Chapter 193: Chapter 193: Demonic Beast Night Raid, Qinghun Zhenren Takes Action
“Sister Ziling is so amazing!” Ouyang Yu clapped her little hands excitedly, then looked at Jia Yulan, “Sister, when did Ziling master the ‘Falling Blooms in Profusion’ to Major Achievement?”
“Probably on the way here!” Jia Yulan whispered.
Three First Grade Spells were too simple for Ji Ziling.
In three days, not only did she practice these three spells, she also learned ‘Falling Blooms in Profusion’, ‘Earth Escape’, and other spells, but due to time constraints, she only reached Beginner or Minor Achievement.
On the journey to Yunxiao Ancient City, Ouyang Yu focused on sword flying and did not notice Ji Ziling continuously practicing the Second-Grade Spell ‘Falling Blooms in Profusion’.
Jia Yulan did notice, though.
But at that time, Ji Ziling had only achieved Minor Achievement with ‘Falling Blooms in Profusion’.
Therefore, when Ji Ziling took the stage for the match, Jia Yulan did not expect her to advance so quickly from Minor Achievement to Major Achievement with this Second-Grade Spell.
“I won. According to the rules, give me the reward.”
Ji Ziling stood in the middle of the arena, extending her hand towards Zhuang Chen below.
Zhuang Chen’s teeth chattered, and he said in a deep voice, “You’ve won, but I want to know why my body was suddenly suppressed, even I had to use all my strength to break free.”
“Consider it a kind of spell,” Ji Ziling, following the Sect Leader’s command, could not reveal the ‘Nine Revolutions Heavenly God Technique’, lest Han Er and Han Yi take notice.
So, that was all she could say.
“Spell?” Zhuang Chen frowned slightly, “Fine, you’re formidable!”
At this moment, the white-browed elder standing by the arena exchanged a glance with Zhuang Chen and then spoke loudly, “Congratulations to the Daoist on the stage for attaining ten consecutive victories and receiving all the rewards.”
“Finally got it!”
Upon hearing the old man’s words, Ji Ziling finally relaxed, and together with Jia Yulan and Ouyang Yu, collected the ten Spirit Stones and one hundred catties each of Spiritual Sand and Spirit Soil before walking away under everyone’s gaze.
“The three of you have an extraordinary presence; you must not be locals, right?” Zhuang Chen then straightened up and called out loudly.
Everyone else also turned their attention to Ji Ziling and her companions, eager to know where they came from.
“Whitefloat City, Misty Sect!”
Ji Ziling announced loudly.
As her voice fell, the crowd immediately buzzed with excitement.
“So they are disciples of the Misty Sect, no wonder they are so powerful.”
“Losing to a disciple of the Misty Sect is not wrong.”
As the three women revealed their identities, everyone was shocked.
Zhuang Chen’s eyes widened, staring at the backs of Ji Ziling and her companions, filled with relief.
“So they are the famous disciples of the Misty Sect, no wonder she could beat me across realms. Lucky I didn’t do anything inappropriate earlier, or even my father couldn’t have saved me!”
Thinking of this, Zhuang Chen’s breathing became more rapid, secretly relieved.
Outside the city.
Ye Feng found that his Prestige Points had increased by over three hundred.
“I thought Ziling would forget to reveal her identity before leaving, but she remembered,” Ye Feng looked at the Heaven-Asking Mirror, nodding his head with satisfaction, and then opened the system panel.
[Registered Disciple Ji Ziling: Task progress 65%, has brought three First Grade Spells to Perfection, Prestige Points 230/500]
Although the Prestige Points had increased by over three hundred this time, the points brought in by Ji Ziling accounted for only two-thirds of them. To complete the assessment task, another two hundred and some Prestige Points were needed.
Yunxiao Ancient City.
Ji Ziling was continuously slapping her own face, a look of embarrassment on her face as she muttered, “Lucky that Zhuang Chen asked us from which sect we hail, or else, I would have forgotten about the task of enhancing the sect’s prestige.”
Jia Yulan laughed and said, “Yeah, I almost forgot too. If we had just left like that, no one would’ve known we’re from the Misty Sect.”
“I won’t forget next time,” Ji Ziling stuck out her tongue.
The three women entered an inn, ate a meal, then went shopping, buying more Spiritual Sand and Spirit Soil.
As time went by, night finally fell.
Several hundred li northwest of Yunxiao Ancient City, the thick dust that had been outside the city was now only thirty li away.
If anyone were there, they would have discovered that this was a terrifying horde of beasts!
Leading them were three Fanged Wild Boars at the High-rank Demon Soldier Peak.
Behind them were hundreds of beasts, at least Lower-rank Demon Soldier Level, carrying with them a heavy presence as they rolled toward Yunxiao Ancient City.
And at the very back of this group was an even more fearsome existence.
Inside Yunxiao Ancient City, no one was aware of the impending danger.
Outside the city.
Ye Feng was still refining Spiritual Artifacts.
Since the Refining Furnace itself was only a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact, the process of forging a Middle Grade Spirit Sword was quite slow.
Clang!
Suddenly, the lid of the Refining Furnace popped open, and a burst of rosy light shot out, drawing Ye Feng’s attention.
A longsword, thin as cicada wings and about three feet long, hovered in midair. Its surface was etched with intricate patterns, emanating a brilliant radiance.
Even without touching the blade, one could feel the sharpness of the Sword Qi.
“Good! It really is a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact, and the quality is quite high. Mo Ying will definitely like it,” Ye Feng thought, “As for the name of this sword, let’s have her decide.”
Having said that, Ye Feng put away the Spirit Sword.
As for the energy required to upgrade the Refining Furnace, it had now accumulated to 13%.
“At this stage, crafting a Middle Grade Spiritual Artifact accumulates ten percent of the energy?”
Ye Feng murmured and glanced at the sky, taking out new materials to prepare identity tokens for his disciples.
“Refining Furnace, I need to craft a kind of identity token, all of Lower Grade Spiritual Artifact level with defensive capabilities, and it would be even better if they could facilitate message transmission…”
Ye Feng communicated his thoughts to the Refining Furnace, and soon after, he received feedback. He threw in the required materials according to the needs and then covered the lid firmly.
Dingling danglang…
The Refining Furnace began its work again.
West City Gate of Yunxiao Ancient City.
A Qi Refining fifth-stage cultivator stood on the city tower, looking into the distance, and suddenly noticed a cloud of dust rising from the dense forest, accompanied by a formidable aura.
“This is bad, Demonic Beasts are attacking the city!”
His voice was loud, spreading throughout the entire Yunxiao Ancient City.
City Lord’s Mansion.
A middle-aged man abruptly stood up and flew towards the West City Gate.
This man bore some resemblance to Zhuang Chen, he was indeed Zhuang Gaoyi, the City Lord of Yunxiao Ancient City.
Boom!
But before Zhuang Gaoyi could reach the city gate, he found that the iron gate forged from fine steel had been smashed open, and dozens of Demonic Beasts flooded the streets, wreaking havoc.
Leading them were three Fanged Wild Boars at the Peak of High-rank Demon Soldier Level, their momentum was incredibly fearsome!
Such Demonic Beasts usually had mediocre combat strength, only capable of bulldozing people, but their thick hides made them tough opponents. Most cultivators of the same level usually avoided them.
“Quickly activate the City Protection Array!”
Zhuang Gaoyi shouted aloud.
Upon hearing this command, the cultivators guarding the city immediately activated the shield.
A pale white glow rose from the ground outside the city, transforming into a hundred-meter-high circular wall, enveloping the entire Yunxiao Ancient City and stopping the hundreds of Demonic Beasts on the outside.
They launched ferocious assaults but could not break through for the time being.
However, when the West City Gate had been breached, dozens of Demonic Beasts had already entered, including those three Fanged Wild Boars. The situation was extremely severe.
In an instant, many people became victims of the Demonic Beasts.
“Damn it!”
Zhuang Gaoyi flicked his finger and a dazzling light burst forth, exploding the head of a Middle Rank Demon Soldier Monster Beast, providing a glimmer of hope to the people who then urgently began to counterattack.
On the streets.
Jia Yulan and her group heard the cries from the West City District and hurried over, just in time to see a High-rank Demon Soldier Level Fanged Wild Boar furiously charging.
Its strength surpassed ten thousand catties and its tusks were incredibly sharp.
With one powerful charge, the stone wall collapsed.
“Ah, save me!”
“I don’t want to die by being rooted out by a wild boar!”
People cried out in terror.
“Damn!” Ji Ziling was the first to rush up.
She was once the High Priest of a small ancient town in the Cave Heaven World, also a Guardian God, having fought against the Demonic Beasts of the Cave Heaven World many times, and had witnessed the devastation and tragic consequences of their rampages firsthand.
She had no sympathy for the rampaging Demonic Beasts.
Bang!
A Vitality Bullet hit the Fanged Wild Boar’s head, knocking it back several meters, but failed to injure it.
“Run for your lives!”
Jia Yulan used the “Binding Spirit Rope” to wrap around the nearby civilians, flinging them away from the area.
“Glurgle!”
The Fanged Wild Boar, enraged, charged at Ji Ziling.
“Junior sister, your cultivation level is too low, you are not a match for this monstrous beast.” Jia Yulan used “Binding Spirit Rope” to wrap around Ji Ziling, pulling her next to Ouyang Yu.
“Falling Blooms in Profusion!”
In front of the astonished crowd, Jia Yulan stood in the middle of the street like a Goddess of War, her hands forming seals, bringing the Second-Grade Spell “Falling Blooms in Profusion” to the Perfect Stage. Countless glowing pink petals overlapped to form a sharp sword that slashed directly at the Fanged Wild Boar.
Clang!
The petals were shattered into specks of light by the hard head of the boar.
But more petals followed, eventually felling the pig-headed creature to the ground, frightening the surrounding monstrous beasts into a panic, scrambling away to other places.
“We owe our lives to the Immortal Maiden’s rescue!”
All the cultivators and common people around expressed their gratitude.
Below the West City tower.
City Lord Zhuang Gaoyi had just slain the second fanged wild boar and then turned his gaze toward Jia Yulan, his eyes narrowing, “To think, a Qi Refining Ninth Layer talent, from which sect could this person be?”
“Father, that’s a Misty Sect disciple!” Zhuang Chen, holding a paper fan, rushed over, his hair disheveled from a fierce battle.
“A Misty Sect disciple?” Zhuang Gaoyi was overjoyed, “Is Sect Master Ye here as well?”
Zhuang Chen was taken aback, then immediately shook his head, “This child only saw three female disciples of the Misty Sect, there was no word of Sect Master Ye arriving.”
Zhuang Gaoyi’s expression darkened, “That’s not good at all, there’s a demi-transformed beast commanding from behind these monsters, I’m afraid I’m no match for it.”
“What!” Zhuang Chen was shocked.
Demi-transformed demon beast?
How could they fight that!
“Do not panic, my son. You hold the city gate and protect the core of the formation. I will go and kill the last fanged wild boar, then return here. The demi-transformed beast is still outside the city for now, and the formation is holding up,” he said.
Having said that, Zhuang Gaoyi flew on his sword towards a distant street to intercept the third fanged wild boar.
Along one of the streets.
Jia Yulan, Ouyang Yu, and Ji Ziling formed a combat team, followed by dozens of Qi-Refining Realm cultivators, hunting the monstrous beasts around them.
Ever since Jia Yulan’s move to eliminate the fanged wild boar, the surrounding cultivators were drawn to join their team, willing to heed their orders.
“Immortal Maidens, what should we do now?” a strapping man in the Qi Refining Sixth Layer asked.
“I have a bad premonition!” a young man said, trembling all over.
Jia Yulan glanced at them and said, “Naturally, we must first eliminate the beasts that have invaded the city. As for those outside, when the time comes, we will gather all the city’s cultivators and kill them together.”
“Alright.”
Everyone promptly got into action.
Outside the city.
A shadow lay in hiding in the darkness, commanding hundreds of monstrous beasts to attack the city’s protective shield. This small-scale and imperfect formation only had a barrier wall a hundred meters high, and under that shadow’s direction, many beasts stacked up like Arhats, successfully crossing the barrier wall.
Atop the West City tower.
Zhuang Chen, seeing so many beasts getting past the formation, was frightened and ran off on the spot.
At that moment, an unexpected change occurred.
A brilliance descended from the sky, blasting a huge gap in the segment of the barrier wall outside the western city gate. The entire formation immediately collapsed completely, and all the beasts seized the opportunity to break into the city.
From a few hundred meters away, Zhuang Gaoyi pointed and killed the last fanged wild boar.
But before he could rejoice, he witnessed the collapse of the great formation with his own eyes.
“It’s over!”
Zhuang Gaoyi’s heart sank to the bottom.
Watching his son Zhuang Chen fleeing for his life, he gritted his teeth and said, “Better him than me. Since Yunxiao Ancient City is already breached, there’s no use for me to stay!”
With those words, Zhuang Gaoyi fled with his sister-in-law.
Yet, just as he was about to rush out of the city walls, he discovered another red shield rising from the ground. In a matter of breaths, it transformed into a hemisphere with a ten-mile diameter, descending and covering the entire Yunxiao Ancient City.
Both humans and beasts were within its range.
Ten miles away.
Little Piggy stood on the shoulders of Qinghun Zhenren, watching that vast shield and let out a jubilant squeal.
“Don’t be hasty, Junior brother. Including the demi-transformed black bear demon, all beasts and cultivators are trapped within the Blood Spirit Array. Once the Blood Spirit army annihilates them, you will receive a continuous infusion of Blood Spirit Energy, making your transformation no problem,” he said.
“Moreover, with those beasts, after transforming, you might directly recover your cultivation level to the Perfect Stage of Element Gathering. A little more effort and you can return to your peak,” Qinghun Zhenren added, hands behind his back, eyes fierce and grim.
In another direction.
Clang!
The cover of the refining furnace opened again.
Looking at the thirteen unique Disciple Identity Tokens, Ye Feng smiled, “Finally, all are refined… Huh, what has happened?”
Raising his head, Ye Feng saw that Yunxiao Ancient City was trapped by a shield!
“Not good!”
With a sense of impending crisis, Ye Feng opened the Heaven-Asking Mirror and saw that inside the city was chaos, with beasts and cultivators being pursued by a giant wielding dual axes, a behemoth ten meters tall with a body of reddish gold.
Be it human or beast, any touched by those heavy axes were devoured.
As for Jia Yulan and the other two women, they were currently being chased by a giant.
“Damn it, who is the person behind all this?”
Ye Feng was enraged, he put away the refining furnace and the token, and flew towards the shield.
Elsewhere, Qinghun Zhenren placed a cold jade basin atop a dirt mound. As numerous demonic beasts and cultivators were slain, a reddish-gold blood spirit energy emerged in the basin.
“Junior brother, go in and absorb the power!”
Qinghun Zhenren placed Little Piggy into the basin.
A cool sensation swept over his heart, making Little Piggy grow visibly larger at a speed visible to the naked eye, his muscles bulging as if he were a fearsome Pig King!
“Ha ha ha, that’s the feeling!”
Souhun Zhenren found he had grown to one meter long. He was finally able to speak human language and gradually stand on two feet, eventually becoming a pig-headed person who walked on two legs.
Inside Yunxiao Ancient City,
Jia Yulan was fully casting “Falling Blooms in Profusion,” but she was still hacked into shards of light by a giant wielding a huge axe, utterly unable to block their attack.
“Sisters, run for your lives!”
Ouyang Yu pulled Jia Yulan and Ji Ziling along as they flew away on their swords.
Watching countless people and demonic beasts being slaughtered by the giants, they felt powerless, their eyes reddening.
“Quick, break the shield!”
A cultivator shouted.
“My fellow daoists, don’t waste your strength,” City Lord Zhuang Gaoyi sighed, his voice carrying far. “I just risked my life to break the formation, but couldn’t open it at all. This is a small-scale formation; without the power of the Element Gathering Realm, the shield cannot be shaken.”
“If even the City Lord can’t break it, are we going to be killed by these giants?”
“I don’t want to die!”
People were wailing and crying to the heavens.
Jia Yulan and the other two women exchanged glances, also in despair.
At that moment, the image of a handsome figure emerged simultaneously in their minds.
If only he were here…
The three women smiled bitterly, feeling it was impossible for the Sect Leader to coincidentally appear at this place.
“You lowly creatures dare to set up a formation here, causing chaos and harming living beings, break for me!”
Just then, a loud and familiar voice descended from the sky, spreading over a dozen miles.
“It’s the Sect Leader’s voice!”
Tears fell from Jia Yulan and Ouyang Yu’s eyes.
They never imagined that Ye Feng would appear at this moment of peril, their hearts full of emotion.
Everyone in the city looked up, following the voice, and witnessed a scene they would never forget.
A sword light that illuminated the entire world appeared, casting the ground of Yunxiao Ancient City as bright as day, allowing people to see the scene unfolding in the sky clearly.
The dazzling sword light arrived in an instant, wrapped in peerless sword qi, and struck heavily on the incredibly hard shield of the Blood Spirit Array, splitting it down the middle, then crumbling into countless reddish-gold points of light, like a brilliant rain of light showering down on the area.
In the sky,
A young and handsome figure emerged.
In his left hand he held a treasure bead, and in his right a Banana Fan; he stood proudly on a metal leaf blade, surrounded by countless points of light, giving off a sense of towering invincibility.
A Celestial descends!
Watching Ye Feng, this thought surfaced in Ji Ziling’s mind.
Whether she opened her eyes or closed them, Ye Feng’s heroic figure lingered in her mind, unshakeable.
As the Blood Spirit Array broke, the giants began to disintegrate.
The crisis of Yunxiao Ancient City seemed to have been resolved.
Outside the city, atop the dirt mound.
“How dare you break the Blood Spirit Array meticulously arranged by this true man, you deserve to die! Stay here, junior brother; your senior brother will go and slay this person!”
Qinghun Zhenren roared in anger, soaring into the sky.
Souhun Zhenren still maintained the appearance of a pig-headed person, with sturdy legs and hands in place of his limbs, and he could finally speak.
However, since the Blood Spirit Array had been broken, Souhun Zhenren could no longer continue to absorb power to transform.
He widened his eyes, seeing Ye Feng suspended in midair, the air around him as thin as the starry sky, making it incredibly difficult to breathe; his face turned the color of liver.
A sense of fear suddenly arose.
“Senior brother, don’t go, that’s Ye Feng!”
Souhun Zhenren shouted loudly.
However, Qinghun Zhenren was already far away and couldn’t hear his warning.
“What to do?”
Souhun Zhenren paced frantically, his sense of foreboding growing stronger.