Demonwind Forest

Yang Genshuo felt that this was a good opportunity.

The Yang Family was currently in urgent need of spirit fields, and he needed to plant more spirit wheat to increase the production of fasting cakes.

Being able to develop a new spirit field was exceptionally wonderful.

Moreover, Xiang Pichi, who guarded the Xiang Residence, was merely a Five-Element Spiritual Root cultivator at the Qi Refining First Layer, so his strength was not particularly high.

With premeditation catching unpreparedness, eliminating him might not be impossible.

Yang Genshuo could see that Yang Shi would never forget the deep blood feud of the Yang Family.

Thus, weakening the strength of the Xiang Family in advance was extremely important.

Wiping out Xiang Pichi would mean one less Qi Refining Realm enemy when dealing with the Xiang Family in the future.

Yang Shi had no personal grievance with Xiang Pichi, but a lineage blood feud required everyone in the Xiang Family to bear it.

Because they stood upon the flesh and blood of the Yang Family, feasting with wild abandon.

Every mouthful of spirit rice they ate was a sin!

He communicated the situation of the Xiang Family to Yang Shi.

"Now, use up all the remaining spirit stones in the household to ensure victory in this battle."

"Understood!"

Yang Shi still had 398 low-grade spirit stones on hand, and today was the final day of the market. He was going on a buying spree.

Yang Shi walked up to stall after stall, pointing at talismans, formation stones, magical tools, pills, and spirit beasts.

"This, this, this, this, and also this. I want them all!"

The rogue cultivator stallholders were all astonished. What kind of purchasing method was this?

Was someone walking as a Blackstone Sect member as wealthy as Yang Shi?

Was he not a martial cultivator? Why did he want so many things used by cultivators?

Yet under the formidable offensive of spirit stones, a thousand words transformed into a single phrase:

"Patron Yang is magnanimous!"

In a short span of time, Yang Shi swept clean everything that could temporarily enhance his own combat effectiveness.

The 398 spirit stones were squandered instantly.

Upon discovering this, Bai Heyu bantered, "Is Brother Yang about to go to war? Even though you have spirit stones, you shouldn't squander them like this. When your wife reaches the Embryonic Breath Great Perfection, a massive amount of spirit stones will be required just to purchase a wisp of pure heaven and earth spiritual qi."

"Hehe~ The foundation of my Yang Family is still thin. Over the years, thanks to the care of the senior sister and Senior Brother Bai, all those petty scoundrels haven't dared to come and cause us trouble. Yet with spirit stones on hand, I fear some might harbor crooked intentions. Buying some consumables for self-defense is never wrong."

"That is true as well. Brother Yang anticipates danger in times of safety, showing the demeanor of a household head."

Watching Bai Heyu chat and laugh with ease, Yang Shi frowned slightly.

The words of the ancestor still echoed within his mind.

"The matter between you and the Xiang Family must never be divulged to Bai Heyu and other members of the Blackstone Sect. Even if the Xiang Family colludes with the Demon Cult, you should not be the one to speak of it; you can only wait for them to discover it slowly."

"Otherwise, before this Xiang Family falls, you will die a violent death on the street first."

The reason was clear to Yang Shi.

There was a member of the Xiang Family who was a Foundation Establishment elder of the Blackstone Sect.

With this protective talisman present, Bai Heyu would not dare to act casually.

Let alone bringing this news back to the Blackstone Sect and asking others to take action. Before the Blackstone Sect disciples arrived, that Foundation Establishment elder would likely reduce the Yang Family to ashes.

Even if their collusion with the Demon Cult was verified and the Blackstone Sect members chanced to be selfless and impartial, the best-case scenario for the Yang Family would be trading lives one-for-one with the Xiang Family.

This was clearly unacceptable.

Unless that senior sister Murong Ziyan came again, relying on her Foundation Establishment Realm power to crush the demonic path cultivators, and then returning to sanction the Foundation Establishment elder of the Xiang Family.

However, aside from entrusting Bai Heyu to send a few talismans every year in exchange for sweets, Murong Ziyan had no further contact with the Yang Family.

Yang Shi could not display the slightest hostility toward the Xiang Family right now, or else his development over these past years would be thrown away for naught.

When the market concluded, the rogue cultivators dispersed, and Bai Heyu also left Bluestone County, this county town returned to its former appearance.

Only, compared to four years ago, the present Bluestone County saw quite a few more rogue cultivators coming and going.

Yang Shi prepared for two days, getting ready to head to the Demonwind Forest today.

If the Tiger-Leopard Forest was a hunter's restricted zone where high-tier martial cultivators could go, then the Demonwind Forest was a rogue cultivator's restricted zone.

Every cultivator in the Rogue Cultivator Market turned pale at the mere mention of it; occasionally, an Embryonic Breath Stage cultivator misstepped and walked into the Demonwind Forest, and eight or nine times out of ten, they failed to come out alive.

Legend had it that the Demonwind Forest was inhabited by the Demon Race and a massive number of fierce beasts, along with terrifying black-skinned ogres.

Yet where there was peril there was treasure. The Demonwind Forest was rarely visited by humans, and numerous heavenly treasures grew there, all of which were prime materials for making pills and magical tools.

If one had the strength to slay spirit beasts, then the carcasses of spirit beasts were also treasures from head to toe.

For example, the Dragon-Tiger Golden Pill that Yang Shi consumed had its most crucial material derived from the blood on a dragon-tiger beast.

Consequently, there were also some bold Qi Refining cultivators who sought treasures in the periphery of the Demonwind Forest.

The map drawn by the lean cultivator detailed a covert route along the periphery of the Demonwind Forest.

The route leading to this place ran adjacent to the Tiger-Leopard Forest, separated in the middle by a rushing river. Very few wild beasts passed through here.

"Let's go, set out!"

Yang Shi, a Half-Step Innate Grandmaster Realm martial cultivator, rode a newly purchased Embryonic Breath spirit beast, a blood-red horse; Jiang Xiaobai, at the Embryonic Breath Sixth Layer, rode the stout Little Flame; and Huzi, at the Body Tempering Ninth Layer, rode an iron-spined gray wolf. The three riders set off from the Yang Family Manor.

"Dad~ Mom~ What are you two doing? Can you take Xiao Fu with you?"

Three-year-old little Yang Fu ran over from the courtyard, looking at the procession before him with curiosity in his eyes.

In his impression, this was the very first time he had seen his parents and uncle make such a grand array.

Yang Shi dismounted from the horse's back and stroked little Yang Fu's cheek.

"Mom and Dad are going to accomplish a major matter and will return once we're done. These past few days, be a good boy and listen to your wet nurse. If you encounter major trouble, go to the ancestral hall and look for the ancestor. Do you remember?"

"Oh."

Yang Fu tilted his head to look at his parents and did not interrupt further.

He had just turned three this year, but being naturally intelligent, he had already begun recognizing characters, possessing an intelligence comparable to a six- or seven-year-old child.

Moreover, Yang Fu had always possessed a steady temperament and was exceptionally sensible.

Yang Shi did not worry about anything happening to Yang Fu at home; with the ancestor watching over him, along with protective magical tools and defensive talismans, ordinary martial cultivators and cultivators simply could not pose a threat to him.

The three people and two beasts advanced all the way along the map, and as expected, they encountered no danger on the road.

Yang Genshuo also adjusted the time to normal flow, his gaze constantly observing the slightest disturbances within a 150-meter radius around Yang Shi.

He stood ready at any moment to manifest and issue warnings.

Peace persisted until they walked beneath the forest waterfall.

"Everyone rest a moment and eat something before we move on."

Having traveled for half a day, both they and the spirit beasts were hungry.

At that moment, a golden finger appeared within the waterfall, pointing at a shadow in the water. Yang Shi's eyes narrowed as he quietly said:

"Hold on. There is something in the lake, Xiaobai, watch the spot my sword tip is pointing to."

He unhurriedly drew his Flowing Water Sword, aiming it straight at that cluster of shadows.

Xiaobai understood tacitly.

"Entanglement Technique!"

A cluster of green energy whips wove like wandering snakes, making several turns in the air and fiercely entangling the shadow in the water.

"Water Generates Wood!"

The green whip continuously expanded within the water, becoming even tougher.

"Hiss!"

The object in the water let out a hiss, struggling and churning up large waves of water.

"Flying Sword Without a Trace!"

Yang Shi flicked out the Flowing Water Sword, plunging it directly into the entangled shadow in the water.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss!"

A large amount of blood welled up from the water, and that cluster of shadows struggled even more violently.

Crack!

Huzi lashed his whip, and the gray wolf charged into the water, fiercely clamping down on that mass with its bite. Before long, the lake was floating with fresh blood.

The gray wolf kept biting the creature until it made no more sound, then clamped it in its jaws and dragged it out.

There is more to come