Worry

Late autumn had arrived.

The weather had grown somewhat chilly.

In the mornings, one could even see white frost on the withered wild grass.

Within the mountain forests,

the lush leaves of many trees had also turned yellow and dry. When the wind blew, they rustled down from the branches, carpeting the entire earth.

Shen Changchuan had been back in Great Bay Village for several days.

During the time he had been away,

nothing unexpected had happened in Great Bay Village. Everything was well.

The worst-case scenario had not come to pass,

and Shen Changchuan breathed a sigh of relief.

During these few days of rest after returning, he had also brought the Breath Concealment Technique to 100% mastery.

This was not because his talent and comprehension were extraordinary,

allowing him to cultivate the Breath Concealment Technique to perfection within mere days.

Rather, it was the result of his efforts during the search for the Cave Abode Ruins in the mountains a month ago.

When he had first set out along the map, he had repeatedly encountered attacks from all manner of snakes, insects, rats, ants, wild beasts, and even Demon Beasts.

Although he could scout ahead with the Spirit Eye Technique and avoid them in advance, the harassment had still come one wave after another.

At the time, he had guessed that it was because he had made no attempt to conceal his aura. Entering the mountains like that was like lice on a bald man's head, glaringly obvious to every animal and Demon Beast, which was why trouble had kept finding him.

Thus, Shen Changchuan had taken out the spell compendium summarized by the Four Fiends of Heshan from his Storage Bag and learned a spell within called the Breath Concealment Technique.

As he traveled, he used this dharma gate to restrain his aura as much as possible.

What happened afterward was exactly as he had expected.

With the Breath Concealment Technique in effect,

to the wild beasts, Demon Beasts, and other creatures he passed, he was nearly like a moving stone or log.

He no longer suffered many attacks.

And precisely because of this,

after reaching his destination,

Shen Changchuan had remained hidden in the dense forest, secretly observing the Gale Falcon's habits for several days,

yet he had concealed himself extremely well and had not been discovered by it.

Perhaps it was also the experiences from this process

that caused Shen Changchuan's understanding of this spell to advance by leaps and bounds.

"Perhaps the unity of knowledge and action is also a shortcut to cultivating spells."

Thinking back on his experience traveling through the mountain forests,

and combining it with the process of bringing the Breath Concealment Technique to perfection over several days, Shen Changchuan gained some new insights into spell cultivation.

A seed was planted deep within his heart as well.

However, Shen Changchuan had no time to ponder these matters closely.

The day he had agreed with the leaders of the other six villages to travel together to Wu Family Market had arrived.

Early that morning,

the cultivators from the six villages dozens or even hundreds of miles away had already gathered their people. Each drove three to five carts laden with goods and converged upon Great Bay Village.

The entire convoy amounted to more than a dozen carriages and over a hundred people.

Most of the goods on their carts were Spirit Grain.

They were packed in boxes made from cheap white jade, lined inside and out with woven spirit rice stalks to prevent impacts during the journey and the dissipation of spiritual energy from the Spirit Grain.

Among the leaders of the six villages,

the Fan, Song, Miao, and Tao families were all small cultivation Lineages with inheritances nearing a century. They lived off Spirit Fields painstakingly reclaimed by their ancestors, maintaining their Lineages' cultivation heritage so it would not be severed.

The Li Family had been settled by outsiders several decades ago, and it was said that their village had been bought from a down-and-out fellow.

The final village was somewhat different. Its leader was named Guo Cheng, and his precise origins were unknown.

About ten years ago, Guo Cheng had arrived at the barren Old Mountain Village. He discovered a Spirit Spring with exceedingly thin spiritual energy amid the grass-choked mountains, and thus established Old Mountain Village's foundation.

Old Mountain Village had not been named Guo Family Village after Guo Cheng's surname.

That was because Guo Cheng had established an organization called Old Mountain Temple within Old Mountain Village.

It was said that Guo Cheng was determined to seek immortality and attain the Dao. He wished to establish a sect, widely accepting those fated to join as disciples, rather than passing his own power down through family bloodlines. Thus, Old Mountain Temple came into being.

Although Old Mountain Temple had only been established for a little over ten years and possessed merely three fen of barren Spirit Fields, leaving them with pitifully little Spirit Grain after paying tribute,

it had mastered a charcoal-burning craft. Using carefully selected wood, Spirit Spring water, and other materials, it could produce charcoal used to assist in pill refinement and artifact forging.

It possessed a certain value and lived quite comfortably.

More than half the carts in Old Mountain Temple's convoy were loaded with that special refined charcoal. Clearly, they intended to trade it at Wu Family Market.

Among the six leaders,

Guo Cheng was also the strongest, having reached the Qi Gathering Fourth Level.

The other five

were all around the Qi Gathering Third Level.

"Since everyone is here, good. Let's go!"

Once everyone had assembled, Shen Changchuan appeared. He swept his gaze around and, without wasting words, directly called for everyone to set off.

Everyone was initially stunned.

The Li Family Patriarch reacted and hurriedly stopped Shen Changchuan, speaking up to ask.

"Wait, Young Master Shen. Is it just you? Aren't there any others?"

"Yes. I have a Storage Bag, so I alone am enough. What's wrong?"

They had known about the killing of the Four Fiends of Heshan. Thus, Shen Changchuan had not hidden the Storage Bag he had gained as spoils of war. He openly showed it, giving it a shake in their direction.

Come to think of it,

seeing these people with carts large and small piled full,

Shen Changchuan found the Storage Bag in his hand especially delightful.

He silently thanked the Four Fiends of Heshan, those four old brothers, for their generous contribution.

"No, Young Master Shen. This journey comes precisely when those bandit cultivators outside are running rampant. Danger lurks at every turn. Shouldn't we wait for more people before departing together?"

The Li Family Patriarch could not help but be anxious.

In the past, they had also traveled with the Shen Family members of Great Bay Village to Wu Family Market.

But back then, Shen Shiying, who guarded Great Bay Village, had a Cultivation Realm above the Qi Gathering Fifth Level!

Combined with some powerful methods from the Shen Family and the assistance of all of them, even opponents at the Qi Gathering Sixth Level were nothing to fear.

And once bandit cultivators resorted to ruthless measures, yet failed to slaughter everyone,

if someone escaped and brought word back to the Shen Family thousands of miles away,

that would be troublesome.

The fate of the Hu Family in Great Bay Village twenty years ago was still vivid before their eyes.

Thus, very few bandit cultivators had dared set their sights on them.

But what was this situation now?

When this young Shen Family man had invited them to view the corpses of the Four Fiends of Heshan several months ago,

he had once revealed the aura of his Cultivation Realm. He had only been around the middle stage of the Qi Gathering Fourth Level.

And now, the aura around him

was little different from before.

There had not been much change.

If they encountered bandit cultivators, those people could crush him with their absolute Cultivation Realm, slaughter every last one of them, then toss their corpses into the wilderness and mountains to feed Demon Beasts, erasing every trace.

No matter how mighty the Shen Family behind him was, they would have no way to avenge him!

The Li Family Patriarch was practically frightened out of his wits.

"Wait for people? Wait for whom?"

"Well, Young Master Shen, how about having one of your elders accompany us?"

The Li Family Patriarch asked tentatively.

In his eyes, it would be best if they could dispatch that Shen Family senior who had dealt with the Four Fiends of Heshan.

"Elder? What elder do I have? It's just me. Hurry up and set off."

Shen Changchuan only found this baffling.

He felt that the other party seemed to have misunderstood something.

But he was too lazy to explain.

He had been looking forward to Wu Family Market for quite some time. He did not want to delay and end up missing the opportunity.

After Shen Changchuan turned around,

the Li Family Patriarch, Guo Cheng, and the Patriarchs of the other four families all exchanged glances, their faces filled with worry.

This...

This boy was young and rash, insisting on refusing advice. What were they supposed to do?!

The road to Wu Family Market

was not easy to travel!

The second chapter update will have to wait until tonight. Something held me up, but I'll try my best to get back on schedule afterward.