0101 That's right, this is a square.

The beasts were no fools. Though the shock had not inflicted any true material damage, the agony it brought still left them writhing in discomfort, and they all hurried to leap out of the enormous magic circle etched into the ground and crackling with power.

But these beasts were a makeshift army, not a circus troupe. Their usual training was for charging strikes, not for hopping in place. That sudden bout of jumping instantly shattered their formation, exposing every opening before Li Yi’s eyes.

“Loose the arrows!”

At the low but forceful command, Xia Kui and So-and-so, who had lain in ambush for a long time, each led a unit into view from the front and the right. They swiftly dispelled the immense wind barrier they had been sustaining around the soldiers to conceal their presence, and concentrated all their power into the large magic circles already drawn at their feet. Nearly invisible wind element surged at once into the formations; a violent current whipped Xia Kui’s and So-and-so’s robes into the air, the fabric snapping and whining in the gale like a set of roaring bellows.

The soldiers did not hesitate either. They raised the bows and arrows prepared in advance and fired toward the beasts. These specially made shafts had been ground to a precise angle and soaked in Li Yi’s exclusive poison, gleaming in the sunlight with a strange, eerie green shimmer, venomous as the sting of a forest scorpion.

The wind-element formation poured all of its enhancement into the arrows. Once empowered, the poisoned shafts shot forward like tiny missiles with lit fuses, hurtling toward the beast army with astonishing speed and penetration.

If one were to kindly ignore So-and-so’s breathing, which was now twice as rapid as normal, her visibly faltering arm strength, and the wind-element output that was clearly far inferior to Xia Kui’s, then the situation on the battlefield, overall, was still rather bright.

Yes, maintaining the wind concealment spell for so long and sustaining such a large magic circle were still deeply taxing for So-and-so. Though she had been tempered by the grueling training of Liang Yin and Lance, a weak foundation was still a weak foundation; unstable roots remained unstable roots. The bitter consequences of long neglect in cultivation were always heavy, and they always seemed to ripen and fall at the most critical moment.

Caught between attacks from front and rear, the beasts saw So-and-so, who looked foolish, weak, and yet somehow stood right at the front, and it was as though they had found a kinswoman. One after another they roared and lunged toward her, determined to use the blood of this fragile human mage to wash away their bad luck. That frontal rush gave the arrows ideal room to work. As the saying went, shoot the leading beast first: the monsters charging in the lead, each eager to reach the meat, were struck down in succession, none spared.

The beasts on the right flank, likewise without shield troops to protect them, were thrown into disarray by Xia Kui’s team and their full-force hurricane-boosted arrows. Yet because of their armor and the natural toughness of beast bodies, these specially angled shafts only grazed their skin and lodged firmly in the seemingly minor wounds. The beasts that had been struck did not pay them much heed.

After all, beasts had already met humans skilled with bows on the battlefield more than once. Those humans had undergone specialized training and were extraordinarily accurate, able to hit their targets even amid a moving battle. But the power of their bows was too limited; even when the arrows struck exposed flesh, they could do little more than cause a small wound. Over time, the beasts merely regarded them as no more than an insect bite.

Later, humans successively invented fire arrows, poison arrows, and other arrows with special effects. But the beasts were simply too rough-skinned and thick-fleshed, with armor built into their very bodies. A little fire, or poison that could not even enter the bloodstream, had no effect on them at all. Their uselessness was like throwing pebbles at a giant beast: at most, it would disturb its mood a little.

Only after they had thundered forward for a short distance did these beast-targeting arrows begin to show their true effect. The charging monsters suddenly felt a dull ache in their knees, their lower legs went weak, their bodies spasmed, and a cold gust swept past them. The whole lot of them toppled forward as though shot through the knee, unable to rise again.

Indeed, the poison you saw here had been specially formulated by Marshal Li Yi. Drawing on years of experience fighting beasts, and on notes he had “coincidentally” seen in So-and-so’s practical, cost-effective poison recipe notebook regarding rapidly spreading toxins, he had finally completed this “drop once and collapse” poison. Its defining trait was simple: give it one second, and it could paralyze an enemy’s body. It was also extremely cheap to make, with ingredients that could be gathered almost anywhere. Its only flaw was this: the effect did not last long, and it was not especially overwhelming.

But on a battlefield that changed in the blink of an eye, one instant of unconsciousness was eternal death. Li Yi stroked his chin with great confidence. In his many years of dealing with beasts, he knew very well that these felled creatures had only one use: as shields for the comrades behind them.

The scene played out exactly as Li Yi had expected. Those front-line beasts who had been unfortunate enough to be struck or grazed by the poisonous arrows were quickly taken down; one after another, they lay on the ground, bodies paralyzed. Seeing this, the commander swept a large hand and issued the order, overflowing with the noble spirit of sacrificing the small for the great: “Block them!”

The beasts in the rear were no fools either. They immediately lifted their dying brothers from the ground and held them before themselves. Arrows came raining down; beast warriors in front kept taking the blows meant for others, until a accumulation of minor wounds became a calamity and they lost all fighting ability.

The shield troops that had just entered the brush without any support from the rear also suffered heavy losses under the fierce assault of the encircling formation. The beast commander glanced at the shy crimson sun on the horizon. Judging from its rosy glow, there was still some time before dusk. So it decided not to hold back any longer and charged straight toward So-and-so’s position, determined to bite through this seemingly weakest point first.

So-and-so, having exhausted her magical power, could only retreat while under pressure. The archers from before had already lowered their bows and switched to spears, surging toward the enemy ahead with overwhelming force. The teams led by Lance and Sang Qing flanked from behind. From this aggressive advance alone, it was obvious that Li Yi had issued a death order: the battle had to end before dusk.

But how could the beasts possibly let Li Yi have his way so easily? The commander-beast’s eyes flashed as an idea formed, and a cold, barely visible smile finally curved at the corner of its mouth.

“Surround them in full, then spread out!”

With that simple command, the beasts immediately scattered according to the commander’s arrangement, dispersing in an orderly fashion into four groups and forming a square ring of counterattack. In close combat and individual strength, humans were only fit to polish our boots.