The Geared Immortal

Chapter 44 - Land Devouring Worm

Chapter 44

A waving mountain horizon envelops the whole valley, with trees and rolling mountains everywhere. The valley seems to stretch forth like an endless path; this valley is called the East Straight boundary. It is a hundred miles wide boundary dividing the Cultivation world and the Beast-men. For a thousand year, the two races waged war in this valley against each other, making it thick with death Qi. But no matter how many died, lost or even win in this place, this natural border seems to truly act as a division of the natural order of things. And whichever side wins, the mountainous area seems to be a great hurdle for each nation prevent one to conquer one. They have no choice but to cross this valley as flying seems impossible to cross it because of the sharp wind high up that could kill even world nascent cultivators.

This warrants peace between the two warring factions which now lasted for hundreds of years. But peace is only temporary because as of this time a great number of beast men are marching towards the boundary near the valley.

"General Agrool, the army is prepared to cross the border of the East Straight boundary. I think the spies may have told us the truth; the death Qi in this area is far thinner than the West Straight boundary. Plus they have informed us that the humans have only built weaker walls on the other side. After we finish them here, we'll just trample those settlements and invade their empire." The soldier on the side of the man clad in red thick leather armor donned in a red cloak. The man's helmet is made of bronze and a snout of a lion can be seemed to protrude out of it with two long and sharp fangs.

The lion beast man general named Agrool nods his head which gave his confirmation. Then he signals with his hand to move forward as he began to march. And so the whole army which seems to number by 10 to 20 thousand began their march.

Inside General Agrool's mind, the Beast king explicitly commanded him to test out the defenses of the humans. If they could infiltrate the land he should move at least a few miles towards the mountains and make a stronghold there.

General Agrool knows the situation in the Beastia Empire. Thought it is a truly large empire with powerful beast men governing it their resources are truly scarce. They have sent envoys towards the humans but they seem to not head of this pleading and now their only choice is to fight just to have a portion of that fertile land.

A long time ago this was not so, as the two Empires are living in peace. Then exactly a thousand years ago the humans began a violent act against the beast empire. The story that was told at that time was that the beast king had killed the young prince of the Xi Empire who acted as an envoy. This sparks the hatred between the races which escalated from assassinations to minor skirmishes, and then to a full-blown war. This is the start of everything which has cost many lives of both humans and beast-men.

Meanwhile on the borderlines scout camp near the middle of the East Straight border. A man is monitoring atop a high tower which has the ability to see even the boundary of the beast men land. Then, the man squints his eyes and a look of suspicion appears in them. When he was about to call for his superior to confirm something, an arrow suddenly found its way to his neck. Then the man fell with a loud thud making his other team member jump in caution. But it was too late as they suddenly discovered a number of enemies appearing out of the shadows.

"Shadow concealment! You're from the Panther Assassination Squad of the beast clan?" a man which looks like the leader of the scout group uttered in disbelief.

"Hihi, you know about us, then you know what would happen next right?" a young woman suddenly said.

Looking at her figure she seems to be not of a beast-man race because she looks like a normal human except for her long black tail. On her hand is a wooden longbow which is already notched with an arrow. Upon seeing this, the scouts immediately tried to fight back as they know that this woman is here to kill them all. So they decide to put up a fight rather than die like lambs.

But before the scouting team cultivators could react, two arrows immediately found themselves in the chest of two scout members. Their leader felt cold sweat drenching his back as his danger sense warned him non-stop, it is clear that the woman in front of him would not hesitate to kill him.

"Hihi, you're the only one left. I guess I would spare you." The woman said as if feeling conflicted.

Upon hearing this, the captain of the scout's group felt hopeful in his heart. Then he slowly stood up but never left his eyes on the woman.

"Thank you…" the man said as he quickly dashed out of the small observation camp.

"Are you really going to spare him, you know that we should not let the human army be informed of our movements." A man said who suddenly appear behind the woman.

"Let me have fun okay?" The woman said as she slowly took her time in drawing an arrow.

The scout leader is now dozens of meters away as he quickly flew on a flying sword when he was able to go out of the scout camp he was in. But unlike higher level cultivators his flying speed is a little laughable, as this is due to his weak cultivation level in the core forming realm. When he was almost at a kilometer away, the woman suddenly released the arrow which flew really fast and not long pierced the scout leader's head directly.

"Everything here is done we need to go back and regroup with the army." The man behind her said.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the valley, it was all silence with no activity. The top of the walls has no visible soldiers marching round about and even the sentry towers are empty. This scene made for a deserted post as though everyone in this border seems to have withdrawn back towards the mountain.

As the sun is almost setting the border looks gloomy as either this post is abandoned or that there is a hidden plan brewing deep within this area as this place is under the control of the 2nd prince, Prince Li Yan Xi or what commonly known in the army as the Dragon commander.

…

At this time near the boundary of the Haven Town a huge beast which looks like a small mountain has emerged. In front of the beast is a young man who was already unable to control himself in fear and pee his pants. The soldiers on his side held their weapons but it is clear that they too are afraid as their hands are shaking continuously with some rattling sound every now and then.

This is the 4th prince of the Er kingdom, Prince Nie Er. In front of him is the huge mouth of the worm-like creature, which, with only its breathing causes all the humans around it felt like suffocating.

"This is bad, that is a Land Devouring Worm. We should let everyone escape this area, as even I would have a hard time fighting against this kind of level 5 beasts." Master Ju said as he hovered through the air looking at the beast with Elder Ao and Elder Lu Hao Duang.

The two elders just nod their head and immediately relayed Master Ju's orders. Making everyone in the camp pack up their things and immediately move away from the supposed battle area. Unknown to them there are two silhouettes located behind the worm, where two young women stood rooted to the ground. Their body was stiff and their eyes looked moist which can be seen on the one without the mask. But the one with the mask had her shoulder suddenly started shaking which signifies that she is already unable to control her emotions.

The two are Qin Lou and Susu Ling and they saw what had happened. When Shin Jiao was attacked in his tent the two accidentally heard something and wanted to check it out. When they went out of their tent they saw a figure rushed out of Shin Jiao's tent like a shadow.

This made their heart become wary and a foreboding feeling filled them with a sense of dread. Then they quickly rushed inside Shin Jiao's tent and saw the blood on the floor without a body. The two had a tacit understanding and immediately rushed out trying to find the shadow they saw earlier. With the help of Qin Lou's eye cover, they were able to find traces and went in the right direction.

Then they saw the body wrapped in a blanket and the face far too clearly making Qin Lou gripped her heart in pain. She had viewed Shin Jiao with respect and truly considered him as a true friend. Upon seeing her friend died in front of her made her freeze in shock. She never would have thought that he who seem too strong and a secretive person would die just like that. Then Shin Jiao's image and his goggles played in her eyes over and over again as her eyes started to tear up.

At the same time, Susu Ling also felt stifled. Though she didn't have that close of a relationship with Shin Jiao still she also considered him as a friend. Because of their constant bantering and his bullying, she would have to admit that it made her feel his presence as something she wanted in her boring life. He was the first male friend she had who would not harbor any thoughts of making a move on her because of her beauty or background. And seeing him die just like that made her heart hurt with an unknown reason.

As the two women are unable to move in shock nobody had actually noticed them.

"Young prince it's better if you walk away from this place as it is far too dangerous for you to be here." An elderly voice said behind the 4th prince of Er which startled him and the guards.

When they turn around they saw Master Ju behind them who leisurely landed on the ground. Then he looks at the huge beast in front and heaves a sigh of exasperation. He knows that he might lose a layer of skin in fighting the mountain like creature in front of him, but he didn't mind. All he needs is to buy the people he is with time so that they could enter the town and inform the other higher level cultivators and ask for back-up.

"Thank you, master Ju. You must kill this beast. It… it ate a mortal servant. I think it was the one with Mistress Susu Ling and her friend." Prince Nie Er said as he immediately thinks of something.

"What? This... that boy… are you sure? Sigh… this is truly a waste of talent." Master Ju said in exasperation.

"What do you mean by that Master Ju? Isn't he just a mere mortal servant?" Prince Nie Er asked in confusion.

"He might be a mortal but with his talent in making formation arrays, your Er kingdom could have another layer of protection. As far as I know, if that boy could only cultivate he could create at least level 4 or even level 5 formation arrays." Master Ju said as if seeing the possible future of Shin Jiao with sadness, he didn't hide this information as he heard that Shin Jiao was already dead.

"But alas, he is dead... Young Prince, go now! I'll take care of this beast." Master Ju said.

When Prince Nie Er heard this his heart felt a little angered. He didn't expect that he could have had a future prospect and could be his greatest contribution to his father, but it all went to waste because of him following the command of a wasted Prince. As a prince, he knows that formation expert in the Er Kingdom can only be counted in two hands. And the highest they had is only a level 2 formation array expert which is now serving under his father's command. And because of that expert, they would always win battles after battles against the beast's tide.

With a heavy heart, Prince Nie Er stood up and began to move with the soldiers. But when they started to move forwards the Land Devouring Worm suddenly made a loud shriek as look at their group.

"Run! Don't stop! I'll try to stop the beast, so go! Now!" Master Ju shouted as he quickly made some hand signals and took out a bunch of formation flags.

As an array expert, master Ju is truly proficient in making battle arrays, especially attacking arrays. And in one quick move, he was able to make a fire attacking array in front of him facing the huge beast. When the beast moved as it wants to jump towards Prince Nie Er, the array activated and attacked the Land Devouring Worm.

Growwlll!

The huge worm howled in pain as its body began to be covered with fire. Prince Nie Er took this chance and immediately flew away making the worm truly angry. Although it doesn't have any eyes still through it growls its clearly pissed at the humans who escaped. Then it suddenly shifted its attention to the single man who is attacking it. But before it could react it suddenly felt some pain from its tail.

And there it noticed two small figures attacking it over and over. Although the damage is insignificant, it is still enough for it to feel a little bit of pain like an ant bite. Then it waved its tail trying to hit the two insects from behind it.

Master Ju noticed the Land Devouring Worm's actions and felt a little confused. He didn't know what's happening so he used his spirit sense and was dumbfounded. He can see Susu Ling and Qin Lou madly attacking the worm's tail. But before he could react and save them the worm did something outrageous, its head suddenly disappears.

Meanwhile, while these things are happening Shin Jiao is watching stealthily from a tree. He actually noticed the two women attacking the tail and wanted to jump out and stop them but he saw master Ju. He is unable to decide whether to stop the two women and may expose his true identity to master Ju and risk it all or just watch and jumped out in case of any danger. But while he is undecided something that he didn't expect happen which would remind Shin Jiao once again of the unpredictability of this world.

When the worm's head disappear it actually transferred to its tail.. Then suddenly with a huge suction, it made the two women float in the air and towards its huge gaping mouth.