Chapter 2: Qingzhu Mountain

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

Calming his mind, Song Qingming quickly checked the location where he had buried his spirit stones. Finding nothing amiss, he stood up and walked out of the cave.

As soon as he stepped out, he saw a man standing not far away who was much taller than him. The man was wearing a cyan robe similar to his own and had a square-shaped face.

Seeing this person, Song Qingming said with some delight, "Fourth Brother, coming to find me so early—is there some good news?"

"Seventh Brother, how are you so sure it’s good news? Aren't you afraid it’s Third Uncle-Grandfather looking for you to help draw up another formation?"

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

"Didn't I just go a few days ago? I don't think I'd be needed again today," Song Qingming replied with some embarrassment.

The Third Uncle-Grandfather mentioned by Fourth Brother Song Qingrui was the Great Elder of the Song family. Because Song Qingming studied the way of formations, the Elder loved to grab him to help draw small auxiliary spells onto the ritual robes he crafted.

Although Song Qingming had some talent in the way of formations, he had only just begun, and his skill level was barely sufficient. For this reason, he was often scolded until his face turned red by the short-tempered Third Uncle-Grandfather.

Song Qingrui smiled and didn't dwell on it, getting straight to the point.

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

"Alright then. 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 was a vast green mountain range stretching for dozens of miles, known as Green Bamboo Mountain. The mountain was covered in lush, emerald-green bamboo, resembling a sea of bamboo.

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

"Eldest Brother, do you think Thirteenth Uncle is alright? Why has it been so long since he returned? Should we go and provide support?"

A young man among the three asked anxiously, looking at the slightly older youth leading them.

"Don't talk nonsense. Thirteenth Uncle is a sixth-level Qi Refining cultivator, after all. As long as he doesn't venture deep into the territory of the high-level demonic beasts in the heart of Green Bamboo Mountain, how could the beasts at the foot of the mountain hold him back?

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

This man was named Song Qingshi, a fourth-generation cultivator of the Song family from the nearby Funiu Mountain, with a fifth-level Qi Refining cultivation.

The two youths behind him were Song Qingrui and Song Qingming, who had come down the mountain with him.

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

Song Qingshi looked at the open ground not far away, feeling a trace of worry in his heart. But then he thought that he had been hunting demons with Thirteenth Uncle for many years, and Thirteenth Uncle’s experience in luring enemies was extremely rich.

Furthermore, his defensive cultivation technique was tough, and he carried a mid-grade defensive magic tool for protection, so there shouldn't be any major problems.

Song Qingshi took a silent breath and exhaled slowly, calming the tension in his heart.

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

However, he looked rather disheveled at the moment. He was covered in green bamboo leaves, his clothes were torn in several places, and even a section of his right sleeve was missing.

Song Changxiong took a few steps onto the path and, without looking back, ran straight toward where the three were hiding. As he ran, he shouted loudly

"Hurry and prepare to activate the formation! Damn it, there are quite a few of them this time."

The three hiding in the grass breathed a sigh of relief when they saw Song Changxiong was safe and sound.

Hearing Song Changxiong’s voice, Song Qingshi quickly turned to the two behind him and ordered: "Prepare to activate the formation. There are likely mid-grade demonic beasts this time, everyone be careful."

It wasn't until Song Changxiong was almost upon them that the three heard a "hissing" sound coming from behind him. Seven or eight large green snakes were in hot pursuit.

The two snakes at the front were a size larger than the others and had thin white stripes on their bodies, looking quite ferocious.

"There are two mid-grade Green Bamboo Pythons. This is a bit tricky. You two stay sharp later. If the formation can't trap the beasts, retreat immediately and scatter."

"Don't worry, Eldest Brother, we know what to do."

The two nodded repeatedly; clearly, this wasn't the first time they had heard such cautious words from Song Qingshi.

As soon as Song Qingshi finished speaking, Song Changxiong reached the open ground a few yards in front of them. He immediately stopped, turned around, and drew a large silver saber, holding it horizontally in front of him.

The two leading mid-grade Green Bamboo Pythons behind him were fast, catching up in an instant and lunging at Song Changxiong with their giant maws wide open.

The two pythons attacked from the left and right, aiming their giant mouths at Song Changxiong’s neck and thigh, respectively.

Seeing this, Song Changxiong reacted quickly. He first leaned his body to dodge the venom sprayed at his neck from the left, while simultaneously slashing his large ring-saber at the python lunging for his thigh, forcing the beast to change its attack trajectory.

Unexpectedly, the python didn't retreat upon seeing the saber; its large green head merely retracted slightly, and it opened its mouth to spray a stream of venom.

With a loud "bang," although Song Changxiong struck the python with all his might, he didn't cause much damage. As he turned to dodge the venom, he was swept in the waist by the tail of the other python that had missed its strike, forcing him to retreat dozens of steps before he could stabilize himself.

After a few more intense collisions between the man and the two snakes, Song Changxiong, facing two mid-grade demonic beasts alone, gradually fell into a disadvantage, and several wounds appeared on his body.

By now, the other five or six low-grade Green Bamboo Pythons had arrived, and in the blink of an eye, the seven or eight pythons had surrounded Song Changxiong.

Song Changxiong’s situation was precarious; his outer robe was already in tatters, revealing a black soft armor underneath.

Just then, three walls of red fire suddenly rose from the open ground, forming a triangle that instantly enclosed Song Changxiong and the seven or eight pythons within.

It was Song Qingming and the others, who had been waiting for a long time, activating the "Blazing Flame Formation" they had previously set up.

Seeing this, Song Changxiong was overjoyed. He raised his saber and swung it forcefully to push back the low-grade pythons, then quickly applied an anti-fire talisman to his chest, turned, and passed through the fire wall to the outside.

Outside the fire wall, three red formation flags were planted in the ground, with a white formation disk hovering above. The three fire walls connected by the disk were emitting raging flames. Song Qingshi and the others were sitting cross-legged behind the red flags, injecting their own spiritual energy into them.

Green Bamboo Pythons were naturally afraid of fire, and this Blazing Flame Formation was the perfect weapon against them.

The erected fire walls could easily block even the venom sprayed by the two mid-grade pythons. The four had used this formation many times to hunt beasts, and they were now extremely proficient in operating it.

"I'll recover my spiritual energy first; you three hold them off for a while."

After jumping out of the fire wall, Song Changxiong said this to the three, walked to the side, took out a few pills, and stuffed them into his mouth. He then sat cross-legged and began to circulate his energy to slowly dissolve the medicinal power.

The three nodded, not daring to distract themselves, and simply increased the intensity of the formation.

The Blazing Flame Formation’s fire surged instantly. The low-grade beasts inside, seeing this, panicked and retreated repeatedly.

The two mid-grade beasts, seeing this, let out a few low hisses at their low-grade kin, causing the low-grade pythons to freeze in place.

Driven by the two mid-grade beasts, they lunged at the fire walls, only to be forcefully repelled, leaving patches of burns on their bodies.

Although the low-grade beasts couldn't manipulate spiritual energy, their physical constitution was several times that of ordinary wild beasts. Their constant ramming consumed a significant amount of the formation's energy.

Seeing this, Song Qingshi and the others channeled their spiritual energy to drive the small red flags in their hands. Three fire dragons flew out from the fire walls and pounced on the leaping beasts. For a time, the fire dragons and the beasts were locked in a chaotic battle.

Although there were many beasts, one of the three fire dragons was dispersed after a while.

However, these fire dragons were formed by drawing energy from the formation; as long as there was a steady supply of spiritual energy, they could quickly recover.

Half an hour passed slowly. Most of the low-grade beasts in the Blazing Flame Formation had been killed by the fire dragons, and the remaining ones had lost their combat effectiveness.

Only the two mid-grade Green Bamboo Pythons, despite having some injuries, had not lost much combat power and were still fiercely fighting the three fire dragons.

By now, Song Qingshi, who had the highest cultivation among the three, was covered in sweat, and the speed at which he was inputting spiritual energy into the formation had slowed significantly.

On the other two sides, Song Qingming and Song Qingrui had lower cultivation levels. At this moment, they looked as if they had little spiritual energy left and were gritting their teeth to hold on.

Song Qingming was only at the third level of Qi Refining. The luster of the fire wall in front of him had become very dim, and the two beasts, seeing this, attacked his side desperately.

Before long, Song Qingming suffered a backlash from the formation. A trace of blood spilled from his mouth, his face turned pale as paper, and his expression became listless.

Just then, a large, thick 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 quickly regained its original brightness.

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

"That won't do. If we let them out, all our hard work will be for nothing. After I go in, you all continue to channel the formation with all your might to help me slay these two beasts."