Returning to the Mountain

Within the valley, over a dozen Long-Eared Deer broke into a gallop, kicking up vast clouds of dust! Spirit light flowed over their antlers, which branched several times and gleamed with razor-sharp points.

The injured Azure Cloud Wolves could only keep fleeing.

Then a massive Fireball crashed down behind the Azure Cloud Wolves, blasting up great sheets of earth as scorching heat surged outward.

Next came four smaller Fireballs, hurtling one after another toward the backs of the Azure Cloud Wolves.

The large Fireball had been spat out by the Crimson Flame Fox, while the four smaller ones were the basic spells of Ye Jingyu and the other three.

The Crimson Flame Fox possessed exceptional fire talent and could nearly cast instantly, but among Ye Jingcheng's group, there were faster and slower casters.

Ye Jingyu was the fastest, followed by Ye Jingcheng, then Ye Jingli and Ye Jingyong.

The Fireballs landed one after another. Already burned, the Azure Cloud Wolves immediately wheeled around and charged at the Long-Eared Deer!

It was practically a fight-to-the-death charge!

There was still a sliver of life on the Long-Eared Deer's side, but when they turned toward the four Ye Family cultivators, another Spirit Shield rose—enough to drive beasts into despair.

Boom!

Awoo!

Amid thunderous impacts and cries of agony, several Azure Cloud Wolves, fighting as if their lives depended on it, launched several Wind Blades. Then, with terrifying speed, they bit down on the thick, plump necks of several Long-Eared Deer.

The Long-Eared Deer's antlers also pierced the bodies of several Azure Cloud Wolves! Yet in the end, the Long-Eared Deer had the last laugh. Five or six wounded Long-Eared Deer remained, standing tall as they licked their wounds.

They lowered their heads and growled at Ye Jingcheng's group, as though threatening them.

But the four already had a gleam in their eyes. They abandoned the formation and charged out first! The Flying Cloud Leopards still ran at the front. The two Flying Cloud Leopards had just eaten wolf meat, but they were nowhere near full.

The Ye Family had studied Spirit Beasts thoroughly. Even after hunting Monster Beasts, they only rewarded their Spirit Beasts with enough food to fill them two-thirds of the way!

That was the only way to preserve the Flying Cloud Leopards' ferocity! The Crimson Flame Fox followed behind them as well.

"Little Flame, aim straight for the one in the middle!" Ye Jingcheng shouted.

The Crimson Flame Fox immediately flicked its tail in response. It opened its mouth, gathering another large Fireball and launching it at the Long-Eared Deer in the middle, the one with the largest antlers!

The Dharma Artifacts of the other four also shot out almost alongside the Fireball.

The Long-Eared Deer were fast and ordinarily could have evaded it, but after fighting the Azure Cloud Wolves, nearly every one of them was injured. One was instantly smashed to death by the Fireball.

The remaining few were also cut down one by one by the Dharma Artifacts of the four.

The two Flying Cloud Leopards had pounced on nothing and could only dart into the forest. The next moment, several dozen spotted female Long-Eared Deer and seven or eight young Long-Eared Deer ran out from within the trees.

Each of the two Flying Cloud Leopards had a young deer clamped in its jaws! Clearly, the Azure Cloud Wolf Pack had previously been blocking this herd of deer.

"Keep the young deer and sell them to the family. Kill the females!" Ye Jingyu said decisively. The group divided up their tasks again. Ye Jingcheng and Ye Jingli were somewhat weaker, so they retreated beside the spirit formation to prevent the scattered Long-Eared Deer from crashing through the Spirit Shield and escaping!

Meanwhile, Ye Jingyu and Ye Jingyong began dealing with the threatening female deer.

Half an hour later, the valley had returned to peace.

The two Flying Cloud Leopards were still gnawing on the two young deer in their mouths. The young deer's fur had yet to fully develop its spirituality, and their antlers had no medicinal value. Since this had been such a great victory, the group simply let the two Flying Cloud Leopards feast to their fill.

When it came to Spirit Beasts, the Ye Family would not erase their ferocity. Otherwise, no matter how spiritual they were, they would still be inferior to wild Monster Beasts.

At that point, whether such Spirit Beasts were worth raising at all would be questionable.

Beside them, Ye Jingyu had already taken out a Dharma Artifact Rope, tied the seven young deer into a string, attached Spirit Talismans to them, and stored them all inside a Spirit Beast Bag.

Ye Jingyong and Ye Jingli were responsible for cleaning up the aftermath. First, they scattered a circle of Crimson Powder around the area.

The powder had an extremely pungent smell and was made from the dung of Second Order Demon Beasts.

Scattering a circle of it could, to a certain extent, prevent other Monster Beasts from approaching!

Afterward, the two gathered up all the Spirit Beast corpses. The spirit blood was drained and stored separately in bottle-shaped Dharma Artifacts. Leaving it in the corpses would affect both the spirituality of the spirit blood and the Spirit Beast Meat.

Unless they used Ice Seal Talismans, but Ice Seal Talismans were worth more than Spirit Beast Meat and spirit blood.

Ye Jingyong and Ye Jingli finished cleaning up quickly.

Ye Jingcheng, on the other hand, had a lower cultivation level and less spiritual energy. After the battle, he was somewhat exhausted, so he was now responsible for feeding the Crimson Flame Fox and the Jade Ring Rat. The Jade Ring Rat had also been injured, but its constitution was far better than even an Azure Scale Snake's. It was currently gnawing fiercely on an Azure Cloud Wolf's corpse as if seeking revenge, squeaking so loudly it was almost deafening.

After dealing with the Spirit Beasts, Ye Jingcheng walked over to the pool of Spring Water.

The Spring Water was exceptionally clear. Even though the herd of Long-Eared Deer had visited not long ago and left behind many disorderly plum-blossom hoofprints,

it was still clear enough to see the bottom.

The pool was not large, only about the size of an ordinary mortal family's thatched hut.

Ye Jingcheng took out four jade bottles and began filling them with Spring Water.

There was a Micro Spirit Vein here, so the water had naturally been nourished by the spirit vein. Though it could not be considered Spirit Water, it was still rich in spiritual energy.

It was a fine choice whether for the four of them to consume or for their Spirit Beasts to drink.

As for Spirit Herbs, the four did not search for any more. The Ye Family's Demon Hunting Team was far more professional than they were and had already swept the valley clean.

This Spring Water had also been collected once before, or Ye Jingyu would not have waited a month before returning! These jade bottles were specially made low-grade Dharma Artifacts. Each could hold fifty jin of Spring Water, making two hundred jin in total.

After he finished collecting it, only a shallow pool remained. Ye Jingcheng did not take any more, instead allowing it to continue seeping up from underground.

At this moment, he could clearly see the Spring Eye bubbling up, one bubble after another.

Though it was slow, it was easy to imagine that in less than half a month, the Spring Water would fill up again, then flow into the forest and continue nourishing the trees.

Once they finished collecting the Spring Water, Ye Jingyu had already put away the formation.

The four had no time to rest. They turned into four streaks of spirit light and vanished from the valley.

Two days later, Ye Jingcheng and the other three returned to Lingyun Peak. Upon seeing the blue-brick houses, Ye Jingcheng felt a wave of warmth and immediately returned to bed to rest.

This was the most exhausted he had been since becoming an immortal cultivator. That deep fatigue had nearly made him fall asleep aboard Ye Jingyu's Spirit Boat, but since they carried valuables and had emerged from the Mount Taihang Mountain Range, the four had to be even more cautious than on their way there.

He slept wonderfully, even having a beautiful dream. In it, the Crimson Flame Fox spread all nine tails, and ten thousand flames destroyed the world.

The next moment, he woke heavily from his sleep and saw that torrential rain had begun to fall outside the window. Mist filled the mountain forest, making Lingyun Peak seem even more mysterious.

Ye Jingcheng grinned.

It was early spring. After the heavy rains would come the spring plowing of Spirit Rice.

And spring plowing was always a joyful phrase.

Of course, at this moment, he was even more curious about how many Spirit Stones he would receive this time.

Thanks to boss Gui Youbai for the 100-coin reward.

The new book is setting sail and especially needs Follow-up Reading, recommendation tickets, saves, Monthly Tickets, and rewards.

Monthly Tickets, rewards, and Follow-up Reading in particular affect the new book ranking.

This little author begs on his knees. Once it goes premium, I'll definitely work like mad and update hard.