Insects have always been creatures that dread the cold, and the mantis is no exception. Even this Black Mantis, whose power rivaled a Golden Core cultivator, was weakest of all against frost—in a sense, it happened to be hard-countered by Leng Leng's shard-ice constitution. The only reason it still stood a chance was the vast gap in cultivation grade; once Leng Leng broke through to the Golden Core stage, it would pose no threat whatsoever.

Unfortunately, Leng Leng was still only at the peak of Foundation Establishment. Ice Prison Mirror Shatter had not frozen her opponent solid, merely slowed the Black Mantis's movements considerably—its speed slashed by more than seventy percent!

That was enough. Leng Leng took the chance to retreat and melt into the group's formation, then took her place at the spearhead and called out loudly, "Tactic Three!"

"Understood!" the others answered in unison. The formation Wei Zhao had given them was a classic defensive one, but it was not a mere turtle shell that only defended and never struck—it contained several sets of tactics, and Tactic Three was the roving harassment pattern.

Passive, static defense would only leave one at a disadvantage; trading attack for defense, a dynamic defense that roamed and seized its openings, was far more impregnable.

With Leng Leng as the spearhead, Qiu Lingshan, Wu Chengtian, Yu Bing, and the other stronger members as the core, and Ying Ziyu and the rest in support, once this formation began flowing smoothly its might far exceeded the sum of their apparent strength. No one was a burden, everyone was a vital member, everyone a vital fighting force.

Especially now, with Ice Prison Mirror Shatter proving spectacularly effective—the murderous Black Mantis had been reduced to slow motion, and the group's roving flowed like a fish through water. A touch here, a jab there, every strike followed by immediate retreat, never giving their opponent the slightest chance to counter. Even when the Black Mantis forced out attacks several times, they were intercepted by the others tasked with defense and support, and it could not land a scratch on any of them.

"You despicable, shameless human trash! All you know is sneaking and skulking—do you dare face me head-on?" The Black Mantis was nearly mad with rage.

True, none of their individual strikes was remotely powerful. But its carapace had been made far more brittle than usual by Ice Prison Mirror Shatter, and every blow left a shallow wound. One or two hardly mattered, but many ants can bite an elephant to death—however slight the injuries, accumulated they turned deadly. And the damage they dealt was not merely slight; it fell short of trivial only narrowly.

"Fool! This is called human wisdom!" Wu Chengtian chuckled. They had grown thoroughly proficient with this harassment-and-guerilla tactic; nearly every spirit beast that had blocked their path before had been finished off this way, and now it seemed the method worked just as well against a Golden Core-level beast.

It was a bit of a grind, yes, but results were the only hard truth. That a group like theirs could slowly wear to death a spirit beast on par with a Golden Core cultivator—what could be more heartening than that?

"Everyone, pick up the pace—delay breeds trouble. I have a bad feeling," Leng Leng suddenly said in a low voice. The roving tactic inevitably made for a war of attrition, and from past experience the outcome was usually the same: once the enemy had taken enough punishment, it would flee, and the group, bound to maintain formation, had no means of pursuit.

Of course, that outcome was not bad for them. After all, if they truly cornered their opponent, it would fight to the death with everything it had, and they might well pay in blood. Better to avoid that if possible.

Beyond that, there was another attendant risk: a long night brings many dreams.

Just as last time—they had originally faced only a single spirit beast at the peak of Foundation Establishment, a fight they should have won cleanly, but the delay had drawn another beast at the late Foundation Establishment stage. Caught between two fronts, they had been in dire straits. Leng Leng had felt an ominous premonition then, and now that premonition had returned.

At her words, the group's hearts tightened, and they immediately threw their full effort into quickening the roving rhythm. They asked for nothing else—only to drive this Black Mantis off as fast as possible.

In the blink of an eye, several ugly gashes appeared on the Black Mantis's leg armor, and then Leng Leng kicked one leg clean off. Losing a leg was not as crippling to it as it would be to a human, but it was still frightened out of its wits: "A pack of madmen!"

To break off that leg, Leng Leng's group had paid the price of two wounded, Yu Bing among them. This was a far cry from the earlier touch-and-go style—they were all but trading wound for wound with it. Calling them madmen was no exaggeration.

Unfortunately, the Black Mantis was, after all, a being on par with the Golden Core stage; this style of fighting only made it seethe. Unless they could truly deal it a grievous blow, scaring it off this way was a fool's dream.

Yet Leng Leng's group did not slow down—they pressed the pace even faster in unison. They did not know whether the premonition was accurate, but even a one-in-ten-thousand chance could not be ignored. They had to drive this Black Mantis off quickly; otherwise, if other powerful spirit beasts truly gathered and struck from both front and rear, the consequences would be unthinkable.

But often, the more anxious one is, the more things go against one's wishes—just as now. The group's rhythm had quickened, but the results were merely passable; they had paid a sufficient price, yet still failed to truly shake their opponent. Instead, it grew ever more furious from humiliation, ever harder to deal with.

"This can't go on..." Leng Leng was frantic with worry. She knew she had made a grave mistake; she was certain that had it been Wei Zhao, he would never have rashly sped up and launched an assault in such a situation. In the end, her practical combat experience was still insufficient—she was far too green.

Leng Leng gritted her teeth. Since Wei Zhao had entrusted the safety of everyone to her, she must bring every last one of them out alive. Whatever peril they faced, she must bear it on her own shoulders!

But this situation could not be solved by resolve and determination alone. With her strength at the peak of Foundation Establishment, Leng Leng was not yet capable of truly wounding their opponent—and even if she had such a means, she must never use it lightly. For afterward she would inevitably fall into a state of extreme weakness, and once they lost her, this indispensable spearhead, how would Qiu Lingshan and the others handle the crisis that followed? (To be continued.)