Chapter 109: Incident

The Jin Shan Market in the north of Pingyang County is much like the Qinghe Market in Qinghe County; it is a market jointly established by the seven Foundation Establishment families of Pingyang County and the distant Xiaoyao Sect.

Over a decade ago, Song Qingming, who was then stationed at Lingyuan Mountain, was assigned by the family to participate in a Liu family mercenary mission. He had passed through this area while heading toward the Fuyun Mountain Range, but since their destination was the mountain range itself, they did not enter the Jin Shan Market at that time.

The area controlled by Pingyang County is slightly larger than that of Qinghe County to the south, and its geographical location is closer to the Fuyun Mountain Range. Its cultivation resources are also much richer than those of Qinghe County. Consequently, there are more cultivators active within its borders—roughly more than double that of Qinghe County. Even though some cultivators have temporarily left due to the impending beast unrest, the number of cultivators here is still far greater than in Qinghe County.

The entire Pingyang County is controlled by seven Foundation Establishment families led by the Cao family, with a total of sixteen Foundation Establishment cultivators. At this moment, due to the beast attack, the majority of cultivators in Pingyang County have gathered at the Jin Shan Market. In addition, there are some cultivators sent by the Xiaoyao Sect assisting in the defense of the Jin Shan Market's defensive line, including three Foundation Establishment cultivators and over a hundred Qi Refining cultivators.

In the past, every time there was beast unrest in the Northern Frontier, the first to bear the brunt was always the Guiyun Market, which was closer to the Fuyun Mountain Range. With its flat terrain, it was the largest battlefield of the entire beast unrest, and seventy percent of the beasts heading south into the Wei Guo would go in that direction.

Although smaller markets like the Jin Shan Market would also suffer from the impact of some beasts that bypassed the Guiyun Market, they were generally only low-intelligence first-tier or second-tier beasts. In the last few hundred years, they had not encountered any beasts above the third tier. Therefore, the Xiaoyao Sect is not currently very concerned about the defense here, having left it entirely to the cultivators of the several counties under Jiangling Commandery nearby.

The entire Wei Guo is divided into five commanderies. Among them, Jiangling Commandery is located in the northeast, including four counties: Qinghe, Pingyang, Liuyang, and Jiangling, with a total of several thousand cultivators.

Among the four counties, Pingyang County has the strongest overall strength, with seven Foundation Establishment families and sixteen Foundation Establishment cultivators. Jiangling County's strength is second, with five major Foundation Establishment families and nine Foundation Establishment cultivators. The remaining Qinghe County and Liuyang County have similar strength, with only five or six Foundation Establishment cultivators combined within their borders.

The Jin Shan Market is not only a barrier for Pingyang County but also the first line of defense for the entire Jiangling Commandery. It is their main battlefield for defending against this beast unrest. Upon receiving the orders issued by the Xiaoyao Sect, the Foundation Establishment families of the other three counties in Jiangling Commandery have already organized cultivators to rush to the Jin Shan Market for support.

The more than three hundred cultivators from Qinghe County, led by several Foundation Establishment cultivators, walked north for several days and have already entered the territory of Pingyang County.

In Qinghe County, the Gao family and the Huang family often have friction over various cultivation resources, and the cultivators and affiliated Qi Refining families beneath them also have many poor relations. When the cultivators of the two families first converged, Song Qingming saw several cultivators from the Gao family side staring at the Huang family side with red eyes.

However, now that they are facing the major matter of resisting the beast invasion, the Huang and Gao families have tacitly issued strict orders to the cultivators below early on: no one is allowed to stir up trouble during the beast unrest. For the past few days on the road, the cultivators of the two families have appeared quite harmonious on the surface.

Although the Gao family only has one Foundation Establishment cultivator, Gao Jinhe, they still have some good connections within the Xiaoyao Sect. Over the years, although they have been suppressed by the Huang family in Qinghe County, they have remained firmly in the position of the second-largest cultivation family in Qinghe County.

Song Qingming has some history with the Gao family. Gao Yuyao, who exchanged elixirs with him back then, is a direct descendant of the Gao family. She would occasionally return to the Gao family in Qinghe County. Song Qingming even saw Gao Yuyao once in the Qinghe Market a few years ago.

It was just that at the time, Gao Yuyao was accompanied by several Gao family cultivators. Fearing unnecessary trouble, he only greeted her from afar and did not manage to meet her.

Later, Song Qingming also inquired about Gao Yuyao from the side in the market, only to learn that she had returned to the Xiaoyao Sect to go into seclusion to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm. He did not know if she had succeeded.

When Song Qingming first dealt with Gao Yuyao at Pinglu Mountain, the elixirs Gao Yuyao traded with him saved him a lot of trouble. Although they were only taking what they needed from each other, Song Qingming had always had a good impression of her in his heart.

It was not until he met her again in the Fuyun Mountain Range later that Song Qingming realized the gap in their status and position. At Gao Yuyao's suggestion, the two became friends, and there was not much interaction afterward.

The group had been in Pingyang County for less than a day when they discovered something strange: along the way, they saw many cultivators fleeing toward the rear in Qinghe County.

After a Huang family cultivator received an order and stopped an elderly rogue cultivator to ask, the group learned a shocking piece of news: the Jin Shan Market, their destination for support, had been breached by beasts one day ago.

Upon hearing this news, the Qinghe County cultivators immediately fell into a panic, not daring to move forward. Many cultivators even suggested returning to Qinghe County immediately.

Finally, forced by necessity, the two Foundation Establishment cultivators, Huang Shengxin and Gao Jinhe, personally set out, heading in two different directions to the nearby Foundation Establishment families of Pingyang County to inquire, only then learning the specific situation in Pingyang County now.

Yesterday, just as the cultivators from Qinghe County reached the border with Pingyang County, a major incident unexpectedly occurred at the Jin Shan Market. The three Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding the Jin Shan Market, while out chasing a Foundation Establishment beast, were trapped along with over a dozen Qi Refining cultivators in a valley a hundred miles outside the Jin Shan Market.

Since the beast unrest began over ten days ago, the beasts that had come to attack the Jin Shan Market had only appeared for four or five days. They were only some weaker first-tier beasts, and the scale of the beasts was not large, with about a few dozen at a time, and at most no more than a hundred.

And their opponent, the Jin Shan Market, had seven or eight hundred Qi Refining cultivators alone, including over a dozen Foundation Establishment cultivators. Without even needing the Foundation Establishment cultivators to take action, the Jin Shan Market cultivators easily repelled the beasts' attacks four or five times, obtaining many beast materials. This slowly caused the Pingyang County cultivators guarding this place to become contemptuous, feeling that this beast unrest was not as terrifying as rumored.

Unexpectedly, this morning, among the dozens of first-tier beasts that came to attack the market, a second-tier low-quality One-Eyed Eagle unexpectedly mixed in. Several Foundation Establishment cultivators on duty took action and easily defeated this beast. Just when they wanted to kill this beast, they did not expect that although this One-Eyed Eagle's strength was not strong, its innate escape speed was extremely fast, and it luckily escaped.

Seeing the duck that had just reached their mouths about to fly away, the three people led by Zhao Mengzhen in the Jin Shan Market were naturally somewhat displeased. After calculating with each other, they took the Qi Refining cultivators below and chased after it.

They did not expect that just as they chased to a place called Huangling Valley a hundred miles away, several second-tier beasts suddenly appeared behind them, blocking their way back to the Jin Shan Market. Only the Qi Refining cultivators running at the back were not entangled by the beasts and managed to escape back to the Jin Shan Market to report the news.

After learning this news, the dozen or so Foundation Establishment cultivators guarding the Jin Shan Market discussed it and immediately mobilized the cultivator army to go for rescue.

It was just that they did not expect that just as their main defensive force arrived at Huangling Valley to rescue the trapped Zhao Mengzhen and others, a highly urgent sound transmission suddenly came from the Jin Shan Market: the market had suddenly encountered a large-scale beast attack, ordering them to return for defense immediately.

By the time they returned to the outside of the Jin Shan Market, they discovered that the market's great formation had already been breached by the beasts. Except for a small number of cultivators who escaped, the several Foundation Establishment cultivators and two hundred Qi Refining cultivators who remained in the market to defend were almost completely wiped out.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 110 =====