Undercurrents

Shen Changchuan concealed himself within the dense forest and observed carefully.

To hide himself better, he had even learned the Breath Concealment Technique from the spell manual left behind by the Four Fiends of Heshan.

He carefully observed every move the Gale Falcon made,

including its injuries,

the times it left its nest to hunt, its hunting methods, the intervals between its departures, and so on.

He searched for a way to deal with that creature.

And after this tireless observation,

Shen Changchuan finally grasped most of the Gale Falcon's information.

Using all of it as a model,

he considered ways to deal with the Gale Falcon, simulating all manner of methods,

wanting to eliminate this threat once and for all.

In the end,

after another two days of deep thought,

he had simulated more than a dozen plans in his mind,

and Shen Changchuan ultimately decided to retreat.

"The chances of success are too low."

"That thing is too fast. With all the methods I currently possess, only the Soul-Snatching Bell can hit it and pose some threat to it."

"But after last time, the effect of a surprise attack probably won't be nearly as good. Besides, even if the ambush succeeds, the 'stiffening' time caused by the Soul-Snatching Bell isn't enough for me to severely wound and kill it while it's under control."

"Once it takes to the sky, I'll be completely helpless."

Combining the results of his careful observations over the past few days,

Shen Changchuan decisively scrapped every plan.

Under all reasonable deductions, judging solely by Shen Changchuan's current methods, the likelihood of failure against that creature was more than seventy or eighty percent.

And if the other party took to the sky,

then there would not be the slightest chance at all.

Thus,

Shen Changchuan had no intention of wasting any more time.

Without causing the slightest disturbance,

he quietly departed.

"If a rash attack fails again, then the next time I face it, after learning two lessons, the difficulty will probably soar severalfold and then some!"

"So if I want to deal with that creature, I must kill it in one blow! I can't give it another chance to escape!"

"I need to prepare properly."

On the way back,

Shen Changchuan cautiously made his way along the route he had taken here.

At the same time, he considered a plan to deal with the Gale Falcon.

With his existing methods,

wanting to eliminate it completely could only be described as difficult.

Shen Changchuan did not want to gamble on that twenty or thirty percent chance.

Then there was only one way,

and that was to strengthen himself.

"If I had suitable Dharma Artifacts, spells, or perhaps a Formation, that would work too."

"I should first go take a look at the merchant caravans gathered at Wu Family Market and see whether they have any suitable means."

"If I still can't find a good method, perhaps I can lie low for a while and raise my Cultivation Realm first. There are still six months until spring plowing and summer harvest. By then, I may not lack a way to deal with it."

As he pondered,

Shen Changchuan set his gaze upon the Azure Wood Sword Light on the Progress Bar Panel, whose progress remained stuck at 1% and had never increased.

Shen Changchuan could sense that this spell was very powerful.

If he could cultivate it to perfection,

he had an eighty or ninety percent chance of using it to kill the Gale Falcon!

As for that,

he was not entirely without contingencies.

Besides,

"Worst comes to worst, I can call for help and ask the cultivators from those six villages to come assist me. We can deal with it together."

"There will always be a way."

With that thought,

Shen Changchuan's heart relaxed slightly as well.

After several days,

he returned to Great Bay Village along the original route.

In some remote village,

the entire village was spotlessly clean, without a single person in sight.

There was not even a dog,

and the surroundings were silent as death.

At this moment,

in the square at the center of the village,

corpses of men and women, young and old alike, were piled into a small mountain.

Every dead face was twisted in terror, as though they had witnessed some supremely horrifying terror before death.

At the same time,

a black-robed man wearing a bronze mask held his palm out toward the mountain of corpses,

and blood-colored light rose from within it, thick as blood and radiating a scarlet glow.

At that moment, the layered corpses seemed to have all their blood, qi, and vitality sucked away. They swiftly shriveled, like mummies that had endured for thousands upon thousands of years.

Immediately afterward,

the red light flickered,

and a White Bone Longsword overflowing with endless resentment and steeped in ominousness rose from the corpse mountain.

The Bronze Masked Figure seized it in one hand.

"Congratulations, my lord, on successfully refining your artifact and greatly increasing your strength!"

Just then,

an aged voice sounded from behind him.

Although the voice was offering congratulations,

anyone who listened closely could tell that it did not contain the slightest sincerity.

It sounded like mere polite words.

The Bronze Masked Figure turned around.

The once-empty village had, at some unknown point, gathered twenty or thirty disparate figures.

There was a hunched, withered old man, dry and gaunt as a corpse.

There were brothers carrying longswords, their faces proud and unruly.

There was also a burly butcher with his face wrapped in black cloth strips, holding a bloodstained slaughtering knife.

These people had gathered together for some reason,

yet each kept some distance from the others. A faint sense of vigilance and estrangement lingered between them; there was no trust at all.

The Bronze Masked Figure did not care. The White Bone Longsword melted into his arm like liquid.

Then,

he turned around and swept his gaze over the surroundings.

"Where are the Four Fiends of Heshan? Why don't I see them?"

The Bronze Masked Figure scanned the area, noticed that several figures seemed to be missing, and spoke in a cold voice like machinery grinding.

"Does anyone present know those four brothers? A bottle of Qi Gathering Pills from me is not so easily earned."

Though his voice still carried no fluctuation whatsoever,

everyone present felt a chill run through their bodies.

One thing was certain:

if the Four Fiends of Heshan had truly taken the goods, failed to do the job, and run away, their end would absolutely not be pleasant.

"Cough, cough."

At that moment, a cough drew everyone's attention.

It was an old man holding a cane, his arms shriveled like claws and his hair streaked white.

He smiled at everyone and nodded before speaking.

"I have heard something of this matter. It is said that the Four Fiends of Heshan met their end in a place called Great Bay Village. Their heads were even hung up. They will not be coming."

"Oh? Such a thing happened? The Four Fiends of Heshan possessed a vicious weapon known as the Soul-Snatching Bell. When the four joined hands, even a Qi Gathering Seventh Level cultivator might not be able to take them down. What fierce dragon crossing the river did this come from?"

"Pah, what fierce dragon crossing the river? It was a Shen Family descendant. But it is said his cultivation was only around Qi Gathering Third or Fourth Level, and his methods were quite ordinary."

"Old Ghost Song, are you joking? How could a mere Qi Gathering Third or Fourth Level cultivator deal with the Four Fiends of Heshan?! Their leader's Cultivation Realm was at the peak of the sixth level, not to mention that they possessed a vicious weapon like the Soul-Snatching Bell. I heard that the Wu family once sent a Qi Gathering Seventh Level cultivator to hunt them down, yet even he failed to capture them!"

Someone immediately raised a doubt and spoke in rebuttal.

He did not believe it in the slightest.

"Hehehe, who knows? Those four brothers usually loved pretending to be innocent and kind, getting close to and deceiving naive little fellows fresh out of the gate. Perhaps this time they tried to play the pig to eat the tiger, only to truly become pigs and get plotted against by someone else's methods?"

Old Ghost Song let out a sinister chuckle.

Then he continued. His aged, hoarse voice seemed filled with temptation at this moment.

"The Four Fiends of Heshan are dead. Their inheritance likely fell into that brat's hands as well. Wouldn't you know after testing him?"

"If you do not trust this old man, you may investigate it yourselves."

"A brat at Qi Gathering Third or Fourth Level, even if he truly has some tricks, would still be easy prey in your hands."

As soon as he said this,

many among the crowd had flickering eyes, clearly having developed thoughts of their own.

But some also gave Old Ghost Song a deep look.

Would that old ghost really be so kind as to hand such a great benefit over to them for nothing?

What a joke!

How could anyone who had survived in this line of work for so long be kindhearted?

That old ghost likely was not certain of the other party's methods himself and wanted to fool a few cannon fodder into scouting the path for him.

Still, this might also be an opportunity.

For a time,

everyone around them harbored their own schemes.

"Enough!"

At that moment,

the Bronze Masked Figure at the front spoke coldly, his icy voice interrupting everyone's thoughts.

"Since they are dead, then so be it."

"But let me make this clear in advance. I paid a great price to gather all of you here for the purpose of breaching Wu Family Market."

"After Wu Family Market is breached, do whatever you wish. But if anyone acts without authorization before Wu Family Market falls and causes this operation to fail, even if I must cross mountains and rivers to pursue you for ten thousand miles, I will certainly extract your soul and seize your spirit, condemning you to never be reborn for all eternity!"

The Bronze Masked Figure spoke coldly.

The White Bone Longsword, shining with blood-colored light, slashed down and carved a deep ravine more than ten zhang long into the ground!

Overwhelming Blood Fiend Qi swept in all directions.

No one among the surrounding crowd dared utter a word.