Chapter 81 - 80: Another Pill
Chapter 81: Chapter 80: Another Pill
After leaving the marketplace, the group traveled southwest along the road for less than an hour before turning onto a narrower dirt path.
Li Yuan walked at the head of the fourth squad, with five people following behind him.
They had met once before setting out, so they were all familiar with each other.
The one walking at the very front, closest to Li Yuan, was named Song Tiezhu. He was at the Qi Refining Fourth Level, a veteran of the guard post. With his thick arms and broad shoulders, he didn’t talk much, and his steps were heavy.
Beside him was Han Xiaoyi, also at the Qi Refining Fourth Level and a member of the guard. He wasn’t tall and swayed as he walked.
Behind them was Tian Qi, a guard from the mining area, with a cultivation at the Qi Refining Fourth Level.
The two men at the back were both at the Qi Refining Third Level.
Xu Qing came from the Spirit Field District, a Spirit Farmer by trade. However, he wasn’t from the Spirit Fields near Qinghe Marketplace, but rather from the ones near the Wang family’s estate.
The last one was named Zhao An, an apprentice transferred from the Artifact Refining hall. The tool bag at his waist jingled and clanged as he walked.
Before the party set out, Uncle Qu had each squad leader collect a storage pouch.
The storage pouches weren’t theirs to keep and had to be returned after use. Their capacity wasn’t large, about three cubic meters. The main reason for them was the long journey; it was impossible to drag Demon Beast carcasses, and materials needed to be collected promptly.
Li Yuan tied the storage pouch to his waist. When his fingers touched it, his panel flashed, notifying him that non-personal items could not be equipped. It was the same as last time.
As they marched on, some of them gradually grew more talkative.
Han Xiaoyi started talking after about fifteen minutes of walking. His voice wasn’t loud, but his tone was a bit slick.
"You’re Tian Qi, right? How are things over in your mining area? I heard a Demon Beast even popped up in the mineshaft a while back."
"I’ve never run into a Demon Beast in the mineshaft. The main thing is that mining is exhausting. My hands are covered in calluses."
"Aren’t you a guard at the mineshaft? Why do you have to do the digging too?"
Han Xiaoyi asked in surprise, only to receive Tian Qi’s irritated reply.
"When there’s trouble, I’m a guard. When there’s no trouble, I have to help with the digging."
"And you can’t even use Magic for mining. It’s not precise enough, and it’s easy to cause a cave-in."
Tian Qi held out a hand for Han Xiaoyi to see. Its palm was as rough as tree bark.
Zhao An walked at the very back, the items in his tool bag clinking and clanking. He didn’t seem bothered by the noise himself, and would occasionally come up to ask a question about this or that.
"Captain Li, about how far are we going this time?"
"About a hundred li," Li Yuan replied without turning his head.
Zhao An clicked his tongue and muttered under his breath, ’That’s really far.’
After walking for about four hours, Uncle Qu, up ahead, gave a hand signal, and the entire party slowed their pace.
The main group spread out. The six squads fanned out, advancing along several parallel routes. Uncle Qu and three other cultivators from the Wang family walked in the center of the front line, providing support from the middle.
Li Yuan led his squad along the outermost route.
Before setting out, Li Yuan had made an adjustment, unequipping the Cyan Spirit Talisman Brush and equipping the Fire Escape Skill instead.
After the squads split up, Li Yuan began activating the Fire Escape Skill under his feet as he walked.
He wasn’t using it at full power, just gently channeling Spiritual Power to the soles of his feet. A faint line of firelight appeared beneath them, making each step about half a foot longer than normal. It wasn’t fast, nor was it conspicuous, but it was steadily consuming Spiritual Power and racking up mileage.
After walking for a while, the Spirit Detecting Disc picked up a fluctuation of Spiritual Qi about thirty zhang ahead and to the left.
"Something’s here," Li Yuan said in a low voice.
All six of them slowed their steps simultaneously.
A grayish-brown Iron-Spine Hyena emerged from behind the bushes. It was quite large, with a shoulder height of nearly three feet, and the fangs by its mouth were stained with the blood of some creature.
Tier One Middle Grade.
An explosion erupted from under Li Yuan’s feet as he activated the Fire Escape Skill at full power. His body shot forward three zhang in an instant, and a Fireball, courtesy of the Fireball Technique, had already coalesced in his left palm.
The hyena had just lifted its head when the Fireball smashed into it.
BANG.
A crimson light exploded on the hyena’s flank, peeling back a patch of its scaly armor as dark red blood gushed out. The hyena shrieked and retreated, but before it could regain its footing, Li Yuan’s second fire arrow had already left his hand.
HISS.
The line of fire pierced the hyena’s throat.
The entire exchange took less than a breath’s time.
By the time the others caught up, the hyena was already lying motionless on the ground.
Han Xiaoyi stopped two paces away, his mouth agape. He looked at the hyena on the ground, then back at Li Yuan.
"That was... too fast."
Song Tiezhu walked over, crouched down to examine the hyena’s wounds, and a trace of surprise showed on his face.
Li Yuan knelt and began to butcher the Demon Beast. Fortunately, he had learned a lot from He Shou and knew how to break down most Demon Beasts.
The beast’s hide and bones were worth some Spirit Stones. After harvesting them, he stored them in the storage pouch.
The remaining scraps of meat couldn’t be carried and were left behind.
The group continued onward. Han Xiaoyi followed behind Li Yuan, the corners of his mouth twitching upward uncontrollably.
After advancing for another two li, they encountered a Horned Lizard. It was a Tier One Low Grade beast, basking in the sun in a rock crevice. Li Yuan put a fire arrow through its head.
This time, Song Tiezhu proactively stepped forward to help butcher it, his movements deft and practiced.
"This one doesn’t have much of value. The horn is too small." Song Tiezhu broke off the Horned Lizard’s short horn, examined it, and set it aside.
"Let’s keep it. It’s better than nothing." Li Yuan collected the materials and put them in his storage pouch.
According to their prior intelligence, Demon Beasts began to appear about twenty li from the Loose Cultivator marketplace. From the looks of it, that information was accurate.
The farther they went, the more frequently the Spirit Detecting Disc picked up Spiritual Qi fluctuations.
It was just that the number of beasts wasn’t as high as he had imagined.
Demon Beasts needed to eat too, so it wasn’t as if the mountains and plains were crawling with them. However, their distribution was very widespread. Any Loose Cultivators inside that area would definitely run into several if they wanted to get out.
But the proportion of Tier One Middle Grade beasts was clearly higher.
Previously, when patrolling near the marketplace, they had mostly encountered Tier One Low Grade beasts; a Middle Grade one was considered a big deal. Now, after walking about five li, three of the five Demon Beasts they had run into were Middle Grade.