Jiang Qiang's hiding place was located in a secluded mountain valley.
He had constantly been evading the pursuit of Hutong Street, so the hiding spot he once chose was exceptionally well-concealed. After he had set up numerous illusion and trap formations around it back and forth, one could truly call it foolproof; it was a rare sanctuary of peace in the current chaotic times.
Chen Dengming had communicated and interacted with him multiple times before, and he quickly found this place.
This valley was filled with ancient woods and new trees.
Soaring cliffs stood on three sides, the mountain walls steep as if chopped by a hatchet. The cliffs were covered in moss resembling green velvet, appearing as though unaffected by the winter's influence.
Looking up from the bottom of the valley, one could only see a tiny patch of blue sky that looked freshly dyed.
A desolate, winding path led straight into the depths of the valley.
Yet without a mastery of formation techniques, one would easily become lost within.
After arriving, Chen Dengming used the cry of an ape as a signal, shouting with modulation for a while.
Jiang Qiang then poked his head out from within, his expression pleasantly surprised.
"Qiangzi!"
"Brother Chen!"
Seeing Chen Dengming, Jiang Qiang relaxed considerably. Clearly, he had already learned of the events that had taken place at the gathering place, and seeing Chen Dengming safe now, he felt completely at ease.
The two quickly entered the valley.
Chen Dengming informed Jiang Qiang of what he had seen and heard outside, and Jiang Qiang also shared some matters he had gathered.
Hearing this, Chen Dengming's expression turned ugly, and he said coldly, "I never expected Xu Ning to betray the Luo Family, actually teaming up with Iron Forest Hall to move against Hutong Street at the critical moment. No wonder I was ambushed by Iron Forest Hall; come to think of it, this scoundrel must have sold me out."
Jiang Qiang shook his head and said, "Depending on the loyalty and integrity of such a person is worse than believing that merchants don't love money. Fortunately, Brother Chen, your strength is formidable, and you fought your way out of the encirclement."
As he spoke these words, his heart was filled with even greater shock and admiration.
Two Qi Cultivation Fourth Level cultivators led six men to blockade Chen Dengming, yet he still managed to slaughter his way out; it was simply defying the heavens.
Jiang Qiang sighed again, "It's just a pity that even though Xu Ning struck back, scattering Hutong Street, that Qian Yuan still managed to escape and didn't die inside. What a pity."
Knowing that Qian Yuan had a blood feud with him for killing his wife, Chen Dengming patted his shoulder and said, "Qian Yuan is now a stray dog as well, and it will be difficult for him to hunt you down again. Cultivate diligently from now on, and if you encounter him again, you might just be able to slay your enemy with your own hands."
After exchanging a few words, the two decided to lay low temporarily to cultivate without going out, waiting to observe the situation outside before venturing forth once peace and safety were restored.
Although spiritual energy was scarce within the valley, its virtue lay in its tranquility.
Furthermore, there were spirit fish in the deep pool within the valley, and spirit vegetables grown from spirit seeds purchased by Jiang Qiang beside the pool—though due to a lack of spiritual energy and suitable soil, they had yet to sprout fully.
In short, for a short period, the two of them hiding out in the valley would have no problem eating and drinking, but if it took too long, they would have to think of another way.
After all, the two treasured beasts raised by Chen Dengming were also big consumers of spirit meat.
The empty valley refuses to yield, To cultivate is far too foolish. A hundred years drilling the Dao, When will the day of breakthrough come?
In the blink of an eye, it was over half a month later.
A heavy snow had fallen.
The valley was also covered in a thick layer of snow, glittering under the sun.
Many bowl-thick tree branches and trunks within the valley could not bear the heavy pressure of the snow piles, snapping with successive cracking sounds.
There was no wind in the valley, yet it exuded a piercing chill.
The roofs of the two wooden houses in the valley were piled high with snow.
Inside the room, the charcoal fire burned with a crackling sound, warm as a drying chamber, while wisps of wood spiritual energy, hard to observe with the naked eye, gathered within the room.
Abruptly, several glass-shattering sounds erupted. The wood spiritual energy that had been gathering gradually dispersed, and only a small portion continued to pour toward the figure in the center who was posed in the manner of a sleeping arhat.
The dancing Little Array Spirit let out a startled cry, her delicate body's spiritual light dimming as she shrank back into the array disk, not forgetting to beg for mercy at the end.
"Dao-Dao-Daoist friend, the spirit stones are gone, this concubine can no longer dance..."
Even though this transmitted emotion was suppressed to the utmost, it was still a fluctuation of the soul, and Chen Dengming managed to capture a trace of the Little Array Spirit's joy. Clearly, she had a rare and reasonable excuse to be lazy and didn't need to dance for him—the exploitative taskmaster—making her exceedingly happy.
Chen Dengming roused from his meditative state, glanced at the subdued Spirit Seizing Array, and then looked at the six shattered low-grade spirit stones on the ground, frowning involuntarily.
"Spirit stones are being consumed too quickly. Before I've even cultivated to the Qi Cultivation Fourth Level, the resources in my hands are about to be exhausted. It seems I'll have to go out and dig up the spirit stones hidden in a few other places."
Chen Dengming stood up, focusing his mind to observe the fruits of his hard cultivation over this period.
Qi Cultivation Third Level Cultivator [Chen Dengming] Lifespan: 163/257 Spiritual Roots: Metal, Wood (Intermediate 50/100) Martial Arts: Chen Family Martial Arts General Outline (Great Accomplishment) Daoist Magic: Gu Refining Chapter (Master 26/100), Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique (Third Layer 218/300), Chen Family Daoist Magic Chapter (Proficient 20/100), Life-Damaging Seedling Pulling Technique (First Layer 37/100), Artifact Control Art (Master 3/100), Vajra Shield Technique (Novice 29/100)
Over half a month had passed, and Chen Dengming had poured a large number of spirit stones into the Spirit Seizing Array for cultivation. The advancement speed of the Three Yuan Spirit Gathering Technique had been extremely fierce, and he was only two or three tenths away from breaking through to the Qi Cultivation Fourth Level.
As for other Daoist magic, only the Vajra Shield Technique and the Divine Speed Technique had been practiced enough.
The former had broken through from the initial learning stage to the novice stage, increasing his lifespan limit by another five years.
The latter was what he used for traveling when occasionally venturing outside the valley to observe the situation. Running it frequently, he successfully broke through to the proficient level.
Once the Divine Speed Technique reached the proficient level, all the first-rank, first-grade to second-grade Daoist magic he had learned could be considered as having entered the proficient level, among which the Artifact Control Art had even reached the master level.
Chen Dengming had consequently bundled and integrated all proficient-level Daoist magic into the Chen Family Daoist Magic Chapter. If he wished to improve them further in the future, as reflected in the "progress," it would involve the comprehension and practice of multiple Daoist magic techniques.
However, the expended energy remained the same.
If a first-rank, third-grade Daoist magic technique like the Vajra Shield Technique also advanced to the proficient level, it could likewise be incorporated into the Daoist Magic Chapter.
The only problem now was that while his cultivation was rapidly advancing, the spirit stone resources in his hands were also depleting extremely fast.
After all, achieving a cultivation effect comparable to six or seventy percent of the Luo Family's in a wilderness valley like this required a willingness to invest resources.
The twenty-odd low-grade spirit stones he carried on his person were now completely consumed, and he had to leave the valley to retrieve his packs from those few hidden treasury locations.
Chen Dengming stood up immediately and informed Jiang Qiang that he was going out.
During this period, thanks to his use of the Spirit Seizing Array to absorb metal and wood elemental spiritual energy, Jiang Qiang only needed to concentrate on absorbing fire elemental spiritual energy from the water, fire, and earth elemental spiritual energies, increasing his cultivation efficiency significantly and bringing him close to the verge of breaking through to the Qi Cultivation Third Level.
Chen Dengming put on a human skin mask and a bamboo hat, stepping into the snow and departing.
When not executing lightness techniques, walking on the snow would cause him to sink into it, producing a crunching sound.
After executing his lightness techniques, he crossed the snow without leaving a trace, covering dozens of zhang in an instant, ethereal and untraceable.
Soon enough.
He moved far away from the valley, arriving beside Lingyue Lake, not far from the gathering place.
His other pack of provisions was within his quiet cultivation dwelling inside Lingyue Lake.
The dwelling also included a set of spirit seizing array disks and a set of illusion array disks.
Once, wary that enemies targeting him might be lurking here, he dared not approach. Now, although the fierce battle between the Zhu and Luo families was intensifying and many rogue cultivators had been dragged into it, half a month had passed after all, and Chen Dengming figured no one would still be guarding this place.
He leaped onto the canopy of an ancient tree to observe the situation over there, catching a distant glimpse of the outlines of the gathering place.
He could see what looked like frozen corpses scattered in the snow, unsure whether they were cultivators or mortals.
Some people were even crouching beside those corpses, gnawing on something, which made one's hair stand on end.
Under the bitter cold of deep winter, coupled with the fierce and continuous battles of the cultivators, many mortals who already struggled to survive the winter were pushed to the brink of life and death. Even finding food was difficult, and they exhausted all their energy just trying to survive and protect their own safety daily, let alone searching for good food. The cruel phenomenon of exchanging children to eat had now actually occurred.
Chen Dengming felt a chill in his heart as he watched this. Whose fault was all of this? One could only say that weakness was the original sin.
The annulment of the marriage agreement between the Luo and Lu families had triggered this all-out war among cultivation families. While the major families had yet to show any casualties, countless rogue cultivators and mortals had already been ground to dust.
He quickly restrained his aura and set off toward the quiet cultivation dwelling.
The time it takes to brew a cup of tea later.
With a solemn expression and an ugly look on his face, Chen Dengming stood amongst the woods outside the quiet cultivation dwelling, narrowing his eyes to observe the situation there.
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