Chapter 85 - 82: Chance Encounter with Loose Cultivators
Chapter 85: Chapter 82: Chance Encounter with Loose Cultivators
After making both traits permanent, Li Yuan equipped the Nourishing Essence Skill.
As soon as the Qi Blood self-generation trait was re-equipped, that familiar, gentle warmth surged through his body. It spread slowly from his Dantian to his limbs, and the flow of his Qi Blood became much more vigorous than before.
During the midday rest, Li Yuan took a piece of Iron-horned Antelope hind leg meat from his storage bag. He cut off a pound and cooked it using his Fire Control Skill.
The meat was firm and very chewy. After he swallowed it, a warm current rose in his abdomen, slowly spreading through his meridians.
The effect of the Flame Marrow Physique took hold. The residual Demonic Power within the Demon Beast Flesh was converted bit by bit into Qi Blood, seeping into his muscles and bones.
When the rest period ended, the team continued to advance toward the Loose Cultivator marketplace.
The farther they went, the fewer traces of Demon Beasts they found. For the past two days, they had seen claw prints, droppings, or gnawed bones every hundred zhang or so, but now the gravelly ground beneath their feet was completely clean.
Occasionally, they could spot some older tracks—broken shrub branches, old marks scraped into rock faces by sharp claws—but they were all several days old. Nothing was recent.
Li Yuan scanned the surrounding terrain.
’There’s Loose Cultivator activity near their marketplace. It’s only natural that areas with more cultivators would have fewer Demon Beasts. This is perfectly normal.’
Li Yuan continued forward, and the feedback from the Spirit Detecting Disc in his hand changed.
Previously, the Spiritual Qi fluctuations it had picked up were mostly murky and chaotic, a characteristic of Demon Beasts. Now, several more contained fluctuations faintly appeared on the disc’s surface, faint and intermittent.
’Cultivators.’
’And more than one.’
Li Yuan increased the infusion of Spiritual Power into the Spirit Detecting Disc, pushing its sensory range to the limit.
Thirty zhang ahead, several condensed fluctuations of Spiritual Qi were gathered in one place, but they were relatively weak. Next to them were a few murkier ones—those were Demon Beasts.
Li Yuan quickened his pace and gave Song Tiezhu a hand signal.
The six of them spread out into formation, advancing along both sides of a low slope.
The moment they crested the slope, the scene ahead was revealed.
A dry, shallow ditch cut across the ground from south to north, its bottom covered in gravel. Three Demon Beasts—two Iron-Spine Hyenas and a Gray Ridge Flood Dragon Lizard—had a team of four Loose Cultivators trapped between the ditch wall and a large boulder.
The two Iron-Spine Hyenas stood on either side of the ditch’s edge, cutting off the Loose Cultivators’ escape routes. The Gray Ridge Flood Dragon Lizard crouched on a pile of gravel directly in front of them, its flat head extended forward, its mouth open and dripping with thick saliva.
All three beasts were Tier One Middle Grade. The Loose Cultivators clearly couldn’t hold out much longer.
The four of them were huddled beneath a stone wall. One was half-kneeling on the ground, his right arm hanging limp, the blood from his cuff having soaked his entire forearm.
Another was leaning against the stone wall, his hands still casting a spell, but the Spiritual Light at his fingertips was flickering, a clear sign his Spiritual Power was nearly depleted.
The remaining two stood in front with swords, one of which already had a crack on its blade.
An earthy-yellow Spiritual Light suddenly flared up in the Gray Ridge Flood Dragon Lizard’s mouth.
Li Yuan didn’t wait for it to spit it out.
A blast of fire erupted from under his feet as he activated the Fire Escape Skill. He shot down from the top of the slope, a Fireball already compressed in his palm.
BANG!
The crimson Fireball exploded on the Gray Ridge Flood Dragon Lizard’s back. A section of its thick, gray scales was blown off, and dark red blood immediately gushed from the charred wound. Before the lizard could spit out the earthy-yellow Spiritual Light in its mouth, the blast sent its body lurching forward, its snout smashing onto the gravel.
Both hyenas whipped their heads around, baring their teeth and snarling at Li Yuan.
The one on the right lunged first, its four paws digging into the ground as it moved with extreme speed.
With a flick of his wrist, Li Yuan unleashed the Fire Arrow Skill.
HISS.
The line of fire shot straight through the hyena’s front leg, severing a tendon. The front half of the hyena’s body collapsed, its paws scrabbling wildly as it tumbled over a zhang away.
Song Tiezhu had already cut in from the left flank, his broadsword chopping at the other hyena’s neck. The blade sliced through mane and flesh, and dark blood gushed out.
Han Xiaoyi and Tian Qi closed in from the rear, blocking the hyena’s escape.
The Gray Ridge Flood Dragon Lizard was still stunned from the blast, unable to right itself. It lay on its back, its four legs kicking wildly. Li Yuan gave it no chance to recover, smashing a second Fireball directly into a gap in its exposed underbelly armor.
BOOM.
Gravel flew everywhere. The lizard’s body arched violently before crashing back down. Its limbs twitched a few times, then went still.
The hyena on the right with the broken foreleg was dragging itself away when Zhao An circled behind it and thrust his spear into its hindquarters.
Song Tiezhu also finished his fight. Blood dripped from his blade, and the hyena at his feet lay motionless.
The entire fight took less than thirty breaths.
The four Loose Cultivators beneath the ditch wall stared blankly in their direction, unable to react for a long moment.
Their leader was a man in his early thirties, his face weathered and dusty. He had a messy ring of stubble around his chin, and his coarse cloth robe was torn in several places. A blood-soaked strip of cloth was draped over his shoulder.
He swallowed hard and lowered the broken sword in his hand.
"Th-thank you all... for your help."
His voice was hoarse, as if he hadn’t had a drink of water in a long time.
The one with the injured right arm also looked up. He was young, about twenty-five or twenty-six, with a deathly pale face. His eyes lit up when he saw the waist token on Li Yuan’s belt.
"You’re from Qinghe Marketplace?"
Li Yuan nodded but said no more, his gaze first sweeping over their injuries.
The leader’s shoulder wound wasn’t deep, but the man with the injured right arm was in serious condition. His entire forearm was bent at an unnatural angle; the bone was most likely broken.
The one who had been leaning against the wall had exhausted his Spiritual Power but had no external injuries. The man with the cracked sword had a scratch on his left ribs from something, but the bleeding had already stopped.
"Treat the injuries first," Li Yuan said, tilting his chin toward Xu Qing.
Xu Qing took out some medicinal powder and bandages from his robes, then knelt beside the Loose Cultivator with the injured arm and began to dress the wound.
The lead Loose Cultivator caught his breath and sat down on a rock, his legs still trembling.
"My name is Ma Yuan. I’m from the Loose Cultivator marketplace. These guys all came out with me."
He pointed to the three men behind him.
"We came from the marketplace."
Li Yuan crouched on a rock, watching him.
"What’s the situation at the marketplace now?"
Ma Yuan wiped the dust from his face, still breathing heavily as he spoke.
"The marketplace hasn’t fallen, and the people in charge are still there. But that’s all you can say for it. It’s a mess inside."
He raised a hand and pointed southeast.
"The few Cultivators in charge all have their own plans. Some think people from the Primordial Yang Sect will show up, so they’re desperately holding on. Others have already contacted other factions, planning to sell off their shops and territory. And then there are those who are just waiting to see who comes out on top before they make a move."
"Which factions have they contacted?"
Ma Yuan shook his head. "I don’t know the specifics. In any case, those managers don’t get along with each other."
The Loose Cultivator who had been leaning against the wall had caught his breath and chimed in, "The deadliest part is the lack of supplies. No one is coming or going. Pills and Talismans are almost gone, and we can’t even organize a proper guard."
"What about the other Loose Cultivators?" Li Yuan asked.
Ma Yuan fell silent for a moment.
"A good number have left, but not a huge amount. Some fled on their own, while others were taken away by people from the Li family. We don’t know who made it out alive. There are surely many who died on the road."
He paused.
"A while back, when the Demon Beast attacks were at their worst, no one dared to go out. Later, the number of Demon Beasts started to decrease. Recently, the manager of a Wang family shop in the marketplace has been urging people to head north, saying that Qinghe Marketplace is safer than here."
"Coincidentally, the number of Demon Beasts nearby seemed to have dropped quite a bit, so we decided to head out."
Ma Yuan glanced at his companions behind him.
After listening, Li Yuan asked another question.
"When did the people from the Li family arrive?"
"A while ago. Maybe a little over half a month ago."
The Loose Cultivator with the cracked sword spoke up, his voice low.
"A group came, not many, just seven or eight of them. All had mid- to late-stage Qi Refining Cultivation. They didn’t clear out the Demon Beasts on a large scale or anything. They just picked out a few Loose Cultivators who knew Alchemy, Talisman making, or Artifact Refining and took them along."
"They escorted them out of the marketplace and headed south."
Ma Yuan nodded and added, "They never came back after that."
Xu Qing had already set the injured man’s arm in a simple splint.
Li Yuan stood up and assessed their condition.
"Can you walk?"
Ma Yuan struggled to his feet and brushed the dust from his pants.
"We can walk."
"Come with us. First, you’ll meet our leader."
The six of them led the four Loose Cultivators back the way they came. After about two li, the silhouette of their camp appeared from behind a low hill ahead.
Uncle Qu was standing on a tall rock at the edge of the camp, gazing south into the distance.
When he saw Li Yuan returning with several Loose Cultivators, he gave them a brief glance before turning and leaping down from the rock.
"They were surrounded by three Tier One Middle Grade beasts. We took care of it," Li Yuan answered succinctly, then relayed the intelligence about the marketplace that Ma Yuan and the others had provided.
Uncle Qu’s expression didn’t change as he listened. He only nodded.
"Get them settled in for now. We’ll rest here for the night."
After speaking, Uncle Qu turned and walked to the other side of the camp, where two Cultivators from the Wang family were standing.
The three of them gathered together. Their Spiritual Power fluctuated slightly, and their voices were sealed off—it was the Sound Transmission Skill.
Li Yuan didn’t approach them. He walked back to his spot and took inventory of the items in his storage bag.
From a distant mountain hollow, the roar of a Demon Beast echoed—low and prolonged. It reverberated between the cliff faces several times before fading away.
Li Yuan sat down cross-legged and began to circulate his Cultivation Technique.
Spiritual Qi surged into his body from all directions. Under the guidance of the Hundred Veins Returning to Origin Skill, it flowed through all the meridians in his body before finally converging in his Dantian.
His Cultivation was still advancing, bit by bit.