Reptilian] What should we do next? Can you advise?"

"[Reptilian] We can only continue our journey and try to locate the center of the valley towards the Ancient Burial Ground ruins as soon as possible. That's the only way for us to avoid the threat of all these ancient beasts in the valley." Aiden explained.

"[Reptilian] Alright."

….

Tai Liu commanded, for everyone to continue.

They didn't advance far when the fog in front of them surged. Several hundred feet away, a beautiful, azure feathered eagle was flapping its wings, speeding towards them at an extremely fast speed with deep killing intent in its eyes!

An ancient remnant beast!

After rushing for nearly two full hours in the valley, an ancient remnant beast had finally appeared once more!

Using the guise of the fog, the other cultivators did not notice any signs of the Azure Feathered Eagle at all. However, Aiden's eyes were extremely sharp and he sensed it long ago.

Before panic could set in once again in the group, suddenly a loud yell reverberated from the front of the group.

"[Reptilian] Stop!" A brilliant, dark beam of shadow shot through the air, scattering the surrounding milky fog for a brief moment.

Aiden had made a move!