43 Chapter 43: Attack!

Inside the Underground Cave...

Dylan had finally finished his routines on all of his Techniques. After six hours of nonstop practice, he was finally able to balance his level of comprehensions of all of his techniques. Of course, he would not be able to achieve this, if it weren't for his daily practice of his techniques. The reason why Dylan was finally able to advance his comprehensions was because he was free from his concern for his business because he was sure that even without him, his employees would be able to perform per his standards

His training and daily guidance to his employees has brought forth competency and commitment on the individual work ethics of his employees.

Being temporarily released from his worries, Dylan was able to empty his mind and enter a state of clarity and enlightenment where he was able to easily pinpoint the errors of his movements and improve them once sighted. Dylan was able to clearly sense the energy flow within his body and regulate it to be able to use every drop of potential hidden on every strand of energy he utilitzes. This enabled him to be able to create a systematic approach that allowed him to conserve energy while utilizing every ounce of his strength.

[Boulder Breaking Fist-Perfection]

[Four Soft Steps-Perfection]

[Rushing Flow of Water-Perfection]

Dylan was quite happy with his harvest in his training session today. Upon figuring out that he had already stayed in this cave for about 8 hours or so, he decided to exit the cave. When he got out of the cave he saw that the sun was nearly set, so he rushed towards his house in order for him to make it in time for dinner.

After several minutes of travelling at top speed, Dylan slowed down knowing that he was near the vicinity of his house.He waited for a while before climbing to the window of his room because he wanted to make sure no one saw him entering his room through his window. When the coast was clear, he jumped towards his room and landed as gentle as possible to prevent any sound being emitted from it.

Fortunately, no one has checked his room yet. Dylan was relieved to know that the door was still locked and the paper he pasted on the slim space of the door was still there and was not ripped yet. This meant that no one has opened the door yet. After letting out a sigh of relief, Dylan changed his clothes after taking a shower.

After taking a shower and putting on some clothes, he opened the door and saw that there was a tray filled with plates and bowls that were covered but were exuding sumptuous and delicious odor of food in front of his room's door. He saw a note attached to one of the plates and he picked it to read it.

"Hello, big bro. How are you? Are you feeling better yet? Here is your meal for the day. It was cooked by a lot of big brothers and bis sisters. They said they made it especially just for you to make you feel better immediately! We hope you get well soon, big bro. We love you. Love, Scarlet and everyone else." Dylan smiled because he knew that Scarlet was the one who thought of this but he knew that Scarlet does not know how to write this neatly yet and he recognized that this handwriting was from Leila.

Dylan picked up the tray and placed it inside of his room. The food was somewhat cold now so he used his natural energy to slowly heated the food and after reaching the level of being freshly cooked, he opened all the covers and started eating. After one satisfying meal, he went down his house to wash the dishes. When he arrived at the sink, he placed the dishes on it and just as he was about to turn the faucet he heard a sound from outside.

"Awoooooooo!" A long and synchronized howl of a pack of beasts reverberated the entire restaurant. A large number of beasts were charging towards the Gardenford Restaurant. About 3-5 kilometers away, the demonic horde charged as they encircled the entire restaurant.

"A spirit beast horde! Run!" A customer shouted.

"Ahhhh!" Another panicked

"Ma'am, sirs, please calm down!" Jack tried to control the situation.

"How can we calm down?! There is a spirit beast horde right outside of this restaurant!" A hysterical customer argued.

"Saaaaave us!!" A middle aged man pleaded.

"Please, settle down, ma'am and sirs!" The employees were attempting to control the panicking crowd.

"Oh, noooo!! We are all going to die!" An old man spoke while his hand holding a cane was trembling

"Heeeeeelp!" A pregnant woman was screaming as she was seeking assistance from the staff.

"Why are spirit beasts attacking? They usually don't even dare to get out of the forest lest get this near to the city? What's happening?" A fatty screamed ashened face.

"Waaaaah!" Kids were crying because of the chaos.

"You, all of you, you should all fight those beasts!" A nobleman screamed

"Yeah, that's right!" Another aristocrat agreed.

"Protect all of us!" The customers demanded in unison.

"Ma'am, sirs, please calm down. There is no need to make unreasonable demands!" Frank spoke in defense of all the employees.

The customers in the Gardenford Restaurant panicked and they were already fighting with the staff and demanded that they fight for their safety. The workers were trying to calm down the masses but they were being forced to act as warriors. The customers were continuously acting hysterical as they saw the large horde of spirit beasts attacking. Each single one of those beasts were as strong as Spirit Veins Realm! Their number of beasts visible were over 300 and it could be seen that there were still large shadows of beasts from behind meaning that there were other beasts stronger than the forerunners.

"Damn it! This must be Andrew's doing!" Dylan dashed out of the house to take control of the situation! Dylan ran as fast as he could while he shuttled through the panicking customers until he reached the cooking platform. He jumped and flipped in mid-air then forcibly landed on the platform which shocked the costumers and the staff alike.

"Sir Dylan?!" The employees was stunned.

"Dylan? Isn't he the owner?! I thought he was in a severe condition?!" The customers were shocked as well.

When the staff saw Dylan appearing, they immediately asked how was he feeling because they were still worried about him but Dylan dismissed their worries when he replied he was already fine.

"Dear customers, I would like to ask each and every single one of you to calm down. I am Dylan Ford, the owner of the Gardenford Restaurant, and I assure you that we will do everything in our power to stop the beast horde's attack. I know that some are panicking and some are worried for not only themselves but also their families and I understand that. That is why I am asking for your assistance and cooperation in this time of crisis because we can only solve this together and not apart. So I ask everybody to please listen to my instructions because if you do, I and my employees will do our best to successfully evacuate every family and every individual here!" Dylan spoke as loud as he can.

"Okay, we agree."

"We will cooperate!"

"We hope you stay true to your words!"

The customers agreed one by one and finally everyone​ of them agreed to cooperate and coordinate with Dylan and his employees.

"Thank you very much, everyone! Now, the first thing we must do is to gather forces! To all cultivators who are in the Spirit Veins Realm and above, please come forward because you will be part of our vanguard unit. The purpose of the vanguard unit is to create a way to the city.Currently the monsters are fast approaching and will only take about 5 minutes to reach us. So, I implore everyone who is in the Spirit Veins Realm and above to please come forward." Dylan announced​ his devised plan on his head as he finished the customers who were Spirit Veins Realm and above gathered in front of the platform.

There were a total of 400 customers. Half of this customers were kids, elderly, and people who were only at the Spirit Core Realm. A quarter of the remaining number was women whose strengths were at the Spirit Veins Realm and above. The rest were all men who were at the same level. They were able to quickly gather 200 people who were of this strength! 180 of which were people whose strength was Spirit Veins Realm while the remaining 20 were people whose strength was at the Awakened Spirit Realm! Among the 20, 12 were men and 8 were women.

Dylan also calculated his manpower. He had the three tanks that the three giants assigned to him and he also had another 60 Spirit Veins Realm practitioners that the three giants sent to him in order to be trained. 10 of which were of the 11th level Awakened Spirit Realm. He assigned all 60 to be in the vanguard unit to ensure the safety of the customers but he assigned the three tanks to him to guard the restaurant.

Within his 80 employees, every single one had already trained to the level of 6th to 7th level Spirit Veins Realm. So he cut them into two groups one of which will help in the defense of the restaurant and the other to the vanguard unit. Although the assigned group was unwilling to go, Dylan reminded them that the customers' safety was their priority. Besides, the distance of the city to the Gardenford Restaurant was only about 2 ½ kilometers so once they successfully guided the customers to safety they could rush back immediately.

"Jack, I assign you to be the leader of this group. I hope you understand. Please, protect the customers and remember to stay safe. Come back safely." Dylan entrusted Jack because Jack was already at the 7th level Spirit Veins Realm, despite his age of 16 the same with Diane. The two of them were the most competent and the most talented youngsters in his employees so he trusted Jack to be able to perform just like he has always did.

"Yes, sir. I promise to not disappoint!" Jack said assuringly.

"Good. Now, go and prepare your group." Dylan smiled as he watched Jack nod in his instructions.

So all in all, the vanguard unit has reached the number of 300 and Dylan organized them in an "∆" arrow like manner while the customers were found in the center. The vanguard unit was arranged in a "∆" pattern because this type of formation enables breaking through the enemy lines be comparable to an arrow piercing the armor of a warrior.

"Since we have already gathered, the time to move is now! The spirit is now within sight! Vanguard unit, go!" Dylan initiated the command.

The vanguard unit easily penetrated the portion of the beast horde which was covering the path towards the city! The vanguard unit fought hard with all of their strengths and worked together to kill the beasts which were aiming to devour them and their families. The beasts were like mindless zombies jumping and leaping one by one just to kill a human but they were killed by the warriors of the vanguard unit! This type of battle continued for quite some time.

After 30 minutes, the vanguard unit was able to pass through the enemy lines like an arrow piercing the armor of a warrior! The kids were crying and traumatized by the sight of those monsters but thanks to the vanguard unit they were still alive so they vowed to themselves to become strong enough to defend themselves and their families just like what their parents, siblings, or relatives did today for them.

Fortunately, there was no casualties but there were a large number of people within the vanguard unit who got inflicted with serious injuries. They continued their journey to the Soaring Cloud City which was already in sight. The group of the employees guided the customers to the entrance of the gates. Before they left, they asked the customers to go to the three giants to send reinforcements to the Gardenford Restaurant.

"Wait for us, everyone. We will make it so please hold on!" Jack prayed as he and his group together with the 60 men from the three giants made their way back to the restaurant.