The great lake outside Huashan County Town was several miles wide. The surface shimred with golden light, and water birds skimd across it, leaving spreading ripples in their wake.
A lone skiff floated quietly on the water’s surface. A middle-aged man in a green robe with a small goatee sat at the bow, fishing. His line was cast into the water, the bobber perfectly still. A long ti passed without a single fish taking the bait.
"I hear there’s an Independent Cultivator in San Yuanli with extraordinary fishing skills. He catches a fish every ti he casts his line, and he even caught a Dragon Blood Carp once?"
The middle-aged man had a short beard and handso features, but his eyes were slightly narrow, adding a hint of sinister cunning to his appearance.
A young man waited upon him at his side.
"I know of him, Grandfather. That Dragon Blood Carp caused quite a stir, and Qiu Feihua even died because of it."
"Qiu Feihua’s ambition outstripped his talent. Even if he’d obtained a Foundation Establishnt Pill, he would have struggled to reach Foundation Establishnt. But for such a skilled fisherman to die an unnatural death... it truly pains my heart."
The middle-aged man lifted his fishing rod, changed the bait, and sighed.
"However, as long as we can remove the mole the Six Great Sects planted in San Yuanli, it will all be worth it. They killed three of my Wu Family clansn, forcing to awaken the Blood Shadow Mosquitoes ahead of schedule. I’d like to see how this rat can possibly hide its identity after the entire population of the town is turned into dried corpses!"
"You all worked so hard to capture so many Demons and implant them with mosquito eggs. Today is the day we reap our reward."
As the patriarch of the Wu Family, Wu Chunqiu wasn’t one for false modesty. He believed that if he truly wanted to, it wouldn’t be all that difficult to usurp the Chen Family and stage a ’Wu replaces Chen’ coup.
But when his nephew, Wu Rongxing, whom he had sent to San Yuanli, was inexplicably killed by a Tribulation Cultivator, it put him on alert. He began to suspect that the Six Great Sects had not truly let go of the matter of the Qi Kingdom’s fall all those years ago.
For Wu Chunqiu, the mont suspicion arose was the mont to act.
With Wu Rongxing dead, there was no telling how long it would take to train another Array Master. He had lain low and waited for five years. Delays breed complications, and he was done waiting.
He had to get his hands on the Crown Prince of the Qi Kingdom before returning to the Dark Spring Demon Sect.
Suddenly, he lifted his head and looked toward Huashan County.
"Interesting."
***
Yang Jing gripped his Demon-slaying Sword. He had three choices: first, head to the Bell Tower and investigate what was wrong with the Demon Alarm Bell; second, go to the County Yan and activate the Grand Array; or third, use Cloud Escape to flee Huashan County.
He hesitated for only a mont before choosing to activate the Grand Array. He wasn’t sure he could deal with whatever had disabled the Demon Alarm Bell, and it was highly likely that the Biyuan Ancestor was lying in wait sowhere outside the town.
The possibility felt like a thorn in his back.
Cloud Escape wasn’t foolproof. His Cultivation was only at the Qi Cultivation Third Layer; trying to use it to hide from the Biyuan Ancestor, who was at least in the Foundation Establishnt Stage, was just deluding himself.
Activating the Grand Array would at least buy him so ti to try and restart the Demon Alarm Bell.
Yang Jing took a deep breath and flew toward the County Yan using Cloud Escape. He kept his altitude at about thirty feet, not daring to fly any higher in case his Cloud Escape was seen through.
At that mont, Huashan County was like the end of the world. A deadly stillness pervaded the air, broken only by a storm-like buzzing. Like a chain of dominoes, one disturbed group of Blood Shadow Mosquitoes alerted others. Swarm after swarm of Blood Shadow Mosquitoes took to the sky, blotting out the sun.
Like an apocalyptic plague, they followed the scent of Blood Qi and sward toward every corner of Huashan County.
The sounds of weeping and wailing were extinguished in an instant. Mortals were powerless before the Blood Shadow Mosquitoes. In a flash, their lifeblood was drained, leaving nothing but skeletons scattered across the ground. The population of living souls in Huashan County plumted.
No one could escape the Blood Shadow Mosquitoes’ pursuit. Every household in Huashan County had dug a cellar for ergencies, but the mosquitoes’ Blood Absorption and Shadow Tracking Talent made them extrely sensitive to Blood Qi. Even through thick layers of brick and earth, they could still sniff out the blood-prey below.
They were, after all, Demon Insects bred by the Dark Spring Demon Sect for the very purpose of harvesting blood. The Demon Mosquitoes dug through the earth and sward into the cellars to feast. So Blood Shadow Mosquitoes gorged themselves so much that they couldn’t even climb back out of the holes they had dug, getting stuck halfway.
The more lifeblood they consud, the redder the blood-wings on the Blood Shadow Mosquitoes’ backs beca. Their abdons swelled, filled with stored lifeblood, all to be offered to the matriarch.
Yang Jing cautiously pushed his Cloud Escape to its limit while drawing all of his Celestial True Yang into his Acupoints. He didn’t let a single trace of his aura leak out as he carefully skimd past the dense swarms of mosquitoes.
If he wasn’t careful about concealing his aura, one of them might just sniff out his lifeblood right through the Cloud Escape.
He moved through the swarms as if treading on thin ice. Individual insects flew so close they nearly brushed against his cloud of vapor.
There were simply too many Blood Shadow Mosquitoes. They filled the entire sky, making them impossible to avoid.
One Blood Shadow Mosquito, perhaps due to its exceptional Blood Absorption and Shadow Tracking Talent, seed to have vaguely caught the scent of Yang Jing’s Blood Qi. It hovered in mid-air, circling as if confused.
Its strange behavior alerted the other Blood Shadow Mosquitoes.
Yang Jing’s nerves went taut. Using his Magical Power, he manipulated the Cloud Escape to envelop the mosquito. Then, with lightning speed, his fingers shot out, accurately and ruthlessly crushing the Blood Shadow Mosquito’s head. He imdiately tossed it into his Storage Bag to prevent any of its lifeblood from spilling.
The stiff bristles on these Blood Shadow Mosquitoes were as hard as steel needles. It was only because he had achieved so proficiency in his Great Capturing Technique that he could crush one so easily without using his Celestial True Yang.
Holding his breath, Yang Jing passed through the aerial swarm of Blood Shadow Mosquitoes. He flew over Wang Wei’s estate. Since all the blood-prey in the area had already been devoured, the swarms were much thinner here.
His gaze froze. He noticed a pile of bones still shimring with a faint Spiritual Light—the remains of a Cultivator, covered in fine pinpricks. The Blood Shadow Mosquitoes hadn’t even spared the marrow hidden within.
A copper mirror lay among the bones.
’The Ruyi Spirit Locking Mirror.’
Yang Jing recognized the Tier One Upper Grade Treasure Mirror. After all, when Li Yuanqing first beca Village Chief, he had frequently used this mirror to intimidate anyone who challenged his position. The Ruyi Spirit Locking Mirror could emit a Profound Light, and anyone caught in its glow would find their Magical Power circulation becoming sluggish, leaving them unable to use even seventy percent of their full Power.
Unfortunately, it was useless against the Blood Shadow Mosquitoes.
Li Yuanqing had been old and cunning, focused only on preserving his own life, yet in the end, he had still died silently here in Huashan County. The path of cultivation was just like that—fraught with calamities and tribulations. No matter how cautious you were, sothing could snatch your life away on any given day.
A trace of sorrow welled up in him. Co to think of it, Elder Li had been the person he was closest to in Huangyuan Marketplace. Though the old man was a bit greedy, he had never cheated him. When Yang Jing first arrived in San Yuanli, his Power was low, and it was Elder Li who had lent a hand, allowing him to settle in safely.
Yang Jing clenched his fist but didn’t go to pick up the Ruyi Spirit Locking Mirror. The Treasure Mirror was excellent, but without being properly refined, it would be useless to him.
Carefully maneuvering his cloud of vapor over a few more estates, he finally saw the County Yan.
The County Yan was currently under siege by a dense mass of Blood Shadow Mosquitoes. They were clustered around a sphere of Spiritual Light emitted by a Defensive Spiritual Artifact, frantically biting at it. Their sharp proboscises stabbed relentlessly, creating a high-pitched scraping noise that threatened to tear one’s eardrums.
From within the Spiritual Light, a Fire Elent Magic spell would occasionally erupt, scorching swathes of Blood Shadow Mosquitoes and sending them crackling to the ground in blackened heaps.
"Fairy Song, why continue this pointless resistance? Just submit to , and I’ll ensure you survive this unscathed. The two of us, living together in bliss—wouldn’t that be a beautiful thing?"
Yu Yingwu stood amidst the swarm of insects, his eyes greedily fixed on Song Min within the sphere of Spiritual Light.
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