Clan Cultivation: Starting with Building an Island Immortal City

18: Proceed step by step, support each otherCrack!

The sand collapsed, and a wicked wind assaulted their feet!

Li Changxuan reacted extremely quickly. In his horror, relying on his martial sense that far surpassed ordinary people, he forcefully twisted his body, leaped sideways, and subconsciously slashed his thick-backed mountain-cleaving saber downwards!

Clang!

The blade violently collided with the bluish-black crab pincer, which was the size of a millstone, producing a metallic clang. It only left a white mark, shaking his hand so much his tiger’s mouth went numb!

And this was only the beginning!

Shhh shhh shhh~!

The surrounding sand seemed to boil, and dozens of mutated giant crabs of varying sizes burst out of the sand!

The smallest were the size of basins, the largest nearly the size of wagon wheels. Their carapaces were menacing, their eyes glowed red, and they swarmed from all directions, instantly encircling the ten youths!

Their speed was astonishing, far from the clumsiness of common sea crabs. Their eight legs dug through the sand, their forms like lightning, and they even knew how to flank and surround their prey!

”Ah! This... what kind of monsters are these?!”

Li Changxing, the youngest, screamed in fear, nearly dropping his short staff.

”Crabs... how can crabs be this huge?! Have they become spirits?!”

Li Changyue’s face lost its color, and the hand gripping her short blade trembled slightly.

Even the bravest, Li Changyun and Thunder Frost, were deathly pale at this moment.

Li Changyun swept his overlord spear, forcing back two lunging giant crabs, but the recoil transmitted through the shaft far exceeded his expectation, filling his heart with terror.

Thunder Frost fired a volley of arrows. The fine steel arrows could only pierce the back shell of two slightly smaller giant crabs, yet the stricken crabs seemed completely unaffected and continued to charge wildly!

”Retreat! Quick, retreat!”

Li Changyu roared hoarsely. Although his heart was pounding, he forced himself to remain calm.

His gaze rapidly swept the area, instantly locking onto a narrow rock fissure formed by seawater erosion at the edge of the beach!

”Retreat toward that fissure! Hurry!”

In their panic, everyone heard the command and instinctively surged toward the fissure as if grasping a life-saving straw.

”Brother Yun, Sister Frost, cover the rear! Stone Iron Pillar! Use your shield to block the entrance to the fissure!”

Li Changyu shouted as he retreated. Although his voice trembled, his instructions were clear.

Hearing this, Li Changyun took a deep breath, suppressed the fear in his heart, and wielded his long spear like a spinning wheel, desperately blocking the few giant crabs that were pursuing them most closely.

Thunder Frost’s arrows never missed, and she switched to targeting vulnerable spots like the crabs’ eyes. Although not fatal, this effectively slowed the assault.

Stone Iron Pillar roared and jammed his heavy, iron-bound wooden shield firmly into the entrance of the fissure.

The fissure was narrow, only allowing one person to pass sideways. The massive width of the giant crabs far exceeded the opening, causing them to immediately get stuck outside. They could only brandish their huge pincers menacingly, unable to advance an inch.

The group scrambled and squeezed into the depths of the fissure, leaning against the cold rock. Listening to the horrifying clacking and hissing sounds outside, every single person was deathly pale, panting heavily, and still shaken.

”We... we lost it... the water and rations... they’re all outside...”

Li Changxue spoke with a sob, looking at her empty hands and the space behind them. In their panic, they had abandoned all their supplies.

The light inside the fissure was dim, and the atmosphere was oppressive.

The relief of surviving the danger was quickly replaced by the harsh reality of their predicament—trapped in a desperate place with no supplies.

”What... what exactly were those things?”

Li Changxuan’s voice was dry, devoid of his previous arrogance, his face filled with lingering fear.

”Exotic beasts from overseas... The Clan Chief’s words were true...”

Li Changyu pressed his back against the rock wall, trying to steady his breathing:

”They are definitely not ordinary beasts. Their shells are hard, their strength is immense, and... they seem to possess intelligence, understanding how to surround and attack.”

”What do we do? We’re trapped here!”

Zhao Mingyuan was relatively calm, but anxiety was evident in his tone.

In an instant, despair and fear spread through the narrow space, and some of the younger ones even began to sob softly.

They usually practiced martial arts and could handle wild boars or wolves, but they had never witnessed such a terrifying sight.

”What good is crying now!”

Li Changyun yelled in a low voice. Although he was also panicked inside, as the eldest grandson, he knew he had to step forward and take the lead at this moment.

”Since the Clan Chief instructed us to proceed on our own, there must be a deeper purpose! How can we just wait here for death!”

Li Changyue also recovered her composure at this point.

She was sharp-minded. Using the faint light filtering down from the top of the fissure, she observed carefully:

”Everyone look up, the rock wall has indentations and protrusions; we might be able to climb it!”

Everyone looked up. Sure enough, the fissure was not completely sealed; there was a narrow gap above that led to the outside.

”There’s a way! Everyone be quiet, don’t alert those beasts outside!”

Thunder Frost quickly said:

”I’m better at climbing. I’ll go up first to scout. You all guard the entrance, listen for my signal, and come up one by one. Be light on your feet!”

In this critical moment, no one objected.

Relying on her agility, Thunder Frost used both her hands and feet, carefully climbing upward.

Before long, her hushed voice came from above:

”It’s safe! You can come up! One by one, don’t crowd!”

The group climbed in order.

When it was Stone Iron Pillar’s turn, his physique was robust, and the fissure was narrow, making the ascent quite difficult for him.

”Sister Frost, use arrows to distract the few large ones at the entrance!”

Li Changyu directed from above.

Thunder Frost understood. She drew her bow and notched an arrow, sending two ”whoosh, whoosh” shots precisely into the compound eyes of the two largest giant crabs blocking the fissure entrance.

The giant crabs cried out in pain and subconsciously waved their huge pincers, retreating.

Taking advantage of this gap, the people above pulled together, finally dragging Stone Iron Pillar up as well.

They successfully escaped the fissure and stood on a flat rock summit several yards in size.

From this vantage point, they could see the giant crabs still patrolling the beach below, but they posed no immediate threat.

The sunlight shone down, dispelling some of the gloom, but the shadow of losing their supplies still hung over the group.

”What should we do next?”

Li Changxuan asked, breathing heavily. After the danger he had just experienced, he had become much more reserved.

Li Changyu gazed into the distance, pointing toward the faint outline of a volcano they could barely see:

”The direction is correct; we must continue forward. But we cannot walk on the beach anymore. We need to travel through the inland forest belt.”

He paused, then looked at the group:

”Food and water... we can only find those along the way. Since the Clan Chief said this island could be our foundation, there must be a way to survive.”

His gaze swept over their shaken faces, and he said in a deep voice:

”My brothers and sisters, we have all shared the danger just now. The road ahead is unknown, and the perils will surely not end here. Only by working together with one heart and trusting each other can we reach our destination! If there is any more panic or if we fight individually, today will be our burial ground!”

These words struck everyone’s heart like a heavy hammer.

Recalling their recent embarrassment and despair, and thinking of the Clan Chief’s parting words, a hint of determination gradually ignited in the youths’ eyes.

They might be young, but they were not foolish; they knew there was no turning back now.

A preliminary sense of unity quietly formed under the pressure of the crisis.

After a brief rest, the team, led by Li Changyu and Li Changyun, carefully climbed down the rock summit and entered the dense forest belt bordering the beach.

The trees in the forest were tall, their branches blocking the sun. The light was dim, and the air was filled with the scent of damp humus mixed with a stronger, strange fragrance of flowers and sulfur.

Beneath their feet was a thick layer of fallen leaves, rustling as they walked, adding a sense of eeriness.

No one dared to be careless. With Li Changyun and the shield-bearing Stone Iron Pillar as the vanguard, Thunder Frost and Li Changxuan guarding the flanks, and Li Changyu and Li Changyue positioned in the center to coordinate and watch the rear, the rest followed closely, forming a simple formation as they slowly advanced.

After traveling less than a *li*, the sound of gurgling water came from ahead.

Everyone’s spirits lifted. Following the sound, they saw a clear stream, only a few feet wide, winding through the forest.

”Water! It’s fresh water!”

Li Changxue exclaimed happily, about to rush forward.

”Wait!”

Li Changyue grabbed her, her eyes vigilantly scanning both banks of the stream and the water itself.

This time, she was cautious, worried that even the stream might harbor strange insects or monstrous fish.

Li Changyu signaled for everyone to stop, picked up a stone, and tossed it into the stream.

With a ”plop,” ripples spread, and nothing unusual happened.

He then had Thunder Frost shoot down a vine covered in wild fruit. After carefully observing the fruit for any abnormalities and noting the nearby pecking marks of birds, he felt slightly relieved.

”Take water in shifts, don’t gather in one place. Stone Iron Pillar, stand guard. Sister Frost, keep an eye on the opposite bank.”

Li Changyu instructed.

Following his instructions, they carefully used their personal waterskins to collect water and picked some wild fruits that looked edible. Although these couldn’t fill their stomachs, they temporarily quenched their hunger and thirst.

However, not long after leaving the stream, new trouble followed quickly.

”Ah!”

Li Changxing suddenly cried out softly and violently shook his hand. On the back of his hand was a colorful, centipede-like creature, over half a foot long, its sharp mouthparts biting down hard!

Li Changyue was quick-eyed and quick-handed, using the blunt back of her short blade to accurately knock the ”centipede” off. The creature immediately burrowed into the fallen leaves and disappeared.

Looking at the back of Li Changxing’s hand, it had rapidly swollen, and a sensation of numbness spread from the bite.