A gleam of hatred shone in Li Ling's eyes as he felt the fear of danger. For the most part, he had been curbstomping his targets up to this point, and even this Horned Elephant was a foe he could disengage from at any time, so the sense of danger was not strong.
But dammit, who knew it could actually play such tricks?
It seemed obvious, but one had to understand that elephant trunks were long and flexible, yet they had limits. Li Ling was on the elephant's back, not near the nape of its neck, so the trunk should not have gotten this far.
Who could have thought that it could elongate its trunk that much? Definitely not Li Ling, who thought its most notable feature was naturally the horn on its forehead, which was what it was named after.
Dammit, the fellow who named this thing, couldn't he have added "Extendable Trunk" to the name?
No longer holding back, Li Ling pointed downward and unleashed a fireball right at the neck of the elephant, causing its skin to become partially scorched. Since the distance was extremely close, the attack was slightly more potent than those fired from afar, causing the beast to bellow once more and begin thrashing about, trying to get Li Ling off.
Li Ling did not overstay his welcome, using this chance to create distance by leaping off and letting another barrage of attacks from the other cultivators strike the creature. At this point, the creature was beginning to be torn between bestial rage and fear for its life, as it was no longer in a healthy state.
However, it had no chance to retreat when Li Ling made a move to approach it, which caused it to turn to face him in a wary posture. This was a feint, as Li Ling simply remained where he was with a smile, allowing another barrage of attacks from his allies to hit again.
The Horned Elephant was now significantly injured and no longer willing to fight this losing battle. Without caring about anything, it raised its forelegs into the air, trumpeted loudly and then stomped down with all of its force, causing the ground to crater and quake.
The faces of everyone changed as they hastily retreated while mustering their various defensive methods, be they talismans, arrays or daoist arts. Still, the outcome was that the majority of the group were sent flying while spitting blood, some with their life and death unknown.
Only Li Ling and the team leader remained relatively unscathed, both of them taking to the air with their superior cultivation, leaping over a significant distance which guarded them against the ground-based shockwaves.
The team leader, seeing that his team had almost been decimated, felt his pupils constrict. He deeply regretted being involved in this matter, becoming greedy for a level 9 demon beast that was known for being difficult to deal with.
When he glanced over to search for Li Ling to inquire upon what to do next, but actually blame him for the situation, he found that the young man was gone. Alarmed, the team leader applied defensive measures on himself, but was left looking foolish when nothing struck him the next moment.
Puzzled, he scanned the battlefield and found that apart from the enraged Horned Elephant that was quickly retreating into the thickets, he could not spot anyone else. Hesitant, he still decided to investigate because no matter what, he would have to answer for his teammates when he got back, so it was best to confirm their states and gather evidence if they died.
It was not until he went to check on where the nearest person to him should have been that the team leader displayed shock. For right there was a corpse that was blackened and charred, still smoking slightly as it slumped against a tree.
Fearing the worst, the team leader rushed to another point and found that the person here had been stabbed between the brows, their head sporting a huge hole that showed parts of their brain mush. Most importantly, this person had not been too wounded, so they were able to see how they died, and one could see the expression of horror on their face before they were killed.
That's right, killed. The Horned Elephant had used an area-of-effect stomp to decimate the group, so how did one end up burned to death and another killed with a single strike of a weapon?
Obviously, it could only be done by a person.
And the only one who could have achieved this in such a short amount of time was…
The team leader felt goosebumps all over his body as the aura of death descended upon him, causing his body to be chilled beyond measure. Even while shivering, he still managed to activate his mid-grade Golden Bell talisman to form a defensive barrier around him shaped like a giant church bell.
DONG!!
The Golden Bell cracked and shattered, revealing a short spear that was aimed at the throat of the team leader. The fellow was spooked but not slow, able to avoid having his throat fatally impaled by leaning back slightly, allowing the spear to pass by his scalp and even draw a line of blood.
"Tsk, how unfortunate," Li Ling remarked snidely, coming out of the thickets slowly with a strange smile on his face.
The team leader's heart was still pounding from the near-death experience, looking back to see the short spear trembling as it embedded itself into a nearby tree, having been expertly thrown by Li Ling in a sneak attack.
Li Ling folded his arms casually. "You're lucky my spear is plain steel, or your flimsy talisman would not have been able to buy you enough time to dodge."
"S-Senior, there is no need for this. Why don't we both take a step back and cease hostilities in order to seek a better outcome?" the team leader asked shakily, still reeling inwardly.
Li Ling rubbed his chin slowly. "Senior, huh? I kinda like the sound of that. Anyway, go ahead and make an offer for your life, otherwise let's see whether you have the fortune to climb above your rank in combat."