Chapter 72: Chapter 70: The Mantis Hunts the Cicada A golden light shot from Ji An’s finger, aiming for the demon beast’s eyes, though he only used forty percent of his strength this time. The Fire-Horned Rhinoceros had strong defenses, but there were no scales over its eyes. The demon beast reacted extremely quickly, slightly tilting its head to avoid the vulnerable spot. The golden light struck the demon beast’s hard forehead, barely piercing the tough skin. The demon beast’s attack arrived as well, a passionate fiery red burning in Ji An’s eyes, scorching fire element spiritual energy enveloping him, and he seemed to smell the scent of burning hair. Blue light spread across in front of him as the Water Curtain Technique was unleashed, blocking the surging sea of flames. His body retreated swiftly at the moment of the magic’s activation, and he didn’t forget to activate the Water Curtain Talisman, setting up a double defense instantly. Red and blue clashed, flames and water curtains passionately colliding. Ripples spread across the water curtain, like a giant stone thrown into a calm lake. In the end, the seemingly thin water curtain wasn’t breached, and the flames rolled back. At this moment, the Fire-Horned Rhinoceros’s hooves struck down, shattering the water curtain like glass, scattering spiritual light fragments across the sky, flames casting a dazzling array of colors. The demon beast was completely snow-white like brilliant jade, its rhinoceros horn turning orange as it suddenly charged toward the second layer of the water curtain. Ji An’s pupils contracted, immediately activating another Water Curtain Talisman and holding the Stone Turtle Shield in front of him. His body retreated again, hands changing dharma seal, casting the Water Curtain Technique once more. The power of fire element techniques can be judged by color, ranging from weak to strong: red, yellow, blue, white, and purple. The fire element technique at the Qi Refining stage is red like furnace fire, orange being the intermediary between red and yellow, indicating this Fire-Horned Rhinoceros was likely close to the Foundation Establishment Stage. How thrilling! Just joining the Demon Hunting Squad and encountering such a strong demon beast twice in a row, Ji An thought his luck was incredible. Jiang Qiuyue watched her comrade fluently casting spells and activating talismans effortlessly, ensuring safety. Initially intending to use the Water Curtain Technique to deplete the demon beast’s demonic power, upon seeing the horn’s color, she no longer hesitated and immediately cast the Cold Wind Technique. The second layer of the water curtain lasted only a moment before breaking into countless stars, and the Fire-Horned Rhinoceros charged into the third water curtain without losing momentum. The strong collision of the orange-yellow horn against the water curtain created layers of ripples, but it ultimately withstood it all. In front of Ji An, water light shimmered as the fourth Water Curtain Technique was completed. A mass of white fur, about a zhang in diameter, swept over, freezing a thin layer of frost over the Fire-Horned Rhinoceros. The Fire-Horned Rhinoceros roared, hating this cold sensation immensely. With its anger surging, its already massive body seemed to swell a few more inches, and the frost vanished immediately. Water restrains fire, but with little water and plentiful fire, sprinkling water was like adding fuel to the flames. By this time Chen Moxuan had already helped Tian Yulei stabilize the situation, activating the Cold Wind Technique as they rushed over. Watching the situation here earlier, he shouted: "Full attack, we have, at most, a few dozen seconds." The Fire-Horned Rhinoceros opened its mouth wide, spewing a column of fire that met the Cold Wind Technique head-on, resulting in a draw. However, it was facing four people. Two additional Cold Wind Techniques came in, instantly cooling the fire-scorched ground. Chu River directed his magical artifact hard into the demon beast’s nasal bone beneath the horn. The Fire-Horned Rhinoceros had virtually no weak spots except for its eyes and vent. This location could be called the non-weak spot of its weak spots. With enough force, it’s most likely to yield results. Now’s the time! Ji An leapt forward from behind the Water Curtain Technique, preparing the Geng Metal Finger. The demon beast, in pain, instinctively opened its mouth to roar, freezing for a moment. He fully activated the Geng Metal Finger, concentrating it to pinky size. The golden light, with an unmatched sharp aura, shot accurately into the demon beast’s eyes, where it couldn’t dodge this time. The Fire-Horned Rhinoceros jumped madly, clumsily staggering a few heavy steps as if in a fit, then crashed heavily to the ground. "Brilliant, next one!" Chen Moxuan exclaimed, the timing of this attack was impressive, a moment too early or late and the demon beast might have reacted. Having dealt with the strongest Fire-Horned Rhinoceros in the beast group, taking down another would completely tip the scales of victory. By now, the beast group was less than a mile away. The five of them charged in unison, unhesitatingly using the Cold Wind Talisman, aiming to take down the second Ninth-Layer Qi Refining Fire-Horned Rhinoceros before the beast group came crashing in. "Fight and retreat!" Chen Moxuan shouted energetically. If they dealt with three Seventh-Layer Qi Refining Fire-Horned Rhinoceroses, the beast group wouldn’t pose much of a threat. The Fire-Horned Rhinoceroses had a violent temperament and went berserk seeing their kind dead, fighting without retreat. This characteristic had two sides. If the opponent was slightly weaker, they could be chased down to death. If the opponent was strong enough, the entire herd would face extinction. The others showed excitement on their faces. One of the Ninth-Layer Qi Refining Fire-Horned Rhinoceroses had been quickly dealt with, saving a lot of Cold Wind Talismans. Now the squad had enough resources to contend with the demon beasts. Suddenly, Chu River noticed a few black dots approaching from above, only a dozen more zhang away. Focusing his sight, he found it was actually four people, with their faces covered in grey cloth! He let out a low whistle, quickly and urgently shouting: "Right side, people approaching, riding Talisman Bird." Upon hearing him, someone let out a strange laugh: "Today must be our lucky day. Boys, let the beasts charge over, then handle them slowly!" Chen Moxuan’s heart sank. The beast group was charging, and with people from the sky harassing them, today was dangerous. The others looked grim too, this was the most dangerous scenario, having to deal with the aerial harassment while fending off the beast group, a slight mistake spells death. Even if they killed all the Fire-Horned Rhinoceroses, they’d likely have little magical power left to handle these bandit cultivators. Ji An’s eyes turned, casting a spell to release the Small Cloud Rain Technique. White clouds formed and spread, "pitter-patter," spirit rain joyfully fell. He cast the technique twice in a row, merging the two clouds to cover everyone. Can it be used this way? Chen Moxuan’s eyes lit up, admiring his junior’s boundless imagination. The Planting Technique was actually a weapon to change celestial phenomena. The grey mist was thick, obscuring the view from above, making ambush impossible. But why was the cloud so large?! Without needing instructions, everyone instinctively dashed into the rain curtain. Better let the enemies join forces rather than facing threats from both sides, that’s the combat discipline of a mature Demon Hunting Squad. The bandits arriving by air were left dumbfounded, unable to see below, how could they ambush or contain? A slender Tribulation Cultivator, unwilling to let this cooked duck fly away, urged his Talisman Bird to dive sharply, hoping to do some damage to the enemy while he still had the chance. He held the Profound Iron Shield in front of his chest, manipulating a magic sword to slash a cold light due to the dive, directly targeting the lagging Ji An.