“Don't let him get away!”

“Block their escape, corner them into one area otherwise he will flee!”

Zhang Jin and Dong were shouting out orders while pointing to some of the vampire monsters. With their leader constantly switching between bodies it was hard to deliver the final blow. It seemed that this technique didn’t have a cooldown timer nor was it very taxing on his cultivation. Yet there was one weakness, the vampire always switched to the closest minion available to take them over.

Thus they decided to encircle the entire area while not allowing the enemies to leave. While the soul trapping formation had run its course, it also had a secondary function of not allowing the monsters to turn back into the soul mist form. They needed to battle their way through the countless cultivators and battle formations that they were using.

‘This guy is a lot more slippery than I had anticipated…’

While Zhang Dong could probably take the leader out if it was a one-on-one bout, first he had to corner him. This could be achieved by removing the other monsters from the battlefield either by killing them or moving them to a far enough location this his soul couldn't jump into.

The longer this battle took the harder it was to find the leader. At first, it was obvious which of the monsters he was by their reactions but soon enough he started hiding. Whenever he changed he tried to slip into a larger group to flee as he had realized that there was no winning this battle.

“Dong’er, the sect members are getting tired, the battle formations take a lot of spiritual energy, they were not made with the intent of a prolonged battle, we must finish this quickly otherwise…”

During the chase, he had almost forgotten that not everyone had an almost perfect foundation as he did. The core formation masters in the huge dragon formations could only sustain them for up to a few hours during combat before they needed rest. By how chaotic this battlefield was, with monsters that could regenerate themselves to a point it was taking long to finish it.

With time not being on his side, he decided to go for broke. Before the enemy could escape he took up the lotus position and spread his spiritual sense to its maximum. His body started to glow with the usual golden aura as he tried to pinpoint the evil soul.

Then suddenly his eyes shot up and he pointed his digit towards one particular vampire that was crawling down on the ground and hiding behind some rocks. He needed to be fast and for this, he utilized a big chunk of his spiritual energy.

A beam of light shot out towards the monster that traveled even faster than the vampire lord’s own attacks. It split right before impact into many tiny golden rays of light that quickly showered the whole area with his energy. His aim was not to kill but to injure the monster, while he kept him immobilized his people would push the other remaining enemies out of the range of this strange game-like respawning technique.

It was clear that the monster was weaker in this new form that seemed a bit more sluggish than the one he appeared in. In Zhang Dong’s opinion, it was probably due to the soul still getting used to the new flesh it had taken over along with the soul it devoured to use it. There was probably a small pushback from its kin as it was being taken over.

“That’s it, I’ve got you now and you’re not going anywhere!”

After taking the holy rain to the back of its head the creature was stunned for just a second. This was enough time for him to get over and suppress it with his superior spiritual power. Instead of locks made from swords, he utilized chains to bind the vampire in place. Even then he felt a lot of resistance coming from the vampire lord that started shifting his appearance into a giant bat.

He would not last forever as binding spells like this did utilize a lot of spiritual energy while he was up against a body refiner. Yet he continued to suppress him while his allies tried to clear up the stranglers. With him being forced to remain here it was time for Zhang Jin and Huo Qiang to lead.

Zhang Jin had only recently made it through the change into the nascent soul realm. His soul beast was not yet formed due to this fact thus he had to utilize his other techniques that were still core formation based. Even then he was more than able to go toe to toe with the enemy underlings of similar strength.

Huo Qiang on the other hand as always tossed himself into the fray attacking the strongest opponent he could find. His style of fighting was not that well suited for cooperation as the increased heat produced from his attacks could hurt his allies. Thus he was mostly charging in before everyone else to help them identify the area that they should avoid.

This time around he needed to contain his battle hunger as there were far too many sect members encircling the gorge from all sides. At this point in time, they had managed to contain the monsters inside that were slowly getting slaughtered by mostly ranged attacks.

“You lower being, I will not stand for this!”

“Quiet down, soon we will be able to chat after my people dispose of yours.”

A little droplet of sweat appeared on Zhang Dong’s forehead as he started to get tired. It seemed that he might have underestimated the horned bastards too much. This monster had an unmanageable amount of stamina that was fueled by its soul and body.

The longer it had time to get used to the new vessel the harder it was for him to contain him within the shackles. While it would have been easy to make him explode when he had him contained, he needed to wait until the other monsters were dead.

When he looked into the distance he could see his people working hard. They were all working according to plan, if one of them got injured a group of sect members jumped in to save them. They formed a barricade with their bodies and the ones versed in medicinal arts were quick to mend them right up.

They were doing better than he had expected. Even with the increase in their cultivation art grade, it was still up to them to use it. With the help of his system faction bit, he was able to somewhat steer them in the right direction, even though he was gone for five years they managed to stay on course.

While this did bring a smile to his face, they were still getting injured. These monsters were quite ferocious, they were really end-game mobs made for the scenario with the intention of taking a large chunk of the outer empire for themselves. Without the help of the top sects and clans, the regular ones had no chance.

It was a strange feeling to see people be affected by your own decisions. In his past life, he didn’t have the opportunity to be responsible for any employees. He felt like a president of a company that was gaining more and more prestige. If it went well then they could take out the monsters occupying the border region and perhaps take out their fortress soon enough. If they managed that, then perhaps halting their advance would be a possibility.

‘That Emperor of theirs sounds troublesome. If I can get their base and reinforce it with my own defenses it could be possible to save many lives.’

His main objective was to create his own stronghold in the region. It would probably take some time but with enough cannons and formations, it might be possible to seal the bridge. There was not much space to maneuver there with enough firepower they could shoot down any flying ships or monster worms. They also seemed unable to borrow into the land at the crossing point and needed to get over to their side for a proper fight.

“Stop struggling, it's over, perhaps I’ll let you live if you let me bind your soul.”

“Bind this lord to your will, Impossible!”

“Are you sure, you are running out of bodies to switch…”

The vampire lord looked out into the distance where his uncoordinated tribe members were getting slaughtered by the larger number of cultivators. After their master was detained they didn’t seem capable enough on their own. They were quick to get into a frenzy which was easy to counter by soldiers with enough experience.

“No this cannot be… I will remember this disgrace outlander, I will have your head!”

“You still think that you will get away?”

Zhang Dong focused even more of his spiritual energy on the bindings of this monster while he continued to squirm around. It looked like his people would be fast enough, before he run out of Qi the vampires would be no more. Then he could either imprison this horned one or kill him on the spot. Without his soul having another vessel it would dissipate or be up for his soul core to absorb.

Yet, as the victory was assured something unexpected happened. These monsters were not cultivators so he had not seen them using any safety measures like hidden talismans. But when the victory was almost there, the vampire’s horn started glowing. It quickly shattered while producing a light that shot up into the sky.

“Shit!”

He instantly felt that the soul left the creature's body and flowed with that light into the sky. Even when he bolted towards it with all his might, he was not fast enough. The dark ray of energy started to constantly increase in speed until it vanished into the horizon.

The body that the monster was occupying quickly crumbled into dust as it turned into a lifeless husk. With the master retreating the other vampires were in even more of a frenzy now, it was as if they received some kind of temporary buff that burned their souls towards destruction.

“Hold them, they are breaking through the line!”

“AHhhhhh.”

“No, stay back!”

“Defend the injured, there is something wrong with them, they are getting bigger and faster!”

The cries of his sect members made him look back, he made a quick judgment call and turned back. His people needed help while the monster commander was long gone. While it might have been possible to chase him down, the lives of his people were more important. Before more people died he would protect them so that they could fight on another day.