Demon beast hunters

The Zhou Household Market was divided into four districts: east, south, west, and north. The eastern, southern, and western districts were primarily trading areas, while only the northern district was mainly residential.

Most cultivators who made their living in the Market District lived in the northern district. Only guest retainers like Lu Zhao, along with some Late Qi Refining cultivators, were assigned accommodations in the other districts.

As for the actual members of the Zhou Household, they never lived within the Market District. They lived on the Zhou Family Spirit Mountain, thirty li away—a place with a second-tier spirit vein, and the Zhou Household's true headquarters.

In fact, the Zhou Household Market itself also had a spirit vein, one of first-tier superior-grade quality at that. Otherwise, no Market District would have been established here.

However, the entire spirit vein had been sealed by a Second-Tier Spirit-Locking Formation. Within the Market District, only the cave abodes rented out by the Zhou Household received a supply of spiritual energy. Otherwise, Lu Zhao would not have needed to go to the cold pool every day to meditate and cultivate.

Today, he had come to the northern district to visit an old acquaintance-Wang Yun, a demon beast hunter at the fifth level of Qi Refining.

When Lu Zhao first arrived in Changfeng Commandery, he had joined Wang Yun's team for a year during his hardest days. Throughout that year, Wang Yun had taken good care of him, and the two had formed a deep friendship.

With light steps, Lu Zhao arrived at the gate of Wang Yun's small courtyard and raised his hand to knock gently.

Knock, knock!

A moment later, the wooden gate creaked open. The woman who answered was around thirty, dressed in a blue skirt, with delicate features and a gentle bearing.

She was Wang Yun's dao companion, Chen Fang.

"Sister Fang!" Lu Zhao greeted her with a slight smile.

"Oh, it's you, Little Zhao. Come in and have a seat." Chen Fang warmly welcomed him inside.

The room was small and simply furnished. Lu Zhao sat down in a corner, and Chen Fang took a seat beside him, saying with a smile, "An important man like you has so much to do. Come to think of it, you haven't visited in a whole year."

"I came to see Brother Wang this time. Is he home?"

"He isn't back yet. I expect he'll be another hour," Chen Fang replied.

"Has he gone to sell Demonic Beast materials again?"

"Yes." She nodded. "Our team killed a Black-Clawed Boar a few days ago."

"Congratulations to you and Brother Wang, Sister Fang!" Lu Zhao offered his heartfelt congratulations. "A Black-Clawed Boar is a first-tier middle-grade Demonic Beast. That must have been quite a haul, right?"

"It's hardly that easy." Chen Fang smiled and shook her head. "We aren't like you, with a stipend every month. Rogue cultivators have to stake their lives on making a living."

At this point, her voice held no small measure of feeling.

"Yes, life isn't easy for rogue cultivators." Lu Zhao felt the same way deeply.

He had personally spent several years drifting from place to place and knew all too well the hardships of rogue cultivators. During those days, he had endured every kind of hardship, paid an enormous price, and faced more uncertainty than in his entire previous life.

But he feared neither hardship nor difficulty. What he feared was losing hope.

Now that the Puppet Pearl had activated, he finally had the confidence to keep going in this cruel world of cultivation.

All he wanted now was to advance one solid step at a time, until he reached a realm where no one stood ahead of him.

After their reflections, Chen Fang returned to the matter at hand. "Little Zhao, what did you want to see your Brother Wang about?"

Lu Zhao concealed nothing and explained the purpose of his visit in detail.

After hearing him out, Chen Fang frowned slightly. "You want the corpse of a First-Tier Low Grade sparrow-type Demonic Beast? That won't be easy to find. What do you need it for?"

Lu Zhao did not hide this either: he had successfully crafted a tiered puppet and become a First-Tier Low Grade Puppet Master, and he needed it to craft a new puppet.

Chen Fang looked surprised when she heard this, then filled with envy.

"Congratulations, Little Zhao," she said sincerely. "Back when you were on the team, you always liked studying those little things. Everyone even laughed at you then, but who would have thought you'd really make a path for yourself?"

"I've only just reached the first tier. It's merely a way to earn some hard-earned money, hardly making a path for myself," Lu Zhao said modestly.

"But you've reached the first tier all the same!" Chen Fang sighed. "At least there's hope for your Dao Path. Unlike us—the road ahead is uncertain, and we don't even know whether we'll reach Late Qi Refining in this lifetime."

In her view, although puppet arts were rare, they ranked among the foremost of the hundred cultivation arts and presumably could bring in a substantial income.

By comparison, a Demon Hunter's life was far too dangerous. Every year, no small number of Demon Hunters died at the hands of Demonic Beasts or bandit cultivators.

Had the husband and wife not been utterly without talent for the hundred cultivation arts, who would willingly make a living with their heads hanging from their belts?

After they had chatted for about three quarters of an hour, footsteps sounded outside, and a figure appeared in the doorway.

The man was tall, a full eight chi in height, with rugged features, a full beard, and a hearty expression. It was none other than Wang Yun.

Standing in the doorway, Wang Yun spotted his visitor at once and smiled. "Little Zhao, come to see your big brother?"

Lu Zhao rose and greeted him respectfully. "Brother, you're back."

Lu Zhao had always felt grateful to Wang Yun.

After his lineage was destroyed, he had wandered all the way from Northern Plains Commandery to Changfeng Commandery, eventually entering the Zhou Household Market through a chance turn of events.

At the time, he had sold all his magical artifacts and spent every spirit stone he had. With only a few talismans left to sustain him, he had been in dire straits.

In the end, Wang Yun's team had taken him in. Not only had they spared him the most dangerous tasks-an unwritten rule among demon beast hunting teams-but they had also looked after him in many ways.

It was this experience that had carried Lu Zhao through his hardest days and laid the foundation for him to later join the Zhou Household as a guest retainer.

Once the two had finished exchanging pleasantries, Lu Zhao explained his purpose again.

"You want the corpse of an Early First Stage sparrow-type Demonic Beast?" Wang Yun pondered for a moment, looking troubled. "In the past, it would have been a little troublesome, but not difficult."

"Now, though, I'm afraid it's hard to say."

"Has something happened in the Heavencloud Mountain Range?" Lu Zhao asked keenly.

Wang Yun shook his head and gestured for Lu Zhao to sit. He sat down at the table himself, poured a cup of tea, and slowly took a sip before speaking. "It's not a problem with the Demonic Beasts. The Zhou Household seems to have been looking for something lately, throwing the entire mountain range into a frenzy of squawking chickens and barking dogs."

"I hear even the Cloud-Pattern Cavalry has been dispatched."

Lu Zhao's expression shifted slightly at these words.

As a guest retainer of the Zhou Household, he understood the significance of the Cloud-Pattern Cavalry better than Wang Yun and the others did.

It was one of the key forces behind the Zhou Household's dominance over Changfeng Commandery. Though it numbered only a few dozen, every member was a Late Qi Refining cultivator.

Their mounts, Cloud-Pattern Horses, were rare first-tier Demonic Beasts that could almost all break through to the Middle First Stage upon reaching adulthood. Their speed and endurance far surpassed those of ordinary Demonic Beasts, making them ideal mounts for cultivators.

Although Qi Refining cultivators could fly, traveling long distances at speed consumed an enormous amount of magical power. Even a Ninth Layer of Qi Refining cultivator would be exhausted after flying at full speed for just a few li.

For precisely this reason, Demonic Beasts adept at traveling were more valuable than combat Demonic Beasts. That the Zhou Household could equip its Cloud-Pattern Cavalry with Cloud-Pattern Horses was enough to show how much importance it placed on them.

At this thought, a faint unease stirred in Lu Zhao's heart.

Why had the Zhou Household suddenly mobilized the Cloud-Pattern Cavalry on such a large scale? Who exactly were they hunting down?

And was there any connection between this and the recent rumors around the market that Zhou Pingyuan had been injured in an attack?