Undercurrents

Shen Changchuan hid himself within the dense forest, observing carefully.

To conceal himself better, he had even studied the Breath-Concealing Technique from the spell manual left behind by the Four Evils of He Mountain.

He watched the Gale Falcon's every move with painstaking care, including its injuries, the times it left the nest to hunt, its hunting methods, the intervals between its departures, and so on.

He was searching for a way to deal with that creature.

And after this unremitting effort and observation, Shen Changchuan finally grasped most of the Gale Falcon's information.

Using all of this as a model, he pondered ways to deal with the Gale Falcon, simulating all kinds of methods in his mind, wanting to eliminate this threat completely.

In the end, after another two days of hard contemplation, and after simulating more than a dozen plans in his mind, Shen Changchuan's final decision was to retreat.

"The success rate is too low."

"That creature is too fast. With all the methods I currently have, only the Soul-Absorbing Bell can hit it and pose some threat to it."

"But after what happened last time, I'm afraid the effect of a surprise attack won't be as good again. Moreover, even if the ambush succeeds, the 'stiffness' caused by the Soul-Absorbing Bell won't give me enough time to heavily wound and kill it while it's controlled."

"Once it flies into the sky, I'll be completely powerless."

Combining the results of his careful observations over the past several days, Shen Changchuan decisively killed off every plan.

Under all kinds of reasonable deductions, if judged only by Shen Changchuan's current methods, the possibility of failing against that creature was above seventy to eighty percent.

And if the other party flew into the sky, then there would be even less of a chance.

So, Shen Changchuan no longer planned to waste time.

Without causing the slightest disturbance, he quietly left.

"If a rash attack fails again, then the next time I face it, after it has learned two lessons, the difficulty will probably soar by far more than several times!"

"So if I want to deal with that creature, I have to kill it in one strike! I can't give it another chance to escape."

"I need to prepare properly."

On the way back, Shen Changchuan cautiously traveled along the route he had taken here.

At the same time, he pondered his plan to deal with the Gale Falcon.

With his existing methods, if he wanted to completely resolve it, it could only be called very difficult.

Shen Changchuan did not want to gamble on that twenty to thirty percent chance of success.

Then the only way

was to strengthen himself.

"If I had a corresponding magic tool, spell, or perhaps a formation, that would work too."

"I'll still have to first go and see the merchant caravan gathered at Wu Family Market, and see if there are any suitable methods there."

"If I still can't find a good way, perhaps I can lie low for a while and raise my cultivation realm first. In any case, there are still half a year before the spring plowing and summer harvest. By then, it may not be impossible to find a way to deal with it."

As he thought, Shen Changchuan turned his gaze to the Progress Bar Panel, to the Azure Wood Sword Light that was still stuck at 1% progress and had yet to improve.

Shen Changchuan could sense that this spell was very powerful.

If he could cultivate it to perfection, he was eighty to ninety percent certain he could use it to slay the Gale Falcon!

As for this, it was not as if he had no backup plan at all.

Moreover, "Worst comes to worst, I can call for reinforcements and invite the immortal cultivators from those six villages over to help resolve it together."

"There will always be a way."

Thinking this, Shen Changchuan's tense heart eased slightly.

After spending several days, he returned to Dawan Village along the original route.

In a certain remote village, the entire village was now spotless, without a single human figure in sight.

There was not even a dog, and the surroundings were deathly silent.

At this moment, in the square at the center of the village, corpse after corpse, men and women, old and young alike, had been piled into a small mountain.

Every dead person wore a savage, twisted expression, as if before death they had seen some utterly terrifying great horror.

At the same time, a black-robed figure wearing a bronze mask on his face spread his palm toward the mountain of corpses, and blood-colored light rose from within it, thick as blood, giving off a scarlet glow.

The layers upon layers of corpses, as if all their vital blood and life force had been extracted in that instant, rapidly shriveled down, becoming like mummies that had endured for thousands upon tens of thousands of years.

Immediately after, red light flickered, and a White Bone Longsword radiating endless resentment and brimming with ill omen rose from within the corpse mountain.

The Bronze Masked Figure seized it in his hand.

"Congratulations, my lord. Your artifact refinement has succeeded, and your strength has risen greatly!"

Just then, an aged voice came from behind him.

Only, though the voice was offering congratulations, if one listened carefully, one could sense that there was not the slightest bit of sincerity in it.

It was like mere polite talk for the occasion.

The Bronze Masked Figure turned his head.

The village, which had originally been empty, had at some point gathered twenty to thirty figures, each different from the next.

There was an old man whose whole body was hunched and withered, like a dried corpse.

There were brothers carrying longswords on their backs, their faces unruly and defiant.

There was also a burly butcher with long strips of black cloth wrapped around his face and a bloodstained butcher's knife in his hand.

These people had gathered together for some reason, but between them, more or less, they all kept some distance, and one could faintly sense wariness, alienation, and a lack of trust.

The Bronze Masked Figure did not care either. The White Bone Longsword flowed like liquid and merged into his arm.

Then, he turned around, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings.

"Where are the Four Evils of He Mountain? Why don't I see them?"

The Bronze Masked Figure swept his gaze around and, realizing there seemed to be a few figures missing, spoke in a voice as cold as grinding machinery.

"Does anyone present know those four brothers? My bottle of Qi-Inducing Pills is not so easily taken."

Though his voice still held not the slightest fluctuation, everyone present felt a chill run over their bodies.

They could be certain

that if the Four Evils of He Mountain had truly taken the goods and run without doing the job, their fate would definitely be anything but good.

"Cough, cough."

But just then, a cough drew everyone's attention.

It was an old man holding a cane, his arms as withered as claws, his hair gray-white.

They saw him nod at everyone with a beaming smile and say:

"I've heard something about that. They say the Four Evils of He Mountain fell in a place called Dawan Village. Their heads were all hung up, so they can't come anymore."

"Oh? There was actually such a thing? The Four Evils of He Mountain had a vicious weapon said to be called the Soul-Absorbing Bell. With the four of them joining hands, even a seventh-level Qi Induction Realm cultivator might not have been able to take them down. What dragon crossing the river did this?"

"Pah, what dragon crossing the river? It was a Shen Clan disciple, but supposedly his cultivation was only around the third or fourth level of Qi Induction Realm, and his methods were sparse and ordinary."

"Old Ghost Song, are you joking? A mere third or fourth level Qi Induction Realm brat—how could he deal with the Four Evils of He Mountain?! You should know their boss's cultivation was at the peak of the sixth level, not to mention they also had a vicious weapon like the Soul-Absorbing Bell. I've even heard the Wu Family once sent a seventh-level Qi Induction Realm cultivator to hunt them down, and even he failed to take them!"

Someone raised a challenge on the spot, speaking up to refute him.

They did not believe a word of it.

"Jie jie jie, who knows? What those four brothers liked most in the past was pretending to be pure and harmless so they could get close to and deceive those naive little fellows fresh out of the thatched hut. Maybe this time they were playing the pig to eat the tiger, only to really become pigs in the end, and got ambushed by someone's methods?"

Old Ghost Song let out a strange, jie-jie laugh.

Then he continued, his aged, hoarse voice at that moment seeming filled with temptation:

"The Four Evils of He Mountain are dead. Their inheritance has probably all fallen into that kid's hands. Why don't you all go test him a little and find out?"

"If you do not trust this Old Man, you may naturally go investigate for yourselves."

"I imagine that a mere third- or fourth-level Qi Induction Realm brat, even if he truly has a few tricks, would still be nothing more than something you could seize the moment you stretched out your hands."

As soon as these words came out, many among those present had flickering gazes. Clearly, thoughts had already begun to stir in their hearts.

But there were also some who looked deeply at Old Ghost Song.

Would this old ghost really be so kind as to hand such a great benefit to them for nothing?

What a joke!

Having survived in this line for so long, how could he possibly be a kindhearted sort?

Most likely, this old ghost was not certain of the other party's methods himself, and wanted to hoodwink a few cannon fodder into going over to scout the path for him.

Still, perhaps this was also an opportunity.

For a time, everyone around harbored their own ghosts.

"Enough!"

Just then, the Bronze Masked Figure ahead spoke coldly, his icy voice cutting off everyone's thoughts.

"Since they are dead, then forget it."

"But I will state this beforehand. I paid a great price to gather all of you here for the purpose of breaking through Wu Family Market."

"After Wu Family Market is breached, do as you please. But if anyone dares act on their own before Wu Family Market is broken and causes the operation to fail, then in the future, even if I must cross mountains and ford rivers to hunt you for ten thousand li, I will surely draw out your soul and seize your spirit, leaving you unable to reincarnate for all eternity!"

The Bronze Masked Figure spoke coldly.

The White Bone Longsword, radiating blood-colored light, slashed down, carving a deep trench more than ten zhang long into the ground!

Towering Blood Fiend Qi swept in all directions.

No one around dared utter a word.