As Harry ran towards the crocodiles, he looked towards the sea and gulped. Now that the tide was closer, he got a much closer view of the beasts. His previous estimation of their numbers was off, by a lot. At first glance, he thought there were a hundred. Then they got closer, and he realized there were 300.
Then they got closer still, and he realized it was more like 600. They were just packed so tightly together that he couldn't tell where one started and another ended.
Besides being translucent, their anatomy was identical to a regular horse. The beasts had watery muscles, watery organs, even watery blood vessels, with silver liquid flowing through them.
Like the crocodiles, their cultivation varied. Some of the smaller horses were just middle-level Body Tempering Realm, but plenty were at the high-level, and over 400 were at the Qi Absorption Realm. Harry knew simply because those horses were large enough for three people to comfortably sit on their backs.
'If I screw this up, I'm dead,' Harry thought with a slight bit of regret. It was already too late for him to turn around.
He caught up to one of the slower crocodiles. It was just in the middle-level Body Tempering Realm, so Harry was able to lift it with ease. He grabbed it by the tail, spun it around his body, and flung it towards the incoming horses.
The crocodile sailed over the beach, and landed well into the Swan Sea. Seeing the incoming tidal wave, it panicked and frantically paddled towards the shore. However, the herd of sea horses quickly caught up to it.
As it turned out, these horses weren't actually made of water. They were solid – very solid, just translucent. They trampled over the crocodile like how a carriage might roll over a blade of grass, stomping it into the ocean underneath thousands of hooves.
Harry grabbed another crocodile, and launched it with all his might.
The Inner Disciples and Elders just looked at James like he was crazy. There was no logic or limit to his actions. While everyone else was fleeing from the incoming disaster, he actually started flinging crocodiles into the ocean.
'What's he trying to do now?' they all thought in confusion.
Three more crocodiles joined the first, and that was when Harry's plan finally went into motion. The crocodiles that landed in the ocean were stomped under the tides, and instinctively began snapping and biting back. One of the sea horses was torn apart.
Two watery legs were ripped off its torso, and silver liquid poured out the wounds. A musky, heavy smell rapidly filled the air, and spread across the Swan Sea beach.
Harry gagged and covered his nose when it reached him. The smell was like a mixture of dead fish and piss.
"NEEIIIIIIGHHHHH"
Hundreds of cries combined into one ear-shattering scream, then the tide abruptly stopped moving. It was a strange sight, as if the water was frozen solid for a split second. Then, all horses turned to look at the injured one.
Magic Beasts were generally dumb creatures. The horses saw one of their own was injured, moreover, injured by one of the crocodiles. Just like the Elder warned, the entire herd veered directions and began charging at the fleeing crocodiles.
Unfortunately, that also meant they were charging at Harry.
'Oh no!' Harry exclaimed, and bolted.
Right behind him were hundreds of sea horses. The four unfortunate crocodiles were kicked back onto the beach, and as the horses reached land, trampled into bloody paste. The sound of thousands of hooves racing across the sand was deafening.
It took only moments for them to reach Harry and the crocodiles.
Instantly, chaos broke out along the beach. The main force of the horses, at least 500 of them, clashed with the crocodiles, also at least 500 of them. The remaining sea horses charged towards the Inner Disciples and Elders. But there were only 100, so they didn't pose much of a danger.
The same couldn't be said about Harry. This section of the beach became a battle zone as the crocodiles and horses engaged in a frenzied free-for-all.
Everywhere he looked, he saw horses stomping onto the crocodiles, and crocodiles biting apart horses. Very quickly, the beach was drowned in the nauseating smell of sea horse blood.
The smell made Harry want to vomit, and his eyes began tearing up. He'd never smelled something this rancid. But this stench actually invigorated the beasts, causing the groups to fight with even greater frenzy.
And in the middle of it all, Harry activated Strengthening Flesh, and ran for his life.
With hundreds of Earth Grade beasts fighting, this battle was absolutely not one he was qualified to take part in. He wasn't sure if he could kill even a single one. He just sprinted towards the Elders.
But as he ran, he was trampled over by a massive sea horse, too large for him to avoid. By the time he noticed it, it was already on top of him. It easily smashed him into the ground, stepped on him, then ran off. As he landed on the sand, he felt the wind knocked out his lungs, and he gasped for air. Being hit by its hoof was like being struck by a spear. Despite activating Strengthening Flesh, he felt three ribs crack.
'That one must have been middle-level Earth Grade,' he groaned in-between the pain. Only a beast that strong could shatter his bones so easily. Furthermore, when that hoof contacted his chest, he felt a different kind of strength attack his body, other than the physical force. Earth Grade beasts could use Qi in their attacks.
Then sensing an incoming beast, he hurriedly rolled away and scrambled to his feet. A pair of massive jaws closed right where he was just laying on the sand.
'Damn it, they're supposed to attack each other, not me!' Harry raged. But he realized he was being stupid. Of course, he would be caught in the crossfire.
After hearing the horses would go into a frenzy when smelling their blood, all he wanted was to incite a battle between the two groups of beasts. As the saying went, 'when the snipe and clam grapple, the fisherman profits.' If the two groups of beasts attacked each other, he could make a killing in the end.
He had no idea if his half-witted plan would work, but it did. In fact, it worked a bit too well. He didn't properly think through the consequences.
He got back onto his feet, and ran across the chaotic battlefield, clutching his side and limping as he did. He dodged horses and crocodiles left and right, past stomping hooves and sharp teeth and claws. Yet he was too slow, and another group of horses rammed into him, knocking him a dozen meters across the beach – right on top of a vicious crocodile.
He rolled off it, and only to be met by a pair of snapping jaws. He desperately reached out and gripped the two rows of teeth just in time, not letting them shut. But he was laying in an awkward position, and the jaws were slowly closing…
Burning Blood!
With a huge burst of strength, he forced the jaws apart, snapping the top one off. The beast howled in pain and scrambled off, and so did Harry.
He dove onto the sand and rolled under yet another group of stampeding horses, then leapt over a group of crocodiles. He dodged some beasts by the skin of his teeth. Another large sea horse trampled over him, breaking yet another set of ribs before charging off to chase one of the crocodiles. Luckily for him, the battlefield was chaotic, and the beasts were more interested in each other.
'I'm never doing this again,' Harry vowed. As he got back up, he coughed out a mouthful of blood. It had been a long time since he was injured to this extent.
He finally managed to extract himself from the fighting, and limped over to where the sect members were gathered. As he got close, his Inner Disciple friends ran over and supported him on the way back.
"James! James, are you alright?"
"Idiot, he's obviously injured! Help me carry him to the tents!"
He was taken to one of the medic tents, where a couple Healers started checking his injuries.
"James, did you do that on purpose?" Shaun exclaimed.
"Yeah," Harry said in-between gasps of air. "I thought, gasp, if they attacked each other, urrghh, I could get some, gasp, Beast Cores."
"James, that's…"
"Genius!" another Inner Disciple exclaimed, interrupting his companions. "Why didn't we think about this before? Next time, we'll do this and get rid of two packs of beasts at once!"
"Hey look, the Elders are attacking!"
Harry looked just in time to see the Elders make quick work of the remaining beasts. In the skirmish, both groups of beasts mutually injured each other, and it was a simple matter for the Elders and Inner Disciples to finish them off.
Despite his injuries, his eyes lit up when he saw how many Beast Cores were available. This time, the risk was definitely worth the reward.
Back at the Missions Hall, Harry counted out 95 Beast Cores, and handed them to the terrified worker. Those in the Missions Hall all leapt in fright when they saw how many cores James pulled out. They couldn't believe James managed to obtain that many Beast Cores – did he go on a crazy killing spree?
Over a third of the beasts died in the fighting, with many more injured and then finished off by an Elder. There were hundreds of Beast Cores lying around, just waiting for him to pick up. Only the two Elders from the Ivory Fist Clan complained when Harry took all the Ordinary Grade ones, but the other Elders shut them down, as he contributed the biggest merit. Besides, Ordinary Grade items were useless for Inner Disciples and Elders. He even got his hands on a couple of Earth Grade Beast Cores, the first he'd ever held.
The 95 Beast Cores he turned in were just the ones belonging to the crocodiles. He kept the sea horses' cores, as he suspected they contained Water Qi. Though he knew Beast Cores were impure sources of Qi and not too helpful, since these were Earth Grade, maybe they were more useful.
"Here are your Purple Qi Fruits," the frightened worker handed over a full sack, which Harry accepted. He took a look inside, and saw the same fruits from back in the Wyvern Woods.
"And here are seven Beast Flames," the worker carefully set down a tray, which held seven glass containers. Within each container was a ball of flame.
Harry's eyes widened as he looked at the containers. Fire could actually be stored like this?
But each flame was tiny, not even the size of his fist. When he thought about the endless supply of fire in the Scarlet Flame Wolf's body, he couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"Is this it?" he asked.
"Yes, it's 10 cores per flame, so you earned seven after subtracting out the Purple Qi Fruits," the worker nervously said. "Is there a problem?"
"I mean, shouldn't there be more fire than just this?"
"Ah, I know they look small, but that's because of the containers. They're called Flame Capturing Jars. They not only store the fire, but also compress it. There's much more fire in here than it appears."
Harry's eyes widened even further. Amazing!
"In that case, thanks," he eagerly accepted the tray, and walked towards the exit of the hall. But right as he was about to leave, the doors opened and a person in bright red robes entered the Missions Hall.
Out of all the people in the Swan Sea Sect, this was the first time Harry saw someone wearing red. The workers wore white, while the Outer Disciples, Inner Disciples, and Elders wore different shades of blue. This man stood out like a sore thumb.
Further, he was very chubby, a rarity among cultivators. The red-robed man was so chubby that for a moment, Harry was reminded of Dudley Dursley. The man glanced around his surroundings with an upturned nose, as if he was disinclined to be here. He looked over the gathered disciples like they were beneath their notice, until his eyes fell on Harry.
"Look, it's Nelson," one of the Outer Disciples whispered to his friend.
"Why's he here again? Didn't he get enough yesterday?" his friend groaned.
"He and his friends were here three days ago too. Dammit, let's get out of here."
Feeling the atmosphere of the Missions Hall suddenly change, Harry got a feeling this newcomer wasn't an unknown figure. Harry took a good look at him – but other than his red robes, there wasn't really anything special about him. However, he was only at the 7th level of the Body Tempering Realm, which was strange, since everyone else who passed the entrance exam was at least at the 8th level.
To Harry's surprise, the red-robed man walked directly up to him, and blocked his path.
"You're James?" he asked. Even his voice had a haughty tone to it.
"Right. Who are you?"
"I'm Nelson, from the Alchemy Hall."
'An Alchemist? Why is he here?' Harry frowned. He definitely hadn't met this person before, in fact, he didn't have any dealings with the Alchemy Hall. But that did explain his low cultivation – there must have been a different disciple recruitment process for the Alchemy Hall.
"Do I know you?"
"Of course not. You're just an Outer Disciple, how could we be acquainted?" Nelson sneered.
Harry's mood instantly soured upon hearing that tone. But before he could respond, Nelson spoke again.
"I'm an Alchemist, and I need an Earth Grade Beast Flame for my pill concoction. Hand them over."
For a moment, Harry wondered if he was mishearing the Alchemist. Surely, this person wasn't saying…
"Well? What are you waiting for?" Nelson demanded.
"You want me to just give these to you?"
"Right. Give me the entire tray."
The disciples and workers in the Missions Hall looked at the Alchemist like he was crazy. Did this guy not know about James' personality? Did he not fear the man who ripped apart Magic Beasts like paper?
Or perhaps he thought he was safe because he was an Alchemist?
"Haha, there's going to be a good show to watch now," some of the disciples laughed softly. Over the past week, the disciples quickly learned to avoid the Alchemists, or at least, the Outer Disciples of the Alchemy Hall. To describe them with one word, these people were rascals.
They were intolerable bullies, who used their status as Alchemists to lawlessly treat the Outer Disciples. The Outer Disciples got a nasty surprise when they went to collect their merit points the first day – after a few hours of hard work, they returned to the Missions Hall, received their merit tokens which represented merit points, and found their way out blocked by a group of red-robed people. In the lead was Nelson.
It turned out the Alchemists wanted their merit points. Merit points could only be traded, not freely given, so the Alchemists hinted they were willing to trade precious materials for their points. All the disciples became excited, thinking they were going to be getting Magic Plants or even pills.
Then the Alchemists pulled out their items.
Rotten plants. Pills that had burnt in the cauldron and failed concoction. Ash. One Alchemist was even shameless enough to pull out a bundle of grass, and claim it was a rare Magic Plant. It was all worthless junk, but they demanded merit points for them all.
They quickly realized what was actually going on – a scheme to rob their merit points. But when they refused, the Alchemists threatened them. And though the rulebook was extensive, there was no rule against Outer Disciples of the Alchemy Hall bullying Outer Disciples of the main sect.
Since they were Alchemists, the Outer Disciples didn't dare to do anything. Alchemists had a special status. Even though their cultivation was lower, they were greatly respected for their alchemical skills. It was never worth offending an Alchemist, in fact, only an idiot would do so.
In the cultivation world, strength was the most important thing. But strength came in many forms – cultivation was just one type. Social status was another. With their position and connections, Alchemists had countless ways to make others suffer.
These Outer Disciples just gritted their teeth and obediently made the trade. Their hard-earned merit tokens and points were gone, replaced by an assortment of trash.
The Alchemists didn't bully anyone with status, such as those from the Ivory Fist Clan or the Hopkins Clan. It was just the Outer Disciples without any background who were easy targets. That was how their actions had gone unpunished for so long.
Harry didn't know any of this, since this was his first time receiving his rewards. The surrounding disciples were all waiting to see how the madman would react.
"Do you know what I did to complete this mission?" Harry asked curiously.
"The mission was to retrieve beast cores, wasn't it?"
"Right, I risked my life to kill Magic Beasts for these Beast Flames. Why should I just hand them to you for free? Nelson, did that fat on your face leak into your brain?"
If it really came to it, Harry could kill him with a single attack. What gave this idiot the courage to demand his rewards?
As expected, his response immediately angered Nelson. A hideous expression appeared on his face, and he whipped out a bronze tablet with the image of a cauldron inscribed on it.
"Bastard, do you see this? This is the symbol of the Alchemy Hall! I'm from the Alchemy Hall! You dare to insult me? If you don't hand over the Beast Flames, I'll make the rest of your life miser - "
"Shut the fuck up."
SMACK!
Harry's fist shot forward, and smashed into the Alchemist's face.