Chapter 335 Before The War

"Retreat!" Rocky ordered hastily. It was possible to win if the three beasts worked together to defeat this Trunk Giant but it would surely cost them too much.

The first priority of this trip was to stay safe. After all, he was not strong enough to take too many risks. If he acted rashly, he would certainly meet his death here. The primary objective of this journey was to seek rare treasures in the Myriad Beasts Ground, and the second was to collect different spirit-manipulated beasts' samples. He didn't want to waste too much time outside the Myriad Beasts Ground when it was so near. Thus, he decided to withdraw first.

Rocky and the three beasts made a detour to escape the Trunk Giant that was on patrol. The Trunk Giant narrowly saw them as they crept away, but fortunately they entered the forest before it noticed them.

Rocky felt like he could breathe again when he saw the Trunk Giant as it finally walked away, seemingly clueless to their presence. He realized that he had underestimated the danger of the Myriad Beasts Ground. It was too risky to pass through the forest in front of it. If it was already perilous along its periphery, how much more within its lands? The plants in this forest were so dense that they even blocked sunlight. The whole forest was immersed in suffocating darkness. Rocky dared not use a light because he wasn't sure yet if they had indeed lost the giant.

'For the rare treasures, ' Rocky thought as he walked. He was so close to the Heavenly Stage now, that it would be foolishness not to take the risk. As soon as he reached the Heavenly Stage, he could reactivate the Holy Dragon Bead in his body. Although he could only regain part of the Holy Dragon Bead's power by then, that was enough for him to grow stronger by leaps and bounds.

However, troubles kept coming after Rocky no matter how carefully he acted. After he and the three beasts had walked for a while, they were greeted with a cluster of Venom Hounds. This kind of spirit-manipulated beast was hard to deal with, especially since they came in packs. This pack seemed to have at least a dozen, all rabid and looked ready to attack. Poisonous liquid was running over their decayed skin. Rocky knew to keep clear of it and warned his beasts to do the same. As soon as the liquid came into contact with their skin, he knew it would fester.

Rocky had met Venom Hounds before, but they were only at the second grade of the two-star level. And the most number of hounds he had ever seen was three, nothing like what he was seeing now. Dozens of Venom Hounds seemed to have materialized right in front of them, all of them at the second grade of the three-star level. Even a squad of Earthly Stag

was a strategic area and stationed her army in that field. As the camp was set-up, Marin sent for several spirit manipulators. They were tasked to go to the enemy's military camp in the Rough Slope for reconnaissance.

Two hours later, those spirit manipulators came back and reported promptly to Marin.

"They only left five thousand men? Are you sure about that? It's so few." Marin felt that something was off about the whole situation. Logically, the Timber Deity Empire had spent a lot to occupy the Rough Slope in order to destroy the Crimson Dragon Group's defensive line. Through this, they could take advantage of that position to push the Crimson Dragon Group into a corner.

In other words, as long as the Timber Deity Empire still occupied the Rough Slope, they could intrude into the Crimson Dragon Group through this gap of their defensive line. It seemed to be a careless move for the Timber Deity Empire, that they only stationed five thousand soldiers for such a critical and advantageous location.

"Go and check again!" Marin ordered after she gave it some thought. This was a delicate matter. She had to have a clear and accurate information about the enemy's army before she made any decisions. Only with the appropriate information could she give correct judgments and draw up effective countermeasures.

Although the quantity of Marin's army was also five thousand, she could easily ask for soldiers from other military camps nearby. In one day, she could gather reinforcements consisting of more than ten thousand soldiers.

Thus, what mattered the most was not the quantity of armed forces she brought but how she could quickly get the Rough Slope back, once for all and with the lowest casualty. She needed to hurry though, before their enemies could send reinforcements.