Demonic Beasts Gather

After the Circulation Acceleration affix was permanently affixed, the fifty-percent increase in circulation speed during cultivation remained permanently active. Like Spirit Qi Filtration, it had become part of his body.

One position had opened up in the Equipment Slot.

Li Yuan did not act in a hurry. He first sensed the changes within his body.

Spirit qi circulated through his meridians at exactly the same speed as when he had equipped the Vein-Clearing Pill, without the slightest decline. Pure spirit qi completed its circulation at tremendous speed and flowed into his Dantian, the entire process clean and efficient.

Li Yuan withdrew his focus and began considering how to use the vacant Equipment Slot.

The most tempting choice for the empty slot was the Spirit Detection Disk.

A Green Trait, Spirit Sense Expansion, passively detected aura fluctuations within thirty zhang and could even penetrate certain concealment methods.

But it would not work.

The Spirit Detection Disk was a Dharma Artifact issued by the Wang Family. Every vice-captain and above had one.

It had to be used during patrols. He Shou had one as well, and whenever they patrolled, the two of them would take theirs out to inspect the surroundings.

Equipping it would make the item disappear, which would be difficult to explain later.

The Spirit Detection Disk could only continue to be used in hand.

And since he patrolled the outskirts every day now, his physical exertion was far greater than in the market district. He could consider equipping White Jade Rice.

But Qi-Blood Self-Generation was not bad either. Moreover, as his progress in cultivating mortal techniques increased, his stamina had improved tremendously.

Even He Shou would call for a break during patrols, but Li Yuan did not need to.

With two techniques equipped at once, Viscera Strengthening and Qi-Blood Self-Generation—one to withstand blows, one to restore health—his safety while patrolling the outskirts would improve considerably.

Li Yuan made his decision and took out the booklet for the Nurturing Origin Technique.

Equip.

The booklet transformed into a faint glow and merged into his body. The formulas for the Nurturing Origin Technique's five forms became clear and lucid in his mind once more, while a gentle warmth rose throughout his body, spreading from his Dantian and slowly flowing along his meridians and muscles.

The effect of Qi-Blood Self-Generation had returned.

[Current Equipment Slot: 2/2]

[Equipped Items: Nurturing Origin Technique, Iron Ox Technique]

[Equipment Affixes: Viscera Strengthening (White), Qi-Blood Self-Generation (White)]

[Permanent Affixes: Clean Physique (Gray), Spirit Qi Filtration (White), Five Grains Nourishing Qi (White), Circulation Acceleration (White)]

A full six affixes were on him, making Li Yuan feel immensely secure.

At dawn, when Li Yuan opened his eyes, the effect of Qi-Blood Self-Generation was still operating within him, and more than half his body was suffused with warmth.

He glanced at the sun, calculated the time, stretched his limbs, and pushed open the door.

"Today we're heading southwest. The route is quite a bit farther than yesterday's." He Shou swept his gaze over everyone. "Stay sharp."

The five set out along the dirt road. Unlike the previous days, they headed deeper southwest.

The terrain gradually became uneven, and the thickets grew increasingly dense. In some places, short trees and thorny vines tangled together so tightly that they had to turn sideways to squeeze through. The dirt road beneath their feet gradually vanished as well, becoming wasteland mixed with wild grass and broken stones.

He Shou walked at the front, moving slowly. Every few steps, he stopped to inspect the traces around them.

Li Yuan followed behind, his fingers resting on the Spirit Detection Disk hidden in his sleeve. Spirit power slowly flowed into it as his senses spread outward.

The auras of the other four were clearly distinguishable. A few weak fluctuations from ordinary beasts flickered sporadically within the surrounding thickets, while farther away, all was quiet.

After walking for roughly half an hour, the terrain became even more complicated. A shallow dry gully lay across their path, its bottom overgrown with waist-high weeds and its sides packed with dense shrubs.

He Shou stopped at the edge of the gully and crouched down to examine the mud below.

"Claw prints..."

Before He Shou could finish, Li Yuan's Spirit Detection Disk suddenly caught a cluster of spirit qi fluctuations.

Not far away. Nearby.

Ahead to the left, deep in the thickets, around fifteen zhang away.

A murky cluster of spirit qi fluctuations lay pressed low, almost against the ground, completely motionless.

Li Yuan slightly raised his right hand and gave He Shou a signal—the one He Shou had taught him over the past few days.

He Shou's expression instantly darkened. His left hand pressed against his saber hilt, his gaze locking onto the depths of the thicket.

All five stopped at once.

Chen Qi reacted the fastest, lowering his body slightly as his right hand had already gripped the Short Saber. Liu Ping and Xu Mao also each reached for their Dharma Artifacts.

Rather than advancing head-on, the five moved sideways along the edge of the dry gully to the right, widening the distance between themselves and the thicket.

Li Yuan's senses remained locked on that cluster of spirit qi fluctuations.

Fifteen zhang, eighteen zhang, twenty zhang—the distance widened, yet the cluster remained still, lying where it was.

Only after the five had shifted more than thirty zhang away did the cluster finally stir.

Slowly, it retreated in the opposite direction, slipping deeper into the thickets. Its spirit qi fluctuations grew weaker and weaker until they finally vanished at the edge of his perception.

It had left.

He Shou released the saber hilt and let out a breath.

"An ambush." He Shou turned to glance at Li Yuan. "That beast was lying in the thickets waiting. If your Spirit Detection Disk hadn't spotted it early, we would've followed those claw prints straight into its jaws."

Chen Qi straightened up, glanced toward the thickets, and muttered, "Pretty clever."

"Quite a few Demonic Beasts aren't stupid." He Shou patted his saber hilt. "We don't know its grade, so don't force a fight."

The five continued southwest, but their pace noticeably slowed, and they spread out farther from one another.

After another quarter of an hour or so, Li Yuan's Spirit Detection Disk caught spirit qi fluctuations again.

Ahead and slightly to the right, over twenty zhang away. Two clusters.

One large and one small. The larger one possessed dense spirit qi, while the smaller was weaker.

"There are two ahead, one large and one small," Li Yuan said softly.

He Shou paused and tilted his head to examine the terrain.

Ahead lay a relatively open stretch of wild grassland. The grass was not very tall, and visibility was much better than in the thickets. The two clusters of spirit qi fluctuations were slowly moving through the middle of the grassland, heading east.

"I can see them." He Shou narrowed his eyes.

In the center of the grassland, two grayish-brown figures flickered in and out of view amid the grass.

The two Demonic Beasts had not noticed the people here. They were heading east across the grassland at an unhurried pace.

He Shou did not order pursuit. Instead, he led the group in an arc around the southern side of the grassland, keeping a sufficient distance from the two Iron-Spine Hyenas.

After bypassing the grassland, the five continued deeper southwest.

The terrain changed again, with low hills and gullies alternating. The thickets were even denser than before.

Li Yuan's Spirit Detection Disk hardly stopped.

Within his sensing range, two more clusters of spirit qi fluctuations appeared.

"There seem to be more and more Demonic Beasts," Li Yuan said, then stopped moving.

He Shou had noticed it as well, and his expression grew increasingly grim.

Li Yuan poured spirit power into the Spirit Detection Disk—on the far side of the low hill, a dozen or so zhang away, two clusters of spirit qi fluctuations were not far apart, one of them denser than the other.

Just then, a low roar came from behind a low hill ahead.

"Two of them, a Mid-Grade and a Low-grade."

No sooner had he spoken than rustling came from the thickets on the left side of the hill. Immediately afterward, a dark-gray, flattened figure crawled out from beneath the bushes. It was a Horned Lizard.

"Another one." Chen Qi tightened his grip on his Short Saber, his body leaning forward slightly.

The roars behind the hill grew louder, accompanied by heavy footsteps. A massive figure poked its head over the slope.

Gray-black fur, broad shoulders and back, and two rows of uneven fangs protruding from its wide, flat mouth.

"A Swamp Toad Beast." He Shou lowered his voice. "First-Order Mid-Grade. Thick hide and tough flesh. Hard to fight."

An First-Order Mid-Grade Swamp Toad Beast stood atop the low hill, while a Low-grade First-Order Horned Lizard lurked at the edge of the thickets to the left.

The two Demonic Beasts were not of the same kind, yet they had appeared here at the same time, blocking the five's route forward.

"Retreat." He Shou gave the order without hesitation.

The five slowly withdrew, their footsteps extremely light.

The Horned Lizard watched them for a while without pursuing, then turned and crawled back into the thickets. The Swamp Toad Beast atop the hill roared twice but did not come down, lying at the crest and watching the five depart.

Only after retreating over a hundred zhang did He Shou stop.

"Something's wrong." He Shou glanced back along the route they had come, his brows twisted into a knot.

"From the time we set out until now, the traces of Demonic Beasts have grown denser and denser. The farther southwest we go, the more there are. In that area just now, at least seven or eight Demonic Beasts were active within a few hundred zhang."

Li Yuan nodded. The Spirit Detection Disk's sensing range was limited, but even the spirit qi fluctuations he had detected alone were already remarkably dense.

"We can't continue deeper in this direction." He Shou made his judgment. "We'll return and report it, then have the Guard Squad send a stronger team to investigate."

Chen Qi sheathed his Short Saber and said, "Captain He, that Horned Lizard ran off just now, and the Swamp Toad Beast didn't chase us either. That means these Demonic Beasts aren't after us."

Chen Qi paused. "The five of us can handle Low-grade First-Order beasts with ease, and we can beat First-Order Mid-Grade ones too. Everything we've encountered along the way has been alone or in groups of two or three. While we're at it, we can find out how many Demonic Beasts are in this area and hunt a few along the way. The materials would be worth quite a bit too."

Liu Ping nodded as well. "Chen Qi has a point. These Demonic Beasts are scattered everywhere, not gathered in herds. If we pick off the lone ones, the risk isn't high."

He Shou looked at the two of them but did not answer immediately.

Xu Mao leaned against a short tree. Hearing this, he shrugged and did not state his position.

Li Yuan spoke. "Such a high density of Demonic Beasts means something in this area is drawing them together, or something is driving them here. Either way, continuing deeper is not something a group with our setup should be doing."

Chen Qi opened his mouth, still wanting to say something.

He Shou waved his hand, his tone not harsh but utterly decisive.

"Deputy Captain Li is right. An abnormal density of Demonic Beasts is no good thing. If we run into an Upper First-Order one, the five of us might not even be able to escape."

He Shou tightened the long saber at his waist.

"We can hunt materials anytime. But if we lose our lives, we won't be earning any Spirit Stones. Let's go back to the station."

Chen Qi shut his mouth. Though unwillingness showed on his face, he did not argue further. Liu Ping looked at Chen Qi, then at He Shou, and obediently followed the group.

The five retraced their route, moving much faster than they had on the way in.

Along the way, Li Yuan kept his Spirit Detection Disk active. The spirit qi fluctuations within his sensing range gradually decreased as they moved farther away. Only after they left that Demonic Beast-dense area did the surroundings become quiet once more.