Dark Blood Path

Chapter 67: Setting Off

More than a hundred individuals of all genders and ages, tall, short, fat, and thin, lined up neatly in three rows before the entrance of the underground karst cave, each carrying a massive backpack with different weapons they were skilled at handling as they fastened a saw-bladed fruit knife to their legs.

They wore tailored raincoats and long overshoes, and their faces were smeared with a particular substance to protect them from the humidity as well as to provide camouflage. At the same time, they were carrying daggers and a short rope that ran around their waists. Although their whole garb was unusual, their imposing demeanor was reminiscent to that of Special Forces.

People in different teams had different equipment.

His big round belly bulging out, Wang Chao stood up with a huge mace in hand and shouted loudly, Reporting to the leader, the Tiger team has assembled!

Jin Shi immediately stood up, his face dyed black, and his bright forehead as well. Holding a shield in his left hand and a hammer in his right, his body stood like an iron pole, and his frame was like a bell, Reporting to the leader, the Bear team has assembled!

Jiang Xiaowen was wearing a long-sleeved shirt underneath her leather armor and tight jeans on her lower body. Her round buttocks were fully outlined. Her light purple hair was tied into a fresh ponytail. Holding a spear in her hand, Jiang Xiaowen walked forward with a heroic spirit. Shouting loudly, with a glossy and sweet voice, Reporting to the leader, the Hawks have also all arrived!

Xiao Yu wore black scale armor on his upper body, green leather pants on his lower body, and was carrying an extra-large backpack. Standing before the three rows of the Tiger, Bear, and Hawks teams, he glanced at this batch of individuals, examining their fresh looks as he nodded in satisfaction. His patient teaching these past few days had not been in vain. The training received by the three teams largely differed, all in the hope of making the greatest use of their respective strengths.

Of course, he would never have imagined that the Tiger, Bear, and Hawk teams he selected and founded on a whim would one day have a significant impact on the later generations.

Du Tao came forward with eight of his subordinates and informed Xiao Yu: The supplies have been transferred, and basically everything has been brought over; we are ready to set off at any moment.

mhmm, alright. Xiao Yu turned his head and glanced at the crowd; finding that most of them had expressions of reluctance on their faces, he spoke, We have lived here for more than two months. Everyone may already regard this place as home. Still, I want you to understand that if you are satisfied with the status quo and dont think about improving, you will eventually be eliminated. Remember this: no region in this world can be considered a safe haven. Rights and status do not warrant mediocrity. Its a harsh world we live in, but only for the weak. When you attain a certain height, you will find this world to be wonderful. So grab your weapons and struggle alongside me to become the mightiest force this continent has ever seen!

Wang Chao was the first to shout, Lets follow the leader and get out of this forest!

Lets get out of the forest!

Everyone shouted excitedly.

Xiao Yu raised his arm, and a flaming ball quickly condensed in the palm of his hand. He flicked it lightly and shot it into the caves entrance.

Boom!

A major quake shook the ground; the low mountain trembled, and a large number of cracks spread all over it. A violent air flow surged out from the entrance, and numerous stones tumbled down, quickly closing the cave as a series of crashes rang out in everyones ears.

Xiao Yus expression was indifferent; he waved his hand lightly, turned around, and said, Lets go!

Everyone gave one last glance at the collapsed cave with a hint of disappointment before turning away and silently following Xiao Yu down the road. A spark of determination flashed through their eyes, and they followed his movements with firm footsteps.

From this moment onward, the adaptation phase was truly over.

Life on the continent of chaos had only just begun!

Xiao Yu did not fool anyone; everyones fighting power had largely grown from the beginning, and there were few first-order creatures left in the forest. If they remained here, they could live a comfortable and peaceful life for a year or two, but their strength would stagnate, making any kind of progress unlikely.

Then a few months later, when the energy of the underground dark world began to seep out little by little, the monsters in the forest would be gradually demonized by the dark power, turning into creatures ten times more terrifying than they were currently. At that time, the people who remained would definitely be unable to contend against them.

Even if they somehow survived; a few years later, the dark race of the underground world will pour out from the fissures in the earth, and the forest will turn into a mere playground and base camp for the demons at that time.

The survival of the whole human race would be seriously threatened, and those who remained in the forest would not have a chance of making it out alive.

Even if they escaped from the forest by a stroke of luck, at that time, their strength would already be far behind that of the humans who braved the dangers and set out on their own, and they would lack a firm foothold.

One hundred and sixty-one people all set out; the Tiger squad stood in the front, the Bear squad in the rear, and the Hawk squad was scattered around, responsible for scouting and monitoring the surroundings. Du Taos command unit was located in the heart of the entire team; that way, the allocation of manpower could be mobilized according to the immediate situation.

Not long after leaving the cave, everyone encountered their first wave of monsters.

Some of the Hawks on the left side were the first to spot these creatures, making quite the ruckus. The members of the Hawk team nearby reacted quickly, and they all moved closer to eradicate the monsters with lightning speed. These were just a group of relatively strong zero-order monsters, while each of the Hawks was an elementary warrior with Agility Enhancement talent. As a result, they were all wiped out before they could break through the encirclement. The Tigers and Bears barely got a glimpse of the creatures.

Everyone ventured deeper into the woods, encountering intermittent creatures that fled before they started fighting. All the way down, they met no surprise or danger. Everyones strength was not weak, and their marching pace was good. By noon, they had traveled more than forty miles away from the cave. They chose a relatively spacious place to stop for a short rest, and after filling their stomachs, they continued on their way. When darkness fell, they had already traveled over a hundred miles from the cave.

From their morning departure until the evening, they spent at most ten hours on the road, stopped for lunch, and covered 10 miles per hour without any major incident, and despite the harsh terrain, they had made excellent progress. Their pace was remarkable even amid the complex and changing landscape of the forest, not to mention on flat fields.

Under the cloak of darkness, the whole forest went silent. Only the faint buzzing of insects and the roars of one or two beasts could be heard from unknown, distant places.

Xiao Yu chose a low-lying land suitable for camping in the wild and called on everyone to cut down all the surrounding trees to widen their field of vision and prevent sneak attacks. Five to six bonfires were kindled, and the people finally settled down, removed their galoshes, and rubbed their sore feet.

At this time, Sun Dazhu, the renowned cook and vice-leader of the Bears served bowls of delicious mushroom, meat, and egg soup. Everyone was weary and hungry after a full day of walking. Hence, this bowl of delicious soup with its mouthwatering aroma almost caused everyone to forget their exhaustion and enjoy the moment.

A bears carcass was brought up, and many individuals skillfully scraped off its fur, sliced it into small chunks, coated it with oil and salt, and cooked it on skewers. While a few skilled Hawk Scouts were sent to guard the area while the remainder rested in peace.

We have arrived at this point. Du Tao held the map drawn by Xiao Yu in his hand and explained, Based on our current pace, it may take us a month to get out of the forest. After all, more than ten dangerous areas you marked on the map stand in our way. One of them is the swamp woodland well be traveling through tomorrow.

Xiao Yu replied: Based on our strength, there is no place in this forest that can be difficult for us to live in, but we must not be careless. After all, the forest is vast and packed with fearsome beasts. If we are not cautious, we may encounter terrifying creatures like the ogre warriors.

At this moment, a Hawk team member in front shouted aggressively, Be careful, there are monsters!

This voice immediately alerted the crowd, and everyone picked up their weapons and stood on guard while the Bear team quickly spread out, taking a defensive position. There was a loud sound of fighting up ahead, and it looked like a few Hawks who were on guard watch duty had already engaged the monsters.

Du Tao jerked up immediately before hastily giving out a series of orders, The Bears form an iron barrel formation; Wang Chao, lead some people to face the enemy, and mention for the Hawks to retreat first.

The people gathering around the bonfires finally saw the monsters appearance. It was a creature with a distinct appearance. Its body was somewhat similar to that of a human, but there was a layer of hair on the surface of its skin. Its most unusual feature was the dog head attached to its neck. These weird creatures moved quickly and emerged from all directions, their shadows swaying in the dark night, and it was difficult to distinguish their numbers for a while.

This creature was a kobold monster, quite powerful, standing at the peak stage of the zero-order level. An ordinary elementary warrior would find it hard to deal with two to three of them simultaneously.

Following whimper sounds, a Kobold leader with elementary strength led a swarm of kobolds, brandishing a long rusty knife and rushing to murder the humans.

Yun Yun stood far away, yet still shot a rocket-like arrow that formed a fist-sized hole in the monsters chest. Her slender fingers pulled the bowstring repeatedly, and the projectiles, with their astonishing power, drew sparkling trajectories in the night sky, shooting and killing five to six kobolds one after another.

There was a bustle of figures in the forest, and kobold monsters rushed out one by one. They were quite nimble, jumping back and forth between the tree trunks, their shadows everywhere, making her unsure which one to attack first.

With a howl, several kobolds plummeted from the sky, hacking at Yun Yun with the long knives in their hands. Yun Yuns melee combat skills were lacking, and it was quite dangerous for her if the enemies got too close. Fortunately, the Hawk watch guards stood around her as they drew their weapons to repel all incoming monsters.

You go back first!

A dozen members of the Tiger team led by Wang Chao arrived at that moment; however, in the face of the swarm, the latter didnt even bother to use his rampage skill. Instead, he simply swung his huge mace across the air, creating a violent wind, before the two frontmost kobolds succumbed instantly, getting smashed into meat paste on the spot, and the flesh and blood got strewn all over the sky.

The pressure on Yunyun was substantially alleviated following the arrival of the Tiger team, and she immediately led her squad back into the Bear teams protection ring. The kobolds launched surprise attacks from all over the campground at turns, but the Bear teams iron barrel formation kept them at bay. All were blocked outside as they couldnt breach in.

After a few minutes, the kobolds had left dozens of corpses without causing a single casualty on the human side.

Wang Chao was wearing a big raincoat covered with bloody and mangles pieces of flesh as he came back to report: Hahaha These creatures are so weak. This fat master has wiped out most of them, though some have escaped. Im afraid they will come to harass us again; should I hunt them down?

Du Tao had seen the kobolds might; none were weak, and there were quite a lot of them. Five kobold leaders in the low and middle stages of the elementary level were amongst this swarm. Yet, such a large group of monsters with good fighting power did not bring any casualties to the team; this gave him a good reason to believe that they could take on the forest.

Part of this is still due to the clear division of work among the three teams and the fast response to danger.

No need; they are of no threat. If you actually rush to chase them, you may encounter real danger. Xiao Yu returned from the woods and explained, Kobolds are monsters that dwell in packs, so there should be a lair nearby.