Slaying the Demonic Beast

The following afternoon, the four of them left the market town through the East Gate again and headed toward the Spirit Field District.

All four had come thoroughly prepared and had brought tools for collecting Monster Materials.

Having found traces of the Demonic Beast's presence yesterday, Wang De wanted them to investigate the situation as soon as possible and deal with it if they could.

Upon reaching the southern side of the Spirit Field District, Farmer He came to meet them from afar.

"Deputy Captain Li, there was more activity last night! The rice in those fields to the south was trampled down again. It's worse than the day before yesterday—several rows have been completely flattened."

Li Yuan crouched down and examined it. The fresh claw marks were exactly the same as before.

The trampled area stretched from the field ridge all the way to the edge of the wasteland grass, in the same direction as the patch of flattened grass they had found yesterday.

"It's becoming more active." Li Yuan straightened up and took out the Spirit Detection Disk from his sleeve.

The bronze-yellow disk rested in his palm. As spiritual power flowed into it, his senses spread outward.

The auras of the three beside him were clear and distinct. The scattered auras of Spirit Farmers in the direction of the Spirit Field District flickered in and out of perception. Farther away—

Deep within the southern wasteland grass was a dense fluctuation of spiritual energy.

It was not far away, roughly thirty zhang in front of them, almost right beside the flattened patch of grass they had discovered yesterday.

"There's something there." Li Yuan lowered his voice, but his tone did not change. "Due south, around thirty zhang away."

All three of them caught their breath at once.

Zhou Dazhuang gripped his Short Sword Dharma Artifact in his right hand. Xu Mao stepped half a pace forward, while Lin Xiaowu's face showed a trace of nervous excitement.

"Follow me."

Li Yuan put away the Spirit Detection Disk and led the three forward along the field ridge. Waist-high wild grass parted and closed around them, its dry yellow blades scraping against their Patrol Uniforms with soft rustling sounds.

After they had gone twenty zhang beyond the edge of the Spirit Field District, the wild grass ahead suddenly grew shorter.

Then a huge dark-green thing appeared before them. Its four legs were tucked beneath its belly, its flat head resting on its forelimbs, its long tail draped lazily behind it. It looked like a huge boulder covered in moss.

Its four-legged body was a size larger than Li Yuan had expected, its shoulders nearly reaching his waist.

Its entire body was covered in dark-green scales that gleamed oily under the afternoon sunlight. The gray-white webbing between its toes perfectly matched the claw marks in the Spirit Field District.

It was sleeping.

The spiritual energy strength conveyed by the Spirit Detection Disk was unmistakable—it was far more substantial than Qi Refining Third Level, roughly equivalent to Mid Qi Refinement.

First-Order Mid-Grade.

Li Yuan stopped and made a gesture toward the three behind him.

Zhou Dazhuang and Xu Mao spread out to either side, circling around the Demonic Beast's left and right beneath the cover of the wild grass. Lin Xiaowu remained behind Li Yuan, responsible for ranged support.

Four people surrounding a First-Order Mid-Grade Demonic Beast—so long as nothing went wrong, there would be no real danger.

The key was not to let it escape.

Spiritual power gathered in Li Yuan's palm, forming a Fireball the size of a fist.

With Mastery-level Fireball Technique, it took less than two breaths to move the spiritual power and form the spell.

The instant Zhou Dazhuang and Xu Mao reached their positions, Li Yuan released it.

The Fireball shot from his hand, trailing a short tail of flame as it flew straight toward the Demonic Beast's flank.

The Demonic Beast sprang violently from the ground, letting out a low, piercing hiss.

But it was already too late.

Bang.

A bright burst of fire exploded across its dark-green scales. The scales blackened, and the Demonic Beast's hiss rose even louder.

From the left, Zhou Dazhuang charged forward with his head down. His Short Sword gave off a faint glow as he slashed at the joint of the Demonic Beast's hind leg. The blade struck the scales with a crisp clang of metal against stone, leaving behind a deep white mark and what seemed to be a hint of red.

The Demonic Beast's flat head whipped around. Its heavy skull slammed into Zhou Dazhuang's shoulder, and Li Yuan clearly heard the sound of bone cracking as it sent him stumbling several steps back, man and sword alike.

Zhou Dazhuang staggered, but he did not fall. He forcibly planted his feet, his face turning pale.

Lin Xiaowu circled around to the rear, formed hand seals with both hands, and shot an Ice Spike from his fingertips, pinning it into the Demonic Beast's hind limb.

Seizing the opening, Li Yuan lowered his body, formed a second Fireball, and hurled it at the Demonic Beast's abdomen.

The Demonic Beast was turning to deal with Xu Mao, who had circled around behind it, leaving its flank completely exposed.

The attack came from an extremely low angle and burrowed into the thinnest-scaled spot at the root of its forelimb.

Boom.

The scorching blast wave flung up dirt and shredded grass.

The Demonic Beast let out a sharp shriek. Its forelimb gave way, and its heavy body toppled toward the right.

Zhou Dazhuang forcibly drew in a breath and swung his Short Sword, aiming at the gap in the scales blasted open by the Fireball. The blade sank in more than half an inch, and dark-red blood surged from the wound.

The Demonic Beast struggled to roll over, but Li Yuan had already rushed to its front.

A third Fireball formed in his palm and smashed into the Demonic Beast's open mouth.

A muffled sound came from deep within its throat.

The Demonic Beast's body convulsed violently several times. Its four limbs scraped at the ground, and its long tail weakly slapped the wild grass twice.

Then it stopped moving.

From the first Fireball to the end, no more than thirty breaths had passed.

The surroundings fell quiet, the air thick with the smell of scorched flesh and Demonic Beast blood.

"Is it dead?" Lin Xiaowu stood at a distance, his voice still excited.

Xu Mao walked over and kicked the Demonic Beast's belly. After confirming that it no longer had any breath, he nodded.

"Think we can split quite a few Spirit Stones from this?"

Zhou Dazhuang sheathed his Short Sword. He covered his injured shoulder with his right hand and moved it twice, baring his teeth in pain without making a sound.

"Dismantle it."

The four began dismantling the Demonic Beast. Beast hide, beast bones, beast blood. A complete set of First-Order Mid-Grade materials was no small sum.

During the dismantling, Li Yuan's fingers touched the beast hide, beast bones, and other materials in turn.

The Panel remained completely quiet, without the slightest reaction.

Just like the Monster Materials he had touched in the market town before, these scraps and remains did not meet the requirements for equipment.

The materials were divided according to contribution. Li Yuan took the scaled beast hide and some of the beast bones. Zhou Dazhuang received most of the beast bones, while Xu Mao and Lin Xiaowu each received some materials and beast blood.

There was not much beast meat, so they divided it among themselves.

After returning to the market town, Li Yuan first went to the station to report back to Wang De.

"A First-Order Mid-Grade lizard-type. No idea what it was called, but it's been dealt with."

Wang De nodded after listening and did not ask about the details of the battle.

"The Spirit Field District should be safe for the time being. You led the team to hunt the Demonic Beast—how were the materials divided?"

"By headcount and contribution."

"Fine. The Management Office will issue a mission reward. The four of you will all get a share. There won't be many Spirit Stones; it'll mainly be Contribution Points."

Li Yuan acknowledged this and left the station.

The next day, Li Yuan took the beast hide and bones to East Street in the market town.

He asked around at several old stalls on East Street and ultimately sold them to a Rogue Cultivator who specialized in buying Monster Materials.

He received fourteen Spirit Stones in total. Added to the Spirit Stones he already had, his sleeve felt heavy with them—he had never been this well-off since crossing over.

That afternoon, he went to the Management Office to collect the mission reward—two Spirit Stones and eight Contribution Points. It was not much.

Over the next few days, Li Yuan continued his patrols as usual.

The number of people in the market town continued to grow. The stalls on East Street and North Alley were packed to the brim, and even the corners of several side alleys had been claimed by newly arrived Rogue Cultivators.

There were also more small disputes during patrols than before.

That afternoon, two Rogue Cultivators in the middle of North Alley fell out on the spot over a transaction.

The buyer claimed the goods were not as advertised, while the seller said that once money and goods had changed hands, there would be no returns. The two went from arguing to shoving, knocking over the wares at a nearby stall.

By the time Li Yuan arrived, the buyer was clutching the seller's collar, while the seller fiercely guarded his bag of Spirit Stones with one hand and pushed at the buyer's face with the other.

"Let go."

Li Yuan displayed his badge. When the two saw the words Deputy Captain, both paused.

The buyer let go first and angrily pointed at the seller. "The Qi Nourishing Pill he sold me is the wrong color. It's much paler than normal—clearly inferior goods."

The seller stuffed the bag of Spirit Stones back into his robes and raised his chin. "You inspected it before paying. What's this nonsense about regretting it now?"

"You smeared something on it," the buyer shot back.

Li Yuan held out his hand, and the buyer passed him the pill.

The dark-yellow pill did indeed have a weaker medicinal fragrance, with several fine lines on its surface.

This quality was not uncommon in the market town. After medicinal herbs had become scarce, the quality of refined Medicinal Pills had generally declined. Strictly speaking, it was not counterfeit, but compared to their former quality, it was indeed worse.

Li Yuan looked at the seller. "Refund one Spirit Stone, and we'll call it settled."

The seller opened his mouth to argue, but after meeting Li Yuan's gaze, he shut it. Reluctantly, he took out a Spirit Stone and slapped it into the buyer's hand.

The buyer accepted the Spirit Stone, muttered a few more complaints, and left as well.

The stall owner whose wares had been knocked over was crouched on the ground picking things up. Li Yuan helped retrieve several scattered odds and ends that had rolled far away, then dusted off his hands.

Disputes like this had been becoming more frequent lately.

Medicinal herbs had risen in price, the quality of Medicinal Pills had fallen, and the expectations of buyers and sellers no longer matched. Friction naturally followed.

On top of that, too many people had crammed into the market town. The stalls were crowded, the passageways narrow, and bumps and collisions were unavoidable.

Li Yuan kept these circumstances in mind and continued forward along North Alley.