Chapter 25: Encountering Danger

The people not far away saw the white mist in the array suddenly dissipate and were also surprised. It was only after seeing that the person who walked out was Song Qingming that they breathed a sigh of relief.

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

"I didn't see you from a distance when I came just now, and thought you had left this place alone. I didn't expect you to be hiding in this array. My younger sister doesn't understand the array and offended you, please don't blame me."

The green-clothed girl saw the mist dissipate and realized that she had fallen into the array set up by Song Qingming. 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 words of complaint suddenly appeared in her mouth:

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

"Sorry... Sorry."

Seeing that this woman was a bit angry, Song Qingming smiled and didn't explain, bowed his head sincerely and apologized for a while, before coaxing the woman to calm down.

"My younger sister has been unruly since she was a child, please bear with her more. Seeing that you set up the array so exquisitely, are you an array master?" The middle-aged Confucian scholar saw that Song Qingming's array had some doorways and continued to ask.

"I am indeed a low-grade array master, but I am still shallow in my introduction. What I learned are all shallow arrays, which made you fellow Daoists laugh." Song Qingming said and arched his hands modestly.

"I see that your array level is indeed shallow. If you untie it a little later, I will dismantle your broken array."

The green-clothed girl seemed to be still unforgiving, which led to a burst of laughter from everyone present.

"I am Shi Chun, this is my junior sister Yuniang, I don't know how to call you yet."

"Song San."

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

The weather is late autumn, and fallen leaves are drifting everywhere in the Fuyun Mountain Range.

Song Qingming followed this team of cultivators and walked east for a day, then turned to the 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 getting Liu Tianlong's storage bag, Song Qingming also changed his original idea and decided not to rush back to Qinghe County. He happened to follow this group of rogue cultivators to Guiyun Market, which happened to be a good way to deal with some magic tools, elixirs, and other items.

Guiyun Market can be considered the largest market in the northern part of the Wei Kingdom and is also a gathering place for many rogue cultivators in the Wei Kingdom. After asking a few people, more than 10,000 rogue cultivators enter the Fuyun Mountain Range from Guiyun Market every year. In a place where hundreds or thousands of cultivators enter and exit every day, it is difficult for others to find the origin of a strange Qi Refining cultivator selling some low-grade magic tools and spirit objects, which is very suitable for him now.

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

The green-clothed girl was named Qin Yuniang. She and Shi Chun were junior brother and sister. Both of them were disciples of an old rogue cultivator by coincidence before they embarked on the path of immortal cultivation. It's just that after their master accepted Qin Yuniang as a disciple, he passed away after a few years. 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 Kingdom 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. He was originally a person with infinite 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 Kingdom because they participated in the struggle between the two major sects of the Zheng Kingdom. The entire clan of more than a hundred cultivators had less than a dozen survivors. Zhang Tieshan happened to be traveling outside at the time. After getting the news, he fled directly to the Wei Kingdom and became a rogue cultivator. Without the cultivation resources provided by the family, his cultivation could only stay in place 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 also congenial, so they have been taking care of each other and often entered the Fuyun Mountain Range together to hunt demon 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 fifth-layer Qi Refining cultivation, and the other was named Zhang Baiyun, who always hung a wine gourd at his waist. He was also the oldest person among the crowd, already over seventy years old, with sixth-layer Qi Refining cultivation.

Among the few, Shi Chun and his junior sister were more talkative, and they kept chatting with Song Qingming along the way. Zhang Tieshan might be because of the change in the family, usually appearing a bit silent. Wu Tianmu's words were also few, only occasionally urging everyone to walk faster, seemingly wanting to return to Guiyun Market early to sell the demon beast materials obtained.

This old drunkard Zhang Baishan, wine never left his hand along the way, and his mouth was always muttering to himself. He often pretended to be unfathomable, and the drunk words he said made everyone laugh again.

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

Song Qingming was very surprised when he heard it. 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 detect the movement of demon beasts further away.

Sure enough, not long after, a high-grade gray demon wolf, leading seven or eight mid-to-low-grade demon wolves, surrounded the crowd. Everyone hurriedly sacrificed their magic tools and skillfully formed a circle.

"This is a Wind Wolf beast, which can use wind blade spells. Everyone don't be afraid. There are not many of these Wind Wolf beasts, we can block them. Tieshan, hold that high-grade one first, and leave the rest of the Wind Wolves to us. This demon wolf has extremely fast body speed. 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 recognized the origin of the demon beast instantly and told everyone how to deal with it, which gave the crowd who were just a bit panicked the confidence to fight.

First, Zhang Tieshan roared, used a giant sword to block the high-grade Wind Wolf beast in the lead, and the man and the beast soon fought together.

Then Song Qingming and Wu Tianmu took the lead in attacking, each releasing an Earth Wall Spell to block the remaining mid-to-low-grade Wind Wolves in front of the crowd. The few 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 Baishan, and Song Qingming each chose a mid-tier Wind Wolf, and the remaining five low-tier Wind Wolves were handed over to Shi Chun and his junior sister. Everyone faced the demon beasts, and the battlefield was instantly divided into five groups.

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

The high-grade Wind Wolf beast's magic power and magical powers were both more powerful than Zhang Tieshan's, and it had already gained the upper hand. The few wind blades released from time to time also made Zhang Tieshan somewhat flustered. However, it was not easy for the demon wolf to defeat him in a short time. Zhang Tieshan was somewhat embarrassed at this time, but he could still do it if he was determined to hold the high-grade Wind Wolf beast.

The mid-tier Wind Wolves that Wu Tianmu and Zhang Baishan faced were not bad either. Although the battle started without hiding secrets, and both of them used their housekeeping skills, these two demon beasts were also not easy to deal with, and they could only maintain a balance on the battlefield for the time being.

Only the mid-tier Wind Wolf beast that Song Qingming faced had slightly worse strength, and it seemed that it had not been long since it broke through to the mid-tier. Song Qingming's cultivation and magic power were much higher than it. As long as he fought steadily, defeating the opponent was only a matter of time.

Shi Chun and his junior sister were also slightly dominant here. After the few Wind Wolves started to attack, they were beheaded by the two of them together, and then they formed a group and could not help them at all, but were beaten back by the perfect cooperation of the two.

Compared with Song Qingming, Shi Chun and the two had a greater advantage and were more hopeful to open the situation quickly.

In this life-or-death struggle, the strength of the two sides was not far apart; it would depend on whether Zhang Tieyang could hold off that high-level Wind Wolf beast, and wait for Song Qingming or the siblings Shi Chun to finish off their opponents first, breaking the stalemate of this battle.

(End of chapter)