Beast Horde

Three months later, Chongming Sect

Fei Shuhe stood guard in Kang Dabao's courtyard, watching Yu'er and Ping'er teach Kang Changxi had his hair in a topknot, to play chess, a smile on her face.

Nanny Sun stood by as usual, but she shifted half of the concern she had shown for Fei Shuhe to the young child on the chessboard.

After observing for a short while, Fei Shuhe withdrew her gaze, turned around, and poured a cup of green tea from the low table beside her for Nanny Sun. Only after the latter respectfully thanked her did Fei Shuhe ask in a low voice, "Granny, have you reported the young master's recent activities to the clan?"

Nanny Sun showed no sign of distress, holding the teacup with both hands and simply smiling, "Miss, in Cloud Horn Prefecture, how many things are there that the family doesn't know?"

Fei Shuhe nodded slightly, indicating her agreement.

Nanny Sun then said, "Elder Zong just did such a big thing at Martial Armor Mountain. Master probably knows about it, but he's at Martial Armor Mountain and probably can't pay attention to anything else right now."

After Fei Shuhe nodded, he didn't say anything more, but a barely perceptible look of disappointment appeared in his eyes.

"It's truly a pity that you missed such a good opportunity to pay respects to Ancestor Ye Shui back then. If we had been fortunate enough to gain Ancestor Ye Shui's favor, even if we lost this entire estate, what would be the loss? Why would he have gone to such lengths all these years to win his uncle's approval?"

At this point, Fei Shuhe recalled the astonished look on Ye Shui's face when he heard about Kang Dabao's future, and the embarrassment of being stared at by all the elders in the hall.

Fei Ye Shui's comforting words from back then seemed to echo in Fei Shuhe's ears again, "You little rascal, you've married a man who loves you."

Fei Shuhe only saw that the elders in the hall had different expressions after hearing this, and none of them cared whether Ye Shui's words were praise or criticism.

Fei Shuhe only knew that after these words, Ye Shui, whom the Fei Household regarded as a god, never spoke to her again. His wise eyes were now fixed on Fei Nanying, who had achieved the Middle-Grade Golden Core.

At first, when the young ladies of the Fei Household heard that Fei Shuhe had been summoned by the patriarch, they looked at her with a hint of envy.

But after Fei Ye Shui said those words, these sisters, regardless of their distance or kinship, did not say anything derogatory or contemptuous in their words or actions. However, human nature is inherently evil, and the hints of mockery, pity, and relief in their eyes were hard to hide.

Fei Shuhe knew that no one else was to blame for this, and she didn't know what expression her face had when she was buried in the ground.

All she remembered thinking at the time was, "Will I ever be able to stand in this hall like my uncle, receiving praise from our ancestors and enjoying the glory of the entire clan?! Will I be able to wash away all these disgusting looks cast upon me?!"

Her brilliant father failed to leave her with any extraordinary spiritual essence, and her noble mother only gave her an ordinary Mixed Spirit Root.

Must we rely on ourselves?

Fei Shuhe rarely heard her elders talk about those stories of humble beginnings and human determination overcoming adversity. All she saw were the enduring talents of great families who never declined, never withered, and only grew more prosperous over the years.

Many ambitious predecessors failed to accomplish what I could not; how could I possibly achieve it? If I rely on myself, when will I ever reach such heights?!

In the past, she had placed all her hopes on Kang Dabao. Otherwise, what other wife in Shannan Circuit could have the magnanimity to share her husband with someone else?

However, the latter is not a decisive person. If we follow Fei Nanying's words, "Those who are sentimental rarely have a future," then Kang Dabao, with his Four Spirit Roots, has only managed to get to where he is today by sheer luck, or is it already his end?

She was unwilling to accept this ending, but she would not distance herself from Kang Dabao.

In fact, even now, she has never stopped doing things like recruiting talents for the Hundred Arts Pavilion of the Chongming Sect and asking the Fei Household for supplies on behalf of the Chongming Sect.

However, Fei Shuhe inevitably focused more of her attention on Kang Changxi. After all, this was the child she had begged Fei Nanying for a long time to give birth to with the Spirit Offspring Radiant Color Pill, so she naturally placed high hopes on him.

"In another year, we'll see what kind of Spirit Root Xi'er has." Fei Shuhe temporarily put aside her worries and was about to summon two maids to chat when she heard a commotion outside.

"Greetings, sister-in-law," Yuan Jin said, leading Zhou Yixiu in. The latter held a Jade Slip in her hand. After bowing with Yuan Jin, she stood up straight and looked straight ahead when she heard Fei Shuhe invite her to sit down.

"What brings you two uncles here?" Fei Shuhe asked with a smile, flicking her water sleeves.

"Last time, Yixiu opened up ten acres of Second Tier spirit fields in Hong County. He was short of funds for a while, so he borrowed a lot of Spirit Stone from his sister-in-law. Now that the sect's public funds are sufficient, he hurriedly sent them to his sister-in-law." Zhou Yixiu got up again and bowed to Fei Shuhe. Then he summoned a Storage Bag and presented it to the latter.

Fei Shuhe did not refuse; with a casual gesture, Yu'er took the Storage Bag from Zhou Yixiu's hand.

But then she added, "Second Uncle and Fourth Uncle are being serious, why are you being so particular with me? Now that the Spirit Stone have been delivered, and the sect is currently facing expenses, is there any way to make ends meet?"

Yuan Jin then served tea and replied, "Because of you, sister-in-law, Double Brightness enjoys great honor. Over the years, you have taken great care of us, and I'm afraid you even contributed a lot to our dowries. We were already feeling ashamed, and if we can't even repay these small sums of money that you've saved for us, we, as your servants, will truly have nowhere to hide our shame."

Fei Shuhe knew that her husband had taught these junior brothers to be quite ambitious, so after laughing, she did not try to persuade them further. Instead, she asked, "This person has been gone for so long, and he hasn't even sent a message home."

To this day, I am deaf and blind, and I have no idea how the establishment of the new sacred land is progressing or whether it is going smoothly. If you two uncles have the time, please tell this woman about it briefly.

Yuan Jin replied, "Senior brother is a man of great vision and there is nothing he cannot accomplish. I suppose the matter of opening up the spiritual land has been going very smoothly without anything new happening, which is why I haven't told my sister-in-law about it."

Recently, only the Third suffered a minor injury due to his recklessness, which he recovered after applying some ointment. Sister-in-law, you don't need to worry about it.

Recently, Ingenious Craftsman Fort and Hemu Dao each acquired a Second Tier Spirit Vein within the Cold Crow Mountain Range. The locations are both quite good, and if managed well in the future, they will be much better than their mountain gate in Pingrong County.

My senior brother sent someone to occupy a better Second-Tier Middle-Grade Spirit Vein, but it's a bit far and not very safe. He's thinking of clearing out the thousand-mile stretch of desolate land between it and the border of Pingrong County before making plans to relocate his disciples.

Fei Shuhe's beautiful eyes lit up as Yuan Jin finished speaking, and then she said softly, "If that's the case, then they must be working on withdrawing their troops recently?"

Yuan Jin chimed in, "Sister-in-law, you're absolutely right. Senior brother is indeed doing just that."

"I'm just a woman and I don't understand these important matters. But if you need any help from the people in Green Lotus Courtyard, please don't hesitate to ask."

Fei Shuhe nodded slightly, having asked all the questions that interested her. Now that she was all alone, it was not appropriate for her to keep Yuan and Zhou, the two men, any longer. So she had Kang Changxi run over to greet the two elders, and then she served tea and saw them off.

Seeing Yuan and Zhou step out of the sect leader's courtyard, Fei Shuhe turned to look at Nanny Sun and said calmly, "Granny, you haven't seen your son for a long time, have you? Now it's not like before when we were separated by half an Immortal Dynasty; we're so close now, you should see him more often."

Nanny Sun glanced at Fei Shuhe with a complicated look in her eyes. She didn't say anything after that, but simply bowed and then turned to head towards Martial Armor Mountain.

Yu'er and Ping'er had both followed Fei Shuhe for many years, and upon seeing this scene, they were at a loss for words.

The courtyard fell silent for a moment, with only the sound of Kang Changxi's serious little face as he placed his pieces.

Fei Shuhe was suddenly filled with many worries. "Uncle is so busy with state affairs these days, I can't see him all the time. The rest of the family doesn't treat me well anymore, which makes me feel like I'm deaf and blind in the She Mountain Hall. I wonder if Nanny Sun can find out anything from the Ying Mountain Army?!"

She was naturally worried about the great event that Chongming Sect was about to face. If they were really summoned by the Fei Household, the battle they would have to go through would be far more significant than the minor skirmishes that Sect Leader Kang Da had been up to in the past six months.

Although Fei Shuhe did not place great importance on Kang Dabao's foundation for the Chongming Sect, since Kang Dabao had already chosen this path, she had no choice but to walk alongside him for the time being.

Fortunately, the Chongming Sect is showing signs of prosperity and is no longer a burden to Sect Leader Kang Da. When the time is right, it may actually become a great help in fulfilling Fei Shuhe's wishes.

"If only Father were still alive, then I might be able to get some of the Azure Firmament Spirit Root for Brother Qing."

---- Cold Crow Mountain, Bing-Zi Military Stronghold

This military camp, used for transporting wounded soldiers, had been empty for a long time, but today twenty or thirty more wounded soldiers arrived, which surprised Song Cheng, who was leading the law enforcement team to patrol the surrounding area.

After asking Du Qing, who had escorted them back, they learned that all of them had been injured by a sudden attack from a pack of Red Dog Wolf on their way back.

The attackers were the last hundred soldiers from Jin County who remained in Cold Crow Mountain. They were supposed to return to Jia-Chou Military Stronghold, where the rear army was stationed, collect their supplies, and then go home, but they encountered this incident on the way.

Most of them died on the spot, and those who survived are all here now, but it's unknown how long some of them will live.

Song Cheng sighed upon hearing this, and repeatedly urged the group of Alchemist who were already extremely busy, when he heard Du Qing say:

"This time, the Red Dog Wolf's actions are not simple. It is true that these beasts have a habit of deliberately ambushing their prey, but this group of local militia is well-trained. The Red Dog Wolf are about the same number as them, so even if they seize the initiative, this victory will only be a Pyrrhic one."

After returning, they could no longer compete with other beasts for hunting grounds and provisions. How could the spiritual flesh and blood of cultivators be worth such a heavy investment? No matter how abundant the provisions in Cold Crow Mountain were, how could they raise such a stupid alpha wolf?

"Senior Brother Du, are you saying that someone is causing trouble?"

"It might not be human; it could be Demon Beast."

"Senior brother, are you saying there's Spirit Awakening Demon Beast leading a horde of beasts nearby?" Song Cheng's face showed some surprise, but Du Qing shook his head and said, "I didn't say that. It was when the sect leader and Elder Jiang were talking that Junior Brother Ming and I, who were serving by their side, overheard them talking about it."

"We've probably suffered a loss this time. I heard that the Ma Household also had two hundred men ambushed by a pack of beasts on their way back. It was only because the Ma Household patriarch, Ma Yanwen, expended some of the Lineage's resources that the Ma Household suffered fewer casualties. Otherwise, they would most likely have ended up the same way."

"Even the rear guard, where our sect leader is stationed, has been attacked?" Song Cheng asked, his tone even more alarmed.

Du Qing seemed to know quite a bit, and continued, "Before we arrived, the sect leader was discussing with the heads of various factions about Rogue Cultivator who had previously been dispersed to various mines and forest farms into an army. However, it's unclear when this will be accomplished."

Junior Brother Song, you need to be extra careful while you're stationed at the military camp. Anyway, the sect leader has already decided to conclude the matter of opening up the spiritual land. What remains is to cultivate the spiritual land that our Chongming Sect has been allocated.

It seems the heads of each household have gathered another batch of higher-level array plates, and array masters will be coming soon to distribute and replace them. At that time, we'll just have to see just how many fearless beasts there are in the Cold Crow Mountain Range."

Hearing this, Song Cheng felt a little more at ease. Now he was carrying the weight of many lives on his shoulders, which made him much more nervous than usual.

Song Cheng sighed softly, "According to the Great Wei Compendium, even Third Tier Demon Officer are not necessarily all Spirit Awakening. These Spirit Awakening beasts are so rare, and it's truly unlucky that our Chongming Sect has run into one!"

He knew that the reason why the Double Brightness Alliance's initiative to establish a new spiritual land had gone so smoothly was because the Demon Beast here were scattered and could not coordinate with each other like cultivators.

Even among the groups of Demon Beasts, they are not a monolithic entity.

All cultivators in the world have the same appearance, and even among them, there are life-and-death battles. It goes without saying that these ordinary demon Demon Beast with their strange and varied appearances are even more likely to fight each other.

Under these circumstances, the Double Brightness Alliance could easily transform the vast wilderness into spiritual land at a relatively low cost.

However, if a Spirit Awakening Demon Beast were to take charge of the overall situation and be able to manipulate the countless low-level Demon Beast of various races in the Cold Crow Mountain Range as if they were extensions of its own limbs, it would be no ordinary problem for the newly established Double Brightness Alliance.

Just as Song Cheng was about to speak with Du Qing for a while, he saw another figure with difficulty walking appear outside the military camp.

Upon closer inspection, the two realized that this person was Xiu Ming, who was supposed to be resting and waiting for Xiu Ming at the newly restored site of the old Wind Iron Stone Mine with his newly organized retinue of one hundred Rogue Cultivators.

Xiu Ming looked exhausted, and large amounts of blood were dripping from his body. His injuries were quite serious, and it was a mystery how he had managed to get here all by himself.

"Alchemist! Alchemist, come quickly!!" Song Cheng shouted loudly before leading his men out of the military camp to welcome the heavily injured Xiu Ming in.

Just as he was about to Xiu Ming's wounds, the latter spoke first, "The beast horde... The beast horde is boundless and boundless. It wasn't coming for us. It was just a small swarm that broke through the temporary formation we set up in the mine. They were in a hurry to get on their way and didn't stop or search for survivors."

Before I left my Storage Bag, I sent a letter and a token to my uncle, but I don't know if he received it. If I'm not mistaken, those beasts must have headed towards the Jia-Chou Military Stronghold where the rear army headquarters is located.

"You must be careful, Uncle. That horde of beasts is boundless and endless, and there are even many Second Tier Demon Beast."