Chapter 29: Chapter 29: Demon Beast Gathering
After making the "Accelerated Circulation" perk permanent, the fifty percent boost to his circulatory speed during cultivation became a constant, a part of his body just like Spiritual Qi Filtration.
This freed up an equipment slot.
Li Yuan didn’t act rashly, first taking a moment to feel the changes within his body.
Spiritual Qi circulated through his meridians at the exact same speed as when he had the Meridian Opening Pill equipped, with no reduction whatsoever. The pure Spiritual Qi completed its cycle at extreme speed and converged in his Dantian. The entire process was clean and efficient.
Li Yuan withdrew his focus and began to consider how to use the empty equipment slot.
The most tempting option for the freed-up slot was the Spirit Detecting Disc.
It was a green perk, Spiritual Sense Expansion: passively sense aura fluctuations within a thirty-zhang radius and even penetrate a certain degree of Concealment techniques.
’But that’s not an option.’
The Spirit Detecting Disc was a Magical Artifact issued by the Wang family. Every deputy captain and above received one.
It was needed for patrols. He Shou had one too, and on every patrol, they would both take theirs out to scan the surroundings.
The item would disappear after being equipped, which would be difficult to explain.
He could only continue to use the Spirit Detecting Disc by holding it.
Patrolling the outer perimeter every day was far more physically demanding than being in the market. Fortunately, the permanent perk from Five Grains Qi Nourishing was always active, so his stamina recovered much faster than others of the same tier. Combined with the Qi Blood enhancement from his mortal cultivation technique, he didn’t need to worry about his stamina at all.
Equipping two Cultivation Techniques at the same time—Organ Fortification plus spontaneous Qi Blood regeneration—one for durability and one for recovery, would significantly increase his safety while patrolling the outer perimeter.
Li Yuan made his decision and took out the Nourishing Essence Skill manual.
’Equip.’
The manual dissolved into a faint light and merged into his body. The spell for the five forms of the Nourishing Essence Skill became crystal clear in his mind again. A gentle warmth welled up, spreading from his Dantian and flowing slowly along his meridians and muscles.
The effect of spontaneous Qi Blood regeneration had returned.
[Current Equipment Slots: 2/2]
[Equipped Items: Nourishing Essence Skill, Iron Bull Skill]
[Equipment Perks: Organ Fortification (White), Spontaneous Qi Blood Regeneration (White)]
[Permanent Perks: Clean Physique (Gray), Spiritual Qi Filtration (White), Five Grains Qi Nourishing (White), Accelerated Circulation (White)]
Having a full six perks active on his body made Li Yuan feel quite secure.
---
In the early morning, when Li Yuan opened his eyes, the effect of his spontaneous Qi Blood regeneration was still active, and a pleasant warmth had spread through most of his body.
He glanced at the sun to estimate the time, stretched his limbs, and pushed the door open.
"Today we head southwest. The route is a bit longer than yesterday’s," He Shou said, glancing at the group. "Stay sharp."
The five of them set out along the dirt path, heading in a different direction than the previous days as they ventured deeper to the southwest.
The terrain grew hilly, and the bushes became denser. In some places, short trees and thorns were so tangled together that one had to squeeze through sideways. The dirt path beneath their feet gradually disappeared, replaced by a wasteland of wild grass and rubble.
He Shou walked at the very front, his pace slow. He would stop every few steps to observe the surrounding tracks.
Li Yuan followed behind, his fingers resting on the Spirit Detecting Disc in his sleeve. He slowly infused it with Spiritual Power, spreading his perception outward.
The auras of the four men beside him were clearly discernible. In the surrounding bushes, there were a few faint fluctuations from ordinary beasts, but it was quiet further out.
After walking for about an hour, the terrain became even more complex. A shallow, dry ditch lay ahead, its bottom overgrown with waist-high weeds and its sides lined with dense bushes.
He Shou stopped at the edge of the ditch and crouched down to examine the soil at the bottom.
"There are claw prints..."
Before He Shou could finish, Li Yuan’s Spirit Detecting Disc suddenly captured a fluctuation of Spiritual Qi.
’Not far away. It’s close.’
’To the front left, deep in the bushes, about fifteen zhang away.’
A murky fluctuation of Spiritual Qi was pressed low, almost hugging the ground, completely motionless.
Li Yuan raised his right hand slightly and made a hand signal to He Shou—one that He Shou had taught him over the past few days.
He Shou’s expression instantly darkened. He placed his left hand on the hilt of his saber, his gaze locked on the depths of the bushes.
All five of them stopped in their tracks.
Chen Qi reacted the fastest, crouching slightly with his right hand already gripping his short blade. Liu Ping and Xu Mao also reached for their Magical Artifacts.
Instead of advancing head-on, the five men moved sideways along the edge of the dry ditch, increasing their distance from the bushes.
Li Yuan’s perception remained locked on that fluctuation of Spiritual Qi.
Fifteen zhang, eighteen zhang, twenty zhang—the distance grew, but the fluctuation remained motionless, lying in wait.
Only when the five of them had moved more than thirty zhang away did the fluctuation finally stir.
It slowly retreated in the opposite direction, slipping into the deeper bushes. The Spiritual Qi fluctuation grew weaker and weaker until it finally vanished at the edge of his perception.
’It’s gone.’
He Shou released his saber hilt and let out a breath.
"An ambush," He Shou said, glancing back at Li Yuan. "That beast was lying in wait in the bushes. If your Spirit Detecting Disc hadn’t found it in advance, we would have followed the tracks right into its jaws."
Chen Qi straightened up and glanced toward the bushes, muttering, "Clever thing."
"A lot of Demon Beasts aren’t stupid," He Shou said, patting his saber hilt. "Even though we don’t know its tier, we shouldn’t have engaged it head-on."
The five continued southwest, but their pace was noticeably slower, and they spread out a bit more.
After walking for another fifteen minutes, Li Yuan’s Spirit Detecting Disc picked up another Spiritual Qi fluctuation.
’Ahead and to the right, just over twenty zhang away. Two of them.’
’One big, one small. The big one’s Spiritual Qi is dense, the small one is weaker.’
"There are two ahead, one big and one small," Li Yuan said in a low voice.
He Shou paused and tilted his head to survey the terrain.
Ahead was a relatively open field of weeds. The grass wasn’t high, so visibility was much better than in the bushes. The two Spiritual Qi fluctuations were moving slowly through the middle of the field, heading east.
"I see them," He Shou said, narrowing his eyes.
In the center of the field, two grayish-brown figures were faintly visible among the weeds.
The two Demon Beasts hadn’t noticed the humans and were heading east across the field at a slow pace.
He Shou didn’t order an attack. Instead, he led the group in an arc, passing through the southern side of the field and maintaining a safe distance from the two Iron-Spine Hyenas.
After bypassing the field, the five continued deeper to the southwest.
The terrain changed again, with low hills and gullies appearing alternately. The density of the bushes was even greater than before.
Li Yuan’s Spirit Detecting Disc was almost constantly active.
Within his range of perception, two more Spiritual Qi fluctuations appeared.
"It seems like the Demon Beasts are getting more numerous," Li Yuan said, then came to a stop.
He Shou had noticed it too, and his expression grew increasingly grim.
Li Yuan infused his Spirit Detecting Disc with Spiritual Power. Behind the low hill, a dozen or so zhang away, were two Spiritual Qi fluctuations close to each other. One was more solid than the other.
Just then, a low growl echoed from behind a low hill up ahead.
"Two of them. A Middle Grade and a Low Grade."
The words had barely left his mouth when a rustling sound came from the bushes to the left of the hill. A moment later, a flat, dark-gray figure emerged from the undergrowth. It was a Horned Lizard.
"Another one," Chen Qi said, tightening his grip on his short blade and leaning forward slightly.
The growl from behind the hill grew louder, accompanied by heavy footsteps. A massive figure poked its head over the top of the slope.
It had grayish-black fur, broad shoulders, and a wide, flat mouth filled with two rows of jagged fangs.
"A Marsh Toad Beast," He Shou’s voice was very low. "Tier One Middle Grade. It has a tough hide and is hard to fight."
A Tier One Middle Grade Marsh Toad Beast was on the hill, and a Tier One Low Grade Horned Lizard was at the edge of the bushes to the left.
The two Demon Beasts were not the same species, but they appeared in this location at the same time, blocking the group’s path forward.
"Retreat," He Shou ordered in a low voice, without hesitation.
The five of them slowly backed away, their steps very light.
The Horned Lizard stared at them for a moment but didn’t give chase, instead turning and slipping back into the bushes. The Marsh Toad Beast on the hill roared twice but didn’t come down the slope either, watching from the top as the five of them departed.
He Shou only stopped after they had retreated over a hundred zhang.
"Something’s not right." He Shou glanced back the way they came, his brows furrowing into a knot.
"From the moment we set out, the traces of Demon Beasts have been getting denser. The further southwest we go, the more we find. In that last area, there were at least seven or eight Demon Beasts active within a radius of a few hundred zhang."
Li Yuan nodded. The perception range of his Spirit Detecting Disc was limited, but even the Spiritual Qi fluctuations he had managed to capture were already quite dense.
"We can’t go any deeper in this direction," He Shou concluded. "We’ll go back and report this. Let the guard squad dispatch a stronger team to investigate."
Chen Qi sheathed his short blade and spoke up, "Captain He, that Horned Lizard ran off, and the Marsh Toad Beast didn’t chase us. That means these Demon Beasts aren’t targeting us."
Chen Qi paused. "The five of us are more than enough to handle a Tier One Low Grade, and we can even beat a Tier One Middle Grade. The ones we’ve run into on this route have been alone or in groups of two or three. We should take this chance to figure out how many Demon Beasts are in this area and hunt a few. We’d get a good amount of materials."
Liu Ping nodded in agreement. "Chen Qi has a point. These Demon Beasts are scattered all over, not moving in a large pack. If we pick off the ones that are alone, the risk isn’t that great."
He Shou glanced at the two of them but didn’t answer immediately.
Xu Mao leaned against a small tree and shrugged at their words, not voicing an opinion.
Li Yuan spoke up. "This high density of Demon Beasts means something in this area is attracting them, or something is driving them this way. Either way, pressing deeper is not something a team with our composition should be doing."
Chen Qi opened his mouth, wanting to say more.
He Shou held up a hand. His tone wasn’t heavy, but it was decisive.
"Deputy Li is right. An abnormal density of Demon Beasts is not a good sign. If we run into a Tier One Top Grade, the five of us might not even be able to escape."
He Shou tightened the long saber at his waist.
"We can gather materials anytime. You can’t earn Spirit Stones if you’re dead. Let’s go. Back to the outpost."
Chen Qi shut his mouth, a look of reluctance on his face, but he didn’t argue further. Liu Ping glanced at Chen Qi, then at He Shou, and obediently fell in line with the team.
The five of them headed back the way they came, moving much faster than before.
Li Yuan kept his Spirit Detecting Disc active the entire way. The Spiritual Qi fluctuations within his perception range gradually decreased as they put distance between themselves and the area. Once they were out of the region dense with Demon Beasts, their surroundings became quiet again.
