Chapter 78: Bixia Marketplace
Chapter 78: Chapter 78: Bixia Marketplace
As the trio returned to the Cultivators’ camp, all eyes fell upon them. Their gazes held a mixture of anticipation and worry, as well as a trace of fear they were struggling to suppress.
Hu Ming took a step forward. He knew what they needed most right now was the truth, not empty words of comfort. "Fellow Cultivators, your assumptions are correct. We encountered a pack of Black Scale Beasts."
As his words fell, a commotion erupted in the camp. While the members of Hu Ming’s squad remained composed, many of the Wanderers were already showing their fear. Their faces turned deathly pale, and their breathing grew ragged.
Fortunately, these Cultivators were no novices. They gradually composed themselves after a moment. Although the fear lingered, they were no longer in the state of disarray they’d been in at first.
Lu Zhao nodded to himself at the sight. ’Mid-stage Qi Cultivation Cultivators willing to take such a risk must have all tempered their dispositions, regardless of their actual Cultivation level.’
Hu Ming scanned the crowd. His expression remained unchanged, but his tone softened slightly. "There’s no need to worry excessively. First, it’s not a given that we’ll even run into the beast pack. And even if we do, don’t forget we have three Late-stage Qi Cultivators holding the line. The beasts might not dare to face us directly."
He paused. Seeing that everyone was listening intently, he continued, "Second, from what we could tell, the pack has four to five Late-stage Tier One Demon Beasts at most. Ayu, Mr. Chen, Old Hu, Old Qian, and I will be the ones to stop them."
With that, his gaze turned to Lu Zhao and Sun Yu, then swept over two middle-aged men in his squad. Meeting the hopeful eyes of the crowd, they all nodded.
After his speech, the Cultivators immediately began packing to depart. The Celestial Ridge Mountain Range was fraught with danger, and every moment saved increased their chances of survival. The group set off once more, hurrying along a winding mountain path for an hour when suddenly, a shrill screech tore through the mist—
"Stop!" Hu Ming threw up a hand, his face grim. "That’s the warning cry of a Black Scale Beast!"
The party froze. Though some Cultivators turned pale, no one panicked and made a mistake. Lu Zhao spread his Divine Sense, catching the faint rustle of scales scraping against rock in the crevices nearby. They continued for another half quarter hour before a low hill came into view.
A dense wave of Spiritual Qi washed over them. The grass and leaves stirred with no wind, and a pale green Spiritual Mist condensed and swirled around the hilltop. The Cultivators held their breath, and even Hu Ming’s pupils constricted. "There’s a Tier One Middle-Grade Spirit Vein hidden here?!"
Lu Zhao was also shocked. ’There’s actually a Spirit Vein here.’
"Ayu, Mr. Chen, up front with me!" Hu Ming barked, exchanging a glance with Lu Zhao. The three of them advanced on the hill in a triangular formation. Hu Ming’s voice then carried to the rest of the party: "Go around it! Move faster! I’m afraid this is the Black Scale Beasts’ nest."
The words were barely out of his mouth when a giant boulder on the hilltop exploded!
Five black shadows shot down like arrows loosed from a bow, a fetid wind showering them with rock fragments. The lead beast was enormous, over twenty feet long and covered head to toe in black scale armor. Vicious barbs jutted from its joints, making it look like a massive pangolin. The four beasts behind it were slightly smaller, but their claws whistled as they tore through the air!
Five Late-stage Tier One Ink-Scaled Beasts!
"Engage!" Hu Ming roared, his Giant Axe materializing in his hand. The squad contracted instantly, but the beasts were faster, their foul yellow pupils locking onto the group.
Lu Zhao and Hu Ming moved as one. Lu Zhao summoned his Hundred Waters Magic Disc, sending three spectral blue Ice Cones tearing through the air toward the eyes of the smallest beast on the far right. In the same instant, Hu Ming’s Tier One High-Grade Axe-shaped Spiritual Artifact, wreathed in crimson flames, formed a crescent of light as it chopped toward the same Ink-Scaled Beast’s neck!
SQUELCH! CRACK!
The Ice Cones pierced its brain as the axe blade severed its neck! Before the beast’s blood even had a chance to gush out, Lu Zhao had finished his casting, and Hu Ming had already retrieved his axe and retreated. From attack to the beast’s corpse hitting the ground, the entire exchange had taken less than three breaths!
"ROAR!" The leader of the Ink-Scaled Beasts let out a bellow that cracked the very stones. Eyes burning with rage, it led the remaining three beasts in a charge. As if they had a tacit understanding, Lu Zhao and Hu Ming split up, one to the left and one to the right, to engage the Beast King and another Late-stage Tier One Demon Beast. Sun Yu, Old Hu, and Old Li moved to hold back the other two.
...
「Two days later, at the edge of the Celestial Ridge Mountain Range.」
A group of over twenty people stumbled out of the mountains. Their clothes were in tatters and half of them were wounded, but their eyes all held the bright glimmer of having survived a great ordeal. Hu Ming turned to Lu Zhao and performed a deep, formal bow. "If not for Mr. Chen turning the tide of the battle, we would all be corpses in the bellies of those beasts by now!"
The surviving Cultivators all bowed as one, their gazes a mixture of awe and sincere gratitude. If not for him injuring the beast pack with his Magic, then holding off the leader with a Defensive Spiritual Artifact...
Lu Zhao accepted their respect with a calm nod. "We were traveling together. It was only natural that we work together." After that, he said nothing more.
That night, the campfire crackled and sparked.
Hu Ming came over with two wineskins and sat beside Lu Zhao. "We’ve passed through the most dangerous stretch. Mo Ying and Xuanfeng counties are up ahead. We’ll reach Bixia Marketplace within two months." He took a large gulp of wine, the firelight flickering across the unhealed scabs on his face. "A man of your caliber, Mr. Chen... do you have any plans for when we get to Bixia Marketplace?" He then offered one of the wineskins to Lu Zhao.
Lu Zhao accepted the wineskin and took a drink, but remained silent. Seeing his silence, Hu Ming gave an embarrassed laugh and slapped his forehead. "My apologies. That was presumptuous of me."
"It’s nothing," Lu Zhao said, poking the fire and watching the sparks dance and die. "I am a Puppet Master."
"What?!" Hu Ming’s hand jerked, spilling wine into the fire with a HISS. His eyes widened as he sized up Lu Zhao. ’This man... his Techniques are so potent, his Magical Artifacts so refined... and he’s a person who just messes around with Puppets?’
"Tier One Middle-Grade," Lu Zhao added. Hu Ming gasped.
"Brother Chen, you really keep your cards close to your chest!" He clutched the wineskin tightly. "If you ever need Demon Beast Materials in the future, just come find my Mingyao Squad! We’ll give them to you at cost!"
Lu Zhao’s fingers paused.
"Since Brother Hu made the offer, I won’t stand on ceremony." He looked up, the firelight dancing in his eyes. "I need the complete corpses of Tier One Middle Stage wolves, as well as the shells of Turtle-type Demon Beasts."
"Wolf corpses? And turtle shells!" Hu Ming frowned, thinking. "There should be plenty of wolf corpses at the Bixia Marketplace. As for the turtle shells... there’s a place to the southwest of Bixia County called the Sinking Sand Marsh. Records mention the occasional appearance of Iron Armor Turtles there. We were actually planning to go there ourselves, so you can leave it to me!"
"Then I must thank Brother Hu." In the course of their talk, their way of addressing each other had unconsciously shifted.
The two wineskins clinked together, and a relaxed atmosphere spread through the air. With both men intent on forging a connection, their bond developed swiftly.
「Two months later, Bixia Marketplace was in sight.」
As the light of dawn pierced the morning mist, the entire group froze where they stood.
On the horizon, a colossal city sprawled like a primordial beast. Its walls, forged from cast bronze and etched with countless Runes, towered over three hundred feet high.
Six gates, each over a hundred feet wide, inhaled and exhaled a constant stream of people. Cultivators regularly flew in on their swords—most of them at the Late-stage of Qi Cultivation, with only a few Mid-Stage Cultivators among them.
Lu Zhao and his group were, of course, waiting outside the Marketplace for their turn to enter. After a while, a figure streaked across the sky at an incredible speed. Unlike Lu Zhao’s party, this person did not wait on the ground.
He flew directly into the Marketplace from above. Lu Zhao felt a faint but immense pressure. ’A Foundation Establishment Cultivator.’
And he wasn’t the first. In the hour that Lu Zhao’s group waited, three such Cultivators had flown directly into the Marketplace. ’They must all be Foundation Establishment Cultivators.’
"So this is it..." Sun Yu swallowed, his voice dry.
"The greatest Marketplace in all of Chen Country..." Hu Ming murmured.
Lu Zhao gazed at the Marketplace, a feeling rising within him. ’I’ve finally entered a truly prosperous corner of the Cultivation Realm.’
The door to a new world had opened.