The battle lasted for four hours. In the end, both sides suffered heavy casualties. The outsiders retreated.
Over ten thousand barbarians were killed. Lu Li's side only had about two thousand left. If it were not for the fact that the barbarians suffered heavy casualties, the barbarians would have continued their pursuit.
The main reason why the barbarians suffered heavy casualties was Recluse Cold Mountain alone!
Recluse Cold Mountain alone killed six or seven thousand barbarians. Of the six powerful barbarians, Recluse Cold Mountain killed three. Then, instead of defending, Recluse Cold Mountain chose to attack. He dashed into the group of barbarians and began his massacre.
Even though Recluse Cold Mountain was strong, his side still suffered heavy casualties.
It was because there were too many barbarians. It was hard to guard against them.
Their divine energy was messed up. Their abilities were compromised. They could not even use their artifacts to the fullest extent.
Only two thousand survived because the warriors of the Fifth Tribulation were ferocious. Those warriors of the Fifth Tribulation did not hold back. They used their artifacts to fend off many attacks.
Lu Li used his artifact as well. He took out his flying sword.
He did not use the Relic iron because it would be pointless. He could not use it too many times.
He did not use the horn either. He was afraid that once he used it, other powerful warriors would covet it. There were many warriors of the Fifth Tribulation here. On the surface, Lu Li was only a warrior of the Fourth Tribulation. Once he used the horn, he would be targeted.
The flying sword was a good artifact. It was not particularly powerful but it was a fragment of a Sovereign Weapon that had been refined for many years. It was more powerful and complete than regular fragments.
The flying sword danced around, shielding Lu Li from many white arrows and killing some barbarians.
In this way, Lu Li could protect himself and those around him without giving himself away.
They retreated for thousands of miles before the barbarians could catch up with them. Many were covered in blood and some were injured. Morale was low.
At first, there were more than sixteen thousand. Now, there were only two thousand left. Fourteen thousand of them would stay in this land forever. As time went on, more would pass away.
They set up camp near a hill. Hermit Cold Mountain sat in a corner by himself. Lu Li used the trace of Dao to sense and found that Hermit Cold Mountain was injured, and quite badly.
He had a much better impression of Cold Mountain Hermit. He had never revealed anything, and the others probably did not know that he was injured.
He had killed so many barbarians by himself, yet he did not tell anyone that he was injured. Instead, he silently healed himself.
Lu Li thought about it for a while. He walked over to Recluse Cold Mountain. The ring on his hand glowed as he took out some herbs. He handed them over and said, "Recluse Cold Mountain, this is a small token of my appreciation."
Recluse Cold Mountain opened his eyes and looked at Lu Li in surprise. He waved his hand and said, "I have enough elixirs. Young man, what is your name?"
Lu Li thought about it. Cupping his fists, Lu Li said, "My name is Lu Li!"
"How thoughtful of you!"
Hermit Cold Mountain nodded slightly. Then, he thought about it and said, "Your real battle prowess shouldn't be what you have shown on the surface, right?
You cultivate a Supreme Divine Body? "
Lu Li was not surprised that Recluse Cold Mountain could tell this. He nodded and said, "You have sharp eyes."
"As a matter of fact, you don't have to hide your strength!"
Recluse Cold Mountain said, "As long as you show your strength, others will respect you. Here, we are all depending on each other. We won't have any bad intentions. Also, as long as I am alive, nobody will dare to do anything to you. Do you understand?"
"Yes!"
Lu Li cupped his fists and stepped back. He sat down to cultivate by himself.
After a day of rest, many of them had recovered. There were fewer of them, but their combat abilities were not weakened. Not many of their powerful warriors had died.
"Let's go!"
Recluse Cold Mountain should have recovered by now. He waved his hand and the others followed him in another direction. Liu had people spread out to check the surroundings in case of ambush.
Everyone was confused. They didn't know where to go, where was the safest place, or when the barbarians would strike.
Now, they had to go wherever they could and see if they could find an exit.
After running for more than eight hours, they encountered a small team of only three hundred people. When that team saw them, they immediately took the initiative to join them. Their team originally had more than four thousand people, but now there were only three hundred people left.
That being said, the three hundred warriors were all elites. The weakest among them was at the peak of the Fourth Tribulation Realm. They were welcomed. It was good to have powerful warriors join them. Only by working together could they have a greater chance of survival.
Half a day later, the warriors found a valley. The valley was not large but there were no barbarians living in it.
"A valley?"
Recluse Cold Mountain stopped. He thought about it and said, "How about this?
You can go into the valley and cultivate for a while. I will build some divine patterns that should be able to keep you safe. I will go and explore the world on my own. "
Recluse Cold Mountain's words made them happy and worried at the same time. They were happy because if what Recluse Cold Mountain said was true, then they would be much safer.
He could peacefully cultivate in the valley for a period of time while waiting for Hermit Cold Mountain to investigate the situation.
They were worried because what if the divine patterns Recluse Cold Mountain built were not strong enough?
What if the barbarians could break through the divine patterns and break into the valley? Without Recluse Cold Mountain here, they would be in a miserable state.
Someone expressed his concern in a vague way. Recluse Cold Mountain said, "I will build a formation of defense and a formation of illusion. Theoretically speaking, the barbarians' souls are not strong enough to see through the formation. Of course, I cannot guarantee anything. Think about it yourselves.
If you are worried, you can come with me. But only warriors at the peak of the Fifth Tribulation Realm. "
Since Recluse Cold Mountain had said so, the others naturally agreed.
Recluse Cold Mountain led them into the valley and began to build.
Lu Li observed carefully. This was a divine pattern built by a lord. There must be something to learn.
Recluse Cold Mountain built the divine patterns quickly and skillfully. Lu Li was dazzled. But he used the trace of Great Dao to record the steps.
Recluse Cold Mountain spent two hours and built two divine patterns, one for defense and the other for illusion. Lu Li nodded to himself.
At the very least, in terms of divine patterns, Recluse Cold Mountain was better than Blood Fairy. Of course, Blood Fairy must be better at deciphering divine patterns.
Lu Li told Blood Fairy about Hermit Cold Mountain's methods. After a while, Blood Fairy said, "Well, Hermit Cold Mountain is very skilled in Divine Inscriptions. Give me the diagrams of the two Divine Inscriptions. I want to study them."
Lu Li used the trace of Great Dao to check and gave the two diagrams to Blood Fairy.
On the other side, Recluse Cold Mountain checked and nodded. "Okay, it is done. Stay in there and don't come out. If I am right, the barbarians will not be able to sense you and they will not be able to break this plaza."