Lu Li stepped back quietly. The warriors outside were in a defensive formation. Many of the injured were in the middle, tending to their wounds.
Lu Li stepped back and sat on the ground. He used the trace of Dao to sense the surroundings.
"Be careful underground!" After a moment, Lu Li had an idea. He yelled, "Barbarians are coming out from underground!"
As soon as Lu Li shouted, the ground around them began to crack. Following that, many barbarians came out. White bone arrows rained down from the sky.
Despite Lu Li's warning, many were hit at once. Thousands of barbarians came out and they all shot out white arrows at the same time. The barbarians had nowhere to run and they had to face the attacks head-on.
If divine energy could be used here, Lu Li believed that it would be a piece of cake to suppress the barbarians. They could wipe them out easily.
The Divine Power was in chaos, causing everyone's speed, attack power, and defense power to be greatly reduced. Not everyone had precious treasures.
Lu Li punched and smashed away more than a dozen white arrows.
He glanced around and his heart sank. Of the tens of thousands of people gathered here, two to three thousand had died in just one round of attacks. Including those who had died in the forest just now, the number of dead had now reached six to seven thousand. The number of casualties would probably increase.
"Let's go and attack them at close range!"
Someone shouted. Some warriors of the Fifth Tribulation dashed over. Since the barbarians were using long-range attacks, it would be better for them to get close.
"Charge!"
Many people shouted and dashed toward the barbarians. Otherwise, they would only be sitting ducks and would be killed by the white arrows.
Faced with the threat of death, all of them became frenzied and dashed forward.
This move threw the formation of the barbarians into chaos. The two sides began to fight at close range.
Some of the barbarians put away their bone bows and took out some white bone sticks.
There were also some barbarians who rushed underground, emerging from the ground in the distance and continuing to fire from afar.
The close combat attacks of the barbarians were much weaker. Many barbarians were killed, but even more cultivators were killed. Some of the barbarians kept shooting arrows from afar.
The battle lasted for the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, and it ended when Hermit Cold Mountain led his men out.
The barbarians seemed to be quite intelligent. When they saw Hermit Cold Mountain and the others rushing out, a tall barbarian roared. Then, all the other barbarians rushed into the ground and disappeared.
Hermit Cold Mountain did not bring anyone with him to chase after him. Spiritual will could not be used here, and it would be even more dangerous for him to go underground.
Scholar Cold Mountain only ordered everyone to stay where they were and treat their wounds. He also ordered them to bury the dead.
This time, it could be said that there were heavy casualties. There were originally more than 16,000 people on this side, but now there were less than 7,000 left. Nearly 10,000 people had died.
This was the first time they had clashed with the Barbarians. Moreover, the Barbarians had sent out less than 10,000 people. This was a huge defeat.
The main reason for their defeat was that they could not use too much divine power in this place. As a result, their battle prowess was severely reduced. Even Hermit Cold Mountain himself said that he could only use 30% to 40% of his battle prowess.
The barbarian's method of attack was simple, but very effective.
There were too many Fourth Tribulation Martial Artists on this side, and they were too densely packed together. The penetrative power of the small white bone arrows was also very strong. Just a random shot and someone would be hit.
Looking at the dead, the survivors were filled with misery as if they could see their future.
Needless to say, the other teams must have been attacked by the barbarians. Of the two to three hundred thousand warriors that came in, more than half would die soon and stay in this strange world forever.
The dead had passed away. The survivors had to move on. After several hours of healing, Hermit Cold Mountain ordered them to move on.
If they were to stay here, it would be more troublesome if they were ambushed by the barbarians.
Lu Li had been keeping a low profile. He didn't use too much strength even when he attacked the barbarians.
If he were to stand out too much and be targeted by the powerful barbarians, he would die a miserable death.
Lu Li had been moving forward in the middle of the army, constantly using the trace of Dao to sense in case the barbarians would sneak up on him.
Lu Li's mind was weighed down as well. He had thought that with so many powerful warriors, they could get through all the dangers easily. Little did he expect that so many would die at once.
Lu Li did not have much confidence that they could make it out alive. If everyone could use divine energy, then they could sweep across the small world as lords. Clearly, that was not possible now.
Lu Li had been to many dangerous places and had been through many dangerous situations. But he did not give up. These barbarians had not made him despair yet. He would see how things went.
The team moved on. Half a day later, they came across some forests. None of them dared to go into the forests now. There were elixirs in the forests, but was life more important than elixirs.
In the forests, the barbarians were like fish in water. Once they snuck into the leaves, it was difficult to catch them.
If they were in the wilderness, they would be much safer as long as they could sense the underground.
For the next half a day, they didn't run into any danger. No more barbarians came to attack. Most of their wounds were almost healed. They were a bit calmer now.
Another half a day later, they saw a lake. Hermit Cold Mountain thought about it and told them to set up camp here and take a break. They would discuss what to do next.
They sat with their legs crossed nearby. Many went to the lake to clean their wounds. Some even jumped into the lake, trying to vent their anger and frustration.
"Ah ~"
However, many who touched the water began to cry out in pain. The hundreds who jumped into the lake all rolled around and screamed in pain. Then, their bodies began to rot.
"There is poison in the lake!"
Everyone was shocked. Many felt lucky that they didn't go into the water. Hermit Cold Mountain pulled a long face because he was the one who gave the order to set up camp by the lake.
"This damn place …"
Lu Li was shocked as well. They must be more careful in this place. Otherwise, they wouldn't even know how they died.
Those who went into the water all turned into bones. Those who were cleaned in the water fared better. They cut off their skin and flesh in time so that the poison wouldn't corrode their bodies.
"Someone is coming!"
They sat with their legs crossed for a while. They heard footsteps coming from the distance. They checked and were relieved to make sure that they were warriors that came in together.
"Eh … it's Mad Mozi and the others. Many of them have died as well."
Soon, they could see the warriors. Someone recognized that one of them was Mad Mozi, a lord level warrior.
There used to be more than 20,000 warriors on his side. Now, there were less than 10,000 left.
Many others were injured. Some had broken limbs. Some had bloody holes on their bodies.
"We are in big trouble!"
Lu Li murmured. The barbarians were attacking from several sides. Just the first few rounds of attacks had already caused great casualties.
After a while, how many of the two or three hundred thousand warriors would be left?
Could they all make it out in the end?