Chapter 25: Encountering Danger

The crowd not far away saw the white mist in the formation suddenly recede, and they were also surprised. Only when they saw that the person who walked out was Song Qingming did they breathe a sigh of relief.

The middle-aged Confucian scholar who had agreed to wait here with Song Qingming yesterday walked up, arched his hands, and opened his mouth to say:

"I didn't see Fellow Daoist from afar when I came just now, and I thought your excellency had already left this place alone. I didn't expect Fellow Daoist to hide in this formation. My little sister doesn't understand formations and offended Fellow Daoist, please don't take offense."

The green-clothed woman saw the mist dissipate, only then did she understand that she had fallen into the formation set up by Song Qingming just now. Hearing the middle-aged Confucian scholar being so polite to Song Qingming, and thinking that this person had made her so embarrassed just now, a few complaints suddenly came out of her mouth:

"Why did this person set up such a formation at this intersection for no reason, causing me to be trapped for no reason? I thought I had fallen into some restriction trap, but now it's my fault instead."

"Sorry... sorry."

Seeing that this woman was a bit angry, Song Qingming smiled and did not explain, sincerely lowered his head and apologized, only then did he coax the woman to calm down.

"My little sister has been unruly since she was a child, so please bear with her more, Fellow Daoist. Seeing that Fellow Daoist's formation setting is so exquisite, are you a formation master?" The middle-aged Confucian scholar saw that Song Qingming's formation had some ways, and continued to ask.

"I am indeed a low-tier formation master, but I am still shallow in my introduction, and what I have learned are all superficial formations, making the fellow Daoists laugh." After Song Qingming finished speaking, he arched his hands modestly.

"I see that your formation level is indeed superficial. If you had untied it a little later, I would have dismantled your broken formation."

The green-clothed woman seemed to be still a bit unrelenting, which led to a burst of laughter from the crowd present.

"I am Shi Chun, this is my junior sister Yuniang, I still don't know how to address Fellow Daoist."

"Song San."

Next, the others also stepped forward to introduce each other, and Song Qingming gradually became familiar with everyone.

The weather had reached late autumn, and fallen leaves were drifting everywhere in the Fuyun Mountain Range.

Song Qingming followed this team of cultivators and walked east for a day, then turned southeast and walked for two more days. Along the way, they also encountered several teams of cultivators on the road, and everyone was getting closer and closer to Guiyun Market in the south of the Fuyun Mountain Range.

After obtaining Liu Tianlong's storage bag, Song Qingming also changed his original idea and decided not to rush back to Qinghe County first. He just happened to follow this group of rogue cultivators to Guiyuan Market, which just happened to be able to handle some items such as magic tools and elixirs along the way.

Guiyun Market can be considered the largest market in the north of the Wei State and is also the gathering place for many rogue cultivators in the Wei State. After asking a few people, every day there are no less than ten thousand rogue cultivators entering the Fuyun Mountain Range in Guiyun Market. In such a place where hundreds or thousands of cultivators enter and exit every day, a strange energy refining cultivator selling some low-tier magic tools and spirit items is very difficult for others to find the origin, which is very suitable for him now.

Along the way, Song Qingming also gradually became familiar with these few people. The middle-aged Confucian scholar leading the team was named Shi Chun. Although his cultivation was not high, his monster-hunting experience was very rich, and he was also the backbone of these few people, often organizing some fellow rogue cultivators to enter the Fuyun Mountain Range to hunt monster beasts.

The green-clothed woman was named Qin Yuniang. She and Shi Chun were junior sister and senior brother. Both of them were disciples of an old rogue Daoist by coincidence before they embarked on the path of immortal cultivation. It was just that their master passed away after only a few years of accepting Qin Yuniang as a disciple. The person who guided Qin Yuniang's cultivation over the years was her senior brother Shi Chun.

The burly man with the highest cultivation was named Zhang Tieshan. He was originally a Foundation Establishment family cultivator in the Zheng State and could be considered a cultivator born in a big family. He broke through to the late stage of Qi Refining at the age of only thirty and was originally a person with unlimited future and hope for Foundation Establishment.

Unexpectedly, more than ten years ago, Zhang Tieshan's family was destroyed by the two major sects of the Zheng State, and all more than a hundred cultivators in the family had less than a dozen survivors. Zhang Tieshan happened to be traveling outside at that time. After getting the news, he fled directly to the Wei State and became a rogue cultivator. Losing the cultivation resources provided by the family, his cultivation had only been standing still for more than ten years.

A few years ago, Zhang Tieshan drifted to Guiyun Market and met the rogue cultivator Shi Chun and his junior sister. The three of them were considered to be congenial and had been taking care of each other, often entering the Fuyun Mountain Range together to hunt monster beasts.

The other two were rogue cultivators who had been mixing in the Fuyun Mountain Range all year round. One was named Wu Tianmu, with a cultivation base of the fifth layer of energy refining, and the other was named Zhang Bai Yun, who always hung a wine gourd at his waist and was also the oldest among the crowd, already over seventy years old, with a cultivation base of the sixth layer of energy refining.

Among the crowd, Shi Chun and his junior sister were more talkative, chatting with Song Qingming all the way. Zhang Tieshan might be because he had experienced the change of the family, and usually appeared a bit taciturn. Wu Tianmu's words were also not many, just occasionally urging everyone to hurry up, seemingly wanting to return to Guiyun Market early to sell the monster beast materials they obtained.

This old drunkard Zhang Baishan, wine never left his hand all the way, and he was always muttering to himself, often pretending to be unfathomable, and the drunken words he said made the crowd laugh again.

In the afternoon, when the crowd passed through a forest, Zhang Tieshan, who had always been silent, suddenly shouted at the crowd: "Everyone be careful, there seems to be some monster beast following us behind."

Song Qingming was very surprised when he heard this. He didn't notice anything at all. After thinking about it, late-stage Qi Refining cultivators can generally release their spiritual sense. It is very reasonable for Zhang Tieshan to be able to detect the movement of monster beasts further away.

Sure enough, not long after, a high-tier gray monster wolf, leading seven or eight mid-to-low-tier monster wolves, surrounded the crowd. Seeing this, the crowd hurriedly sacrificed magic tools and skillfully formed a circle.

"This is a Wind Wolf beast, capable of using wind blade spells. Everyone don't be afraid. The number of these Wind Wolf beasts is not large, we can block them. Tieshan, first drag that high-tier one, the rest of the Wind Wolves are left to us. This monster wolf's body speed is extremely fast, everyone stay close together and don't be attacked alone. Using fire and earth spells to attack will get twice the result with half the effort."

Shi Chun is worthy of being a person who has been mixing in the Fuyun Mountain Range all year round. He instantly recognized the origin of the monster beast and informed everyone how to deal with it, which gave the crowd who were just a bit panicked the confidence to fight.

First, Zhang Tieshan gave a loud shout, used a giant sword to block in front of the high-tier monster wolf in the lead, and the man and the beast soon fought together.

Afterward, Song Qingming and Wu Tianmu took action first, each releasing an Earth Wall Spell, blocking the remaining mid-to-low-tier monster wolves in front of the crowd. The several earth walls created also greatly delayed the speed of this group of Wind Wolves when they attacked.

Among the remaining eight Wind Wolves, only three were mid-tier, and the other five were low-tier. Wu Tianmu, Zhang Bai Yun, and Song Qingming each chose a mid-tier Wind Wolf, and the remaining five low-tier Wind Wolves were left to Shi Chun and his junior sister. Everyone faced the monster beasts, and the battlefield was instantly divided into five groups.

The most powerful among this group of monster beasts is the high-tier Wind Wolf beast that Zhang Tieshan faced, whose cultivation has reached the peak of the Qi Refining stage. Among the people present, no one has the certainty to defeat this monster beast alone.

The high-tier Wind Wolf beast's magic power and magic powers are both more powerful than Zhang Tieshan's, and it has already gained the upper hand. The few wind blades released from time to time also made Zhang Tieshan a bit flustered, but it was not easy for the monster wolf to defeat him in a short time. Zhang Tieshan, although a bit embarrassed at this time, was still able to drag this high-tier Wind Wolf beast.

The mid-tier Wind Wolves faced by Wu Tianmu and Zhang Bai Yun were also not easy to deal with. Although both of them did not hide their secrets at the beginning of the battle and used their housekeeping skills, these two monster wolves were also not easy to deal with, and they could only maintain a stalemate on the battlefield for the time being.

Only the mid-tier Wind Wolf beast faced by Song Qingming had slightly worse strength, seemingly not having broken through to the mid-tier for long. Song Qingming's cultivation and magic power were far higher than it. As long as he fought steadily, defeating the opponent was only a matter of time.

On the side of Shi Chun and his junior sister, they also had a slight upper hand. A few Wind Wolves were beheaded by the two of them working together as soon as they attacked. Afterward, they formed a group and could not do anything to the two of them at all. Instead, they were beaten back repeatedly by the perfect cooperation of the two.

Compared with Song Qingming's side, Shi Chun and the two had a greater advantage and had more hope of opening the situation first.

In this life-and-death battle, the strength of the two sides is not much different, which is to see if Zhang Tieshan can block that high-tier Wind Wolf beast, and wait for Song Qingming or Shi Chun and his junior sister to solve their opponents first and break the stalemate of this battle.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 26 =====