"Haha, so you're a top student of the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion."
"I am Di Wei, the village chief of Hengshan Village. Please come in."
Di Wei quickly returned the nameplate to Chen Mu and warmly invited Chen Mu and his companions into the village, but Chen Mu shook his head.
"Village Chief Di, you're too kind! We've only come to inquire about the whereabouts of the Otherworldly Demon. Have you spotted Otherworldly Demon in the vicinity recently?"
Chen Mu discovered that Di Wei actually possessed the cultivation level of the Early Stage of the True Spirit Realm. Indeed, villages that could establish themselves on the border were not simple.
Seeing that Chen Mu had no intention of entering the village, Di Wei secretly breathed a sigh of relief and immediately pointed south.
"Over there! Over there in the Black Swamp Forest, I personally witnessed a member of my tribe being captured and taken into the Black Swamp Forest. I suspect there is more than one other Otherworldly Demon lurking there."
These Otherworldly Demon are extremely cunning and adept at hiding; you must be very careful.
After listening, Chen Mu pondered for a moment and nodded.
"Then thank you, Village Chief Di. I will not disturb you any longer and will take my leave now."
After saying that, he led everyone away.
Di Wei was taken aback by Chen Mu's decisiveness.
The powerful disciples he used to call upon often didn't come to help much, but instead started to boss people around and demand to be fed and cared for.
Now that Chen Mu had finished asking for information and left, he was worried that he might have neglected him.
"Hey! Young brother, wait a moment. I have some Spirit Stone here that can replenish your losses from eliminating the Otherworldly Demon. Please accept them."
Chen Mu glanced back at the Spirit Stone in Di Wei's hand, somewhat puzzled, and waved his hand.
"It's alright, you can just wait here for news."
After saying that, the four of them sped up and disappeared into the mountain path like the wind.
Di Wei watched the four figures gradually disappear into the distance and couldn't help but sigh.
"If all cultivators in the Empire acted in this way, what need would there be to worry about the destruction of the Otherworldly Demon?"
The military provided a map with a brief introduction to the Black Swamp Forest, and Chen Mu quickly arrived at the edge of the forest.
"Let's go, everyone get ready for battle!"
Chen Mu took the lead and charged into the Black Swamp Forest, with Chen Duo and A Huo in the middle, while Mingye brought up the rear.
Since breaking through to the True Spirit Realm, Mingye has become increasingly adept at using the spatial dagger to traverse space, allowing him to instantly appear anywhere within a hundred meters, making him ideal for supporting his teammates.
The Black Swamp Forest lives up to its name; the soil inside is brownish-black and extremely humid, with many swamps on the ground. Even cultivators would be in serious trouble if they accidentally got stuck in it.
After his Divine Soul entered the Solid Realm, Chen Mu's Divine Soul's detection range increased further. When he fully unleashed his Divine Soul's exploration, no creature within a kilometer could hide from him.
"There are monsters ahead, let's avoid them first! It's not wise to cause any unnecessary trouble now."
At Chen Mu's suggestion, the group bypassed the road and rushed off in another direction.
Half an hour later, Chen Mu finally discovered the enemy's trail.
"There's a humanoid creature over there, probably Otherworldly Demon. Let's surround it!"
The group worked in perfect harmony, forming a semi-encircling formation and charging toward their target in accordance with Chen Mu's gestures.
This humanoid creature was about the size of an ordinary person, with dark red skin, two sharp horns on its head, and an extremely ferocious appearance.
He was holding a deer-like monster in his hand, devouring its flesh and blood, until Chen Mu and the other three revealed themselves, at which point he snapped out of his daze.
"Roar...!"
He let out a defiant roar, swung his claws, and lunged at Chen Duo.
Before they came out, Chen Mu and the others had received special training from the Heaven-Questioning Pavilion and knew the classification of the Otherworldly Demon.
The Otherworldly Demon, from lowest to highest rank, are: Demon Soldier, Demon Warrior, Demon General, Demon King, Demon Emperor...
Each level of Otherworldly Demon is further divided into three grades: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.
The aura emanating from this Otherworldly Demon was probably only at the level of Advanced Demon Soldier, corresponding to the strength of a human in the Late Qi Nourishing Realm.
The Advanced Demon Soldier posed no threat to Chen Duo, so they were in no hurry to make a move, letting Chen Duo defend herself.
Chen Duo didn't use her weapon; instead, she met the Otherworldly Demon's claws with a punch.
A hissing sound.
The Otherworldly Demon's claws gripped Chen Duo's fist, producing a metallic scraping sound.
The Otherworldly Demon cried out in pain and took a step back, its hands dripping with blood.
He immediately realized that he was no match for this group of people, so he made a snap decision and rushed into the bushes beside him.
With a whoosh, he moved like the wind and disappeared from everyone's sight in an instant.
Chen Duo was about to chase after him when Chen Mu grabbed her shoulder. She turned around and saw Chen Mu shaking his head at her.
She immediately understood that Chen Mu had another plan, nodded, and didn't pursue the matter further.
After a while, Chen Mu made a gesture, and everyone followed in the direction he pointed.
The Otherworldly Demon with the injured hand is called Mo Zha. He infiltrated human territory with the Demon General Gandi.
Gandi was Junior Demon General with noble blood. He had entered human territory several times and reaped great rewards each time.
They brought a total of five Otherworldly Demon this time. Besides Gandi, there was another Junior Demon General, and the rest were all Advanced Demon Soldier.
With Mo Zha's intelligence, he could guess that the group of humans had deliberately let him go, and as for their purpose, he also guessed that they might be following him.
But so what? My own life is the most important thing. In this situation, only the Demon General can save me!
He kept running along the secluded, dense jungle, making several large loops. Regardless of whether there were pursuers or not, he felt he had done his best.
Gandi is incredibly powerful. If these foolish humans dare to pursue us, they will surely be torn to shreds by him.
With that thought in mind, he finally made his way to the agreed meeting point.
After a while, he saw two other members of his tribe and rushed over to warn them.
"I just encountered a few human cultivators, but luckily I was alert and escaped as soon as I sensed trouble."
Of these two tribesmen, one was also Junior Demon General Lu Ruo. He was weaker than Gandi and had a violent temper, Mo Zha disliked.
After hearing what Mo Zha said, Lu Ruo slapped Mo Zha across the face.
"Fool! If you bring these cultivators here, I will kill you!"
"No way! I was very careful the whole way; absolutely no one could have caught up with me."
Given Mo Zha's cautious nature, he was actually quite confident. After all, even if the other cultivator was stronger than him, it would be very difficult for them to track him without leaving a trace.
In his limited understanding, he could not have imagined that there would be a rare talisman master on the other side, and that the talisman master's Divine Soul exploration range was so far.
Lu Ruo ignored Mo Zha and called another tribesman to hide in a clump of grass on a nearby high ground.
This was the meeting point they had agreed upon with Gandi; they couldn't stray far, so they had to hide here and wait.