Wu Tianmo used the water inside the cave to wash his face clean of blood, his mind was clear and the battle outside was coming to an end.
Using his Divine Sense he could now sense things within a mile radius, this included the battle between the Patriarchs and the Crimson Moon Tiger.
While he couldn't see them with his eyes, he could sense their movements with his divine sense.
The battle was nearing its end and the beast was losing, yet the three patriarchs also were in bad shape.
Liu Changfeng was lying face first on the ground a few hundred feet away from the ongoing fight. He had a large gash across his back and blood was oozing from his mouth.
The puppets from the Chen clan had suffered an even worse fate, all three of them were lying in pieces on the ground with bit marks all over. However, it seems they fulfilled their purposes as there were three weapons plunged into the body of the Crimson Moon Tiger.
Tianmo's head started to hurt and he retracted his Divine Sense, his power was unprecedented among mortals and there was fierce backlash on the mind when using it. Only by cultivating could he alleviate the stress his Divine Sense caused.
Wu Tianmo grabbed the red skeleton and dropped it into the pond within the cave as gracefully as he could. He didn't want to alert the Patriarchs when they reached the cave by digging a grave for them.
He also grabbed the pedestal and lowered it into the pond as well, now there was no sign that there was anything to do with the Crimson Moon Flower.
Tianmo looked at the rest of the treasures, if he wanted he could take a few and flee. This would allow him to live as a somewhat wealthy mortal if he made it back alive. However, this wasn't his purpose. He needed to ingratiate himself with the patriarch's and this cave was his opportunity.
He exited the cave holding his badly damaged sheathed sword in hand, and made his way quickly to the battlefield.
Waves of qi collided against one another as the two remaining Patriarchs battled the Crimson Moon Tiger.
Its fur which was once black, was now covered in blood. The Patriarchs were not much better off, all the cultivators they had brought were motionless on the ground near them. Some had been eaten, some were cut in half, and some were simply knocked unconscious.
Wu Tianmo made his way towards the Liu Patriarch and picked him up, Liu Changfeng opened his bloodshot eyes seeing it was the little body reforging junior that was helping him escape. His once negative impression had softened a great deal.
He propped the Patriarch against a nearby tree taking a healing pill from his pouch and feeding it to him.
As the low tier pill started to work, the patriarch coughed stagnant blood. This was a good sign, if this blood had sat within the body for too long an internal injury would occur.
The Liu Patriarch's eyes opened wide and were no longer as bloodshot,
"How are you still alive, even my nephew at the 9th level of Body Reforging was killed..."
*Cough Cough*
The patriarch was grateful for being carried out of the fray, but he was still hesitant to trust this kid. He was an unknown, a rogue cultivator, these types were often bandits and seen as scum.
Wu Tianmo realized if he didn't give a satisfactory answer, he could likely be attacked by this injured patriarch. Even though he was injured, the strength gap between realms is a vast canyon. At this close of range, he couldn't even flee.
Tianmo clasped his hands towards Liu Changfeng,
"Senior I didn't participate in the fight with the peak tier two beast. That would have been courting death. To be completely honest, I went and explored the beast's cave, I wanted to present it to Seniors once the fight was over."
Liu Changfeng grinned slightly,
"Oh? What did you find within?"
Tianmo smiled and explained all that was with the cave, the only problem was. His knowledge on rare plants and metals wasn't great. He could only express the strong aura felt from them.
Like he planned, he did not mention the red skeleton or anything to do with the Crimson Moon Sect.
This caused the Liu Patriarch's face to stiffen and his eyes narrowed slightly.
A dangerous thought crossed his mind.
If he were to kill this boy, would he not have all the treasures for himself?... He had a storage ring which could take all the riches inside away.
However this thought quickly was buried deep within, he was injured and wouldn't be back at full strength for many months. This opportunity, unfortunately, couldn't go to him alone.
Suddenly a large blast of yellow qi pulsed from the fight's location and a roar from Zhang Guowei was heard.
A wolf's whimper followed before a slicing sound echoed throughout the trees.
It was over, the Patriarchs had won.
Wu Tianmo assisted the Liu Patriarch and returned to the battlefield.
Both of the other Patriarch's were breathing heavily and sitting in the lotus position cultivating. Doing this after a battle had both a positive effect on their cultivation, but it also healed their energy.
They must be near death, because normally a cultivator wouldn't do this in front of others. If they were attacked in this position it could cause them internal injuries.
This reflects how hard the battle was, even the Zhang Clan Patriarch's saber had shattered following his final attack.
Liu Changfeng took two pills from his pouch and tossed them over to the other patriarchs, after a moment of inspection the both took the pills.
Instantly a warmth filled their bodies and stagnant blood was coughed up in sequence.
A deep sigh came from Zhang Guowei,
"We have won... but at what cost."
The Crimson Moon Tiger's corpse sat lifeless, it's aura was faded. Long slash marks were all over it's body and three weapons from Chen Baoliang's puppets were still plunged into its legs.
The puppets were the most important factors in the battle, without their sacrifice to restrict the beast's movements, they all would have perished.
He looked at his fallen compatriots who despite the realm gap followed him into battle. While he was happy they would follow him to death, he much would have preferred the weaker ones to remain on the outskirts of battle.
Out of the nearly 20 cultivators that started the battle, only eleven were left, including Wu Tianmo, and the other Patriarchs.
Zhang Guowei internally smiled as most of the survivors were of the Zhang Clan.
Among the survivors were three of the Zhang Clan who were all of the 7th-9th stages of the Body Reforging realm.
This included Zhang Guowei's son, Zhang Minghao.
His son was 25 years old and at the 9th stage of the Body Reforging realm. He only needed an opportunity to breakthrough, thankfully he had survived and this experience would be very valuable for his future growth.
Zhang Minghao's body twitched and he came to his senses. His body ached all over but he still managed to kneel on the ground propped up by his saber.
He gripped his saber tightly. His dissatisfaction was plain across his face, he wanted to contribute more to the final battle.
Not to end up a liability, though this lesson was important. The difference between a tier 1 beast and tier 2 is vast. He would need to be more cautious around higher realm beasts and cultivators.
He looked and to his surprise there was a 1st Stage Body Reforging realm standing next to the Liu Patriarch unharmed.
Fury burned in his eyes but his body was too hurt to react, he thought to himself,
How is this bastard unharmed and I'm like this!
Chen Baoliang stood up and stretched, he had a big smile on his face. He wasn't happy at all the loss, but he stared at the land ahead of them, the opportunity that it would hold. They would be able to develop this land and prosper, their clans would survive.
He was also looking greedily at the corpse of the Crimson Moon Tiger, it's claws matched the power of a superior tier two artifact and it's hide was tough and could be used to make armor. The whole body was a prize and his sacrifice ensured that he would get a large share of the spoils.
As long as a tier 3 beast didn't appear, they could establish a village that would last a thousand years.
Liu Changfeng stood leaning against a nearby boulder for support,
He internally smirked and glanced at the two injured patriarchs, feeling his own injuries weren't nearly as bad,
"Our little friend, Tianmo, has found something quite interesting for us"
All the eyes of the Patriarchs and surviving cultivators turned to Wu Tianmo with expectation.