Mountain Pushing Beast

"Fellow Daoist Xu, are we heading into the mountains to hunt demonic beasts?"

Shen Long asked.

"Our target this time is the Snow Cloud Fox. The Chen family is offering a high price to acquire a first-tier Snow Cloud Fox."

Xu Lei said.

"A Snow Cloud Fox! Are there Snow Cloud Foxes in the Thousand Bamboo Mountain Range?"

Shen Long frowned.

The Snow Cloud Fox is small in stature, gentle in temperament, and possesses a keen sense of smell. It excels at finding spiritual herbs and is highly favored by many female cultivators. However, the Snow Cloud Fox is very timid; at the slightest sign of trouble, it will immediately burrow into the ground and flee, making it very difficult to capture.

"I received reliable information that a first-tier Snow Cloud Fox has been spotted deep within the Thousand Bamboo Mountain Range. The Chen family's offer is very high; if we catch the Snow Cloud Fox, we can make a small fortune."

Xu Lei said.

"Deep in the Thousand Bamboo Mountain Range? We won't run into a second-tier demonic beast, will we!"

Qin Qing said with some concern.

"There are very few demonic beasts left on the outskirts, and spiritual herbs are also rare. We have no choice but to venture deep inside and try our luck."

Sun Yang said.

"I have no objections. We must be extra careful this time; I just hope we don't run into Chen Xiong and his group."

Shen Long said.

"They left the market several days ago; I saw it with my own eyes. They aren't so idle that they would specifically target us; they also need to hunt demonic beasts to earn spirit stones."

Sun Yang explained.

"Since that's the case, let's head into the mountains! I hope we can catch the Snow Cloud Fox."

Qin Qing said. He was in urgent need of spirit stones and could not wait much longer.

"My brother and I have no objections."

Xu Wen expressed his agreement.

"Since no one has any objections, let's set off!"

Xu Lei said, and the group left the Green Bamboo Courtyard.

After exiting the market, Xu Lei summoned the Azure Cloud Boat and stepped onto it, and Sun Yang and the other six quickly followed.

Xu Lei pinched a magic seal, and the Azure Cloud Boat lit up with a cyan glow, soaring toward the high sky.

Three days later, the Azure Cloud Boat landed in an open area, with a vast forest of green bamboo not far away that seemed to stretch on forever.

Shen Long and the others stepped down, and Xu Lei put away the Azure Cloud Boat.

With a clear and resonant crane cry, a giant green crane flew in from the distant horizon. Five men and one woman stood on the back of the crane, led by a plump young woman in a green dress.

"Liu Jiao! Madam Liu."

Xu Lei recognized the young woman in the green dress.

Liu Jiao was the captain of a monster-hunting team with a cultivation base at the eighth level of Qi Refining, and she had a personal friendship with Xu Lei.

"Fellow Daoist Xu, what a coincidence!"

Liu Jiao greeted Xu Lei.

Xu Lei smiled and said, "Is Madam Liu also here to catch a Snow Cloud Fox?"

"Indeed! The Chen family's offer is very high; it just depends on who has the ability to catch the Snow Cloud Fox. We'll be heading off first."

After Liu Jiao finished speaking, the green crane flew off in another direction.

"Another competitor added to the mix. I hope we can be the ones to catch the Snow Cloud Fox."

Qin Qing said expectantly.

"Everyone, be careful. We might encounter second-tier demonic beasts here."

Xu Lei cast a yellow protective barrier on himself and walked toward the bamboo forest.

Shen Long and the others each cast a defensive spell on themselves and followed.

The Thousand Bamboo Mountain Range is quite vast, and finding a single first-tier Snow Cloud Fox in these boundless mountains is no easy task.

The bamboo forest was very quiet, and they moved at a slow pace.

A grayish-white tail stinger burst out from the soil and struck the cyan light screen on Ye Yuqing's body, emitting a dull thud.

Ye Yuqing reacted quickly; she raised her right hand, and a red talisman flew out, transforming into a dozen bowl-sized crimson fireballs that rained down one after another on the ground where the stinger had emerged.

With a thunderous roar, rolling flames engulfed the area.

Ye Yutang summoned a flying knife flickering with red light and slashed it toward the ground.

As the flames dissipated, a scorched scorpion appeared on the ground, its tail stinger a grayish-white color.

"A first-tier early-stage Iron Tail Scorpion!"

Ye Yuqing recognized the demonic insect.

"Don't be careless. The Iron Tail Scorpion hides underground and isn't easy to spot, but fortunately, its attack methods are simple and its strength is not high."

Xu Lei reminded them.

Ye Yuqing put away the corpse of the Iron Tail Scorpion, and the group continued forward.

A day later, they appeared in a long, narrow valley. The vegetation inside was sparse, the stone walls on both sides were uneven, and a large number of grayish-white stones were scattered on the ground.

Along the way, they had encountered quite a few first-rank insect monsters, most of which were at the early first-rank stage and were no match for them at all. However, the corpses of these early first-rank insect monsters could not be sold for many spirit stones.

Not long after, a cave several feet wide appeared ahead.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, go and scout it out to see what kind of demonic beasts are inside."

Xu Lei said.

Qin Qing acknowledged the order, a flash of green light appearing beneath his feet as he dashed toward the cave, while Xu Lei and the other six waited outside.

Soon, a deafening explosion erupted from within the cave.

"Stay alert!"

Xu Lei warned.

Qin Qing rushed out from the cave and said, "There are two late first-rank Mountain Pushing Beasts inside, and more than a dozen stalks of Three-Leaf Grass."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a dozen yellow earth spikes, each about a foot long, flew out from the cave.

Green light flared brightly from Qin Qing's feet, allowing him to dodge the dozen yellow earth spikes.

Two yellow demonic beasts, resembling wild boars in appearance, charged out from the cave, their two thick, long yellow tusks exposed, each measuring two feet in length.

Mountain Pushing Beasts have thick skin and flesh, a violent temperament, and immense strength. They love to ram their enemies; if a cultivator is struck by one, they will either die or be severely injured.

The two Mountain Pushing Beasts charged toward Xu Lei and the others, simultaneously opening their mouths to spit out a dozen foot-long yellow earth spikes each.

Ye Yuqing brought out a talisman flickering with red light, which featured a miniature snake pattern on its surface.

The red talisman burst open, transforming into a ten-foot-long crimson fire snake that slammed into one of the Mountain Pushing Beasts.

With a thunderous roar, the body of the crimson fire snake exploded, turning into rolling flames that engulfed the body of one Mountain Pushing Beast. Before the other Mountain Pushing Beast could charge very far, a green vine as thick as an adult's arm burst from the ground and coiled around its hind legs, causing the beast to tumble to the ground.

Multiple magical artifacts flew over and struck the Mountain Pushing Beast, leaving several shallow bloody gashes on its body.

Ye Yuqing patted her spirit beast bag with her right hand, and a tiger's roar rang out. A streak of green light flew out, landed on the ground, and revealed a giant tiger with a body entirely of green.

"A mid first-rank Green Wind Tiger!"

Shen Long recognized the beast.

The Green Wind Tiger opened its mouth and spat out a three-foot-long green wind blade, which struck one of the Mountain Pushing Beasts with a muffled thud.

The Mountain Pushing Beast struggled violently, snapping the green vine, but the Green Wind Tiger pounced over, opening its blood-red maw to bite at the Mountain Pushing Beast.

Despite the Mountain Pushing Beast's high rank, the Green Wind Tiger was clearly stronger, not to mention that it had the assistance of Ye Yuqing and Ye Yutang.

The sisters Ye Yuqing and Ye Yutang dealt with one Mountain Pushing Beast, while Shen Long and the other five dealt with the second one.

Before long, the Green Wind Tiger bit through the neck of one Mountain Pushing Beast, and it collapsed into a pool of blood.

The other Mountain Pushing Beast, seeing that the situation was dire, spat out a dozen yellow earth spikes toward Shen Long and the others before turning around and bolting into the distance.

It hadn't run very far before a thick green vine burst from the ground and coiled around its hind legs, causing it to crash heavily onto the ground.

A light breeze blew past as the Green Wind Tiger caught up, opening its blood-red maw to reveal a row of sharp fangs as it bit toward the neck of the Mountain Pushing Beast.