Tie Ba Xiu's eyes widened as he recognized what the creature was, immediately realizing that they had no chance of fighting it.
The Woodland Biao Emperor was a Wood path beast, which was quite rare. It was useful not only in the refinement of Wood Path gu worms, but in refinement in general. Its claws carried dense Wood Path. And there was also a method where its claws could be planted in soil alongside Rank 5 Gu materials of other paths to sprout small saplings used in refinement which would carry both of the dao marks in question, serving as a substitute for many rare materials of other paths.
Many Refinement Path Gu Immortals would raise a few of them if they had the means.
Despite looking like a plant, the Woodland Biao Emperor was still carnivorous - and it eyed the last of the Tie clansmen with hunger. Not only that, but they were known to be extremely vicious and territorial. Although the Tie clansmen had a large supply of meat they couldn't just drop it and hope to run away; they would without a doubt be chased down and hunted. The Woodland Biao Emperor was one of the most dangerous wild beasts one could encounter in the Southern Border, few who encountered one lived to tell the tale.
No wonder none of their investigative methods had worked!
It likely possessed a Rank 4 or Rank 5 stealth-type gu worm, allowing it to blend into the trees. Beyond that, a Woodland Biao Emperor could naturally camouflage itself into forests as part of its innate abilities, even without Gu worms.
Of course, all gu worms had weaknesses, which was how they had eventually been able to pick it up. But detecting it and fighting it were two entirely different matters.
'Where on earth did a Woodland Biao Emperor come from?' he thought frantically. This was not an area where they were usually found; otherwise, the Tie clansmen would not have chosen this path. That said, a Woodland Biao Emperor could fly long distances, and now was not the time to ponder its origins.
Tie Ba Xiu gritted his teeth. "Get into battle position, immediately!" If it was a person, they could be negotiated with. But what would a Beast emperor care for the grandeur of the Tie Clan? All it saw were warm, tasty, bags of meat before it.
The Tie clansmen fought bravely in formation. However, before the might of a Rank 5 Beast King, they could do nothing.
Worse yet was the fact that it possessed at least two Rank 5 gu worms! The activation of one unleashed a massive burst of green, sun-powered energy that tore half their group into smithereens.
Tie Ba Xiu wanted to buy time for the others to escape, but as some of them turned to flee, the Woodland Biao Emperor simply leaped after them, leaving Tie Ba Xiu as the last one standing.
He gritted his teeth and glared at the beast. It seemed unsatisfied even after swallowing eleven of his companions.
Tie Ba Xiu charged at the beast in a desperate attempt to avenge his clansmen, but he soon met his end.
Before doing so, however, a gu worm emerged from his aperture and soared to the sky.
Rank 3 Homing Pigeon Gu!
Homing Pigeons were pigeons trained to carry messages back home. Homing Pigeon Gu could do the same. The main benefit to using this kind of messenger-type gu worm instead of another was that even if the user died and didn't have any primeval essence to propel the gu worm; even if it was a wild gu worm it still maintained an attachment to its home. It would still find its way back to the Tie clan... eventually.
The Woodland Biao Emperor did not care for it as it was too busy tearing Tie Ba Xiu's skull off.
***
The Three Kings Inheritance closed for yet another round. A figure walked out wearing a copper mask. This was none other than Divine Investigator, Tie Xue Leng.
"Father!" Tie Ruo Nan said, running up towards him. She had been waiting for him to return. "Did you... find what you were looking for?"
Her father shook his head.
"I see... maybe we'll have better luck next time?" she suggested. She too, had had no luck in finding Lifespan Gu. Her father had suffered from heavy injuries as well which were not easy to cure. If they could find something that could patch him up, that would almost be as useful as Lifespan Gu. Alas, they had no luck in either area.
The Tie clan encampment was massive as one would expect of such a force. Sentries were set up and the area had numerous defensive methods in place that only the Tie clansmen knew how to bypass.
The Tie clan encampment was busy, being the largest of any current force on the mountain.
To the daughter-father duo's surprise, when they walked in they were greeted with alarmed faces.
"Lord Divine Investigator, tragedy has struck!"
"A party has been killed!"
"Calm down and speak your minds one at a time," Tie Xue Leng instructed. Under his gaze the encampment instantly regained order.
The report came back - even before Homing Pigeon Gu had made its way back to the Tie clan homebase, the Tie clansmen had realized that something was wrong and using their long-range reconnaissance methods had discovered the bodies of their comrades a distance away. They weren't sure what could have killed all of them until a message came from the Tie clan headquarters describing what had gone on.
"Woodland Biao Emperor..." Tie Xue Leng said. No wonder Tie Ba Xiu hadn't stood a chance. A great pity, considering the fact that he had come entirely to help Tie Xue Leng but had run into such a massive stroke of misfortune. "Alright then. I will deal with it."
Not one person in their camp had the power to deal with a threat like that, but they could all relax knowing that the Divine Investigator himself was going to handle the threat.
"Father, wait." The only one who spoke up in objection was Tie Ruo Nan. "If you go all out like this..."
Tie Xue Leng kept a hand on her shoulder. "You're worried that if I go out, that it will be my last fight?"
"Yes, and right when we might be so close to finding a cure..." Tie Ruo Nan said.
"Then what would you have me do?" he asked, his gaze heavy upon his daughter. "The Woodland Biao Emperor will not stay as it is. Even if we forget the crimes it has committed against our clansmen, it will meant the area leading up to this inheritance will not be safe. Our encampment might even be struck down."
"I'm... sorry, father," Tie Ruo Nan said, being unable to meet his gaze. Why couldn't someone else go in her father's stead? Couldn't they wait for Tie Mu Bai? She knew that she was being unreasonable. But regardless of whether or not they were congruent with reality, those were her true feelings.
"I know what you're thinking, but no man lives forever. Not even the Ten Venerables could do that. One day, the time will come when I will pass from this world. What matters is not how much years in our lives, but how much life in our years. I would not want to turn a blind eye to justice simply because it would not benefit me," he said.
"Then let me come with you!" Tie Ruo Nan said.
Tie Xue Leng sighed. "Very well. But stay close. Your strength is not enough to match this Beast Emperor."
The daughter-father duo set out immediately. The Woodland Biao Emperor had killed their clansmen but not eaten all of them, bits and pieces were still around being picked on by vultures.
They got rid of the vultures and gave these remnants the most appropriate burial that could be given in such a time. They would've also collected their gu worms, however, none were left alive.
"Father, is there a way to track the Beast Emperor?" Tie Ruo Nan asked. "What about using Rust Flower Tracing Gu?"
"The Rust Flower Gu is powerful, but has a weakness - it doesn't work on the souls of beasts," Tie Xue Leng explained. Most people did not know about this, but every gu worm had a flaw to it. That was why there was no strongest gu - only strongest Gu Masters! Even if the killer was a human, the Rust Flower Gu could still be fooled through various means.
However, it turned out that they didn't need to search too far for the Woodland Biao Emperor.
Just half a li from where they had found the remains of their clansmen, they found the corpse of the Woodland Biao Emperor.
Its eyes were lifeless, the ants barely starting to go to work on it. Small flowers had erupted from its back upon its death, all signifying that it had died very recently.