Chapter 2

Just as Song Qingming was deep in thought, a ripple of spiritual energy suddenly emanated from the protective barrier he had set up at the entrance of his cave dwelling.

Calming his mind, Song Qingming quickly gathered all the spirit stones from the table, carefully hid the bag inside a wall of the cave, and after confirming one last time that the hidden location was secure and nothing was amiss, he stood up and walked out of the cave.

Just as he stepped out of the entrance, he saw a person standing not far away who was much taller and broader than him, wearing a blue long robe similar to his own, with a square-shaped face.

Song Qingming was quite pleased to see this person and said, "Fourth Brother, coming to find me so early—are you planning to head down the mountain again?"

"Old Seven, how are you so sure it's a good thing? Aren't you afraid it's Third Uncle again, looking for you to help him draw up magic arrays?"

The person speaking with Song Qingming was the fourth-ranked among the Song family's "Qing" generation of cultivators, named Song Qingrui, whose cultivation base was slightly higher than Song Qingming's, already at the fourth level of Qi Refining.

"I just went there a few days ago; I don't think I'll be needed again today," Song Qingming replied with some embarrassment.

The "Third Uncle" mentioned by Fourth Brother Song Qingrui was also the Great Elder of the Song family. Because Song Qingming was studying the Dao of arrays, the Elder loved to grab him to help draw small auxiliary spells on the magic robes he crafted.

Although Song Qingming had some talent in the Dao of arrays, he had only just begun, and his skill was barely sufficient, which often led to him being scolded until his face turned red by the short-tempered Third Uncle.

Song Qingrui smiled and didn't dwell on it, stating his purpose for coming directly.

"Thirteenth Uncle said we're going to roast snakes at Green Bamboo Mountain today. Big Brother is already there, waiting for us."

"Alright, Fourth Brother, wait for me to pack my magic tools, and I'll head down the mountain with you."

——

Located in the northeast corner of Qinghe County is a large green mountain stretching for dozens of miles, named Green Bamboo Mountain. The mountain is covered in patches of emerald green bamboo, resembling a sea of bamboo.

At the foot of Green Bamboo Mountain, in a dense forest, there was an open space that had just been cleared by magic tools. Three cultivators were nervously hiding in a pile of dense weeds nearby, occasionally poking their heads out, anxiously staring at a small path leading up the mountain in front of them.

"Big Brother, do you think Thirteenth Uncle will be alright? Why has it been so long and he still hasn't returned? Should we go and support him?"

A young man among the three asked the slightly older, leading young man in the middle with some anxiety.

"Don't talk nonsense. Thirteenth Uncle is, after all, a sixth-level Qi Refining cultivator. As long as he doesn't go deep into the territory of those high-level demon beasts inside Green Bamboo Mountain, how could the beasts at the foot of the mountain possibly keep him?"

"There are relatively few demon beasts in this area; he probably just hasn't found suitable prey yet. Let's not go out first; if we startle the beasts, all our hard work will be for nothing," the slightly older young man whispered a reprimand to the youth.

This man was named Song Qingshi, a fourth-generation cultivator of the Song family from the nearby Mount Funiu, with a fifth-level Qi Refining cultivation base. The two youths behind him were Song Qingrui and Song Qingming, who had come down the mountain together.

The cultivator Song Qingshi mentioned who had gone to lure the beasts was Song Changxiong, the thirteenth in the third "Chang" generation of the Song family. He was already at the sixth level of Qi Refining and had often taken these nephews of the "Qing" generation out to hunt demons in recent years.

Song Qingshi looked at the open ground not far away, feeling a trace of worry in his heart, but then he thought that having hunted demon beasts with Thirteenth Uncle for so many years, Thirteenth Uncle's experience in luring enemies was already extremely rich.

Furthermore, his defensive cultivation technique was tough and thick-skinned, and he carried a mid-level defensive magic treasure for protection, so he figured there shouldn't be any major problems.

Song Qingshi silently took a breath and exhaled slowly, calming the nervousness in his heart.

After another few quarters of an hour, a sound suddenly came from the bamboo forest at the end of the path, and a burly man rushed out—it was Song Changxiong.

Only, at this moment, he looked somewhat disheveled, covered in green bamboo leaves, his clothes torn in several places, and even a section of his right sleeve was missing.

Song Changxiong took a few steps left and right, jumped onto the path, and ran straight toward the hiding place of the three people at the foot of the mountain without looking back. While running, he shouted loudly:

"Hurry up and prepare to activate the array! Damn it, there are quite a few coming this time."

The three people hiding in the grass breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Song Changxiong was safe and sound. Song Qingshi, hearing the voice from Song Changxiong, quickly turned and gave instructions to the two behind him.

"Prepare to activate the array. It's estimated there are mid-level demon beasts this time; everyone be careful."

Not until Song Changxiong ran close to them did the three hear a "hissing" sound coming from behind him. Seven or eight large green snakes were in hot pursuit. The two snakes in the lead were a size larger than the others and had long, thin white stripes on their bodies, looking quite ferocious.

"There are two mid-level Green Bamboo Pythons; this is a bit tricky. You two be sharp later. If the array can't trap the beasts, retreat immediately and scatter to escape."

"Don't worry, Big Brother, we know what to do." The two nodded repeatedly upon hearing this; clearly, this was not the first time they had heard such cautious words from Song Qingshi.

Just as Song Qingshi finished speaking, Song Changxiong had already run to the open ground a few feet in front of the three, then turned and immediately stopped, releasing a large silver saber to hold horizontally in front of him. The two leading mid-level Green Bamboo Pythons behind him were not slow either, catching up in an instant, opening their giant mouths to pounce on Song Changxiong.

The two Green Bamboo Pythons went left and right, aiming their giant mouths at Song Changxiong's neck and thigh, respectively.

Seeing this, Song Changxiong quickly made a response. He first turned his body to dodge the venom sprayed at his neck from the left, while simultaneously slashing his large ring-saber at the giant python pouncing on his thigh, forcing the python that was about to succeed to change its direction of attack.

Unexpectedly, the giant python did not retreat immediately upon seeing the large saber slash down; its large green head just slightly retracted, and it opened its mouth to spray a stream of venom.

With a loud "bang," although Song Changxiong managed to slash the Green Bamboo Python with all his might, it didn't cause much damage. While turning to dodge the venom, he was swept in the waist by the tail of the other Green Bamboo Python that had just missed its pounce, causing him to retreat dozens of steps before barely stabilizing his figure.

With several more loud "bangs," the man and the two snakes clashed fiercely several more times. Song Changxiong, facing two mid-level demon beasts alone, gradually fell into a disadvantage, and several wounds appeared on his body.

At this time, the other five or six low-level Green Bamboo Pythons had also arrived. On that open ground, seven or eight Green Bamboo Pythons surrounded Song Changxiong. Song Changxiong's state at this moment was also somewhat precarious; his outer garment was already tattered, revealing a black soft armor underneath.

Just at this moment, three red fire walls suddenly rose from the open ground, connecting into a triangular shape, instantly surrounding Song Changxiong and the seven or eight Green Bamboo Pythons within the fire walls. It was the "Blazing Flame Array" that Song Qingming and the other two had been waiting for a long time to activate, having set it up here earlier.

Seeing this, Song Changxiong was overjoyed. He raised his large saber and swung it forward with force to force back the low-level Green Bamboo Pythons, then quickly sacrificed a fire-avoidance talisman, stuck it to his chest, and turned to pass through the fire wall behind him to the outside.

Outside the fire wall, three red array flags were inserted into the ground, with a white array disk dancing above. The three fire walls connected by the array disk were emitting raging flames. Song Qingshi and the other three were each sitting cross-legged behind the red array flags, injecting their own spiritual energy into them.

Green Bamboo Pythons are naturally afraid of fire, and this Blazing Flame Array was the sharp weapon for dealing with them. The erected fire walls could easily block even the venom sprayed by the two mid-level demon pythons. The four of them had used this array many times in the past to hunt demon beasts here, and now they were extremely proficient in driving the array.

"I'll recover my spiritual power first; you guys hold on for a moment," Song Changxiong said to Song Qingshi and the others after jumping out of the fire wall. He walked to the side, took out a few elixirs, stuffed them into his mouth, and sat down cross-legged, circulating his energy to slowly dissolve the medicinal power.

Seeing this, the three just nodded and didn't distract themselves with him, only continuously increasing the intensity of driving the array. The Blazing Flame Array's fire suddenly surged. The low-level demon beasts inside the fire wall, seeing this situation, were somewhat panicked and retreated repeatedly.

The two mid-level demon beasts, seeing this situation, let out a few hissing roars at their low-level peers behind them. The low-level Green Bamboo Pythons were frightened and immediately steadied their figures. Driven by the two mid-level demon beasts, they all sprang up and crashed into the fire walls, only to be bounced back by the powerful force of the fire walls, with patches of burn marks appearing on their bodies.

Although low-level demon beasts cannot yet drive spiritual energy, their physical fitness is several times that of ordinary beasts. The constant collisions also consumed a lot of the array's spiritual energy.

Song Qingshi and the other three, seeing this, all exerted their spiritual energy, driving a small red array flag in their hands. Three fire dragons suddenly flew out from the fire walls and pounced on the leaping demon beasts. For a time, the fire dragons and the demon beasts fought into a ball.

Although there were many demon beasts, one of the three fire dragons was beaten and dissipated after a while. However, the fire dragons were formed by absorbing the spiritual energy of the array; as long as there was a stable injection of spiritual energy, they could recover.

Half an hour passed slowly. Most of the low-level demon beasts in the Blazing Flame Array had been killed by the fire dragons, and the remaining ones had also lost their fighting ability. Only the two mid-level Green Bamboo Pythons, although they had some injuries on their bodies, did not affect their fighting ability much and were still struggling fiercely with the three fire dragons.

At this time, Song Qingshi, who had the highest cultivation among the three, was already covered in sweat on his forehead, and the speed of inputting spiritual energy into the array had slowed down significantly. On the other two sides, Song Qingming and Song Qingshi had lower cultivation bases, and at this moment, the two looked as if they had little spiritual energy left in their bodies, already gritting their teeth and struggling to hold on.

Song Qingming's cultivation was only at the third level of Qi Refining. At this moment, the luster of the fire wall in front of him had become very dim. The two demon beasts, seeing this, attacked his side desperately. Song Qingming was backlashed by the array, and a trace of blood immediately overflowed from his mouth. His face was already pale as paper, and his spirit was somewhat withered.

Just at this moment, a thick, large hand supported his back. Song Qingming immediately felt a surge of thick spiritual energy pouring into his body, and the crumbling fire wall in front of him also quickly restored its original brightness.

Song Qingming was pleasantly surprised, "Thirteenth Uncle, if you hadn't come, I'm afraid I would have fallen first."

"That won't do. If we let them out, all our hard work will be for nothing. Later, let me in, and you guys continue to drive the array with all your might to help me kill these two beasts."

(End of chapter)