New Acquaintances

Deep in the dense forest, several disheveled figures stumbled and bled as they ran toward the edge of the forest.

"Huffing and puffing..."

"Damn it, weren't they saying that Golden Core stage Demon Beast are very independent and never act in groups? How come there are so many Golden Core stage Demon Beast?" Song Hua complained as he ran.

"Who knows, is it even useful to say this now? Let's run!"

"It's all your fault! You didn't have time to buy new teleportation talismans after we used them up last time, and you insisted on dragging everyone back into the dense forest!"

"Who knew we'd encounter this situation? Ask these two bodyguards if they've ever encountered a group of Golden Core cultivators acting together."

"Young masters, could you please stop arguing? Our top priority is to get to the edge of the dense forest as soon as possible. We can talk about our mistakes after we're out of danger." The two bodyguards were sweating profusely from running. They knew these young masters were difficult to deal with. Last time they encountered a six-tusked white elephant in the Nascent Soul Realm, and this time they didn't know why they had provoked several late-stage Golden Core Demon Beast.

What incredible luck!

They had never encountered such an outrageous situation in all their years as bodyguards; one of their companions had already died under the claws of the Demon Beast that was chasing them.

"Awooo--" Among the Demon Beast chasing them was a one-eyed lone wolf with fierce and bloodthirsty eyes. It was this wolf that bit one of the bodyguards to death.

The one-eyed lone wolf has four red paws and runs at incredible speed, as if it's riding the clouds.

It cried out and accelerated again, rushing towards Song Hua and the others.

"Damn it, it's the Red Cloud Wolf! It's probably the former wolf king. The new wolf king defeated it and drove it away!" Song Hua cursed.

Hearing Song Hua's curses, the one-eyed wolf's eyes grew even colder. It kicked off with its legs, leaped high into the air, and bit down on Song Hua's neck.

Song Hua turned around and saw this scene. His face turned pale instantly, and he looked deathly pale.

Just when he thought he was doomed, he heard the sound of a sword ringing in his ear.

Buzz-

The sword's cry was short and powerful, containing a mysterious charm; only Swordsmanship could unleash such a strike.

A sword was thrust at the one-eyed lone wolf, startling it into turning around immediately.

The sword strike was too fast, and the creature reacted too slowly, leaving it no way to dodge.

It could only open its gaping maw and take the blow head-on.

The Qingfeng sword clashed with the wolf fang, producing a piercing sound that sent chills down one's spine.

The one-eyed lone wolf's mouth was full of blood, and only half of its sharp fangs remained.

Lu Yang drew his sword again, aiming at the one-eyed lone wolf.

At the same time, three other figures met the three Demon Beasts.

Song Hua and the others were caught off guard by this sudden arrival of reinforcements. Should they go to help, continue running, or stay where they were?

Before Song Hua and the others could have much time to think, the one-eyed wolf king's head flew off, and he was dead beyond any doubt.

Lu Yang sheathed his Green Edge Sword, a few drops of wolf blood splattering onto his face.

"Watch out, there's another Demon Beast in the sky!" Song Hua shouted a warning.

Once you reach the Golden Core stage, you can fly. Song Hua and the others originally planned to escape by flying, but a demonic bird was circling in the sky. Anyone who took to the air would inevitably be targeted by it.

The demonic bird noticed Lu Yang's presence, flapped its wings, and transformed into a rain of meteor arrows, rushing towards Lu Yang.

Lu Yang had noticed the demonic bird's presence long ago. Without even raising his head, he casually raised his Qingfeng sword, his movements as relaxed as if he were stretching in the morning. The demonic bird crashed directly into the tip of the Qingfeng sword, its head pierced through.

"Are you alright?" Lu Yang asked with concern.

"You are..." Song Hua and the others were shocked. Lu Yang's displayed cultivation level was Foundation Establishment Late Stage, but how could someone at the Foundation Establishment Late Stage kill the One-Eyed Lone Wolf and the Demon Bird?

"Tch, you're still a step too slow." As he spoke, Meng Jingzhou also killed a Demon Beast, his fist covered in Demon Beast blood.

"Meng Jingzhou?" Song Hua's eyes widened as he recognized Meng Jingzhou.

"You are... Song Hua from the Song family?" Meng Jingzhou was a little uncertain, mainly because the other party was too disheveled, covered in dust and dirt, like a refugee who had run away from somewhere, which was very different from the Song Hua in his memory.

Although the Song family is not as prominent as the Meng family, they are a well-known and respected Lineage in the capital, with excellent living conditions. The last time I saw Song Hua was when she was singing and dancing on a pleasure boat, and she danced even better than the most beautiful courtesan.

"Yes, it's me!" Song Hua didn't expect that Meng Jingzhou would be among the people who saved him. He had heard that Meng Jingzhou had been missing for more than a year and had not been seen since.

However, judging from the Meng family's unhurried attitude, there are doubts about Meng Jingzhou's disappearance.

"Is he Meng Jingzhou, the eldest son of the Meng family?" The people behind Song Hua exclaimed in low voices. They were from a collateral branch of the Song family and had never seen Meng Jingzhou before.

"You've done so many bad things, how come you still run into enemies here?" Lu Yang asked curiously.

Meng Jingzhou rolled his eyes. "Enemies my ass. Let me introduce you. This is Song Hua, the third young master of the Song family in the capital. He's a few years older than me. I hung out with him a few times when we were in the capital. I guess they're here in the dense forest like us, to gain experience. Of course, they might also be here to get some experience."

"A pleasure to meet you. I am Lu Yang from the Ask Dao Sect."

"The Ask Dao Sect?!" Song Hua exclaimed in surprise, but quickly composed himself, clasped his hands in thanks, and said, "So you are a fellow Daoist from the Ask Dao Sect. No wonder you possess such skill."

So, Meng Jingzhou has been missing for over a year because he went to the Ask Dao Sect to cultivate?

This is outrageous! The Meng family is already a major menace, Ask Dao Sect is an even greater one. Meng Jingzhou has connections to both places; won't he make enemies everywhere in the future?

Meng Jingzhou frowned. "Why do I get the feeling that you're thinking about something very impolite?"

"No, no, I wouldn't dare."

"We've taken care of it too." Before long, Tao Yaoye and Man Gu had both dealt with their respective Demon Beast. Song Hua noticed that these two were also in the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, and their clothes were not torn after killing the Demon Beast.

Lu Yang and his three companions had been training in the dense forest for two months, only returning to the Demon Suppression Pass three times during that time, spending the rest of their time honing their skills in the forest.

Ordinary late-stage Golden Core Demon Beast no longer pose a threat to them.

"Young Master Song, tell me, what heinous thing you did to deserve being chased by several Golden Core stage Demon Beast?" Meng Jingzhou asked lazily.

Song Hua isn't Man Gu with the Ancient Barbarian Tribe blood, naturally attracting hatred. Provoking one or two Golden Core stage Demon Beast is one thing, but how could he possibly be chased by five Demon Beasts at the same time?

Song Hua and the others gave a helpless, wry smile, "We really don't know what's going on. We just went a little deeper than usual, hoping to kill a few more high-quality Golden Core stage Demon Beast so we could explain ourselves when we got back."

"It's strange, really. There should be more Golden Core stage Demon Beast deeper in the dense forest, but we walked for a long time without encountering any. When we finally did, you saw what happened—five of them appeared, and one of the bodyguards was even swallowed whole."

"Thanks to your help, otherwise I'm afraid I would have died in the dense forest today." Song Hua felt a sense of luck that he had survived a disaster. After this ordeal, he made up his mind to take a flying boat back to his Lineage as soon as he returned to Zhenyao Pass.

Their gains from this trip were enough to report back to their Lineage; there was no need for them to take any more risks.

Lu Yang and the others exchanged glances, certain that some unknown event had occurred deeper in the dense forest.