Chapter 9: Subsiding

"Roar~~"

A tremendous roar that shook the mountains and forests burst out from Qin Ming's bronze bell magic artifact! The sound was deafening! And it kept snarling on without pause.

Just hearing the momentum was truly terrifying! One could see, centered on Qin Ming, countless sound waves like tides, sweeping away everything in their path, spreading outward in layer upon layer.

Completely drowning out the shrieks of those Howl Monkeys!

The eerie sound waves the monkey horde had unleashed were broken in an instant.

The nearby spirit-farmers' eyes gradually faded of red, their minds slowly returning to clarity.

The low-tier Howl Monkeys were scared into fleeing in all directions.

Those few Howl Monkeys that had been about to attack Qin Ming and his companion inside the formation were closest to the bronze bell magic artifact's range.

Shocked by the massive sound waves until every hair on their bodies stood on end, they each wore a look of absolute terror, trembling all over.

But that one Howl Monkey at the mid first-tier stage, after a brief moment of alarm, only hesitated for a few breaths before returning to its ferocious state.

It seemed largely unaffected.

"Squeak squeak squeak———"

It let out another shriek toward the sky, trying to reorganize the monkey horde to pounce again! Clearly it had seen through the trick of this Beast-Repelling Art—much thunder, little rain, no real harm done to them.

Good-looking but useless.

……

"Oh my goodness, how is that a Beast-Repelling Art? That's gotta be Lion's Roar, right?!"

"The enhanced version with a loudspeaker attached."

Qin Ming himself was startled too.

Casting the Beast-Repelling Art once had instantly drained a fifth of his magic power.

Still, since it was his first time using it and he already saw the Beast-Repelling Art take effect against the monkey-monster horde, his heart settled a little.

"Daoist Qin actually knows the Beast-Repelling Art!"

Alchemist Su behind him was greatly surprised, his gaze continually reassessing Qin Ming.

He no longer knew how to judge the man before him.

"Works sometimes, doesn't other times—Alchemist Su, please don't laugh."

"Daoist Qin, watch out! Those Howl Monkeys are coming again!"

Qin Ming heard this, immediately pulled himself together, hurriedly circulated his magic power, and sent out another Beast-Repelling Art!

……

Half a cup of tea's time later.

Finally.

A massive magic ship streaked across the sky on escape light, instantly arriving above their spirit field.

Qin Ming looked closely—it was Steward Gu of the Feather Spirit Gate, bringing outer disciples to reinforce them.

"Just in time."

He let out a long breath of relief.

Just now he had used up all five charges of that 'Beast-Repelling Art' trait in one go.

At this moment Qin Ming's face was pale, his dantian utterly hollow.

If not for his Everlasting Spring magic power being twice that of an ordinary cultivator,

had Steward Gu and the others arrived even one step later, he really would have been completely spent.

He had already been planning to use the 'Weak Magic Power' trait to keep himself going.

This monster-beast ambush, the moment it came was faster than anyone could speak—in less than a quarter of an hour total.

Combined with the eerie sound-wave attack, no one had time to prepare.

"Hmph!"

"These past few days I searched everywhere and couldn't find you wretched beasts—turns out you were hiding right under my nose!"

Steward Gu was clearly furious enough to burst.

The spirit field had suffered no small losses this time, and as the chief steward in charge of spirit-rice tax collection, he would certainly face punishment from the sect.

One saw Steward Gu flick a finger, and a crimson flying sword shot out from his hand!

A streak of rainbow light flashed, tracing an arc through the air.

Clang! The flying sword instantly pierced through that leading mid first-tier Howl Monkey.

The air went still.

That Howl Monkey, from head to tail, was traced by a line of bloodlight—split clean in two by a single sword! The monkey's corpse collapsed limply to the ground.

"Perfect Qi Refining—terrifying beyond words!"

Qin Ming stared blankly at Steward Gu's thunderous methods, utterly dumbfounded.

The arrival of the Feather Spirit Gate people signaled the end of the matter.

Steward Gu, leading his disciples, quickly purged and slaughtered those Howl Monkeys.

Not a single monkey escaped the net.

For the short term, there shouldn't be any more monster-beast raids near the spirit field.

"Who was it that cast the Beast-Repelling Art just now?"

After clearing the scene, Steward Gu boarded the magic ship and, before departing, turned his head and asked the crowd.

Qin Ming heard this and stood his ground in silence. In the Immortal Realm, he dared not reveal too much of how extraordinary he was.

When it came to caution, Qin Ming had never conceded to anyone—but unless absolutely necessary, he only pretended to a level of ability he could actually control, never risking a single step beyond.

"It was Daoist Qin—we owe it to him this time."

Alchemist Su stepped forward and actually spoke on his behalf.

"Oh, Alchemist Su is also here?"

"Just now I was in a fit of anger and didn't notice for a moment." A rare smile squeezed onto Elder Gu's stiff, wooden face.

"That spirit farmer who grew the beast-tooth rice? Note this as a merit for him; reduce this season's spirit rice tax by one-tenth."

Elder Gu squinted and sized Qin Ming up twice, but couldn't see anything special about him.

He then turned to Du Haifu beside him and ordered coldly.

Du Haifu put on an expression even more miserable than eating shit, and hurriedly replied: "Yes, yes, yes, I'll see it done."

Reducing by one-tenth naturally meant reducing his share. "Alchemist Su, what I discussed with you before still stands. If you've thought it through, you can come find me at the Lingyu Gate station anytime." Elder Gu said to Alchemist Su with great solemnity.

"I'm used to being idle and free, and truly don't like being tied down. Let me think it over a bit longer."

"Very well, I have important matters to attend to, so I'll take my leave first."

After Elder Gu finished speaking, he took his disciples back to report.

Qin Ming let out a sigh of relief.

He surveyed the hillside ravaged by the monkey horde; only his and a few other spirit farmers' spirit fields had escaped the disaster.

Among them, three or four spirit fields had lost more than half their crop.

Over a dozen spirit farmers on the mountain died; they had all been bewitched by the Howling Monkeys' sound waves and perished from killing each other.

Apart from Qin Ming and Alchemist Su, the remaining surviving spirit farmers had all sustained injuries to varying degrees.

Looking at the corpses lying in the spirit fields stirred an indescribable feeling within Qin Ming.

"Sigh."

They, these low-level spirit farmers, only toiled hard at farming to eke out a living.

But in the end, they couldn't withstand a sudden, unexpected disaster.

'If Alchemist Su hadn't identified those demon beasts, I would most likely have suffered the same fate as the spirit farmers outside today.'

'Right, I wonder how Cai Laojiu is doing?'

Qin Ming suddenly remembered.

"Fellow Daoist Qin, this time it's all thanks to you."

"If you hadn't known that Beast-Driving Art and broken the monkeys' sound-wave attack, if those demon beasts had risen to attack together, you and I would hardly have escaped unscathed today."

Alchemist Su walked over and amiably took out a bottle of Qi-Returning Pills and handed them to Qin Ming.

Qin Ming was stunned.

After a moment's hesitation, he didn't refuse and accepted the other's pills.

He opened the jade bottle; inside lay a full five Qi-Returning Pills.

He immediately poured one out and swallowed it, then sat down on the spot to regulate his breathing and recover his magic power.

A moment later, a bit of color returned to Qin Ming's pale face, and he was somewhat better.

"Alchemist Su, you go collect the Red Spirit Dew in the spirit fields first; I'll go check on Cai Laojiu."

After Qin Ming stood up, he said a word to Alchemist Su.

Then he hurried off toward Cai Laojiu's spirit field.

The result was something he hadn't expected.

Halfway along the mountain path, Qin Ming ran right into Cai Laojiu coming the other way.

He was currently covered in dirt and grime, also bearing injuries, looking utterly wretched, leaning on a tree branch he'd picked up at random, limping up the slope.

Cai Laojiu looked up and just happened to spot Qin Ming; seeing him bouncing around as if nothing had happened, he instantly broke down.

"No way? How come you're not hurt at all, kid?"

Cai Laojiu had originally been worrying about Qin Ming's safety, but now, he simply couldn't accept it.

"Cai Laojiu, how is it? Not seriously hurt, right?"

"Sigh, I have no idea where this bunch of crazy monkeys popped out from."

"It's good that you're fine."

Seeing that the other only had some superficial wounds, Qin Ming was relieved.

"What do you mean, fine?"

"I don't know which bastard, bewitched by the monkeys, actually jabbed my ass with a spirit hoe!"

"Damn it! Don't let me find out who it was!"

"."

Cai Laojiu, one hand supporting his waist and the other leaning on a nearby tree, asked indignantly: "You still haven't answered me! How come you're not hurt at all?"

"Could it be that bunch of monkeys are relatives of yours? Too reluctant to lay a hand on you?"

Qin Ming replied, a bit speechless: "What a coincidence, I happened to run into Alchemist Su."

"If he hadn't been there, you'd probably be burning paper offerings for me by now, sigh."

(End of chapter)