Chapter 297: Chaos of War

The vehicle moved at the grueling speed of thirty kilometers per hour.

It took them over four hours to shakily traverse the distance of over a hundred kilometers. And that was only because of the relatively good condition of the vehicle. Had it been any other vehicle, it would've broken down in minutes.

Qiao Yuanshan explained to Li Pin, "Up ahead is Gingko Village, situated right at Xiangye's borders. Another twenty kilometers past Gingko Village, and we'll reach the Ancient Beastfolk Battlefield's borders. This battlefield stretches over three hundred kilometers. This might not seem large, but there is a massive world underneath the surface. We might already be above the underground region of the Ancient Beastfolk Battlefield."

Li Pin nodded, muttering, "An underground world...."

Demonic creatures often liked to burrow underground, deliberately creating vast underground worlds.

Research from the Six Extremities, such as from Tianyuan and Great Shang, showed that when the astral energy released by the Astral God filled the starry sky, Gaia was also exposed to it. Since Gaia itself had a natural cycle, this astral energy would sink into the land, condensing within its core due to cosmic gravitational pull and celestial movements.

Demonic creatures and ferocious beasts would delve deeper underground. They did this not only to avoid humans, but to be closer to this source of astral energy.

Qiao Yuanshan briefed Li Pin on precautions for the Ancient Beastfolk Battlefield, and Li Pin listened attentively.

Although Qiao Yuanshan revealed that the Skeleton Demons in the Ancient Beastfolk Battlefield were only equivalent to mid-tier ferocious beasts—similar to an official Astral Cultivator—Li Pin wouldn't let his guard down even then.

In the wilderness, anything could happen.

Li Pin had been listening and taking in the information Qiao Yuanshan shared when he suddenly noticed something unusual and looked into the distance. "Something seems off."

Qiao Yuanshan also looked up. "Hmmm?"

As the vehicle continued moving forward, the group saw remnants of flames and thick smoke rising slowly into the sky.

"What happened!?" Qiao Yuanshan's heart tightened. "Stop the car!"

He said to Li Pin, "Something must have happened in Gingko Village. I'll go check."

"I'll go with you," Li Pin said.

The two left the driver and assistant behind and made their way over, restraining their energy and moving at a speed nearly matching the vehicle. As they closed in on Gingko Village, charred thatched houses and buildings came into view.

The village was eerily silent.

When they reached the village entrance, Qiao Yuanshan suddenly realized something and quickly followed the scent of blood to a nearly dry river embankment.

When Li Pin arrived, he heard someone's furious roar. "Bastards!!"

He looked toward the embankment.

It was filled with hundreds of corpses—adults, children, elderly, women....

Blood mixed with the nearly dried river water, and a dense stench of blood assaulted their nostrils.

It seemed they hadn't been dead long, and with the Great Moon being in a tropical climate, the high temperatures attracted swarms of mosquitoes to the corpse pile, creating an unbearable stench.

Li Pin crouched down and examined some bullet casings scattered on the embankment.

Clearly, these people had been herded into the embankment and shot down. Perhaps a few had tried to escape, only to be killed and discarded into the dried river.

Qiao Yuanshun was visibly furious. "Kanyun Country! It must be Kanyun Country's Hyena Squad! Half a year ago.... they massacred a village in Xiangshi Territory... And now, six months later, they crossed Xiangshi Territory and attacked our Xiangye Territory!"

"Massacring a village... Won't such an act be condemned internationally?" Li Pin asked.

"Condemned internationally?" Qiao Yunshan sighed painfully. "With so many major issues in the world, who would care about the forgotten land of Great Moon Country? Which prominent figures would speak for us? Those lofty rulers on this land only care about how much profit they can gain here. They don't care about the lives of ordinary people."

Li Pin remained silent, glancing at the corpses piled up. There were hundreds of them.

It was one thing to be killed by ferocious beasts or demonic creatures. After all, in a war between races, it was the survival of the fittest.

But these people had been slaughtered by people of their own race....

Even though Li Pin himself had taken lives over the years, this massacre, involving hundreds of unarmed civilians... was new. It left him a little unsettled.

Qiao Yuanshun slumped down in resignation and glanced at Li Pin. "Martial Saint Li, I must quickly return to report this matter. As for the matter of guiding you to the Ancient Beastfolk Battlefield..."

"It's just a few dozen kilometers away. I can go there myself," Li Pin replied.

Qiao Yunshan nodded.

At this moment, gunshots echoed from the distant mountains.

The shooting would stop for a moment before continuing again. From the sound of it, the people firing were heading in Li Pin and Qiao Yunshan’s direction.

Li Pin and Qiao Yunshan exchanged glances before quickly hiding in a nearby bush.

Soon, Li Pin heard people shouting strange words from afar in a language he didn't understand, and three armed pickup trucks sped into the village. They fired shots indiscriminately again as if trying to attract attention to something.

After that, the three trucks sped away as fast as they could.

"Indeed, it's the Hyena Squad from Kanyun Country!" hissed Qiao Yunshan, his voice icy as he watched the three trucks disappear.

If not for the fact that each truck was equipped with a machine gun and most of the soldiers carried rifles, he would have charged in and tried to leave them all here. Given that the enemies were fully armed... even a Martial Saint like him would certainly die charging in like that.

Within minutes of the trucks leaving, over a dozen tall figures came running from a distance.

Li Pin's eyes narrowed.

"Skeleton Demons!" Qiao Yunshan gasped.

In front of Li Pin were fourteen large monsters, each between two to two and a half meters tall, made entirely of white bones. Yet they maintained a human shape, carrying weapons like battle axes and hammers. Their chests glowed with a bluish flame, burning ceaselessly like a power source.

While ferocious beasts could be regarded as mutated animals, demonic creatures weren't, as they often defied human understanding, hence the name "demonic creatures."

These Skeleton Demons were exactly demonic creatures that had been attracted by the sound of the gunshots from earlier.

The Skeleton Demons emitted low growls when they didn't spot any humans. Soon, they were drawn to the corpses on the riverbank and moved toward them.

Qiao Yuanshan quickly realized what the people from earlier were intending to do. "They plan to use these demonic creatures to clean up the battlefield, creating the illusion that demonic creatures attacked the village!"

"What use is that?" Li Pin asked.

There were already so many shell casings scattered on the ground.

Qiao Yunshan was silent. In the end, he shook his head and looked in a certain direction. "It's not for us to decide whether it's effective, but for those big shots."

At this moment, Li Pin stood up.

He had come to test the strength of these demonic creatures, to see if they could help improve his martial skills. Now they had been lured out of the Ancient Beastfolk Battlefield, saving him a trip of several dozen kilometers.

Qian Yunshan panicked a little when he saw Li Pin stand up. He hastily reminded him, "Martial Saint Li, be car—"

But before he could finish speaking, Li Pin had already rushed out.

With a burst of force beneath his feet, he quickly reached his peak speed in a few strides.

The closest Skeleton Demon reacted instantly, its mouth opening and closing as it emitted a silent shout. Its blue eyes blazing, it raised its war hammer high.

Then... nothing.

As Li Pin approached the Skeleton Demon, his speed surged, propelled by the Nine Heavens Kunpeng technique. He darted toward the Skeleton Demon holding up its war hammer, thrusting his greatsword fiercely into the blue flame blazing in its chest.

Boom!

Force erupted.

The Skeleton Demon's chest shattered under the Aura Force unleashed by Li Pin's sword.

After landing the hit, Li Pin drew the sword and leaped back.

Finally, the Skeleton Demon's war hammer came crashing down, but it had no target, hitting nothing but air.

The blue flame at the center of the Skeleton Demon's chest extinguished, and the Skeleton Demon began to tremble violently.

Suddenly, a fire erupted and rapidly spread across its entire frame. In just seconds, the demonic creature was reduced to ashes.

Qiao Yuanshan stood in place, paralyzed and stunned. His eyes were filled with disbelief.

A formidable Skeleton Demon, which would typically take two or three Martial Saints working together to defeat, had died just like that?

This was only the beginning.

Li Pin didn't show any signs of retreat after defeating the Skeleton Demon. He dashed ahead once more. This time, he set his sights on a Skeleton Warrior wielding a massive battle axe.

The Skeleton Warrior noticed him too. Standing nearly 2.4 meters tall with a two-meter-long axe, it charged forward like an oncoming tank.

The force of its charge rivaled that of a Crimson-Tooth Tiger or a Beastfolk Warrior.

Li Pin didn't dodge. He charged head-on, facing the towering Skeleton Demon.

The two accelerated before meeting in a direct, unembellished clash.

Boom!

Centered around Li Pin and the Skeleton Warrior, a burst of force whipped up a gust of wind, kicking up dust and scattering bits of debris in all directions.

Qiao Yuanshan's eyes almost popped out from shock.

He met a Skeleton Warrior head-on and even pushed it back?!

Li Pin's greatsword struck again, piercing through the layers of bone that protected the blue flame in the Skeleton Warrior's chest and swiftly killing it.

This sight left Qiao Yuanshen appalled. "Th-this can't be. He can't be a martial artist! A Martial Saint can't take on a mid-tier monster in direct combat!"

Directly battling a mid-tier demonic creature! Wasn't that something only Astral Cultivators could do?!

Martial Saint Li... he....

"Weak." Li Pin remarked, somewhat disappointed. "They aren't even worthy of me using the Blood-Seething Secret Art."

He shouldn't have expected much from mid-tier demonic creatures, equivalent to a standard Astral Cultivator.

"Well, let's finish off these skeletons quickly and check out the cave overrun by Zombies and Majins."