579: Tremors in the Ground

Tremors in the Ground

Even as the cannons moved, those in charge of them did not neglect firing at the Earthbound Tortoise. In fact, they changed their target from the shell to the beast's face. 0

"Aim for the eyes! Blind it!" 

This was all that they could think of. 

They were lucky enough to not have died but none of them would look forward to being under the tortoise's foot. There would be practically nothing left of their bodies. More than likely, their flesh and blood would be smashed into the dirt. 

One cannon was already abandoned earlier, and its remains were nothing more than dust and splinters. Even the metal barrel had been smashed flat. 

That was enough for them to fear it. 

But that wasn't all that tortoise can do. 

Stopping its movements, the beast stood still, enduring the attacks for just a few seconds. Ao Qin stopped and looked up, sensing that something was amiss. Then he saw the belly of the tortoise come down.

He uttered just one word before dashing out. 

"Run!" 

If he saw it, everyone else saw it and they ran for their lives, barely escaping as the tortoise slam its body down into the ground. The moment it slammed down, the entire continent practically shook. Chasms formed from its attack and trees fell, snapping in half from the shockwave. 

Some of the beast-kin spit out blood from it. It had felt as if their whole body had been hit against the ground several times. 

And the Earthbound Tortoise didn't just slam down once but multiple times, going down even harder than before. A crater formed and everything underneath the beast was pulverized. Then it roared out as if to show its power to everyone. 

Now, Qiuyu Bi had a moment to decide. 

The leader of the Preservation Division looked around before staring at the Earthbound Tortoise. Everyone was rocked from that strike and the beast was barely injured. If anything, it seemed more annoyed than anything because of their efforts. 

He grit his teeth and opened his mouth to shout only for Ao Qing's voice to come before him. 

"Get back there! Don't run away! Either we kill it now or we'll never kill it!" he shouted. 

Qiuyu Bi looked above, watching Ao Qin leap above him. Their eyes locked for a moment before dragon-kin rushed forward in his reverted state. Swinging his saber around, he continued without any hesitation, leading the others. 

Seeing him go, Qiuyu Bi snorted. 

"You heard him! Get back on those cannons! We're having turtle soup whether you like it or not!" he shouted. 

And the battle was in full swing,

Such commotion was heard around the continent, even Ming Yue could feel the tremors. The last impact where the tortoise slammed their body down had forced the ground beneath their feet to rumble. 

Standing in the garden with Hongyu, the young woman suddenly grabbed the little girl, whistling for her pets. 

Hei Yue was the first to arrive as she brought Hongyu into the safety of the house. 

"Keep her safe", she said to the fox. 

Leaving her in Hei Yue's protection, she stepped towards the middle of the clearing with both swords by her side. Floating up, Ming Yue spread her senses outward.

"These tremors, where are they coming?" 

She searched around checking the spires in the north first. 

"Hmm, nothing there so it's not from the north. If that's the case, where is it coming from?" 

Spreading her energy as far as she could, Ming Yue searched, going past the trees and rivers. Her senses seemed to expand past a few mountains as well, much to her shock

"This... how far can I even go? I've already gone several times past my limit when I was at the Earth Realm!"

Compared to before, she was able to "see" much more than she used to but even that wasn't enough. She furrowed her brows and thought carefully. 

"Hm, I can't grasp the exact location but at least I know the direction. Maybe I should investigate", she thought to herself. 

Looking back down at her home, Liang Wei and Xiao Yin had returned as well while Hongyu was peeking outside of the house, looking back up at Ming Yue. 

"I should investigate this. I'd rather not have this commotion come even closer to us."

Ming Yue descended back down to the ground and walked to Hongyu, kneeling down to look at her. 

"I'm going to see what's going on. I'll be back by the time you're finished tending to the gardens", she told the little girl. 

Hongyu nodded before running forward to give her a hug. She hugged her back before moving out, walking into the forest. 

"There's probably going to be a few beasts running over here in fear. I should get rid of them while I can." 

Unsheathing both swords, her pace quicker as she went from a casual walk to a full sprint, running through the thick trees and canopies with ease. Her armor had also turned into its second form, doubling her speed. She was practically a light blue blur flying through. 

And she was right, sprinting through, she encountered dozens of Savage Beasts, all of them seemed to be running from something. Some of them were weak, others were on the stronger side but they all met a swift end under her swords. 

"With all these beasts running off, what exactly is happening?" Ming Yue wondered. 

Having killed many of the fleeing beasts, she ascended into the air, flying just above the trees. Despite having flown before, she couldn't help but remark on the experience again. 

"I can't believe this is what real flying is like", she muttered to herself, "Bending the laws of the world and covering myself in my own energy. It definitely exhausts more energy but I'm much faster as well. And I suppose I don't have to deal with hair going onto my face or the wind biting at me."

Certainly, it was much more convenient to fly like this compared to what she had been doing previously. And Ming Yue was much faster, taking no more than a few hours at her top speed to find what exactly was the source of the tremors. 

She stopped at the sight of it, her eyes widening just a bit. 

"What is this?" 

The scene before her was nothing short of chaotic. She was still a distance away but Ming Yue watched with ease as the cannon shells soared through the air striking the massive Earthbound Tortoise. 

In response, the tortoise stomped down, creating a shockwave and causing the ground to tremble. The trees shook and cracks formed all throughout the area as the tortoise inhaled the air and blew out like a massive cannon. 

Everything within ten kilometers before it was blasted to smithereens, torn apart but a torrent of wind. 

"This... is this another Beast God? And those people, they're the Beast-kin... they're fighting it. Why? Why would they do such a thing?" she wondered. 

Unfortunately, it didn't seem like there was any time for her to investigate, especially not with such a battle occurring. Ming Yue quietly observed, watching both sides go at it. However, she did recognize a few people. 

"Hm, the Four Claws, as well as Ao Qin, are here..." she noted. 

Her eyes trailed along, looking at the many figures until her eyes lingered on a pair of people, a pair that she hadn't seen in quite a while. 

"Why are they here?"

Ming Yue was taken aback by their presence. Both of them were dressed for battle but they stood at the back with their clan, taking shelter. At this point, it seemed as if the beast-kin had no choice but to retreat. Their forces were scattered and if their weapons didn't work, what could they do?

"To see them here, I suppose this would be a good way to repay my debt to them."

She then turned back to the tortoise, raising Blood Moon into the sky and the clouds darkened. 

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