Aoyang: The Reborn Alchemist Seeks Knowledge [Xianxia]

Baiyun shut the textbook in his hand with a frown and looked up.

Deafening screeches began to fill the air, the calls of the beast growing louder and louder. Most of the disciples seemed unphased, but Mohei winced and reflexively reached to cover his ears.

"The main event is about to start." Ying Shi said as he stood up. "Finish the last of your food and prepare to move out immediately!"

"Yes!" the disciples shouted.

Ying Shi reached into his bag and began handing out metal helmets and neck guards to each of the disciples. They wordlessly put on the equipment, their eyes hidden by large crystal visors.

Mohei seemed to be struggling to put his on, but Jingfeng helped him out.

Baiyun followed suit and wore a helmet as well, but he glanced at Ying Shi doubtfully.

"Are there budget constraints somehow?" he asked.

"Full sets of armour will only hamper mobility. As long as the attack isn't fatal, we can treat the wounds easily." Ying Shi said. "Besides, the aerial beasts rarely attack those on the ground. If you're still worried however, I can lend you a full suit of armour. You are the only one here without cultivation after all."

Complacent as usual...

"I'll take the armour." Baiyun said.

Ying Shi passed each piece of the set over, and he got to work piecing them together like puzzle pieces, slotting straps into the right place with clicks. Two minutes later, he was fully suited.

"If it's too much for you, inform me." Ying Shi said, looking bemused by the armoured silhouette.

"I'll be fine..." Baiyun grumbled.

His slightly awkward waddles didn't convey that however. Full armour wasn't meant to hinder movement much, but it was clear the suit had been designed for a qi-gathering cultivator and was far heavier than mortal armour.

Baiyun's newfound physical strength was more than enough to move comfortably despite the weight, but his hampered coordination made it harder to walk straight.

He didn't mind however. It could serve as an excuse for his awkward movements and double as training. Mohei was quick to point out his walking was off earlier, after all.

If he was able to move naturally despite the weight, it should be easy for him to regain a semblance of his former gait.

"Take this as well, it will let you leave the formation freely."

Ying Shi passed Baiyun a coin engraved with seals, the key of the formation. They were aptly known as Formation Coins.

Baiyun nodded in thanks, following the other disciples as they marched out of the formation.

At once, he could feel the shift in the atmosphere.

The graceful dance of the beasts had ended, replaced by brutish violent swoops. More and more corpses hit the ground, feathers and scales mixing into the storm of pink petals.

Further in the distance, loud skittering erupted from the Twisted Forest, the sound of countless spiny legs overlapping. More than 10,000 centipedes had clamoured atop the trees, guarding the forest with their lives!

But the golden-black glints of the warrior centipedes stole the show. They perched atop the cocoons of the claw-like trees, rearing on their hind legs and snapping their mandibles threateningly. 5 rows of translucent oval wings cracked their carapaces, erupting like grass through concrete.

Loud screeches and roars from the beasts overlapped as they responded to the warning calls of the centipedes. Baiyun could feel the tremors of the deafening cries through his very body.

The disciples however remained calm. Only Mohei seemed distressed, but he composed himself as best as he could, not willing to lose face.

A standoff had begun, the beasts and the centipedes eyeing each other coldly. The disciples stared above in silence, watching with bated breath.

Each second felt like a minute as they watched, as if a volcano would erupt at any moment. The cries of the beasts quietened down for a moment, and there was silence.

...

A single twitch stole the show.

From the Twisted Forest, a single cocoon began to writhe. It shook and pulsed like a beating heart, the grotesque movements of a creature within growing more and more frantic. Until finally, it erupted into a shower of pink petals!

An enormous seed as tall as Baiyun shot out, sprouting wings akin to dandelion fluff. Clinging onto its bottom for dear life was a dainty centipede, its shell a mesmerising carapace of purple crystal.

The first of the queen larvae had emerged, and the eyes of the beasts grew frenzied!

"CRRRAAAAAW!"

A piercing cry shot through the air and drowned out all sound, briefly dazing the other beasts. Before they could react, a blur of red shot towards the larvae!

It was crow with a regal crown of red feathers atop its head, the precious seed grasped tightly within its talons. It lifted its head high in the air haughtily and let out a few raspy caws, as if laughing mockingly.

The little queen centipede chomped furiously onto its legs, but its mandibles slid off as if it were gnawing on steel.

Hundreds of flying beasts let out roars of fury, the centipedes no less agitated! Killing intent suffocated the air as hundreds from both factions charged mercilessly towards the crow. Further behind, a flurry of elemental spells materialised as the spellcasting beasts unleashed a volley of every element. Even as several charging beasts were eviscerated by friendly fire, they held nothing back.

But the crow merely raised its head in disdain, ducking and weaving amidst the chaos. It was as if it could see the best path through the storm of frenzied beasts and magic; and what few attacks it couldn't evade merely glanced off its feathers harmlessly as if it were merely an autumn shower.

It's disdain seemed to ooze into the air, furthering the anger of the beasts and centipedes!

But its arrogant demeanour suddenly froze as its feathers stood on their ends. Cold glints shone from the eyes of the warrior centipedes as metal spikes condensed, spiralling out of the moulded shells that clung to their bodies.

Countless metal spikes shot in every direction, filling the air with a silver rain of death! Loud cries of fear filled the air as the spirit beasts realised far too late, hundreds were skewered by the barrage and falling to the ground as corpses.

The crow let out a caw, flapping its wings and shedding dark-red feathers that floated in the air. It did its best to weave between spikes and deflect them with its floating feathers, but it couldn't avoid all of them.

Several spikes pierced its body, but it had twisted its body to minimise damage to its vitals.

The disciples below watched in horror.

"Inconceivable." Ying Shi mouthed. "That warrior was not the only one..."

Baiyun was just as stunned. How had all the warriors centipedes learnt that powerful move? It shouldn't be possible!

Yingtao slapped her brother on the shoulder to snap him out of his trance, before raising her head.

"Retreat beneath the formation!" she shouted.

The overlapping patter of footsteps rang out as the disciples followed her command, the formation rippling as they rushed in. A few stray spikes shot downwards, only to glance off the translucent dome.

High above, the crow's predicament was not over.

Its eyes narrowed as it entered a trance of sorts. One by one, it began to shed hundreds of feathers into the air and formed a spherical veil with them. Light seemed to be consumed by the very presence of the feathers, the dark sphere concealing both bird and larvae.

"Krrrkk!"

A warrior centipede let out a warcry as its eyes glinted once more, its brethren following its lead. Another barrage of metal spikes was fired without mercy, tearing the veil of feathers into shreds! These insects... did they not care for the queen larvae they were protecting?

But no corpses descended, only tuffs of torn feathers wisped away by the uncaring wind.

Another spatial art... Baiyun frowned slightly. It seemed spatial attributes truly were abnormally common in this world.

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"Ah!? The crow can use an escape art?" Mohei cried out.

"Beasts with minds no less bestial than their bearing are common, but there are many enlightened exceptions." Ying Shi spoke solemnly. "Never underestimate a beast, for some are no less intelligent than humans, and as dangerous as you'd expect. To use techniques like us is the least of their cunning."

"Oh." Mohei said blankly.

The agitation in the air above grew, the warriors enraged by the escape of their target. Almost as if the disappearance of the crow was a signal, one after another, cocoons from the forest exploded into clouds of petals. Dozens of larvae clutching winged seeds floated into the skies, eager to soar away.

Were it a previous season, the swarms of beasts would have unhesitatingly rushed in. But with the new ability of the warriors, many of them hesitated for a moment.

Half the beasts spread themselves across the skies to preemptively avoid another barrage of spikes, the other half screeching as they charged towards the flying seeds! None fled the scene of carnage however.

The warrior centipedes arched their backs and took off, the buzz of their countless wings filling the air. With 10 wings each and impeccable coordination, they shot through the air with shocking speed!

Streaks of golden-black cleaved through the air, any beasts in their path bisected and torn to shreds. A rain of gore fell from above, dyeing the fields beneath crimson.

Baiyun watched in a daze as he watched organs rain from above. It was no wonder Ying Shi rushed out the moment he heard the bloom began; it was an incredible opportunity to gather materials!

At the same time, he was flabbergasted that the disciples dared to play fisherman on a colony this devastating. Even without their new ability, the winged centipedes were a true horror!

"We're going into the nest as planned?" Baiyun mouthed. "Even with... this?"

There was no need to elaborate, when even the skies appeared red from the blood that drenched the formation dome.

"Oh! You were feeling a little unwell earlier, weren't you?" Yingtao widened her eyes. "Don't worry, if you're feeling unwell, Fei An can substitute for you. Ying Shi only chose you for scouting based on a theory anyway!"

"It is not a theory." Ying Shi frowned. "Words founded upon observation and proven by scrutiny are known as facts."

"Yes, yes." Yingtao patted her brother's shoulder with a smile.

Baiyun didn't know what to say. He thought there was no need to elaborate, yet somehow she still missed his point.

More importantly, it seemed he had a chance to wiggle out of the situation. A part of him felt relieved, but he hesitated.

It was now clearer than ever that these reckless kids had no sense of danger, the 20 year old Yingtao included. He sighed deeply. If he wasn't there, who would keep them in check?

Even when Baiyun first invaded the nest with the team, he was able to alert them to the warrior centipede's ambush. Now that he had 30m of divine thread, he would be several times more capable of sensing their approach.

The only concern was that he wouldn't be able to deflect the warrior spikes with the Thousand Will ring anymore, now that his reflexes had been dulled.

He mulled on his worries for a moment, but stopped and clicked his tongue.

Tsk. If these children weren't afraid, what was he cowering about for? Even if he wasn't actually an elder in this life, elders had the responsibility of protecting the youth!

Baiyun made up his mind.

"I'm doing just fine." he said. "I must have just been a little groggy after waking up earlier."

"Er... Well, if you say so." Yingtao shrugged.

Jingfeng who was standing to the side frowned.

"You're not pushing yourself, are you?" he asked.

Hah...

Baiyun didn't answer, instead taking a step towards the stone table and ducking beneath it. Then with a single hand, he hoisted it into the air and stood effortlessly.

"See? I'm doing just fine. Qinghe said as much." he forced a smile.

Jingfeng seemed taken aback.

"Ah." he said.

The surrounding disciples began to point, a few of them laughing, drawing the attention of the leader.

"Put down the table." Ying Shi frowned. "It is not a toy."

Baiyun shrugged with his other hand as he placed it down gently.

"Well, since Baiyun is fine, when are we charging in?" Jingfeng said.

He began to pace around with a restlessness to his footsteps. Even as he restrained himself, his excitement was still palpable. Baiyun was surprised by how quick his attitude changed.

"Not yet. We don't have the elder to protect the team, so we need to wait for the warrior centipedes to tire themselves out first." Yingtao shook her head.

Baiyun had a certain realisation. He couldn't understand why they dared to charge in even with the horrific display above, but...

"So those centipedes might be powerful, but they don't have a lot of stamina?" he asked.

"Mm. They might seem terrifying right now, but they'll burn themselves out within the next 10-30 minutes. Once they no longer appear as golden blurs in the skies, its safe to head out. Easy, huh?" she smiled.

"I see..." Baiyun nodded.

Wait. The accompanying elder was supposed to protect the team looting the falling corpses, not the maniacs rushing straight into the den of a Nascent Soul beast?

Baiyun was so flabbergasted that he thought he must have misheard her, but upon replaying the memories in his head, it seemed he heard her right. He didn't even know what to say.

"Hmm..." Yingtao mused. "Well, it shouldn't be an issue since we brought a great formation disk this time!"

As she spoke, she walked to the side cheerfully and stuck her head outside the formation, before cupping her hands around her mouth.

"Rampage! Come here!" she yelled.

Her voice was so loud, it could even be heard from within the formation.

There was silence for a moment. Then, the familiar sound of destruction followed and a cloud of dust could be seen in the distance. With the carriage in tow, the bull charged over as a blurred steak, leaving behind a trail of trampled vegetation and crushed corpses.

It stopped abruptly beside Yingtao, a loud bang echoing out as the carriage crashed into its rear, before falling to the ground and bouncing on its wheels.

Yingtao smiled and gave it a pat on the head, but it only huffed and shook her hand off. She reached for the harness around its neck and undid it, releasing it from the reins of the carriage.

Rampage kicked the carriage away and walked in a small circle, before doing its best imitation of a human nod. For the first time, it seemed quite pleased.

What an excessive name... Baiyun frowned, wondering if the bull was named because of its attitude, or because the clan intentionally trained it like this. He had seen "warrior clans" stupid enough to train arrogant beasts, merely to match the demeanour of their stuck-up young masters.

"Rampage, protect the disciples here. You hear me?" Yingtao asked.

The bull grunted before nodding again.

She nodded in satisfaction.

"Rampage here might be only a Core Shaper, but he's almost as strong as an early Nascent Soul human! He's more than qualified to substitute for an elder."

The bull huffed, seemingly angered by her words somehow. It tilted its head parallel to the ground to disarm its horns, then slammed Yingtao with the back of its neck! A dull thud echoed as the impact sent her to the ground face-first.

"Ack!"

She got up and laughed it off awkwardly.

"He's like that sometimes, don't mind him."

...Was it really a good idea for such an uncontrollable beast to "guard" the disciples? Baiyun began to feel uneasy.

"So we can head out now?" Jingfeng asked.

"Yeah!" Yingtao nodded, but suddenly widened her eyes. "Wait, let me take care of something real quick first! Call for me if anything arises!"

She rushed out of the formation and far into the distance, leaving the bull unsupervised beside the children. At the side, Qinghe had been glaring at her for some reason.

Baiyun noticed the bull giving him the side-eye and sweated a little. Was it still mad at him for stealing the Golden Thread Fern? Perhaps when she returned, all that was left of the formation would be a bull standing in a giant pit.

The disciples didn't seem too bothered by the presence of the beast however.

"Everyone!" Sanguang raised his hands and yelled. "Since we can't scavenge, lets skip to the main event!"

Following his voice, the disciples let up a loud cheer as they reached for their bags, pulling out staves and long crossbows of dark cyan metal.

"Open!" he yelled as he held a formation coin into the air. "One way mode!"

The coin shone with light and the formation answered, its upper half turning translucent. The blood that clung onto it slid off like oil, revealing the bloody war above in its full glory.

Even as the golden streaks of carnage tore through the ranks of the beasts, new ones joined the fray and fought relentlessly, corpses continue to fall endlessly. In the distance, several powerful beasts could be spotted flying off triumphantly with queen larvae in their clutches.

But from beneath, the disciples raised their weapons from the safety of the formation.

"Fire!" Sanguang yelled.

Swathes of arrows shot into the air, wreathed by various elements! Sanguang did not stay idle after his speech, grinning as he imbued lightning into his blow and aimed towards the heavens.

A lightning arrow whistled high above, cleaving through an eagle's plumage! It let out a pained screech as sparks erupted from the arrow, falling to the ground helplessly while paralysed.

"Yes! I actually hit it this time!" he cheered.

Baiyun was surprised. Ying Shi actually stepped back and let Sanguang take a leading role? He thought Sanguang was just some troublemaker that liked to pick fights, not someone Ying Shi actually valued.

He looked above and noted despite the flashy display, almost all of the disciples' shots missed their mark, falling to the ground uselessly. They began to take off their helmets to aim better, now that they were back under the formation.

Laughter and excitement filled the air the moment any shot landed.

It was an utterly impractical event... there were more corpses than they could ever dream of taking home. Baiyun could tell this served nothing more than to entertain a group of rich young masters.

He had been wondering why the young masters even came, considering most of them did nothing more than tag along during the trip into the centipede den. But it seemed this was the main event they had come for.

Not every disciple partook however.

To the side, Jingfeng was busy putting a shackle around Fei An's leg. She sulked as he hammered a stake through the chain, ensuring she couldn't fly away. Baiyun sweated. Did he have that little trust in his sister? Surely even Fei An wouldn't be stupid enough to fly up and face the chaos. She did seem surprisingly cooperative about being restrained.

Mohei paced around anxiously as he watched the disciples firing arrows and projectiles into the skies. He looked like he wanted to ask for a weapon of his own, but couldn't muster up the courage.

At the stone table, Ying Shi fiddled with his compass silently, turning to look at the situation above every now and then. Qinghe sat on the opposite side with a white teapot in hand, leisurely pouring tea into an ornate teacup. She glanced above and scoffed slightly, as if displeased by the crude atmosphere.

"Baiyun!"

Just as Baiyun was about to say something to Mohei, Jingfeng ran over with a crossbow in hand, doing his best to ignore Fei An's glare drilling into his back.

"Pah... it's not like their attacks could get past my Iron Wind artefact anyway. Stupid smelly Jingfeng..."

...Baiyun took back what he said. Fei An had no survival instincts.

"I just remembered! Previously, I said I would coach you on marksmanship, didn't I?" Jingfeng said. "You seemed busy with alchemy the past few days so I didn't want to bother you, but this is a perfect opportunity!"

Baiyun nodded, slightly surprised by Jingfeng's consideration. He thought the offer would be off by this point.

Pausing for a moment however, he stared at his hands as he opened and closed them, feeling their slow and unresponsive movements. It didn't help that he was the only one in a full suit of armour; he had no intention of taking it off even in the safety of the formation.

"Here! Those wooden arrows you have won't cut it. I asked Yingtao for a few of her special arrows earlier!"

Jingfeng grinned as he tossed several crude stone arrows to Baiyun. Every part from shaft to blade was covered in impressions of Yingtao's hands, her fingerprints forming many weird ridges and grooves.

Baiyun nearly buckled from the sudden weight slamming down into his hands. These arrows... their weight combined was as heavy as a small boulder! If not for his increased strength, he would have tumbled over immediately.

These arrows were much stronger than the black and silver ones Ying Shi entrusted him. But from his divine sense, he could sense Yingtao's magic maintaining the compressed state of the rock. In a few hours, they would expand and crumble into a pile of useless rock.

It was almost a shame, Baiyun mused to himself. Perhaps if placed into the storage compartment of Qinghe's cauldron that slowed the decay of spell particles, they would last for quite a while.

He then shook his head self deprecatingly. To even think of using such a marvel of alchemy, such a grand piece of art to store such crude weapons... what a truly disrespectful thought that was.

Baiyun shook his armoured head and sighed. Perhaps this world was starting to get to him.