PATH OF THE STAR HUNTER

And judging by the fact that this person was the one who gave the orders and no one dared to contradict him, one could say that this person had a high status within his sect.

Of course, an insightful person would notice that all these people wore the drawing of a red scorpion in the middle of their backs identifying themselves as disciples of the bloody scorpion sect and by the level of detail as well as other small symbols attached one could identify the exact range of each one of them.

Another detail that someone more trained in certain skills would notice was the way these people moved, always in tactical formation without making the slightest sound with each step calculated to leave the least amount of traceable footprints possible; giving a headache to anyone who wants to track down these ominous presence people.

But this was the forest of a thousand beasts and not even these people trained in the art of stealth could dream of walking peacefully in this place, because even if these people were able to even hide their scent, they still could not hide their figures from the predators that lurked in these mountains.

And it was in those moments that these people showed their great prowess in combat, with great coordination they cooperated to decimate powerful beasts that in their day-to-day were used to ruling this forest with their tyrannical power.

Each of their moves was a lethal attack aimed at the beasts’ vital points, and even when they missed they became a window of opportunity for one of his companions to land a bloody blow.

It was clear that anyone who fought against these individuals would have a difficult time just surviving not to mention winning the fight.

Whatever the case, this group of Blood Scorpion Sect members continued to make their way into the depths of the mountains in a well-defined direction.

.....

Unknown to them, a pair of blue eyes observed them from a distance with a sinister calculating gaze, each movement, each gesture, their combat methods, their tendencies, habits, and chain of command; everything was under the scrutiny of this stalker.

But in the minds of these young people dressed in black and red never passed the idea that someone was able to follow them, not to mention that normally they were the ones who followed other people and not the other way around.

As time passed the group of Blood Scorpion Sect members reached the outer edge of a small stone meadow where the base of two mountains met each other.

The place seemed quite deserted in both flora and fauna except for a small, colorful-looking tree that lay right in the center of this little stone meadow, with its snow-white leaves and its black trunk like a wolf’s mouth; this tree certainly looked special.

And given the attitude of barely contained emotion of the young people in black and red, this was clearly their objective when coming here but the strange thing was that the more they approached the tree, the more cautious their movements became; as if they knew this place was dangerous.

Step by step these individuals approached the tree with increasingly suspicious movements, their attitude reaching the point of paranoia ... but their precautions proved to be correct when the ground around the tree began to move.

At first, it was just a fracture in the ground with a strange spiral pattern but soon it began to move, sections of it contorting and contracting with an inconstant rhythm; until there came an eerie stillness followed by a high-frequency screech that nearly rendered the members of the Bloody Scorpion Sect deaf.

Then the spiraling pattern on the ground began to rise revealing the body of a stone serpent of titanic proportions, with its body completely covered in sharp-looking, solid-looking stone spines gray as ground; its serpentine head was covered with spines of an even more resistant metallic-looking mineral material.

Faced with such a beast whose appearance spoke quite a bit of its power, the group of young bloody scorpions had a difficult time adjusting which was only made worse when they saw gigantic two-section stone blades emerge from the creature’s side, giving the snake at least a couple dozen dangerous-looking legs.

At that moment even the always arrogant and cruel leader of the group had to swallow hard from nervousness at the beast but even with all the fear that the man felt he refused to back down.

“Come out of your daze you useless idiots before this beast kills us” the leader shouted, infusing a little Ki in his scream to get his companions out of his daze but it was a step too late.

Using his stone tail like a whip the serpent lashed out with fierce and devastating momentum at a young disciple turning his body into nothing more than a bloody stain mixed with the gravel on the ground.

And with it began a brutal battle between the Stone Serpent and the disciples of the Blood Scorpion Sect, both unaware of a third party lurking in the shadows.

Almost two hundred meters away from where the battle was taking place, hidden in the last remnants of foliage left before the stone plain began; Desmond and the girls watched the battle in the distance with slight nervousness.

“What the hell is that thing?” Desmond exclaimed reflectively with a hint of doubt that was quickly overwhelmed by his growing battle intent.

“It’s a mountain-eating snake, I can’t believe that a creature like that is inhabiting this section of the forest; normally they live in the deepest part of the mountain range feeding on the rich mineral resources that exist in the subsoil of the place “Xiauyue explained with one hand tightly gripping the handle of the sword tied behind her back.

Even Mei Fei Long whose ferocity was only superior to Desmond’s, felt intimidated at the mention of the creature’s name but after giving a questioning look at the battle; she couldn’t help but point out, “That’s a mountain-eating snake, but isn’t that thing supposed to be at least three or four times bigger?”

Now that Mei had pointed it out, Xiauyue remembered what she had learned about the creature and realized that Mei was correct, according to her memories the mountain-devouring serpent should be almost two hundred feet long and twenty feet broad; so this snake should be a very young creature.

On the other hand, it was well known that mountain-eating snakes were one of the most powerful species that inhabits the deepest reaches of the mountain region of a thousand beasts; so it was rare that a mere group of Blood Scorpion Sect disciples was having a relatively balanced fight against the Serpent.

Once Desmond finished listening to the explanation of the two beauties and observed the current progress of the battle between the young bloody scorpions and the serpent; a plan began to take shape within his mind.

“Well, the way things look, we have two options, the first would be to withdraw completely and leave this whole thing in oblivion; To be honest this is the safest option “Desmond explained sincerely but feeling that he had more to say about it the girls just watched him waiting for his part to finish.

Seeing the reaction of the girls, Desmond couldn’t help but smile brightly, but anyone who knew the young hunter knew that this smile threatened to make rivers of the blood of the poor unfortunate souls that came his way.

“I suppose you want to hear our second option, you will see that there is a saying from a land very far from my home that goes like this: The mantis stalks the cicada without noticing the oriole behind.” At this point in the speech, Desmond’s bloodlust was almost palpable and the desire for battle burned deep in his eyes.

One can imagine his discomfort when he saw both Mei and Xiauyue looking at him with a confused expression, only then did Desmond recall a small incident in the past.

“Forget it, the plan is basically to watch from here as they fight the snake and wait for them to deliver the coup de grace and lower their guard to attack them when they are wounded and exhausted from the previous battle.” Desmond ended up explaining helplessly as he made a mental note to stop using phrases and references from his homeworld that no one in this world understood.

After that, the trio began to search for the best point of attack while deciding their objectives among the people who were still alive fighting the snake, although that last part changed a couple of times each time another disciple was reduced to rubble by the colossal beast.

To the surprise of both Mei and Xiauyue, Desmond had insisted on choosing the other group’s main disciple as his target, originally Mei vehemently opposed but when Desmond said that he planned to use his bow to finish him off it was Xiauyue’s turn to intervene in support Desmond′s decision.

Having already made all the pertinent arrangements, each of them took up position while they waited for the right moment to strike.