Chapter 56: Battling the Demonic Cultivator

Rogue cultivators heading into the Floating Cloud Mountains to hunt demon beasts generally choose to first visit the Demon Hunting List at Guiyun Market to accept a mission. Only after selecting a target and making preparations do they set out.

The various bounty missions for demon beasts they accept are all pre-investigated, summarized, and released by the Flying Cloud Guards, such as Song Qingming.

In the unknown areas that the Flying Cloud Guards have yet to explore, the demon beasts there have not been posted to the Demon Hunting List; naturally, no one would accept a mission to hunt them and make a special trip to such places.

The Flying Cloud Guards are Golden Core cultivators from the Xiaoyao Sect stationed at Guiyun Market, established with great effort to better deal with the demon beasts in the Floating Cloud Mountains.

Over the past several hundred years, although the region of the Floating Cloud Mountains adjacent to the State of Wei spans tens of thousands of miles, it has long been explored several times by the Flying Cloud Guards.

However, after the Flying Cloud Guards explore an area, they wait at least a century before re-exploring it.

During this century, the demon beasts on the hunting list are gradually killed by the cultivators who accept the missions, and new demon beasts slowly migrate into the area.

After a few decades, the demon beasts in an area have basically been replaced. Without demon beast missions on the hunting list, no cultivators will make a special trip to hunt there.

This area will slowly turn into a new unknown region until the Flying Cloud Guards re-explore it a hundred years later, at which point cultivators will gradually begin to arrive again.

Yang Wuqi’s group of demonic cultivators had taken advantage of this loophole, hiding in an unknown region. For several years, they had successfully evaded several waves of cultivators sent by Guiyun Market to search for their tracks.

It wasn't until half a month ago that Lu Yunfei and his team of Flying Cloud Guards happened to be assigned the mission to explore this area and arrived here.

The Flying Cloud Guard previously killed by Yang Wuqi was named Luo Ping. He had been with the Flying Cloud Guards for several years and had never encountered any major issues during his missions, making him a relatively seasoned cultivator.

He was simply unlucky this time; the area assigned to him for exploration happened to be near Yang Wuqi’s cave dwelling.

Having previously known that a Foundation Establishment cultivator had swept through the skies, and receiving intelligence that there were few Level 2 demon beasts in this area, he had thought it would be a relatively safe unknown region. He never expected a group of demonic cultivators to be hiding in these deep mountains.

Unaware of the situation, Luo Ping had blundered in blindly. When he discovered Yang Wuqi’s group of demonic cultivators, he intended to hide in place and wait for them to finish their ritualistic refining and leave before quietly returning to report. He did not expect that a high-level Foundation Establishment demonic cultivator was hidden among them.

Although he had been cautious, he unfortunately encountered Yang Wuqi, whose cultivation far exceeded his own. He inadvertently exposed his tracks and lost his life.

The exploration of areas by the Flying Cloud Guards is generally conducted in secret. Yang Wuqi’s group of demonic cultivators was unaware of this. After Gu Liangshan and the others discovered that the Flame Rat had been killed, they were somewhat suspicious but assumed it was the work of a nearby hunting team. They had no idea that a large number of Flying Cloud Guards had already arrived near their cave dwelling.

It was only after killing Luo Ping that the cautious Yang Wuqi felt a faint sense of unease. If this person who suddenly intruded was indeed a Flying Cloud Guard from Guiyun Market, their cave dwelling would certainly be exposed sooner or later.

Having lurked in the State of Wei for many years, Yang Wuqi had naturally heard of the Flying Cloud Guards in Guiyun Market and knew they specialized in exploring the Floating Cloud Mountains for information on demon beasts.

"A cultivator has already discovered this place today; this location may no longer be safe. Tell Liangshan and the others to hurry with the refining process. Once this refinement is complete, we must find another cave dwelling."

Sitting inside the cave dwelling, Yang Wuqi pondered for a moment, seemingly having made up his mind, and gave instructions to the disciples standing below him.

In a dense forest several miles away from the altar, a cultivator with a panicked expression spoke hurriedly to the group in the woods.

"Captain, I have found the location where Fellow Daoist Luo sent his distress talisman. It is at the foot of the mountain ahead. An altar was also discovered there, and there is a group of people on it who seem to be performing some kind of ritual. It looks as though Fellow Daoist Luo has met with disaster."

"An altar, a blood sacrifice... could this group be demonic cultivators?" Lu Yunfei spoke, his face filled with shock upon hearing this.

"What? The ones who killed Fellow Daoist Luo are actually demonic cultivators? How can there be demonic cultivators here?" Upon hearing that the group ahead was composed of demonic cultivators, the expressions of everyone present shifted significantly.

The ways of demonic cultivators have always been brutal, a fact well known to many of the cultivators present. If Luo Ping had fallen into the hands of demonic cultivators, his chances of survival were certainly slim.

Song Qingming, who was already somewhat uneasy, was also very surprised to hear the news of the demonic cultivators. Demonic cultivators possessed cruel methods and many bizarre techniques, making them far more difficult to deal with than ordinary demon beasts. He told himself that if a fight broke out, he must be extremely careful.

"About how many are there, and what is their strength?" After thinking for a moment, Lu Yunfei asked again.

"About five or six people, all at the Qi Refinement stage. Two of them are already in the late stage of Qi Refinement, and their strength is estimated to be no weaker than yours, Captain. The others have lower cultivation, all only at the middle stage of Qi Refinement," the messenger replied hurriedly.

Lu Yunfei looked at the dozen or so cultivators beside him and made a silent resolution.

"Fellow Daoists, since we have encountered this group of demonic cultivators, regardless of whether Fellow Daoist Luo lives or dies, we have a duty to eliminate evil and defend the Way. There is no need to fear; the ones ahead are just a group of Qi Refinement demonic cultivators and are not very strong. Follow me to eliminate them and avenge Fellow Daoist Luo!"

Gu Liangshan and the others were currently atop the altar, anxiously preparing various sacrificial materials. Several unconscious cultivators had already been tied to the pillars surrounding the altar.

Refining this demonic blade required not only the souls of cultivators but also many other materials and complex rituals.

"Junior brothers, hurry up. The blood sacrifice is about to begin. Master just sent word that we must guard the altar well. Ninth Junior Brother, you go guard the mountain pass first. A cultivator has already intruded here; we must be careful to avoid interfering with Master's refining of the demonic blade."

A middle-aged demonic cultivator paused for a moment, then, somewhat reluctantly, cupped his hands toward Gu Liangshan and slowly walked out of the mountains.

The relationships between demonic cultivators were far more cruel than those of righteous cultivators; during missions, they never cared about the life or death of their peers.

This unlucky demonic cultivator had only walked half a mile when a sudden flash of spiritual light erupted. Magic tools flew through the air, and over a dozen cultivators charged out from both sides simultaneously. Seeing the dozen magic tools flying toward him, the demonic cultivator's face filled with disbelief and terror.

A desperate scream rang out. This demonic cultivator's cultivation was not high, only at the sixth level of Qi Refinement. Encountering a sneak attack from over a dozen cultivators with higher cultivation than his own, he was beaten to death by Song Qingming and the others before he could even draw his own magic tool.

"Not good, we are under attack! Junior brothers, quickly block them together! Do not let them destroy the altar! Junior Brother Li, hurry and notify Master!"

Seeing a large number of cultivators approaching from a distance, Gu Liangshan hurriedly ordered one person to notify Yang Wuqi, then led the remaining demonic cultivators below the altar to brace themselves and meet the onslaught.

"Fellow Daoists, these demonic brats are indeed performing a blood sacrifice! Do not hold back! To any fellow Daoist who can slay a demonic cultivator, I will report the matter to the sect; your rewards will certainly not be lacking!"

Seeing that Gu Liangshan and his group only had four or five people, Lu Yunfei took the lead and charged toward the altar.

"Kill them to avenge Fellow Daoist Luo!"

Several late-stage Qi Refinement experts eager to earn merit heard Gu Liangshan's words and also rushed to the front, shouting loudly that they would slay these demonic cultivators to avenge Luo Ping.

Seeing that the opposing demonic cultivators indeed only numbered a few, everyone gained more confidence. Their numbers were more than double those of the enemy; barring any accidents, these demonic cultivators would serve as stepping stones for them to earn merit.

(End of Chapter)