Hunting

That day, Wang Hong led his group of subordinates out of the city in a grand procession.

A little hoodlum who often loafed around the city gate saw this and quietly released a sound-transmission talisman.

Sound-transmission talismans were the most commonly used means of communication in the cultivation world, with ranges varying from several dozen li to over a thousand li.

Other than Wang Hong, every one of them wore metal armor, carried a bundle of short spears that gleamed with dark light on their backs, and held long iron spears in their hands. Their armor clanked as they walked. Though most of them were mortals without cultivation, with only a few at Qi Refining Layer One among them, their bearing was still deeply intimidating.

Aside from the few who had converted to spiritual power, all these soldiers had now reached the Xiantian Realm as martial artists. Without counting talismans and artifacts, their individual strength was no weaker than that of early Qi Refining cultivators.

After cultivating for this period of time, Wang Hong had mastered the Artifact Control Technique, the Wood-element Binding Spell, Wood Shield Spell, Wood Thorn Spell, the Fire-element Fireball Spell, and the Earth-element Earth Wall Spell.

He possessed four spiritual roots. Other than the Metal element, he could cultivate spells of the other four elements. It could be considered one tiny advantage of mixed spiritual roots.

To cultivate these spells, he had used up over a thousand jin of spirit wine, worth tens of thousands of Spirit Stones. If word got out, it would scare other Rogue Cultivators to death.

Other low-level cultivators only chose one or two spells to cultivate. After casting a few spells, their spiritual power would be exhausted, and they had to meditate to recover it, making their efficiency extremely slow.

Yet while the consumption was immense, Wang Hong had gained one benefit. Through the repeated cycle of exhausting his spiritual power and replenishing it, his spiritual power had been tempered and become purer.

Their destination this time was Purple Cloud Peak, fifty li from Qingxu City. Spiritual energy was abundant there, and it produced many spiritual herbs as well as numerous Demonic Beasts. Cultivators often went there to hunt Demonic Beasts and gather spiritual herbs.

Wang Hong's purpose in entering the mountains this time was to fight Demonic Beasts and hone everyone's combat skills. Gathering spiritual herbs was merely incidental.

After searching the mountains for nearly two hours, they finally saw a clump of brambles sway slightly, with sounds coming from within. To avoid accidentally hurting a person, Skinny Monkey tossed a small stone toward it.

A low growl sounded where the stone landed. The bramble patch parted to both sides, and an Iron-toothed Bristle Pig over a man's height crawled out from within.

That pig had been taking a nap, sleeping soundly, when a stone suddenly struck it and interrupted its sweet dream.

In a thoroughly foul mood, it spotted a group of two-legged creatures standing not far away and charged over at full speed. Ordinarily, it did not like provoking such two-legged creatures, since they were not on its menu.

But now its heart was filled with fury. Who cared whether they were its dish or not? It would kill them first and talk later. It needed something to vent its anger on.

"Prepare, fire!"

At Zhang Chunfeng's command, more than forty short spears whistled through the air. A single volley turned the Iron-toothed Bristle Pig into a hedgehog. It staggered forward a few more steps on momentum before collapsing to the ground, unable to rise again.

One exchange had taken down a low-grade First Rank Demonic Beast. Wang Hong was quite satisfied.

Demonic Beasts were also divided into ranks. First Rank Demonic Beasts were equivalent in strength to Qi Refining cultivators. Second Rank was equivalent to human Foundation Establishment cultivators, Third Rank to Golden Core cultivators, and so on. Each rank was further divided into low, middle, and high grades, corresponding to the early, middle, and late stages.

After clearing the battlefield, they continued onward. They encountered two more Demonic Beasts along the way, both of which were easily dealt with. Wang Hong did not even get the chance to make a move.

As the sky gradually darkened, they found a patch of level ground beside a stream and set up camp.

They dragged the Iron-toothed Bristle Pig to the stream, washed and butchered it clean, then placed the meat into several large basins. Wang Hong took out several kinds of powdered spiritual herbs and poured them in, ordering Zhang Chunfeng and Skinny Monkey to repeatedly knead the meat with spiritual power. The purpose was to neutralize the violent spiritual power within the Demonic Beast meat.

Over the past few years, Wang Hong had also learned some spirit chef skills. The main reason was that he liked eating meat. Perhaps because he had once starved too badly, he was now especially fond of it.

Skinny Monkey set up two large pots, putting the meat and bones into them separately. He poured in Spirit Spring Water, added some seasonings, and lit Spirit Charcoal beneath them. Ordinary mortal fire was too weak to cook Demonic Beast meat through at all.

Skinny Monkey shared something in common with Wang Hong: both liked eating meat, and both liked preparing food. Whenever it came to arranging meals, he was the most enthusiastic. Perhaps it was because they had both gone hungry before.

Half an hour later, a rich aroma of meat drifted through the air. Skinny Monkey took out a pile of flatbreads from his storage bag and called everyone over to eat.

Wang Hong took a flatbread, warmed it over the fire, then spread it open. He placed several chunks of stewed meat inside, drizzled on some broth, and rolled up the flatbread.

He took a huge bite, and his mouth filled with fragrance. The stewed meat was tender and soft, mingling with the broth. The flatbread had been mixed with Spirit Wheat Flour from Wang Hong's space, giving it an especially chewy texture. He took several more mouthfuls of bone soup, which was thick and rich.

It would be even better if I could wrap a scallion in the flatbread. Next time, I should get some spirit scallions to plant.

The nights in the mountain forest were far from quiet. Birdsong and insect cries rang out endlessly, and distant beast roars could sometimes be heard.

Wang Hong was meditating in his tent when a rumbling sound suddenly came from outside. He immediately sprang to his feet and rushed out. The warning talismans he had set up had been triggered.

"Enemy attack!"

"Enemy attack!"

Accompanied by the shouts of several soldiers on night watch, everyone rushed out of their tents. Within two breaths, they had formed up in battle formation. Not a single person made another sound.

Wang Hong looked toward the direction of the warning and saw twelve people approaching from the opposite side.

Wang Hong recognized the man in front. The last time at the Lin Family's lecture hall, this man had stood beside Lin Yun, the Lin Family's eldest legitimate son. He was likely a collateral descendant of the Lin Family, with cultivation at Qi Refining Layer Six.

The Lin Family counted as a lower-middle force in Qingxu City. They possessed one Foundation Establishment cultivator and several dozen Qi Refining cultivators. Including the Rogue Cultivators who had attached themselves to them, they numbered over a hundred in total.

Among the other eleven, one was at Qi Refining Layer Five, three were at Qi Refining Layer Four, and the remaining seven were only at Qi Refining Layer Two or Three.

Wang Hong stepped to the front and shouted, "Who are you people?"

The leading man swept his sleeve behind him and smiled in a deliberately dashing manner. "You're Wang Hong, right? I am Lin Junjie of the Lin Family. I've been a little short on funds lately, and I heard you have quite a bit of wealth. I'd like to borrow some Spirit Stones from you to tide me over. You surely wouldn't be stingy over such trifling possessions, would you?"

"How much do you want?" Wang Hong asked noncommittally.

"As long as you hand over the storage bags on your bodies and the artifacts in your hands, you'll be considered my men. I guarantee I won't harm a hair on your heads. If you encounter any trouble in Qingxu City in the future, come find me," Lin Junjie continued, seeing that Wang Hong seemed somewhat tempted.

At that moment, the Qi Refining Layer Five cultivator stepped forward and said, "Kid, don't fail to appreciate kindness. How many people in Qingxu City are scrambling to give gifts to Young Master Lin, yet cannot even find the door? For Young Master Lin to think highly of you is your good fortune."

Wang Hong considered for a moment before saying, "Fine. I hope Young Master Lin keeps his word. From now on, I will follow Young Master Lin's lead."

He turned and waved. "Brothers, come over and pay your respects to Young Master Lin."

The people behind him marched forward in unison, their movements as neat as though they were one person.

Wang Hong cursed, "Relax a little. Who are you putting on such a stern face for?"

At the same time, he walked toward Lin Junjie while unfastening the storage bag from his waist and tossing it toward him.

A smug smile appeared on Lin Junjie's face. Just as he reached out to catch the storage bag, his expression abruptly changed, and he dodged backward.

But it was too late. Several plant seeds shot out from beneath the storage bag toward him. He dodged three, but two still landed on his body.

One of the seeds rapidly sprouted, spreading vines that tightly bound his limbs. The vines were covered in tiny thorns that pierced his skin, releasing wood toxin that impeded the circulation of his spiritual power.

At the same time, a whistling sound rose as dozens of short spears flew toward him. Lin Junjie was scared out of his wits as he watched the spears fly before him and pierce his body with muffled sounds of flesh being penetrated, yet he could do nothing.

Before dying, he deeply regretted listening to Yin Lang's instigation and coming to rob this minor cultivator. Those mortal soldiers were truly freaks. How could their reactions be so fast, and their movements so orderly? He only needed at most two breaths to break free.