Chapter 432 - 237: Foundation
Chapter 432: Chapter 237: Foundation
Xu Yang had heard of the two brothers from the Zhang Family. They were disciples of Elder Gong Shu, and both had cultivation at the Marrow Cleansing Great Success realm, making them extremely powerful experts.
If even those two had met with disaster, he had to be careful. An old monster at the Celestial Essence Realm might even appear.
"Senior Brother Gao, what is our mission?" Hong Lei asked.
There were eight of them in total, and his cultivation was the lowest.
Although Xu Yang was at the same Minor Achievement Realm of Marrow Cleansing as him, Xu Yang wielded the Half-Spirit Weapon Red Blood and had even killed Guan Du, who was at Marrow Cleansing Great Success. He, on the other hand, had neither a Half-Spirit Weapon nor cultivation at the Marrow Cleansing Great Success realm.
"First, we’ll investigate the reason for their disappearance. We need to see if they were killed or if something else happened," Gao Lin said.
With so many experts, as long as a Celestial Essence master didn’t show up, there should be no problems.
If there really was a Celestial Essence Strong Person, they could only curse their bad luck.
’I’m just afraid it’s a trap!’ Xu Yang thought.
Last year, the Purple Sun Sect killed so many experts from the Blood Lotus Sect. His biggest worry was that this incident was related to them.
If this was the Blood Lotus Sect’s doing, they had likely already cast a wide net, just waiting for them to walk into it.
But he had no say in these matters. It wasn’t as if a Celestial Essence Elder would personally investigate every little incident.
If that were the case, the Lower Celestial Essence Elders of the Purple Sun Sect would never get a chance to cultivate; they’d be running around all day, every day.
"SCREE!"
Suddenly, an eagle’s cry echoed across the sky. Xu Yang subconsciously looked up and saw a giant eagle soaring among the clouds.
Calling it a "giant eagle" was a bit inaccurate. Compared to the Cyan-Scaled Eagle he had killed, this one was much smaller, but it was still significantly larger than an ordinary eagle.
Lu Chuping’s gaze sharpened. "That’s Cui Mingchong’s Exotic Beast. What is it doing here?"
He recognized the giant eagle’s origin; it was the Exotic Beast raised by Cui Mingchong of Beast King Peak.
Gao Lin smiled and nodded. "I was worried this might be some kind of conspiracy or trap, so I had someone inform Cui Mingchong. If anything unusual happens, it will quickly return to the Purple Sun Sect to send a distress signal for us."
Upon hearing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. With an Exotic Beast like this around, they had an extra layer of security.
The trees along the road grew taller as the group traveled deeper into the Yunling Mountain Range, heading toward Camel Peak.
After running continuously for four hours, they had found no clues along the way, nor any signs of a battle.
"Could something have happened at the mine?" Gao Lin frowned.
In four hours, given their speed, they had already covered hundreds of li, yet they still hadn’t found anything.
"Don’t worry. Camel Peak is at least a thousand li from the Purple Sun Sect. The incident might have happened further ahead," Lu Chuping said.
A distance of several hundred li was still considered within the Purple Sun Sect’s sphere of influence. Ordinary people wouldn’t dare to attack a Purple Sun Sect escort convoy in this area.
They continued onward, but even by dusk, they had found nothing.
"We can’t keep traveling. Let’s find a place to rest," Lu Chuping said.
The nights in the Yunling Mountain Range were not safe. Although they were anxious to find out the truth, they couldn’t be reckless. They had already been traveling for a full day and needed to find a place to rest and recover their strength.
Everyone agreed. After so much time, if something bad had truly happened, the people involved were likely already dead. Traveling through the night wouldn’t help.
"There’s a suitable place to rest up ahead. Let’s stay there for the night," Gao Lin said.
He had obviously been to Camel Peak before and was familiar with the route.
The group slowed their pace and soon arrived at the place Gao Lin had mentioned: a cave at the foot of a mountain.
This spot was likely a frequent overnight resting place for Purple Sun Sect disciples traveling this road, as it was littered with ashes, bones, and other debris.
"Senior Brother Gao, let’s find another place. I don’t think it’s safe here," Xu Yang said with a frown.
Under normal circumstances, this place would be fine.
But in the current situation, if someone meant them harm, it wouldn’t be difficult to predict they would spend the night here.
"What’s unsafe about it? Senior Brother Gao has his reasons. You, go hunt a beast for everyone’s dinner while we gather some firewood," Tian Kuan said.
With so many Marrow Cleansing Great Success experts present, it would be fine if the enemy didn’t show up. If they did, it would just be an opportunity for them to earn merit.
Xu Yang couldn’t be bothered to argue with him and looked at Gao Lin instead.
"It’s fine. Anywhere we move to will still be nearby. If there really is an enemy, we won’t be able to avoid them anyway. This cave is easy to defend and hard to attack, making it the best resting place in the area," Gao Lin said, shaking his head.
It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered these things. It was just that staying out in the open instead of in a cave would be even more dangerous.
If an enemy snuck upwind and used poison, you wouldn’t even know how you died. No matter how dangerous it was, you had to choose a place sheltered from the wind. This was one of the most important rules of survival in the wild.
Xu Yang nodded helplessly, instantly understanding that his way of thinking was different from Gao Lin and the others.
His idea was to avoid a fight if possible. Gao Lin and the others’ idea was to fight, but to choose a location that gave them an advantage.
"Junior Brother Hong, Junior Brother Xu, you two go with Junior Brother Tian Kuan and search the vicinity. See if you can hunt a beast to fill our stomachs. The situation is unclear, so remember not to act alone," Gao Lin added.
Since this was an order from Gao Lin, Xu Yang had to obey. He immediately entered the forest with Hong Lei and Tian Kuan.
"You go that way, we’ll go this way!" Tian Kuan said, casually pointing in a direction, indicating they should split up to search for beasts.
"Fine!"
Xu Yang nodded and plunged into the forest. He sent out his Heart Spirit, spreading it like a vast net. A moment later, he discovered several wild deer in the woods.
Unleashing his Body Technique, he rushed forward and pointed from a distance. The neck of the largest buck was instantly pierced through, and the remaining deer scattered in panic.