The Deer Herd Hidden Within

In the nick of time, the two of them saw an enormous Fireball Technique blast toward the two wolves!

Then, in an instant, it exploded. The scorching heat and shockwave of the flames sent even Ye Jingli flying several meters away, leaving behind a massive crater.

The two first-rank mid-grade Azure Cloud Wolves were left in a miserable state, their chests blown open to expose heaps of charred internal organs.

With another seal from Ye Jingyong crashing down, the two beasts were instantly reduced to a mangled heap of flesh and blood, dead beyond all doubt!

Meanwhile, Ye Jingcheng controlled the Azure Flow Sword and slew each of the Azure Cloud Wolves howling in agony from their burns.

Wolf corpses littered the ground.

Seeing that aside from a few that had fled into the valley, all the others had been put to death, the two were about to ask Ye Jingcheng why he possessed a first-rank high-grade Fireball Talisman.

Yet the next moment, both of them were dumbstruck. Before their eyes stood a fox red as fire, with sky-blue eyes radiating ferocity and an enormous tail raised high like a blazing flame.

"The Crimson Flame Fox has reached first-rank mid-grade?" Ye Jingyu was baffled to the extreme.

If the Jade Ring Rat had grown quickly because it ate Spirit-Feeding Pills, then the Crimson Flame Fox was simply outrageous!

At that moment, they even suspected that Ye Jingcheng could refine other kinds of spirit pills.

"It probably wasn't a newborn cub to begin with. What newborn cub gets poisoned?" Ye Jingcheng gave the explanation he had prepared long ago.

Ye Jingyu nodded after hearing this, though doubt still lingered in his eyes.

After all, he had seen it that day as well.

"Sixth Brother, are you all right?" Ye Jingcheng changed the subject and looked toward Ye Jingli.

Ye Jingli was naturally rather disheveled at the moment, still not recovered from the danger he had just faced.

Only when Ye Jingcheng called out to him did Ye Jingli come back to his senses.

"Thank you, Second Brother, Fourth Brother, Jingcheng!" There was some shame in Ye Jingli's eyes, but even more gratitude.

If not for the three of them, he might have been nothing more than a puddle of bloody mush by now.

"Sixth Brother, you'll be an artifact refiner in the future. The Azure-Scaled Snake is thick-skinned and tough—there was no need to do this!" Ye Jingcheng said, giving him a hand up.

Ye Jingli brushed the dust off himself.

Then he looked again at the dying Azure-Scaled Snake.

Of course he understood that, but he was only at the fifth layer of Qi Refining. Three hundred contribution points represented years of savings.

How could he willingly give it up just like that?

Meanwhile, Ye Jingyu began setting up the formation once more, which put Ye Jingcheng greatly at ease.

After all, the cultivation of their group was not particularly high. Even though this was the outskirts of the Taihang Mountain Range and the odds of encountering high-rank demon beasts were low, only a formation could truly set their minds at ease.

Ye Jingyong began collecting the Azure Cloud Wolf corpses, also casting the Waterball Technique to extinguish the flames!

After all, these demon beasts were the very reason their group had come.

Azure Cloud Wolf fur could be used to make spirit brushes for drawing talismans; their blood could be made into spirit ink for talismans; even their hides could serve as talisman paper materials.

Beyond that, their claws and fangs could both be used in artifact refinement, making them rather valuable materials.

Even the spirit beast meat could be fed to their own spirit beasts.

In today's battle, setting aside the two Flying Cloud Leopards, the Azure-Scaled Snake and Crimson Flame Fox alone had rendered great service.

As he spoke, Ye Jingyong tore off four chunks of spirit meat along with the Azure Cloud Wolves' internal organs and tossed them to the two Flying Cloud Leopards and the Crimson Flame Fox.

The Jade Ring Rat and Azure-Scaled Snake, on the other hand, were both injured and could not eat any.

The two Flying Cloud Leopards had long been unable to restrain themselves. With a single pounce, they snatched up the spirit beast meat and began feasting heartily, fighting over every bite as though they wished they could chew off their own tongues.

Only the Crimson Flame Fox continued to hide behind Ye Jingcheng. Its eyes remained fixed on him, and though its little mouth kept licking, it did not move.

"Little Flame, eat, eat!" Feeling the Crimson Flame Fox's gaze, Ye Jingcheng immediately called out.

Little Flame was the name he had given the Crimson Flame Fox.

Only then did Little Flame begin eating cautiously, its eyes still gazing into the valley with intense hostility.

"Sixth Brother, I still have a few Blood Sinew Pills here!" Seeing that Ye Jingli was still somewhat dejected, Ye Jingcheng took out several pills.

He then crouched down, gripped the Azure-Scaled Snake's head, lifted it, and tossed the Blood Sinew Pills into its mouth.

At the same time, while the others were not paying attention, he infused it with a portion of the spiritual radiance from the ancient book.

He did not dare give it too much. After all, the Azure-Scaled Snake's injuries were severe, and the Blood Sinew Pills merely replenished blood and qi and provided nourishment.

"Jingcheng, don't waste them. The Azure-Scaled Snake can't be saved!" Ye Jingli shook his head and wanted to take the Blood Sinew Pills back out, only to find that Ye Jingcheng had already pushed them all deep into the Azure-Scaled Snake's mouth.

At its severed tail, a scab began to form, and the bleeding stopped.

The Azure-Scaled Snake slowly began to raise its head as well, though halfway up, it still seemed weak and listless.

"Sixth Brother, it can still be saved. How can a spirit beast be the same as an ordinary snake?" Ye Jingcheng said, and only then did Ye Jingli look over.

He discovered that the Azure-Scaled Snake truly had improved somewhat.

He hurriedly took two fragrant Spirit-Feeding Pills from his storage pouch and fed them to the Azure-Scaled Snake before carefully putting it away.

For a time, he treasured it beyond measure.

"Jingcheng, Sixth Brother doesn't know what to say. Don't worry—once we get back this time, Sixth Brother will forge you another magic artifact!" Ye Jingli said, patting his chest.

Ye Jingcheng wanted to wave it off, but Ye Jingli gave him no chance at all.

Meanwhile, Ye Jingyong had already finished sorting through all the wolf carcasses.

"Fourth Brother, Sixth Brother, Jingcheng—this time, we killed five mid-grade first-rank Azure Cloud Wolves and twenty-three low-grade first-rank Azure Cloud Wolves!" The results of the battle were extremely gratifying!

"Besides that, there should be another dozen or so that ran deeper inside!"

"Mm. Let's recover first. Apart from the Azure Cloud Wolves, there should be other spirit beast prey inside. Otherwise, there wouldn't be so many Azure Cloud Wolves here," Ye Jingyu added.

A mid-grade first-rank Azure Cloud Wolf was worth around ten spirit stones, while a low-grade first-rank one was worth roughly four.

In other words, the spirit stone gains from killing the Azure Cloud Wolves this time came to around 150 spirit stones. But if one counted the spirit beast meat their own spirit beasts needed to eat, its purchase price was nearly double, making the profit even higher.

The average gain per person would come to around fifty spirit stones.

Of course, the gains within this valley were far more than just that. Otherwise, he would not have made this trip.

Within the valley, the injured Azure Cloud Wolves could vaguely be seen being driven back out. Behind them was a herd of Long-eared Deer, puffed up with anger as they gave chase!

They kept butting them outward.

"Fourth Brother, we've struck it rich! These Long-eared Deer's spirit antlers are perfect for steeping spirit wine, and their hides can be refined into soft armor. Each one is worth even more spirit stones than an Azure Cloud Wolf!" Ye Jingyong was instantly beside himself with excitement!

The divine sense range of Qi Refinement cultivators was limited. At this moment, all four of them itched to rush inside, slaughter every Long-eared Deer, and haul them all back in bundles.

"Second Brother, don't rush. These Long-eared Deer are troublesome too. There are mid-grade first-rank demon beasts among them. Though their combat strength is inferior to the Azure Cloud Wolves', getting rammed will still cause injuries. Use Fireball Arts to force the remaining Azure Cloud Wolves to fight them to the death!" Ye Jingyu suggested again!