Chapter 170: Beast Tide Migration

After obtaining the pill formula, Lü Liang took Qin Ming to visit several more shops to purchase other auxiliary materials needed for pill refining.

"The resources in this core area are truly far richer than those outside," Qin Ming remarked as they walked and chatted with Lü Liang.

Lü Liang smiled calmly and said, "Naturally; high-quality products from the four kingdoms all circulate here. What I showed Fellow Daoist Qin today was only a small part."

"Fellow Daoist Qin is welcome to come often; every so often, there are exchange meetings among Foundation Establishment cultivators from the various kingdoms held within the core area."

After their business was concluded, Lü Liang warmly invited Qin Ming to his residence as a guest.

Unable to refuse, Qin Ming had no choice but to agree.

Lü Liang's cultivation residence was located in the high-end residential district of the core area; although it could not compare to the cave dwellings on Canghai Peak, it was still abundant in spiritual energy.

He led Qin Ming through the alleys of the residential district to a secluded villa with a rather large footprint.

It was countless times better than the houses in the inner and outer cities.

"Fellow Daoist Lü, worthy of being a senior officer of Yunze Xiancheng, this environment is truly excellent; surely it boasts a second-grade upper-tier spiritual vein?" Qin Ming glanced around the residence and asked casually.

Hearing this, Lü Liang spoke with a hint of pride: "Fellow Daoist Qin, this villa was directly bestowed upon me by the City Lord when I was promoted."

Once inside the courtyard, Lü Liang personally brewed a pot of spiritual tea for Qin Ming and ordered his servants to prepare a full table of wine and dishes, all specialty delicacies of the region.

Halfway through their meal, Lü Liang seemed to have something to say; he pulled a jade box from his robes, placed it before Qin Ming, and said, "Fellow Daoist Qin, please take a look at this item."

Qin Ming took the jade box, opened it, and exclaimed in surprise, "A second-grade middle-tier demon core, and of the wind attribute?"

"I, Lü, have an impertinent request; I wonder if Fellow Daoist Qin would agree?" Lü Liang asked with some embarrassment.

Hearing this, Qin Ming frowned slightly. "Could it be that Fellow Daoist Lü wishes for me to refine pills using this demon core?"

"Hehe! Exactly; however, the pill I wish to ask Fellow Daoist Qin to refine is a Foundation Establishment Pill," Lü Liang explained, immediately taking out a pill formula and handing it to Qin Ming.

Looking at the formula in his hand, Qin Ming couldn't help but say in astonishment, "A formula for refining Foundation Establishment Pills from a demon core?"

"Fellow Daoist Lü, could it be that you are refining a Foundation Establishment Pill for a junior?"

Only then did Lü Liang sigh and say, "Alas! What Fellow Daoist Qin said is correct; I have a beloved disciple whose aptitude is passable. She has cultivated to the peak of the Qi Condensation stage for several years now, but lacking a Foundation Establishment Pill, she has been unable to break through."

"In order to accumulate resources, she herself does not hesitate to take risks, joining the demon-hunting teams of the immortal city and running to the Beast Cry Mountain Range every other day; I cannot stop her no matter how hard I try."

"I was forced into a corner with no other choice; now I have finally obtained the formula and gathered all the spiritual materials."

"My original plan was to invite Grand Alchemist Sun Dadan to lend a hand with the refining."

"However, now that Fellow Daoist Qin is here, I might as well ask you for help instead."

"As for the conditions for your assistance: this formula will belong to Fellow Daoist Qin, and furthermore, if the Foundation Establishment Pill is successfully refined, I will take only half, with the rest also going to Fellow Daoist Qin."

"Fellow Daoist Qin, what do you think..."

After listening to Lü Liang's words, Qin Ming pondered for a moment; since the other party was providing both the materials and the formula, he would still gain a formula and a Foundation Establishment Pill for free.

That was certainly acceptable.

Thus, Qin Ming nodded and agreed, "Fellow Daoist Lü's deep care for your disciple is evident; I can agree to help you refine this."

"Really? That's wonderful, Fellow Daoist Qin!"

"Great kindness needs no words of thanks; if there is ever anything you need from me, Lü Liang, in the future, just name it," Lü Liang said, rising directly to bow respectfully to Qin Ming.

Caught off guard by this gesture, Qin Ming replied, "Fellow Daoist Lü need not be so; we are simply meeting each other's needs, and I happen to be quite interested in this formula myself."

"However... I have never before refined a Foundation Establishment Pill using a demon core, so I must clarify the situation to Fellow Daoist Lü in advance."

"Ah? So this would be the first time?"

Hearing this, Lü Liang's face immediately twitched; while the other materials were manageable, there was only this single second-grade middle-tier demon core, and if it failed... Just as Lü Liang was hesitating, a female cultivator with a clear and beautiful face burst in energetically from outside, full of vitality and around twenty-one or twenty-two years of age; she rushed into the room with an expression of great excitement.

"Master, I'm back; look what I got!"

"Wow! It smells so good!"

"Hmph! Master, you're secretly indulging in meat dishes while I'm away, aren't you?! What delicious food are you making again?"

Seeing her careless manner, completely lacking any of a girl's reserve, Lü Liang's old face turned red, and he shouted angrily, "What kind of racket is this? At your age, how can you behave so improperly!"

"Can't you see there is a guest present?"

Holding something in her hand, the woman glanced into the room and only then noticed Qin Ming; she stuck out her tongue slightly, bowed to him, and said, "So there is a senior present as a guest; this young lady was impertinent."

"It is of no consequence," Qin Ming smiled, not minding at all.

Lü Liang then turned to introduce her to Qin Ming: "I hope Fellow Daoist Qin will forgive the embarrassment; this is my disciple, named Lu Wanjun, whom I adopted and raised since she was small."

Then Lü Liang glared at his beloved disciple again, "Why haven't you quickly come to pay your respects to Qin Qianbei Ming! I racked my brains to invite Fellow Daoist Qin to help you refine a Foundation Establishment Pill, yet you, on the contrary, never let me have a moment's peace all day."

Hearing this, Lu Wanjun's quirky eyes instantly lit up, and she said excitedly, "Wanjun pays her respects to Qin Qianbei!"

Naturally, she had heard of Qin Ming's great name and deeply admired this grandmaster of both spirit planting and the pill dao who rose from being a rogue cultivator.

"Hehe! No need for excessive courtesy," Qin Ming said with a smile, then took out a bottle of Qi Condensation stage pills for strengthening the foundation and nurturing vitality; he didn't know which dead ghost's storage bag he had rummaged them from, but he casually handed them to Lu Wanjun as a meeting gift.

Lu Wanjun's eyes sparkled with light; she hurriedly accepted the jade bottle and thanked Qin Ming with great joy, "Thank you, Qin Qianbei, for bestowing pills!"

"No need to be polite," Qin Ming said with a faint smile.

Lü Liang sighed and said, "Alas! I came to ask Fellow Daoist Qin for help; how could I let you incur expenses?"

"It is just a small token of appreciation, hardly worth mentioning; Fellow Daoist Lü need not worry about it," Qin Ming said with a smile.

"Master, just look at this," Lu Wanjun said, extending her delicate hand before the two of them and then opening her palm.

There, lying quietly in her palm, was a sphere-shaped object about the size of an egg.

"A second-grade initial-stage demon core!" Lü Liang couldn't help but cry out in surprise, and even Qin Ming beside him showed a look of confusion.

If this demon core appeared in the hands of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, that would be quite normal.

But Lu Wanjun was only at the peak of the Qi Condensation stage; this was somewhat unbelievable. "Where did you get this?" Lü Liang asked, frowning with a serious expression.

Seeing her master getting serious, Lu Wanjun immediately shrank her neck and whispered timidly, "Reporting to Master, the demon-hunting team I was with unexpectedly encountered a heavily injured and dying Scale Fire Lizard on the outskirts of the Beast Cry Mountain Range; after working together to kill it, internal strife broke out within the team. I seized the opportunity, secretly took the fire lizard's demon core, and ran back."

"If not for the few life-saving magical treasures and talismans Master gave me, I恐怕 wouldn't have been able to return."

Lu Wanjun's words made both men secretly startled; this little girl's courage was truly immense.

"Fellow Daoist Lü, your beloved disciple truly has remarkable luck, hehe!" Qin Ming said with a smile.

Only then did Lu Liang turn to Qin Ming and say, "With two demon cores this time, we have double the insurance; please proceed with the refinement, Fellow Daoist Qin!"

Qin Ming nodded.

"By the way, Wanjun, why would a dying second-tier great demon appear on the outskirts of the Beast Cry Mountain Range?" Lu Liang suddenly remembered something and asked with considerable puzzlement.

Hearing this, Lu Wanjun replied with a serious expression, "Indeed, within the Beast Cry Mountain Range recently, there have been some abnormalities; many demonic beasts have left their original territories and are migrating outward en masse."

"Quite a few demon-hunting teams have reaped substantial rewards."

"However, many other teams encountered large hordes of demonic beasts and remain missing to this day."

She recounted in detail her observations from this trip to the Beast Cry Mountain Range, then looked at the two Foundation Establishment cultivators.

"The demonic beasts of the Beast Cry Mountain Range have begun a large-scale collective migration outward?!"

Lu Liang's expression instantly turned grave. "Such a situation has occurred before in the historical records of Yunze Xiancheng; one possibility is a wanton quest for revenge, like that Heavy-Eyed Demon Ape from before, while the other is that a new third-tier Demon King has been born deep within the mountain range, driving other demonic beasts to expand their territory outward."

"Regardless of which scenario it is, I fear... a new beast tide is approaching." As an elder of Canghai Xiancheng, Lu Liang could easily deduce the specific cause by combining this with the frequent recent anomalies among the demonic beasts.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, if it is the second scenario, it means the scale of this beast tide will be dozens of times larger than the last one; not only Yunze Xiancheng, but even the spiritual energy Archipelago will fall within its impact zone—we must prepare early!"

In the history of the four nations of the Southern Wild Immortal Realm, there have always been instances where beast tides struck and ravaged regions.

The markets and strategic passes established near the Beast Cry Mountain Range originally served the function of blocking demonic beasts.

And as the junction of the four nations, 'Canghai Xiancheng' is of paramount importance; once war breaks out, Yunze Xiancheng will inevitably bear the brunt of the attack.

"However, as the foremost sanctuary for rogue cultivators, over the past few hundred years, Canghai Xiancheng has experienced no fewer than several hundred beast tide attacks, large and small."

"There has never been an instance of it being breached..."

Qin Ming's brows were also tightly furrowed, but hearing Lu Liang speak thus, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He had witnessed firsthand how the Demon Ape once led an overwhelming army of demonic beasts to sweep across Qianye Spirit Island, leaving nothing alive in its path.

If the scale of this beast tide is indeed larger than the last, it truly requires cautious handling.

'It seems... the Demon Ape beast tide was merely an appetizer; something even greater lies ahead...'

Even for his own Wangyue Island, he must consider reinforcing its defensive capabilities.

"Very well, since that is the case, I will now refine the Foundation Establishment Pill for Fellow Daoist Lu." Qin Ming felt the situation was somewhat urgent; after finishing this matter, he needed to return to Wangyue Island immediately.

Upon hearing this, Lu Liang displayed a smile uglier than crying and asked with some uncertainty, "Fellow Daoist Qin, perhaps you could stay here a bit longer to study the pill formula more thoroughly before attempting the refinement?"

After all, less than half a quarter-hour had passed since he handed the formula to Qin Ming; Qin Ming had merely glanced at that pill formula casually. Speaking of which, are all grand pill masters this casual? Lu Liang suddenly felt unsure in his heart; to gather the spiritual materials required for refining the Foundation Establishment Pill, he, a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, had bled heavily, spending nearly half his life savings.

If he failed to refine even two second-tier demon cores, he would have nowhere to cry... (End of Chapter)