Chapter 37: The Oriole

Outside the valley.

Shen Yu raised her hand and slashed with her sword.

A blade of light shot out, slicing a tiny emerald-green snake into two pieces.

“Emerald Jade Snake? Its gallbladder is worth one Spirit Sand… Little Fifth Sister truly has luck. We’ll surely return victorious this time.”

Hua Feiyue laughed merrily at this, swaying her supple waist forward to harvest the resources from the Emerald Jade Snake’s body.

Wan Dan, the alchemist from Wanfenglin, gazed at Hua Feiyue’s slender waist and rounded hips, and smiled: “Chen, you’re a lucky man… If my eyes don’t deceive me, this girl possesses Inner Allure—there’s a certain seductive charm about her…”

“My sworn siblings and I are bound by life and death…”

Chen Yi’s expression remained unchanged.

Chen Hongtian, following behind Chen Yi, carried a massive iron hammer and glanced at his second sister, his eyes likewise filled with fascination.

Meng Yi failed to notice the subtle tension, lagging a few steps behind the group as he seized Shen Yu’s right hand: “You seem unsettled. Normally, you wouldn’t let that little snake come within seven steps of you…”

“I’m worried about Zi Jin…” Shen Yu replied with a bitter smile.

“He’s fine. The marketplace has enforcement squads… Besides, didn’t we tell him not to leave? With the talismans we left behind, he can protect himself easily.”

The marketplace had its own order—at least, forced entry and murder shouldn’t happen until the Qingxuan Sect’s enforcement team is wiped out… right?

“I specifically warned Zi Jin not to trust the neighbors. Nothing major should happen…”

Shen Yu murmured to herself.

“We’ve reached the Five Scorpion Valley. Let’s finish quickly and return.”

Meng Yi comforted his wife.

The six of them entered the deep valley; even the weakest among them were Primordial Martial Artists, their movements astonishingly swift, easily crossing several natural hazards to reach the valley entrance.

“Be careful—there’s toxic mist here. Everyone, take a few Anti-Toxin Pills first!”

Master Wan Dan handed out a jade vial.

“Thank you.”

Chen Yi smiled as he took it, swallowed one pill, then passed it to Hua Feiyue.

Once everyone had taken the pills, Wan Dan said: “There are many Purple-Winged Scorpions here. Let’s stick to our original plan!”

“Agreed!”

Chen Yi nodded and pulled out several small flags, distributing them to the group: “We’ve practiced the ‘Little Illusion Trail Array’ thoroughly. Pay attention to your steps and continuously channel your Primordial Qi—it should trap the Purple-Winged Scorpions.”

“Brother, rest assured.”

Hua Feiyue tossed him a flirtatious glance and took hers with a smile.

Soon, a hazy white mist rose at the valley entrance, gradually blending with the mountain’s thin fog until the two became indistinguishable.

Crack! Crack!

A puppet monkey suddenly emerged from the mist—nearly two meters tall, arms longer than its legs, its body shimmering with colorful spirit patterns and radiating powerful magical energy.

At that moment, the puppet monkey slammed its chest and opened its gaping maw.

Puff!

A column of earth-yellow light burst from its mouth, shooting into the valley.

Hummm!

Terrifying wingbeats echoed as several purple scorpion shadows appeared, charging toward the puppet.

The monkey puppet let out a shrill cry and fled backward.

The Purple-Winged Scorpions chased relentlessly, one pursuing, the other fleeing, until they soon plunged into the Illusion Trail Array.

The few Purple-Winged Scorpions vanished the moment they entered the Little Illusion Trail Array; only occasional flashes of magical light and explosions could be heard.

Moments later, a slightly damaged puppet monkey emerged again, moving forward to lure more scorpions…

…

“Not bad—they even know Puppetry?”

Fang Xing watched the scene with great delight.

After all, arrays and puppetry were exceedingly rare.

Of course, these people weren’t array or puppet masters—they’d simply bought the arrays and puppets—but it still showed massive investment!

“Ordinary beasts versus cultivators… at equal strength, cultivators always have the upper hand… after all, they use tools and tactics.”

Fang Xing watched for only a few moments and knew that if this baiting continued, the Purple-Winged Scorpion swarm had no chance—they’d be quietly wiped out.

Gradually, as more and more Purple-Winged Scorpions fell, the mist blanketing the valley thinned considerably.

Faintly visible through the hazy mist was a spiritual lake at the valley’s center.

Along the lake’s edge grew several strange orchids, their entire bodies glowing with luminescence; some had bloomed, releasing a dreamy fragrance—clearly not ordinary plants.

More crucially… beside the Illusion Heart Orchids lay a Purple-Winged Scorpion!

This scorpion was as large as a millstone, its body like a carved piece of purple crystal, its semi-transparent carapace refracting dazzling colors in the sunlight.

At this moment, the “Purple-Winged Scorpion King” sensed something was wrong, flapped its wings, and shot forward like a purple streak, dragging the last few surviving scorpions straight toward the valley entrance!

“Bad! This Purple-Winged Scorpion King is unusual—at least a Rank One Upper-grade beast insect, capable of matching a Qi Condensation late-stage cultivator!”

Inside the Little Illusion Trail Array, Wan Dan, waving a small flag, turned pale at the sight.

“We’re gambling—let it in!” Chen Yi gritted his teeth: “So what if it’s Rank One Upper-grade? In this array, if we combine our strength, we might still win!”

Before he finished speaking, the purple streak had already surged into the Little Illusion Trail Array.

Waves of purple toxic mist instantly bloomed, spreading outward, seemingly corroding the original white mist.

Meng Yi and the other Primordial Martial Artists turned pale, spitting out a mouthful of essence blood as they felt their Primordial Qi draining ten to a hundred times faster than before…

“Now seems like a good opportunity… but the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware the oriole waits behind. I’ll just play the boy…”

Far away in Qinglin Marketplace, Fang Xing watched the group’s violent clash, a strange expression spreading across his face.

Boom!

Minutes later, a flash of fire erupted on the surveillance screen—then the Little Illusion Trail Array exploded violently!

The thick mist cleared, revealing the figures of the Five Brothers of Cangshan and Wan Dan.

Though each looked battered, Hua Feiyue and Shen Yu with bloodstained robes, the millstone-sized Purple-Winged Scorpion King lay dead on the ground.

“A Rank One Upper-grade beast insect—how many Spirit Stones is that worth? Plus the other beast materials and the Illusion Heart Orchids… We’ve hit the jackpot!”

Meng Yi checked his wife’s wounds, pressed several acupoints to stop the bleeding, then glanced at the scattered scorpion corpses—his breathing grew heavy: “After this job, we can rent a stall in the marketplace. We won’t have to risk our lives anymore—we can raise Zi Jin properly…”

“Yes…”

A tender smile appeared on Shen Yu’s pale face.

The next instant, their smiles froze: “Third Brother, you—?”

In their vision, Chen Hongtian’s face twisted into a cruel grin as he swung his iron hammer down with all his might toward his elder brother, Chen Yi!

Ding!

A golden light flashed on Chen Yi’s body, forming the shape of a golden bell.

The black hammer struck the golden bell, sending shockwaves of Primordial Qi that made the bell ring out with a thunderous boom.

“Golden Bell Charm?”

Chen Hongtian, missing his strike, immediately retreated. His hundred-jin hammer whirled so fast it formed a solid black curtain around him: “You were prepared?”

“Third Brother, you’ve been colluding with Wanfenglin!”

Chen Yi’s face was filled with heartbroken betrayal.

“Third Brother, why?” Hua Feiyue, already severely wounded, retreated swiftly, glancing at her confused fourth and fifth siblings, subtly putting more distance between them.

Sudden betrayal—no one could be trusted now!

“Why?”

Chen Hongtian cast a greedy glance at Hua Feiyue and sneered: “Because this old bastard, relying on his cultivator status, always takes the biggest share. Why should he?”

“A wise man knows when to yield. I suggest you surrender peacefully…” Wan Dan wore an air of perfect confidence: “Hua, what do you say?”

“I…” Hua Feiyue’s pale face flushed with sorrow, making her look heartbreakingly fragile.

But before she could speak, a layer of black mist surged over her: “No! You poisoned us? The Anti-Toxin Pills?”

“Hahaha! Correct! The Anti-Toxin Pills!” Wan Dan laughed: “My own special formula—how does it taste?”

He turned to Meng Yi and his wife and saw the two Primordial Martial Artists collapsed on the ground—but then his gaze shifted to Chen Yi, and he froze.

The man looked perfectly healthy, his face flushed, showing no sign of poisoning whatsoever!

He was now drawing several attack talismans, his magical energy surging.

“No!”

He instinctively crushed the talisman in his hand, and a golden light instantly shielded him.

But the next instant!

Roar!

Accompanied by a tiger’s roar, a pitch-black tiger-head greatsword suddenly emerged from the dense forest, slashing out a ten-foot blade of light that slammed into the golden shield.

Wan Dan’s expression changed drastically: “Tiger-Head Sword? The Black Tiger Gang’s standard weapon? You’ve joined the Black Tiger Gang?”

From the forest, a burly man in a black robe, with a ferocious tiger-head embroidery on his chest, stepped forward slowly, a cruel smile on his face: “Master Wan, Black Tiger Gang’s Fu Qing greets you. Why have you refused our offer to make you a guest master?”

Seeing this, Chen Hongtian realized his situation was dire—sweat poured down his forehead.

Fu Qing stood precisely at the valley entrance, blocking all escape!

Moreover, the man was a late-stage Qi Condensation expert—though not as powerful as the four founding elders of the Black Tiger Gang who had reached Qi Condensation peak, he was still formidable!

“Cough, cough… I was just considering it. Now I think… becoming a guest master of the Black Tiger Gang is a fine idea…”

Wan Dan coughed, then suddenly raised his hand.

Two dark, pill-like beads shot toward them.

“That… is Dantui?”

Fu Qing’s eye twitched as one of the pills suddenly exploded; violet-red lightning and flame struck the Tiger Head Great Knife at once, blasting the artifact away with a mournful cry.

He sensed danger and immediately spun around, slapping his waist again—a black, tortoise-shell-shaped shield emerged and firmly blocked before him.

……

“Huh? Finally started fighting.”

In the monitoring room, Fang Xing’s eyes lit up: “Then it’s my turn…”